Graduates are difficult to influence with money and liquor, says one BJP campaigner flatly about the race for Bengaluru’s MLC seat. The Lok Satta candidate meanwhile is targeting precisely the reform seekers amongst the elite. Navya P K reports.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised Bengaluru world class infrastructure on the eve of elections in Karnataka, recently. Subramaniam Vincent exposed the farce in a letter to him.

In July this year, the B Marappa Memorial Trust and the Karnataka Forest Department honoured 14 professionals for their commitment towards and excellence in forest and wildlife protection. Bosky Khanna talks to two of them about their work, motivation and challenges.

A citizen’s probe unearths a racket in which toxic burnt waste is sold to farmers in the garb of vermicompost; what’s more, the packaging indicates involvement of a composting firm under the government. Shree D N and Akshatha M report from Bengaluru.

Lack of clarity over legal requirements, shoddy implementation and selective approvals have made it extremely difficult for poorer communities to build or maintain their houses in coastal zones. Vinod Patgar describes the situation based on his experience in Karnataka.

Rasika Dhavse profiles the Pune-based Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).

Cautiously, but with conviction, some farmers are switching to organic farming, and bidding goodbye to the pesticide-driven harvests of the Green Revolution. Ramesh Menon reports.

It needed the final week of an election campaign to force the most minimal attention, if that, towards the real issues people worry about. P Sainath looks at the balance of interests in pre-election Maharashtra.

Many teenagers in Mumbai are spending their evenings on the "untiring toil" of tuitions, trying to learn what their teachers should have been teaching them in junior college but don't. This is a system that unthinkingly takes away these kids' leisure time, says Dilip D'Souza.

Why were more than a dozen bills introduced late on the last day of the session, giving legislators no time to even read them? Why was there no debate? Questions are now being asked about how the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority Bill was passed, reports P Sainath.

A new law could put irrigation beyond the reach of most farmers in Vidharbha. Huge hikes in water charges, penalties against farmers with more than two children, and prison terms and large fines for non-payment, all signal the transfer of agriculture to a few rich farmers, observes P Sainath.

With the rains finally here, spurious seeds and other fake inputs introduce a deadly new element in the survival struggle of the Vidharbha farmer. Fake seeds from Andhra Pradesh have come in on a large scale. P Sainath continues his series on Vidharbha's crisis.

Many in Vidarbha, like millions elsewhere, have simply stopped seeking medical help for their ailments. They just cannot afford it. Some farmers have mortgaged land to pay health bills, writes P Sainath.

The Bhagwan Datta mandir in Belkhed, Akola, was built by Dalits when they were still Hindus. It was ostensibly the focus of the fiery violence there earlier this month. The real reasons? Caste, the decline of organised Dalit politics, the crisis in agriculture, and wage conflicts - all played a role, writes P Sainath.

In what is supposed to be an annual religious and cultural gathering, nothing is more mixed up than the speeches. Talks that start with the fine points of Gondi religion, its practice and ritual, inevitably delve into subjects with deeper socio-political resonance. From interior Maharashtra, Aparna Pallavi reports on the annual Kachhargarh fair.

Biogas plants are not new, but their size, relative unwieldyness and reliance on large quantities of cattle dung have held back their potential attractiveness for the domestic cooking sector. That may change soon, thanks to the ingenuity of Dr Anand Karve. Vinita Deshmukh reports about Karve's new award-winning compact plant.

"We are confused, whom should we believe in? The finance minister says action will be taken within 48 hours against officials who do not release the credit, and the babus say they have no notification," says sixty-year-old Tatyaji Panghate at Ghonsa in Zari Jamni block of Yavatmal. Jaideep Hardikar reports on more suicides in Vidarbha.

"This is the first year I sowed wheat on an acre of land because of availability of water in the bund along my farm," informs a three-acre farmer Vasanta Kolhe in Hatgaon village, Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. His income will see a little improvement this year, thanks to a bund that students built. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

Using a deviously devised method, Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is claiming that 75 per cent of Vidarbha farmer suicides are not due to indebtedness at all. Meanwhile, the toll has crossed 250 this year and is rising. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

More and more land in Vidarbha has come under women's cultivation, but pressures of culture and family economics are still strongly against their title to land itself. But increasingly, women are coming out to assert their rights, reports Aparna Pallavi.

A pilot privatisation effort in Mumbai's K East ward ignores the lessons from other such efforts, both in India and elsewhere. Worse still, proponents of privatisation show little regard for public particiaption, and reject other options at the outset. Shripad Dharmadhikary reports.

A audit of the Maharashtra government's post-flood disaster relief expenditure of the last two years has thrown up plenty of instances of misuse of funds. The audit has also gone into the causes of floods turning out to be disasters. Himanshu Upadhyaya has more.

Pune-based firm Neeti Solutions has designed a unique version of the popular game Snakes and Ladders, aimed at teaching children about fires and earthquakes and how to cope best in such situations. Rasika Dhavse has more.

In September, the Maharashtra Krishna Valley Development Corporation invited expressions of interest from private companies to build the canals for the Nira Deoghar dam on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. Everything about the process so far indicates the decision is not a well-thought out one, notes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

Over 400 children from 36 schools in Pune participated in the two-day event on 'Children - Disasters and Sustainable Futures' on 4-5 January this year. They gathered knowledge about disasters and how to best manage in such situations, ensuring minimum loss of life and property. Rasika Dhavse reports.

