For an outpost town with little hope, it's nothing short of a miracle. Just some 20 km away from the Nepal border, Narkatiaganj village is one of Bihar's dens of extortion and kidnapping. But a bit more reassuring picture emerges when you visit its primary health centre (PHC), buzzing with activity as seven doctors attend to nearly 300 patients a day.

In the backdrop of bumper wheat production estimates this year, the process of wheat procurement by the state agencies, such as the Food Corporation of India (FCI), in Uttar Pradesh has started and will continue till June 30. UP is the largest wheat producing state in the country and provides almost 35 per cent to the country's food basket.

Bio-fuels hold potential as an energy alternative

Bio-fuels have recently been attracting the global spotlight for their potential as an energy alternative. Though increasing environmental concerns have led to a simultaneous cost-benefit analysis, the scales are still tilting in favour of bio-fuels.

Going, going, almost gone. But never quite. It's a pattern that's repeating itself with an ugly regularity. Just as Mumbai begins to hope that it is finally getting rid of the spectre of polio, a case pops up in some slum. And it is back to square one, with renewed mass immunisation drives, door-to-door rounds and mop up programmes.

Perturbed by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's frequent visits to Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has advised him to rise above party politics and instead help the state Government meet its demand for a special package of Rs 80,000 crore.

In the chronically drought-hit Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh where natural rainfall over the past four years has been scarce, causing a severe drinking water and agrarian crisis, creating artificial rain through cloud seeding with the help of small airplanes is being seen as a viable alternative to obviate the people's miseries. A similar experiment has yielded satisfactory results in Andhra Pradesh.

RELIANCE Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (R-ADAG)-promoted 1,200 mw Rosa power project in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is slated to be completed by early 2010, nine months ahead of schedule. According to sources, its construction is progressing and the first phase is all set to commence operation in the second quarter of 2009. Work on the second phase is expected to be completed by early 2010.

AGRICULTURE, food and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday frustrated attempts by the Congress Left-combine to put the blame for the current bout of inflation on opposition-ruled states.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) has finally decided to complete work on a number of roads, including the 12-kilometre expressway linking Greater Noida to NH-24 in Ghaziabad. While 10.5 kilometres of the 12-kilometre expressway having been completed five years ago, a 1.5-kilometre stretch on NH-24 had been encroached upon. Now, GDA vice-chairman SK Dwivedi said compensation and alternative plots of land will provided to residents along the route to clear the area in order to complete the expressway.

There is discouraging news for the 1.76 lakh applicants of the countermanded draw of plots of July 2, 2004, who thought they still had a chance of competing in a fresh draw. The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) board has already passed a resolution that about 60% of the 1,250 plots should be auctioned. The market rates of these