Roads to Patna: east, west, north, south! Patna: according to the latest reports, Patna is now to be connected from all sides north, south, east and west – with four-lane roads. Work on such roads in all directions has been set in motion. While tender for one such road is likely to be floated soon, tenders for other projects have already been awarded. Road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav said on Tuesday that in the next three years there would be a network of four-lane roads all around the state capital. The first four-lane road is likely to be completed in 2014, he added. On... 

  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... 

  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... 

Purnia on the air-map? Purnia: People of Purnia can now reach Patna in just 45 minutes and Kolkata in 70 minutes as the much-awaited 10-seater chartered plane services would start from Chunapur air force station on November 7. Wing commander Vishwajeet Kumar, posted at Chunapur station of Indian Air Force, said initially the services would be available twice in a week, on Tuesday and Saturday. The frequency of the plane might be increased later depending on the response, he added. While Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 4,000 would be charged for one trip to Patna, the fare for Kolkata would be between Rs. 4,000... 

  Bateman Crane in Bharatpur Bharatpur: After battling water shortages for 10 long years, Bharatpur is again ready to host winged visitors in numbers not seen in the bird sanctuary since the 1990s. Water from the Goverdhan drain reached the park last week, promising a permanent solution to the water woes of Keoladeo Ghana National Park. The Goverdhan project, which became functional last Friday, uses a 17.4km pipeline to pump Yamuna flood waters from a reservoir on the Haryana-Rajasthan border to the park. The Rs 56-crore project was expected to kick off in 2009 but was delayed due to re-tendering... 

  Dhaulagiri trek: through guerrilla country! Kathmandu: Prachanda, The one-time leader of Nepal’s Maoist insurgency yesterday launched a new tourist trekking trail, giving visitors the chance to retrace the guerrillas’ footsteps. The Guerrilla Trek, a three-week hike which stretches across central and western Nepal, is designed to draw in more foreigners as the Himalayan nation seeks to rebuild an economy devastated by the 1996-2006 “people’s war”. “I hope this will be a new chapter in Nepal’s tourism. Many countries that have emerged from war have tried to capitalise on the... 

    Sher Shah’s tomb: an old drawing Sasaram: encourage a Bihari to talk of history and you can listen to a long speech on the glory of Bihar’s past for the next few hours or minutes. But how do we ‘keep’ our past? How do we ‘treat’ our past? These are questions to be pondered. Not happy with the “exceedingly dirty condition” of Sher Shah Suri’s tomb in Bihar’s Sasaram, Union minister Jairam Ramesh has shot off a letter to Culture Minister Kumari Selja seeking her intervention to protect it. The tomb of Sher Shah, one of the... 

  Stupa at Lumbini:an early drawing! Ballia: Excavations by the department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Ballia district’s Pakka Kot village have established the region’s historical importance as a major trade centre connecting Pataliputra and Lumbini between 5000 BC and seventh century AD. The department had recently carried out excavation work at the four mounds of Pakka Kot ruins and their vicinity. The findings also indicate that the region was a permanent settlement of human habitation from the Neolithic period to early... 

  The Potato men! New Delhi: according to reports, McDonald’s Corp. will shift from its near-exclusive focus on non-veg food to potato sandwiches with its two vegetarian restaurants in India next year. A first time for the world’s biggest restaurant chain. The fast-food chain will open two new outlets in northern Indian cities that are pilgrimage sites for Hindus and Sikhs, according to Rajesh Kumar Maini, a spokesman for the company’s north and east Indian operations. Of course, McDonald stayed away from beef and pork products menu in India with its Hindu and Muslim populations. The... 

  Reaching everywhere! New Delhi: After getting the UPA government to sanction two central universities for Bihar, CM Nitish Kumar has now got the Centre’s clearance for construction of 3,846 km of rural roads and 96 bridges in the state that will cost Rs 2,439 crore. The state government will spend only Rs 54.41 crore, with the Union rural development ministry bearing rest of the cost on construction of rural roads and bridges under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in what appears to be part of Congress’s significant political outreach to a NDA ally. The prompt approval...