A railway bridge collapsed in Kharpokhra in Bihar, disrupting railway services.
The bridge collapsed because of strong current of water in the Gandak river over which the bridge was constructed. All the trains plying on the bridge have either been cancelled or diverted.
"Mainly passenger trains used to ply on this bridge but now with the collapse of this bridge, some trains will be cancelled and some will be diverted to other routes," said Deepak Vishwas, Divisional Rail Manager (DRM).
The workers are toiling hard to mend the damage. However, for the time being the passengers are left stranded.
"We reached here with great difficulty, paid 60 rupees for 60 kilometres. We have to go to Gorakhpur for getting some medicines. The train service is disrupted here. There are no trains, how will we go?," asked Anand, a passenger.
Heavy rains led to a strong current in Gandak river and also the release of water from Nepal added to the flow, which caused the bridge to collapse under the heavy pressure of water.link
Friday 3 July 2009
Primary education for all is becoming reality in Bihar
Bihar has shown the way. The enrolment in government schools has gone up in the state while more and more students are opting for private schools in the rest of the country.
The enrolment in government schools has gone up from 72.2 per cent in 2005 to 83.6 per cent in 2008. Not only that.
Eighteen lakh school dropouts (in the 6-14 age group) of a total of 25 lakh in 2005 have been brought back to school till date.
The project director of the Bihar Education Project Council, Rajesh Bhushan, attributed this to the 'School Chale Hum' programme under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SAA) launched by the Nitish Kumar government.
Taking note of Bihar's success story, the Centre has increased Bihar's budgetary allocation for SAA, earmarking Rs 4,299 crore for the year 2009-10. Uttar Pradesh on the other hand had been allocated Rs 3,800 for the same purpose, Mr. Bhushan said.
According to ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) 2008, which carried out a survey at 997 villages of 35 districts on three basic parameters -- school enrolment, reading skill and arithmetic skills, Mr. Bhushan said that the proportion of out-of-school girls in the state had also dropped from 20.1 per cent in 2005 to 2.92 per cent in 2009.
BEPC sources said that the maximum number of children who have returned to schools were Muslims. In March 2008, the Muslim child population in the state in the age group of 6-14 was nearly 33.06 lakh and of them only 2.83 lakh were now out of school.
With more than two crore children in the age group of 6-14 enrolled in schools, it became imperative to strengthen the primary education infrastructure across the state, Mr. Bhushan said.
He said that the SAA succeeded in Bihar due to a number of innovative measures undertaken by the BEPC to make primary education student friendly.
Under the scheme, 15,000 new school buildings were constructed and 1,20,451 additional class rooms were added to schools till March, 2009, the sources said.
He said that schemes such as 'Bal Sansad' (child parliament), Meena Manch (girls club) Hunar (vocational training for muslim girls), Uthan kendra, Talimi Markaz, Martial arts for girls, English is fun and computer-aided learning were launched.
The 'Bal Sansad' or child parliament is a unique feature of the scheme under which parliament members motivate other children in their neighbourhoods to join the schools, Bushan said.
Similarly, at Uthan kendras out-of-school mahadalit children were given bridge courses to enable them to enter formal primary schools at class five level.
The Talimi Markaz was launched for Muslim students at 224 centres and Hunar is aimed at imparting vocational training to Muslim girls.
Over 13,768 minority girls are benefiting through vocational skill development training in 298 centres across the state in jute production, bakery and confectionary, certificate course in health of rural women, early childhood care and techonology, cutting, tailoring and dress making and beauty culture.
Mr. Bhushan said the state had fixed 2010 as the deadline for providing quality primary education to all children in the age group of 6-14.link
The enrolment in government schools has gone up from 72.2 per cent in 2005 to 83.6 per cent in 2008. Not only that.
Eighteen lakh school dropouts (in the 6-14 age group) of a total of 25 lakh in 2005 have been brought back to school till date.
The project director of the Bihar Education Project Council, Rajesh Bhushan, attributed this to the 'School Chale Hum' programme under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SAA) launched by the Nitish Kumar government.
Taking note of Bihar's success story, the Centre has increased Bihar's budgetary allocation for SAA, earmarking Rs 4,299 crore for the year 2009-10. Uttar Pradesh on the other hand had been allocated Rs 3,800 for the same purpose, Mr. Bhushan said.
