-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The major source of the income of political parties in India is through donations and voluntary contributions. However, majority donations comes from undisclosed contributors. According to the study conducted by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), an umbrella body of non-governmental organizations working across the country for transparency in political and electoral system, the top five political parties with the highest total income between financial year (FY)...

-The Hindu The killing of the Ranvir Sena chief and the violence it triggered expose the fragile foundations of Nitish Kumar's ‘new Bihar'   The assassination of Brahmeshwar Singh alias Mukhiya, founder of Ranvir Sena, the dreaded private army of upper caste Bhumihars, raises fears of the revival of “Barbaric Bihar”. From the first major massacre of Dalits in Belchi in 1977 to the killings in Mianpur in 2000 by socially dominant castes...

-The Telegraph Ashok Chavan, who had to quit as Maharashtra chief minister after being named in the Adarsh housing scam, faces money-laundering charges in the same case. The Enforcement Directorate has registered an enforcement case information report (ECIR) against Chavan and 13 others, stating that prima facie an offence could be constituted under Section 3 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The ECIR stated that the accused persons, who had obtained clearance...

-Economic and Political Weekly Yojana Bhavan never seems to know how to count India’s poor That the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government can on occasion after occasion mishandle a situation and also show insensitivity has been in evidence once again in its handling of the poverty figures estimated from the 66th (2009-10) round of the National Sample Survey (NSS). Although the Planning Commission’s estimates, as measured by the Tendulkar methodology, declined sharply...

-PTI   The Enforcement Directorate has registered a money laundering case against former Union minister Dayanidhi Maran and his brother Kalanidhi in connection with the 2G spectrum allocation case. The case, registered on Tuesday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), pertains to an alleged illegal gratification of about Rs 550 crore allegedly received by the Maran brothers in the Aircel-Maxis deal. Maran, a former Union telecom minister, had quit from the...