Nitish Kumar

In presence of Nadda, Nitish Kumar dubs alliances with RJD 'mistake'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday termed his past alliances with arch rival Lalu Prasad's RJD as a "mistake" that he committed twice but was determined not to repeat again. The JD(U) chief's remark came at a function where he shared the stage with Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, who is also the BJP's national president. "Our relationship goes back to the 1990s... all the good work in Bihar has been done under our stewardship", said the JD(U) supremo, whose outfit was earlier called the Samata Party. Referring to the RJD, without mentioning it by name, the CM said, "Those who were in power before me did nothing. It was a mistake on my part to have gone with them on two occasions. But I do not wish to repeat that mistake. I shall stay here (with the NDA)". The Bihar Chief Minister, who had returned to the NDA in January, kept asserting during Lok Sabha polls, especially at rallies where he shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that he would now be w

Bihar CM lays foundation stone for Rs 1,347 cr drinking water project

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday laid the foundation stone for a project valued at Rs 1,347 crore for supplying water from the Sone river for drinking purposes in Aurangabad, Dehri and Sasaram cities. The project will be completed in two years. Besides, the CM inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of a state industrial training institute, tech labs, installation of street lights projects and construction of Anganwadi centres at Dehri in Rohtas district. Accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and others, Kuamr also gave a cheque of Rs 74.17 crore for the distribution among 1,864 self-help groups associated with the Bihar Rural Livelihoods Project (BRLP), popularly known as JEEVIKA, in Bihar. The CM inaugurated the scheme for the supply of drinking water to the cities of Aurangabad, Dehri and Sasaram. In this scheme, the water of the Son river will be supplied to people. This will the dependence of these .

Bihar issues advisory on Monkeypox, health desk to be set up at airport

Bihar's Health Department has issued an advisory to the district administrations and hospitals on the prevention of Monkeypox, asking officials concerned to sensitise people about the viral disease. The Patna district administration has asked the civil surgeon to set up a health desk at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport on a priority basis following the advisory of the department. Talking to PTI, Patna District Magistrate (DM) Chandrashekhar Singh, said, "While no case has been reported so far, airport officials and district civil surgeon have been asked to ensure close surveillance of incoming travellers." "Officials have been asked to note the history of the last 21 days of all international travellers visiting Patna at the airport. The health desk at Patna airport will be set up within 24 hours of the issuance of the advisory," he added. "Officials of the Inland Navigation Authority, Gaighat (Patna) have also been asked to ensure close surveillance of incoming internatio

Decoded: Will Bihar's first Sports Academy be a gamechanger for athletes?

With its sights set on producing Olympic-level athletes by 2032, the complex represents a bold new chapter for sports development in Bihar

Rajiv Ranjan appointed as new JD(U) spokesperson after KC Tyagi resigns

Janata Dal (United) spokesperson K C Tyagi, whose stand on different issues often highlighted his party's differences with ally BJP, has resigned, the regional party said on Sunday. The JD(U) said in a statement that its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appointed Rajiv Ranjan Prasad as its national spokesperson. It attributed Tyagi's resignation to "personal reasons". However, it is believed that frequent comments of Tyagi, who is based in Delhi and enjoys an unlikely high profile in the national media for a regional party leader due to his experience and articulation, on central government's policies were seen as unhelpful to the BJP-JD(U) ties. Be it on the Uniform Civil Code, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill or even the government's position on the Palestine issue among other issues, the socialist leader's outspoken stand did not go down well many within the party and embarrassed the BJP, sources said. With two senior JD(U) leaders, including Union minister Lalan Si

Bihar's Rajgir to host 2024 Women's Asian Champions Trophy: Hockey India

The 10-day tournament will kick off on November 10, while the finals will take place on November 20

Bihar govt has fixed target of providing 1.2 mn govt jobs: CM Nitish Kumar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said the NDA government in the state has now fixed a new target of providing 12 lakh government jobs to youths by next year. Soon after hoisting the tricolour at the Gandhi Maidan here, Kumar said, "Bihar is moving ahead with high growth rate and development. It will go ahead with inclusive development in the coming years. Earlier, we had promised to provide 10 lakh government jobs to our youthsbut now our government has fixed a new target of providing 12 lakh government jobs to youths before the 2025 assembly polls. The state government is working in this direction, the chief minister said. "Under its 'Saat Nischay Part-2' scheme, the state government fixed a target of providing 10 lakh jobs and creating employment opportunities for 10 lakh people. The scheme was launched in 2020around 5.16 lakh people have already been given government jobs under this scheme and a process has been completed for providing 2 lakh more government jobs," .

