Rai Atul Krishna has been writing, editing and anchoring news reports and features for Hindustan Times on a wide variety of subjects for the past 30 years. He has also mentored many of his colleagues during this period.
Articles by Rai Atul Krishna
Ahead of trust vote, Nitish puts squeeze on Manjhi MLAs
On a day when former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was on a fast in protest against Nitish Kumar regime’s decision to annul the ‘pro-people’ decisions of his erstwhile ministry, the JD(U) leadership was busy tightening the screws on him.
Updated on Mar 09, 2015 11:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM, rewards loyalists
Nitish Kumar took oath as chief minister of Bihar -- for the fourth time -- on Sunday along with 10 ministers in his cabinet. Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi administered oath to Kumar at a function at Raj Bhawan.
Updated on Feb 22, 2015 07:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar’s political flux may have just begun
Former chief minister Nitish Kumar’s triumphant return to the top office as he takes oath as chief minister on Sunday promises to be the beginning, rather than the end, of a political churn in Bihar.
Updated on Feb 22, 2015 12:08 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
At war in Bihar: Manjhi-Nitish spat de-mystified
The great Bihar JD (U) soap opera, one’s right is other’s wrong.
Updated on Feb 15, 2015 05:22 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Manjhi endgame: New ministers, parliamentary secretaries to boost support
Embattled chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s supporters have come out with what they believe is a “failsafe” strategy to win a floor test in the Bihar assembly that is necessary if he has to remain in office.
Updated on Feb 08, 2015 05:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar crisis: BJP smells an opportunity, eyes 'synergy' with Manjhi
The BJP leadership said on Saturday it would want the Bihar governor to accept a recommendation from chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to dissolve the state assembly and hold fresh elections at the earliest.
Updated on Feb 08, 2015 12:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Floor test is the key for Bihar chief minister Manjhi
Expert opinion has it that so long as chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi does not resign on his own, the only way to remove him from office is to defeat him on the floor of the Bihar assembly.
Updated on Feb 07, 2015 01:26 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Fickle fame: The 'jobless' KBC winner with little cash
A little over three years after he was declared KBC winner, the small time computer operator from Motihari in north Bihar acknowledges that the spotlight is long gone.
Updated on Feb 06, 2015 03:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Dalit farmer killed following row over tomatoes in Bihar
A Dalit farmer was killed following a dispute over plucking of a few tomatoes from his farm snowballed into a confrontation in Samastipur district of north Bihar.
Updated on Feb 03, 2015 12:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Amit Shah lands in Bihar today to give tips on poll strategy
The BJP’s hopes of adding Bihar to the growing bouquet of states it rules is set for a strategic fillip with party chief Amit Shah’s arrival on Friday — his first visit to the state after assuming office in July 2014.
Updated on Jan 23, 2015 12:58 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Unfazed by storm over Sadhu visit, Manjhi holidays with family
The brouhaha over his makar sankranti day ‘dahi-chura’ feast as house guest of RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s estranged brother-in-law Anirudh Prasad aka Sadhu Yadav, isn’t a big deal for chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Updated on Jan 18, 2015 04:48 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna Rai Atul Krishna Rai Atul Krishna, New Delhi
Manjhi wields Dalits to gain ground in Bihar
As he pursues a markedly pro-Dalit agenda to move out of the shadow of his predecessor Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is ‘doing a Mayawati’ to control the levers of power.
Updated on Jan 12, 2015 02:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Caste is his comrade: Manjhi wields Dalit officers to gain grip over Bihar
As he pursues a markedly pro-Dalit agenda to move out of the shadow of his predecessor Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is 'doing a Mayawati' to come to grips with levers of power.
Updated on Jan 11, 2015 03:12 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Chetan Bhagat offers ‘lifelong friendship’ to miffed Bihar royals
Threatened with a defamation suit for his 'unflattering references' to Bihar's royal family of Dumraon in his book 'Half Girlfriend', best-selling author Chetan Bhagat has extended an olive branch to the aggrieved party.
Updated on Dec 12, 2014 07:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar officers head five top police agencies
In a rare coincidence, top five police agencies of the country will have officers hailing from Bihar as their chiefs.
