Page 12 - Bihar

Amid liquor ban, Bihar funds women to make bangles from seized bottles

Bihar, a dry state, is encouraging rural women to make glass bangles from seized liquor bottles in an effort to reduce waste and also provide them livelihood. The Prohibition Department of the state government has sanctioned Rs 1 crore as seed money for setting up bangle manufacturing units with women linked to the rural livelihood programme 'JEEViKA' at the helm. Large quantities of alcohol are seized every year in the state and the authorities often find it difficult to dispose of the confiscated bottles, Prohibition and Excise Minister Sunil Kumar told PTI. "Seized liquor bottles are crushed using earthmovers resulting in colossal waste. As a part of this initiative, the department will now provide the crushed bottles as raw materials to JEEViKA workers for manufacturing glass bangles. A group of JEEViKA workers is being trained for making glass bangles by the Rural Development Department," he said. "A comprehensive feasibility report is being made for its further expansion. ...

Age catching up with Nitish: Prashant Kishor hits back at Bihar CM

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor hit back at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday, a day after the JD(U) supremo accused him of trying to help BJP and not knowing "ABC" of politics and governance. Kishor, who has launched "Jan Suraaj", a campaign that is likely to evolve into a political party, said it was "laughable" for Kumar to issue "certificates" given that he was with the BJP till a month ago. "Age is catching up with him. If he has divined that I want to help the BJP, it is his intellectual greatness (vidvata)," Kishor told reporters here sarcastically. "Nitish Kumar must be the only educated person around to have said people like me do not know ABC. He knows from A to Z. He should share the knowledge with NITI Aayog which keeps counting Bihar among the least-developed states," the IPAC founder said, tongue in cheek. Kishor also said that if Kumar was able to deliver on his promise of creating 10 lakh jobs, which he made after ruling the state fo

There is Janta Raj, not Jungle Raj in Bihar: Nitish rubbishes BJP's claim

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday rubbished the BJP's jibe that 'Jungle Raj' (lawlessness) has returned to Bihar with the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) government coming to power, and asserted that there is 'Janta Raj' (people's rule) in the state. "Stray incidents are not a reflection of the overall law and order situation in the state. What Jungle Raj? Maintaining law and order has been the priority of our government. There is Janta Raj," Kumar said when asked about the saffron party's jibe. Attacking senior BJP leaders in the state, he said such comments do not affect the government as it is committed to working for the people of Bihar. "If Sushil Modi (former deputy CM) or Sanjay Jaiswal (state BJP chief) criticise me, they may get plum posts in the party or the central government," he said. On his recent meetings with opposition leaders in Delhi, Kumar said, "My focus is on bringing together all opposition parties in the country. My meetings with opposition leaders we

Phulwari Sharif case: NIA conducts searches at multiple locations in Bihar

The raids were being held in connection with its probe into a suspected terror module allegedly linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI)

After midnight checks, Tejashwi seeks overhaul of Bihar health system

Tejashwi was angry after seeing dogs inside the wards of PMCH. He also found that doctors and medical staff were unavailable at that time in the PMCH

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar meets CPI-ML leader Dipankar Bhattacharya in Delhi

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar met CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya here on Wednesday, as the JD(U) leader continues his efforts to unite Opposition parties after severing ties with the BJP. Kumar is in the national capital on a four-day visit. He has been meeting Opposition leaders with an aim to forge unity among them for a joint fight against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He had met Left leaders -- CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja -- on Tuesday. There are 16 MLAs of Left parties in the Bihar Assembly supporting the Nitish government from outside, these include 12 of CPI-ML (L), two each of CPI and CPM.

BJP leaders scared of Nitish Kumar's popularity: Bihar minister

Bihar Cabinet minister Shravan Kumar on Wednesday said that the BJP leaders are rattled with the growing popularity of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the country.

Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav conducts surprise checks at govt hospitals

Doctors at government hospitals in the Bihar capital were left in a daze when they realised that a young man knocking at their doors past midnight was none other than Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. The young leader spent the day, on Tuesday, demonstrating that he was very much in charge of the administration while his boss Nitish Kumar was away in Delhi to do some political heavy lifting. Yadav holds key portfolios like health, road construction and urban development and he has proudly announced on his Twitter handle his "pahal" (initiative) to end the strike by Patna Municipal Corporation sweepers which has, in the past few days, buried the city's streets under heaps of trash. However, youngsters may be more impressed with his late night "raids" on hospitals, clips of which are being run by media outlets likening the 33-year-old to the protagonist of 'Nayak', an Anil Kapoor starrer who shakes up the system as a hands-on chief minister. The hospitals where the .

