-The Hindu Miscreants opposing panchayat polls torch houses, schools; ethnic clashes trigger exodus Guwahati: At least 12 persons including three women were killed — 10 persons in police firing and two in ethnic clashes between Rabha and non-Rabha groups in Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council (RHAC) areas in southern Assam’s Goalpara district on Tuesday. The clashes have triggered huge exodus of people from the affected and nearby villages. Fleeing villagers have taken shelter in...

-NDTV Union Food Minister KV Thomas and representatives of states met today to discuss the National Food Security Bill and the recommendations of Parliament Standing Committee. "We intend to present the revised bill in Parliament in the budget session, so this is the last opportunity for consultations before finalising the bill," Mr Thomas said at the beginning of the meeting. The bill is one of the most ambitious legislations of the UPA government...

-The Business Standard CM has withdran 5% VAT relief on subsidized, non-subsidized cooking gas After the centre’s decision to hike fuel prices through decontrol mechanism, it is virtually double jeopardy for the people in Uttarakhand with the state government withdrawing Value Added Tax (VAT) relief on the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders. In the latest decision, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who is heading Congress-led coalition government in the hill state, withdrew 5% VAT...

-The Economic Times The Centre may find it difficult to build political consensus on the National Food Security Bill as several non-Congress-ruled states have expressed their opposition to the scheme. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have already expressed their dissent while Chhattisgarh has rolled out its own food security scheme. With more than 40% of the country's population residing in these five states, the Bill may not have the desired...

-PTI Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Police has set up a special team to trace and arrest the absconding convict in the Suryanelli gangrape case, who appeared on a Malayalam TV channel alleging that Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien was involved in the case, as claimed by the victim. The four-member team has left for Karnataka from where Dharmarajan purportedly gave the interview to the channel yesterday and made the startling claim. The...