Newswallah: Bharat Edition

Jammu and Kashmir: A team comprising professionals from 11 companies began a visit to the state Friday as part of a central government program to train unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir, The New Indian Express reported.  The government sanctioned 10 billion rupees, or $185 million, for the program in 2012, the report noted.

Assam: The mother of a four-year-old girl has petitioned the High Court in Guwahati against a Catholic Mission-run school for preventing her child from attending classes while wearing a “hijab” or headscarf, The Hindu reported. The petition seeks that the management of the school, situated in Golaghat district of Assam, allow the Muslim girl to practice her religious right by letting her wear the headscarf with the school uniform.

Tripura: The northeastern state will be declared fully literate on World Literacy Day in September this year, according to an Indo-Asian News Service report in The Times of India. Tripura had the third-highest literacy rate in the country, according to the 2011 census, the state’s finance minister, Badal Choudhury, said in an interview to the news agency. He added that all the government’s efforts to attain 100 percent literacy “have now borne fruit.”

Bihar: A special package of 12 billion rupees, or $ 220 million, has been approved by the central government for development projects in the state for the remaining period of the 12th five-year plan that started in 2012, according to an Indo-Asian News Service report in The Times of India.

Maharashtra: A report presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the state legislature on Thursday points to cost overruns of nearly $5 billion and time overruns of up to 40 years in irrigation projects in the state, Daily News & Analysis, reported. The auditor found that in a majority of the 426 incomplete irrigation projects, the money spent far overran the initial budget, while the work in many still remains unfinished.

Karnataka: Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or ASSOCHAM, an Indian trade group, offered advice to political parties for social and industrial priorities to emphasize in their manifestos for the state elections scheduled for next month, The Hindu reported. Their suggestions are aimed at helping the state achieve double-digit growth in the next decade.