Surprise discovery: Bihar tourism dept finds 113 acres of 'lost land'

The land piece was 'discovered' during a review of old communications with the land and revenue department, as part of the tourism department's initiative to identify and develop its land holdings

Nitish aide slams Tejashwi's yatra plan aimed at highlighting NDA's failure

A key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar slammed Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who has decided to embark on a state-wide tour to highlight alleged failures of the NDA government. Senior JD (U) leader and state minister Ashok Choudhary on Saturday came out with a statement attacking Yadav, a day after the RJD leader announced his plans to undertake the yatra from August 15. "In his press conference, Yadav had questioned the Nitish Kumar government's commitment to restore hiked reservations for deprived castes and alleged that despite being a part of the ruling alliance at the Centre, our party failed to secure special status for Bihar. He had also claimed that crime graph was soaring in the state," said Choudhary, who went on to debunk the charges. The rural works minister, who, incidentally, is a Dalit, trained his guns at the RJD leader over his party's "failure" to give reservations to SCs and STs in panchayats "for the 15-year period during which it ruled ...

Adani to invest Rs 5,500 cr in cement unit, Bihar CM lays foundation stone

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a Rs 1,600-crore cement grinding unit of Ambuja Concrete North Private Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Group's Ambuja Cements, in Nawada district. Adani Group has decided to invest an additional Rs 5,500 crore across various sectors in the state, a statement, issued by the CMO, said. A total of 40,000 employment opportunities will be generated by these investments, it said. "The project of 6 MTPA cement grinding unit, worth Rs 1,600 crore, will be implemented in three phases. The first one of 2.4 MTPA at an investment of Rs 1,100 crore is targeted to be commissioned by December 2025. The project is expected to create 250 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs in the area," the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. The project is considered the largest investment in the state by a cement industry player. It will meet the growing infrastructure needs of Bihar, the CMO said. "Adani Group has decided to invest an additional

Bihar quota law: Patna HC verdict based on 50% cap on reservation decoded

In June, the Patna HC had struck down the law passed by the Nitish Kumar government, which legalised hiking the reservations for backward classes, Dalits and tribals up to 65%

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar chairs JD(U) meeting, discusses Jharkhand polls

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Saturday said that it wanted to contest the assembly elections in neighbouring Jharkhand in alliance with the BJP. Kumar chaired a meeting of his party at his official residence and it was attended by JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, who is in charge of Jharkhand, Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary and Rajya Sabha MP Khiru Mahto, who heads the JD(U)'s unit in the adjoining state, among others. After the meeting, Mahto told reporters, "We are looking forward to contesting the Jharkhand assembly polls in alliance with the BJP." "Among the issues discussed with the party's supreme leader was the inclusion of Kurmis in the list of Scheduled Tribes. Kurmi leaders in Jharkhand have been raising the demand for some time and today it was seconded by delegates from West Bengal. We will now move forward by raising the issue in Parliament and before President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah," he ..

Poor planning, mgmt delayed projects in Patna Smart Cities Mission: CAG

The deficient financial management, poor planning and inclusion of unfeasible projects resulted in delayed or incomplete execution of projects under the Smart Cities Mission in Patna, the CAG said in a report. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said that "unfeasible projects" were included in the list of 44 initially approved projects, indicating "poor planning on the part of Patna Smart City Limited (PSCL) and the Urban Development and Housing Department (UD&HD) of Bihar government". "This ultimately resulted in delayed/incomplete execution of projects. The financial management of PSCL was also deficient, as funds had been diverted for unapproved projects and incorrect utilisation certificates had been submitted," said the compliance audit report of the CAG for the year ended March 31, 2022, which was tabled in the Bihar assembly on Thursday. The contract management for the mission was also poor as the complete scheme did not fulfil the desired objectives, it ...

