In Bihar’s relentlessly aggressive politics, chief minister and JD(U) strongman Nitish Kumar and his party remained compulsive winners throughout 2011 as they both kept getting stronger mainly by the numerous defections from the Opposition parties, restraining the rebels and starting populist programmes.

After a sustained attack on the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh over the past three days, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday trained his guns on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh now have a problem with the statues of UP chief minister Mayawati and the elephant (BSP symbol) installed in various parks and memorials in Lucknow and Noida.

The Samajwadi Party, which had lost the 2007 Assembly elections mainly because of its patronage to criminals and anti-social elements, has again given tickets for the upcoming Assembly elections to people facing serious criminal charges.

Pakistan on Thursday said its relations with the US, marked by “many ups and downs” this year, had reached a point where it had become necessary to “rewrite” the bilateral terms of engagement in order to bring ties on an even keel.

A new regulation that requires women buying emergency contraceptives in at least one Chinese city to register their real names and ID card numbers has triggered an outcry on the Internet.

The death toll of infants in the last seven days has risen to 21 with five more newborn dying on Thursday in the government-run Malda Sadar Hospital here, according to acting superintendent of the hospital M.A. Rashid.

As the Lokpal Bill failed to get Parliament's nod, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Congress will not rest till a strong law is passed and slammed the BJP, saying those who used to talk about 'India Shining' defeated the proposed legislation.

After laying the entire blame for the crushing electoral drubbing on the CPI(M), the CPI has now raised a question about the existing structure of the Left Front. Insinuating the big brother party for “its unilateral way of functioning,” CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan asked: “Why the chairman of the Left Front should always be a CPI(M) leader.

Pakistan again raised the issue of floodlights on the international border while India objected to allowing people to graze their animals close to the border on the Pakistani side during a a routine monthly meeting between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers.