-The Indian Express The recently-released India Rural Development Report, which is endorsed by the government, says 7% of the rural population is ‘very poor’; villages in eastern Indian states are the worst affected. A World Bank report released this week has proposed a new way to measure poverty, which suggests that India may have been overestimating the number of its poor. According to a separate set of figures and analysis endorsed by...

-Hindustan Times Patna: Guns and goons have played a key role in Bihar’s politics for decades. As the eastern state heads to the polls next month, outlaws with itchy trigger fingers as well as ‘baahubalis’, or strongmen, are back in the frame. Dozens of erstwhile gangsters have found their way into mainstream politics either directly or through spouses and relatives. Some of them will not contest the polls, but their influence can...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the Haryana panchayati raj law stipulating educational qualifications for contesting the forthcoming local polls, which according to the petitioners created an insurmountable barrier for an overwhelming majority of women and Dalits. After hearing senior advocate Kirti Singh, a bench of Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre stayed the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015, which mandated educational qualifications for...

-The Times of India PATNA: If you want to become Mukhiya, Pramukh, district board chairperson or even a ward member of your gram-panchayat by contesting panchayat polls in Bihar, you must have to construct a toilet at your individual home. Bihar Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed a legislation- the Bihar Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015, bringing some new provisions including making it mandatory for candidates contesting all level of panchayat raj elections...

-Business Standard Ruling party MPs suggest changes to six of the nine amendments proposed by govt to the 2013 Act The government is set to relent on the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Bill, 2015. On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members of a parliamentary joint committee on the Bill suggested amendments that effectively bring back the social impact assessment and consent clauses,...