Page 52 - Bihar

Bihar Congress to extend 'historic welcome' to Rahul Gandhi on June 23

The Congress in Bihar would extend a "historic" welcome to Rahul Gandhi when he visits the state later this week, for the first time since making waves with 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', the party's state president Akhilesh Prasad Singh said on Sunday. Talking to reporters, Singh said Gandhi will be accompanied by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary in-charge of organisation K C Venugopal and they will make a stopover at Sadaqat Ashram, the BPCC headquarters, before attending the meeting of opposition leaders convened by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "Gandhi will drive straight to Sadaqat Ashram from the airport and will be accorded a historic welcome all through the route. It is a special occasion for us since he is visiting Bihar for the first time since his Bharat Jodo Yatra", said the Bihar Congress chief. He said Gandhi will spend about an hour at Sadaqat Ashram where "a huge marquee, spread across 70,000 square feet" was being put up for the occasion. "He will addre

Scorching heatwave continues in Bihar; death toll mounts to over 40

A searing heatwave continued to sweep Bihar which has recorded over 40 deaths since May 31, this year

27 people die in Bihar due to heatwave, temp beyond 40 degree Celsius

The Met department has predicted that the heat wave would continue for the next 24 hours

Bihar Cong's Kuntal Krishna resigns, refuse to accept Nitish's leadership

Adding further, Krishna declared that he is resigning from the post of PCC delegate, Congress Spokesperson, and all the positions he has held in the party

Notice posted on houses of fugitive Bihar BJP MLA Raju Singh, aides

Raju Singh, the MLA from Sahibganj Assembly constituency, was allegedly involved in kidnapping of RJD leader Tulsi Rai on May 25 and an FIR in this regard was registered in Paro police station

BJP may go for early polls worried over oppn unity gaining momentum: Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has caused a flutter by predicting early Lok Sabha polls, on Friday asserted that the possibility arose out of the ruling BJP's fears of his opposition unity drive gaining momentum. Talking to reporters here, Kumar also defended the ouster of former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi from the state's ruling 'Mahagathbandhan', alleging that the Hindustani Awam Morcha founder was virtually spying on opposition parties at the BJP's behest. "I may have spoken about early polls in jest but it is also a strong possibility. Those in power at the Centre may sense that there is a lot of movement in the opposition camp", said Kumar, as part of whose efforts to forge opposition unity leaders of nearly a score of parties opposed to the BJP will converge here on June 23 for a conclave. The JD(U) supreme leader was talking to reporters at the Raj Bhavan, after the swearing-in of party MLA Ratnesh Sada into the cabinet, which follows the resignation of Manjhi's son Santosh

Bihar bridge collapse: Patna High Court slams laxity of govt, contractor

The Patna High Court on Wednesday blamed laxity of the Bihar government and the contractor concerned for the collapse of part of the four-lane Sultanganj-Aguwani Ghat bridge, being built over the Ganga in Bhagalpur district, on June 4. The high court directed the state government to submit the action taken report on the issue, while asking the managing director of the firm constructing the bridge to remain present before the court along with his expert team on June 21, when the matter will come up for hearing again. This court is shocked at the collapse of constructed part of the bridge on June 4... Last year also, while the construction work was going on, some structure of the bridge had collapsed on April 13, the bench of Justice Purnendu Singh said. The incident occurred due to the laxity of the state government and the contractor, observed the court. The bench said it seeks to prevent the misuse of public money and exploitation of natural resources in the interest of the ...

Retail inflation rose in Bihar, Haryana in May, touched 6% and beyond

In Tripura, inflation fell from 8 per cent but remained above 6 per cent

Bihar cabinet increases development fund for MLAs, MLCs to Rs 4 cr

The Bihar government Tuesday announced an increase in the development fund of MLAs and MLCs from Rs 3 crore to Rs 4 crore annually, an official said. The decision to this effect was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he said. The MLAs and MLCs can now use more funds under the Chief Minister Local Area Development Scheme (CMLADS), the official said. The hike will be effective from the current financial year.

Jitan Manjhi's son Santosh resigns from Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's cabinet

In a sudden move, Bihar minister for SC and ST welfare, Santosh Suman, on Tuesday resigned from the Nitish Kumar cabinet, his party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) announced here. Suman is currently the national president of HAM which was founded by his father Jitan Ram Manjhi, a former chief minister. It was not immediately known whether the resignation was accepted. Sources in 'Mahagathbandhan', the ruling alliance in the state, however, said that even if HAM, a four MLA-strong party, pulls out of the coalition, it would not have a bearing on the survival of the government.