Land acquisition from Vidarbha farmers for irrigation projects is become a case of cure worse than the disease. The new projects are being commissioned over the prime minister's relief package. Jaideep Hardikar digs deeper.

A hillock along this layout is blissfully peaceful. In that sense, the place is perhaps akin to heaven, indeed. But electricity, water and roads? Well.... Jaideep Hardikar has more.

The deserted areas of Wadala lie cheek by jowl with a Mumbai Port Trust goods terminal. It lacks public transport and other amenities, but the MMRDA is hell-bent on spending Rs.4128 crores to erect a skyscraper here. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Proposals for mining in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve are pending at New Delhi for environmental clearance. Conservationists have warned against proceeding, while the state's politicians are for the mining. Jaideep Hardikar digs deeper.

There are more fronts in the fray across the State this time. And with multi-cornered contests in almost all seats, there could be some major upsets, writes P Sainath.

The huge mismatch between the Chief Minister's stated accounts and the dozens of full pages of 'news' will surely re-stoke the debate over what has now come to be called 'paid news,' writes P Sainath.

The same exclusive report, with different bylines, in three rival dailies. Swathes of advertising dolled up as news stories. Is 'paid news' getting institutionalised, asks P Sainath.

Once an offence is disclosed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, then the police must investigate, rules the court, and any government circular that interferes with this must be ignored. Krishnaraj Rao reports.

The State has quietly pushed through a set of changes to the way it treats RTI applications. Activists discovered it quite accidentally, and are shocked. Krishnaraj Rao writes.

Maharashtra's politics is in uproar, as the dubious record of the irrigation department provides fodder for a proxy NCP-Congress war. The issues, however, demand real attention, writes Shripad Dharmadhikary.

The fact that the state's most drought-prone regions have continued to devote precious resources for highly water-intensive sugarcane cultivation and sugar production indicates that there is more to the region's water crisis than climatic conditions alone. Parineeta Dandekar analyses.

A dam that was sanctioned upon its claims of being able to irrigate 30,000 hectares in a semi-arid area of Maharashtra does not even have canals 18 years after initiation, but spawns industrial development! Findings by Parineeta Dandekar typify the issues of many large dams in the state.

Jackfruit from the farm of Maharashtra's Prakash Sawanth yielded fruit in a record two years, an unheard of agricultural phenomenon in the country. Shrikrishna D reports on the many specialities of the new variety.

While formal education on climate change is largely structured around doctrines and laws targeted at mature minds, some have realised the importance of building awareness and inspiring action among the younger brigade.Angelica Pereira reports from Mumbai.

Even before the first line of the much-anticipated Mumbai Metro becomes functional, a number of issues have cropped up, most notably one over the pricing of tickets. Darryl D’Monte tracks the arguments, with comparisons to metro rail elsewhere.

Elections in Bihar move into the final phase today. Polling began on 18 October with the first of four phases. For a total of 243 seats in the State Assembly, 1607 candidates have been in the running. Of these, 446 candidates (nearly 2 competitors per seat) have criminal records. Varupi Jain reports.

In a number of dalit settlements in Gaya, Bihar, there are school structures but no teachers. In some places, where there are both, as in Parariya village, the dominant Yadavs make intrusive and insulting remarks that do not provide a facilitating environment. Rahul Ramagundam reports.

Despite what it has done to itself in recent years, history should still remember the Indian National Congress as one of the great political parties of the modern world. That, says Ramachandra Guha, explains why he is particularly angry with it.

दुनियाभर में मास्क पहनने को लेकर जरूरी एडवाइजरी जारी की गई है. N-95 और सर्जिकल मास्क की कमी नजर आ रही है जिसके चलते लोग घर पर ही मास्क बना रहे हैं.

यह स्पेशल एडीशन बाइक बीएस-6 वर्जन से एक लाख रुपये सस्ती पड़ेगी. बीएस-6 इंजन वाली कावासाकी Z900 की कीमत 8.5 लाख से 9 लाख रुपये है.

हाल ही में कंपनी ने घोषणा की थी कि अब 500 सीसी की क्षमता वाले क्लासिक और थंडरबर्ड मॉडल की बिक्री अब नहीं की जाएगी.

हीरो मोटोकॉर्प (HeroMotoCorp launches Passion Pro 2020) ने अपनी नई बीएस-6 कम्प्लाइंट वाली बाइक्स लॉन्च की हैं. कंपनी ने अपनी सबसे लोकप्रिय बाइकों में से एक पैशन प्रो और ग्लैमर के नए अपडेटेड बीएस-6 मॉडल्स लॉन्च किए हैं.

इसकी कीमत 40.90 लाख रुपये एक्स-शोरूम से शुरू होती है और 46.54 लाख रुपये तक जाती है.

एक ब्राजीलियन  वेबसाइट पर Jeep Compass का नया मॉडल लीक हुआ है. इसके मुताबिक, इस मॉडल का नाम Jeep Grand Compass होगा जो कि एक 7-सीटर SUV होगी.

IAS अधिकारी संजय दीक्षित (Sanjay Dixit) ने एक मामले में जावेद अख्तर (Javed Akhtar) से कई सारे सवाल पूछ डाले और साथ ही कहा कि आपको इतिहास का ठीक प्रकार से ज्ञान नहीं है.