NEW DELHI: Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi appeared to be on the brink of losing his job within hours of presenting a budget that was hailed by Congress as "forward looking" but savaged by his own party, Trinamool Congress, as "anti-people" for proposing an across-the-board passenger fare hike. In a swift retaliation to the defiance of Mamata Banerjee's direction to not raise fares, the West Bengal chief minister faxed a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to sack Trivedi and replace him with her loyalist Mukul Roy.

Furious With Fare Hike, Mamata Asks PM To Sack Her Nominee As Rail Minister, Demands Rollback. Cong May Yield, But Steps Up Search For New Partners. New Delhi: Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi appeared to be on the brink of losing his job within hours of presenting a budget that was hailed by Congress as “forward looking” but savaged by his own party, Trinamool. Congress, as “anti-people” for proposing an across-the-board passenger fare hike.

Issues of development and governance would decide the fate of an unpromising BSP, renascent SP, hopeful Congress and a dispirited BJP in a changed Uttar Pradesh

Talwandi Sabo (Bathinda): Karnail Singh suffers from renal cell carcinoma, a form of kidney cancer. A resident of Jajjal village in Punjab’s Malwa region that has produced maximum number of CMs including SAD’s Parkash Singh Badal and Congress’ Amarinder Singh, Karnail would be expected to have access to considerable medical facilities in the region. Instead, the 70-year-old has to travel to Bikaner in Rajasthan which has the nearest affordable cancer hospital.

Gwaldam: There is a bizarre disconnect between the lives of people in this region and the electoral process, best exemplified by the crisis in agriculture. Unlike the rest of the country, almost every family has some land, although 54% have less than two hectares. But a combination of dependence on rain, the small, fragmented nature of land parcels, and the lack of marketing avenues has led to very low returns — barely enough for survival. Yet both dominant parties — Congress and BJP — have no solutions.

Goa's mining industry is facing a “crisis of reputation” following a series of writ petitions, a leaked PAC report and an inquiry by a commission.