The recently released figures from the Central Statistical Organisation that estimate how fast India’s states have been growing have undoubtedly been the biggest economic news of the new year. There are many fascinating aspects to the new numbers: for example, that Bihar is the country’s second-fastest growing state, growing at 11.03 per cent annually in the years since 2004-05 — only 0.02 per cent behind Gujarat, a more familiar success...

Kabul (Reuters): Dozens of Indian labourers have been forced to take refuge in a Sikh temple in Kabul after job agents who promised lucrative jobs in the unstable capital disappeared, leaving the men penniless and without passports. Billions of dollars in western military contracts have turned Afghanistan — long a source of refugees fleeing chronic conflict — into an unlikely magnet for migrant workers willing to risk their lives for a...

Roads “as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks” was a promise that Lalu Yadav had once given to the people of Bihar. Ironically, it is his rival Nitish Kumar who seems to be delivering on that front. Despite three years of floods followed by a year of drought, ‘backward and benighted’ Bihar reports a miraculous figure: 11% GDP growth, second only to Gujarat. The state’s economy has never grown so fast...

Unhindered commercial activity around the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is posing a serious threat to the eco-fragile zone and obstructing movement of animals. Flashy discos, motorbike racing, loud music, bright lights and lavish weddings in resorts on the periphery of the Park, in gross violation of laws and scant concern for the wildlife, are fast spoiling the peace and tranquillity of the eco-fragile zone. “There are about 3,200 beds...

After seeking reply from Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure Ltd (RGTIL) and others on Monday, the Supreme Court on Thursday again issued notice to the firm, the ministry of petroleum and others on another batch of petitions filed by land owners from Surat seeking adequate compensation from the company for using their land for laying gas pipelines to transport natural gas from Krishna-Godavari basin to Gujarat. A Bench headed by...