Page 45 - Bihar

Bihar's poverty problem

Condition will not improve by increasing reservations

Nitish apologises for comment on women amid Oppn, social media protest

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday apologised in both Houses of the legislature, as well as outside, for remarks made a day before on the importance of women's education to control population growth. The septuagenarian leader, upon his arrival on the Vidhan Sabha premises, was greeted by a posse of MLAs, all belonging to the opposition BJP, carrying placards denouncing his utterances and demanding his resignation. Kumar, the longest serving chief minister of the state, stood frozen at the entrance gate for a few minutes, before marching towards a make-shift podium erected nearby, where leaders address journalists while the House is in session. "I have come to know today that something I had said yesterday has not gone down well with many people. My intent was to highlight my government's thrust on women's empowerment and the role improved literacy among women plays in population control. Though if anybody's sentiments have been hurt, I seek an apology and take back my ..

Nitish Kumar in soup over his 'birth control lessons' in Bihar Assembly

A day after his remarks on educated women and family planning sparked controversy, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday apologised for his statement

Bihar assembly adjourned till 2 pm as oppn demands resignation of Nitish

The Bihar Assembly was on Wednesday adjourned till 2 pm, soon after the commencement of proceedings, as the opposition BJP kept demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over remarks he had made on the previous day about women. As soon as the House had assembled at 11 am, Leader of the Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha rose in his seat alleging that Kumar had become a "mental" case, was unfit to govern the state and should resign. The chief minister, who was present in the House, rose to offer his explanation and said "I have expressed my regret while talking to journalists outside the House. I am ready to do so again. If my words have caused any hurt, I condemn myself (main apni ninda karta hoon)". The septuagenarian added "the context in which I had made the remarks must not be lost sight of. I have always been a strong votary of women's education and it was a eureka moment for me when I saw a direct correlation between education levels among women and fertility ...

Bihar caste survey: Here's what it reveals about poverty, jobs in the state

Bihar caste survey: Around 99.49% of people belonging to the SC category in the state have no access to laptops

Bihar Cabinet approves proposal to hike quotas to 75% from existing 50%

The Bihar Cabinet on Tuesday passed a proposal to raise the quota for SCs, STs, Other Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) to a total of 75 per cent from the existing 50 per cent. A bill will be brought in the assembly on the same during the ongoing winter session. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made a statement in this regard while concluding the debate on the Caste Survey report, which was tabled in the assembly on Tuesday. Kumar's announcement comes months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The proposal seeks to hike the reservation of OBCs and EBS to a combined 43 per cent from 30 per cent, 20 per cent for Scheduled Castes (SCs) from 16 per cent and 2 per cent for Scheduled Tribes (STs) from 1 per cent. The quota for EWS will remain at the existing 10 per cent. The Caste Survey report revealed that OBCs (27.13 per cent) and the extremely backward classes sub-group (36 per cent) account for a whopping 63 per cent of the state's t

A third of Bihar's 29.7 mn families survive for less than Rs 200 a day

Nitish says Bill soon to increase quota to 65%

More than a third of families in Bihar surviving on Rs 6k per month or less

More than a third of families inhabiting Bihar were living in poverty, making do with a monthly income of Rs 6,000 or less, according to a detailed report of the caste survey tabled in the state assembly on Tuesday. The report also acknowledged considerable poverty among the upper castes, though the percentage was, predictably, much higher among backward classes, Dalits and tribals. As per the report, tabled by parliamentary affairs minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, the state was home to about 2.97 crore families, out of which more than 94 lakhs (34.13 per cent) were poor. Another important finding was that more than 50 lakh Biharis were living outside the state in search of livelihood or better education opportunities. Those earning a living in other states numbered around 46 lakhs while another 2.17 lakhs have found greener pastures abroad. Those pursuing studies in other states numbered about 5.52 lakhs while about 27,000 were doing the same abroad. Notably, preliminary findings

BPSC 69th Prelims Result 2023: The result is expected to be announced soon

Bihar Public Service Commission will soon release the 69th Prelims result at its official website bpsc.bih.nic.in. The exam was held on September 30 to fill a total of 475 vacancies

HM Amit Shah to address a rally in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district today

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a mega-rally in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district on Sunday. Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary and other senior party leaders will receive the Union Home Minister at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport airport in Patna on Sunday afternoon. From the airport, Shah will take a helicopter to Patahi, the venue of the rally in Muzaffarpur. This is Shah's first visit to Bihar after the findings of the caste-based survey, conducted by the Nitish Kumar government, were made public in the state on October 2. The survey showed that OBCs and EBCs, largely supporters of JD(U) and its ally RJD, were more than 60 per cent of the state's total population. The influential upper castes were close to 10 per cent, as per the survey, the accuracy of which has been called into question by the BJP. Currently, the Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha seat is held by BJP's Ajay Nishad. In 2019, the BJP-led NDA had won 39 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, barring Kishanganj

Bihar boat capsize: Rescue operation on, 2 more pulled out from Saryu river

Two more persons were pulled out from the Saryu River in Bihar's Saran district on Thursday, taking the total number of rescued people to 12 in the boat tragedy a day before, an official said. The toll remained unchanged at two as no new body was recovered, Saran District Magistrate Aman Samir said. "So far, 12 people have been rescued, including those who managed to swim to the river bank. Rescue operation is still on to trace the five missing persons," Samir told PTI. The two deceased were women and identified as Phool Kumari and Chatthiya Devi. They were residents of Matiyar village. The boat with 19 people on board capsized in the river on Wednesday evening near Matiyar Ghat in Manjhi block. A probe is underway to ascertain the cause of the incident, the district magistrate said. The local administration has also initiated a process of providing an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased. Hopefully, the ex gratia amount will be handed over to the family mem

