-The Times of India NEW DELHI: An expert committee under chief economic advisor Raghuram Rajan has identified 10 parameters for a new Composite Development Index, whose adoption by the Centre will change the way thousands of crores are transferred annually and can potentially set the stage for realignment of political forces in Bihar before the 2014 polls. The new index seeks to rate states on the basis of their distance from the...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: It is no big deal that for a Parliament used to discussing and dissecting scams worth thousands of crores, the dissipating odour of onions hasn't reached its hallowed portals. For more than a week of the Monsoon session little work has been done, and even less time has been spent discussing spiraling prices of essential commodities. After all, it has only touched Rs 100/kg and not yet...

-The Hindustan Times After the political parties, now the Department of Atomic Energy has asked the government to keep it out of the Right to Information Act, saying the transparency law is in conflict with its international commitments which require "strict confidentiality." However, the DAE's demand for immediate exemption from the RTI Act through an official notification is unlikely to be accepted with the law ministry raising a red flag, citing the...

-The Hindustan Times Eighteen tribal girls started practicing in the farms of Ormanjhi near Ranchi and because an American dared they ended up playing football in Spain. Franz Gastler, a US national founded Yuwa, an NGO, in 2009 to use football to promote health, education and a shot at a better life, but his unending efforts got India talking about the U-14 team. They finished two international tournaments - Donostic Cup in...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has modified the norms of an education scheme to allow partial funding of state government-aided secondary schools in a move that could benefit Bengal the most. Funds under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) have so far been limited solely to government-run institutions. The four-year-old scheme provides grants to set up schools, improve facilities in existing ones and recruit teachers. Most secondary schools in Bengal are aided institutions,...