-The Hindu     Present Assembly has 103 Vokkaligas and Lingayats Bidar: As the new government takes over and there are high expectations of "change" on several fronts, a sobering reminder of some things that remain constant is the composition of the Assembly in terms of caste, religion and gender. Dominant castes in the State - Vokkaligas, Brahmins and Lingayats - which are socially and economically strong and have traditionally enjoyed high representation in the...

-The Hindu MARAKKANAM: In front of one of the burnt houses at Kattayantheru lie a number of charred certificates, including ration cards and other important documents that belong to the members of the Marakkanam Dalit Colony. "We have salvaged whatever we can, but most of us have lost documents including ration cards, mark sheets, birth certificates and death certificates. Many of us whose houses were burnt even lost currency notes they had...

-The Hindu   One candidate asked to withdraw nomination, two others reprimanded Bangalore: The Loksatta Party, which is set to make its debut in the coming Karnataka Assembly elections promising "clean" politics, has run into trouble with three of its candidates taking public positions that appear to run counter to the party's stated ideological vision and standpoint. Phanisai Bhardwaj, the party's candidate for Bangalore South, has said on his facebook page: "Apolish [abolish] reservation...

-The Hindu Extracts show violence before and during funeral processions of kar sevaks In its closure report submitted to the trial court, the Special Investigation Team that probed Zakia Jafri's complaintagainst Narendra Modi and 58 others said there was no evidence to prove that the Chief Minister had sent the bodies of the 2002 Godhra victims to Ahmedabad with a view to parading them before the public. The SIT quoted Ahmedabad Police Commissioner...

KEY TRENDS   • According to National Sample Survey report no. 583: Persons with Disabilities in India, the percentage of persons with disability who received aid/help from Government was 21.8 percent, 1.8 percent received aid/help from organisation other than Government and another 76.4 percent did not receive aid/ help *8   • As per National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4), the Under-five Mortality Rate (U5MR) was 57.2 per 1,000 live births (for the non-STs it was 38.5)...