RJD leader Lalu Prasad today said the Centre's decision to ban Maoists was not a solution and called for an all-party meeting to discuss threadbare the measures to be taken to end the problem.
"Banning the Maoists is neither a solution nor treatment. It is a delicate issue which cannot be resolved with application of force," Prasad told a press conference.
It would be better if a permanent solution to the problem was found and for it the Centre should call an all-party meeting to discuss how to resolve the vexed issue, he said.
Noting that the root of the problem was in poverty and non-development, Prasad said the representatives of the misguided Maoist rebels should be invited for a dialogue to end the problem.
Due to the ban the ultras might float a new group and become more intense in their acts of violence to press for their cause, he said.
"The ban is being considered to be an eyewash keeping in mind the Maoists laying siege to Lalgarh in West Bengal. It is a step taken in haste," the former Railway minister said. "The issue needs to be politically and cautiously solved," he said.
He said it was "unfortunate" that Naxalites had expanded their area of operation in Bihar after the NDA came to power.
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Thursday 18 June 2009
Bihar cop in league of top mathematicians
An ADG-rank IPS officer of Bihar Amrik Singh Nimbran has joined the select league of world's top mathematicians with his new formulae for computing the value of `pi' having been uploaded on http://www.machination.eclipse.co.uk.
The website is jointly edited by well-known maths wizards Michael Roby Wetherfield of the UK and Prof Hwang Chien-lih of National Taiwan University, Taipei.
A collection of identities for computing the value of `pi', discovered by Nimbran during 2007-08, were sent to the two mathematicians on June 1, 2009. Four of these made their way to the website on June 7, 2009. In a subsequent e-mail to Nimbran, Wetherfield acknowledged that "stimulated by your (Nimbran's) results, I generated new identities myself within a week".
Nimbran came up with two more formulae this month. These two too Wetherfield and Chien-lih uploaded on their website. "I am surprised by your super ability about finding new excellent identities!" Chien-lih wrote to Nimbran in a congratulatory mail.
`Pi' is a mysterious number that denotes the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In general parlance, its value is taken as 22/7 which is just an approximation. Mathematicians across the world have been fascinated by this number and research has been going on to find a better approximation. Therefore, any formula which gives a better value of the `pi' in the shortest possible time is welcome in the mathematical world.
The Bihar cop has been engaged in mathematical research actively for over a decade and some of his research papers have been published in reputed journals brought out by Bihar Mathematical Society, Indian Mathematical Society and National Council of Educational Research and Training. His papers were also sent to the journals of London Mathematical Society and Fib Quarterly of The Fibonacci Association (USA) which commented favourably on the works of Nimbran.
A BA with economics and maths as optionals, Nimbran was the first non-mathematician to give an elementary proof of Fermat's last theorem for a cube in which he had proved that no integral cube number can be broken into two integral cube numbers. Prof K C Prasad of Ranchi University and Prof Emeritus Tej Narain Sinha of Bhagalpur University, who are regarded as the authority on Tarry-Escott problem (on numbers), expressed surprise on seeing Nimbran's proof.
"I was inspired by reading the works of great Indian mathematician S Ramanujan," Nimbran told TOI. He said he evaluates the value of `pi' through different approaches using Inverse Tangent Function which was first used by John Machin in 1706 and has since been used till date to find the value of `pi'.
"Now there are only three leading authorities on `pi' in the world --Wetherfield, Lih and Jorg Arndt of Australian National University," Nimbran said. He was modest enough not to include his name in the league.
The website is jointly edited by well-known maths wizards Michael Roby Wetherfield of the UK and Prof Hwang Chien-lih of National Taiwan University, Taipei.
A collection of identities for computing the value of `pi', discovered by Nimbran during 2007-08, were sent to the two mathematicians on June 1, 2009. Four of these made their way to the website on June 7, 2009. In a subsequent e-mail to Nimbran, Wetherfield acknowledged that "stimulated by your (Nimbran's) results, I generated new identities myself within a week".
Nimbran came up with two more formulae this month. These two too Wetherfield and Chien-lih uploaded on their website. "I am surprised by your super ability about finding new excellent identities!" Chien-lih wrote to Nimbran in a congratulatory mail.
`Pi' is a mysterious number that denotes the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In general parlance, its value is taken as 22/7 which is just an approximation. Mathematicians across the world have been fascinated by this number and research has been going on to find a better approximation. Therefore, any formula which gives a better value of the `pi' in the shortest possible time is welcome in the mathematical world.
