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
AIIMS Patna to go ahead with MBBS exam despite state-run colleges deferring it
AIIMS Patna director has said that the institute will conduct the MBBS examination as per schedule, following all Covid-appropriate behaviour
Updated on Jan 17, 2022 12:55 PM IST
Covid-19 third wave: Patna tops among urban areas in transmissibility
The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the initial fortnight, has predominantly affected the urban areas in Bihar, with Patna reporting 38.5% (13,927) of the state’s 34,084 total active cases, said state health officials here on Friday.
Updated on Jan 14, 2022 10:04 PM IST
Man in Bihar’s Madhepura got 8 Covid vaccine doses in 8 months: Probe
The finding has exposed flaws in the government’s CoWIN portal through which Covid-19 vaccination is being administered, and steps are being considered to iron out these flaws, the officials added.
Updated on Jan 14, 2022 05:02 AM IST
Bihar health dept warns computer operator after mismatch in Covid test results
The data entry operator at one centre in Patna made incorrect entry on the state’s Covid-19 health portal, the data of which is automatically integrated on the I
Updated on Jan 12, 2022 02:23 AM IST
Data operator put on notice for bungling Covid test results
A data entry operator in Bihar, who allegedly made incorrect entries about Covid-19 testing results on the portal that led to many people getting contradictory results through SMS and actual test reports, has been issued strict warning, health officials said on Tuesday, when the state reported five Covid-19 deaths and added 5,908 new cases, taking the total count of active cases to 25,051.
Published on Jan 11, 2022 10:01 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Bihar CM tests Covid-19 positive; state reports 5 deaths
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar tested positive for coronavirus on Monday, his office said in a tweet from its official handle, even as the state reported five deaths and 4,737 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the number of active cases up to 20,938, according to a health department bulletin.
Updated on Jan 10, 2022 10:31 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Surgeries hit at AIIMS-Patna after docs test Covid positive
Elective surgeries have been practically put on hold at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) after 14 of the 30 resident doctors and medical students in its anesthesiology department tested positive for Covid-19 in the last couple of days, said the dean of the institute.
Published on Jan 09, 2022 10:13 PM IST
27 new cases of Omicron detected in Bihar
Twenty seven new cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 were detected in Bihar after the first genomic sequencing was conducted at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna, its director Dr NR Biswas said.
Published on Jan 09, 2022 10:13 PM IST
Surgeries hit at AIIMS Patna after docs test Covid positive
The Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), an autonomous institution of the state government, has already stopped elective surgeries.
Published on Jan 09, 2022 03:59 PM IST
Patna accounts for 43% new Covid cases in Bihar
The state also reported the first case of Omicron on the national portal, when a resident of Chapra tested positive for Covid-19.
Published on Jan 08, 2022 09:04 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
1/3rd of PSA oxygen plants under PM Cares in Bihar face teething problems
As many as 44 of the total 119 PSA plants commissioned in the state so far, against the total of 127 planned, were non-functional on Friday during an audit by the state health department.
Published on Jan 07, 2022 09:33 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Bihar man, 84, says he took 12 jabs; govt disputes claim
Dr Amarendra Pratap Shahi, a civil surgeon from Madhepura, disputed Mandal’s claim, saying the CoWIN portal doesn’t allow multiple registrations on a single Aadhaar ID
Updated on Jan 06, 2022 08:52 AM IST
Aditya Nath Jha and Ruchir Kumar
AIIMS curbs OPD services, spike in Covid cases in Bihar
The restrictions on the number of new patients in the outdoor patient department (OPD) will come into effect from January 7, said Dr CM Singh, medical superintendent of AIIMS-Patna who issued the order late on Tuesday evening.
Published on Jan 04, 2022 09:56 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Two teens gets Covishield shots instead of Covaxin in Bihar’s Nalanda district
Terming it a ‘huge negligence’, the civil surgeon said, “I have issued a show-cause notice to the GNM trainee concerned and will also ask the deputy superintendent of the district hospital under whose guidance the vaccination session sites are being run, to explain how the lapse took place.”
Updated on Jan 04, 2022 09:55 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
CM asks IGIMS to have additional genome sequencing setup
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asked the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) to have an additional setup of genome sequencing for timely detection of the strain SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, as the state reported 344 new Covid-19 infections, taking the number of active cases to 1,385.
