-The Indian Express The Rajasthan government has muscled through an ordinance to disqualify its uneducated citizens from contesting the coming panchayat polls - only those who have studied till Class VIII are eligible to stand for election on the general seats. That's a remarkable change in a country where the Constitution allows anyone above the age of 25, irrespective of sex, caste or education, to contest elections to the Lok Sabha...

-Down to Earth CM Fadnavis said his government is considering Madhya Pradesh pattern of drought-proofing that follows small-scale water conservation measures Will Maharashtra finally do away with big-dam centric water management and focus on decentralised water conservation? If Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is to be believed, the new government is thinking in that direction. Speaking informally to the media during the winter session of the state legislative assembly at Nagpur, Fadnavis said that...

-Down to Earth National Human Rights Commission has sought report from the state The K Chandrasekhar Rao government in Telangana seems to have failed to deliver on its promise of reforming the crisis-ridden farm sector in the state. Unofficial figures suggest that more than 400 farmers have committed suicide in the past six months. Telangana, the youngest state in the country, came into existence on June 2 this year. Rao and other leaders...

-Down to Earth Chhattisgarh's much appreciated public distribution scheme is falling apart due to corruption and mismanagement As chhattisgarh prepares for panchayat election at the end of the year, the fate of ration card holders in the state is in limbo. During a verification drive in July-August, the state government found almost 1.3 million "unnecessary" ration cards in the possession of people. These cards have been taken back by the government and...

-The Hindu They have neither sought review of CIC ruling nor challenged it in court Seventeen months after the Central Information Commission ruled that the Right to Information Act applied to six national political parties, none of them has complied with the Act or appealed against it. A full Bench of the commission, comprising Information Commissioners Vijai Sharma, Sharat Sabharwal and Manjula Prasher, had posted a hearing on the parties' non-compliance with its...