-The Hindu Absence of data has created difficulties in providing special facilities to BCs, says Jharkhand CM Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, leading an all-party delegation from the State, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday to demand caste-based census and handed over a memorandum for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The delegation included leaders of nine political parties including the principal Opposition party BJP and ally Congress. “Along with members of the all-party...

-CitizenMatters.in The National  Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of 1266 out of 1279 candidates who are contesting the Lok Sabha Phase I. Out of the 1266 the candidates, 213 (17%) have declared criminal cases against themselves. 146 candidates have records of serious criminal cases, out of which 10 have declared cases related to murder. 401 of them are crorepati candidates. There are 13 candidates...

-The Hindu Supreme Court verdict on the Act could increase the vulnerability of victims of atrocities, says ex-official GUNTUR (Andhra Pradesh): The Central government must bring an ordinance to remove the conditions imposed in the recent Supreme Court judgment in the implementation of the Prevention of Atrocities (SC, ST) Act, 1989 and remove all general observations made about it, said P.S. Krishnan, former Union Secretary, Ministry of Welfare, and member, National Monitoring...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA: Charges for SMS alerts on banking transactions may not squeeze account holders much but can be a reasonable earning for many banks, especially in accounts with meagre monthly transactions though income from SMS alert service goes against the advisory from the sector regulator. While Reserve Bank of India told banks to send SMS alerts for every transaction as means to fight frauds, the regulator also directed banks to...

-TheHansIndia.com Kothacheruvu (Anantapur): SC, ST farmers in several mandals in the district are opting for solar pump sets to enjoy uninterrupted power for seven hours at a stretch for their horticulture and vegetable plantations, thanks to the Rural Development Trust (RDT) which is giving a huge fillip to solar energy. Farmers unable to purchase pump sets or go in for borewells on their own, are being encouraged to form small groups...