The man was a soldier, philanderer, some say as vain as a peacock, but he could read … and that one book set him on the path that has now brought excellence in education to the world! Born Inigo Lopez de Loyola in 1491, the man known as Ignatius of Loyola entered the world in […]
New Delhi: A cabinet decision to restore some dilutions of the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act cuts no ice with the All India Ambedkar Magasabha, which will go on the August 9 strike as planned. In what is seen as a hasty attempt to avert Dalit anger across India, the Union cabinet on Wednesday […]
The 66,500 Catholics in 11 districts of Bihar State are getting ready to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Diocese of Patna, but the history of the Catholic faith in Bihar can be traced some 398 years ago, when Jesuit Father Simon Figueredo SJ came to Patna in 1620 at the invitation of the Mughal […]
I attended the First Vinay Kanth Memorial Lecture at the Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir conference hall. One reason I went was to ‘catch up’ with familiar faces I knew would be there , ( fully well knowing that most of the catching up would be a wave, a smile, and a nod), but it would […]
New Delhi: Lawyers appearing for fundamentalist faith-based organizations spared no effort to display the rampant homophobic fantasies of their clients as they argued against the repeal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In fact, their arguments seemed to indicate that almost every male in India is a repressed homosexual and that if the […]
Reshma Prasad, Bihar’s best known transgender activist, has mooted a proposal that TGs be deployed as security guards in Observation and Special homes run under the JJ Act. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar went on to ask officials to figure out if transgender persons (read transwomen) could serve as security guards at remand homes, short stay […]
Last night I got a call from a young brash reporter from a newspaper I was once associated with. Those who know me don’t have to ask which one, but let’s get on with what I have to say. This chap asks me ,’What do you have to say about the latest news about article […]
Yesterday evening, a long-lost friend called me up, out of the blue. The very first thing he asked me was, “How do you think the judgement in the 377 case will go?” I answered that I was trying not to think about it. I am yet to get over the brazen way in which a […]
Patna: Even as more evidence surfaces that in spite of draconian laws, Nitish Kumar’s much touted prohibition is neither popular nor effective, youngsters carrying backpacks are going to face random checks by policemen. So much for privacy and dignity of private citizens! On Sunday, cops nabbed an engineering graduate for bootlegging in the Patliputra Colony […]
People in Nabinagar cocked a snook at the State prohibition policy, when they grabbed and made off with pouches of ‘illicit’ country liquor from cartons that had fallen on the road. The helpless police arrived at the scene too late. Nabinagar , 169km southwest of Patna,is a town in Aurangabad district, and the incident happened […]
A ‘Save the Constitution, Save the Country’ rally was held on Sunday, attended by some 1500 people in the pouring rain. These folks came from several districts around Patna. They were ordinary folk: daily wage earners, teachers, students, a professor or two, a couple of government employees and so on and so forth. So, what […]
When this girl won a medal in a football game, she opened up a whole new field for her classmates. How? Read on! Fourteen year old Anshu Singh from Gaunpura viilage in Phulwarisarif , about 27 kilometres from Patna, is a ninth grader in Sada Public School, Phulwarisarif. Her father, Neeraj Kumar Singh, is better […]
