-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Former Delhi high court chief justice G Rohini has been appointed to head a commission to examine the proposal for sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), an issue with significant political ramifications. The commission's members include J K Bajaj, director of the Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai. On Monday, the President gave his nod to the panel, which will seek to ensure the most backward...

-The Indian Express Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, providing vocational training to women and selling pickles, allegedly pilfered funds from Bhagalpur district administration’s various accounts for at least half a dozen welfare schemes. Bhagalpur: Over 10 years and across two governments, of JD(U)-BJP and the RJD-JDU, one Bhagalpur NGO allegedly siphoned off an estimated Rs 700 crore of public funds. Nine FIRs and 12 arrests later, the Bihar government ordered...

-The Hindu Patna: Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the Nitish Kumar government did not utilise the special Central fund for price stabilisation. After reservation, Dadri lynching and cow-slaughter, the rising pulse prices have now become a poll issue in Bihar, as leaders tried to pin the blame on their rivals. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said the Nitish Kumar government did not utilise the special Central fund for price...

-The Hindu In Bihar, ‘development’ comes laced with caste. For the upper castes, it is Modi’s pitch on investment that matters while for Backward Classes, Nitish’s social welfare agenda makes him a governance icon. The BJP, having no regional match for Nitish, has banked on Modi’s popularity. “Development” is a word that one encounters frequently across poll-bound Bihar, with people across caste lines using it to explain their political preferences. However, this...

-Hindustan Times Bikramganj/Nokha (Rohtas): On both sides of the highway that cuts through eastern Bihar, yellow patches have started appearing amidst acres and acres of lush green farmland, signalling the ripening of the crop. But in the state’s rice bowl, straddling at least 16 assembly constituencies, nature’s visible bounty hides the harsh reality – about failing crops due to erratic weather earlier and a paddy procurement scam which has seen the government...