RBI penalises Bihar State Co-op Bank Rs 60.20 lakh for various shortcomings

The Reserve Bank on Monday imposed a penalty of Rs 60.20 lakh on The Bihar State Co-operative Bank Limited, Patna, for a slew of shortcomings and violations. The RBI said a statutory inspection of the Patna-based bank by Nabard after FY20 had revealed that it failed to put in robust software for identifying and reporting suspicious transactions and submit statutory returns within prescribed timelines. It also failed to submit off-site surveillance system returns within prescribed timelines, submit data to all the four credit information companies and also constitute a customer service committee of the board, among other things. A notice was issued to the bank, and the fine has been imposed after going through its reply, as per an official statement from the central bank. The RBI also announced a monetary penalty of Rs 6 lakh on Jowai Cooperative Urban Bank Limited, Meghalaya for deficiencies in regulatory compliance. The bank was found to have breached inter-bank (gross) exposure

Allotted 150 acres for AIIMS but Centre rejected it, says Nitish Kumar

While BJP is levelling allegations against JD-U MPs for the shifting of the proposed AIIMS in Darbhanga, Bihar CM claimed that his govt allotted land with good road connectivity but Centre rejected it

Nitish Kumar is not a PM candidate for 2024 elections, says JD(U) leader

CM Nitish Kumar is spearheading the Opposition gathering, scheduled for June 23, to discuss methods to better challenge the BJP in the upcoming elections

Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti to attend Oppn meet in Bihar: Report

Jammu and Kashmir stalwarts Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti will be coming to the Bihar capital next week for the June 23 conclave of parties opposed to the BJP, a key political aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Sunday. JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' made the disclosure at the party's Bihar headquarters here. "Leaders of altogether 18 parties have agreed to attend the meeting. National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, both former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, have also agreed to come", said Lalan. Earlier, Lalan had said leaders who had given their assent included Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge from Congress, besides Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), M K Stalin (DMK), Hemant Soren (JMM), Sharad Pawar (NCP), Akhilesh Yadav (SP) and Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT). JD(U) workers expressed their enthusiasm by raising "Nitish for PM" only to be ticked off by the national president who reminded them that the

Bihar municipal elections: Counting of votes for 805 posts underway

The counting of votes for 31 municipal bodies in Bihar is underway on Sunday, amid tight security arrangements, a state election commission official said. Armed police personnel have been posted at 58 centres where the counting began at 8 am for posts of ward councillors, mayors and deputy mayors, he said. Altogether 4, 431 candidates, including 2,234 women aspirants, are in the fray for the Bihar Nagar Nikay elections. Nine of them have already been declared elected unopposed. Elections to the 31 civic bodies were held on June 9. The polling took place in Patna, Buxar, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Vaishali, Nalanda, Nawada, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, West Champaran, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Madhubani, Kishanganj, Munger, Lakhisarai, Saharsa, Jamui and Banka districts. The State Election Commission, Bihar used a facial recognition system (FRS) for the first time to confirm voters' identities. The 31 urban local bodies include 24 where polls were not held in the last ur

'All love jihad cases to be probed if BJP comes to power in Bihar in 2025'

Bihar BJP president Samrat Choudhary on Friday said that all alleged love jihad' cases will be probed in the state if his party is voted to power in the 2025 assembly elections. Love jihad' is a term used by right-wing activists to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage. If voted to power in 2025, we will probe all love jihad cases. Not only this, we will ban cow slaughter in the state, Choudhary said while addressing a public meeting here. Those who try to create disturbances will be dealt with strictly and they will be sent behind the bar as it is happening in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, he said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, the JD(U), will face a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections next year and the 2025 Bihar assembly polls, the BJP leader claimed. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has changed in the last nine years. Democracy has been strengthened... India is touching new heights on

Money laundering case: ED seizes Rs 7.5 cr cash, FDs after raids in Bihar

Cash and fixed deposits worth about Rs 7.5 crore have been seized after raids were carried out in a money laundering case linked to alleged illegal sand mining by some companies that led to the loss of Rs 250 crore revenue for the Bihar government, the ED said on Friday. The searches were carried out on June 5 at twenty-seven locations in Patna, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh in Jharkhand and Kolkata at the premises of the two firms Broadson Commodities Pvt. Ltd., Aditya Multicom Pvt. Ltd., their directors, chartered accountants and other associates, the agency said in a statement. The money laundering case was filed by the Enforcement Directorate after taking cognisance of various Bihar Police FIRs filed against the accused. The police FIRs, the ED said, were registered on the basis of complaints from the Bihar mining department against the accused for "illegal sand mining and its sale without using the departmental pre-paid transportation e-challan issued by the mining authority, thereby

Voting for 3rd phase of municipal elections underway in 21 Bihar districts

Voting for the third phase of municipal elections got underway in 21 districts of Bihar on Friday

NHRC sends notice to chief secretary after kids fall ill from mid-day meal

NHRC has issued a notice to Bihar Chief Secretary Aamir Subhani in connection with 150 school children who fell ill after consuming mid-day meals in West Champaran district on June 1

IMD issues heatwave alert for some states; other states may see excess rain

Heatwave conditions are also expected to prevail over Odisha the sub-Himalayan West Bengal region between June 8 to June 10, over Telangana on June 8,9, and over several parts of UP till June 11