Government to Develop Food Park in Bihar

Bihar Agriculture Minister Nagmani, at a meeting with the Animal Husbandry and Fishery Department officials on Tuesday, said the government was working on a Rs. 1,600 crore plan to develop a food park in the state that would include food preservators, processing units and other facilities to improve storage and transportation of perishable items in the state.While the government would develop the infrastructure for the park, private companies would install the processing units, the minister said.Ram Narayan Mandal, the Animal and Fishery Minister, in his address highlighted the need for close cooperation between the agriculture, animal husbandry, cooperative, and irrigation departments in order to advance the agricultural sector in the state.Mandal also talked about the measures taken by the fishery department to raise the production throughout the state by adopting scientific techniques used in other developed states.Others who were present at the meeting included the principal of the Bihar Veterinary College Dr. Siya Ram Singh, chairperson of the Kisan Commission Ramadhar Singh, Bihar Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (BAMETI) director Dr. R. K. Sohane, Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) nodal officer R. P. Singh, Fishery department director Raghunandan Chowdhary, Agriculture Director Dr. B. Rajendra, Fishery department joint secretary B. P. Sharma, among others.

BJP Youth Activists Burn PM's Effigy

Activists of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Yuva Morcha in Patna on Wednesday burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accusing him and the UPA government at the Center of adopting pro-terrorist policies and fomenting anti-Hindu sentiments to seize Muslim votes for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Calling Singh a sympathizer of Islamic terrorists supported by the Pakistani government, the protestors at the Dak Bungalow Crossing said the UPA government was playing with fire by insisting on destroying the Ram Setu."On one hand, the Sonia government is blocking the execution of convicted terrorist Afzal Guru, on the other hand it continues to walk all over the Hindu sentiments on Ram Setu and Amarnath Shrine issue," said Atul Kumar, the vice president of the BJP Yuva Morcha.Prem Ranjan Patel, the BJP legislator, accused the UPA government of indulging in Muslim appeasement politics to garner support in the next general elections."We are not going to roll over and play dead while Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi trample all over our religious sentiments and beliefs while continuing to appease Muslims for pure political purposes," Patel said.

Police Nabs Five Hardcore Criminals

The police in Patna on Thursday, acting on a tip-off, nabbed five dreaded criminals wanted in a number of murder, robbery, and kidnapping cases in Patna, Hajipur, Fatuha, and Phulwarisharif, Town DSP Sanjay Singh said.As reported, Kishore Prasad of Jakkanpur, Rajkishore of Punpun, Jitendra Dubey a.k.a. Baba of Hajipur, Mikki of Kurthaul, and Bablu of Gaurichak had gathered near the water tank in Anta Ghat under Gandhi Maidan police station with the intention to abduct an affluent person coming out of posh Bankipore Club.Their nefarious scheme, however, came down crashing when a special task force led by Gandhi Maidan police station in-charge Nissar Ahmed surrounded the area and arrested the five men without any incident.A 9mm pistol, cartridges, and two cell phones were seized from their possession, the police said.The five men also confessed of hatching plans to rob a food warehouse near Rajendra Nagar overbridge, a kerosene shop owner in Hajipur, and a businessman in Pirmuhani area in Patna.The criminals also admitted of killing a hardware shop owner in Jakkanpur area, killing the son of Phulwari resident Vijay Yadav, murdering Hajipur resident Qayumuddin Ansari, and pulling off several extortion attempts in Patna and elsewhere

Farmers' Fair Opens at Gandhi Maidan

Amidst the presence of thousands of farmers from across the state, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday inaugurated the Kisan Mela at Patna's Gandhi Maidan and gave away high-quality seeds of wheat, dal, and chana to the farmers.Kumar, in his keynote speech, once again reiterated his dream of having a food item from Bihar in each and every single kitchen or dining table of the nation."This is not a daydream; it is quite achievable if we continue to follow the guidelines as set in the Agricultural Road Map as devised by our administration," he said adding Bihar would achieve its goal of 'Rainbow Revolution' by 2015 making the state self-sufficient in food production while also emerging as one of the largest exporters of rice, wheat, and other staple items to other states.The Chief Minister also admonished the cold storage owners in the wake of thousands of kilograms of potatoes going bad prompting the Opposition leaders to wage a war on the Nitish government for being 'reckless' and 'ignoring the interests of the farmers'."We will take harsh actions against all cold storage owners for failing to protect potatoes thus causing immense financial loss to many farmers," Kumar said.Taking a shot at the Opposition leaders, the Chief Minister said that he had no intention of getting into a shouting match with his opponents who, he said, had nothing much to do but to oppose every move of the ruling government."I will continue to work for the people of Bihar without worrying about my distracters. It is not that I cannot give them a befitting reply; it is just that my goal is to put Bihar back on the path of development after what my immediate predecessors did to our state," he said.Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Agriculture Minister Nagmani were also present at the occasion.