-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: With lakhs of people hit by floods in the wake of cyclone Phailin, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday sought immediate release of Rs 1,523 crore from the Centre for relief and rehabilitation. "I request the Centre to release an advance of Rs 1,000 crore over and above the corpus of Rs 523 crore available in the State Disaster Response Fund for the year 2013-14," Naveen...

-The Hindu Roberto Azevêdo's observation that India's food security law may violate its commitments to the World Trade Organization should not take New Delhi by surprise. If anything, the government should be thankful the Director-General - who seems apprised of India's legitimate demand for ensuring food security - has recommended an interim solution until the WTO Ministerial Conference in December deliberates this issue. It was clear from the start that...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: Karnataka, often called a "progressive state", has the highest dropout rate among Muslim students. On an average, 50,000 students from the community dropout of school each year, a majority of them at the high school level, according to a survey done by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The average dropout rate is 6.2% compared to the national average of less than 5%. "The statistics show a worrisome trend,"...

-Outlook The Union Cabinet today approved the National Identification Authority of India Bill that will give statutory status to the UIDAI. Official sources said the bill, which was cleared at a meeting of the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this morning, may be tabled during the winter session of Parliament. Besides giving statutory status to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the Bill seeks to provide legal backing to...

-The Business Standard The Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellows are being pampered with funds to serve for just two years   The Prime Minister's Rural Development Fellows scheme, announced two years ago, sounded like a novel way to connect educated youth to the problems of backward rural areas hit by Maoist violence. But it is now surrounded by questions as its financial size is now larger than the problem it seeks to solve...