BCECEB declares Bihar Polytechnic Entrance Exam 2009 result

The Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board (BCECEB) has declared the results for Bihar Polytechnic Entrance Exam 2009 (Second stage).

The Bihar Polytechnic Entrance Exam 2009 (Second stage) result is available at following link: results

The BCECEB has been constituted by the Government of Bihar to conduct Combined Competitive Entrance Examinations (BCECE) for admission in Graduate level Vocational Courses in Engineering, Medical and Agricultural streams available in the Universities, Colleges and Institutions of the State of Bihar as well as those situated outside Bihar against State Quota seats.

Over 500,000 pray to ancestors in Gaya

Over 500,000 Hindu devotees have come to Bihar’s Gaya town to perform the ‘pinda daan’ ritual for ancestors, officials said Thursday.

“Till date more than five lakh devotees have performed the pinda daan. It was more than what we expected in view of the drought in several states across India,” an official of the Gaya district administration told.

The district authorities said they had estimated that 400,000 devotees would come to Gaya to perform pinda daan during pitrupaksh, a fortnight-long ancestor worship period. But the numbers of devotees have crossed 50,000 already.

“Two days are still to go to offer pinda daan during the pitrupaksh period,” an official said.

Special facilities as well as tight security arrangements have been made for the devotees.

Magadh Commissioner Sanjeev Sinha said: “This time gathering of devotees was more than last year, it was a positive sign”.

Pinda daan was also offered for the king of pop Michael Jackson in Gaya by Suresh Narayan, even though he never met the singer.

“On Sunday I offered pinda daan for the salvation of Michael Jackson as a tribute to him,” said Narayan.

Hindus believe offering pinda daan ensures salvation for the souls of their ancestors.

“The soul keeps wandering till this ritual is performed by male descendants of the dead,” Murari Lal, a priest said.

Pinda daan is traditionally offered by Hindus, but historical records available with priests show that some Muslims also performed the ritual in the past.link

Higher interest rates on PF savings of teachers and staff of minority schools

Depositing provident fund of teachers and non-teaching staff of government-aided secondary schools in PPF accounts, instead of savings accounts, has been made mandatory.

This decision of the Bihar government on Wednesday will ensure higher interest rates on PF savings of teachers and staff of minority schools. The state cabinet also approved over Rs 27 crore as grant for the government-aided minority schools.

The tenure of the Bhagalpur riots commission has been extended till February 25, 2010. It was constituted on February 26, 2006 to probe the cases related to the infamous 1989 riots which had not been pursued by the previous regime. The state cabinet also extended the tenure of the judicial commission probing the police firing at Kahalgaon in January 2008.

Administrative approval has been given for construction of bridges over the Bagmati river at Belsand in Sitamarhi district and another bridge over the same river in Sheohar district. The estimated cost of the two bridges is about Rs 100 crore.

The cabinet also approved funds for preparing a feasibility report and detailed project report for four-laning Gaya-Rajgir-Nalanda NH 82 and Patna-Jehanabad-Gaya-Bodh Gaya NH 83. It also sanctioned over Rs 7.24 crore for DPR for the Bihar State Highway Project I and II.

In another important decision, the cabinet increased the annual income cap for entitlement to free legal aid from the Legal Aid Authority from Rs 25,000 per year to Rs 50,000 per year. It also sanctioned Rs 10 crore as establishment cost for IGIMS-Sheikhpura and allotted funds for the state farmers commission. link

Mithila masters

Painters Satyanarayan Lal Karn and Moti Karn — a husband-wife duo— are some of the few Mithila artists who stringently follow the 5000-year-old tradition of the dying art form. Gathering international acclaim for their work, they are National awardees with a passion for their art. Their work will be on display at the Jamaat Art Gallery from September 15 to October 7.

“We use natural elements to make our art. But we never buy flowers or pluck them; instead we pick them when they fall naturally. We grind these flowers, making natural paint that lasts a life time,” says Satyanarayan, who now teaches at Bal Bhavan in Delhi.

Moti adds, “We are against commercialising our art. That’s why we don’t use brushes or synthetic paint. We use thin broom sticks. Some Mithila painters are using sketch-pens and ink-pens to make quick money. We do not mind if filling in details takes us a month,” she says.

Mithila art, originated in Bihar and the themes painted are religious, social and nature. The work is intricate and usually passed down from mother to daughter.

Moti got trained in the art when she was 8 and realised she didn’t want to study. Her mother Karpudi Devi, an artist of repute, dissuaded her at first. “My mother is well known and had displayed her art in Japan. Eventually she allowed me to paint,” says Moti who has not stopped her son from painting though he prefers graphic designing.

