प्रेमिका के दरवाजे पर प्रेमी ने खाया जहर

नये साल की पूर्व संध्या पर प्रेमिका के घर शादी का ख्याब लेकर पहुंचे प्रेमी को निराशा हाथ लगी तो उनसे खुद को खत्म करने की ठान ली. उसने प्रेमिका के घर के सामने ही जान देने की कोशिश की. इसके लिए उसने सबके सामने जहरीला पदार्थ निगल लिया. पहले उसे कटरा पीएचसी में भर्ती कराया गया. हालत बिगड़ने पर उसे पीएमसीएच रेफर कर दिया गया. मामला कटरा के यजुआर गांव का है. प्रेमी के पास से मंगलसूत्र व अन्य गहने मिले हैं. माना जा रहा है, इन्हें वह अपनी होनेवाली पत्नी के लिए लेकर आया था.

जानकारी के मुताबिक, कटरा थाना क्षेत्र के  यजुआर गांव निवासी गणेश ठाकुर (27) गांव की ही एक लड़की से प्यार करता है. मंगलवार की देर शाम वह मंगलसूत्र, टीका सहित अन्य आभूषण लेकर उसके दरवाजे पर शादी करने पहुंच गया. वह प्रेमिका के घर पर हंगामा करने लगा. इस पर लड़की के परिजनों ने उसके साथ धक्का-मुक्की भी की. उसके हंगामा करने पर कटरा पुलिस को मामले की जानकारी दी गयी. गणोश ठाकुर बार-बार शादी करने की जिद पर अड़ा था. प्रेमिका के इनकार करने पर उसने झोले से जहरीला पदार्थ निकाल कर मुंह में रख लिया.

थानाध्यक्ष रमण कुमार ने बताया, पुलिस जब मौके पर पहुंची, तो वह बेहोश था. उसके झोला से सिंदूर व आभूषण मिले हैं. उसे इलाज के लिए स्थानीय स्वास्थ्य केंद्र लाया गया. डॉक्टरों ने बताया कि उसने कोई अत्यंत जहरीला पदार्थ खा लिया है. उसके पैर के मोजा से पुलिस ने सल्फास की गोली भी बरामद की है. डॉक्टरों ने उसे बेहतर इलाज के लिए एसकेएमसीएच रेफर कर दिया, जहां उसकी हालत गंभीर बनी हुई थी. इस बात की जानकारी नहीं मिली है, आखिर कब से उक्त युवती से गणोश प्यार करता था. साथ ही युवती भी गणोश से प्यार करती थी या नहीं. पुलिस पूरे मामले की छानबीन कर रही है.

Women auto drivers in Bihar

In a rare first steering towards change and empowerment, women auto drivers are motoring towards empowerment in Patna. Many of them have now become bread earners for their families.

"We wait outside schools and colleges and students are glad to see women auto drivers," an auto driver Sarita Pandey said.

It all began when the Patna auto-rickshaw association began training 35 women of which 15 were selected in the first phase. With a license and bank loans of 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh, they were soon zooming on the streets of Patna. A monthly income of Rs 12,000 to 15,000 leaves enough room to repay the EMIs of Rs 4000.

Straight out from the confines of their homes, it's a daring entry into a male bastion which many females would not dare to take up. "People stop our autos and tell us that this is not a woman's job," auto driver Sarita Pandey said.

However, their presence has given a sense of security to women travelers and has been regarded as a welcome step for women commuters. Only families with women are allowed to uses these autos. "We feel safe leaving our homes in autos and driving on the streets," a passenger Anita said.

The new auto drivers also share the credit of the initiative with their families. "My husband has been very supportive otherwise it wouldn't have been possible," an auto driver Namita said.

Patna auto-drivers association feels elated for having taken the initiative that has given these women a new freedom. "It is challenging for women to drive autos and get on the road. We were certain to implement it." President Patna auto-drivers association Raj Kumar Jha said.

It's a welcome trend and these new fast lane girls on the streets are inspiring many more to join the tribe taking the number of women drivers in the city from 12 to 50 in just a month.

Dozens killed by train

At least 37 people have died after being hit by an express train while crossing the tracks in the Indian state of Bihar.
An angry crowd is said to have beaten the driver and set two coaches on fire after the train came to a stop.
The people killed were mostly Hindu pilgrims on their way to a local temple.

man held for allegedly trying to poison handpump

A man was held on Saturday for allegedly trying to poison handpump in a school in a village under Parasbigha police station area in Bihar's Jehanabad district, a police officer said.

The villagers found man, later identified as Munna Ansari, moving in a suspicious manner in the primary school premise in Godiha village and beat him up mercilessly by suspecting that he was there allegedly to poison handpump, the superintendent of solice (SP) Shayali Dhurat said.

Dhurat said that she and the District Magistrate Md. Sohail rushed to the village with police force after being informed about the incident and rescued the man from clutches of angry villagers who were refusing to hand him over to cops.

Apparently determined to teach Ansari a lesson, the villagers pelted stones on the police force in which two police officers, identified as Parasbigha SHO Samrat Singh and Shakurabad SHO Vinod Kumar, sustained injuries, she said.

The police lathicharged on the mob before safely rescuing him from the custody of the villagers, Dhurat said.

She said that Ansari, a native of Ghughri village under Jamalpur police station area of Khagaria district, has been taken to a hospital for medical check up and his belongings were being searched to find out whether he was carrying chemicals or related materials with him.

Dhurat confirmed that some eatables like Sattu (floured gram) and guava have been recovered from the suspect's possession.

It may be mentioned that incidents of suspected poisoning of handpumps in schools have taken place in several districts with hundreds of students taking ill in the past fortnight prompting the state government to order a probe.

55 girl students taken ill in Bihar after drinking water in school

Fifty-five girl students were today taken ill after drinking water from hand pump in a government girls' school in Tharhar village in Bihar's Sitamarhi district.

The girls studying in Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya fainted soon after drinking water from a hand pump, Block Education Officer (BEO) Shahjanand said.

While 48 sick girls have been taken to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Runnisaidpur block, the remaining seven were rushed to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur, he said.

The condition of those girls undergoing treatment at the PHC was said to be stable, Shahjanand stated.

It could be a suspected case of poisoning, sources said.

Senior district officials reached the school to probe the matter.

Eleven students of a government school fell ill after drinking contaminated water during their midday meal in Bihar's Saran district yesterday just a day after 150 others reported sick after eating at school in Jamui and Arwal districts.

Twenty three students of Dharmasati Gandaman primary school in Saran district had died after eating poisonous midday meal on July 16.

Bihar midday meal tragedy

The principal of the government school in Saran district where 23 children died after eating contaminated midday meal is on the run.

It has emerged that the free food served to children in the school did not undergo any quality check.

Meena Devi, the principal of the school, is absconding along with her husband and the police are conducting raids at their possible hideouts, Saran district magistrate Abhijit Sinha said.

The grocery from where the items for the midday meal were brought belonged to Meena's husband, it has been stated.

The principal, against whom an FIR has been lodged, has already been suspended by the state administration.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the tragedy rose to 23 after it came to the knowledge of the district administration on Thursday that one child was buried by family members without keeping the authorities informed.

24 children and a woman cook Manju Devi were under treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.

No arrests have been made two days after the incident, as a mass grave outside the primary school at Dharmasati Gandavan village where the dead were buried bore mute testimony to the tragedy.

"This school will not run ... we will not allow it," said Rakeshwar Mahato who lost his granddaughter in the tragedy. "This is where our children were murdered," he said, defending the decision to bury the children just outside the school premises as a mark of protest by the families.

Amardeep Sinha, principal secretary, Bihar said the case seemed to be one of "poisoning of food" and not "food poisoning."

He said the State Forensic Science Laborotary (SLFL) was conducting investigations and their report would be out by Friday.

State education minister PK Sahi had said on Wednesday a preliminary investigation suggested that the food served to the children contained an organophosphate used as an insecticide on rice and wheat crops. He also alleged there was a political conspiracy to destabilise the Nitish Kuamr government.

Bihar's director of midday meal programme R Lakshamanan said inquiries into the Saran tragedy showed that standing orders like quality check of food and its maintenance by teachers and cooks were not observed at the school.

As the tragedy created a scare, he admitted that in many schools children are refusing to take food packets provided to them under the programme.

The midday meal scheme, a flagship programme of the central government, covers 70,000 schools of Bihar providing food to 1.25 crore children.

Minister attacked

Bihar minister Parween Amanullah was attacked and held up for some time by a mob in Vaishali district which was agitating over the midday meal tragedy in the state.

Amanullah, who is the minister for social welfare, was on her way to Muzaffarpur from Patna when the protesters, who had blockaded National Highway 77 near Rai Birendra College, about 5km from Hajipur town, pelted her car with stones, forcing it to halt.

"I was stopped by the mob for nearly 15 minutes before police came and escorted my car to safety ... Stones hit my car while I was sitting inside," Amanullah said.

The minister said she cancelled her programme and returned to Patna after the incident.

Vaishali SP Suresh Chaudhary confirmed the incident. The Bihar government has been under attack by opposition parties over the midday meal tragedy in Saran district which has claimed the lives of 23 children.

RJD, BJP and CPI had separately observed bandh in Saran on Wednesday.

Opposition parties have blamed the state government for the delay in rushing the victims to hospital after they were taken ill upon eating the meal.

Terror strikes Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was left squirming because the low-intensity blasts, triggered by suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives, occurred despite repeated intelligence alerts from central security agencies.

