Patna, Oct 30 :The family and friends of Sushil Kumar, who became the first contestant to win Rs. 5 crore on "Kaun Banega Crorepati", are fearing his abduction. But the Bihar Police says the apprehension doesn't hold much ground.

In Motihari, Sushil's native town, there are rumours doing the rounds that fearing abduction, his family has been reluctant to disclose the date of his much-awaited arrival from Mumbai.

The hundreds of visitors at his house have been told by his family that due to security reasons nothing is certain about his arrival.

Patna, Oct 12 : Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, who began his 38-day ''Jan Chetna Yatra'' from Bihar''s Sitabdiara village on Tuesday, reckons that the support for his yatra is the greatest achievement of his political career.

Addressing a rally here, Advani claimed that the overwhelming support was a sign that people were fed up with corruption.

The 5-day-old junior physicians strike in six administrative medical colleges as well as hospitals came to an end yesterday after RJD MLA Surendra Prasad Yadav, who was involved in the firing at a hospital in Gaya, surrendered before a court.

The disturbed physicians decided to end the strike after spokespersons of Junior Doctors' Association together with state BJP chief Dr C P Thakur and state IMA officials made an appeal to chief minister Nitish Kumar.

Police seized pirated CDs of Hindi flicks worth Rs 5 million during raids at an electronics market in the Bihar capital.

A police group raided storehouses in the Bakarganj electronics market and seized pirated CDs of latest Hindi flicks comprising 'Raavan', besides two PCs and CD writers.

Amit Kumar Jain, Patna senior superintendent of police said, "We have arrested four people in this connection. It was a large scale racket in pirated CDs."

Sabila Khatoon, a 22-year-old woman, lost her life after a physician allegedly took out her kidneys during surgical procedure, her family members said.

Sabila, mother of a 6-month-old child, passed away at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Wednesday night.

A native of Tangaul Patti in Bihar's Hajipur region, Sabila was admitted at Patna Medical College early February after her condition worsened following a surgical procedure for stone in her excretory organ.

Patna, Jan 11 - After being neglected for decades, the memorial of India's first president Rajendra Prasad here is finally set for a makeover on the lines of Rajghat -- Mahatma Gandhi's memorial in New Delhi.

Officials at the chief minister's office Monday said that government has decided to spend Rs. 2.5 crore in the first phase for the development and beautification of Prasad's memorial this year.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced last year that the memorial would be developed jointly by the state and central governments on the lines of Rajghat.

Patna, Jan 11 - With an intense cold wave claiming 30 lives in Bihar so far, authorities in the state capital Monday extended closure of all public and private schools till Tuesday.

"The Patna district administration has ordered to close all schools till Tuesday to provide relief to children from the intense cold," officials said here.

The schools were originally scheduled to reopen Jan 4 after Christmas holidays but cold wave conditions compelled authorities to extend their closure twice. They are now scheduled to reopen Wednesday.

At least 30 people have been killed due to the cold so far. The weather has affected normal life in the state.

Patna, Jan 10 - Thousands of aspirants of administrative jobs are likely to submit their applications hassle-free as the Bihar government has decided to fully computerise the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).

An official in the chief minister's office said here Sunday that the state's information technology (IT) department has initiated the process of fully computerising BPSC.

"The decision to fully computerise the BPSC was taken to take e-governance a step further in the state," the official said.

Bihar's IT minister Anil Kumar has confirmed that the IT department is working on the project of computerising the BPSC.

Patna, Jan 9 : The Bihar government is all set to provide computer training to Mahadalits -- the poorest of the poor in the state.

In a bid to provide employment to the young in the impoverished community, the government has announced a Mahadalit Development Guidance Committee, to be headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The government has also decided to provide vocational training to youths from the community.

"In the first phase, vocational training will be provided to 13,000 youths," Bihar's Scheduled Castes/Schedule Tribes Welfare Secretary K. P. Ramiyah said Saturday.

Patna, Jan 8 : Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan Friday demanded an impartial probe into an alleged case of scam in purchase of medicines for jails in the state, filed against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and 26 other people.

"Only an impartial probe could expose the reality into the case against Nitish Kumar," Paswan said.

