For many decades, Bihar was the quintessence of all that is woeful about India.
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The eastern state was rife with endemic corruption, anarchic crime and a depressed economy.
The state was damned by the country's highest child mortality and lowest literacy rate. Kidnapping for ransom was its only growing industry.
Travelling to the countryside after sundown elicited dire warnings: you could get waylaid by highway bandits notorious for making you che inch chota, a colloquial Hindi expression meaning shorter by six inches from the neck - as a result of bring decapitated.
Amid the growing lawlessness, factoriesclosed and investors fled. Impoverished Bihari migrants, the unwanted flotsam of its sinking economy, were frequently beaten up for swamping other states and "stealing" jobs from locals.
The rest of post-liberalisation India galloped ahead with the national economy opening up to the world, but Bihar was in terminal decline. India's brightest minds labelled Bihar an ailing state that seemed beyond rescue.
But rescued it was - and how.
Bihar, the 12th largest and third most populous state, is now lauded as a miracle economy. Its GDP grew by about 11 per cent between 2005 and 2009, according to the government's statistics agency. Bihar has the second highest pace of growth among Indian states.
With its remarkable turnaround, it is now viewed as a trendsetter, an inspiring example for other laggard states of how good governance and smart economic policies can transform India's darkest corners.
Nitish Kumar, the state's 60-year-old reformist chief minister who was returned to power last year for a second term, is credited with this transformation. "Before Nitish Kumar, Bihar was never a functioning state," says Shaibal Gupta, the head of the Asian Development Research Institute in the state capital Patna. "For the first time in decades, there is some semblance of governance in the state."
Mr Kumar in his first term, from 2005 to last year, initiated a trenchant reform of the criminal justice system. Many gangs were eliminated, with criminals killed in police operations, arrested or rehabilitated under new surrender schemes. Across most of the state, it is no longer considered unsafe to venture out after dark.
Mr Kumar is labelled the "development man of Bihar". He ordered the building of 23,500km of roads, 1,600km of national highways and about 2,000 bridges and underpasses, substantially improving connectivity between various parts of the state.
"Everyone is talking about Bihar these days - not for notorious bandits - but because of development," Mr Kumar said during his re-election campaign last year.
Bihar is one of the few states that uses mobile technology to prevent corruption in development schemes. Government officials keep tabs on how infrastructure projects are progressing by using smartphones rom their offices.
In June, Mr Kumar approved a new industrial promotion policy applicable for the next five years to woo private investment. The policy offers a slew of incentives such as subsidies, exemption from registration and stamp duty, tax concessions and government grants for buying machinery for setting up industrial units.
Infosys, the information technology giant, is one of the few high-tech companies to express interest in recent months in setting up shop in the state. Mr Kumar assured the company of assistance in procuring land if it decides to invest in Bihar.
The chief minister is also credited for his prudent fiscal management. The state's revenue collection jumped 200 per cent in the past nine years, according to government figures, enabling Bihar to rely on tax collections rather than financial aid from New Delhi. Tax revenues rose from 24.42 billion rupees (Dh1.97bn) in 2002 to 73.36bn rupees last year.
In November, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India proposed a tie-up with Bihar's government to develop 14 industrial clusters at an estimated cost of 4.5bn rupees. The clusters will have a capacity of up to 28,000 industrial units, each providing jobs for about 10 people.
Bihar is also lauded for being one of the few states that has adopted the direct cash transfer model to distribute subsidy aid to its poor. The model, less prone to corruption than transferring subsidies through middlemen, is now being emulated by other states.
According to a World Bank study, a similar cash transfer scheme in Brazil, called the Bolsa Familia Programme, helped to lift 20 million people out of poverty between 2003 and 2009. Through the programme, 19 million bank accounts were opened in the first four years.
But all these efforts have not resulted in a widespread banishment of poverty and unemployment. About 90 per cent of Bihar's population is rural - 80 per cent lives off agriculture and animal husbandry. But little investment has been made in these sectors.
The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme - the government's flagship anti-poverty scheme, which promises 100 days of employment to one person in every rural household - is fraught with corruption, observers say. The scheme is sorely needed in Bihar and elsewhere to mitigate the rising tide of rural migration to the cities. But only 10 days of employment on average is provided around the state, says Jean Dreze, a development economist based in New Delhi.
Mr Kumar is criticised also for refusing to carry out crucial land reforms. Political observers say the chief minister fears that land reforms could anger the state's powerful landed gentry, an upper caste group that is a crucial vote bank.
Bihar's hospitals have doctors and schools have teachers, but institutions such as these are accused of not stamping down on truancy and of hiring too many poorly qualified staff.
In March, the US-based Cato Institute along with Indicus Analytics in a study ranked Bihar the lowest among 20 of India's big states in terms of economic freedom and regulatory environment.
But observers agree the state has come a long way.
"Recent gains in Bihar, traditionally one of India's poorest states, show how improved economic policy can boost growth," Nikhilesh Bhattacharyya, an economist at the research arm of the rating agency Moody's said last year. "Notorious for corruption, conflict and poverty, Bihar is undergoing a transformation."
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Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
Rating: 0/5
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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The Perfect Couple
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Rating: 3/5
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
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Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
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Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
The bio:
Favourite film:
Declan: It was The Commitments but now it’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
Heidi: The Long Kiss Goodnight.
Favourite holiday destination:
Declan: Las Vegas but I also love getting home to Ireland and seeing everyone back home.
Heidi: Australia but my dream destination would be to go to Cuba.
Favourite pastime:
Declan: I love brunching and socializing. Just basically having the craic.
Heidi: Paddleboarding and swimming.
Personal motto:
Declan: Take chances.
Heidi: Live, love, laugh and have no regrets.
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From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5