“It does seem like a terror attack... No (terrorist) outfit has claimed responsibility,” Union minister of state for home RPN Singh said about the string of blasts between 5.30 and 5.58am.
 

Buddhists from all over the world visit the temple, which has the Bodhi tree under which Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. “The holy Bodhi tree is safe and there is no damage to it,” said Bihar director general of police Abhayanand.

The police said four blasts took place inside the Mahabodhi temple complex and three occurred at the Terega monastery, while one each were triggered near an 80-feet-tall Buddha statue and a vacant tourist bus parked close to the temple complex.

The police said two live bombs were defused in the town and a third in a village nearby. According to intelligence sources, Bodh Gaya has been in the crosshairs of Pakistan-based terrorists who want to avenge the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.

The improvised explosive devices were set off with timers within a 2 km radius of the 18 sq km town located about 140 km southwest of capital Patna. While IM operations are unknown in these parts, Gaya is the hotbed of Maoist activity in Bihar.

The police said two live bombs were defused in the town and a third in a village nearby. According to intelligence sources, Bodh Gaya has been in the crosshairs of Pakistan-based terrorists who want to avenge the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.

The improvised explosive devices were set off with timers within a 2 km radius of the 18 sq km town located about 140 km southwest of capital Patna. While IM operations are unknown in these parts, Gaya is the hotbed of Maoist activity in Bihar.


'Temple, Bodhi Tree safe'

The temple and the Bodhi Tree, under which Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, did not suffer any damage in the blasts which shook the holy town frequented by Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, China, Japan and the whole of southeast Asia.

Security has been beefed at the temple and adjoining areas, Director General of Police Abhayanand told reporters, adding CCTV footage was being examined for leads to the terrorists.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) had alerted the state that two terrorists, brothers originally from Bihar but based abroad in recent years, had entered the state to carry out terror attacks, according to an official aware about the intelligence input.


'IM mey be behind blast'

Last year, the Delhi Police claimed to have foiled a 'fidayeen' attack in the town with the arrest of suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) elements to avenge "atrocities" against Muslims in Myanmar. Security agencies suspect that IM may be behind today's multiple blasts.

"While four blasts took place inside the Mahabodhi Temple complex, three occurred in Karmapa monastery, one each near near the famous 80-ft Buddha statue and at the bus stand near bypass," DIG Magadh range Nayyer Hussnain Khan said.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said two live bombs were defused in the town. A third bomb, hidden in a cyclinder, was recovered from a village near Body Gaya hours after the blasts and defused.

The Bihar chief minister demanded deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for security of the shrine.

"The serial blasts deserve strongest condemnation in strongest possible words as the perpetrators targeted the place of religious faith of crores of people with an aim to create fear among them," Nitish Kumar said.

Union home secretary Anil Goswami said in New Delhi that serial explosions inside and outside Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar were a terror attack and NIA and NSG teams have been sent for post-blasts investigations.

Medical admissions in Bihar face MCI axe over resource crunch, faculty shortage

For the students of Bihar, dreams of studying medicine in the state may remain just that, a pipe-dream. The prestigious IGIMS’ admissions for the current year have been disallowed by MCI, the proposal for a medical college in Bettiah has been turned down and the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Bhagalpur is under the scanner owing to resource crunch. Only the medical college in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s home district, Nalanda has got the green signal.

IGIMS Patna which had started its MBBS programme in 2011 and would have admitted its third batch, has been told not to go ahead with the process. The MCI had to stop the admission to its MBBS programme after it found that the institute was short of resident doctors by 53 percent and faculty by 35 percent.

In the case of Bettiah Medical College, the MCI had directed the proposed medical college to come up to the standards set by it. Subsequently, MCI rejected the compliance report presented by the college management in a meeting held on June 18.

The kind of inertia that has gripped medical education in Bihar can be gauged from the fact that the government-run Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Bhagalpur which has been running since 1970 has an intake of only 50 students per year. To add to its woes, MCI is reviewing the college owing to the resource crunch being faced by this college.

The only silver lining in Bihar seems to be the medical college which is coming up at Pavapuri in Nitish Kumar’s Nalanda district. The college has an authorization of 100 medical seats.

Corrupt Bihar top cop's house converted into a school

The Bihar government Wednesday opened a school for mentally challenged children in a house confiscated from former director general of police Narayan Mishra, convicted for amassing wealth through graft, an official said.

The school, named "Chaman" (garden) is the first such in Bihar.

"It is a unique school to impart education to mentally challenged children and it opened in the confiscated house of a top police officer," a district official said.

"More than 50 children will be enrolled in the school," the official said. According to officials, the education imparted in the school will equip the children to lead as normal a life as possible, given their mental state.

Last year, the state government had taken a decision to open the school in the house confiscated from Mishra. The 5,937 sq ft house in Rukunpura locality of the state capital was transferred to the social welfare department.

A vigilance court in 2012 had ordered the confiscation of the property, finding Mishra guilty of amassing wealth far in excess of known sources of income.

It was the first time that a police officer who had been at the helm of the state's police force was tried under the Bihar Special Court Act, 2009.

Mishra had challenged the vigilance court's order in the Patna High Court, but his petition was rejected.

A vigilance case was lodged against Mishra in 2007 for amassing assets including property valued at Rs.1.40 crore in 1984.

Mishra was suspended by the government four years ago.

Till date, the Bihar government has confiscated the houses of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Shiv Shankar Verma, and a treasury clerk, Girish Kumar.

Proceedings to confiscate properties of some more officials have been initiated.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last year gave his nod for the prosecution of nearly two dozen officials.

People of Bihar is not safe in the hands of the police: HRC

In a scathing comment on the police brass, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has observed with 'concern' and 'dismay', that the people of the state were 'not very safe with the police'.

The BHRC made the observation in response to the director-general of police, Abhayanand's response to the commission, sought in a case of misconduct involving a sub-inspector (S-I), then posted as station house officer of Chauri police station in Bhojpur district.

As many as nine departmental proceedings had been initiated against the S-I concerned, Subodh Kumar Singh, of which, he was awarded punishment in seven. The commission had sought the response of the DGP whether it would be in public interest to retain such an officer in police service in view of his service record.

In his response to the commission, the DGP raised doubts over the jurisdiction of the state human rights commission.

He said, "The issue of retaining a government servant in public interest on account of orders of punishment passed in different departmental proceedings may not fall within the purview and jurisdiction of the SHRC in terms of the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act."

After a few 'general remarks' on the point of passing orders of compulsory retirement, the DGP further said, "Police officials work under several constraints and in difficult situations, which many times are life threatening. In course of performing their duties, they are at times faced with vindictive and malafide action at the hands of those who are aggrieved by their action. At times, even false cases and complaints are lodged against them."

Clarifying his stand, SHRC chairperson, Justice (retd) SN Jha said, "The objection to the jurisdiction of the SHRC overlooks the provisions of section 18(a)(ii) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, which empowers the human rights commission to recommend to the government 'to initiate proceedings for prosecution or such other suitable action as the commission may deem fit' against the person concerned."

He further said, "The query was made into the facts of the case and considering, that the officer (SI) was punished in all seven (out of nine) departmental proceedings, it cannot be said that the complaints were false. After all, punishments were awarded by the police officers themselves."

"The commission expected, that the DGP would get the matter examined at his level and make suitable intervention, but what is conveyed to the commission is a general denial as if all is well with the police organisation and no action is required to be taken against erring police officials because they work in difficult situations… If this is what the state head of the police organisation believes, the commission would observe with concern and dismay, the people of the state are not very safe with the police," concluded Justice Jha.

Jharkhand HC dismisses Lalu’s fodder scam petitions

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday dismissed the petitions of RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to transfer one of his fodder scam cases to another special CBI court from the present court of Pravas Kumar Singh and examining one more witness.

The court of RR Prasad, who had on June 28 reserved the order on the pleas after Ram Jethmalani argued for Yadav, dismissed the petitions.

Prasad, who faces a judgement in a fodder scam case on July 15, filed the petition requesting transfer of RC20A case to another special CBI court as he did not “expect justice” from the present special CBI judge Pravas Kumar Singh following his alleged relationship with two Bihar-based JDU leaders, who are political opponents.

Appearing for Lalu Prasad, Jethmalani had argued before the court that the Animal Husbandry case be transferred from the court of Pravas Kumar Singh on that ground.

He also argued that that there were about 76 witnesses in the Animal Husbandry Scam but only 17 witnesses had been examined in the case and sought to examine one more witness in the case.

On June 24, Supreme Court advocate Surendra Kumar Singh had informed the special court of Pravas Kumar Singh that arguments on behalf of his client be stopped till an order by the High Court.

The CBI court has been hearing arguments for the last one month and had on June 20 directed 45 fodder scam accused, including Prasad, to complete arguments by July 1.

He has fixed July 15 to deliver the verdict on the RC 20A-96 case pertaining to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa Treasury in the 1990s.

There are 45 accused out of 56 in the RCA/96. The rest have since either turned approver or died.

Bihar CID to probe into chopping off girl's hands

The Bihar government on Monday ordered a criminal investigation department (CID) probe into the alleged chopping of the right hand of an eight-year-old girl near a railway station in Patna last Thursday.

 Director general of police (DGP) Abhayanand ordered the probe into the alleged attack in a bylane near the state capital’s Rajendra Nagar railway terminal, after her mother met chief minister Nitish Kumar at his janata durbar.

 Dismissing the police version that the child’s arm had to be severed by doctors at the Patna medical college hospital owing to injuries she sustained when she fell under a train, the mother sought "justice" from Kumar.

 After he had heard her, the chief minister asked her to meet the DGP, who was present at the janata durbar, held as a weekly feature at Kumar’s official residence in a VVIP enclave of western Patna.

