-The Hindustan Times   A slipper was hurled at Anna Hazare aide Arvind Kejriwal at a function in Lucknow on Tuesday — exactly a week after Prashant Bhushan, another Team Anna member, had been thrashed in his chamber in the Supreme Court for seeking a plebiscite in Kashmir. The black flag-waving, saffron kurta-clad attacker, Jitendra Pathak of Jalaun district in Bundelkhand, about 200 km north of Lucknow, attacked Kejriwal when he was about...

The completion of CAG audit of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the state might take four to five months. Principal Accountant General, Allahabad, Mukesh P Singh, who is heading the audit in the state, has called a meeting of all the top medical officials of the state, including Director Generals, Additional Directors and Chief Medical Officers regarding the auditing on Thursday. “We will take around four to five months to...

Everything is in short supply here, especially hope. There was a flicker of it, though, when on April 30 Prime Minister Manmohan Singhcame here with Rahul Gandhi. Maybe the people were expecting a miracle, an end to the misery created by season after season of bad crops and the resultant rising debt. Their hope proved to be short-lived. Since then, nine farmers have killed themselves in Banda district alone, the...

Panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh this time have seen unusual candidates jumping into the fray. There are teachers, shopkeepers, businessmen, relatives of politicians and even wives of BSP ministers. Some of them took leave from their normal work and some even sold their properties to take part in the polls. All claim they want to serve their village, block or district, but it is alleged that the lure of money pouring...

Documents availed through Right to Information (RTI) Act are giving sleepless nights to former pradhans contesting the panchayat elections again. Armed with these papers — mostly related to utilisation of panchayat funds — the villagers are questioning candidates who come seeking votes. The authenticity of the information being guaranteed, the candidates have no chance to argue. In village Hamirpura in Jalaun, a candidate contesting for the the gram pradhan’s seat for the...