Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary have been appointed as deputy chief ministers in Bihar under the leadership of Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who also retains control of key portfolios.
The Hazaribag Superintendent of Police (SP) Office treasury scam has widened, with more arrests made and the embezzlement amount increasing to Rs 28 crore. The investigation is ongoing, with teams sent to Bihar to trace the money trail and assets acquired through the scam.
The Hazaribag Superintendent of Police (SP) Office treasury scam has seen further developments with more arrests and a significant increase in the embezzlement amount to 28 crore. The investigation continues, with authorities pursuing leads in Bihar and freezing suspicious accounts.
The story of Bihar's educational reform is a lesson for all reforms done halfway.
'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
The average land given to the rural landless is small and falling, from 0.95 acres in 2002 to 0.88 acres in 2015 - a 7.4 per cent drop over 13 years-and a slowdown is evident in the process of taking land away from rich landlords, the RTI data reveal.
The winter session of Parliament is set to begin with the government prioritizing its reforms agenda, including a bill to open the civil nuclear sector to private players. The opposition is expected to raise concerns about electoral roll revisions and air pollution.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin announced the party's plan to replicate Assam's 'detect, delete and deport' model to expel alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators in West Bengal if voted to power.
The home portfolio of Bihar, which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar kept with himself all through his nearly 20-year-long tenure, has been given to his deputy, BJP leader Samrat Chowdhury, this time, according to an official notification issued on Friday.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Priyanka accused the prime minister of "speaking on unnecessary issues" while staying silent on corruption, unemployment and the alleged misrule under the NDA government in Bihar.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance on Friday secured a thumping majority in the Bihar Assembly, winning 202 seats in the 243-member House, as results for all the constituencies were declared by the Election Commission.
The certificate of residence was issued last week in Masaurhi circle, falling under the eponymous sub-division, apparently as part of a scramble for such documents during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
'We have 38 Dalits who are MLAs and ministers. But that does not mean the Dalits of Bihar are prospering.'
'They are going to create so many nations within one nation.' 'If you do this exercise without a clear vision, it will have far reaching repercussions. It will end up in disaster and that will be dangerous.'
Rallying behind the government, the BJP decided to launch a counter-offensive against the opposition "disinformation campaign" on the controversial land bill with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that his growth model was pro-poor.
Kartik Kumar, a Rashtriya Janata Dal MLC, who became the state's law minister in the new Nitish Kumar government, resigned hours after being moved to a lesser significant Sugarcane Department on Wednesday night.
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
The upcoming delimitation exercise should reflect the social realities uncovered by the census, ensuring proportional political representation for marginalised groups, it read.
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.
'The BJP's numbers in this government are almost the same as those enjoyed by the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao when the reform process was kicked off in 1991.' 'As before, the only constraints on the prime minister's actions are internal, not external.' 'They come from his own assessment of the political consequences of any action,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
The message from Sunday's event will undoubtedly reverberate globally. It's a landmark occasion that will be remembered for generations and will inspire many other states to introduce the story of Rajendra Chola into school curricula, says Tarun Vijay.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday issued a three-line whip to all of its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House for the passing of the Union Budget 2025-26.
"Look at the devastation wrought by Covid in Pakistan and elsewhere. We were saved by Modi's vaccine and his deft handling of the economy," Ram Surat Rai said.
The Bihar result could be a flash in the pan but it has Nitish Kumar seriously worried. More so, because the loss represents a defeat for many of the reforms he was trying to introduce.
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar, set to retire next month, plans to spend several months in solitude in the Himalayas. He also expressed a desire to teach underprivileged children, recalling his own humble beginnings. Kumar's tenure as CEC saw him oversee landmark elections, including the 16th Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections in 2022 and assembly elections in 11 states.
Chaudhary is the first Dalit leader to occupy the august office.
The government needs to take positive action to reaffirm that story.
Several leading scientists, academicians, and agriculturalists have called for raising government support for research and development to make Indian agriculture future-ready.
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.
President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Kumar also asserted that his efforts should reap benefits for the younger generation, "for people like (his deputy) Tejashwi Yadav".
Over the next five years, it will be Narendra not Nitish who will be under pressure to deliver vikas and atmanirbharta in Bihar, notes Kanika Datta.
Bijendra Prasad Yadav, the senior-most minister in the state cabinet, also lamented that the lack of cohesion was causing allies to engage in allegations and counter allegations, a job best left to the Opposition.
This is another blow to Modi's ambitious economic reform agenda that has been stalled by a logjam in parliament
'The lack of a majority isn't the issue. He has enough in 240, especially as none of his allies can pull down his coalition.' 'That's why he's started as if this were just another, normal term. That pretence is vital for him.' 'The change for Modi 3.0 comes not from numbers, but from the new environment of contestation,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
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