Elaborate preparations for Ravan Vadh event
Ravan Vadh, the spectacular burning of effigies of the mythical demon king on Dusshera evening, has been a much-loved event at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan. Workers are engaged in making a 70ft-tall Ravan effigy along with effigies of Kumbhakarn and Meghnad, each 60ft tall. The effigies will be fitted with crackers, ordered specially from West Bengal. While the event is a part of Dusshera, most of these workers are Muslims. Hundreds of people turn up at Gandhi Maidan every year to rejoice the sight of the effigies going up in flames. The organisers said Governor Lalji Tandon, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary will be present at the cultural event.
Airport to get a new terminal building
The congestion at Patna’s Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport will soon be over. A new domestic terminal building and other related structures will be built at an estimated cost of C1,217 crore. The project was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The new terminal will be of 65,155 sq m, including a basement of 18,650 sq m. The new terminal building will allow the airport to handle up to 45 lakh passengers annually, up from 7 lakh at present. The project, a part of the ‘package for Bihar’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was cleared after a delay of six months. The estimated cost of the project’s original plan was C800 crore.
Minister’s ‘gotra politics’ raises eyebrows
Union minister Giriraj Singh, known for making controversial statements, sprang a surprise when he announced that he would add his ‘gotra’ before his name. Declaring that he would henceforth be known as ‘Shandilya Giriraj Singh’, he urged Hindus across the country to do the same. “Sanatana Dharma has to be saved in order to save the country. We will have to walk on the path shown by the sages and attach ourselves to our respective ‘gotras’,” he said. The minister had made news recently for meeting the families of some Sangh Parivar leaders arrested for their alleged role in communal clashes in Bihar. “I condemn the people who engage in such acts without thinking about of the repercussions,” said JD(U) leader Shyam Rajak, without naming Singh.
Organ transplant saves two lives
In a first for Bihar, doctors at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) helped in retrieval of two vital organs of a brain-dead patient in Patna to save two lives in Kolkata and in Delhi. The doctors did the task through fast action and coordination immediately after the parents of Saurabh Pratik, 19, announced that they wanted to donate his vital organs. Pratik was admitted to IGIMS after he fell from the balcony of his house and suffered severe head injuries. He was declared brain-dead four days later. His heart was transplanted to a 29 year-old woman at RN Tagore Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata. The liver recipient was a 46-year-old man at Institute of Liver and Biliary Science (ILBS), New Delhi. The Delhi patient had been suffering from a cryptogenic liver failure. Dr Sheil Avneesh, head of IGIMS cardiothoracic vascular surgery department, was a part of the team of experts to have assisted in harvesting the organs along with four medical experts from Delhi.
Our correspondent in Bihar
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