It’s a two-storey palatial structure of deep pink sandstone, with granite floors and a massive dome. It’s coming up at 9 Mall Avenue in Lucknow — outgoing chief minister Mayawati’s latest acquisition of prime real estate in the city. It is fenced by high pink sandstone walls, with four watch towers manned by security personnel at the corners. Barricades on the road in front kept out the curious crowds who went...

Nature serves well even when rivers run dry. Students of Government Polytechnic-Nirsa who recently unearthed four artesian wells in a rocky stretch of Dhanbad, will surely vouch for the natural source of water that promises succour as another arid summer looms. The nine final-year civil engineering (diploma) students, under the guidance of senior lecturer of the institute Suresh Prasad Yadav, spotted the four wells in Baliapur block of the district — one...

-AP The microfinance industry pursued a path of rapid business growth in recent years; two investigations now link it to debtor suicides   First they were stripped of their utensils, furniture, mobile phones, television sets, ration cards and heirloom gold jewellery. Then, some of them drank pesticide. One woman threw herself into a pond. Another jumped into a well with her children. Sometimes, the debt collectors watched nearby. More than 200 poor, debt-ridden residents of...

Dalit leader Mayawati spent Rs 20,12,60,000 of public money over the past one year to renovate her bungalow at 13, Mall Avenue, in Lucknow. She needs Rs 2 crore more. Recently, Mayawati moved out of the chief minister's official residence and shifted to her home, ostensibly because she considers 13 to be her lucky number. The Rs 20 crore was spent from the chief minister's contingency fund, according to the supplementary...

The Comptroller and Auditor General has hauled up the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh for spending much more than the initially sanctioned amounts on construction activities at the Chief Minister's two dream parks, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Parivartan Sthal and Kanshiram Smarak Sthal, in Lucknow. In a report tabled in the UP assembly on Friday, CAG also said that it was unable to ascertain the "correctness" of the expenditure made on erecting...