WebinarsNew
Deep DiveNew
Explore Business Standard
Bihar Government
More than 46 lakh people across 15 districts of Bihar have been affected by floods, with the situation remaining grim on Friday as water levels continued to flow above the danger mark at several locations, officials said. Incessant rain across the state, coupled with heavy downpour in Nepal's catchment areas, has caused rivers and streams to overflow, officials said. According to the latest bulletin released by the Disaster Management Department (DMD), around 46.88 lakh people in 561 gram panchayats across 88 blocks in 15 districts have been affected by floods. The affected districts are Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Purnea, Madhepura and Araria. Among the worst-affected districts are Bhagalpur, Patna, Saran, Vaishali, Begusarai, Katihar, Purnea and Buxar. According to the Bihar Meteorological Service Centre, the state has so far recorded 90 mm of rain in September, which is 20 per cent above normal
More than 40 lakh people have been affected by floods across 14 districts of Bihar following torrential rains over the past five days, with several rivers flowing above the danger mark, officials said on Wednesday. "Incessant rain in various districts caused rivers and streams to overflow. Besides, heavy rainfall in catchment areas of Nepal has also led to rivers flowing above the danger level at several places," an official said. According to a statement by the Disaster Management Department (DMD), around 40.21 lakh people in 514 gram panchayats across 84 blocks in 14 districts have been affected by floods. The affected districts are Patna, Bhojpur, Saran, Vaishali, Bhagalpur, Begusarai, Buxar, Samastipur, Munger, Katihar, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Purnia and Arwal. According to the meteorological service centre, the state has recorded 79.6 mm of rainfall in September so far, which is 31 per cent above normal. In its latest bulletin, the DMD said, "The Ganga at Sultanganj in Bhagalpu
Bihar and Jharkhand on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to share 7.75 million acre-feet of water from the Sone River, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, "permanently resolving" the nearly 25-year-old water dispute between the two states, officials said. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Union Minister for Jal Shakti C R Patil, the deputy chief minister of Bihar, the Union home secretary, and senior officials from the central government and the two states were present at the signing ceremony. In a post on X, Shah said the agreement would ensure adequate irrigation and drinking water for large populations in Bihar and Jharkhand. "It will directly benefit lakhs of farmers in both states and give new momentum to the development of rural areas. If all states move forward as one team, there is no problem that cannot be resolved," he said. Speaking at the ceremony, Shah said the agreement to resolve the nearly 25-year-o
The Bihar government has decided to replace the word "fail" with the phrase "eligible for skill training" in the marksheets of students appearing for Class 10 and Class 12 board examinations from the current academic session, officials said on Saturday. The move is aimed at enabling the students to pursue vocational training programmes offered by the Bihar Board of Open Schooling and Examination (BBOSE), they said. "The Education Department will amend the rules accordingly to implement this change. The department will soon issue necessary instructions to the BSEB. Instead of 'Fail', the certificates will carry the term 'Eligible for Skill Development'," Bihar Education Minister Mithlesh Tiwary told reporters here. Tiwary said students' talent does not disappear merely because they fail to secure the expected marks in an examination. "Students appearing for the Class 10 board supplementary examinations will be provided special sessions for one month to help them prepare and improve
The Bihar government has directed all state government employees to undertake mandatory visits to tourist destinations across the state every three months with their families and submit reports on how to promote them, officials said on Tuesday. In a letter, dated May 20, issued to departmental heads, divisional commissioners, DMs and SPs, Additional Chief Secretary (General Administration) B Rajender said government employees must travel with their families for two days and two nights to tourist, eco-tourism or rural tourism destinations in districts other than their home districts. The travel is to be scheduled over Fridays and Saturdays, during which employees are expected to visit and stay overnight at least three tourist spots, according to the directive. "Bihar is rich in cultural diversity, environmental heritage and historically significant tourist destinations. There are several sites that can emerge as major national and international tourism hubs. Encouraging officials to
The BJP-led government in the state on Wednesday renamed the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park as 'Patna Zoo', and the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology as 'Bihar State Institute of Dairy Technology'. The decisions were taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. The state-run zoo, named after late Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi -- the son of ex-prime minister Indira Gandhi, is located off Bailey Road in the state capital and was opened to the public in 1973. Spread over 153 acre, it is home to more than 800 animals of over 110 species. Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology is an ICAR-accredited institute in Patna, established by the state government in 1980. It offers BTech and MTech programmes in dairy technology. Among the other 61 decisions taken was the allocation of Rs 23,165 crore for the 'Mukhyamantri Vidyut Upbhokta Sahayta Yojana', under which power consumers in the state get 125 units of free electricity every month. Additional Chi
