Maoists Bomb Election Candidates' Offices in India

Polls to the Jharkhand state legislature are conducted in five phases. Three stages have already been completed and polling for the last two phases will be held on December 12 and 18.

To protest the ongoing polls, Maoists allegedly, on Wednesday, set posters and banners on fire of candidates and bombed their makeshift offices. The suspected rebels also burned candidates’ vehicles.

Reports say that the office of Ranjan Yadav, a former Maoist running from jail, was among those attacked.

[Ramesh Singh, Local]:
"They came around 8 in the night and burned jeeps and two wheelers."

Videsh Singh, a former lawmaker and an independent candidate, warns more violence may occur.

[Videsh Singh, Independent Candidate]:
"The law and order situation has turned from bad to worse here. Though the election commission has claimed that they will conduct a peaceful election but I feel that in Palamau district in Jharkhand that is not possible. This is a kind of a challenge for the Election Commission and they must take the matter into consideration else more devastating things would happen during December 18 polls."

The counting of votes and the results will be announced on December 23rd.

Shashi Tharoor on India's "soft power"

India is fast becoming a superpower, says Shashi Tharoor -- and not just through trade and politics, but through "soft power," its ability to share its culture with the world through food, music, technology, Bollywood. As he says, "In today's world, it's not the size of the army that wins. It's the country that tells a better story."

Bear Encounter in Sikkim, India

Two forest wildlife personnel were injured when they tried to capture a Himalayan black bear… it strayed into a nearby village in search of food.

[H.P. Pradhan, Department of Forest]:
"We had been to the spot and we tried our level best to save by tranquilizing the animal. But, there were so many other effects that the animal could not be controlled in such a way. That is why, two of our officials have been injured and one of them is in a serious condition. Now, we are planning to send them down to Siliguri in consultation with the family members and the bear has been taken to the zoo."

It took about eight hours to put the bear in a cage.

Bears tend to come down to the valleys during winter to look for food in cornfields.

This Himalayan Black Bear is one of the three bear species found in India. These bears are found in the Himalayan ranges as high up as 12,000 ft.

Wild animals stray into urban areas, mainly owing to loss of habitat and extension of human settlements into forest areas.

Fair in Pushkar City, India

Hundreds of foreign and domestic have gathered for a five-day long cultural and sporting extravaganza.

You can do anything from getting a camel ride to buying handicrafts and competing in unique competitions.

[Rajesh Yadav, Local Official]:
"We have tried our best to make this year’s fair more grand that last year. We have all the arrangements for the tourists and the devotees, this year we have increased the parking facilities."

Hundreds of artisans and weavers from neighboring regions can also be found. They’ve set up stalls selling colorful dresses, house décor (day CORE) items and tribal ornaments.

A camel race and a football match between Indian and foreign tourists were the main attraction of Monday’s events.

"This is very difficult, we are used to play in grass and Belgium is not so hot, so it was very difficult but we had a good team spirit and we believed we could win and may be this time god was on our side."

Until the early 1970s, the fair was largely a rural affair. Back then it was mainly thousands of nomads and cattle owners who came to buy and sell camels. But over the years it evolved into one of India's biggest tourist attractions.