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 Sachidanand Singh Final act: pouring! I was still at the university, biding my time. Purely for form I had myself enrolled for some easy course. With little work pressure I had time to put my chemistry knowledge to practical use. Fine powder of charcoal, called “activated charcoal”, is known to absorb colour and odour from liquids. I decided to use activated charcoal to refine the country liquor which was then available for ten rupees a bottle. It came with a hideous colour and a powerful odour.  A quick trip to the labs, some skillful negotiation with the assistant there and I came... 

  New born Tiger babies Patna, May 1: Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve in Bihar has reasons to cheer. According to latest reports, a tigress gave birth to three cubs in Bihar’s only tiger reserve — the second such development in the area in one-and-half years, an official said Wednesday. “It is a positive development for us as a tigress has given birth to three cubs in Muradpur forest range in the (Valmiki) tiger reserve,” said Santosh Tiwari, director-cum-conservator of the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in West Champaran district. He said reserve officials would maintain a strict... 

Roads are calling ???   By Prashant Kumar “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers.” Dave Barry. Dave Barry aptly sums ups the psyche of a driver. For some it’s a job. Some drive as they do not have alternative. For me, driving is a passion, a way to de-stress, of course I am not talking about driving in the choked city traffic here, but on Highways. Having participated in many national and state level rallies apart from my... 

Road repair: by private firms! Patna: For the better upkeep of the roads, the state government has approved its new road maintenance policy. Under this policy, the upkeep of the road would rest on the contractors for the period of five to nine years. The state government gave its nod to the ambitious policy earlier this week. The principal secretary of the Cabinet Department, Brajesh Mehrotra told the press, “Under this new policy, the state government has changed its entire mechanism of road maintenance. Under this new policy, the state government proposes a performance based maintenance. The... 

    Patna: Tallest Gandhi Patna: altogether at 72 feet, the world’s tallest figure of Gandhi was unveiled in Patna in Bihar yesterday. Bapu’s figure is seen standing affectionately with two children on either side in the bronze statue constructed at the Gandhi Maidan, the very heart of Patna. Funded by the state government, the Rs. 10 crore statue, inclusive of a 30-feet-high pedestal, has been built by Delhi-based sculptor Ramsutar and Sons. With this, the Parliament statue in New Delhi where the ‘Father of the Nation’ is in a meditating pose, becomes the second tallest... 

    Very Hungry God by Subodh Gupta New Delhi: The shine of a large mirror and the collective gleam of bright steel utensils arranged with an artistic purpose catch visitors eye at the ongoing India Art Fair here. And, by now, the artist behind the work is a familiar enough name. Subodh Gupta, internationally renowned artist known for fashioning signature installation art out of mundane steel and kitchen utensils is presenting another iconic art bearing his trademark. There are three other works by him showcased at the four-day fair which opened to public viewing today after a special... 

  Making of Sikki New Delhi: Sikki craft, the theme of Bihar tableau in this year’s Republic Day programme in New Delhi, has brought under focus the traditional craft women of Mithila region of the state, who has been practising the art for long. The tableau displayed artisans from Bihar making products made of sikki, a golden coloured grass grown in the wet and marshy areas around rivers and ponds in Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and other North Bihar districts. In Mithila and other parts of Bihar, palm and other leaves are also used as material to be woven into vessels for daily... 

  Ganga in Patna Patna: After failed attempts to attract private investors for the Ganga Expressway project along the banks of the river here on the lines of Mumbai’s Marine Drive, a government agency has now been roped in to construct it, an official said. “The Bihar government is committed to the mega project – Ganga Expressway – as private companies have not come forward to promote it. Now the state government’s own agency will construct it,” Road Construction Minister Nand Kishore Yadav told the press. Yadav said the government has initiated the process...