2 passengers, 1 RPF jawan killed in Naxal attack on train

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has confirmed the death of an RPF jawan and one passenger aboard the Bihar train that came under Naxal attack.

The latest reports coming in from Bihar now indicate that three people have been killed in the attack on the passenger train. CNN-IBN reported that the dead included 1 RPF Jawan and two passengers.

No further details were immediately available.  The condition of the train driver is still serious.

Bihar nod to preparing DPR for Patna metro rail

Bihar moved a step closer to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's dream of a Metro train service in Patna with the state cabinet Tuesday approving the proposal to prepare a detailed project report (DPR).

Cabinet Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told media persons here that state cabinet has selected Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) for the purpose.

"RITES will prepare DPR for the Metro rail in Patna," he said.

Earlier, the state government had said that Metro rail would be a reality in Patna by 2016. The project is set to cover a distance of 40 km and is estimated to cost Rs.8,000 crore.

Rail projects in Bihar worth Rs 10,000cr delayed

A slew of railway projects in Bihar worth about Rs 10,000 crore are being delayed due to paucity of funds or for other reasons.

Most of these projects were allocated to Bihar during the tenure of former railway ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad. They include Digha-Sonepur rail cum road bridge, among the three mega bridges.

Munger rail bridge and Nirmali bridge over Kosi river in north Bihar, which have already overrun the cost due to delay in their completion and escalation of prices of steel, iron, cement and other construction materials. The Digha-Sonepur bridge, which was to be completed at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore, would now be completed at a cost of Rs 2,400 crore, if everything went on expected schedule, sources said.

The railway projects across the country, which were to be completed at a cost of Rs 36,930 crore, would now need Rs 91,902 crore due to cost overrun, incurring about 148% additional expenditure of Rs 55,000 crore, said a Railway Board official.

According to sources, the fate of two major projects - the locomotive factories at Marhaura in Saran district and Madhepura in Bihar - has been hanging in balance and already delayed by about five to six years. Although railways is keen to complete them on public-private partnership (PPP) basis, no such step has been taken so far in that direction. Recently, railways invited global tenders for kicking off these two projects but to no avail, sources said.

Though railways has already visualized Bihar as the most developed state as well as an ancillary zone of Indian Railways by the end of 2015-2016, slow progress of major projects is likely to come in the way of attaining the target, sources said, adding that Bihar is to be developed as the main hub of all major component factories, including wheel factory, electric and diesel locomotives and modern maintenance workshops.

The factories duly approved by the Planning Commission and Railway Board for Bihar include the wheel factory at Chhapra (Rs 1,417 crore), diesel engine factory at Marhaura (Rs 2,025 crore), electric engine factory at Madhepura (Rs 1,400 crore), coach maintenance workshop at Harnaut (Rs 325 crore), DEMU maintenance depot at Sonepur (Rs 15 crore), goods wagon repair workshop at Sonepur (Rs 92 crore) and wagon repair workshop at Samastipur (Rs 33 crore).

Though the Chhapra factory and coach maintenance workshop at Harnaut have been completed, they are yet to be officially inaugurated.

Encephalitis kills eight more children in Bihar

Eight more children have succumbed to encephalitis in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, taking the total deaths in the state since early May to 31, officials said Monday.

Two of the children died Tuesday.

A district health official said: "It is an alarming situation as the disease continue to kill children."

Muzaffarpur civil surgeon Gayan Bhushan said doctors and health experts were eagerly awaiting the onset of monsoon as the rains are likely to slowdown the spread of the disease.

Monsoon is likely to enter Bihar June 11 or 12.

Over a dozen children were warded in government hospitals and private nursing homes in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from here.

The symptoms of this mosquito-borne disease include high fever, irritation and swelling in the brain.

Bihar to recruit 27,000 Urdu teachers by October

With an aim to improve education for Muslims, the Bihar government on Monday announced to recruit 27,000 Urdu teachers by October this year.

The announcement was made by Education minister P K Shahi.

Notification for appointment of Urdu teachers would be issued by June 20 and examination would be conducted in September, the minister said.

Along with Urdu teachers, those for teaching Bangla language would also be recruited by the state government, Shahi said.

Principal Secretary of Education department Amarjit Sinha said the department has received Rs 500 crore additional money for opening 1000 high schools at panchayat level this year.

Work on constructing these schools would begin soon, he said.

Speeding car kills five women in Patna

A speeding car crushed five women to death and seriously injured one other person in Bihar's capital early Monday, police said.

"Five women were crushed to death as a speeding car hit them," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj told.

The incident occurred near Azimchak under Gaurichak police station here.

"All the victims were identified as residents of Jehanabad district," police said.

Hundreds of people, angered by the incident, gathered on the Gaya-Masaurih Highway in protest, blocking the road and demanding action against the owner of the car.

Witnesses said the two people in the car parked the car at the side of the road and fled. Police have seized the car and begun investigations.

Father-in-law's hands chopped off in Rohtas District

"The hands of Radheyshyam Singh, a resident of Bhanas village under Dinara block in Rohtas district, were chopped off by his daughters-in-law after he attempted to molest  them," Deputy Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Singh said.

The daughters-in-law told the police that they were fed up with repeated attempts by Radheyshyam Singh to sexually molest them.

Two days ago, Radheyshyam Singh tried to molest one of his daughters-in-law as she was busy cutting vegetables.

The woman raised an alarm, and the other daughter-in-law rushed to intervene, and also told the man to keep off.

 Radheyshyam then tried to molest the other daughter-in-law, police said.

"They overpowered him and chopped off both his hands with a sharp weapon (cleaver)," police said.

Radheyshyam Singh was admitted to hospital in Varanasi after initial treatment in Rohtas, police said. Police have lodged a case in this connection on the basis of the statement of the daughters-in-law.