Updated on Dec 06, 2014 06:56 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Janata 'parivar' unity forces BJP's Muslim vote rethink in Bihar
Undeterred by its summary rejection by Muslims in the Lok Sabha poll, the BJP has embarked on its most ambitious drive ever to woo the minority community ahead of the assembly poll in Bihar next year.
Updated on Dec 04, 2014 09:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar stampede: Lessons learnt and unlearnt
Lessons are learnt from stampedes in India only to be unlearnt in some cases. Take the case of Sabarimala in Kerala. This hilltop temple witnessed three major mishaps since 1952 killing 229 people, the last one in 2011 due to a stampede triggered by the collision of a vehicle.
Updated on Oct 05, 2014 10:52 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ramesh Babu and Rai Atul Krishna, Thiruvananthapuram/ Patna
Temple cleaned after visit, reiterates Bihar CM
Bihar Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday reiterated his stunning, if disputed, claim that he was treated as an ‘untouchable’ even after he assumed the high office he holds.
Updated on Sep 29, 2014 07:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar: Dalits dragged by horses, hit with pistol butt
Three persons, including two Dalit workers of the ruling Janata Dal (United), were allegedly tied to horses and dragged for quite a distance before being tied to a pole and hit with a pistol butt and sticks, over a political dispute.
Updated on Sep 22, 2014 09:03 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar toilet project founder is $1,00,000-global award finalist
US Northwestern university environmental engineering graduate Anoop Jain, who started a project for greater toilet access to the residents of a Bihar village, is one of two Indians among the four finalists for a $1,00,000 global citizen award.
Updated on Sep 20, 2014 09:53 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
After Maharashtra, BJP faces ally trouble in Bihar
After the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the HJC in Haryana, the BJP now has to contend with an ally in Bihar, a junior one, offering himself as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate for the state assembly elections next year.
Updated on Sep 15, 2014 12:52 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Nalanda University reopens after 800 years
Around 800 years after it was razed by foreign invaders, Nalanda University reopened its doors on Monday in an attempt to reclaim its ancient glory of an international knowledge destination.
Updated on Sep 01, 2014 08:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Bihar: Express train comes to a halt for woman in labour pain
A passenger experiencing labour pain caused a long distance express train to make an unscheduled emergency halt at a railway station in north Bihar so that she could be rushed to hospital.
Updated on Aug 29, 2014 03:34 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Nitish-Lalu's grand alliance trumps BJP in Bihar bypolls
This is the first major electoral challenge for political forces, especially the BJP, after the formation of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre following the April-May general elections.
Updated on Aug 26, 2014 02:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Sudipto Mondal and Shahroz Afridi, Patna/bangalore/bhopal
51% Bihar homes have mobiles, 23% toilets
Around 51.6% households in Bihar have at least one mobile phone, whereas only 23% have toilets, according to the 2011 census data released last week. The toilet coverage is 69% in urban areas of the state and 17.6% in rural areas.
Updated on Aug 24, 2014 08:28 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
JD(U) MLA who proposed 'right to bribe' suspended
Rajiv Ranjan’s suspension comes exactly five days after he had told HT that corruption had pervaded public life in Bihar to such an extent that it would be best to legalise it.
Updated on Aug 22, 2014 07:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
'If you can't control corruption, legalise it'
MLA Rajiv Ranjan said he had been driven to make this extreme and unusual demand out of frustration and anger he felt owing to the Bihar government's inability to control corruption.
Updated on Aug 18, 2014 09:39 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Impending Kosi fury: Even best-case scenario not good, says expert
It is ‘between the devil and the deep water’ kind of situation for those in north Bihar vulnerable to the latest predation of the Kosi, one of the foremost experts on the river has said.
Updated on Aug 02, 2014 08:34 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
Ex-soldier's ear sliced off for refusing to shave off twirled moustache
Ramanuj Verma told the police that brothers Nanku Yadav and Bina Yadav stopped him, when he was on way to his native Kauriya village in Patna district on Monday evening. The duo allegedly told him he had no business to sport a twirled moustache.
Updated on Jul 30, 2014 06:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna
New rules in place but no relief for Bihar acid attack victims
The supreme court’s observation on Friday that the centre and the state were not doing enough for the rehabilitation of acid attack victims, has rekindled hope among injured parties whose wait for succour has been endless.
Updated on Jul 26, 2014 04:18 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rai Atul Krishna, Patna