Ruchir writes on health, aviation, power and myriad other issues. An ex-TOI, he has worked both on Desk and in reporting. He over 25 years of broadcast and print journalism experience in Assam, Jharkhand & Bihar.
Articles by Ruchir Kumar
Tejashwi writes to Mandaviya again to reconsider decision on AIIMS Darbhanga site
The Bihar government requested the Centre to reconsider its decision for granting expeditious approval to the alternate site proposed by the state
Updated on Aug 20, 2023 02:05 PM IST
Bihar restoring to power-shedding despite surplus, says Union power minister
Union power minister RK Singh said Bihar was among the three states in India that was still resorting to power-shedding, despite India having turned from a power-deficit to a power-surplus country over the last nine years.
Updated on Aug 18, 2023 09:42 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Inside the survey to enumerate India’s oldest fault line
Once the operative part of the exercise got off the ground, it became clear that enumerating 29 million households was no easy task
Updated on Apr 17, 2024 07:57 PM IST
Bihar caste survey: Govt mulls mop-up round for those left out
Interestingly, all 38 district magistrates (DMs), who are also the principal census officers, have already given written declaration to the general administration department (GAD), the government’s nodal agency, that the second phase of the survey for filling up pro forma on the 17-point socio-economic indicators, including caste, has been completed in their respective districts.
Updated on Aug 12, 2023 09:48 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
ICMR Patna gets nod for kala-azar drug trial
LXE408 is a tablet, believed to have better patient compliance due to a shorter regimen than the only available oral drug, Miltefosine, which is currently not being recommended as monotherapy
Updated on Aug 07, 2023 08:01 AM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Docs warn of boycotting OPD duty on Aug 18, 19
The Bihar Health Services Association has asked doctors to wear black badge to work on August 16 and 17 over its demands
Updated on Aug 07, 2023 08:02 AM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Trial on new Kala Azar drug to begin at ICMR’s Patna research centre
Bihar’s Muzaffarpur and Patna are the two locations in India the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a Geneva-based organisation, has chosen to conduct the phase II trial of the drug
Updated on Aug 06, 2023 05:21 PM IST
Indigo flight to Delhi makes emergency landing at Patna
A Delhi-bound IndiGo flight made an emergency landing in Patna due to engine failure minutes after take-off; all passengers and crew are safe.
Updated on Aug 04, 2023 11:35 PM IST
Patna-Delhi IndiGo flight makes emergency landing minutes after take-off; all safe
According to information received from IndiGo, the airline accommodated all passengers on a separate flight
Updated on Aug 04, 2023 12:05 PM IST
Women more proactive to kidney donation in Bihar
In a male dominated society, the trend of women sacrificing one of their two kidneys for their loved ones, and the number of males benefiting out of the donations have only increased over the years
Updated on Aug 03, 2023 09:57 PM IST
Katihar protests: Lens on power transmission gaps in Bihar
Protests at Barsoi, subdivisional headquarters of Katihar district, turned violent, claiming two lives, as police had to open fire at the protesters on July 26.
Updated on Jul 29, 2023 09:25 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Bihar telecom dept seeks details from service providers over low usage of CBuD app
The CBuD mobile application was developed to prevent damage to underground assets by agencies undertaking infrastructure development work
Updated on Jul 16, 2023 10:08 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar I Edited by Shilpa Ambardar, Patna
Rain brings some relief, as govt claims no death due to heat
Hospital sources, however, said that 12 deaths, many related to heat, were reported at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) and the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) during the last 24 hours.
Updated on Jun 18, 2023 10:38 PM IST
Bihar bags third spot in best state category at 4th National Water Awards
Secretary of Bihar’s rural development department (RDD) N. Saravan Kumar and mission director of Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Mission Rahul Kumar received the award from vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar and Union minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Updated on Jun 18, 2023 06:09 PM IST
Bihar: 118 ultrasound centres sealed in 6 districts for violations under PNDT Act
As many as 21 of the 97 ultrasound centres inspected were illegal in Bhojpur, 20 in Buxar, 14 in Nalanda, and four in Rohtas out of the 84 diagnostic centres surveyed
Updated on Jun 16, 2023 04:24 PM IST
400-bed DMCH block to be ready by Dussehra: Tejashwi
The decision to increase the number of beds at the DMCH comes a fortnight after the Centre rejected the state’s offer for a new site for the proposed AIIMS-Darbhanga at Ekmi-Shobhan bypass on the town’s outskirts
Updated on Jun 14, 2023 10:10 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
PC&PNDT Act violation: 22 ultrasound centres sealed in Patna as IMA rallies behind docs
Some centres were operational despite the expiry of the validity of the registration licence, some had shifted to other locations, while a few could not be located.
