-The Hindu     ‘Crorepati'-politicians wear their wealth like a badge of honour Bangalore: With the new breed of "crorepati"-politicians wearing their wealth like a badge of honour, the old slogans of "Garibi Hatao" (remove poverty) have become passé. The rise in the prominence of moneybags from real estate, the private education sector, and industry in the city's political landscape has not only deflected social issues but it has also changed the benchmark for a...

-The Indian Express Bangalore: When affidavits were filed by the contestants for the 2008 assembly polls declaring their wealth, it was a close race between the two dominant money-spinning sectors in Karnataka - real estate and iron ore mining. Affidavits filed by 5,376 candidates in the fray for the May 5 assembly polls show that the real estate sector that flourishes in and around Bangalore and, to a lesser extent, around cities...

-PTI Bangalore: JDS Karnataka unit president and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita, contesting the May 5 Assembly elections, have together declared assets worth Rs 123 crore. With assets of Rs 150.58 crore, the list of Rich candidates is topped by T N Javarayi Gowda, also from JDS headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, who filed his nominations from Yeshvanthpur in Bangalore yesterday. Kumaraswamy, Gowda's son,...

-The Hindu   The paid news case is no longer just about Ashok Chavan. It concerns every individual and institution opposed to the sway of money power in elections Politicians everywhere are known to indulge in doublespeak and our politicians are no exception. But some recent pronouncements of our Law Minister only show that our politicians may have very few serious rivals in this sport. Not long ago, the Minister was all praise...

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)...