By Ratnakar Tripathy  hanging by a thread: important life decisions! This week two incidents made a great impression on me. That usually means one is unable to stop thinking about them. I know I will not be able to stop thinking about them for some time to come. First, in Mumbai, where a young married woman hanged herself by the ceiling fan in the middle of an online conversation with her estranged husband, whose family was asking for dowry. The camera was on through all this. Yes, he saw her kill herself! Second, near Bhagalpur in Bihar, where a young man and his girlfriend were waylaid... 

    Dayamani Barla bihardays Ranchi: according to reports, Cultural Survival, an international NGO, recently recognized the work of the leader of several of such people’s movements in Jharkhand – tribal activist and journalist Dayamani Barla – awarding her the 2013 Ellen L. Lutz Indigenous Rights Award for protecting the rights of tribals. For this award, Ms. Barla was chosen from among 60 international nominees. Dayamani Barla, 48, a Munda adivasi has led people’s movements against displacement for over decade gained prominence when she travelled across villages in four... 

    Married and settled: at Class III Patna: corruption is indeed an arena where the Indians from all parts of the country show their innovative best. You may well imagine officials at all levels neglecting their work, their feet up on the table and staring at the blank walls, waiting for ideas, till the eureka moment arrives. Or else, you may imagine them in a huddle, in a heated debate over the ‘right way’, the ‘foolproof way’ to beat the system. All that remains to be done then is to decide on a close circle of beneficiaries as accomplices so the matter doesn’t come... 

  Skyfisher: the new player! Patna : For the first time, daily flights by a private operator will connect Varanasi to three cities in Bihar. The service, that will be run by SkyFisher Airways, will start either by the end of this month or the first week of June, officials said yesterday. The 12-seater aircraft would make to and fro flights connecting Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Varanasi in its first phase, they said. The plane will be able to accommodate only nine passengers and the rest three seats will be reserved, Vishal Kashyap, General Manager, SkyFisher Airways said. In the... 

  As in Mumbai, so in Patna! Patna: Another male bastion is set to be stormed. The streets of Patna, considered till recently to be most vulnerable and quite unsafe for women, will soon have autorickshaws being run by girls/women. A select group of girls, for the first time in Patna’s chequered history, has volunteered to learn driving skills. After a one-month rigorous training, these girls would ferry passengers in autorickshaws. Neha Sharma is studying law, but is keen to learn autorickshaw driving. Clad in a track suit, she reaches the Bihar Veterinary College ground eve­ry Sunday to... 

  By Ratnakar Tripathy   Thinking Indian politics! Lazy is Sunday. Thus this! It remains a matter of debate whether Bihar will gain much from its impending special status. I will stay away from this debate as a sensible layman. But it does indicate two important things to me – a perception that all Bihar needs from the centre is a special package and Bihar will take care of itself rest of the time. This is no longer unique to Bihar. Several other states have turned inwards in the awareness that the centre is basically incapable of doing much for them. This is a sign of the changing... 

  Diamond polishing: shopfloor! Patna: according to reports, the state’s first diamond processing unit was inaugurated at the Patliputra Industrial Area here on Thursday by chief minister Nitish Kumar. The unit has been set up by a leading diamond and jewellery firm of the country, Shrenuj and Company. It is widely known that 30% of skilled workers in the diamond hub of Surat are said to belong to Bihar. This could well be a case of reverse migration – instead of Bihari labour heading for Surat, skilled Bihari labour heading back to Bihar to find employment!  The new unit currently... 

    The prize-winning master plan! Patna: In a major step towards realising the ambitious Nalanda International University, coming up in Rajgir in Bihar, an international jury has selected the architectural design of an Ahmedabad-based firm for the varsity. The design of Ahmedabad-based company Vastu Shilpa Consultants  was selected by a jury that comprised top architects from Singapore, China, Japan and India. Vice Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal, addressing the media here Thursday, said 79 proposals had been received and eight final entries were shortlisted. B.V Doshi, principal architect... 

  Sreesanth: in trouble now! Mumbai: Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ankit Chavan and Ajit Chandilia, have been arrested by the Delhi Police on charges of spot-fixing in the IPL. Delhi police have arrested seven bookies and are looking out for more. Bookies from Maharashtra have also been arrested on charges of spot-fixing. TV reports further added that the players were even involved in spot fixing in Rajasthan Royals’ match on Wednesday with Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. Evidence has been found by Delhi police from tapping phones of several cricketers and bookies and... 

by Ratnakar Tripathy Why agricultural productivity remains low in Bihar is by itself a clichéd question carrying an air of obviousness. The big landlord is either dormant or has better things to do than agriculture, a job in Patna for example. His sharecroppers are too uncertain about their land-holdings to invest seriously. When they are willing, they don’t have the knowhow or the resources. Those willing may also have too small a piece of land to take a risk or make a difference. In brief, it’s a vicious circle that no land reform based on redistribution may be able to solve. To put it...