By Ratnakar Tripathy Lazy is Sunday. Thus this! Thinking Indian politics! 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 times that... 

    Assam is handy for filing! Guwahati: it is normally a privilege to have a prime minister file for nomination from your city. But when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Guwahati on Wednesday to submit his nomination papers seeking re-election to the Rajya Sabha for the fourth consecutive time, it was amid protests by opposition political parties and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU). While the AGP and BJP staged demonstrations opposing Singh’s re-nomination from Assam, the AASU demonstrated by parading 15 persons with Manmohan Singh masks, each holding a placard... 

  Laloo: kerosene or Electricity? Patna: when it comes to social justice, Laloo Yadav will have a thing or two to say. But will Laloo have anything substantial to say or promise on Bihar’s development. Laloo as is well known never had a development agenda. Will he project one now so late in his career? These are the questions looming over his Raila on 15th May, when he may succeed in collecting massive crowds in Patna to listen to him. Will Laloo have much to say at all, except mouthing the usual the rhetoric for change?? As the date for the RJD’s ‘Parivartan’ rally is... 

  Special cushions: Bihar cheered and favoured! Patna: In a move that is bound to appease Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said a high-level sub-committee will soon be constituted to finalise the new criteria for “backwardness.” He also added that under the new criteria Bihar would qualify for ‘special status’ as a backward state. “The criteria is to determine backwardness. Once we agree on this criteria, once we implement the criteria, states will qualify under that criteria and going by whatever information that I have, Bihar... 

    Ambani: safest possible! New Delhi: In an apparent reference to recently provided security cover to industrialist Mukesh Ambani, the Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned the rationale behind the move even as the common man continues to feel unsafe for want of protection. “We read in newspapers that the Ministry of Home has directed for CRPF security to an individual. Why should a private businessman in Mumbai be provided state security? If they have threat perception, let them engage private security. Why should state security be provided to them? Private businessmen getting security... 

    Blood on hand: yet blameless! Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was Tuesday acquitted of all charges by a Delhi court in one of the three 1984 anti-Sikh riots cases, a verdict that evoked vociferous protests from victims’ families, one of whom hurled a shoe at the judge. District and sessions judge JR Aryan let off Kumar in the 29-year-old case in which he was accused of murder and of instigating a riotous mob that killed five Sikhs in Delhi’s cantonment area. Five others — Balwan Khokkar, former councillor, Mahender Yadav, former MLA, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain... 

  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,”... 

    Modi vs Nitish: masks vs models! Patna/Ahmadabad: what is the Gujarat model of development? To put it simply, provide infrastructure, incentives and land to the investor in a resource rich state and wait for the positive results to follow. As for the people, let them find their place in the economic scheme of things. If and when they happen to come in the way of the development juggernaut, just push them under. Does this amount to a model or a vision is the question, since every state is trying to do exactly the same to the best of its ability. But the question is – is Bihar’s development... 

  Modi nightmare: coming to repay debt! Gandhinagar: Hours after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took an indirect dig at Narendra Modi for his “exclusivist politics”, the Gujarat chief minister bared his national ambitions by saying it was time for him to repay his “debt to Mother India”. “People are saying that I have repaid the debt of Gujarat. They are now asking me to repay the debt owed to Mother India. Every citizen owed a debt to the country. If you are a teacher, your duty is towards your students. If you are a doctor, you owe it to your patients,”... 

  Afghanistan: the future to avoid! New Delhi: With the US withdrawal from Afghanistan coming closer, neighbouring countries are hedging against bad outcomes in that part of the world. The jitteriness is palpable, with Afghanistan’s neighbours all tying up with each other in different combinations as they scramble to contain what many fear a Taliban surge supported by Pakistan and extremism/terrorism spilling over its borders. China is teaming up with Russia and Pakistan on a trilateral on Afghanistan, and the first meeting is scheduled in a few weeks. This comes weeks after India, Russia...