Today, in India’s remote northeastern states of Assam and Tripura, the first wave of the country’s 814 million eligible voters will cast their ballots as the largest election in world history gets underway. Any time the world’s most populous democracy goes to the polls, it’s a momentous undertaking. But with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stepping aside after a decade in charge, analysts say voting will take on an even greater […]

L Leopard attacks are common in many parts of India It is banter as usual in a small tea shop in Lauki Kala village bordering Nepal in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Six village elders are discussing the upcoming general elections over tea. Children play outside in the sugarcane fields. But 43-year-old Shyam Prakash is unusually silent: his life changed since his four-year-old daughter Leela was killed in a leopard attack […]

India will soon get the tallest residential tower in the world – Lodha’s World One. The tower is coming up on a 17.5-acre site, which belonged to Srinivas Cotton Mills in Mumbai. Lodha Group acquired the plot for Rs 250 crore (US$40 million). The project is estimated to complete in 2014, according to Wikipedia. World One’s architect is Pei Cobb Freed & Partners with Armani. Leslie E. Robertson Associates is […]

A string of farmers have committed suicide in western India after freak hailstorms and rains destroyed winter crops worth millions of dollars, activists and politicians said Wednesday. The unusual weather struck parts of western Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, from late February and went on to badly damage crops. A source from the Maharashtra chief minister’s office told AFP that seven suicides had been confirmed, with more killed by […]

Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours, is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month. A man smears the face of a woman with colors during celebrations marking Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, in Mumbai, India, Monday, March 17, 2014. The holiday, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marks the beginning of spring and the triumph […]

In Pic :Manju Dharra has lived 25 years on only water, milk and tea. Imagine you got sick every time you attempted to eat something delicious.Manju Dharra, a 25-year-old woman from India, is plagued with a condition that makes it impossible for her to ingest any form of solid food without getting violently ill. In fact, she hasn’t eaten anything solid for the past 25 years. Shockingly, she has survived […]

A tiger from the Corbett Tiger Reserve in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand is shown in a file photo. Forest officials said another tiger who strayed from the park killed its 10th human victim in six weeks on Sunday. (Corbett Tiger Reserve/Associated Press). A tiger prowling near villages in northern India killed its 10th person in six weeks, a day after eluding a trap set by hunters with a […]

If you want to start out as an Intelligence Bureau officer, then be prepared to earn Rs 5500 a month (basic) and expect an annual increment of Rs 175 until your salary touches Rs 9000. No wonder there is such a massive vacancy in the Intelligence Bureau which very often our politicians have accused of not providing the required alerts ahead of a terror strike. While the salary aspect to […]

Obama sent “congratulations and best wishes” on behalf of the American people to the people of India on the occasion of India’s 65th Republic Day. In a message to President Pranab Mukherjee, Obama said, “On this date, we join the people of India in celebrating its inspiring democratic heritage.” “Our partnership has always been guided by our shared values and interests,” he added. “I look forward to working with you […]

The less than gentle joke in Maharashtra is that Sharad Pawar “Saheb” has enough personal wealth to run Delhi for five years. Pawar disagrees The formal statement he has filed before the Election Commission on oath indicates that Pawar is so poor that he might barely manage to buy a mid size flat in one of the slightly better neighborhoods of Delhi He is worth just Rs 3.6 crores.  Even a casual chat […]