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.

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.

Five arrested after lizard found in mid-day meal

Five people, including the headmaster and two teachers, were arrested in Bihar's Nalanda district after a lizard was found in the mid-day meals served to school children, officials said Friday. In the last three weeks various such cases have been reported in the state.

Bihar's Human Resource Development Minister Hari Narain Singh said that the headmaster and two teachers of a middle school in Basniawa under Harnaut block have been arrested after a lizard was found in the mid-day meal. They were also suspended on charge of negligence of duty.

More than 25 students of the school fell ill soon after eating the mid-day meal Wednesday.

It was not the first such case in Bihar.

In the last three weeks, a lizard was found in the mid-day meal in at least three schools and insects were also found in mid-day meals in different schools in half a dozen districts.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has admitted that there were shortcomings in the mid-day meals scheme being implemented in more than 80,000 schools of the state.

During an all-party meeting over the issue Thursday Nitish Kumar said that he had asked the human resource department to study the scheme's implementation in other states.

Bihar is spending more than Rs.2,000 crore on the scheme.

The mid-day meal scheme is one of the world's largest nutrition-supplement programmes, covering more than a million schools across India. Under it, students in government-run schools are given free lunch. It was launched in July 1995 to tackle the twin problems of dropouts in primary schools and malnutrition among children from poor families.

A latest CAG report said that there was 'absence' of internal controls and 'regular' monitoring in implementation of mid-day meal scheme in Bihar during the year 2007-200.

'There has been complete absence of internal controls, regular monitoring and evaluation of the mid-day meal scheme for children during 2007-08', the report said.link

Stupa found in Bihar 'could be world's second largest'

A huge Buddhist stupa has been discovered in Bihar's Nalanda district and archaeologists on Monday said it could be the second largest such structure in the world.

A team from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) located the brick stupa at Ghorakatora, about 100 km from here.

"The latest stupa discovered at Ghorakatora is unique as it is second in size only to the Kesaria stupa in East Champaran district. The Kesaria stupa is regarded as the largest Buddhist stupa in the world," said Sujit Nayan, an archaeologist in charge of the team that made the discovery.

Nayan said the structure was built of random rubble dry stone masonry. The material the stupa is made of had been used to fortify an area of 32 km near the mountain of Rajgir.

The stupa is around 20 to 25 feet high and its circumference is 70 to 75 sq. feet.

"More excavacation is needed to make a final assessment of the stupa," Nayan added.

According to archaeologists, the find is likely to throw more light on the ancient Nalanda University. The ancient seat of learning is said to have been founded in 5th century AD.

Well-known Chinese scholar Hieun Tsang stayed in Nalanda in the 7th century and left detailed description of the education system and monastic life practised at the university.link