-NDTV Solapur: Drought has tightened its grip over Maharashtra. But ask the people of the drought hit village of Ropala in Solapur district, the epicentre of Maharahstra's drought, and they will tell you it is a crisis created not by nature but political clout. The villagers live just a few miles from the Ujani dam, one of Maharashtra's biggest, but don't receive a drop if its water. They claim it's because influential people divert...

-The Indian Express In the seven years between 2004 and 2011, the Congress received over Rs 2,004 crore from donors; the BJP got about Rs 994 crore. Smaller and regional parties too got significant sums. These amounts were declared by parties; however, the source of over 85 per cent of donations is not known. The parties say donors gave sums less than Rs 20,000, and need not be made public. The Election Commission's...

-The Business Standard Defying the Election Committee's suggestion last week, the state announced a two-phase election to be held in April The tug-of-war between the West Bengal government and State Election Commission over Panchayat poll schedule may head for a legal battle, with both sides showing no sign of compromise. After a three-hour long meeting at its office here, the state election commission today refused to accept government-announced panchayat poll dates and sent...

-The Indian Express Kolkata: West Bengal's notification for the panchayat elections marks a flash point in an ongoing tussle between the Mamata Banerjee government and the state election commission. The government notification, issued last week independently of the election authorities, has declared polls in two phases, on April 26 and 30. The election commission, headed by Meera Pandey, has been insisting on three phases. On Monday, the commission wrote to the government...

-The Hindu Mumbai: Sloppy implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) has resulted in large tracts of forests being cut down and claimed as cultivated land in Maharashtra, according to a study. Data shows that in Jalgaon district alone, more than 79 per cent claims over cultivated forest land were apparently on ineligible lands and about 25 per cent had forest cover. In Thane, adjacent to Mumbai with a high land...