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... 

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... 

  Zuckerberg: ‘let in talent freely’! The billionaire founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, has launched a new initiative to push for immigration reform, describing America’s current system as “unfit for today’s world.” The group, called FWD.us, (pronounced Forward US), is backed by other Silicon Valley leaders including Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer and Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of Linkedin. “We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants. And it’s a policy unfit for today’s world,”... 

  Stifling voices: through murder! Asiyani, Tiyarpara panchayat, Purnia: those who have been vocal advocates of Panchayati Raj, a most sublime ideal, need to temper their enthusiasm with caution. Clearly, local self-government may also mean local tyranny by the community or its powerful groups at times. Honour killings by local assemblies formal or informal,  labeling of women as witches, oppression of local minorities and lower castes, and just plain bloody-minded revenge by a local heavyweight, are just some of the examples of what may go wrong within the community, requiring external intervention... 

  Siddis, Gujarat: the Afro-Indian diaspora! Uttara Kannada, Karnataka: The Siddi tribe living in the hilly district of Uttara Kannada in Karnataka are gearing up for another round of celebrations. These descendants of people brought from East Africa as labourers, who believe that US president Barack Obama shares their genetic roots, are planning a gala celebration to mark Obama’s return as the US president for a second term. When Obama was first elected President in 2008, the Siddis had approached the external affairs ministry to give them permission to send a cask of honey drawn from the... 

  Killing one’s own: Mumbai Mumbai: normally when a Bihari migrant is at the receiving end of violence, it is at the hands of a local resident. But there are many instances of Biharis doing it to each other by way of dragging village quarrels to distant destinations. This happens since a migrant always follows his network when he lands up abroad. Similarly, while the distant destinations give the caste-tormented Bihari some anonymity, it also leaves him free to indulge in crime. It is likely that the criminally inclined leave the village for greater opportunities abroad – which is... 

  Women: Freedom to study Sheikhpura, Bihar: even as figures indicate that Bihar tops the list of child marriages, there are many families and women who would differ and follow the opposite path. While the khaps in Haryana are busy spreading an ‘ideology’ of child marriage, in Bihar it is practical difficulties that matter. Safety of women and the likelihood of inter-caste elopements are now turning out to be the basic reason why girls get married early. So it is really a mix of traditional reasons and contemporary reality that seems to persuade parents to marry off their girls at an early... 

    Mumbai slums: more expensive? New Delhi: Square foot for square foot, your maid probably pays more than you to live in Delhi. A rent of Rs 2,500 a month might seem meagre, but when you consider the typical shanty room measures only 8x10sqft or less, the unit rate comes to more than Rs 30 per square foot. That’s like paying Rs 30,000 a month for a two-bedroom 1,000sqft apartment. Unlike apartments, though, shanties lack toilets and bathrooms, wall sockets and running water. They are neither weather-proof nor earthquake-safe. A recent study by the School of Planning and Architecture’s... 

    Stereotypes: only others, never me! Mandya, Aug 30: according to a recent report a group of ABVP activists caused a flutter as they picked up an altercation with a group of over 150 youths travelling by a train suspecting them to be illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. However, during police intervention it came to light that the youths were construction workers from West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha heading to Bangalore, Railway Police DySP Arif Ali told the press. The incident late last night delayed the train by about half-an-hour. Railway police said some ABVP activists, who boarded the... 

  I am Raj, Raj Thakerey! Mumbai: it seems the only brave person to stand up to the national goonda of India is Asha Bhosale, an ageing singer who refused to opt out of a TV show with Pakistani guests just because Raj Thakerey threatened action against the show. If the faint-hearted producers of the show give in , that’s another matter! It needs to be admitted that the voices in response from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh do not sound great either. They seem to say – ‘we are also great goondas and we’ll take care of you’. ‘ek Bihari sab par bhari’, in brief! These are moments when the...