The Bihar cop has been engaged in mathematical research actively for over a decade and some of his research papers have been published in reputed journals brought out by Bihar Mathematical Society, Indian Mathematical Society and National Council of Educational Research and Training. His papers were also sent to the journals of London Mathematical Society and Fib Quarterly of The Fibonacci Association (USA) which commented favourably on the works of Nimbran.
A BA with economics and maths as optionals, Nimbran was the first non-mathematician to give an elementary proof of Fermat's last theorem for a cube in which he had proved that no integral cube number can be broken into two integral cube numbers. Prof K C Prasad of Ranchi University and Prof Emeritus Tej Narain Sinha of Bhagalpur University, who are regarded as the authority on Tarry-Escott problem (on numbers), expressed surprise on seeing Nimbran's proof.
"I was inspired by reading the works of great Indian mathematician S Ramanujan," Nimbran told TOI. He said he evaluates the value of `pi' through different approaches using Inverse Tangent Function which was first used by John Machin in 1706 and has since been used till date to find the value of `pi'.
"Now there are only three leading authorities on `pi' in the world --Wetherfield, Lih and Jorg Arndt of Australian National University," Nimbran said. He was modest enough not to include his name in the league.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
5 Lakh more Bihar kids 'school chale'
"Roke se na ruke hum, suraj sa chamke hum, school chale hum..." Remember the melodious jingle composed for the government of India's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)? The `School Chale Hum' programme under the SSA has turned out to be one of the most successful endeavours in Bihar with nearly five lakh out-of-school children being brought back to schools under it during the last two years.
In fact, the efforts of Bihar government under the SSA programme, which aims to bring quality elementary education to millions of children, have yielded positive results. Not only has the state been allocated the highest budget, but it has also sent back a record number of children to classrooms.
The success of the programme has now created a need for strengthening the secondary education infrastructure across the country.
As HRD principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said, "Bihar's allocation under SSA for the current year is even more than UP, which is about Rs 4,300 crore. The state made optimum utilisation of its allocation last year also and the results are not far to seek. We have already sent back a record number of kids between the age group of 6 and 14 back to school."
At present, out-of-school children in the age-group of 6-14 years has come down to 3 per cent in 2009 from 13.1 per cent in 2005.
Programme officer Ravi Shankar Singh of Bihar Education Project (BEP), which is the state implementing agency of SSA, said, "Out of the approved budget, 60 per cent is sanctioned by the Central government, while the rest 40 per cent is shared by the state government. Now approximately 6 lakh (5,22,586) children are out of school, while over five lakh children have been sent back to classrooms."
Similarly, the proportion of out-of-school girls in the state has also dropped from 20.1 per cent in 2005 to 2.92 per cent in 2009, added BEP sources.
What lends further credence to the efforts of the state is that the maximum number of children who have started going back to school are Muslims and SCs. In March 2008, the Muslim child population in Bihar in the age group 6-14 was 33.06 lakh and of them only 2.83 lakh were out of school. The number of out-of-school Muslim children now stands at 1.52 lakh, while 1.57 lakh SC students are yet to attend school.
HRD official also said, "It is indeed one of the most successful flagship programmes. Given the background, in early 2000, when educational infrastructure had almost collapsed and fund utilisation was minimum, the SSA proved its worth. One lakh clasrooms and 2.14 lakh teachers are now visible in the state."
SSA, apart from being a programme with clear time frame for elementary education, also offers opportunities to states to develop their own vision of elementary education. It has set 2010 as the deadline for providing useful and relevant elementary education to all children in the 6 to 14 age group.link
In fact, the efforts of Bihar government under the SSA programme, which aims to bring quality elementary education to millions of children, have yielded positive results. Not only has the state been allocated the highest budget, but it has also sent back a record number of children to classrooms.
The success of the programme has now created a need for strengthening the secondary education infrastructure across the country.
As HRD principal secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said, "Bihar's allocation under SSA for the current year is even more than UP, which is about Rs 4,300 crore. The state made optimum utilisation of its allocation last year also and the results are not far to seek. We have already sent back a record number of kids between the age group of 6 and 14 back to school."
At present, out-of-school children in the age-group of 6-14 years has come down to 3 per cent in 2009 from 13.1 per cent in 2005.
Programme officer Ravi Shankar Singh of Bihar Education Project (BEP), which is the state implementing agency of SSA, said, "Out of the approved budget, 60 per cent is sanctioned by the Central government, while the rest 40 per cent is shared by the state government. Now approximately 6 lakh (5,22,586) children are out of school, while over five lakh children have been sent back to classrooms."
Similarly, the proportion of out-of-school girls in the state has also dropped from 20.1 per cent in 2005 to 2.92 per cent in 2009, added BEP sources.
