Workshop to beat virus

GAYA: A state-level workshop on acute encephalitis syndrome was organised in Bodhgaya on Sunday. Inaugurating it, health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said the officials should be careful about the figures they put on paper.

According to official figures, in Gaya, 97 per cent children vulnerable to Japanese encephalitis have been immunised. Choubey said if the figures were found to be incorrect, the officials concerned would be punished. He also said such workshops should be conducted in the blocks where more children are suffering from the disease, which has claimed more than 200 lives in the district since 2007. The minister also reprimanded the superintendent of Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital, Sitaram Prasad, for not removing garbage from near the paediatrics ward.

Funds for homes

PATNA: Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Choudhary on Sunday praised the UPA government for sanctioning six lakh dwelling units for Bihar under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) in the current fiscal (2013-14). Choudhary said by sanctioning one fourth of total IAY units for Bihar under this scheme, the government had shown how serious it was about the development of the state.

IPTA election

PATNA: A new executive committee of India People’s Theatre Association (IPTA), Patna, was constituted on Sunday, the concluding day of the 27th convention of the association. Satyajit was elected as the president and Usha Verma as secretary.

Karate tips

PATNA: Labour resources minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal on Sunday spoke on the importance of learning karate for self-defence, at a function organised to mark the conclusion of the sixth Inter-state School Karate Championship.

Acid victim

PATNA: Sunaina Devi, the mother of acid attack victim Chanchal, on Sunday said their relative and alleged malefactor Chanchi had threatened to throw acid on her as well. Patna High Court lawyer Amitabh Mishra said the statement of the victim should have been recorded under Section 164 of the IPC.

Sex racket bust

PATNA: The Patrakarnagar police on Sunday unearthed a sex racket after the arrest of four persons, including the alleged kingpin Meena Khatun, from Mahatma Gandhi Nagar . Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaj said four girls, who were forced into the illegal trade, were rescued by the police team.

Police and NGO Rescue Junction conducted a joint raid to rescue more than 40 children from traffickers in Jaipur and brought them back to Gaya on Sunday. Picture by Suman