Paytm subsidiary inks pact with Startup Bihar to offer banking solutions

One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, on Friday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Payment Services Limited (PPSL) has signed a pact with Startup Bihar to promote the state's startup ecosystem. Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU), PPSL will help startups grow their businesses with the Paytm Startup Toolkit, which offers solutions in payments, payouts, banking, and distribution. Paytm Startup Toolkit will aid, simplify, and accelerate business ventures of youth in their early stages of growth, One97 Communications Limited said in a release. Additionally, the Paytm Incubation Centre will empower early-stage startups in their journey. It will help young entrepreneurs gain new user acquisitions, access funds, and access more facilities. Startup Bihar is the state government's ambitious initiative to promote startups. Since its inception in 2016, it has fostered a startup and innovation ecosystem in Bihar on a large scale. The Bihar Startup Policy 2022

Bihar govt cuts salaries of 2,081 teachers, suspends 22 in last 4 months

Amid the ongoing row over Bihar education department's recent circulars, the state education department has deducted the salaries of more than 2,081 school teachers, who were found absent from duty during inspections, and suspended 22 others for various teaching violations in the last four months. Besides, the department has also recommended dismissal of 17 teachers from service for allegedly violating provisions of teachers' recruitment regulations. The Nitish Kumar government is already facing criticism for removing the names of 21,90,020 students (till October 24) from government schools for absenteeism. Those whose names have been struck off also include 2.66 lakh students who were supposed to appear for class 10 and 12 board exams. Both, alliance partners of the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar as well as Opposition BJP have demanded immediate withdrawal of the order. Ever since the department launched the intensive inspection of schools from July 1 following the instructio

In a 1st, artificial intelligence company from Silicon Valley enters Bihar

A Silicon Valley-based Artificial Intelligence company has opened an office in Bihar, making it the first IT company from the US to enter the state. Tiger Analytics, headquartered in Santa Clara, has opened its first office in Patna this month. We are hoping that the initial step that we are taking, can lead to a lot of progress down the road, Mahesh Kumar, founder and CEO of Tiger Analytics, told PTI in a recent interview. The company currently has some 4,000 employees in India, but they are mostly in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Kumar, who is himself from Bihar, said during the COVID crisis a large number of its employees went back home to Bihar and started working remotely. We have close to a hundred people between Bihar and Jharkhand right now. They're working remotely and they were happy there, they didn't want to come back, he said. So, we realised that they're very good talented people, young people, they want to stay close to home but there are no opportunities in Bi

Majority of Durga Puja pandals in Patna violated pollution norms: Data

Majority of Durga Puja pandals in the state capital violated noise pollution norms during Dussehra festivities, according to data released by Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BPSCB). The noise level was measured higher than 75 decibels (dB) at 521 locations in Patna, the BSPCB data released late on Wednesday night said. As per Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, the noise level at market places between 6 am and 10 pm should be below 65 dB. However, a relaxation of 10 dB is given to allow the upper limit at 75d B for special occasions. "The BSPCB monitored noise pollution levels at 950 locations in Patna. Monitoring was done to measure the level of noise pollution before (October 12) and during the puja (October 21, 22 and 23). "While the noise level was found between 80 dB to 90 dB at 329 locations, the level was found between 90 dB to 100 dB at 163 locations in Patna. The noise level at 29 locations was measured at more than 100 dB.which is alarming", BSPCB .

OBCs decoded: How backward classes in India were categorised and recognised

The Other Backward Class (OBC) is a collective term used to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward

Bihar Employment Fair: Everything you need to know about companies coming

Bihar's biggest job fair till date is being held today, on Oct 19, 2023. As per the data received, this job fair is to provide employment to jobless youth and a camp will be set up in Jamui

BPSC TRE Result 2023 is out out for 6 subjects at bpsc.bih.nic.in

The Bihar Public Service Commission has declared the Teacher Recruitment Exam (TRE) result for Class 11-12 language subjects after considering the complaints raised against the provisional answer key

Goods train coach derails near Dumraon railway station in Bihar's Buxar

According to a railway spokesman, the goods train was on its way from Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction to Fatuha via Buxar when the incident took place

Bihar accident: Delhi-bound up line restored, work underway on down line

The Delhi-bound up line at the accident site near Raghunathpur railway station in Bihar's Buxar district has been restored and work is underway to repair the down line, the East Central Railway said on Friday. The up line is ready for limited movement of trains but normal movement on this route will be allowed only after restoration of the down line. Four people were killed and several people were injured after 23 coaches of North East Express, on the way to Assam from Delhi, derailed near Raghunathpur railway station around 9.53 pm on Wednesday. Eastern Railway Chief Public Relation Officer (CPRO) Birendra Kumar told PTI, "Up line at the accident site is fit in all respect. The down line will soon be restored. We have teams working round the clock... restoration work is being carried out on a war footing." He said most of the debris has been cleared off the tracks. Most of the injured are undergoing treatment in Buxar town and neighbouring Ara. A total of 25 people have been adm