Nitish 'neither claimant nor desirous' for PM post, calls for united Oppn

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said he is neither a claimant for the prime minister's post nor desirous of it, his assertion coming amid speculation that his visit to Delhi is to claim leadership of the opposition parties. It is time for the Left parties, the Congress and all regional parties to come together to form a united opposition, Kumar told reporters after meeting CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja at their respective party offices. The Janata Dal (United) leader, who severed his party's ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) last month, is in the capital to meet key opposition leaders. "I have had a long association with the CPI(M) from my younger days. You all have not seen me, but whenever I used to come to Delhi, I used to come to this office. We were separated but today, all of us are together again. Our entire focus is to unite all the Left parties, the regional parties and the Congress. This will b

CM Nitish Kumar to visit Delhi today, likely to meet Opposition leaders

Meanwhile, various posters of Nitish Kumar projecting him as a prime ministerial candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha election were seen in Patna on Thursday

Boat carrying 55 people sinks in Bihar's Danapur; search operation underway

All the persons on board hailed from the Daudpur area of Patna

Shah will try to trigger communal disturbances during Bihar visit: JD(U)

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Sunday alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah will try to "trigger communal disturbances" during his tour of the state later this month. JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, however, added that the people of Bihar were vigilant, and Shah will not be able to reap benefits for the BJP. "When Amit Shah ji will be here he will try to trigger communal disturbances in Bihar and across the country. But, the people of Bihar are alert (satark') and they (BJP) will not be able to cash in on communal polarisation, Lalan told reporters here. Shah is scheduled to visit Purnea and Kishanganj, both districts with a high concentration of Muslims, on September 23-24. With the BJP rattled by the sudden snapping of ties by Kumar, fireworks are expected during the tour of the home minister, widely regarded as his party's principal strategist. Lalan asserted that the BJP will be decimated and the Mahagathbandhan' comprising JD(U), RJD

BJP wanted to make RCP Singh Bihar's Eknath Shinde, says Nitish Kumar

The political uproar continues in Bihar, as CM Nitish Kumar alleged that the BJP wanted to make RCP Singh the Eknath Shinde of Bihar and isolate the Janata Dal-United

BJP can be reduced to 50 seats in 2024 polls: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has claimed to reduce the BJP to 50 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Panchayat in Bihar's Jamui slaps Rs 5 lakh penalty on rape accused

Accused Mohammad Mohsin, resident of a village under Sikandara police station in the district, had raped the girl on the pretext of marriage

BPSC PT Exam 2022: Date, pattern, syllabus, and details

BPSC PT Exams 2022: Bihar Public Service Commission has made key changes in the schedule, merit list and optional papers procedure. Read this detailed article to know everything about BPSC PT Exam

NIA court in Bihar convicts 5th person in fake currency case of 2019

This case was initially lodged with the Bihar Police in 2019 and later on the NIA took over the probe

No one takes him seriously: Bihar CM on Sushil Modi's 'comedy show' quip

A day after BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi dubbed the meeting of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao as the "latest comedy show of opposition unity", the JD(U) supremo on Thursday claimed that no one takes the saffron party leader seriously and what he said did not matter. Kumar, talking to reporters, also said that the BJP leader's constant criticism of the new Bihar government and him might find him favour with the saffron party's top brass "Who takes him (Modi) seriously...even his party does not. Let him say whatever he wants to say. Since he is saying something against me almost every day, he may find a place for himself at the Centre," said the CM. Modi had on Wednesday termed the meeting of both the CMs in Patna as a "get-together of two daydreamers" and the "latest comedy show of opposition unity". He also quipped that it is a meeting of two leaders who are losing their base in their respective states and harbouring the desire to bec

Former Bihar Law Minister Kartikeya Singh's bail plea rejected, blames BJP

A court in Bihar's Danapur on Thursday rejected the bail application of former state Law Minister Kartikeya Singh, in a 2014 kidnapping case

LIVE news: NIA announces Rs 25 L reward on fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim

The agency has also announced a cash reward of Rs 20 L on Ibrahim's close aide Chhota Shakeel