Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is set to gift his home district, Gopalganj in Bihar, a railway division before the next Lok Sabha polls.After Lalu Prasad’s ancestral village Phulwaria is connected with his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi’s Salar Kalan village, Lalu now plans to give another rare gift to Bihar by announcing the establishment of a railway division in Thawe at Gopalganj.
“Thawe would have a new railway division,” Lalu said Saturday. He was on a visit to his native village Phulwaria and hinted that he would announce the establishment of the division in his last railway budget to be presented later in February.
According to railway officials, Lalu asked senior officials to prepare necessary ground for creation of a new railway division at Thawe in Gopalganj.
Thawe has a railway station at present and is not far from Lalu’s birth place Phulwaria and his wife’s birthplace Salar Kalan.
Thawe railway division will be part of the East Central Railway zone headquarters at Hajipur in Bihar.
Lalu also announced establishing of a new railway division in Bhagalpur. “Both Thawe and Bhagalpur would be headed by divisional railway managers.”
During his five year term as a Railways Minister, Lalu has gifted several projects and dozens of new trains to Bihar. He recently said that the Indian Railways are investing Rs.550 billion (Rs.55,000 crore) in Bihar for execution of various railway projects to usher “a new era of development”. link
Saturday 31 January 2009
Honour doctor who died serving Bihar flood victims: Parents
Months after their son lost his life while serving Bihar’s flood victims, parents of a 25-year-old doctor said they are unhappy with the state government as it is yet to confer an award on him.
Father Umakant Rajaram Patil and mother Lata Umakant Patil of Mumbai-based doctor Chandrakant said they are proud that their son sacrificed his life for a noble cause.
The family is now on a visit here to pay tributes to Chandrakant, who was struck by lightning Sep 21 last year. He was in a relief camp for flood victims in Kataiya block of Supaul district, about 250 km from here.
‘We do not want money or any compensation from the Bihar government. What we want is that Bihar should honour his sacrifice by announcing the state’s highest civil award to him,’ Umakant told IANS.
‘My son sacrificed his life while doing selfless service in Bihar but the government has failed to honour and recognise him till date,’ Lata said.
‘God snatched our only son, but he died like a martyr as he was busy working for people in pain and suffering,’ she added, fighting back tears.
Soon after his death, Bihar State Health Services Association Coordinator Ajay Kumar in his eulogy said that Chandrakant deserved the highest honour as he sacrificed his life while doing noble work in the state.
‘Though no amount of money could bring back (Chandrakant) Patil, I would ask the state government to provide Rs.5 million to his family members in Maharashtra,’ Kumar had said then.
Umakant and Lata along with their daughter Monika went to the relief camp to pay their tributes to Chandrakant. A mass prayer was also held in the Kataiya block.
‘We visited the exact place where my son died while working for the flood victims. We are proud of him,’ Umakant said.
The family was heartened by the response of local villagers, who were crying as they recalled the selfless service of Chandrakant.
Umakant said: ‘His loss is a loss to society. I plan to erect a tower in memory of my son at the place of his death if I manage to collect funds. It all depends on funds, we are poor people.’
Chandrakant graduated from Pune’s B.J. Medical College and was pursuing MD (a residency in preventive and social medicine) at KEM Hospital, Mumbai.
He was a native of Dhule in Maharashtra and came to Bihar on Sep 18 as part of a 40-member team of doctors who volunteered to serve in the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
More than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course Aug 18 last year.
The homeless were then forced to live along the roads under the open sky without food, clothes and drinking water or in the relief camps set up by the state government.
Father Umakant Rajaram Patil and mother Lata Umakant Patil of Mumbai-based doctor Chandrakant said they are proud that their son sacrificed his life for a noble cause.
The family is now on a visit here to pay tributes to Chandrakant, who was struck by lightning Sep 21 last year. He was in a relief camp for flood victims in Kataiya block of Supaul district, about 250 km from here.
‘We do not want money or any compensation from the Bihar government. What we want is that Bihar should honour his sacrifice by announcing the state’s highest civil award to him,’ Umakant told IANS.
‘My son sacrificed his life while doing selfless service in Bihar but the government has failed to honour and recognise him till date,’ Lata said.
‘God snatched our only son, but he died like a martyr as he was busy working for people in pain and suffering,’ she added, fighting back tears.
Soon after his death, Bihar State Health Services Association Coordinator Ajay Kumar in his eulogy said that Chandrakant deserved the highest honour as he sacrificed his life while doing noble work in the state.
‘Though no amount of money could bring back (Chandrakant) Patil, I would ask the state government to provide Rs.5 million to his family members in Maharashtra,’ Kumar had said then.
Umakant and Lata along with their daughter Monika went to the relief camp to pay their tributes to Chandrakant. A mass prayer was also held in the Kataiya block.
