On this Sunday, a mix of topics that i found interesting – Mandal, Polyamory, Jerusalem, ISIS, Farmer Suicide, Hope

24 years on, OBC workforce in Centre still short of Mandal mark, says the Hindu.

According to the Union Ministry for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, the reservation for OBCs is being implemented from September 8, 1993. Replies provided under the RTI Act by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) show that as on January 1, 2017, only 17% of the Group A officers in the 24 Ministries belong to the OBCs. The representation among the Group B officers is even lower at 14%.

So, Polyamory? what do you think about it? Do you think it will catch on in a country where a woman with 5 husbands, and a man with 2 or more wives, is a part of culture? The Hindu looks at one more desi export, coming back to India via the west.

The NYT has a good explainer on the Jerusalem crisis. And, Iraq says it has won the war against ISIS driving them out of Iraqi territory.

Like farmers in India, farmers in the USA are doing the unthinkable – committing suicide in large numbers. When we made our film “Jhing Chik Jhing” this line is what was the crux of the story 

We were growing food, but couldn’t afford to buy it. We worked 80 hours a week, but we couldn’t afford to see a dentist, let alone a therapist. I remember panic when a late freeze threatened our crop, the constant fights about money, the way light swept across the walls on the days I could not force myself to get out of bed.

And, i think that as 2017 comes to an end, we can all do with gazing at pictures like this – images of hope, which included the Sriharikota launches