-The Indian Express If the BJP finds itself on the back foot today, it isn't because of corruption scandals, but due to the splintering of its social coalition As the stage is set for the state assembly elections in Karnataka, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda recently made a surprising admission: corruption is not an issue in the upcoming elections, and the precipitous decline in political morality can only be arrested by...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: To tighten the noose around private unaided schools not implementing theRTE Act provisions, the education department has asked block education officers to provide information on schools that haven't followed the 25% reservation rule under the Right To Education Act. The circular, dated April 5, 2013, was issued after a number of unaided non-minority private schools refused to admit kids under provisions of the Act. As per the...

-The Hindu   Entering third polio-free year, India must destroy all wild poliovirus lab samples by December Having successfully completed two polio-free years, India is preparing to receive the crucial polio eradication certificate from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The certificate is issued on completion of incident-free three years. This primarily involves the destruction or safe storage of all laboratory sources of wild poliovirus. The storage should be in laboratories that meet international standards...

-The Hindu A NABARD survey says middlemen funded by banks have kept growers captive to high-interest loans Jammu: Kashmir's acres of undulating apple orchards may soon be waste lands, a survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) accessed by The Hindu shows. The Rs. 4,000-crore industry has been brought to its knees by a network of middle-order market functionaries comprising pre-harvest contractors (PHCs), commission agents (CAs) and wholesalers...

-Live Mint Tariffs reach at least Rs.4 per unit in many states, finds analysis, amid efforts to bail out state discoms Indian domestic consumers in 16 states are paying at least `4 per unit for power and in some cases even more, according to an analysis, thus giving the lie to the long-held axiom that raising tariffs is nearly impossible in India given the political compulsions. The finding also shows conclusively that...