-The Times of India Come July and you will have cash equivalent to your cooking gas subsidy in your bank account, marking the biggest shift in delivery of handouts which could help government curb leakages and reduce the strain on public finances. The switch is part of the ambitious three-phase deadline set by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to make the "kind-to-cash" transition based on the Aadhaar numbers. At a meeting chaired by Pulok...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: Demand for commercial gas has risen sharply in Bengal, prompting suggestions that the subsidy cap on domestic cylinders has unmasked one of the worst-kept secrets in the country. The sudden spurt is being attributed to demand from commercial establishments and auto-rickshaws that were so far depending heavily on the subsidised cooking gas rampantly pilfered from the domestic segment. “We have been selling 6,000 (commercial) cylinders a day (to establishments) after...

-The Indian Express An IIM-Ahmedabad analysis of education and employment amongst Muslims in the country has concluded that the minority community has a higher perception of “unfairness” and “discrimination” and that Muslims have, in fact, a stronger case for reservations than the Hindu OBCs. Incidentally, a Central government notification in December 2011 to effect 4.5 per cent minority Quota in Central educational institutes was stayed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court earlier...

-The Hindu Only voluntary rural service for medicos The State government has abolished the Compulsory Rural Service (CRS) for medical students, the provision which had led to a series of agitations by medicos in the past few years. In a Government Order dated October 8, the government has done away with the CRS and replaced it with Voluntary Rural Service (VRS). The order has also conceded the demand for allowing onetime maternity benefits for...

-The Telegraph Use of discretionary powers by the Delhi University vice-chancellor to promote Under-19 cricket captain Unmukt Chand to second year in St. Stephens College would not have been necessary had the varsity implemented the UGC guidelines on promoting sports. Chand, who led India to World Cup victory in August, stood to lose a year for low attendance but was allowed to move up last month after vice-chancellor Dinesh Singh used his...