 Asked how she wanted the matter to be dealt with, the victim’s mother left it to the DGP to do whatever he thought was the best way to bring justice to her family.

 Thereafter, the DGP ordered the CID to investigate the matter after getting the full account of events from the complainant.

 Additional director general of police (CID) AK Upadhyaya, who was present there, told reporters the agency would probe afresh the woman’s complaint in its entirety.

 "Besides the allegation that the victim’s right arm was chopped off with a sharp-edged weapon soon after she alighted from a train at the Rajendra Nagar station late Thursday night, the CID would also go in the kidnapping of her brother Zulfikar Alam, 4, in May, allegedly by Bobby Khan and his men, in which the victim was a witness", Upadhyay said.

 The ordering of the CID probe came even as Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj had cited preliminary probe findings to show the severing of the victim’s right arm came about after she fell from a train.

 The victim’s father, Ainul Ansari, had Thursday night’s attack near the railway station was the handiwork of Khan and his men who had earlier abducted his son Zulfikar, allegedly over a "land dispute."

 Ansari had also claim the family had come to Patna to seek the DGP’s help in securing the release of his son, when the attack took place.

 He had also claimed the assailants wanted to kill his eight-year-old daughter as she was the sole witness to her brother's kidnapping in May at Laheriasarai in north Bihar’s Darbhanga district, where Ansari works as a tailor.

Train hits auto, two dead in Nalanda district

A special train today hit an autorickshaw killing its two occupants at an unmanned level crossing in Bihar's Nalanda district, police said.

The incident took place at Dhibra halt when a speeding train hit the three-wheeler after it got stuck at the crossing, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Qasim said.

local people staged demonstration to protest the incident and sat on the track disrupting movement of trains.

2 passengers, 1 RPF jawan killed in Naxal attack on train

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has confirmed the death of an RPF jawan and one passenger aboard the Bihar train that came under Naxal attack.

The latest reports coming in from Bihar now indicate that three people have been killed in the attack on the passenger train. CNN-IBN reported that the dead included 1 RPF Jawan and two passengers.

No further details were immediately available.  The condition of the train driver is still serious.

Bihar nod to preparing DPR for Patna metro rail

Bihar moved a step closer to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's dream of a Metro train service in Patna with the state cabinet Tuesday approving the proposal to prepare a detailed project report (DPR).

Cabinet Secretary Brajesh Mehrotra told media persons here that state cabinet has selected Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) for the purpose.

"RITES will prepare DPR for the Metro rail in Patna," he said.

Earlier, the state government had said that Metro rail would be a reality in Patna by 2016. The project is set to cover a distance of 40 km and is estimated to cost Rs.8,000 crore.

Rail projects in Bihar worth Rs 10,000cr delayed

A slew of railway projects in Bihar worth about Rs 10,000 crore are being delayed due to paucity of funds or for other reasons.

Most of these projects were allocated to Bihar during the tenure of former railway ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad. They include Digha-Sonepur rail cum road bridge, among the three mega bridges.

Munger rail bridge and Nirmali bridge over Kosi river in north Bihar, which have already overrun the cost due to delay in their completion and escalation of prices of steel, iron, cement and other construction materials. The Digha-Sonepur bridge, which was to be completed at a cost of Rs 1,400 crore, would now be completed at a cost of Rs 2,400 crore, if everything went on expected schedule, sources said.

The railway projects across the country, which were to be completed at a cost of Rs 36,930 crore, would now need Rs 91,902 crore due to cost overrun, incurring about 148% additional expenditure of Rs 55,000 crore, said a Railway Board official.

According to sources, the fate of two major projects - the locomotive factories at Marhaura in Saran district and Madhepura in Bihar - has been hanging in balance and already delayed by about five to six years. Although railways is keen to complete them on public-private partnership (PPP) basis, no such step has been taken so far in that direction. Recently, railways invited global tenders for kicking off these two projects but to no avail, sources said.

Though railways has already visualized Bihar as the most developed state as well as an ancillary zone of Indian Railways by the end of 2015-2016, slow progress of major projects is likely to come in the way of attaining the target, sources said, adding that Bihar is to be developed as the main hub of all major component factories, including wheel factory, electric and diesel locomotives and modern maintenance workshops.

The factories duly approved by the Planning Commission and Railway Board for Bihar include the wheel factory at Chhapra (Rs 1,417 crore), diesel engine factory at Marhaura (Rs 2,025 crore), electric engine factory at Madhepura (Rs 1,400 crore), coach maintenance workshop at Harnaut (Rs 325 crore), DEMU maintenance depot at Sonepur (Rs 15 crore), goods wagon repair workshop at Sonepur (Rs 92 crore) and wagon repair workshop at Samastipur (Rs 33 crore).

Though the Chhapra factory and coach maintenance workshop at Harnaut have been completed, they are yet to be officially inaugurated.

Encephalitis kills eight more children in Bihar

Eight more children have succumbed to encephalitis in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, taking the total deaths in the state since early May to 31, officials said Monday.

Two of the children died Tuesday.

A district health official said: "It is an alarming situation as the disease continue to kill children."

Muzaffarpur civil surgeon Gayan Bhushan said doctors and health experts were eagerly awaiting the onset of monsoon as the rains are likely to slowdown the spread of the disease.

Monsoon is likely to enter Bihar June 11 or 12.

Over a dozen children were warded in government hospitals and private nursing homes in Muzaffarpur, about 70 km from here.

The symptoms of this mosquito-borne disease include high fever, irritation and swelling in the brain.

Bihar to recruit 27,000 Urdu teachers by October

With an aim to improve education for Muslims, the Bihar government on Monday announced to recruit 27,000 Urdu teachers by October this year.

The announcement was made by Education minister P K Shahi.

Notification for appointment of Urdu teachers would be issued by June 20 and examination would be conducted in September, the minister said.

Along with Urdu teachers, those for teaching Bangla language would also be recruited by the state government, Shahi said.

Principal Secretary of Education department Amarjit Sinha said the department has received Rs 500 crore additional money for opening 1000 high schools at panchayat level this year.

Work on constructing these schools would begin soon, he said.

Speeding car kills five women in Patna

A speeding car crushed five women to death and seriously injured one other person in Bihar's capital early Monday, police said.

"Five women were crushed to death as a speeding car hit them," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj told.

The incident occurred near Azimchak under Gaurichak police station here.

"All the victims were identified as residents of Jehanabad district," police said.

Hundreds of people, angered by the incident, gathered on the Gaya-Masaurih Highway in protest, blocking the road and demanding action against the owner of the car.

Witnesses said the two people in the car parked the car at the side of the road and fled. Police have seized the car and begun investigations.

Father-in-law's hands chopped off in Rohtas District

"The hands of Radheyshyam Singh, a resident of Bhanas village under Dinara block in Rohtas district, were chopped off by his daughters-in-law after he attempted to molest  them," Deputy Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Singh said.

The daughters-in-law told the police that they were fed up with repeated attempts by Radheyshyam Singh to sexually molest them.

Two days ago, Radheyshyam Singh tried to molest one of his daughters-in-law as she was busy cutting vegetables.

The woman raised an alarm, and the other daughter-in-law rushed to intervene, and also told the man to keep off.

 Radheyshyam then tried to molest the other daughter-in-law, police said.

"They overpowered him and chopped off both his hands with a sharp weapon (cleaver)," police said.

Radheyshyam Singh was admitted to hospital in Varanasi after initial treatment in Rohtas, police said. Police have lodged a case in this connection on the basis of the statement of the daughters-in-law.

Bihar MLA charged with murder

A case has been registered against Nityanand Rai, MLA, in connection with the murder of Atul Kanan, son of former State Minister Motilal Kanan, in Hajipur, Vaishali district.

Unidentified persons gunned down Kanan late on Saturday night, sparking tension in the area on Sunday. The police are investigating the motive behind the murder.

They have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code against Mr. Rai and an unidentified person, Vaishali Superintendent of Police S.P. Choudhary told.

Motilal Kanan was from the Samyukta Socialist Party and served as a minister.

Bihar Board Matric (Class 10) results 2013 declared

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has announced class 10th results 2013 on Wednesday. The students can log on at the BSEB's official website- http://www.biharboard.net to check their results.

The BSEB conducts the metric exam every year in the state in which large number of students appear. The board is recognized as the largest examining body in the World and around 3 million students appear for the examination every year.

The board is established for holding and conducting an examination at the end of the Secondary School stage, for prescribing course of studies for such examination. The board also carries out such other objects and duties as may be considered necessary for the purpose as stated in the Act, Rules and Regulations of the Board.

Normally every year the Bihar School Examination Board conducts Annual Secondary School Examination in the month of February/March and Supplementary School Examination in the month of August/September on the basis of course/syllabus as prescribed by the state government.

The board also conducts departmental examinations (not on yearly basis) such as Diploma in Physical Education, Certificate in Physical Education and Teachers Training Examination on such terms and condition as laid down by the state government.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bihar-board-class-10th-results-declared/1/278521.html

Bihar growing faster than Gujarat

A new study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) has found the Nitish Kumar-ruled Bihar growing faster than Gujarat, though Bihar lags behind the Narendra Modi-ruled state in investment and per capita income.

According to the report, Bihar is catching up with developed states in terms of fresh investment in crucial sectors like power, although it has a huge disadvantage of laggard development in the past.

“Bihar logged in a compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of 20 per cent in public investment between March 2003 and March 2013 while this was 14.1 per cent in the case of Gujarat.  Likewise, the CAGR of private investment in the same period was 104.5 per cent in Bihar and 31.9 per cent in Gujarat,” the study noted.

