Sad chapter in history of Jaipur lit fest ends

By Aditi Mathur

JAIPUR (Jan. 25)—When the official announcement was made at the last minute on Tuesday afternoon that Salman Rushdie would not be addressing the Jaipur Literature Festival, the festival-goers’ reaction was one of muted resignation.

I was one of a 1,000-strong crowd gathered on the Front Lawns of Diggi Palace around 4 p.m., when the venue owner, Ram Pratap Singh, confirmed the bad news that had already spread along the grapevine. There was some booing from college students sitting on the ground by the stage, but that was about it.

“I have taken a decision not to allow the video conference to go ahead on the advice of Rajasthan police,” a grim-looking Singh said. “There are a large number of people who are inside the property and a large number who are marching towards the property. This is necessary to avoid violence and harm to the property and my family.”

Young racing driver
in a hurry
to make his mark on F1

Seventeen-year-old Vikash Anand is the latest topic of discussion in both the national and the international racing circuits.

BBMP to build
16 eco-friendly
wastewater treatment plants

The Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) plans to set up 16 wastewater treatment plants that use a combination of soil and bacteria to clean water.The move is a first for Bangalore and might soon be adopted by corporate offices and gated communities.

Migrant workers
still having trouble
opening bank accounts

Migrant workers in the state are unable to open bank accounts in spite of a Reserve Bank of India notification relaxing regulations for opening them.

Twitter comes to rescue
of frustrated
cell phone users

In a country with the second-largest number of cell phone consumers and where we see rapid growth of the telecom industry, it comes as no surprise that cell phone service providers are now turning to social media to deal with consumer complaints.

Cash-strapped Kengeri veterinary hospital unable to do much for injured animals

A visit to the Kengeri Government Veterinary Hospital shows that its lack of funds has tied the hands of the veterinarians there.

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