-The Hindu Close on the heels of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's announcement of 50 per cent reservation for women in cooperatives, the State Cabinet on Monday passed a proposal to that effect. As per the decision, 50 per cent of the seats in all cooperatives, primary agricultural cooperative societies will be reserved for women. From the quota, two seats each will be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes...

-CNN-IBN Mumbai: The politics of drought in Maharashtra is turning violent. Two Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) workers have been arrested after several of them went on a rampage, attacking the Indiabulls office in Mumbai. This came hours after MNS chief Raj Thackeray said that water meant for drought-hit farmers was diverted to private companies. Raj Thackeray, at a rally in Amravati, warned of consequences if the diversion of water to the Indiabulls...

-The Hindu   The Dalit-Bahujan theory or Ambedkarism cannot negotiate with funny theories of sociologists like Ashis Nandy. The best way to counter them is to write a better theory Utsa Patnaik, a noted economist said in a small note that she circulated "Ashis Nandy had earlier made approving remarks on the 1988 Deorala burning to death of a young widow in the name of sati (terming it a courageous act in a...

-Live Mint Experts say private banks achieve lending obligations by buying out loans from non-banking entities Most private banks in India have not been able to meet the needs of farmers although they are expanding their rural and semi-urban branch network. This is why the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is insisting that at least one-fourth of the branches of the new banks that will be given a licence must be located...

-The Telegraph Teachers have backed a proposal to make aspiring civil servants’ English marks relevant to final selection but opposed suggested curbs to their freedom to write the other papers in their regional languages. The proposed reforms, notified by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on March 5 for introduction this year, are being held in abeyance by the Centre following an uproar in Parliament. An expert panel had recommended the changes, one...