According to ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) 2008, which carried out a survey at 997 villages of 35 districts on three basic parameters -- school enrolment, reading skill and arithmetic skills, Mr. Bhushan said that the proportion of out-of-school girls in the state had also dropped from 20.1 per cent in 2005 to 2.92 per cent in 2009.
BEPC sources said that the maximum number of children who have returned to schools were Muslims. In March 2008, the Muslim child population in the state in the age group of 6-14 was nearly 33.06 lakh and of them only 2.83 lakh were now out of school.
With more than two crore children in the age group of 6-14 enrolled in schools, it became imperative to strengthen the primary education infrastructure across the state, Mr. Bhushan said.
He said that the SAA succeeded in Bihar due to a number of innovative measures undertaken by the BEPC to make primary education student friendly.
Under the scheme, 15,000 new school buildings were constructed and 1,20,451 additional class rooms were added to schools till March, 2009, the sources said.
He said that schemes such as 'Bal Sansad' (child parliament), Meena Manch (girls club) Hunar (vocational training for muslim girls), Uthan kendra, Talimi Markaz, Martial arts for girls, English is fun and computer-aided learning were launched.
The 'Bal Sansad' or child parliament is a unique feature of the scheme under which parliament members motivate other children in their neighbourhoods to join the schools, Bushan said.
Similarly, at Uthan kendras out-of-school mahadalit children were given bridge courses to enable them to enter formal primary schools at class five level.
The Talimi Markaz was launched for Muslim students at 224 centres and Hunar is aimed at imparting vocational training to Muslim girls.
Over 13,768 minority girls are benefiting through vocational skill development training in 298 centres across the state in jute production, bakery and confectionary, certificate course in health of rural women, early childhood care and techonology, cutting, tailoring and dress making and beauty culture.
Mr. Bhushan said the state had fixed 2010 as the deadline for providing quality primary education to all children in the age group of 6-14.link
Major rivers in spate in Bihar
Major rivers in north Bihar, especially the Kosi, Gandak, Budhi and Bagmati, are in spate following heavy rains in their catchment areas and are posing a threat of floods, officials said Friday.
With heavy rainfall recorded in the catchments areas in neighbouring Nepal, the water levels of these rivers have been rising to dangerous levels for the last two days.
"The Bagmati has crossed the danger mark at some points and the water level in Gandak also increased following water discharge into the river from Nepal," said an official of the central water commission.
In view of the spate in major rivers, the state government has alerted the administrations of flood prone Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Araria, Purnia, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Sitamarhi districts.
Official sources said engineers of the water resource department have been directed to keep a vigil on the vulnerable embankments.
According to reports reaching here, an embankment on the Bagmati river in Aurai block was breached, resulting in inundation of several villages Thursday.
The fear of a repeat of last year's devastating floods is haunting thousands of people in the region from where Kosi flows following a record water discharge into the river from Nepal.
However, Bihar Water Resources Development Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said the Kosi embankment was safe and there was no need to panic.
He stressed that the eastern Kosi embankment, which was breached Aug 18 last year, flooding five districts of northern Bihar, was totally safe.
Last year, more than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course Aug 18. Large tracts of land were flooded, forcing people to flee their homes.
Thousands of people were affected in the floods that were said to be the worst in Bihar in the last 50 years. People were forced to live along roads under the open sky without food and drinking water or in relief camps set up by the state government. link
With heavy rainfall recorded in the catchments areas in neighbouring Nepal, the water levels of these rivers have been rising to dangerous levels for the last two days.
"The Bagmati has crossed the danger mark at some points and the water level in Gandak also increased following water discharge into the river from Nepal," said an official of the central water commission.
In view of the spate in major rivers, the state government has alerted the administrations of flood prone Madhepura, Supaul, Saharsa, Araria, Purnia, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Sitamarhi districts.
Official sources said engineers of the water resource department have been directed to keep a vigil on the vulnerable embankments.
According to reports reaching here, an embankment on the Bagmati river in Aurai block was breached, resulting in inundation of several villages Thursday.
The fear of a repeat of last year's devastating floods is haunting thousands of people in the region from where Kosi flows following a record water discharge into the river from Nepal.
However, Bihar Water Resources Development Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said the Kosi embankment was safe and there was no need to panic.
He stressed that the eastern Kosi embankment, which was breached Aug 18 last year, flooding five districts of northern Bihar, was totally safe.
Last year, more than three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course Aug 18. Large tracts of land were flooded, forcing people to flee their homes.
