-The Hindu Election Commission team coming on April 8 to review poll preparedness Bangalore: Now you can find crucial details about a candidate contesting the Assembly Elections - his criminal record and assets/liabilities - in one consolidated format. Information on both these aspects will be part of a single document and will be up on the Election Commission website within 24 hours of it being filed. Hitherto, these details were in scattered in...

-The Hindu   Karnataka tops in transgender voter registration Bangalore: A conscious effort to assert their status as the third gender seems to be growing in the transgender community in Karnataka if numbers are any indication. Karnataka - at 2,125 - has more number of voters registered as ‘others' compared to any other State in the Assembly Elections held after 2009. Voters and candidates are enumerated under the categories of ‘male', ‘female' and...

-The Indian Express Kolkata: West Bengal's notification for the panchayat elections marks a flash point in an ongoing tussle between the Mamata Banerjee government and the state election commission. The government notification, issued last week independently of the election authorities, has declared polls in two phases, on April 26 and 30. The election commission, headed by Meera Pandey, has been insisting on three phases. On Monday, the commission wrote to the government...

-The Indian Express Patna: In yet another attempt to consolidate his “caste-neutral” base among women, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced 35 per cent reservation for them in police jobs. Bihar Police is estimated to have 43,000 job vacancies, including of 25,000 constables, over the next five years. "Reserving 35 per cent seats for women will be another step towards women empowerment that started with the government giving 50 per cent reservation...

-The Tribune Chandigarh: At a time when the property prices have skyrocketed in the urban areas, affordable housing may well be within the reach of the ‘aam aadmi' in Haryana. In fact, with a view to attract the private builders to go in for affordable housing, the Hooda Government is set to launch its ambitious "Affordable Housing Policy-2013" to provide housing to the lower strata of society with an eye on...