Bihar bus accident: 27 feared charred to death; Modi, Nitish condole loss

At least 27 people were feared dead when a bus, carrying at least 32 passengers, fell into a roadside pit and caught fire in Bihar's East Champaran district on Thursday, Disaster Management Department minister Dinesh Chandra Yadav said, according to media reports. The bus was on its way to Delhi from Muzaffarpur.
The incident took place on NH-28 near Belwa village under Kotwa police station area, about 30 kilometres from Motihari, the district headquarters.

The private air-conditioned bus had begun its journey at Muzaffarpur, about 85 km from Motihari.

The fire incinerated the bus and nobody could be retrieved so far.

According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (Sadar), Murli Manohar Manjhi and Officer on Special Duty to District Magistrate Ajeet Kumar, "six to eight" persons had managed to come out of the bus, which was engulfed in flames, by smashing the window panes.

National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force teams have been rushed to the spot and hospitals in Motihari & Muzaffarpur districts put on alert. The injured are being treated for injuries at a hospital, the officials, who were supervising rescue work at the spot, said.

Nitish Kumar urges PM Modi to confer Bharat Ratna on Ram Manohar Lohia

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to confer the 'Bharat Ratna', the highest civilian award in the country, on socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia.

In a three-page letter addressed to the PM, Kumar drew Modi's attention towards Lohia's role in the struggle for Independence, his efforts in bringing together non-Congress parties during the time of Nehru, his model of socialism rooted in Indian realities and his emphasis on issues of public sanitation and womens' upliftment decades ago.

The chief minister also highlighted Lohia's active participation in the movement for Goa's liberation from Portuguese rule and suggested that the international airport in the coastal state be named after him.

"Lohia had gone to the extent of saying that he would give up opposing Nehru if the latter got toilets constructed for rural women. His foresight can also be gauged from his emphasis on equipping kitchens with chimneys so that smoke did not spoil womens' health, " the Kumar said in the letter.

"In the light of these facts, it would be appropriate that the Government of India confer Bharat Ratna on Lohia, in the honour of his contributions, on his death anniversary on October 12 and also rename the Goa International Airport as Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Airport," he said.

Google India's literacy programme 'Internet Saathi' now in 100,000 villages

Riding on the 'Internet Saathi' programme - a digital literacy initiative aimed at empowering women in rural India, Google India on Wednesday announced that it has now reached 100,000 villages in the country.

Launched as a pilot in Rajasthan in July 2015 along with Tata Trusts, Google announced plans to scale the programme to cover 300,000 villages across India in December the same year.

"From being afraid to touch a smartphone, worried that they will spoil it, to now demanding services that can help them get more from the Internet - women in rural India have come a long way," Sapna Chadha, Director Marketing, South East Asia and India at Google, a statement said.

"We are delighted with the progress we have made with the 'Internet Saathi' model and it is remarkable to see the passion of these women learning about the Internet," she added.

In its two-year journey, the initiative has continued to gain momentum and is today live in 10 states in India.

Nearly 25,000 fully-trained 'Internet Saathis' are working everyday in these villages to help women and children learn about the internet.

In total, over 10 million women have gained from the programme so far and have become familiar with the benefits of using the Internet in their daily lives.
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Nitish Kumar is Bihar CM again; former allies call tie-up with BJP betrayal

Nitish Kumar was on Thursday sworn in as the Bihar Chief Minister at the head of a JD-U-BJP government, a day after he dumped the RJD and the Congress, but faced murmurs of protest from senior leaders including Sharad Yadav. The Kerala unit of his party snapped ties with him.

Nitish Kumar also came under attack from former allies who called his decision a "betrayal" of the 2015 mandate.

Nitish Kumar, who took the oath of office and secrecy with his former Deputy Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP, has to prove his majority in the Assembly on Friday.

He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi at a hurriedly-organised event at the Raj Bhavan as JD-U supporters raised slogans of "Nitish Kumar Zindabad".

The new JD-U-BJP combine including some other parties has submitted to the Governor a list of 132 MLAs, 10 more than the half-way mark of 122 in the 243 member Assembly.

They include 71 of JD-U, BJP's 53, RLSP's and LJP's two each, HAM's one and three independents. The RJD has 80 MLAs and its ally Congress has 27. The CPI-ML, bitterly opposed to the BJP, has three members.

