Bihar Power Cuts

Lalu Yadav, smarting at what he called Nitish Kumar's betrayal by getting back together with the BJP, told reporters today: "I am not selfish... if so, why would I have let him be Chief Minister?" A senior leader of his party disagrees, and has gone public with criticism of his boss's judgement.

Of the world's 1.3 billion people who live without access to power, a quarter - about 300 million - live in rural India in states such as Bihar. Nighttime satellite images of the sprawling subcontinent show the story: Vast swaths of the country still lie in darkness.

For three months in 1995, Afaur village in Bihar's Saran district had electricity. Villagers fondly talk about fans that worked light at night and watching television much like they would recount the fleeting visit of a celebrity. Fleeting it was. One day they woke up to no electricity and for 17 years they have lived without.

9 pm at the local railway station in one of Bihar's Sasaram district. Amid the rush of passengers who are here to catch a train, a group of children sit on the platform, focusing on getting their ticket out of here.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's convoy was attacked with stones on Wednesday morning by protestors. They were reportedly upset about frequent power cuts and a shortage of water

Lalu Yadav, smarting at what he called Nitish Kumar's betrayal by getting back together with the BJP, told reporters today: "I am not selfish... if so, why would I have let him be Chief Minister?" A senior leader of his party disagrees, and has gone public with criticism of his boss's judgement.

Of the world's 1.3 billion people who live without access to power, a quarter - about 300 million - live in rural India in states such as Bihar. Nighttime satellite images of the sprawling subcontinent show the story: Vast swaths of the country still lie in darkness.

For three months in 1995, Afaur village in Bihar's Saran district had electricity. Villagers fondly talk about fans that worked light at night and watching television much like they would recount the fleeting visit of a celebrity. Fleeting it was. One day they woke up to no electricity and for 17 years they have lived without.

9 pm at the local railway station in one of Bihar's Sasaram district. Amid the rush of passengers who are here to catch a train, a group of children sit on the platform, focusing on getting their ticket out of here.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's convoy was attacked with stones on Wednesday morning by protestors. They were reportedly upset about frequent power cuts and a shortage of water