Bodies of the victims, all passengers of the autorickshaw, lay scattered on both sides of the tracks as the train went ahead and stopped only at Katihar railway station
Purnea bore the brunt of the Nor'wester with a maximum of 38 deaths.
Heavy rains in the last three days triggered flash floods in parts of Bihar, where 41 people have died so far, and inundated large areas in Assam and North Bengal, paralysing normal life and snapping rail link to the Northeast from the rest of the country.
There are, however, no reports of any instance of bird flu in Katihar and the culling in the six panchayat areas is a preventive measure.
The floods have affected 31 lakh people across 13 districts and also widely damaged crops in different parts of the state.
Anwar announced he was quitting the NCP and was also giving up his Lok Sabha membership on September 28 after Sharad Pawar's "defence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Abdullah termed the gag order as an attempt by the EC to please the BJP.
Interview with Union minister of state for agriculture Tariq Anwar
The toll in the killer nor'wester in Bihar rose to 54 as reports of 12 more deaths came from the 12 ravaged districts on Thursday.
'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.' 'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'
Critics say that there's no 'Modi wave' in four Muslim-dominated parliamentary constituencies in Bihar's Seemanchal belt, but Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are hopeful to retain three out of the four seats here. In 2009 general elections, the BJP won in Purnea, Katihar and Araria but lost in Kishanganj.
18 buses carrying students from Assam and 31 with students from Haryana were scheduled to leave Kota on Friday, Additional District Magistrate (administration), Kota Narendra Gupta, who is monitoring the task, said.
Two deaths due to heart attack were also reported from polling stations in Madhubani and Darbhanga districts.
In the sprawling rural Bihar, elected head of the village panchayats, known as 'mukhiyas' are living in fear in view of increasing threat to their lives.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday for the first time targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is considered close to him, by saying that ongoing Lok Sabha polls outcome will prove the impact of the Janata Dal-United's decision to end its alliance with the BJP.
"She was mercilessly beaten to death when the accused spotted her cutting grass in his field," a police official told rediff.com.
Anwar, an AICC general secretary, came out with a flurry of tweets calling for 'urgent and deep introspection' over the debacle of the party, the second largest constituent of the opposition coalition, which contested as many as 70 seats but returned with a tally of just 19.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said the state police was conducting an in-depth inquiry into the death of an Assam-based student Pritam Bhattacharya whose body was found near Katoriya station in Barauni-Katihar rail section on July 17.
At least 38 people have been killed and 18.6 lakh affected by floods in Bihar as major rivers continue to overflow after crossing the danger mark at several places in the state. The district-wise break-up of deaths are Muzaffarpur (1), Saharsa (3), Gopalganj (2), Madhepura (1), West Champaran (4), Bhojpur (10), Purnia (1), Madhubani (2), Katihar (2), Samastipur (2), Vaishali (4), Bhagalpur (4) and Lakhisarai (2), according to State Disaster Management sources.
Blame game between Bihar police and Railway Protection Force over compensation for slain Mohd Mustafa, who fell victim of a stray police bullet a year ago in Bihar's Katihar district, has left his blind parents to starve.
Rupam Pathak, the school teacher who stabbed to death Bihar's Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Raj Kishore Keshari at his residence in Purnia on Tuesday morning, has been admitted at the Katihar Hospital in a critical condition, after she was badly beaten up by the member of legislative assembly's security guards and supporters.
Modi also announced Rs 2 lakh aid to the kin of those who died in the deluge.
With the rise in level of the Ganga, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed apprehension of further rise in water level by Monday in view of release of water from Bansagar dam as flood-like situation prevailed in the state.
A local court on Thursday remanded Rupam Pathak, the school teacher who allegedly killed Bihar's member of legislative assembly Raj Kishore Keshari on Tuesday, to 14-day judicial custody. Pathak had allegedly stabbed to death Keshari at his residence in Purnia on Tuesday morning.Pathak was produced in the court on Thursday amid tight security, said police officials.On Tuesday, Pathak had been admitted at the Katihar Hospital in a critical condition after she was badly beaten.
The mortal remains of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Raj Kishore Keshari, who was stabbed to death by a woman at his residence in Purnia, were consigned to flames with state honours on Wednesday.
The intensity of the impact increased as many cars parked along the wall inside the society too fell on the shanties, officials said.
A charge sheet is likely to be filed on Thursday against the woman who allegedly stabbed to death Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Raj Kishore Keshari in Purnia, Bihar on Tuesday. Top police officials questioned her on Wednesday and said her act appeared to be pre-meditated."The investigation is on and the arrested lady is being treated at a hospital in Katihar. Her condition is stated to be out of danger," said an official.
No one in Bihar will deny Nitish Kumar's contribution to governance, notes Aditi Phadnis.
5.56 lakh people have been rescued so far from the 12 flood-affected districts. The government is plying 2,821 boats for evacuation.
A total 4.16 lakh people have been evacuated so far from the 12 flood-affected districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar.
When Vinod Kumar Singh, the minister for mines and geology, found that mediapersons did not join the chorus, he stopped and asked if they were "sons and daughters of Pakistan".
We should be ready beforehand and I agree that if we have to go for alliances then the formalities of those alliances should be completed as soon as possible
One passenger was killed and 22 others were injured, including one seriously, when an engine and six bogies of the Amrapali Express jumped off the tracks near Pasraha station in Bihar's Khagaria district on Wednesday night.
With more than 21 lakh migrant workers returning to the state as per official data, the Nitish Kumar government faces an enormous challenge in providing jobs for them.
For many the resumption of trains is a big boon, but some say it doesn't come without confusion and worries
The flood situation in Bihar showed signs of improvement with major rivers maintaining a receding trend, even as four more deaths were reported from Darbhanga district, taking the total toll to 81.
The district administration has banned the sale of motor fuels without a permit from the district supply officer in order to stock reserves of petrol and diesel for vehicles to be used for flood-fighting and relief operations.
Training his guns at the Congress, Modi accused the opposition party of having always made false promises of poverty eradication, farm loan waiver and one rank-one pension for retired servicemen.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
A former Bihar minister's son was shot dead in Bihar's Katihar district triggering protests with locals disrupting movement of trains on the Patna-Guwahati route as the sub-divisional town of Barari observed a spontaneous bandh. Anil Kumar Singh, son of former minister late Basudev Prasad Singh, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Barari market on Sunday night, police said on Monday.
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