Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s embattled plans to woo Mumbai’s Bihar-origin population in a celebration of Bihar Divas there became smoother on Friday after a telephonic talk between him and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. Though the tone of all of Bihar’s parties turned combative in condemning Raj Thackeray’s latest objections to Bihar’s centenary celebrations, the stalemate eased with the MNS leader toning down his stance.
***
North Korea’s rocket launch ends in failure
Pyongyang/Washington, April 13: Defying international warnings, North Korea on Friday went ahead to launch a long-range rocket, which blew apart after blastoff, drawing condemnation from the United States and its allies who called it “provocative”.
After hours of silence over the 4.09 am IST launch, North Korea’s state-run news media admitted the satellite that the rocket was carrying “failed to enter its preset orbit”, and said a probe was on.
This is the first time North Korea has acknowledged failure of a long-range missile or satellite. — PTI