Budget 2024: From Chandrababu Naidu to Mamata Banerjee, here're CMs' views

Bengal has been completely deprived in this Union Budget, WB CM said

Ruckus in Bihar Assembly on reservation, proceedings adjourned till 2 PM

The Bihar assembly was on Wednesday adjourned till 2 PM as opposition members stood in the well of the House, demanding that the state's amended reservation laws be put in the ninth schedule of the Constitution. The opposition legislators did not relent despite repeated requests by Speaker Nand Kishor Yadav that they take their seats and words of admonition from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who stood up to intervene. "It was at my instance that you all agreed to a caste survey after which quotas for SCs, STs, OBCs and the extremely backward classes were hiked," said Kumar. He told the House that the Patna High Court has "set aside the reservation laws, we have moved the Supreme Court. A formal request has also been made to the Centre for putting these in the ninth schedule". Notably, quotas for deprived castes were hiked to 65 per cent through the laws passed in November last year, which the Patna High Court quashed last month. Placing the laws, which breach the 50 per cent cap on

Centre denying special status for Bihar evokes cryptic response from Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday came out with a cryptic response to the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to the state. Kumar, whose JD (U) is a key ally of the ruling NDA at the Centre, was asked about the Union government's statement in Parliament the day before. "You will get to know all things slowly, and slowly (sab kuchh dhire dhire jaan jaaiyega)," the longest-serving CM of the state said, in reply to a volley of questions he faced from journalists at the Bihar Assembly. Flashing his trademark smile of ambiguity, the veteran leader rushed inside the House, waving at the posse of journalists that stood trying to read his impregnable mind. Notably, after the Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP fell short of majority, becoming heavily dependent on allies, the JD (U) had held a national executive meeting where a resolution was passed raising a fresh demand for special status. Leaders of the JD (U), which has two ministers in the Union government, insis

Budget 2024 reactions: BJP, ally Nitish Kumar and Opposition, who said what

Union Budget 2024: The Congress was quick to point out that the parts of Sitharaman's Budget were inspired from its Lok Sabha elections 2024 manifesto

Budget 2024: PM Modi allies Nitish, Naidu demands billions, pile pressure

For now, it seems that Modi will likely be able to manage those demands without blowing out the budget deficit.

INDIA bloc to hold protests over collapsed law & order situation in Bihar

The opposition INDIA bloc in Bihar on Wednesday said it will organise a state-wide agitation later this week over the alleged deterioration in the law and order situation. The announcement was made at a joint press conference of the alliance partners here. The law and order situation has completely collapsed in the state. Everyday, Bihar is witnessing cases of murder, kidnapping, extortion, rape, etc Why is Chief Minister Nitish Kumar maintaining a stoic silence on the current situation? RJD's state party chief Jagadanand Singh said. We... will organise a protest march on July 20 across the state against rising crimes in Bihar. This issue will also be raised in the assembly during the upcoming monsoon session, Singh said. Leader of Opposition in the assembly and senior RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also slammed the state government on the issue. Bihar witnessed several incidents that expose the current law and order situation. For instance husband and wife brutally murdered by stabbin

Bihar CM should 'strike', he's in position to get it done, says Congress

The Congress on Monday sought to know what Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is doing about the demand for special category status for the state and asserted that "he should strike" as he is in a position to get this done now. The opposition party's remarks come after Bihar ministers claimed that the latest report of NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2023-24 vindicated the state's long-standing demand for greater central financial assistance. On July 12, NITI Aayog released the SDG India Index 2023-24 -- an assessment of the country's sustainable development. Bihar has figured at the bottom of the index despite improvements on some parameters. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said senior ministers in Bihar are now arguing that NITI Aayog's latest analysis vindicates their demand for special category status in the matter of Central assistance to the state. "Basically this would mean that instead of 70 per cent of such ...