What lends further credence to the efforts of the state is that the maximum number of children who have started going back to school are Muslims and SCs. In March 2008, the Muslim child population in Bihar in the age group 6-14 was 33.06 lakh and of them only 2.83 lakh were out of school. The number of out-of-school Muslim children now stands at 1.52 lakh, while 1.57 lakh SC students are yet to attend school.
HRD official also said, "It is indeed one of the most successful flagship programmes. Given the background, in early 2000, when educational infrastructure had almost collapsed and fund utilisation was minimum, the SSA proved its worth. One lakh clasrooms and 2.14 lakh teachers are now visible in the state."
SSA, apart from being a programme with clear time frame for elementary education, also offers opportunities to states to develop their own vision of elementary education. It has set 2010 as the deadline for providing useful and relevant elementary education to all children in the 6 to 14 age group.link
Sunday 14 June 2009
Rise in atrocities on women in Bihar
Notwithstanding the Bihar NDA government's initiatives towards women's empowerment, the year 2008 witnessed an increase in incidents of atrocities on women related to abduction, murder for dowry, molestation, eve-teasing and rape.
According to the figures compiled by the state police headquarters here, 6,186 cases of atrocities against women were registered across Bihar in 2008.
Out of these, 1041 incidents related to rape, 1494 kidnapping, 1233 murder for dowry, 2230 atrocities perpetrated for dowry, and 188 of eve-teasing and molestation.
A comparative study of the figures available suggested that there were rise in incidents in 2008 compared to the correponding period previous year.
While a total of 1012 cases were registered for kidnap of women in 2007, the number went up to 1494 in 2008.
Similarly, there was marginal increase in number of incidents related to dowry death from 1226 in 2007 to 1233 in 2008, the figures revealed.
In 2007, there were 1493 cases of atrocities perpetrated for dowry, but the figure rose to 2230 in 2008.
Cases relating to eve-teasing and molestation shot up to 188 during 2008, 20 more than those recorded between January and December the previous year.
There were 5017 incidents related to kidnapping of women in the past five years.
Out of these cases, 756 occurred in 2004, 756 in 2005, 662 in 2006, 1012 in 2007 and 1494 in 2008.
The NDA led by Nitish Kumar came to power in Bihar in November 2005 after the Rabri Devi regime.
After it stormed to power, the chief minister initiated a number of measures for ensuring women's empowerment, the first being reserving 50 per cent of the posts for them in the panchayati raj institutions and local bodies.
Though women were a benefitted because of this initiative, the rise in incidents of atrocities against them remained an area of concern for the state. link
According to the figures compiled by the state police headquarters here, 6,186 cases of atrocities against women were registered across Bihar in 2008.
Out of these, 1041 incidents related to rape, 1494 kidnapping, 1233 murder for dowry, 2230 atrocities perpetrated for dowry, and 188 of eve-teasing and molestation.
A comparative study of the figures available suggested that there were rise in incidents in 2008 compared to the correponding period previous year.
While a total of 1012 cases were registered for kidnap of women in 2007, the number went up to 1494 in 2008.
Similarly, there was marginal increase in number of incidents related to dowry death from 1226 in 2007 to 1233 in 2008, the figures revealed.
In 2007, there were 1493 cases of atrocities perpetrated for dowry, but the figure rose to 2230 in 2008.
Cases relating to eve-teasing and molestation shot up to 188 during 2008, 20 more than those recorded between January and December the previous year.
There were 5017 incidents related to kidnapping of women in the past five years.
Out of these cases, 756 occurred in 2004, 756 in 2005, 662 in 2006, 1012 in 2007 and 1494 in 2008.
The NDA led by Nitish Kumar came to power in Bihar in November 2005 after the Rabri Devi regime.
After it stormed to power, the chief minister initiated a number of measures for ensuring women's empowerment, the first being reserving 50 per cent of the posts for them in the panchayati raj institutions and local bodies.
Though women were a benefitted because of this initiative, the rise in incidents of atrocities against them remained an area of concern for the state. link
Saturday 13 June 2009
Bihar police intensify efforts to nab murder-accused JD-U leader
Bihar police have set up a special team to nab Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Vijay Krishna and his son Chanakya, prime accused in the abduction and murder of a Patna businessman whose decomposed body was found floating in the Ganges river two days ago.
Satyendra Kumar Singh, 50, was abducted in the last week of May. His decomposed body was found floating in the river on Thursday.
Mr. Krishna, a former MP, and his son are absconding.
