Bodh Gaya (Bihar), Dec 1 : Hundreds of Buddhist monks and devotees from across the globe gathered in Bodh Gaya for an eleven-day long chanting prayer ceremony for world peace that started on Monday.

Monks and nuns in saffron robes chanted scriptures of the ''Tipitaka'', the collected teachings of Lord Buddha in the sacred Pali language, at Mahabodhi temple.

The monks prayed for the prosperity and well-being of all living creatures.

Palamau (Bihar), Dec. 1 : Wildlife authorities involved with the Palamau Tiger Reserve Project in Bihar are employing the latest DNA techniques to ascertain the number of tigers living in the reserve.

The Palamau Tiger Reserve was started in 1973. The present area of the reserve was duly notified as a protected forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, in 1947.

Prior to the creation of the Palamau Tiger Reserve, the management of these forests was highly commercialized. There were some cattle camps and the area was open to grazing. The entire forest area used to be ravaged by fires every year. Poaching too was rampant.

In earlier census were conducted using rudimentary techniques like pugmark casting.

Sonepur, Nov 25 : A large number of tourists from across the country have been visiting the cottage village at ongoing traditional fair in Bihar''s Sonepur district.

Though the month-long fair is dubbed as Asia''s biggest animal fair, it is the cottage village, which provides lodging facilities to the tourists that has become a major attraction this year.

Many tourists prefer to stay in these cottages, which have a traditional look with modern facilities.

There are more than thirty cottages at the fair.

New Delhi, Nov. 21 : Regional parties have the possibility coming together to form the next government, Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Yadav said on Friday.

Revealing that he was in touch with leaders of various regional parties, Yadav told participants at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here that he would not disclose the details just yet.

He said there was no doubt about coalition politics remaining embedded in India, and added that new political parties are cropping up every now and then.”