The EC's advisory, re-issued ahead of the three-phase elections in Bihar beginning later this month, asked the media, both electronic and print, to 'refrain' from airing and publishing such programmes during the prohibited period to ensure free, fair and transparent polls.
Ironically, rival Tamil Nadu governments expend the most on social welfare schemes, especially targeting women and youth and children, but that money comes only by selling more liquor. There is always the specious plea, which has been peddled very many times in the past, that without licensed liquor, drinkers would go after hooch and there could be more hooch tragedies and hooch deaths. No one is convinced, but no one can dispute it either, comments N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Bihar police will soon put to use Artificial intelligence technology to nab people involved in illegal liquor trade and other crimes, a senior police officer said on Friday.
Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in the killing of Indian Administrative Service officer G Krishnaiah, is to be set free along with 26 others who have been lodged in different prisons of the state for more than 14 years.
He reaffirmed that parties opposed to the BJP can win with a "huge majority" in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls if they agree to join hands.
Addressing workers of the JD-U, a Bharatiya Janata Party ally, Kumar also reiterated his demand for special status for Bihar, which the Modi government had earlier rejected.
Five years after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar imposed total prohibition in Bihar, the liquor mafia continues to thrive, reports MI Khan.
Referred to as 'Badlav Patr (document of change)', Congress leader Randeep Surjewala and All India Congress Committee's Bihar in-charge Shakti Sinh Gohil presented the manifesto that promises farm loan waiver and 50 percent subsidy in electricity bills to farmers up to 100 units of consumption. The manifesto also promised that it will reject the Centre's farm laws if voted to power.
Opposition attacked the government, saying prohibition law was being used to target Dalits.
Empty bottles of liquor were discovered inside the premises of the legislature in dry Bihar, in a fresh embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar government in the state, which has been drawing flak over recent hooch tragedies that have claimed more than 40 lives.
The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar came under fresh attack on Monday from state Bharatiya Janata Party president Sanjay Jaiswal whose party seems annoyed with junior ally Janata Dal-United's shrill demands for special assistance from the Centre.
The Bihar CM further recounted the work done by his government to boost social welfare in the state and the efforts to strengthen the law and order in the state.
Crucial reforms in Muslim personal law, especially laws related to inheritance and adoption, need to be initiated forthwith; historically speaking, without the State's backing, hardly has any reform taken place or allowed to prevail, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
Thakur, popularly known as 'jannayak', served as chief minister from December 1970 to June 1971 and from December 1977 to April 1979.
This incident has again exposed that despite prohibition being in force in Bihar, alcohol is still available in the black market and that the liquor mafia is very much active
In a poor village of daily wage earners in Siwan, Bihar, people speak about their hard lives and why they vote.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday reiterated that his government is committed to enforce liquor ban or prohibition in the state. M I Khan/ Rediff.com report from Patna.
The prohibition has freed up as much as 60 million litres of ethanol
Earlier, The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.
The two leaders heaped praise upon each other for effectively implementing prohibition in their states, reports M I Khan from Patna.
Huma Qureshi's Rani Bharti was the ace in the pack, but everything that she does in this season smacks more of script conveniences than careful plotting, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Several states that imposed prohibition in the past lifted it once revenue loss began to pinch
Sale of expensive sarees rose by 1,751 per cent while consumption of honey by 380 per cent.
An ugly spat ensued after a JD-U spokesman took potshots at state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal over his offer of help to family members of those who died in a hooch tragedy in West Champaran district last year.
Asserting that liquor consumption is a social stigma, Nitish said that prohibition would improve society.
The Bihar assembly plunged into turmoil on Saturday when the opposition sought to raise the issue of alleged involvement of revenue and land reforms minister Ram Surat Rai in illicit liquor trade, forcing adjournment of the House around noon till lunch.
A day after the Patna high court slammed the Bihar government for its poor handling of the second wave of the pandemic and sought to know whether it was enforcing lockdown or not, the administration on Tuesday announced imposition of lockdown from May 5 to May 15.
The latest development comes a day after the BJP decided to support Nitish Kumar's human chain for prohibition next week.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
'What happened to Andhra Pradesh? It is the perfect example of the transientness of Federal Units.' 'Federalism is a transient thing in this country.'
Ten sensitive installations in six states and one Union territory have been declared out of bounds for the general public, with the Centre saying any information with respect to certain activities carried out at these premises may be useful to India's enemies.
There are also over 10 million voters in the 18-29 age bracket. Winning them over could be Nitish Kumar's biggest challenge, reports Aditi Phadnis.
A bill providing for up to capital punishment to those manufacturing or trading illicit liquor in the event of hooch tragedy was on Wednesday unanimously passed by both Bihar legislature which also adopted a resolution unanimously that its members will not consume liquor.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Nitish Kumar-led government prohibited liquor in the state on April 5 this year, making it the fourth dry state in the country after Gujarat, Kerala and Nagaland.
Election strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Thursday claimed to have told Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that the state's much-touted liquor prohibition drive has been a "complete failure", and in need of a "review".
A reference to Morbi bridge collapse of Gujarat was on Friday made inside the Bihar assembly by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who alleged that states not ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party got an unfair portrayal in the media.
The fact that rodents were making merry in the dungeons came to light following media reports that they had overrun the 'Malkhana' (store) of the police stations.
'Parents, students and coaching institutes will find alternatives to cater to the demand.'
The court has asked raiding parties to seize prohibited articles like mobile phones from prison inmates.
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