-Livemint.com Will a development record alone be enough to win elections? There is a popular saying in Bihar that people in the state do not cast their vote, but vote their caste. Lalu Prasad Yadav’s 15-year rule till 2005 was built on the Muslim-Yadav equation. The 2010 elections marked a break in this trend, according to many commentators. In a column after the 2010 Bihar elections, political scientist Milan Vaishnav attributed Nitish...

-The Hindu RTI activist points out irregularities in procurement of biscuits Pune: More allegations of corruption are being made against the Maharashtra Women and Child Development Department (WCD) headed by BJP leader Pankaja Munde, with RTI activists pointing to irregularities in the manufacture and distribution of Ayurvedic biscuits intended a vital source for the nourishment or tribal and underprivileged children living in the State’s backward districts. While the ‘chikki’ scam, whose irregularities have...

-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...

-Economic and Political Weekly There are basic methodological and conceptual problems with recent research that ends up arguing that private school education is more effective than public education. Such findings have obvious policy implications but it is critical that research that informs policy is based on a correct reading of facts, keeping the larger vision of education in mind. Recent research into the cost effectiveness of public education vis-à-vis private education concludes...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has nudged schools and colleges to appoint student gender monitors who will report any incident of gender bias or sexual harassment on the campus to designated teachers. Although the government has dubbed the measure an "outreach for creating an environment that fosters equal treatment", social activists said a sensitisation programme would have worked better than a system that will only create snitches. According to government guidelines issued...