Updated on Jun 11, 2023 10:34 PM IST
NIRF ranking: Patna AIIMS 27th, only medical institute from Bihar in list
Over the last year, the institute has rigorously pursued recruitment of faculty, resident doctors, non-faculty staff and nursing personnel to ensure the doctor-patient ratio and faculty-student ratio was as per the norms prescribed for Institutes of National Importance (INI).
Updated on Jun 07, 2023 10:46 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Unit 2 of stage I NTPC Barh power plant may begin op this month: Official
NTPC Barh Super Thermal Power Plant unit 2 is set to achieve full load and undergo a 72-hour trial run before commercial operation, with Bihar set to receive an additional 383 MW of power. The plant's first unit began generation in November 2021, with the third unit expected to complete commercial generation by the end of the financial year. The NTPC Barh STPP has a combined installed capacity of 3,300 MW.
Updated on Jun 04, 2023 11:12 PM IST
Bihar issues final show cause to 62 absentee doctors in Patna division
Among the 62 doctors put on notice are three who have been absent since August 2016, one from October 2017, two from 2018, six from 2019, 21 from 2020, 19 from 2021 and 10 from last year.
Updated on Jun 01, 2023 09:58 PM IST
2 fake Ayushman cards used in Bihar were issued in UP, Haryana: Official
Bihar Swasthya Suraksha Samiti CEO Alankrita Pandey said the National Health Authority has confirmed that the two fake cards were issued from UP and Haryana
Updated on Jun 01, 2023 03:27 PM IST
Foreign MBBS graduate accused of forging papers to work in Patna hospital, booked
According to hospital officials, they sacked Mohammad Shamim Farooqui, 40, and got an FIR registered against him pressing charges of forgery, cheating, and criminal misconduct, among others, at Patna’s Shastrinagar police station on May 12
Updated on May 29, 2023 01:33 PM IST
Decks cleared for blood centre in Supaul; Bihar’s every district will then have one
Drugs licensing inspectors from the Centre and the state licensing authority had conducted a joint inspection of the Supaul sadar hospital for the grant of blood centre licence a few months back.
Updated on May 28, 2023 10:27 PM IST
Ayushman Bharat: Two cases of fake health cards surface at AIIMS Patna, probe on
This is the state’s first such reported fraud, among many more suspected, since the launch of the scheme on September 23, 2018.
Updated on May 26, 2023 10:00 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
SIM cards on forged papers: FIRs pending against 360 telecom agencies in Bihar
Bihar accounts for 87% of the 2.30 lakh disconnected mobile connections, while the remaining 13% are from Jharkhand.
Updated on May 17, 2023 10:14 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
DoT deactivates 2.3 lakh illegal mobile phone connections in Bihar, Jharkhand
The DoT detected 0.38% connections suspicious out of the 70 million mobile subscriber data it analysed in March against a total 110 million mobile subscriber base in Bihar and Jharkhand
Updated on May 17, 2023 12:53 PM IST
Blocking lost mobile phones just a click of mouse away
Around 925 police stations in Bihar will be linked to the Sanchar Saathi, an integrated citizen centric portal, launched nationally on Tuesday by Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for communications, railways and electrics & information technology, said Girijesh Kumar Mishra, DOT’s special director general for Bihar and Jharkhand.
Updated on May 16, 2023 09:55 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Centre in West Bengal offers free vocational courses for Bihar’s lepers
The centre has offered to conduct on-spot admission in any district of Bihar having more than five eligible students with leprosy, said an April 26 e-mail, seen by HT, from Vijay Patta, principal-cum-superintendent of the Leprosy Mission, Bankura, to Bihar’s SLO
Updated on May 14, 2023 06:51 PM IST
Thalassemia patients at receiving end of blood scarcity at main Patna hospital
Thalassemia, a treatable disorder that can be well managed with blood transfusions, is an inherited disorder caused when a body does not produce enough haemoglobin
Updated on May 10, 2023 01:38 PM IST
Bihar serves notice to NTPC to surrender 854 MW power by Oct
Bihar power officials, however, allayed fears of any power shortage following the power firm’s decision to surrender 854 MW.
Updated on May 07, 2023 10:13 PM IST