Defying a Maoist boycott and braving the scorching sun, nearly half of the over 26 lakh electorate voted peacefully in the first four hours of polling in the sixth and final phase of the West Bengal elections on Tuesday.

Polling for the sixth and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections ended peacefully today with a 83.48 per cent voter turnout in 14 Maoist-hit constituencies spread over three districts.

If a rogue asteroid careens towards earth, as Hollywood thrillers Armageddon and Deep Impact have speculated, will humankind be able to destroy it before it causes awesome devastation? Student Nitin Mishra has some answers and he will espouse them before top space scientists when they meet at Bucharest in Romania next week to exchange notes on the “near-earth” flyby of asteroid 2005 YU 55.

With swearing in of Jarbom Gamlin as the new chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, hectic lobbying has started among legislators to retain their status in the new council of ministers likely to be announced after the funeral of late chief minister Dorjee Khandu on May 11.

Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat against Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League match at Eden Gardens here on Saturday.

Subramanium Badrinath hit a half-century as Chennai Super Kings made 114/4 against Kolkata Knight Riders here on Saturday. Badrinath scored 54 off 41 balls while Albie Morkel made unbeaten 30 runs.

The skies over Uttar Pradesh may not be crowded in the next Assembly elections.

Still smarting from their defeat at the hands of Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Kolkata Knight Riders will have to get their act together soon and come out all guns blazing against defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their IPL return-leg match here on Saturday.

Hitting back at union home minister P. Chidambaram for describing West Bengal as the worst governed state, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Friday said he did not need advice from the minister who should first carry out his own responsibilities properly.

Soon after the death of Dorjee Khandu in a copter crash was confirmed, hectic lobbying started in frontier state of Arunachal Pradesh, with powerful lobbies of industrialists and a section of bureaucrats pushing the name of Nabam Tuki, PCC president and PWD minister, for the chief minister’s post.