Thousands of people were affected in the floods that were said to be the worst in Bihar in the last 50 years. People were forced to live along roads under the open sky without food and drinking water or in relief camps set up by the state government. link
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Bihar to host IRC meet in Nov
Bihar would host the 70th annual session of the Indian Road Congress (IRC) from November 14-17. Around 2,000 top engineers from across the country would congregate in Patna to take part in the four-day session being held in the state after a gap of 17 years.
The state government has sanctioned Rs 2.42 crore for organizing the annual show which comprises several technical sessions during which experts would present their papers on different aspects of road and bridge constructions.
Bihar engineers, too, have been asked to submit their research papers in the session and entries are likely to come in a month.
Debates would also be organized in which participants would raise questions on different topics and experts from the respective fields would answer them.
Set up in 1934 with the objective of developing roads in the country, the IRC is a premier technical body of highway engineers in the country.
The activities of the IRC has expanded over the years and it has now grown into a multi-dimensional organisation. It provides a national forum for sharing of knowledge and pooling of experience on the entire range of subjects dealing with construction and maintenance of roads and bridges, including research, planning and technology.
IRC also proposes standard specifications for road and bridge constructions which are followed by agencies across the country.
"The annual session in Patna would offer a great opportunity to Bihar engineers as they can share quality time with technical experts from across the nation," local organizing secretary of the IRC's 70th annual session Babban Ram told.
He said that the state would use the session to share its experiences in road and bridge constructions with experts from outside. Besides, it would also solicit their suggestions to further improve its performance on this front.
The state would also urge the experts to visit few sites facing problems and suggestions would be solicited from them for finding a long-lasting solution.
"Gandhi Setu is one of the prospective sites to which experts would be urged to pay a visit as the problems in this important bridge is a big issue in the state," Ram said and added that experts' advice on this important bridge would be of immense help in improving its condition.link
The state government has sanctioned Rs 2.42 crore for organizing the annual show which comprises several technical sessions during which experts would present their papers on different aspects of road and bridge constructions.
Bihar engineers, too, have been asked to submit their research papers in the session and entries are likely to come in a month.
Debates would also be organized in which participants would raise questions on different topics and experts from the respective fields would answer them.
Set up in 1934 with the objective of developing roads in the country, the IRC is a premier technical body of highway engineers in the country.
The activities of the IRC has expanded over the years and it has now grown into a multi-dimensional organisation. It provides a national forum for sharing of knowledge and pooling of experience on the entire range of subjects dealing with construction and maintenance of roads and bridges, including research, planning and technology.
IRC also proposes standard specifications for road and bridge constructions which are followed by agencies across the country.
"The annual session in Patna would offer a great opportunity to Bihar engineers as they can share quality time with technical experts from across the nation," local organizing secretary of the IRC's 70th annual session Babban Ram told.
He said that the state would use the session to share its experiences in road and bridge constructions with experts from outside. Besides, it would also solicit their suggestions to further improve its performance on this front.
The state would also urge the experts to visit few sites facing problems and suggestions would be solicited from them for finding a long-lasting solution.
"Gandhi Setu is one of the prospective sites to which experts would be urged to pay a visit as the problems in this important bridge is a big issue in the state," Ram said and added that experts' advice on this important bridge would be of immense help in improving its condition.link
16 sent to jail in fodder scam case
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in the Jharkhand capital Wednesday awarded four to seven years of rigorous imprisonment to 16 convicts in the multi-million rupee fodder scam in Bihar’s animal husbandry department.
Special CBI judge Pankaj Kumar also slapped fines between Rs.50,000 and Rs.500,000 on the convicts in the case regarding fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.110.9 million (Rs.11.09 crore) from the Doranda treasury of Ranchi in the early 1990s.
The CBI court had Tuesday convicted 48 accused for withdrawing the amount by producing fake bills and nine convicts were awarded three-year imprisonment.
Remaining convicts would be sentenced Thursday.
Sixty-one cases were lodged by the CBI in relation to the fodder scam, which surfaced in 1996. Of them, 53 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar in November 2000.
According to CBI sources, government officials swindled more than Rs.9.5 billion in the name of fodder with help of fake suppliers and politicians.
Till now, special CBI courts have pronounced their judgements in 30 cases and more than 230 accused have been convicted.
