-Express News Service   Concerned over the increasing instances of senior civil and police officers resigning at the last minute to contest polls, the Election Commission of India has asked the government to bring in a “cooling off period” clause for government officers who contest elections. According to sources, many senior officials were found to misuse their positions to nurture their prospective constituencies before finally quitting their jobs to contest elections. In a letter...

-PTI  A Dalit man’s hands and legs were chopped off by three persons in Rajgarh district because he had complained to police that they were tapping electricity from a power meter in his field. The victim, identified as Jagdish, was taken to Bhopal for treatment yesterday and was in a serious condition, the police said. Yesterday morning, at Pagari Bangla village in Rajgarh, Arjun Thakur, Shiva Gurjar and Madan attacked Jagdish with an...

-The Economic Times The charges of embezzlement of funds for the rural employment scheme may be contributing to the political battle between the Congress and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh, but it appears that, in real terms, political wrangling does not have any significant effect on its implementation. According to a study by the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, the UP government's lack of ownership of the programme, along with low...

-The Deccan Herald The State government on Saturday said there will not be any delay in replying to RTI applications. In reply to a report in the Deccan Herald titled ‘Waiting for RTI replies just got longer’, which appeared on Saturday, the press secretary to the Chief Minister said the new rule of approaching the First Appellate Authority (FAA) and waiting for 45 days is meant only to prevent the influx of...

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on Friday signalled its intent to deregulate the sugar industry, a move that could potentially stoke a political backlash, especially at a time when states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand—all sugarcane-growing regions—are in the middle of an election campaign. The opposition claimed that not only was it anti-farmer, it also violated the electoral code of conduct prevalent in five states, while sugar stocks of...