The planning commission has approved Bihar its annual plan outlay for 2013-14 at Rs. 34,000 crore, reflecting an increase of 34.4% over its 2012-13 plan size of Rs. 25,628 crore.
Former chief minister, Lalu Prasad sought to re-emerge from his political hibernation of the last six years with a Parivartan rally in Patna on Wednesday, underlining strongly that he may be down but never out of touch with Bihar.

The court of principal judicial commissioner today awarded life imprisonment to Congress MLA Sawna Lakra (70) and three others in a case of kidnapping and murder of a youth.
The Territorial Army's first woman jawan, Shanti Tigga, was found hanging inside a hospital cabin in Jalpaiguri district today, four days after allegedly being kidnapped and left tied blindfold.
The new found cosines between Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and the UPA government would translate into the state getting around 21% increase in the Central funding for 2013-14, one of the highest for any state in the current financial year.
The spectre of death in the aftermath of the ponzi scheme scam continued to haunt West Bengal with yet another agent found hanging near his home at Shantipur in Nadia district today, taking the toll to 13.
The Calcutta high court on Tuesday allowed the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate alleged money laundering by the controversial Saradha Group.
The vexed issue of West Bengal panchayat polls has finally had an “amicable settlement” — which gives more time to the Mamata Banerjee government to prepare for the polls and upholds her demand for the use of state police for security.
A division bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalyo Bagchi directed that the panchayat election be held in three phases and that the poll process should be completed till July 15.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi today appointed senior party leader Jayadeb Jena as the new chief of Odisha Congress ending months of speculation about change of guard in the state leadership.

The buyer married the woman just hours after she came into his ‘possession’ and was on his way to UP with her, when the woman was rescued by the police with the help of an NGO.
Aditya Nath Jha reports.
An encounter was on between security personnel and Maoists in a forest in Seraikela-Kharswan district of Jharkhand.
Three bridegrooms in Bihar returned home dejected in 24 hours after their brides turned them away as "unsuitable".
Indian Railways got a boost to its business, thanks to former railway minister Lalu Prasad, whose party Rashtriya Janata Dal, has hired 13 special trains to ferry workers and supporters to Patna for his Parivartan Rally here May 15.
In a jolt to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta high court on Monday ordered the CBI to take over the probe into a Trinamool Congress worker's death allegedly in the custody of West Bengal Police.