Former railways minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra were accused in five fodder scam cases.link
Special CBI judge Pankaj Kumar also slapped fines between Rs.50,000 and Rs.500,000 on the convicts in the case regarding fraudulent withdrawal of Rs.110.9 million (Rs.11.09 crore) from the Doranda treasury of Ranchi in the early 1990s.
The CBI court had Tuesday convicted 48 accused for withdrawing the amount by producing fake bills and nine convicts were awarded three-year imprisonment.
Remaining convicts would be sentenced Thursday.
Sixty-one cases were lodged by the CBI in relation to the fodder scam, which surfaced in 1996. Of them, 53 were transferred to Jharkhand after it was carved out of Bihar in November 2000.
According to CBI sources, government officials swindled more than Rs.9.5 billion in the name of fodder with help of fake suppliers and politicians.
Till now, special CBI courts have pronounced their judgements in 30 cases and more than 230 accused have been convicted.
Former railways minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra were accused in five fodder scam cases.link
Even I can succeed Advani, says Shatrughan Sinha
With raging dissent in BJP coming out in the open, a senior party MP felt all is not well within the party where some leaders have been divulging to the media matters transpiring inside party fora.
Film star-turned-MP, Shatrughan Sinha said there were some leaders whose dreams have been shattered after the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls and they were leaking matters raised at the party fora to the media.
"Leakage of matters raised inside the party reflects that all is not well within the organisation," the MP from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar told reporters.
On who will succeed L K Advani, who is at present leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sinha said, "It can be anyone. May be even me. But Advani is not leaving. He is acceptable to all workers and will be leading the party."
Sinha said points raised by senior party leaders Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Jaswant Singh should be given due importance.
"They have been with BJP since its inception and hence the party leadership should seriously deliberate on the points raised by them," he said.
The three leaders had attacked the party leadership for not taking responsibility for BJP's debacle and opened the can of worms by airing their views in the media while analysing the defeat.link
Film star-turned-MP, Shatrughan Sinha said there were some leaders whose dreams have been shattered after the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls and they were leaking matters raised at the party fora to the media.
"Leakage of matters raised inside the party reflects that all is not well within the organisation," the MP from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar told reporters.
On who will succeed L K Advani, who is at present leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sinha said, "It can be anyone. May be even me. But Advani is not leaving. He is acceptable to all workers and will be leading the party."
Sinha said points raised by senior party leaders Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and Jaswant Singh should be given due importance.
"They have been with BJP since its inception and hence the party leadership should seriously deliberate on the points raised by them," he said.
The three leaders had attacked the party leadership for not taking responsibility for BJP's debacle and opened the can of worms by airing their views in the media while analysing the defeat.link
Monday 29 June 2009
Konwar sworn in as Bihar governor
Former Assam minister Debananda Konwar was on Monday sworn in as the governor of Bihar. Patna High Court's acting Chief Justice Shiva Kirti Singh administered the oath of office and secrecy to Konwar at a simple function at Rajbhavan's Darbar Hall. Konwar, 63, whose appointment as the state governor was notified by the Rashtrapati Bhavan on June 24, succeeds R L Bhatia whose tenure ended last week.
A four-time MLA and a former finance minister in the Tarun Gogoi-led ministry of Assam, Konwar took oath in Hindi. Chief minister Nitish Kumar, Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudahry, Legislative Council acting chairman Arun Kumar, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, several ministers and top bureaucrats attended the swearing-in ceremony. Several relatives and friends of Konwar had also arrived from Assam for the occasion. Some Congress leaders were also present to greet him.
Later, the new governor and his wife joined Nitish and other dignitaries for high tea. Nitish said the appointment of Konwar was a good sign for better relations between Assam and Bihar. "The governor is now a Bihari and he will certainly be of great help in maintaining cordial relations between the two states," he said wishing Konwar success.
A four-time MLA and a former finance minister in the Tarun Gogoi-led ministry of Assam, Konwar took oath in Hindi. Chief minister Nitish Kumar, Assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudahry, Legislative Council acting chairman Arun Kumar, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, several ministers and top bureaucrats attended the swearing-in ceremony. Several relatives and friends of Konwar had also arrived from Assam for the occasion. Some Congress leaders were also present to greet him.
Later, the new governor and his wife joined Nitish and other dignitaries for high tea. Nitish said the appointment of Konwar was a good sign for better relations between Assam and Bihar. "The governor is now a Bihari and he will certainly be of great help in maintaining cordial relations between the two states," he said wishing Konwar success.
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