‘We visited the exact place where my son died while working for the flood victims. We are proud of him,’ Umakant said.
The family was heartened by the response of local villagers, who were crying as they recalled the selfless service of Chandrakant.
Umakant said: ‘His loss is a loss to society. I plan to erect a tower in memory of my son at the place of his death if I manage to collect funds. It all depends on funds, we are poor people.’
Chandrakant graduated from Pune’s B.J. Medical College and was pursuing MD (a residency in preventive and social medicine) at KEM Hospital, Mumbai.
He was a native of Dhule in Maharashtra and came to Bihar on Sep 18 as part of a 40-member team of doctors who volunteered to serve in the flood-hit districts of Bihar.
More than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course Aug 18 last year.
The homeless were then forced to live along the roads under the open sky without food, clothes and drinking water or in the relief camps set up by the state government.
Nitish Kumar ‘Politician of the Year’
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been named the ‘CNN-IBN Politician of the Year-2008′.
According to a release by the channel, Nitish Kumar faced strong competition from his Delhi counterpart Sheila Dikshit, but eventually won the award ‘for turning around one of the most under-developed states in India and showing that ultimately, every adversity crumbles in the face of vision, belief and resolve’.
The winners in other categories include Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra for sports and Aamir Khan for entertainment.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G. Madhavan Nair and the team behind India’s moon mission Chandrayaan have won awards in the public service category, while Aditya Puri of HDFC Bank topped in the business category. link
The ‘Global Indian’ of the year went to A.R. Rahman ‘for his music in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and compositions for hits like ‘Ghajini’, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na”.
According to a release by the channel, Nitish Kumar faced strong competition from his Delhi counterpart Sheila Dikshit, but eventually won the award ‘for turning around one of the most under-developed states in India and showing that ultimately, every adversity crumbles in the face of vision, belief and resolve’.
The winners in other categories include Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra for sports and Aamir Khan for entertainment.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G. Madhavan Nair and the team behind India’s moon mission Chandrayaan have won awards in the public service category, while Aditya Puri of HDFC Bank topped in the business category. link
The ‘Global Indian’ of the year went to A.R. Rahman ‘for his music in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and compositions for hits like ‘Ghajini’, ‘Jodhaa Akbar’ and ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na”.
Bihar babu felicitated at ANSISS
The A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS) on Friday felicitated senior Bihar bureaucrat Manoj K Srivastava for being the first recipient of the prestigious Jamshetji Tata Fellowship of the London School of Economics (LSE). This fellowship has been instituted in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
ANSISS chairman Hari Kishore Singh lauded the contributions of Srivastava in both academics and bureaucracy. Senior faculty member Nil Ratan said it is a matter of great pride that a Bihari has been selected for this prestigious fellowship.
Srivastava said he is overwhelmed by the gesture of this prestigious institute. He also briefly talked about his future research on pro-poor governance in India. link
ANSISS chairman Hari Kishore Singh lauded the contributions of Srivastava in both academics and bureaucracy. Senior faculty member Nil Ratan said it is a matter of great pride that a Bihari has been selected for this prestigious fellowship.
Srivastava said he is overwhelmed by the gesture of this prestigious institute. He also briefly talked about his future research on pro-poor governance in India. link
Friday 30 January 2009
Four die in Bihar hospital as strike cripples medical services
Four patients died in a Bihar hospital Thursday as health services were crippled due to the ongoing indefinite strike by the government employees including health officials, officials said Friday.
A young woman who had just given birth, was one of the four patients who died due to lack of treatment at Jawahar Lal Nehru medical college and hospital in Bhagalpur district.
Official sources said Nisha Devi, in her 20s, died due to excess bleeding following child-birth in the absence of proper treatment. She was admitted to the hospital Thursday morning. Three other patients also died due to lack of medical attention.
The functioning of the state government offices including the health department have been hit by the ongoing indefinite strike by government employees, which continued for the 24th day Friday, officials here said.
"The strike has crippled medical services across the state, which has most hit poor people who have no money to go to private hospitals for treatment," an official of the state health department admitted.
Reports reaching here from different district headquarters say functioning of hospitals has been affected due to the strike.
More than 300,000 government employees went on strike in Bihar, demanding implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in "letter and spirit", after the failure of talks with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio.
Modi, who refused to accept the demands because of a funds crunch, has ruled out any possibility of the state government negotiating with the striking employees.
Earlier this week, when employees refused demands to return to work, the government hinted at disciplinary action against the strikers.
It has also served them with show-cause notices and officials said action could be taken against those who do not reply to the notices. link
A young woman who had just given birth, was one of the four patients who died due to lack of treatment at Jawahar Lal Nehru medical college and hospital in Bhagalpur district.
