Five must-read stories—March 2

Maha civic polls show EVMs may be ‘easily vulnerable machines’

Though the Maharashtra State Election Commission has maintained that the entire civic polls process was transparent and foolproof, there have been widespread protests against the “EVM scam” with candidates pointing out to discrepancies in votes cast and votes counted, reports The Quint.

River Ganga unlikely to be cleaned up by 2018

The NDA Government is unlikely to be able to clean the Ganga by 2018, a target set by Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti. Reasons given include “unreasonable” directions by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) questioning the operating capacity of sewage treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh, reports The Hindu.

Another IAS officer on SIT radar in Bihar question paper scam

Another IAS officer is on the radar of the special investigation team (SIT) probing the leak of question papers of the clerical grade examination conducted by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), reports The Telegraph.

53% of women have bank accounts, up from 15% in 2006

India has witnessed an impressive jump in financial inclusion of women, with 53% of the female population now having bank accounts as compared to a mere 15% a decade ago, according to the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS). A Times of India report.

WHO names 12 superbugs; most are present in India

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has published its first ever list of antibiotic-resistant 'priority pathogens' — a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health. This is bad news for India as most of these 12 superbugs have presence in the country, reports The Times of India.