Gaya group

 Two children were hurt in a locality under Manpur block across river Falgu in Gaya town. Apart from that the tremor, which took place at 3:44 PM caused a crack in the dome of Rama Janaki Temple near Suryakund pond in Vishnupad area of the town.

The first tremor struck Gaya on May 30 to be followed by much stronger one three days later. It was recorded 4.3 on the Richter scale.

"We strongly favour Buddhist control over the management of the Mahabodhi temple and to ensure it we seek an amendment to the Mahabodhi Temple Management Act, 1949,"' said Athavale, who is also president of the RPI-Athawale.

Athavale, who visited the temple at Bodh Gaya, about 110 km from here, told IANS over telephone Wednesday that he urged the Bihar government to initiate the process for an amendment to the law.

According to the law, the Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BGTMC) should comprise four Buddhists and the same number of Hindu members for a three-year period with the Gaya district magistrate as its ex-officio chairman and the mahant or the presiding priest of the Sankaracharya Math (Saivite monastery in Bodh Gaya) as ex-officio Hindu member.

The state government nominates a Hindu as chairman when the district magistrate is a non-Hindu.

Athavale said there should be five Buddhist members in the BGTMC and three Hindu members and the clause about only district magistrate's religion should be removed.

The temple got a governing panel last week after a gap of eight months.

Various groups of Buddhist monks have been fighting for over a decade and a half seeking an amendment to the law so that management can be handed over to Buddhists.

The 1,500-year-old temple at Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002 by Unesco.

Paswan had earlier made similar announcements about setting up steel processing plants in Bettiah and Mahnar.

"We are still waiting for the state government to provide necessary lands to us but if it failed to do so, the SAIL would complete the project on its own," Paswan said.

The LJP leader further said that he was interested in reviving the factories closed in Amjhaur in Rohtas district but had not heard anything from the state government in that respect.

When asked to comment on the political storm brewing within the Janata Dal (U) in the wake of the recent reshuffle of the government, Paswan chose to not speak except saying he was not interested in admitting rebel leaders into his party fold without strict scrutiny and discretion.