Law rules oftener: Bihar Patna: truly, custodial deaths must be an important measure of a society’s law and order record – for the simple reason that a citizen is most vulnerable when in police custody, often seen as equivalent to a sentence on its own. The Bihar cop seems to have turned somewhat economical with misdemeanour – a piece of good news for the state. Bihar has improved its position from eighth to thirteenth in the number of police custodial deaths recorded in the country between 2005 and 2010. According to the latest report compiled by the National Human Rights Commission... 

Stop violence: or else! Parsa Bazar, Bihar: how traumatic a rape can be for a woman may be gauged by this incident – a hurt so strong she stopped caring for her life, property and future. Others may be less daring or vindictive but the levels of pain and humiliation remain the same. According to reports, a middle-aged widow, who was allegedly raped by a fellow villager, locked him up and set her house on fire and thereby killed him. The police said the incident took place at Switha village under Parsa Bazar police station on the outskirts of Patna at around 1 am on Tuesday when a drunk Bhola... 

  Hidden money: uncomfortable but safe! Patna: what the title suggests is easier said than done – the whole idea behind the unholy earnings is to display proudly, within the family, the extended family and relatives as well as the neighbourhood. This is only possible by building a big house, keeping expensive cars and lavish spending on social occasions. Otherwise, the corrupt may rue, what is the point of making so much money! It is interesting that people who are smart enough to sniff out all possible chances for on the side earnings, do not have the self-control required to stay safe,... 

Prof. Mohammad Warsi Patna/Darbhanga/St Louis, USA: a Bihari, a son of the soil, an NRI from Darbhanga has gone and done a job that we Biharis need to further continue. He has been able to define, discover and identify a separate dialect in Bihar’s Darbhanga. Those who come from small town Bihar may now begin to hypothesize the existence of several other dialects in different parts of the state. it is of course for an expert to decide if the find is a real one, and the alleged dialect to use legalese is actually one. Most often dialect speakers find a name for their dialect, but clearly at times,... 

Motihari: Reserve Bank of India has alerted all the branches of banks in north Bihar adjoining Indo-Nepal border to take serious precaution in transactions of currencies at their counters as this area has been marked as sensitive for circulation of fake currency notes .The RBI circulated a letter directing the banks to take extra precaution in transaction of Rs 100, 500 and 1000 notes and install machines to check fake notes. Fake note: telltale signs! DGM D K Panda of Muzaffarpur zone of State Bank of India said that two screening machines are being installed in each bank for counting of notes... 

  Shivering Bihar! Patna: for nearly a fortnight, Patna has not seen a full sunny day. Mornings start with fogs of various densities and after much struggle, the sun may show its face briefly around mid-day. Those hoping to bask in the sun however give up and vanish from their terraces by 2 PM. The only hope for the Bihar public is the weather gods would prove the forecasts by the MET wrong out of spite, as they often do. The cold wave intensified in Bihar on Wednesday with chilly winds from North and Eastern region of the Himalayas sweeping the plain districts of the state even as Gaya remained... 

After Patna and Gaya, Darbhanga gets its city buses!   Patna/Darbhanga: after the commuters of Patna and Gaya got their ring route bus service, it is now the turn of Darbhanga!  According to reports, the Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) will soon start plying seven buses in Darbhanga. The agreements and respective permits for the seven vehicles under the ring route bus service for Darbhanga have been finalised and most buses have been delivered. Thus, the corporation is likely to launch these buses within a week. The vehicles would be operated from the bus depots of the... 

Nitish promises to get you your strong Lokayukta: check out nitishspeaks.blogspot.com   Patna: in an interesting development when Nitish Kumar came back to his blogging activity yesterday, it was to assure his readers that they are indeed getting their strong Lokayukta in Bihar and that the chief minister will come under its ambit. Last time Nitish made a post on his blog was before the assembly elections on October 5, 2010. Nitish wrote ‘I am in favour of bringing the chief minister under its ambit. I am working towards making the institution of Lokayukta more effective and broad-based... 

Now a new Bihari solution to corruption: turn the corrupt official’s dream-house into a dream-school!  Patna: a cynical joke in social circles in Bihar goes like this – ‘want to build a school for children in Bihar? So go, build it but don’t expect anyone to remember you for the good deed. But want to build a school for children and become famous for it? There is the more elaborate path – become an official, amass wealth through corrupt means and build a huge house and sit and wait because the rest will follow’. The cynical joke has something to do with the state of school buildings... 

A procession of 227 Sitamarhi mukhiyas may be marched to prison for solar scam!   Patna: according to latest reports, the Patna High Court has upheld the order passed by a chief judicial magistrate [CJM] to issue non-bailable warrants of arrest against 227 mukhiyas of Sitamarhi district. The mukhiyas are allegedly involved in financial irregularities in the distribution of solar lights worth Rs 18 crore. The timing of the judgment will not escape the reader’s attention – even as Anna Hazare may be about to break his fast at Ramlila Maidan, Bihar mukhiyas are having to face the consequences...