As per the report, the share of public investment in Bihar as on March 2013 was 50.3 per cent, while it was 27 per cent in Gujarat. On the other hand, the share of private sector in Gujarat was way ahead at 72.3 per cent while it was 49.7 per cent in the case of Bihar.

10 Sentenced to 4-6 Years Imprisonment in Fodder Scam

In the infamous fodder scam the special Court of CBI sentenced ten people on Monday including former MP Dr R K Rana and former MLA Dhruv Bhagat, both close to the former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad Yadav. Rana and Bhagat would go to jail for a term of five years and pay a fine of two and a half lac Rupees. The others were also given various periods of imprisonment ranging from four to six years and case fine were also imposed.

Demand for pan-Bihar identity began in 1868

With CM Nitish Kumar helming the state, the pan-Bihari identity is getting shriller by the day. The demand for the creation of a separate state, carved out from Bengal Presidency, started for the first time in 1868. With education making a slow start, the angst at being discriminated against by the British in blatant favour of Bengalis gave way to open discontent.

The call 'Bihar for Biharis' started only with the publication of an Urdu newspaper, 'Murge Sulema', which in its edition dated February 7, 1874, wrote openly that capable Biharis should be appointed in the government, which should have a two-pronged strategy, that of strengthening the education department here and giving required fillip to dialects and languages native to Bihar.

The 'Bihar Bandhu' journal, in its April 5, 1876, edition strongly mentioned that if Bihar continued to stay within Bengal for very long, it would be damaging for its interests as there was no meeting point between the two in terms of food, culture, attitude, matrimonial alliances, so much so that Bengalis looked down upon their Bihari brethren and treated them as inferiors. In Bihar part of Bengal Presidency, all jobs in the railways and later in technical education were filled up by Bengalis, pushing Bihar further into the morass of backwardness. 'Kashid', in its January 22, 1877, edition went a step further in writing that the Bengal-Bihar federation was as artificial as an improbable alliance between England and France.

Archival sources show that with the growth in national awakening due to cultural renaissance and the Vernacular Press Act of 1978, a panicky British government, adopting a dual policy, decided to give piecemeal benefits to Bihar region, both as a device to admonish Bengal to mend its ways in a veiled manner and to pacify Biharis. Bihar, nevertheless, stepped up its demand despite the absence of an organized form and leadership.

'Bihar Times', in its editions of 1893 and 1894, stated that the demand for Bihar gained momentum with the entry of Sachchidanand Sinha and Mahesh Narayan. In column after column, the two stalwarts wrote extensively on the educational and socio-economic conditions of the region, arguing vociferously that only segregation from Bengal would do it good. The newspaper also strongly advocated that instead of separating Chittagong from Bengal and merging it with Assam, Bihar should be segregated from Bengal if it had to progress. A memorandum to this effect was also submitted to Bengal Governor Sir Alexander McKenzie who was visiting Bihar then. Prior to partition of Bengal in 1905, the voice for creation of Bihar reached a high pitch. In their book 'Separation of Bihar or The Partition of Bengal', Sinha and Narayan advocated this cause.

Bihar saw the first signs of colonial grace post-1905. The Frazer Memorial Trust granted assistance for education in the region, leading to the Bihar Landholders Association mentioning the governor of Bengal as the Governor of both Bengal and Bihar in its 1907 citation. Sinha's writings during this period reflected Bihar's constant monetary drain to Bengal resulting in lack of medicare, increasing poverty and illiteracy. This drew Biharis closer and the demand shriller.

Between 1907-1912, the reins of this movement was in the hands of Brahmadeo Narayan, Ali Imam, Hasan Imam and others. Ali Imam presided over the first session of Bihar Prantiya Sammelan in 1908 and Fakhruddin mooted the proposal that Bihar should finally be segregated from Bengal. A delegation of Bengal Landholders Association, Bihar Prantiya Sangh and Bihar Muslim League submitted a memorandum to the governor on August 14, 1908 mentioning that Bihar was a model state with all religions, castes and communities living in harmony and should, therefore, be carved out into a separate identity. Conceding its demand, the government, in its letter to the secretary of state on August 25, 1911, recommended that Bihar be made a separate state. On December 12, 1911, the government declared during the Delhi Durbar that Bihar, Orissa and Chhotanagpur be separated from Bengal, which was notified on March 22, 1912. Bihar finally figured as a separate state on India's map on April 1, 1912.

Manoj Bajpai moots film city in Bihar

Expressing pleasure over resurgence of Bihar in recent years, noted film actor Manoj Bajpai today said the state should have a film city like those in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to help the state emerge as a film destination.

"Senior actor Shatrughan Sinha and myself are ready to contribute in developing Bihar as a major destination of film like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and others," Bajpai told reporters after attending a function of local "Patliputra Film and TV Institute" here.

Asked if he was feeling bad that state artistes like him and others have not been made part of the 'Bihar Divas', Bajpai of 'Shool', 'Gang of Wasseypur' and 'Arakshan' fame, said this question should be asked to the state government.

Bollywood stars like Sonu Nigam, Alka Yagnik and Daler Mehndi have been invited for the cultural programmes on the anniversary of Bihar's foundation day. The issue of neglect of regional artistes cropped up in Legislative Assembly also by actor-legislator Vinay Bihari.

"For me my home state Bihar holds a special place and I have always tried to associate myself with it," he said.

On Supreme Court judgement on Sanjay Dutt in Mumbai blast case, Bajpai said it was painful for him and Bollywood actors.

Bajpai hailed the new trend in the Hindi film in which stories related to small town and villages were appreciated by movie watchers in cinema like 'Dabaang' and 'Gang of Vashepur.'

"Moviegoers are associating themselves with such theme and that is why such films are a big hit," Bajpai, who hails from a small village in West Champaran district bordering Nepal, said.

He said Bhojpuri films had great future.

Asked if he was feeling bad that he had not been chosen in a coming Bhojpuri film in which Shatrughan Sinha, Jaya Prada, RJD President Lalu Prasad and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh are playing roles, Bajpai said "Bhojpuri is my dialect...but what can I do if the film maker did not find me fit for a role in the movie."

The next tourist hotspot in India?

A record 10.96 lakh foreign tourists visited Bihar last year - the seventh highest among the top ten states to have large number of visitors.

"This showcases the emergence of our state as a mainstream tourist destination ... It has been due to strenuous

efforts of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that our state has emerged as tourist destination in a big way," Bihar Tourism Minister Sunil Kumar Pintu said in the assembly while replying to the tourist department budget of Rs 105 crore for 2013-14.

The NDA government has not only substantially increased the budget of the tourism department over the years, but undertaken construction of infrastructure in the hospitality sector for comfort of the domestic and foreign travellers, he said.

A number of projects to develop tourist destinations under Buddhist, Sikh, Sufi, Ramayan and Jain circuits have been undertaken to woo visitors from across the country and world with a long-term goal to boost local economy and generate employment, Pintu said.

He said Bihar has the unique distinction of being the confluence of five religions - Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Sufi and Jain and has abundance of socio-cultural and religious heritage since ancient time.

"We have decided to put up multi-lingual signage in Japanese, Thai and Chinese languages to help tourists from these countries to locate tourist destinations in Bihar. It will be done across the state over the next two years," he said.

Pintu said his department has proposed to organise a number of tourism festivals called Mahotsavas, including Rajgir, Bodh Gaya and Vaishali Mahotsava to highlight tourist destinations in Bihar.

Manoj Tiwari keen to fight LS polls from Bihar

Bhojpuri actor-singer Manoj Tiwari has said he was ready to contest the next parliamentary elections from any constituency of Bihar, if Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wished.

"If Nitishji wishes I am ready to fight the 2014 elections," Tiwari told PTI here claiming he had provided a positive image to the state.

"I am a big fan of Nitishji because of his dynamic leadership qualities," said the Bhojpuri artiste, who had contested the last parliamentary elections from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh on a Samajwadi Party ticket.

Tiwari, a resident of Atarwalia village in Kaimur district, had also actively participated in JD(U) Adhikar rally at Patna on November 4 last year and will take part in the party's rally in Delhi tomorrow.

Asked about constituency, he said this would be decided by the chief minister.

A popular face in Bihar, the Bhojpuri actor has been actively associated with Chhath functions at Mumbai.

Airtel launches free roaming scheme

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday launched a new roaming scheme for its prepaid customers in Delhi which will enable them to receive free incoming calls in five states.

"With this pack, Airtel prepaid mobile customers can now get up to 30 days of free incoming calls while travelling to Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and West Bengal (except Kolkata) on a recharge of Rs 21," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

Airtel's Delhi customer at present are charged Re 1 for incoming calls, Re 1 for local outgoing calls and Rs 1.5 paise for STD calls on roaming, the company said.

Police lathicharge contractual teachers protesting outside Bihar Assembly

Agitating contractual teachers were cane-charged for the second consecutive day even as the police action against them on Monday triggered strong protests in the Bihar Assembly and Legislative Council on Tuesday.

The protesting teachers, who have been demanding regularisation of their services, were lathicharged by the police after the protest turned violent outside the assembly premises. The police also resorted to tear gas shelling to control the crowd.

Earlier, question hour could not be taken up in legislative council due to strong protests by RJD, Congress and CPI members. As soon as the question hour started, opposition members shouted slogans against the alliance government over reports of lathi-charge on agitating teachers. The Opposition demanded statement from the government on the incident.