Patna, Jan 8 - The family of Bihar businessman Satyendra Kumar Singh, who was abducted and murdered last year, will challenge in the Supreme Court the Patna High Court order granting bail to Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Vijay Krishna.

A day after the court granted bail to Krishna, who along with his son Chanakya, has been accused of abducting and murdering Singh, the businessman's family Friday said it will approach the Supreme Court soon against the High Court order.

Patna, Jan 8 - The Bihar government Friday announced extending closure of all public and private schools till Jan 10 owing to intense cold wave conditions in the state that have claimed 25 lives so far.

"The state government has ordered to close all schools till Sunday to provide relief to children from the cold," officials said here.

The schools were closed till Jan 7 for Christmas holidays and were scheduled to reopen on Jan 8. They will now reopen on Jan 11.

Patna, Jan 7 : The Patna High Court Thursday granted bail to Janata Dal-United

(JD-U) leader and former MP Vijay Krishna, who along with his son Chanakya, has been accused of abducting and murdering a businessman.

A division bench passed the bail order on the petition filed by Vijay Krishna, official sources in court said.

Krishna, who is in his late 50s and is currently in jail here, was arrested from Faridabad in Haryana last year in connection with the abduction and subsequent murder of businessman Satyendra Singh.

Patna, Jan 7 : As many as 18 children were born blind in the last three months in Bihar's Bhojpur district, an eye specialist said Thursday. Local and outside doctors have failed to understand the reason.

But there is a ray of hope for parents of the children as American eye specialist M. Marlin will visit Ara, district headquarters of Bhojpur, to study and examine the rare case.

Patna, Jan 6 : Hollywood star Richard Gere met the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya in Bihar where the actor is attending a five-day long religious discourse on Buddhism by the Tibetan spiritual leader, an official at a Tibetan monastery said Wednesday.

A senior official associated with the Tibetan monastery in Bodh Gaya where the Dalai Lama is staying, said that Richard Gere is in Bodh Gaya to attend a religious discourse on Buddhism by the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Patna, Jan 6 - Fourteen suspected Maoist guerrillas were arrested from a Bihar village, police said Wednesday.

The suspected rebels were arrested from Kachuar village in Rohtas district, about 150 km from state capital Patna.

"Fourteen suspected Maoists were arrested by a police team from Kachuar village," Rohtas Superintendent of Police Vikas Vaibhav said.

He said 11 detonators, flash cameras, a wireless set, solar chargers, a medical kit and communication equipment were recovered from them.

Patna, Jan 5 - Hoping to revive the Congress in Bihar, general secretary Rahul Gandhi will next week launch a month-long membership drive to attract the youth in the state to the party.

Gandhi, who has been criss-crossing the country to strengthen the youth wings of the party, the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India, will launch the membership drive with 40 young party MPs and central ministers on Jan 12.

Patna, Jan 5 - Police Tuesday detained a man who was allegedly trying to enter a Tibetan monastery in Bodh Gaya in Bihar where the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is staying.

The Dalai Lama reached Bodh Gaya, 110 km from here, on a chartered flight Monday. He is to give religious discourses for five days.

Guards at the Tibetan monastery caught the intruder late Monday when he tried to sneak in. He was handed over to the police, Gaya Superintendent of Police Sushil Khopade told IANS over telephone.

Patna, Jan 5 - All schools have been ordered shut in Bihar until Thursday following an intense cold wave that has killed 10 more people, taking the death toll in the state to 21.

According to the state disaster management department, three people died in Kishanganj, two each in Purnea, Gaya and Muzaffarpur, and one in Patna.

Earlier, seven people died in Araria district, two in Sheikhpura and one each in Purnea and Darbhanga.

Patna, Jan 4 : Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama Monday began a six day visit to Bodh Gaya, the place in Bihar where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

The Dalai Lama reached Bodh Gaya, 110 km from here, by a chartered flight. During his visit, he will give religious discourses for five consecutive days from Jan 5.

Soon after his arrival, he proceeded to the Tibetan Mahayana temple followed by a visit to pray at the Mahabodhi temple, said Tenzing Lama of the Tibetan monastery at Bodh Gaya. The 1,500-year-old temple is the holiest Buddhist shrine as it was built near the spot where the Buddha attained enlightenment,