With the Nitish-led NDA government firmly in the saddle in the state, with not even an iota of political instability, world powers have started taking keen interest in Bihar's progress and exploring opportunities for possible investment. In the past less than 12 hours, highly-placed representatives of the US and the UK called on the chief minister and praised him for the positive developments in the state. US undersecretary of state for political...

The Guinness Book of world record would have been happy to include this feat by a surgeon on January 7 in Bihar's Araria district - 53 sterilization operations on females in two hours with the help of unqualified staff in Kaparfora Government Middle School that did not have basic amenities like running water or sterilizing equipment. Instead, the Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Union and state governments on...

-The Deccan Herald   They demand that monthly SC/ST meet be held at commissionerate and not at Dalit colonies The members of Dalit community came down heavily against the city police commissionerate for cancelling the monthly Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe grievance meet which was scheduled to be held on Sunday, without giving prior intimation. A verbal tiff took place between the Dalits who had assembled at Commissionerate premises and the police officers...

A report sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) by the NGO, Navsarjan, has revealed that dalits in Gujarat are frequently forced to leave their native villages because of clashes with members of forward Castes. Denial of entry into temples is another reason for dalit migration in the state, the report states. The NHRC has taken serious note of the allegations made in the report. Earlier this month, it issued...

  For women, the NREGA would bring important social gains   Not being an expert on the subject and too lazy to read all the fine print, I do not know the exact allocations under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act this year. But I gather the money has been cut down, largely because the sums allocated last year were not fully used by most states. Maybe there were other considerations...