When repeated persuasions failed to calm the Opposition, legislative council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh adjourned the House for one hour. Similar protests were witnessed in the legislative assembly too. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui raised the issue and demanded a statement from Education Minister P.K. Shahi.

When Shahi refused to entertain the Opposition demand, Siddiqui alleged that the government was "blind" towards problem of contractual teachers who have been demanding regularisation of job and pay parity with regular teachers.

Road Construction Department Minister Nand Kishore Yadav then told the House that the government was sensitive towards problem of teachers and was looking into the matter.

Festivities know no religion

India is blessed with amazing diversity, but this does not prevent promotion of good relations between people of different communities, examples of which can be found in every nook and corner of the country. One such example comes from the Loco Colony in Gaya district in the eastern state of Bihar. Here, people from different communities celebrate all festivals together with enthusiasm. And, communal amity is not restricted just to festivals. The Durga Temple located nearby exemplifies strong bonds of friendship between both Hindus and Muslims. When a culture has so many differing elements, like India, it is important for the people to respect the differences.

Postal era begins for Bihar Gangsters and other criminals

Gangsters and other criminals in Bihar are shunning mobile phones and emails and turning to postal letters and couriers to run their rackets, threaten people and extort money, say police. The reason: letters help them avoid the police radar while phones are easy to track.

"They are reluctant to use mobile phones and emails to establish contact with their associates or issue threat to demand extortion, fearing that police will catch them, using its technology network," a police officer said, not wishing to be identified.

"Now they have adopted old methods to give us a slip," said the officer posted in police headquarters here. He did not want to be named.

According to police, gangsters and criminals are using ordinary post and courier services to protect their identity and keep their location secret.

"After we arrested some hard-core criminals by tracking their movement through mobile surveillance, they have become shy of using cellphones," said the officer.

Another officer said in the last few months, they came across several instances where criminals in many districts sent letters or couriers to issue threats.

"It was revealed during investigations in few cases that criminals or gangsters lodged in jails across the state are using letters to run their network," said the official, who too did not want to be identified.

The inmates, he said, send letters outside the jail through visitors or after bribing the guards.

However, Maoist guerrillas in rural Bihar have been using letters to threaten contractors and traders.

It was common in Bihar for criminals to use mobiles to issue threats or demand money from businessmen, traders, doctors, contractors and even legislators and members of parliament.

"Using mobile surveillance, police cracked many cases and arrested many criminals," said another officer.

Bihar's tech savvy police chief Abhyanand is known to employ innovative ways of policing and ordering officials to use mobile surveillance to check and control crime.

Police are probing several cases, including the murder case of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh from June last year, where the main accused has been found using letters to communicate with his men.

"After we arrested half a dozen suspects through mobile surveillance, the main accused stopped using mobiles," a police official said. Police are yet to arrest the accused Abhay Pandey and Nand Gopal Pandey.

Use of letters to issue threats was spreading among inmates in Patna, Gaya and Munger jails, said police.

They opted for the alternative after police, using voice spectrograph tests, found five inmates of Munger jail demanding extortion on phone.

Pakistani team learning success of polio drive in Bihar

Impressed with success of anti-polio campaign in Bihar, a four-member team from Pakistan is here on the invitation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take tips about the programme particularly in minority Muslim dominated areas.

On the start of five-day polio eradication drive in the state beginning today, the Pakistani team visited Samanpura in Raza Bazar area here to see for themselves the success of the programme among Muslim community.

Pro-Pak cyber vandals hack, deface Bihar tourism site

Unidentified cyber vandals hacked the official website of Bihar tourism, heaped abuse on Indians and posted the slogan, ‘Pakistan zindabad’. The hacking of website www.bihartourism.gov.in was discovered on Saturday. Official sources said it was
significant the hacking came so soon after the Hyderabad twin blasts on Thursday.

“A message posted by the hackers read: Indians beware, stop abusing us or else we will retaliate…,” said a senior police officer. “The server was located within seven minutes of detection of the defacement, around 1 pm”, he claimed.

Sources claimed the hackers had also posted images of Hyderabad blasts. But this could not be confirmed.

The state administration rushed into damage control mode by removing the abusive messages from the site. An official said the data logs indicated the postings originated from a private company based in Jaipur.

“The site was immediately blocked and postings were removed,” said a shocked Bihar tourism minister Sunil Kumar Pintu.

The national informatics center (NIC) and a Mumbai-based firm, which had designed the website, had been alerted and asked to take remedial action to avoid a recurrence of the incident, Pintu told.

News of the hacking went viral on the internet, with users venting their outrage over the attack by poating messages on Facebook and Twitter.

Bihar director general of police (DGP) Abhayanand confirmed the incident. “I have asked IG (economic offence unit) Praveen Vashista to conduct an inquiry into the episode”, he told HT.

Contacted Sunday afternoon, Vashista said he would initiate action as soon as the matter was referred to him.

Bihar village’s irony: Rising wages help fight hunger

Khedu Ram and hunger had long been friends. When he was young and needed more food to keep working, hunger wouldn't leave his side. Some 30 years ago Khedu and his wife had six to feed.

The choice was often between eating and feeding the children. No amount of work earned enough. Soon his wife died. But their four children lived. They lived to see a better time. "No one, not one soul, in this village is hungry any more," says Khedu, his deep-set eyes showing no emotion, at Chhapwa in East Champaran, Bihar.

Khedu is over 60 years old. He does not remember when he was born. Nor does his son Bhikhari. The boy and this writer used to be village pals. That was in the early 1980s. Khedu was a young man then, a much fuller frame moulded by hard physical toil. He looked 30.

"My wife hardly ever had a full meal in her short life," says Khedu, a member of the "Chamar" caste, who has spent his years well under the poverty line, however imaginatively you draw it. "I wish she were alive today. Between Bhikhari and I, we feed a family of 11 now."

Stove's Burning

Bhikhari Ram, whom the free village school along with free lunch could not educate, fathered nine children. Eight alive. His wife does some seasonal farm work. But she has little time to spare from childcare and cooking two and a half kilo of rice for lunch and two and a half kilo of atta for dinner. Where does all this grain come from?

Who is keeping Khedu's stove burning? "We have two red ration cards," says Khedu. "Between father and son, we get about 60 kg of rice and wheat a month." The rest they buy from the open market, he says. Has Khedu discovered prosperity at the sooty bottom of a rice pot? "For us, to be poor is to be hungry," he says, starkly. "Look at this sweater, this new towel."

Turn to Jung Bahadur Thakur, another life member of the below poverty line club. He is from the opposite extreme of the caste divide but is united with his Dalit villagefolk in a tight bond of chronic want. "I am almost 70 and I have seen real hunger in the past," says Thakur. "What you see today is heaven. Do you not notice all the new brick houses?"

There's Work

Thakur and Bhikhari point to MGNREGS, the rural job guarantee programme. Thakur's son has a job card but takes no part in the scheme. Bhikhari has not bothered to register. Both, however, say the scheme has helped change the labour market and, in turn, their lives. "The MGNREG scheme pays just over Rs 100 a day, after 'cuts'. But due to it, daily wages here are Rs 200," says Thakur.

"One can make Rs 5,000 a month right here in the village. That's a lot of food." Bhikhari, still in the prime of his work life, says there is much local work, even in the non-farming season. "There is a lot of construction work. And unlike in the past, wages are now paid promptly."

His baby brother Munna went to Punjab a decade ago. He died of a snakebite working the fields. "He did not want to go but he had no choice," says Bhikhari, his eyes impassive. Villages around here are indeed rebuilding. Thakur has a three-room pucca house, built last year. Khedu Ram has two brick-and-concrete rooms. Both owe in part to another rural scheme, the Indira Awas Yojana.

Telephone boom in Bihar most visible sign of economic growth

One of the most visible signs of economic growth of Bihar could be witnessed through boom in telecom sector as reflected from the fact that on an average every household have two mobile phones now.

According to Economic Survey 2012-13, which was tabled in the state Assembly by Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi last week, Bihar has 4.6 crore telephone connections in 38 districts of the state of which mobile phones had a share of over 98 per cent with private operators playing a big role.

Teledensity (number of telephone per 100 population) in urban areas of Bihar stood at 196.24 in 2012, which is more than the national average of 169.55, the survey report, quoting Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, said.

Only Kerala and Odisha were ahead of Bihar in urban teledensity.

But, the same is not reflected in rural areas where teledensity in Bihar in 2012 was 25.58 against 39.22 at the national level, the report said.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told PTI that mobile phone has become cheaper and handy for citizens. People wish to remain connected with each other nowadays hence mobile phone has become a necessity, he added.

Modi said there has been tremendous scope for telephone expansion in Bihar which has been surging ahead towards economic prosperity.

The craze for mobile phone could be understood from the fact that in rural areas where there is crisis of electricity, people rush to kiosks to charge their handset, the Bihar Deputy CM said, adding this process is creating income also.

The NDA government under Engineer Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been giving priority to use of IT in the field of sectors catering to needs of common people.

The state government has linked Right to Public Service (RTPS) with mobile information service.

Modi said that the state government with the help of bank has facilitated information regarding payment of taxes over mobile phone. Traders paying tax get information on mobile about it, he added.

State's Information Technology minister Shahid Ali Khan told PTI that all the 38 districts of state would be developed as 'e-districts' by 2014.

Data centre is being established for storing information.

The chief minister has been giving preference to use of IT in the field of governance.

Kumar writes a blog in his own name through which people gets regular information about redressal of their grievances by the government machinery.

Nalanda University gets library gift from Singapore

Singapore will design, build and donate a state-of-the-art library, estimated to cost US$5-7 million (S$6.2-8.7 million), to the upcoming Nalanda International University in Bihar.

