New Delhi - India's eastern state of Bihar is preparing a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme after floods inundated more than 100,000 hectares of land, affecting more than 3.5 million people, officials said Friday.

Towns and villages across large swathes of the state have been flooded for more than a fortnight after the Kosi river breached its embankment in neighboring Nepal following heavy monsoon rains.

New Delhi, September 5 : Archaeologists have discovered a torso of a unique female statue created about 7,000 years ago near Masovice, south of the Czech Republic.

This is the second similar find in this locality, according to the Czech news agency CTK.

According to Zdenek Cizmar, head of the archaeological research, the woman’s statue found in the area last summer was given the name “Hedvika of Masovice,” while “her sister” is called Johanka, according to the female names in the calendar on the days when the artifacts were found.

“Though the statues come from the same period, each of them is different and exceptional,” Cizmar said.

New Delhi, Sept 5: The Ministry of Women and Child Development will organise an exhibition on nutrition here today on the occasion of National Nutrition Week.

The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘ Invest in child Nutrition’.

During the three-day exhibition, important activities like instant health check-up, assessment of BMI of the visiting women and adolescent girls will be organized.

Live demonstrations of the low cost nutritious recipes, nutrition quiz and nutrition games will also be arranged at the venue to make this occasion very useful and informative for the people at large.

New Delhi, Sep 5 : President Pratibha Patil will distribute National Awards to teachers for the year 2007 here today.

These awards are being presented every year to accord public recognition to meritorious school teachers.

This year altogether 320 teachers have been nominated. Of these, 82 are lady women teachers. Nine teachers have been nominated under Sanskrit category and five are for teaching in Madarasas. Thirteen teachers fall under the Special category.

New Delhi, Sept 5 : Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will organise a two-day National Conference on International Financial Reporting Standards 
(IFRS) here today.

The conference is being organised by the Continuing Professional Education Committee and the Northern India Regional Council of ICAI.

It will be inaugurated by Amitabh Verma, Joint Secretary (Banking) in the presence of K. Raghu, who will chair the conference.

It will be spread over eight technical sessions and will be addressed by the experts in the field of IFRS.

A large participation from members in practice, members from industry and non-members from all across the country is expected during the conference.

New Delhi  - At least five policemen were killed and six injured Thursday in a landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoist rebels in the central Indian state Chhattisgarh, a news report said.

The incident occurred in a hamlet in the southern Surguja district when a joint police team was conducting a search operation.

Police sources told the IANS news agency that three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and two state police died in the blast, 520 kilometres south of state capital Raipur.