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Meet Abhishek Prasad, the man who played guitar during his brain surgery

A 37-year-old musician played guitar while a nerve disorder in his brain was stimulated at a private hospital in the city recently, said a neurosurgeon on Thursday.

"We conducted a live brain circuit surgery on Abhishek Prasad to stimulate his left hand fingers even as he strummed his guitar in the operation theatre on July 11," Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain Hospital neurosurgeon Sharan Srinivasan told reporters here.

Post-operation, a beaming Prasad, who hails from Bihar, but settled in this tech hub, displayed proficiency by playing guitar at ease nine days after his skull was drilled and operated upon to set right the disorder in his four fingers.

Touted to be the first such brain circuit surgery in the country, the delicate operation involved passing an electrode 8-9cm through a 14mm hole into the brain and stimulating a specific nerve to confirm the right location and prevent any side-effect or complications to other circuits.

"After reconfirming the target location, a radio frequency lesion was made using a RF ablation machine. As the surgery was on, Prasad was conscious and played guitar, as the disorder used to manifest when he tried to play the instrument. The live feedback was important for us to ascertain the exact location to be lesioned," noted Srinivasan.
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Bihar Class XII topper arrested, result cancelled

In a repeat of last year's events, the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) on Friday cancelled the result of Class XII topper in the Arts stream Ganesh Kumar and arrested him for committing forgery, among other charges, a top BSEB official said.

"Kumar has been charged for hiding his real age and appearing in the examination by giving fake date of birth," BSEB Chairman Anad Kishore told the media here.

Kishore said that the board had cancelled the result of Ganesh Kumar and lodged a FIR against him. He was taken into custody late in the evening.

The developments followed protests by students in front of the Bihar Intermediate Education Council office here against alleged discrepancies in the results.

The BSEB Chairman said: "Preliminary investigations reveal that Ganesh Kumar had not mentioned his real age in the examination form... He has cheated the board. His real age is 42 but he has mentioned 24 years in the examination form. He is also the father of two children."

Kishore said that Kumar first appeared in the Class X examination and then in the Class XII examination to reduce his real age. "The board has cancelled his Class X as well as Class XII results."

According to him, the board has sought an explanation from the school in Samastipur district, from where Kumar had filled his examination form.

"If the management of the school fails to explain satisfactorily, action will be taken against the school as per the law. The board will also suspend the recognition of the school."

Soon after the BSEB announced Class XII results earlier this week and Kumar topped in the Arts stream, local media raised questions over his capabilities.

Ganesh Kumar had opted for Music as one of his subjects, but stumbled over queries posed by the media on music, in which he scored 65 out of 70 marks in practical and 18 out of 30 marks in theory.

Kumar was reportedly not comfortable explaining what is "sur", "taal" and "matra", considered the basics of music, and appeared confused.
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Lalu-Shahabuddin audio tape: RJD, JDU cry conspiracy; BJP calls out Nitish

Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal (United) has called the audio tape of a conversation between Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and his party's jailed leader Mohammad Shahabuddin, which was aired by an English news channel on Saturday, a conspiracy to destabilise the state government. (Read more)

The RJD, for its part, has alleged that the recording is doctored and that it is ready to face any kind of investigation. The RJD and JDU are part of the alliance government in the state.  

RJD, JDU see BJP's hand behind 'conspiracy'

RJD leader Manoj Jha accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of scripting a propaganda against Lalu, who he termed as one of the strongest voices against right-winged authoritarian.

"I find the audio tapes purported and doctored. This is malicious, this is propaganda ruled out by top BJP script writers. We welcome all kind of investigation. Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav is one of the strongest voices against right-winged authoritarian," Jha told ANI.

Condemning the episode, JD(U) leader K C Tyagi said, "This is an attempt to destabilise the Bihar government."

BJP gets a new stick to beat Nitish with

The BJP did not waste any time in taking up the issue and attacking the Bihar chief minister, daring him to take action against his alliance partner. (Read more)

Following the airing of the alleged conversation, senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad targeted both Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar at a press conference in the national capital and described it as the "worst form of criminal-political nexus" in the country and the "most tragic day for democracy".

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