This was revealed by Singapore's former foreign minister George Yeo.

Mr Yeo leads the international advisory panel for raising funds for the university. He said the board, led by Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, had approved Singapore's proposal. "People of Singapore are upbeat and keen on making their contribution to the university project," added Mr Yeo.

India's external affairs minister Salman Khurshid has also offered funds. He said a special provision of funds will be made in India's upcoming budget for the university.

Many countries, including Singapore, China, Thailand and Japan, have showed keen interest in helping the university that had existed till 1197 and at its heyday was once home to over 10,000 international students and scholars from Korea, China, Japan, Persia and Turkey. It was the centre of higher learning in Bihar then and had been supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors. The ruins of the university still remain on site and Professor Sen has urged for the site to be included in the UNESCO heritage list.

The project to rebuild this ancient university was an initiative of India's former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2006. According to the board's plans, the university will be built on a vast area of 446 acres in Rajgir, 10km from the site of the ancient Nalanda University located in south-east Patna.

Eight architectural companies, six from abroad and two Indian companies, have shown interest in designing the university and have already submitted their proposals to the board. The vice-chancellor of Nalanda University Dr Gopa Sabharwal said the short-listed firms would be called to make their presentation by April.

The new Nalanda International University will offer residency facilities to students and teachers, much like its predecessor, and offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with social sciences.

The university is set to begin academic activities from the 2013-14 session from rented premises with two subjects - historical studies and environment and ecological studies.

Prof Sen who is also the university's chancellor said: "There has been some delay but things will be back on schedule. The two faculties with which we will start the academic session are the School of Historical Studies and Archaeology and Environmental Studies and Ecology."

Jilted lover chops off girl's nose in Kishanganj district

A young girl's nose was chopped off by her jilted lover, who also made an unsuccessful attempt to rape her in Bihar's Kishanganj district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Sunday when the youth finding the girl alone in her house here tried to rape her.

The girl resisted him and the youth in a fit of rage chopped off her nose with a sharp weapon, the police said.

The youth, who was in a relationship with the girl, was opposed by her family.

He was arrested after the incident and a local court sent him to jail, while the girl is under treatment.

Her mother had filed a complaint with the police a month ago that the girl was being pressurised by a neighbour to marry the youth.

The police had arrested the neighbour but the youth kept harassing the girl, the police said.

Bans jeans, T-shirt for girls in Siwan

After three of its girls went missing, a village in Siwan district has barred girls from using mobile phones and wearing jeans and T-shirts, an official said Monday.

The villagers also imposed heavy fines on girls if they violated the diktat.

The ban was imposed Sunday by self-styled social reformers of Makhnupur village under Pachrukhi police station in Siwan district, 150 km from here.

The decision was taken after three girls - including two cousins - went missing last week. They are yet to be traced.

"A group of villagers issued an order to impose a fine of Rs.10,000 if a girl is found anymore using a mobile phone or wearing jeans and a T-shirt outside her house," a local police official said.

An 11-member committee has been formed to implement the ban.

Mobile phones, jeans and T-shirts are the cause of all evil in our society, including increasing love affairs and elopement," said Satyender Sharma, a villager.

In the last three months, nearly half a dozen village panchayats across the state have banned girls and women from using mobile phones and ordered them not to wear provocative clothes.

Bihari scientist settled in US offers his services in the state for developing Nano sciences

Professor RatneshwarLal , who hails from a remote village in Darbhanga district, currently at the university of CaliforniaSan Diego (UCSD) has earned abig name in Nano medicine. Lal is positive about state's potentials for developing Nano sciences. "During my brief stay in Bihar I got an opportunities to meet some of the bureaucrats. I am willing to share my experiences in Bihar if the government needs my services and expertise", Lal told.

Lal was in India week-long visit to deliver key note lectures at the 13th international conference of the Controlled Release Society (CRS) India Branch in Hyderabad and National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. While in Bihar he gave a public lecture at LN Mithila university, department of Physics. In Patna he made his presentation before a select group of academics and bureaucrats at the Aryabhatt knowledge university, Magadh Mahila College and NIT Patna. Lal is married to an US PhD scholar in Sociology Debby Sherman. He said that he is more willing to pay back to the society.

There are many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (with progressive memory loss as we grow older), Parkinson disease (muscle tremors), tuberculosis, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and some kinds of cancer are linked to defective arrangements of proteins" he added.

Talking about his latest research on nano medicine, he said : "When proteins are not properly arranged (the process commonly known as protein misfolding), they make structures that are usually toxic to cells and tissues in our body. Above mentioned diseases and many more diseases are linked to such protein misfolding".

According to Lal, misfolded proteins have disordered structures and often appear as clumps (commonly called plaques) in the pathological samples from diseased patients. All Alzheimer's patients' brain samples have such plaques. Interestingly, all different diseases have plaques but they are made of different proteins.

"Ratnakar leads a simple life at home and work and enjoys strong ethical standards. He does not miss to visit his relatives and friends whenever he visits India and abroad. For him achievements in professional life should not be at the cost of social bonding", recall his two social scientists friends Pramodanand Das and Rajeshwar Mishra .

Lal born in a small village, Balour in Darbhanga district did his early education in Balour, Patna and Muzaffarpur, graduating in BSc Physics (Hons) in 1976. He then moved to JNU in New Delhi for higher education.

He then moved to USA and received his PhD in 1987 in neurobiology from the university of Alabama. After postdoctoral training at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), he was a faculty member at the university of Chicago and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Before assuming his current position at University of California San Diego (UCSD), he was a professor and the director of the newly established Centre of Nanomedicine at the University of Chicago.

Bihar to focus on electronics equipment manufacturing

After success in food processing, the information technology (IT) and telecom hardware manufacturing has caught the eyes of Bihar government. The state has now decided to give special attention to this sector and plans to declare it as a "thrust area".

"We may have missed the BPO bus," said Naveen Verma, principal secretary of the Industries Department, "but we do not want to miss this opportunity. The central government has already announced, in its National Policy on Electronics, that use of locally made component will be encouraged. The policy makes the use of local component mandatory for electronics manufacturers. It is a huge opportunity for us as the policy offers fiscal incentives." The policy, which was introduced last year, aims to boost indigenous manufacturing of electronic goods, so that it can fill the gap between domestic demand and supply in electronics goods.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajpaksa arrives at Bodh Gaya

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa, accompanied by his wife Shiranthi Rajpaksa and a 70-member delegation, on Friday arrived at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya for pilgrimage.

Rajpaksa was received at the Gaya International Airport by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Education Minister PK Shahi and senior state government civil and police officials, official sources said. He was accorded a guard of honour by the state police.

From the airport, the cavalcade of the Sri Lankan President and members of his delegation drove straight to the Mahabodhi temple where they will perform religious rituals, the sources said.

Rajpaksa would meditate before a peepal tree where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment and visit the Sri Lankan Buddhist Vihar in the temple town. The Chief Minister will host a lunch for the Sri Lankan President and his delegation, the sources said.

Meanwhile, CPI(M-L) Liberation workers raised slogans against the Sri Lankan President from some distance as his cavalcade drove towards the Mahabodhi temple.

The protesters, who had mingled in the crowd that gathered to welcome the visiting dignitaries, shouted slogans like the 'Killer of Tamils go back'. Two of the protesters have been detained for questioning, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Law and Order), Rakesh Kumar Dube said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Bodh Gaya town in view of the Sri Lankan president's visit, police sources said.

Rapist gets death sentence within four days of trial at fast-track court

A rapist at Katihar has been sentenced to death within four days of being produced before a fast-track court. The accused had been charged with raping his 3-year-old niece. He had also allegedly strangled her to death.

Police provided the court with evidence within 24 hours of arresting the man, speeding up the process further. However, his lawyer says he will take up the matter to high court.

"We are going to appeal the decision in the high court because the sentence has been given based only on circumstantial evidence. There are no witnesses," defence lawyer, DK Jha said.

The accused raped his niece on January 24 and also threatened to kill her if she told anyone. Within four days of the hearing the district and sessions court judge sentenced the accused to be hanged on the basis of the evidence.

Agriculture to go hi-tech in Bihar

But now the Government has awakened to the occasion by putting its machinery in top gear to improve productivity of the land and also to tackle the problem of labour crisis in the farm sector effectively.

Numbers themselves speak volume of the State Government’s intentions as 6,338 tractors were given to farmers, several of them small and medium scale tillers during 2012-13, enjoying benefit of huge subsidy. The Government has fixed the target of distributing 9,000 tractors among farmers during 2013-14.

The State Government has made a special mention about the farm mechanisation in its ambitious Agriculture Road Map (2012-17) too, spelling out targets to be achieved during the period.

Since small and marginal farmers constitute a huge number in the State’s farm sector, farm mechanisation suitable for small holding agriculture will be promoted. Gender friendly farm machinery will also be encouraged to reduce the drudgery in agriculture, states Agriculture Road Map document.

President Pranav Mukherjee had launched the Agriculture Road Map during his visit to the State in October last year.

State Agriculture Director M Saravanan told The Pioneer that the State Government has taken the farm mechanisation in the right earnest for varieties of reasons including enhancing the productivity of the land.

The number of power tillers distributed among farmers during 2012-13 was 5387 while 136 combined harvesters, several of them already started operating in the paddy growing areas of Rohtas and other adjoining districts in the State. The State Government grants subsidy up to `3.5 lakh to farmers for the purchase of combined harvesters.