Updated on Jan 03, 2022 10:45 PM IST
IGIMS begins genome sequencing of Covid-19 samples
he Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) on Saturday started conducting genome sequencing, to check the strain of Sars CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, said its director Dr NR Biswas.
Published on Jan 02, 2022 09:51 PM IST
75 including medicos, docs from NMCH test Covid positive in Patna
Around 75 doctors and medical students from Patna’s Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) were among the 352 new cases to test positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, as the number of active cases in the state shot up to 1,074, said state health officials.
Updated on Jan 02, 2022 09:51 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
26-yr-old Patna resident is Bihar’s first Omicron case
Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said that Omicron infection has started in the state and has asked people to be careful and follow Covid-19 norms.
Published on Dec 31, 2021 08:38 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Central team points to shortage of Covid drugs in Sitamarhi, low RT-PCR tests in Bihar
The team found that there was no stock of Remdesivir and Enoxaparin injections, while around 700 vials of Dexamethasone injection were available in the district. It also termed the situation alarming, officials accompanying the Central team said.
Published on Dec 29, 2021 09:20 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
83.46 lakh children in Bihar eligible for Covid jabs from Jan 3
Bharat Biotech’s indigenous Covaxin is the only option available for vaccination of children and so vaccination session sites for them have been kept separate from adults to reduce the risk of mixing of vaccines.
Published on Dec 28, 2021 09:34 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Spousal violence high among husbands who get drunk in dry Bihar
Prevalence of spousal violence against women is as high as 83% among husbands who often get drunk in dry Bihar, says the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-20.
Updated on Dec 15, 2021 10:59 PM IST
Fund crunch at IGIMS halts genome sequencing in Bihar
Bihar has not reported any Covid-19 case of the new variant so far, as it awaits genomic sequencing results of four Covid-19 positive patients, having international travel history, said health officials.
Updated on Dec 10, 2021 12:46 AM IST
In Muzaffarpur’s health care tragedy, the eyes don’t have it
The eye camp at the hospital has left 30 people suffering from endophthalmitis, which is an inflammation of the eye caused by a bacterial infection from a botched cataract surgery.
Updated on Dec 09, 2021 11:59 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Muzaffarpur
Fund crunch at IGIMS halts genome sequencing in Bihar
The IGIMS is the only institute in Bihar to be part of the INSACOG, comprising 28 national laboratories, to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the pandemic.
Updated on Dec 09, 2021 10:29 PM IST
Pregnant woman in Bihar given HIV+ve blood; sacked technician blames test kit
Santosh Kumar, who has been with the blood bank since 2013, said he was sacked without an inquiry because he was on a one-year contract that was due to be renewed in March 2022.
Published on Nov 29, 2021 10:50 PM IST
HIV blood transfused to pregnant woman; Bihar sacks lab tech for clearing infected blood sample
The Nalanda district magistrate has appointed a three-member committee of doctors, under the civil surgeon, to check for lapses and penalise the guilty
Updated on Nov 29, 2021 09:22 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
Nitish Kumar calls for one India one power rate, seeks parity in consumer tariff
Bihar will get 402 MW power (60.91% share) from the 660 MW Barh unit 1. Two other units of 660 MW each will come up over the next two years.
Published on Nov 27, 2021 11:39 PM IST
Nitish calls for one India, one power rate
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar iterated his demand for one nation one rate for purchasing power from Central sectors, as he dedicated stage-II 500MW (2x250 MW) of NTPC Barauni Thermal Power Station and unit 1 (660 MW) of the NTPC Barh Super Thermal Power project, in presence of RK Singh, Union minister of power and new & renewable energy on Saturday.
Updated on Nov 27, 2021 09:35 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Barh
Union power minister to dedicate two NTPC units in Bihar today
Union power, new and renewable energy minister RK Singh will review implementation of central schemes in power sector in Bihar, including the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM Kusum) scheme, which hasn’t seen much progress in the state, officials said
Updated on Nov 26, 2021 10:07 PM IST
Ruchir Kumar, Patna
TVs, fridges: Bihar govt announces lucky draw to boost Covid-19 vaccination
Bihar’s second-dose Covid-19 vaccination coverage has been low. The state administered 77.23 million doses till Wednesday. As many as 53.21 million have taken the first shot and 24.02 million are fully vaccinated
Updated on Nov 25, 2021 12:06 PM IST