"Police are doing everything to arrest them and raids are continuing," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police R. Mallar Vizhi said on Saturday, adding the police team could even go outside the state to arrest the two.
Singh's wife Laxmi Devi and daughter Sweety have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the killing.
A police officer, requesting anonymity, said the property of Mr. Krishna and Mr. Chanakya would be attached if they continue to evade arrest or fail to surrender.
A local court issued orders to attach the property on Friday.
The Patna civil court on Tuesday refused anticipatory bail to Mr. Krishna and his son after hearing their petition. The court also directed the police to submit the diary of the case within the next 15 days.
Mr. Krishna filed an anticipatory bail petition on Monday claiming that he was being falsely implicated.
Singh's family has alleged that the delay in arresting the accused was due to political "pressure" as the two were considered close to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.link
Wednesday 10 June 2009
VDPV case worries Bihar Health officials
After Dibrugarh district of Assam where type one Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (VDPV) was confirmed, another case of VDPV type two was reported from Bihar's East Champaran district, the first of its kind reported in India, State Polio Office sources confirmed on Wednesday.
Though the two cases are not related to each other, VDPVs are very rare but well-documented strains of poliovirus.
VDPVs are strains of the virus contained in the oral polio vaccine which have changed and reverted to a form that can cause paralysis in humans with the capacity for sustained circulation. These cases are very rare and occur in persons with immuno-deficiency or in areas with low population immunity, sources said.
East Champaran's Surveillance Medical Officer Dr Sushil Kumar Sinha disclosed that Rajiv Mallick, a two year-old boy of Baghi Bakhtaura village in the district, was not administered the doses of routine immunisation (RI) oral polio vaccine (OPV) which contains attenuated strains of all the three types of polio viruses (P1, P2, P3) to save children from polio caused by any of these three viruses.
Mallick, however, was administered polio vaccine during pulse polio rounds, through which immunisation from P1 and P3 types of polio viruses is done.
Dr Sinha said it appeared that the VDPV 2 virus infected Mallick after its mutation in the environment from the stool of someone who had been administered OPV during RI.link
Though the two cases are not related to each other, VDPVs are very rare but well-documented strains of poliovirus.
VDPVs are strains of the virus contained in the oral polio vaccine which have changed and reverted to a form that can cause paralysis in humans with the capacity for sustained circulation. These cases are very rare and occur in persons with immuno-deficiency or in areas with low population immunity, sources said.
East Champaran's Surveillance Medical Officer Dr Sushil Kumar Sinha disclosed that Rajiv Mallick, a two year-old boy of Baghi Bakhtaura village in the district, was not administered the doses of routine immunisation (RI) oral polio vaccine (OPV) which contains attenuated strains of all the three types of polio viruses (P1, P2, P3) to save children from polio caused by any of these three viruses.
Mallick, however, was administered polio vaccine during pulse polio rounds, through which immunisation from P1 and P3 types of polio viruses is done.
Dr Sinha said it appeared that the VDPV 2 virus infected Mallick after its mutation in the environment from the stool of someone who had been administered OPV during RI.link
Maoist diktat in Bihar: Send kids to school
Marking a departure, Maoist guerrillas in Bihar have issued a new and unique diktat — they have ordered poor villagers in Vaishali district to send their children to school.
In a novel move to spread education among the marginalised sections of society, Maoists in Vaishali, about 40km from here, have asked the poor to educate their children instead of making them work. “Maoists also warned them not to engage children in farm or other work and send them to schools,” a villager in Patepur block said.
Patepur is one of the over half a dozen blocks in the district that has been issued diktat by Maoist guerrillas. The other blocks include Mahnar, Jandaha, Mahua, Lalganj and Hajipur. Maoists have pasted posters in several villages in which they have threatened to punish villagers if they failed to send their children to school. The latest Maoist diktat has surprised even district officials. “It is a positive move if Maoist rebels are really keen to force poor parents to send their children to school,” a district official said.link
In a novel move to spread education among the marginalised sections of society, Maoists in Vaishali, about 40km from here, have asked the poor to educate their children instead of making them work. “Maoists also warned them not to engage children in farm or other work and send them to schools,” a villager in Patepur block said.
Patepur is one of the over half a dozen blocks in the district that has been issued diktat by Maoist guerrillas. The other blocks include Mahnar, Jandaha, Mahua, Lalganj and Hajipur. Maoists have pasted posters in several villages in which they have threatened to punish villagers if they failed to send their children to school. The latest Maoist diktat has surprised even district officials. “It is a positive move if Maoist rebels are really keen to force poor parents to send their children to school,” a district official said.link
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