Earlier, combined harvesters used to come from places like Varanasi and even from far away places like Haryana but now the scenario in the agricultural fields is changing for better with a comprehensive farm mechanisation drive in the State.

Bartan boy' Subodh Gupta shines at India Art Fair

The shine of a large miror and the collective gleam of bright steel utensils arranged with an artistic purpose catch visitors eye at the ongoing India Art Fair here. And, by now, the artist behind the work is a familiar enough name.

Subodh Gupta, internationally renowned artist known for fashioning signature installation art out of mundane steel and kitchen utensils is presenting another iconic art bearing his trademark. There are three other works by him showcased at the four-day fair which opened to public viewing today after a special VIP preview yesterday.

Titled, "Mirror Stage", and carried by an Italian gallery has been priced at 275,000 euros. The exhibit made out of steel glasses, bowls and cutlery juxtaposed vertically over a flat mirror, and visitors were seen admiring their reflection in it.

Asked if he'd created it especially for the fair, the artist said he doesn't work just for the fair but this is just one aspect of his creative pursuits.

"I don't work just for a fair. I have other works on which I continuously work on and art fairs like these only display a part of my collective oeuvre which is much deeper than what people see here," Gupta told.

The 49-year-old artist who is known to produce large oil painting works has exhibited smaller canvases with incidentally a Victorian frame running around it.

Two smaller-scale oil paintings depicting a breakfast table with china and cutlery, a half-sipped tea in a cup, also adorn the wall at the Galleria Continua's space at the India Art Fair, being held at the NSIC complex here.

The 'Hungry God' famed artist said he's working to develop the work into a full series.

"Yes, I'm working on this idea, the glimpse of which I have shown here but I'm doing a series soon," Gupta told.

"Subodh works with oil has always been on large scale and his choice of the Victorian frame is very deliberate to give throwback to the classic painting that were framed that way. But, if you see his subject here, its trademark Gupta," said Ananjay Bhushan, a Patna-based gallery owner and a long-time associate of Gupta.

"While the installation is priced at 275,000 euros, the two oil paintings are euros 50,000 each," Mylene Ferrand from Galleria Continua said.

Subodh's other works are being displayed by the city-based Nature Morte gallery where two of his classic steel wonders, "Still Life" and "Family Portraits" are up for sale.

Eight architectural companies keen to design Nalanda University

Eight architectural companies, including six from abroad, have shown interest in designing the upcoming Nalanda University in Bihar, the vice chancellor said Friday.

"We are happy that eight companies, including two Indian companies, have submitted their proposals for a global competition to finalize the design for the university," Gopa Sabharwal said here.

She said the short-listed firms would be called to make their presentation either this month or next month.

The university is set to come up on 446 acres in Rajgir, 10 km from the site of the ancient university in Nalanda district, southeast of Patna.

The university will be fully residential, like the ancient Nalanda university. It will offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with social sciences.

The project took shape in 2006 at the initiative of then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

The ancient university at Nalanda was home to over 10,000 students and nearly 2,000 teachers.

It existed until 1197 and attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia (now Iran) and Turkey.

Bihar exceeds procurement of foodgrains target by Jan end

The Bihar government has exceeded the target set up for procurement of foodgrains from farmers by by purchasing 3.43 lakh tonnes of grains till January end.

The government had set a target to purchase 3 lakh tonne of grains during the period.

A total of 2.75 lakh tonnes of grains was procured by the government by January end in 2011-12 fiscal, state Food Minister Shyam Rajak said.

The Nitish Kumar government has set a target to procure 30 lakh tonne of foodgrains by April this year.

The process of purchase of produce from the farmers have picked up with the easing of winter when grains are not in good condition due to moisture.

"We will achieve the procurement target within time," Rajak said.

The official figures reveal that procurement by the end of January was maximum in Magadh region comprising Gaya, Jehanabad, Arwal, Nawada and Aurangabad with lifting of 68,928 tonne of grains against the target of 42,800 tonne.

The minister said as part of efforts to augment storage capacity for foodgrains the state government has sanctioned creation of 500 tonne capacity godown in all the blocks of the state.

A total of 423 godowns would be established across the state of which 300 have already been achieved, he said.

Rajak said the department was taking effective steps for strengthening distribution of subsidised foodgrains through 42,000 ration shops in the state.

To streamline the PDS functioning, the government has ordered observation of "Foodgrains diwas (day)" across the state during last three days of every month.

Though the Union government is providing ration to 65 lakh BPL and APL beneficiaries in Bihar, the state government is providing subsidised ration to 80 lakh more people from its own kitty as according to its count, on the basis of Saxena committee and Tendulkar committee, there are 1.45 crore eligible people for subsidised ration in the state.

New Actor from Bihar to Bollywood

Bihar has another star son waiting for the release of his debut Bollywood film. Akash, son of veteran Bhojpuri actor Kunal Singh, is playing the lead role in an action thriller, Bloody Isshq opposite Shilpa Anand and Tripta Parashar, which is scheduled to be released in February.

Akash's mother Arti Bhattacharya was a renowned actress and her father also played roles in a few films. But the 26-year-old Akash had to struggle to get a break in Bollywood. He had to wait for many years for the release of his debut film.

Despite this, Akash does not attach much significance to his identity as an actor from Bihar, saying only talent establishes an actor in the industry.

Sex worker elected twice as ward councillor in Muzaffarpur

A sex worker turned politician and was twice elected as the ward councillor of Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. Rani Begum has now put her past behind and is working towards a better future for people like her. "Initially, I faced difficulties working in the society. But gradually, when people saw my work they starting accepting me," Rani Begum said.

With determination and an unrelenting spirit, Rani Begum has exorcised her past ghosts, mostly following her marriage to a local resident. Begum, who also has two children from him, is now trying to improve the lives of others like her.

Rani Begum is grateful to her friends who funded her political plunge. Now she ensures that their voices and issues are heard. Rani today is the voice of more than 20,000 residents of the area, mostly sex workers or pimps. It's because of her initiative that slowly the lives of residents are also changing for good.

Rani Begum has started vocational programs for kids, especially the girl child so that they are not sucked into this profession. Though she lost the race of becoming the lady mayor of the city, she has certainly made a place for herself in the hearts of its people.

US-based linguist discovers a new dialect in Bihar

Mohammad Warsi, who teaches linguistics and Indian languages at the Washington University in St. Louis, said the main language for communication in Darbhanga, Madhubani, Samastipur, Begusarai and Muzaffarpur, is Maithili. But when Muslims speak among themselves, they speak a dialect that is different from Maithili, Hindi, and Urdu.

This dialect does not have its own script or literature, he said.

This might be the reason that this dialect went unnoticed to linguists so far, said Warsi, who is a recipient of James E. McLeod Faculty Recognition Award for 2012.

While doing a comparative study, Warsi said he found that this new dialect is completely different from Hindi, Urdu, and Maithli and their verb conjugation and sentence structure, is quite different from each other.

For example "We are going" would be rendered  "hum jaa rahain hain" in Hindi, "hum jaay  rahal chhii" in Maithli and "hum jaa rahain hain" in Urdu sentence. But in the new dialect it would be: "ham jaa rahaliya hae". Also, there is no agentive marker "-ne" in Mithilanchal Urdu.

Only one second person pronoun "tu" is used in the new dialect instead of "tu, tum and aap".

From these examples, it is clear that the verb conjugation in the new dialect is completely different from that of Hindi, Urdu, and Maithli, Warsi said.

Warsi, a native of Darbhanga district in Bihar has given the nomenclature of 'Mithilanchal Urdu' to this dialect.

"Language does not have any boundaries, nor is it dependent on any boundary," he said.

"Dialects are the contact languages of particular regions, and they have a deep impact on their cultural heritage," he said. "Slowly with time these dialects begin to take shape of languages."

The convergence of a dialect into a language is a symbol and pride of the people who speak it, Warsi said suggesting the inclusion of the new dialect in a recently initiated nationwide linguistic survey.

65-yr-old principal of Mahendra Das College in Gopalganj marries student

A 60-year-old college principal of Mahendra Das College in Gopalganj eloped and got married to his student, which has enraged the students of the college. The irked student unions staged protests outside the college and burned the effigy of the principal. They said that they want the dismissal of the principal.

The principal – Ramdular Das became close to intermediate student – Nibha, who was a studying in his college. He also promoted her as a professor before marrying her.

The principal eloped with the girl and married her in a temple in Gorakhpur on January 16, just to disappear again. The students and other faculty of the college came to know when they returned to the college on January 21.

Surprisingly, Ramdular Das says that, “Getting married at the age of 65 is not right”, adding that “I will continue with my saintly life as I was leading before.”

Nibha said, “I think our marriage was destined. I respected him a lot before we tied the knot and will continue respecting him.”

The incident has left the students and faculty of Mahendra Das College enraged and they say that it is simply unacceptable. The leader of the student union said, “We demand his ouster from our college. If needed, we will not refrain from going on strike.”

Bihar clings to a tenuous win

 There was a scare last October of a suspected polio-virus case in Bihar. To everyone’s relief, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed it to be negative. After a prolonged struggle, Bihar has managed to keep itself polio-free for two consecutive years.

After a sharp spike in the number of cases in 2007 to 503, from 61 in 2006, there was a marked decline. In 2008, 2009 and 2010, the number of cases was 233, 117 and 9 respectively. For 2011 and 2012, not a single case was found, as per official data.

“It was a very difficult fight,” said N.K. Sinha, State Immunisation Officer. “We used Arjuna’s strategy and focussed fully on polio.”

Two important factors that worked well for the polio campaigns were the involvement of women around 2006 and of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and Anganwadi workers.