Official sources said Nisha Devi, in her 20s, died due to excess bleeding following child-birth in the absence of proper treatment. She was admitted to the hospital Thursday morning. Three other patients also died due to lack of medical attention.
The functioning of the state government offices including the health department have been hit by the ongoing indefinite strike by government employees, which continued for the 24th day Friday, officials here said.
"The strike has crippled medical services across the state, which has most hit poor people who have no money to go to private hospitals for treatment," an official of the state health department admitted.
Reports reaching here from different district headquarters say functioning of hospitals has been affected due to the strike.
More than 300,000 government employees went on strike in Bihar, demanding implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in "letter and spirit", after the failure of talks with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio.
Modi, who refused to accept the demands because of a funds crunch, has ruled out any possibility of the state government negotiating with the striking employees.
Earlier this week, when employees refused demands to return to work, the government hinted at disciplinary action against the strikers.
It has also served them with show-cause notices and officials said action could be taken against those who do not reply to the notices. link
Thursday 29 January 2009
Bihar wins National Award for e-governance
'Jankari', a Bihar government project to empower people with information under RTI over telephone, has bagged the National award for e-governance.
"The award will be given to the state government's unique project, Jankari Call Centre under Right to Information Act (RTI), on February 12 this year at the national conference on e-governance in Goa," Amir Subhani, Principal Secretary, Personnel, told reporters here.
Bihar is the first state to start the Jankari project, a brain child of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which enables people living in remote corners of the state to make applications under RTI through a telephone call, Subhani said.
The operators receiving the calls in call centres draft the applications under RTI and send it to the public authorities for providing requisite information to applicants.
During the two years of its existence, the call centre received 22,600 calls of which 7,070 were to submit applications under RTI, 3016 calls for filing first appeal and 1,400 calls for filing second appeals before the state information commission, Subhani said.
Admitting that the ratio of applications received from rural areas was less in comparison to those received from Patna due to poor dissemination of the programme and poor connectivity of BSNL landline phones, the secretary said that the department had taken steps to correct the problems.
The state government, he said, was taking steps through its public relations department to make people aware of the programme.
The state government had given a slide presentation of the Jankari programme in Delhi on January 19 before a jury who appreciated the state government's efforts, Subhani said.
The award would be given by the Department of Administrative Reforms under Ministry of Personnel, New Delhi. link
"The award will be given to the state government's unique project, Jankari Call Centre under Right to Information Act (RTI), on February 12 this year at the national conference on e-governance in Goa," Amir Subhani, Principal Secretary, Personnel, told reporters here.
Bihar is the first state to start the Jankari project, a brain child of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which enables people living in remote corners of the state to make applications under RTI through a telephone call, Subhani said.
The operators receiving the calls in call centres draft the applications under RTI and send it to the public authorities for providing requisite information to applicants.
During the two years of its existence, the call centre received 22,600 calls of which 7,070 were to submit applications under RTI, 3016 calls for filing first appeal and 1,400 calls for filing second appeals before the state information commission, Subhani said.
Admitting that the ratio of applications received from rural areas was less in comparison to those received from Patna due to poor dissemination of the programme and poor connectivity of BSNL landline phones, the secretary said that the department had taken steps to correct the problems.
The state government, he said, was taking steps through its public relations department to make people aware of the programme.
The state government had given a slide presentation of the Jankari programme in Delhi on January 19 before a jury who appreciated the state government's efforts, Subhani said.
The award would be given by the Department of Administrative Reforms under Ministry of Personnel, New Delhi. link
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Bihar deploys police after "Slumdog" protests
Police in Bihar tightened security on Tuesday, a day after slum dwellers objecting to the word "dog" attacked a cinema hall screening the Oscar-nominated film "Slumdog Millionaire" in Patna.
On Monday protesters tore down posters and ransacked a movie theatre showing the rags-to- riches tale of a Mumbai slum dweller, which won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards at the weekend.
The film has also received 10 Oscar nominations.
Hundreds of protesters, mainly slum dwellers, shouted slogans saying the film's title was humiliating and must be changed for protests to end.
"Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights," Tateshwar Vishwakarma, a social activist said.
Police said they have deployed armed police outside theatres in the state to thwart any further attacks.
Last week, Vishwakarma filed a case against an actor, the music director and two other people associated with "Slumdog" in a local court.
The case will be heard in a Patna court on Feb. 5, police said. link
On Monday protesters tore down posters and ransacked a movie theatre showing the rags-to- riches tale of a Mumbai slum dweller, which won the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild awards at the weekend.
The film has also received 10 Oscar nominations.
Hundreds of protesters, mainly slum dwellers, shouted slogans saying the film's title was humiliating and must be changed for protests to end.
"Referring to people living in slums as dogs is a violation of human rights," Tateshwar Vishwakarma, a social activist said.
Police said they have deployed armed police outside theatres in the state to thwart any further attacks.