Satyanarayan struggled to learn too. “Mithila art is woman dominated, so I secretly watched my mother, Jagdambad who has won a Padmashree. She realised I was keen to learn and disciplined me. At 10, I charged Rs 5,000 for my first painting. I overcharged because I didn’t want to sell, but when they still bought it I was pleased,” he recalls.

It’s been a long journey for the two. “It’s difficult because in India there’s a trend of Modern and Contemporary art, but traditional art is not given enough importance. It hurts when only Westerners promote and write about our art,” says Satyanarayan.

Struggle has its rewards too. Besides this solo exhibition and patronage from the Gandhi family, their dream to open an institute for Mithila painting in their village in Bihar is coming true. “Only when they live away from the city, will the next generation of painters realise what Mithila art is about,” they add.link

Five killed, seven injured in cylinder blast

Five members of a family, including two women, were today killed and seven others injured when a cooking gas cylinder exploded in a house in Bihar's Khagaria district.

The LPG cylinder exploded at the time of cooking in the house of Pappu Bhagat, head of Bandehra village, killing three persons on the spot, sources said.

Other two died of injuries on way to hospital here, the police said.

The dead persons included two women identified as Shyampyari Devi and Puja Devi.

The injured were admitted to a government hospital here where condition of two was stated to be critical, they said.link

Lalu calls Nitish bad omen

Desperate to revive his fortunes with the Assembly by-elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad has called the Nitish Kumar government jinxed for Bihar. In his election meetings, Lalu has been saying that the state has witnessed natural calamities like floods and drought for two consecutive years because the Nitish government was inauspicious. "Did Bihar witness any such drought or flood during the 15 years of RJD rule?" he asks the crowds at villages where he goes for campaigning.

Stoking up superstitious beliefs of rural people, Lalu even blames the chief minister for the scanty rainfall this monsoon season. Poor rains resulted in drought which, in turn, has caused prices of essential commodities to soar.

And, according to Lalu, this is all because Nitish committed the sin of eating biscuits during the total solar eclipse at Taregna near Patna on July 22. "He kept on munching biscuits during the solar eclipse. This made Lord Indra (the rain God) angry, leaving the state to face one of the worst droughts," Lalu told the crowd at Waris Nagar in Samastipur earlier this week. In his attempt to regain foothold among the electorate, Lalu links Nitish's "inauspicious" act with spiraling prices. "Dal (pulses) has disappeared from the plates of the poor. Aloo (potato) is being sold at Rs 16 a kg. Was aloo ever so costly during the days of Lalu?" he asked the people at one place.

But Lalu's reasoning seems to have fallen flat. Laughing off his jibes, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders say Bihar has been experiencing enough rains ever since the RJD chief started blaming Nitish for the drought.

"He has lost his support on the ground. It seems nobody likes him even up there," said a senior JD-U leader, pointing skywards.

Nitish has taken Lalu head-on in the rough and tumble of electioneering. He counters Lalu's attempts to stoke up superstitious fears with logic.

"My elder brother (Lalu) has been claiming that Bihar is facing drought because I ate biscuits during the solar eclipse. But then, why are other states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh facing drought? The CMs of those states didn't have any biscuits during the eclipse?" he asks voters.

Nitish says Lalu has been "uttering irresponsible things" because he has lost the trust of people. The CM claims he is seeking votes in the name of development alone.

Bypolls are being held for 18 constituencies in Bihar in two phases on September 10 and September 15. The counting of votes will take place on September 17.

The bypolls were necessitated because of the resignation of MLAs, who either changed party or were elected to the Lok Sabha.

The bypolls are a litmus test for Lalu, who has tied up with Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party again after the Lok Sabha polls. He, however, failed to stitch up a pre-poll alliance with the Congress despite his best efforts.

The Congress has fielded candidates on all the 18 seats, making Lalu's task more daunting. A multi-cornered contest may help the JD-U. Perhaps that's why Lalu is desperate to discredit the CM.link

Baby born with intestine outside stomach in Bihar

A baby girl was born at a nursing home here with her intestine protruding from the stomach, making it the second case of congenital anomaly in the state in less than two weeks when a child was born with his heart outside the chest.

The baby girl is now at the Patna Medical College Hospital and the hospital plans to either perform a corrective surgery in the PMCH or take her to AIIMS in New Delhi, where the boy with ectopia cordis (heart outside the chest) was successfully operated upon.

"The central abdominal defect has caused protrusion of small intestine outside her abdomen which is covered by membranes. Since the membrane is tough, there is no need for an urgent surgery," paediatric surgeon T P Gupta, attending on the baby, told.link