“The idea behind getting women in the two-member immunisation teams was access to the house. Some Muslim pockets don’t allow male members. We began with two male-member teams, which later became one male-one female and finally only-women teams, barring in remote and sensitive areas,” he said.

Naxals abduct eight labourers in Bihar

Naxalites abducted eight persons engaged in a road bridge construction in a village in Bihar's Jamui district, police said today.

Superintendent of police of Jamui Upendra Sharma said that a group of Naxalites swooped on Badaldiah village and abducted eight labourers engaged in road bridge construction work late last night.

The labourers were working in a road bridge construction work on Nawada-Jamui road from, the SP said. District police team has rushed to the village to rescue the abducted persons.

Bihar government firm on 75 per cent school attendance

In state run schools in Bihar, students will now have to show up with at least 75 per cent attendance for claiming money meant for procuring cycle, dress and that of scholarship.

The Nitish Kumar led NDA government has been providing cycles , dress and even books to school children, a move which encouraged the parents to send their wards to school. Such an incentive policy for doling out direct cash subsidy to the beneficiaries was widely appreciated and even emulated by other states.

But in a new move, the incentives ranging from cycle to dress and books will be admissible to only those students whose attendance will not be less than 75 per cent.

"It will be a mandatory prescription. We found from a survey that 85 per cent teachers are present in schools. But we will also have to make sure that enrolled students also went to schools. The presence of enrolled children was less" the chief minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna.

The state government has also launched an campaign for doling out cash subsidy for cycle , dress and even scholarship amount. The government hopes to disburse nearly Rs 2800 crore by this month end by way of incentives to students . But this time the government has enforced a rider of 75 per cent school attendance for availing the incentives, a decision which has not gone done well with a section of guardians.

Marine training institute proposed in Bihar

A marine training institution has sought 15 acres land from the state government to open a centre in Patna.

"We have sought 15 acres from Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority for opening a centre here in a bid to make Bihar a supplier of seafarers in the country as well as abroad," founder director of Pentagon Maritime Training and Research Institute Nalin B Pandey told reporters.

The group owns two marine companies – Pentagon Shipping and Logistics in Singapore and Pentagon Marine Service in Mumbai. Pandey said the company would invest Rs 10 crore for starting the institute, which would begin functioning within an year of getting the land from the state government.

The aim, he said, was to open employment opportunity for youths of the state in the field of marine. There were roughly 30,000 people in the country joining the marine sector at present out of which about 7,000 are from Bihar.

By opening the training centre here, the institute would cater to the students of neighbouring  Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Odisha, besides Bihar itself, he said. Pandey said the institute would offer three courses - Marine Engineering, Nautical Science and general purpose rating at low cost. While the first course would be of four years, the second of 3 years and the last for a year.

The courses would cost between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. Experts in marine engineering from Italy, Canada and Singapore in addition to those from within the country would be invited to conduct classes for the students. Campus recruitment would also be organised by inviting leading marine companies of the country, he added.

Bihar School Examination Board decides to declare ISc results before IA, ICom results

Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has decided to declare ISc results on a priority basis and before the IA and ICom results, now onwards.

The BSEB move comes in the wake of the new pattern of JEE for admission to NITs and other engineering colleges under which 40% weightage is to be determined by the ISc marks of the candidates. JEE (Mains) this year is scheduled for April 7. "We have decided to prioritize the ISc results so that engineering aspirants among our students do not suffer," BSEB secretary Lalan Jha told.

More than nine lakh students across the state would take the Bihar board's Intermediate exams this year scheduled to commence from February 18. Another 14 lakh students will take the Bihar board's Class X exams which will start on March 12. All the results will be declared by May-end, said Jha.

The board has also decided to make admit cards of Class X and XII examinees available on its website www.biharboard.net though a hard copy of the same will also be sent to the examinees. The admit cards will be available online almost 10 days before the commencement of the exams. "A printout of the same signed by the headmaster concerned will be a valid document," Jha said and added the facility would be of help in case of non-receipt of admit cards due to different reasons.

Tele-counselling sessions will also be organized for Class X examinees in the first week of February. Experts from Patna will address the queries and doubts of students pertaining to any portion of any subject, Jha said.

Asked if the BSEB has decided to make changes in the pattern of +2 exams in view of the new JEE pattern, Jha said the board was in talks with COBSE ( Council of Boards of School Education) to implement a new pattern that would be uniform across the country. "But the +2 examinations this year will be held on the old pattern," he said.

IIM-AHMEDABAD helps Bihar attract tourists

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has reached out to Modi-land for tourism development. He is getting tips from students of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on developing and selling Bihar tourism.

Six students of post-graduate programme in Agri-business Management have worked on a project to improve the tourist inflow to Bihar. The students identified the problems in infrastructure, developed websites with attractive package deals and offered solutions in developing the eco-tourism in the state.

"We studied all aspects related to tourism including agriculture, industry and communication among other things to suggest an appropriate solution. We also identified the roles that could be played by a facilitatore”be it the government, private companies or associations," said Shashwat Siddhant, one of the students, who developed the project as part of their Rural Immersion Programme.

The students suggested developing two districts which have the potential to attract eco-tourists”Madhubani, which is home to Madhubani paintings, and Bhagalpur, which is famous for home made khadi and silk. The reports have been submitted to the respective district magistrates in Bihar.

The students studied three important aspects pertaining to Madhubani ” its paintings, Khadi and tourism-and conducted interviews with painters, weavers and others to develop a website on Madhubani paintings. The students, in collaboration with NABARD, are helping the tourism department set up e-kiosks at Madhubani railway station to provide information on the art and its availability.

The students also identified the religious importance of the districts in Bihar as mentioned in Ramayana and Buddhism. "Bihar is significant from the religious point of view. So we have also explored the angle of religious tourism as well," said Siddhant.

Bihar farmers better than scientists: Nobel laureate Joseph E Stiglitz

Nobel laureate Joseph E Stiglitz is impressed by the organic farming practices in Bihar's Nalanda district, terming its practitioners "better than scientists" and calling for their experiences to be researched so that these can be replicated elsewhere. "Indian farmers are better than scientists," Stiglitz said here after visiting organic farmers in Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

"It was amazing to see their success in organic farming. Agriculture scientists from across the world should visit their farm land to learn and be inspired by them," said Stiglitz, a professor of economics at the prestigious Columbia University and here to deliver the Asian Development Research Foundation Lecture 2013.

"There is a need to take the experiences of these farmers seriously and go for research to give a scientific approach to adopt it outside," he added. According to Chanchal Kumar, a senior government official who accompanied Stiglitz, the economist minutely inquired about the techniques. He said that Stiglitz also told farmers that the increasing trend of organic farming is good for the health too.

Bihar is turning its attention to popularising and promoting organic farming in the state to usher in a new "Green Revolution" in agriculture. The Nitish Kumar government has already decided to promote organic farming in at least one village of the state's 37 districts. It launched an "organic farming promotion programme" over a year ago, intended to develop organic grams (organic villages).

A sum of Rs 255 crore (nearly 50 million USD) has been sanctioned for development of organic farming, said an official of the agriculture department. The new techniques however did not have many takers in the beginning. "Initially the farmers were reluctant to adopt organic farming despite the state government providing free seeds, fertiliser and experts to guide them. But now more farmers have expressed interest in adopting the method of farming," said a district official in Nalanda.

Last year, a young farmer of Darveshpura village in Nalanda set what is claimed to be a world record in potato production through organic farming. Earlier, farmers of the same village created a world record by producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare. Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said that he wants to have one or two agriculture products from the state on the plate of every Indian in the coming years.

"Several steps, including promotion of modern techniques of farming, organic farming and use of improved seeds, have been taken in the last two-three years, but it is still a long way to go in developing the agriculture sector," said the agriculture department official.

Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar's economy, employing 81 per cent of workforce and generating nearly 42 per cent of the state's domestic product, according to the state government.

Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar unhappy with ad hocism in state varsities

Expressing their concern over the sluggish growth of higher education in Bihar, the academics have urged the powers that be not to carry forward some of the crude legacies of yesteryears if they really want to revitalize the system of higher education.

The year that has just passed witnessed some serious controversies over the appointment of VCs and the ad hocism prevailing in the universities. The universities were made to run in blatant violation of the provisions of the Act and statutes owing to serious differences between the two constitutional authorities, the state government and the chancellor, said Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar (Futab) working president Kanhaiya Bahadur Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh.

The state education department also did not lag behind in destabilizing the system by ignoring the orders of the court resulting in over 3,000 writs and contempt cases. The education department is yet to set a benchmark for itself as the bureaucrats have failed to decide what actually are their duties and responsibilities in shaping the higher education system, the two leaders said.

Appointment of teachers, rationalization of posts, resolution of the perennial problems of designated demonstrators, non-payment of salaries to the fourth phase constituent college teachers, implementation of recent Supreme Court directions with respect to the teachers absorbed over three decades back, and denial of second promotion to a large number of teachers despite a national consensus on granting at least two promotions in the entire career are some of the issues which must be resolved without any further delay, they said.

They further said that the government has failed to come out with a concrete policy on delinking of intermediate teaching from degree colleges, opening of model colleges and accommodation of a large number of inter pass outs into the higher education stream.

Semester system is being introduced without revamping of the examination sections of the universities, which find themselves unable to cope up with the present workload. In some universities, honours papers are being examined at obscure places by unqualified persons, they alleged. The leaders demanded revival of the Bihar State Inter University Board which can serve as a policy framing body as well as an advisory council to the state government and the chancellor. The academic policies must emerge from some academic body, they added