Last week, Vishwakarma filed a case against an actor, the music director and two other people associated with "Slumdog" in a local court.
The case will be heard in a Patna court on Feb. 5, police said. link
Paswan makes unilateral announcemnt on Bihar candidates
In what could be considered as a jolt to the Congress-led UPA, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday announced candidates for 50% of the total Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Paswan announced candidates for 20 of the 40 LS seats in Bihar that include Araria, Purnea, Supaul, Khagaria, Hajipur, Jehanabad, Begusarai, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Ujiyarpur, Bettiah, Bagha, Motihari, Nawada, Gaya, Ara and Patliputra.
Though Paswan's announcement ahead of any seat sharing talks within the UPA allies in Bihar is seen as his bargaining tactic with the Congress to corner prized seats, the move could also be interpreted as his open defiance on accommodating RJD, much like the last time in 2005.
Speaking to a news agency in the Capital on Monday, Paswan said: "Party leaders in the state are in favour of contesting the elections alone." He added that no concrete proposal for seat sharing had, however, come to his party from either the Congress or the RJD.
Putting the RJD on the same pedestal as the ruling NDA in Bihar, a party leader was quoted as saying, "People have already seen RJD's Lalu Prasad and JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar and are now looking for a change."
Hinting at the fact that he may prefer to go it alone at the hustings, Paswan said, "The RJD's mass base among Muslims and Yadavs has eroded." link
Paswan announced candidates for 20 of the 40 LS seats in Bihar that include Araria, Purnea, Supaul, Khagaria, Hajipur, Jehanabad, Begusarai, Sheohar, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Ujiyarpur, Bettiah, Bagha, Motihari, Nawada, Gaya, Ara and Patliputra.
Though Paswan's announcement ahead of any seat sharing talks within the UPA allies in Bihar is seen as his bargaining tactic with the Congress to corner prized seats, the move could also be interpreted as his open defiance on accommodating RJD, much like the last time in 2005.
Speaking to a news agency in the Capital on Monday, Paswan said: "Party leaders in the state are in favour of contesting the elections alone." He added that no concrete proposal for seat sharing had, however, come to his party from either the Congress or the RJD.
Putting the RJD on the same pedestal as the ruling NDA in Bihar, a party leader was quoted as saying, "People have already seen RJD's Lalu Prasad and JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar and are now looking for a change."
Hinting at the fact that he may prefer to go it alone at the hustings, Paswan said, "The RJD's mass base among Muslims and Yadavs has eroded." link
Six Dalit children die of measles in Bihar
At least six malnourished Dalit children have died of measles in a Bihar village during the last 10 days. Villagers blame government apathy for the deaths.
The deaths occurred in Jitaura Musahar Tola in East Champaran district, about 250 km from here, creating panic among villagers as nearly a dozen more children are suffering from the disease.
All the victims belong to the Musahar community, known as the poorest of the poor in Bihar's socio-economic structure. The community derives its name from the practice of eating rats and they usually hunt for them in paddy fields.
District civil surgeon Dharam Deo Singh told IANS on phone that a team of doctors has been rushed to the village for treating the affected children and a medical camp would be set up to prevent an outbreak of measles.
Singh said he was informed about the spread of measles and the death of the children late due to an ongoing strike of government employees, including health officials, across the state.
Villagers are angry with the local administration's apathy that led to the death of their children.
"Our children died in the absence of medical facilities and failure of the administration to arrange treatment for them," said Prakash Manjhi, a villager.
Hasan Manjhi, another villager, alleged that the administration hardly paid any attention to their community as they were poor Dalits.
Earlier this month, four Dalit children died of measles in Saidpur village of Vaishali district, while five Dalit children of a village in Darbhanga district died of the same disease.
The deaths occurred in Jitaura Musahar Tola in East Champaran district, about 250 km from here, creating panic among villagers as nearly a dozen more children are suffering from the disease.
All the victims belong to the Musahar community, known as the poorest of the poor in Bihar's socio-economic structure. The community derives its name from the practice of eating rats and they usually hunt for them in paddy fields.
District civil surgeon Dharam Deo Singh told IANS on phone that a team of doctors has been rushed to the village for treating the affected children and a medical camp would be set up to prevent an outbreak of measles.
Singh said he was informed about the spread of measles and the death of the children late due to an ongoing strike of government employees, including health officials, across the state.
Villagers are angry with the local administration's apathy that led to the death of their children.
"Our children died in the absence of medical facilities and failure of the administration to arrange treatment for them," said Prakash Manjhi, a villager.
Hasan Manjhi, another villager, alleged that the administration hardly paid any attention to their community as they were poor Dalits.
Earlier this month, four Dalit children died of measles in Saidpur village of Vaishali district, while five Dalit children of a village in Darbhanga district died of the same disease.
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