Bihar has got investments worth Rs 1.36 lakh crore, and the figure is likely to climb up to Rs 5 lakh crore in the next one year, Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary told the assembly on Friday. Choudhary, who last week became the first BJP leader to be appointed as the CM of the state, was taking part in a debate on the motion of confidence sought by his government. "I had the privilege of holding the Finance portfolio under former chief minister Nitish Kumar. People may not be aware that the state has already received investments worth Rs 1.36 lakh crore. In the next one year, we hope to get investments to the tune of Rs 5 lakh crore," said Choudhary. The BJP leader began his speech by launching a caustic attack on the RJD, the main party in opposition, which he quit over a decade ago. Turning towards the leader of the opposition, Tejashwi Yadav, who had called Choudhary a product of the "paathshala (school)" of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, the CM said, "I entered politics because of the
The Samrat Choudhary-led NDA government in Bihar won the vote of confidence in the state assembly on Friday. Choudhary moved the motion, proposing that "the House reposes its trust in the current council of ministers in the state", during a one-day special session. The motion was passed by a voice vote in the 243-strong House, where the BJP-led NDA enjoys a brute majority with 202 seats. Choudhary became the first BJP leader to head a government in the state earlier this month following the resignation of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who gave up the top post upon getting elected to the Rajya Sabha. Only two JD(U) leaders, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav, were inducted into the new cabinet and designated as deputy chief ministers. Besides the JD(U), the BJP-led coalition in the state includes LJP(RV) of Union minister Chirag Paswan, HAM headed by Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha's RLM. The five-party coalition won 202 seats in th
BJP leader Samrat Choudhary was sworn in as the chief minister of Bihar on Wednesday, the first from the saffron party to hold the post. Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) administered the oath of office and secrecy to Choudhry. Top leaders of the ruling NDA in Bihar, which comprises the BJP, JD(U) and three other parties, attended the ceremony. They included Union Ministers J P Nadda and Chirag Paswan, Nitish Kumar, and all NDA MLAs. Nitish Kumar, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP, relinquished the chief minister's post on Tuesday, dissolving his cabinet in which Choudhary was a deputy chief minister and held the crucial home portfolio. Choudhary, who joined the BJP in 2017, was named the legislative party leader on Tuesday in the presence of top functionaries like BJP chief Nitin Nabin and Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whom the parliamentary board had named as "central observer" for the transition.
Bihar finds itself on the cusp of a new political epoch on Tuesday when Nitish Kumar, the state's longest-serving chief minister, is slated to make way for the first-ever BJP-led government in the province. Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and became a Rajya Sabha MP last week, is expected to tender his resignation shortly after the last meeting of his cabinet, which is scheduled at 11 am. "It is a constitutional requirement. The chief minister informs his colleagues about his decision to dissolve the cabinet before meeting the governor," said Dilip Jaiswal, a senior BJP leader who is also a minister in the outgoing government. The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-strong assembly, with 89 MLAs, will thereafter elect its legislature party leader. The meeting of the legislature party is scheduled to be held at the BJP office here around 3 pm. Union minister Shivraj Singh Choudhan, whom the BJP parliamentary board has named central observer for the legislature party leader'
BJP leaders in Bihar on Monday said that the name of the party's "first chief minister" in the state will be known on Tuesday, with Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan like to arrive here to facilitate the power transition. Chouhan, whom the BJP headquarters in Delhi had on Sunday named the 'central observer' for the election of the new legislature party leader, will be visiting the state on a day when JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, the longest-serving CM of Bihar, is expected to put in his papers. Kumar, who turned 75 last month and was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP a week ago, is expected to visit Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation immediately after his last cabinet meeting scheduled at 11 am, where he is likely to make a formal announcement of relinquishment of the post. "Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji will be coming to Patna tomorrow and BJP legislators will be electing their leader in his presence," the party's Bihar unit president Sanjay Saraogi told reporters here. Interestingly,
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha earlier this month, is set to resign from the state legislative council on Monday, JD(U) sources said. The JD(U) president was elected to the upper House of Parliament on March 16, and according to party insiders, the 14-day period during which he has to quit as MLC ends Monday. "It is stipulated in the Constitution that you should resign within 14 days. Things will happen accordingly," Sanjay Kumar Jha, the national working president of the JD(U), had told reporters here last week. JD(U) leader and MLA Anant Kumar Singh, who met Nitish Kumar on Sunday, told media persons that the chief minister will tender his resignation as MLC on Monday. Jha, however, had parried queries on when the 75-year-old JD(U) supremo was expected to step down as chief minister.
Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain took oath as the governor of Bihar on Saturday. Patna High Court Chief Justice Sangam Kumar Sahoo administered the oath of office and secrecy to Hasnain at a ceremony at the Lok Bhavan. Hasnain replaced Arif Mohammed Khan as the governor. The ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his cabinet colleagues and senior officers, among others. Hasnain's last posting in uniform was as Military Secretary of the Indian Army, a key position responsible for senior-level personnel management. Prior to this, he commanded the Army's 15 Corps in Jammu & Kashmir. Hasnain remained active in national and academic roles even after retirement. In 2018, he was appointed chancellor of the Central University of Kashmir. In 2020, he joined the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as a member.