With India leading, G4 countries pitch for UNSC membership

With India leading, G4 countries pitch for UNSC membership

India, along with the other G4 countries of Brazil, Germany and Japan, on Saturday pushed for reform of the UN Security Council, stressing they are “legitimate candidates” for permanent membership in an expanded and reformed council and supported each other’s candidature. At a special summit, convened by India, of the G4, being held after a […]

From proxies to politicians: Bihar’s female MLAs

From proxies to politicians: Bihar’s female MLAs

Thirty-five-years-ago, Bhagirathi Devi was a sweeper in the block development office in Narkatiyaganj, a town in Bihar’s West Champaran district. Today, she is a third-term member of the legislative assembly (MLA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), representing the Ramnagar (formerly Shikarpur) constituency in northwestern Bihar, one of 34 female MLAs in the 243-member house. […]

My sole aim is to oust Nitish, says former Bihar CM Manjhi

My sole aim is to oust Nitish, says former Bihar CM Manjhi

Former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) president Jitan Ram Manjhi says his sole aim in the assembly elections is to oust Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The 70-year-old, a friend-turned-foe of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader, also feels it is wrong to dub the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi […]

A win-win situation for Mamata and Sourav Ganguly

A win-win situation for Mamata and Sourav Ganguly

All those who followed Sourav Ganguly closely are not surprised at the recent turn of events in his own life and that in the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Kolkata journalists, who keep a track of his cricket and business interests, had an I-knew-it-was-coming look when he was “elected”/”appointed” president of the CAB. The question […]

Delhi celebrates Eid with enthusiasm

Delhi celebrates Eid with enthusiasm

People celebrated Eid-ul-Azha with joy and fervour here on Friday, with thousands of Muslims thronging mosques early in the day to offer Eid prayers. Though most of the elderly men preferred praying at Old Delhi’s Jama Masjid, the country’s biggest mosque, others preferred praying at mosques located near their homes. “To mark this occasion every […]

Why Masahun Khatun and 50,000 pregnant women died

Why Masahun Khatun and 50,000 pregnant women died

Last year, in eastern BiharÂ’s Phulwari Sharif, 24-year-old Masahun Khatun was five months pregnant when she fell in the courtyard of her house. For the next three weeks, Masahun and her husband shuttled between government hospitals and private practitioners, spending over Rs.40,000 on healthcare, as they tried to get an abortion. Masahun did not survive […]

GEM OF AN IDEA! by SANJAY B JUMAANI

GEM OF AN IDEA! by SANJAY B JUMAANI

It is customary to wear new clothes, buy gold during the festive season to appease ones respective planets {Grahas}; one can do so by wearing their Lucky colors, for increasing the magnetic attraction. Or can even invest in their lucky gems, or birth stones, what with Gold prices so stagnant! Sounds like a Gem of […]