Gaya (Bihar), Sep. 25 : Bihar floods have marred the annual Pitripaksha Mela in Gaya, when Hindus offer Pinda Daan to perform Shraadh (a death ritual) for the departed soul of ancestors.

Pitripaksha is an occasion when Hindus pay tributes to their departed ancestors by offering Pind Daan (cooked food) on the banks of River Sarayu, to the crows, the cows and Brahmins.

Gaya is reckoned as a sacred place for this offering and Lord Rama is believed to have performed this Vedic ritual on the banks of River Sarayu. But, this year, there has been a very low turnout of people here from different parts of the country.

Bhitiharva Village (Bihar), Sep. 24 : As the nation is getting ready to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 139th birth anniversary on October 2, a historical Ashram founded by him in Bihar, as the centre from where he started his first Satyagraha, taking the cause of indigo workers, is drifting into oblivion.

Mahatma Gandhi established this Ashram at Bhitiharva in Bihar’s Champaran region taking up the cause of indigo workers. Among those who joined him were people like Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who later became the first President of India.

Gaya (Bihar), Sept 22 : Business has been severely hit in Gaya in Bihar due to a sharp fall in the number of people turning up for the annual fair, organised during the fortnight- long ceremonies to pay tribute to forefathers.

The fair has seen less participation this year that has adversely affected the sale of different products.

Traders and shopkeepers say that earlier a lot of people used to come here from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal but this year there has been a sharp decline in their number.

Madhepura (Bihar), Sep. 18 : Government agencies, including Indian Army Jawans, have been busy evacuating flood-hit people in Bihar, but the silent onlookers of the process have been dumb cattle who have been suffering silently for many days.

The cattle have been watching men being ferried on boats from flood hit areas to high grounds, but the Army Jawans do not seem worried about the cattle. Taking them to high ground also does not seem to be a priority for the State run agencies.

Saharsa, Bihar, Sept 16 : Self help groups, working in flood-hit Bihar, fear that desperation and poverty could lead to rise in incidents of child trafficking.

The incidents of children being sold by their parents to contractors are already quite high in the state, considered as poorest in the country.

Recently, the police rescued several children from a train in Saharsa district, who were being taken by a contractor after ''purchasing'' them from their parents.