First such verdict by Election Commission The Election Commission delivered a historic verdict on Thursday by disqualifying Uttar Pradesh MLA Umlesh Yadav from contesting again for three years for not including in her official accounts of expenditure the amount she spent on advertisements in two Hindi dailies that were masquerading as news items. Umlesh Yadav is the wife of liquor baron and billionaire strongman D.P. Yadav and mother of Vikas Yadav, the...

For once, it is a happy farewell to the monsoon. An indulgent rain god, who overstayed for a week to compensate two successive years of drought in Jharkhand, today departed with the golden promise of a bumper winter yield. Weathermen at the Patna Meteorological Office confirmed that the monsoon trough had become weak after October 11, but faded away only today. “The rains have officially withdrawn from Jharkhand. But several parts of...

The United Progressive Alliance government on Monday chalked out its first multi-winged operation to tackle the problem of Naxalism through development programmes, implemented under the protection of Central security forces. Union Minister of Rural Development Jairam Ramesh finalised the action plan for Saranda forest area in Jharkhand, considered to be the second stronghold of the Maoists in the country, with Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto at a meeting attended by officials...

For the first time in the country, the Andhra Pradesh government is launching special courts for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on November 1 to try cases of misappropriation and fraud being committed by staff during its implementation. The special courts can impose a two-year jail term apart from ordering recovery of the amount defrauded by the accused officials if proved guilty. The courts, to be set...

Japanese encephalitis — a form of brain fever — has hit the state capital and its neighbouring areas. At least 10-12 cases of the disease are being reported at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) daily over the past few days. Dr Nigam Prakash Narayan, a senior doctor at the paediatrics ward of the hospital, said: “About 250 patients of encephalitis have been admitted to the hospital so far. Of them,...