Will Congress say yes? Patna: apart from the violence on the streets, the JD[U] leaders have been busy garnering support for their government. According to a report, the Congress is now likely to vote in favour of Mr Kumar’s government, in a late night development. If that happens, Nitish’s government will be securely in majority and safe from immediate danger. And yet this dependence adds an element of risk for JD[U] in the long run! Nitish Kumar’s Bihar government faces a trust vote in the state legislature today. His party, the Janata Dal United or JD(U), has 118 legislators.... 

  BJP-JD[U]: betrayal through fisticuffs!Patna: there were some ugly scenes staged around the Beerchand Patel Marg, an area where the political parties have their offices in Patna. Two days after the Janata Dal (United) called it quits with Bharatiya Janata Party, the friends-turned-foes on Tuesday clashed outside the BJP office here, leaving many injured. While the principal opposition party observed ‘Vishwasghat Diwas’ across Bihar, JD(U) and BJP workers beat each other up with bamboo sticks and iron rods in Patna during the shutdown, injuring nearly half a dozen workers of... 

  Modi: the divisive factor! Accusing the BJP of forcing it to walk out of the alliance by not being forthcoming on Narendra Modi’s future role, senior JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari on Saturday said that the announcement of a split in the coalition was a “mere formality” now. Tiwari also dubbed Modi as an “arrogant” and “divisive personality” who cannot take all sections along. Interestingly, the JD[U] has refrained from making ‘communalism’ or the Gujarat riots as the main issue in its several statements. This comes after jairam Ramesh, the Congress... 

  global warming: time for alarm! Varanasi: In view of the rampant weather change and risk factors involved with it in south Asian countries, researchers at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) are contributing in implementation of the Thimpu Statement on Climate Change in collaboration with United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC). RK Mall of Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, BHU has been given a task to prepare a comprehensive study of the policy, institutional landscape and resource allocation for climate... 

  Buying online: India The world’s largest online retailer Amazon has finally opened up its shop in the fast expanding Indian e-commerce market. The US-based online retailer quietly announced yesterday the launch of its flagship selling platform for Indian buyers — www.amazon.in, alongside a service for domestic retailers wanting to generate online sales and a delivery service for third-party vendors with no back-end infrastructure. The Amazon India marketplace however begins by selling books, films, TV shows and will soon be adding mobile phones and cameras to its portfolio. While... 

    An insecure seat! Patna: according to reports, raids conducted by the state vigilance investigation bureau and the economic offence unit (EOU) of the state police on Thursday yielded disproportionate properties worth about Rs 20 crore. Among those raided are a motor vehicle inspector (MVI), Girish Kumar, Ramchandra Sharma, an executive engineer in building construction department at Patna and Awdhesh Kumar Mandal, an executive engineer of building construction department. The police seized documents relating to properties worth over Rs 4.50 crore from Sharma’s premises. Director... 

  Editorial note: even as debates rage on the state and the fate democracy in India, how about the little matter of democracy within the party? Paradox number 1- party structures, whether in the Congress or the numerous regional formations may now be safely declared as MORE [and this is a serious proposition rather than condemnatory rhetoric]   feudal than the remotest of villages in Andhra, UP, Karnataka, Bihar, Kerala or well, incredibly the North East, including even more incredibly Mizoram. And this includes the Left broadly, the  CPM, CPI or the extreme Marxist- Leninist- Maoist... 

  Maharajganj: the big fight! Patna: a great deal is at stake for both Nitish Kumar and Laloo Yadav at the Maharajganj by-elections. Understandably, a great deal of nervousness is also apparent in the behaviour of the party members and bosses. According to reports, the RashtriyaJanataDal (RJD) leader Prabhunath Singh had forcibly snatched IAS officer Alok Ranjan Ghosh’s camera as he was recording checking of the unauthorized vehicle, carrying the RJD candidate’s posters. Maharajganj goes to the polling on June 2. “We stopped the vehicle after seeing that no permit of poll... 

  Kalahandi: from starvation to record produce! Bhubaneswar: Kalahandi for decades has stood for starvation and utter poverty. But the image needs to be modified now in the light of some new facts. Odisha’s Kalahandi district — once the cause of global embarrassment for India due to its high number of starvation deaths — today stands tall with a five-fold increase in its rice production since 1999, figures reveal. The agriculture ministry’s recent crop data ranks Kalahandi among the top 25 rice producing districts of India. The three-year average of its rice production ending 2010-11... 

  Peeking eyes: to end cricket mischief! New Delhi: Against the backdrop of allegations of spot-fixing during IPL matches, Union Minister Ajay Maken today said the BCCI – the national governing body for cricket in India – should come under the ambit of the RTI Act. “BCCI should agree to come under RTI. Any organisation entrusted with job of selecting a National Team can not call itself a Private Body!,” Maken, who till recently held the Sports portfolio, twitted. His Twitter account clarifies that the Union minister’s tweets are personal. Maken, who holds Housing...