Bihar does not meet special state status criteria said Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Bihar does not meet the existing criteria to be granted the status of special category state, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday.

"Bihar does not meet the existing criteria according to which a state is deemed eligible for special category state. We do recognise that Bihar and some parts do have a special problem and as part of BGRF (Backward Regions Grant Fund) we have Bihar package," Ahluwalia told reporters.

He was briefing the media on the eve of National Development Council meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last week said he would raise the demand for special status state for Bihar at the National Development Council meeting.

Special category status brings private investment in a state as investors get tax benefits.

Kumar had also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and handed over a six-page letter on the demand to provide special category state status to Bihar to spur growth.

Bihar demands the special category state status saying it is subject to floods. Likewise, Rajasthan demands the same saying it is subject to draught.

Ahluwalia said the Planning Commission cannot see to such demands by states in isolation.

"Either we have to reopen the whole question or respond (to) the demand of one state. Many states have problem," he said.

Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkin, Tripura and Uttarakhand are amongst the states that have been granted special category status.

Angry mob blinds 2 criminals in Bihar

Days after villagers in Bihar’s Araria district foiled a notorious criminal’s political ambitions by voting against his wife in a panchayat bypoll, they displayed savagery in blinding the criminal and his cousin by pouring acid in their eyes.

The blinding of Munna Thakur and Kanhaiya Thakur, struggling at a hospital, has revived painful memories of the Bhagalpur blinding case and the rule of law in Bihar’s villages.

Three of the 17 people named in the FIR were arrested and police were looking for the rest and the other 10 unnamed villagers who committed the ghastly act at Hingna village in Paramanandpur panchayat under Raniganj police station.

Araria’s acting SP Manoj Kumar said a probe was on after an FIR was lodged under Section 307 of the IPC and raids were being conducted to arrest the culprits. Acid from batteries of solar lamps was used to blind the two men, who police said were terrorising villagers after Munna’s wife Indu Kumari lost in the bypoll.

Thakur, a criminal known in the area for cases of bank dacoity and road robbery, had blamed the villagers for the defeat.
While criminals and men facing criminal cases often make their wives contest polls and ensure their victory through the fear factor, villagers of Paramanandpur were pra-ised after the December 20 panchayat bypoll for setting a notable exception.

A tale of two Patnas: One in Bihar, another in Scotland

It is a tale of two cities sharing the same name but separated by thousands of miles from one another. Patna, the state capital of Bihar, has a namesake in the faraway Scotland which owes its name to the eastern Indian city.

A young minister in the Nitish Kumar government is now trying to establish the links between the two places through cultural exchanges in view of their historic links.

Rural Development Minister Nitish Mishra, who has just returned from a ten-day trip to Great Britain, said that he was trying to forge cultural ties between the two Patnas located in different parts of the world.

Mishra, who had gone to Britain on an invitation of the British High Commission earlier this month, said that very few people in India were aware of the fact that a place called Patna existed even in Scotland.

"I came to know that a village called Patna was founded in East Ayrshire in Scotland way back in 1802 by William Fullarton whose father was an employee of the East India Company," he said.

Mishra stated that Fullarton was born in Patna and he decided to name a village in his native Scotland after his birthplace in 1802. "I subsequently came to know that there was a lot of curiosity among the people of Scottish Patna about the Indian Patna because of their common name," he said. "That is why I decided to explore the possibility of connecting the two Patnas through tourism and cultural exchanges."

Mishra, who is the son of three-term Bihar Chief Minister Dr Jaganath Mishra, said that he got a chance to do something in this regard during his recent visit to Scotland. "I discussed the idea of having cultural exchanges between the two Patnas with the Scottish Minister for External Affairs and International Development Hamza Yousaf among other things," he said. "We discussed the possibility of bringing delegations of people from one place to another.  I found the response quite encouraging from his side in this regard."

The Bihar minister, who has been a Chevening scholar, said that he also mooted this idea with the Indian tourism officials in London. He said that he could not visit the Scottish Patna because of his hectic schedule but he had been told that many of its residents were keen on visiting Patna in Bihar.

The British-educated Mishra, who had studied global political economy at the University of Hull in England prior to joining politics in Bihar, said that cultural exchanges would enable the people from the two Patnas to get to know each other and explore the two places."

Unlike the Bihar capital which has a population of more than 20 lakh people at present, the Scottish Patna is said to be a quiet place, about 650 km north of London, with a population of only 3,500. Located between the Carrick and Kyle districts in the East Ayrshire, it is famous for its river Doon which flows through the village.

In 2008, Mishra had been voted as the Pepsi-MTV Youth Icon of the Year for his "exemplary" work during the Kosi flood relief and rescue operations in Bihar. He was the Disaster Management minister then.

Kalam asks Nitish to establish mobile science Labs in Bihar villages

Dwelling on importance of developing scientific outlook among youngsters, former President APJ Abdul Kalam on Monday suggested to the Bihar government to set up mobile science laboratories in villages and science laboratory in every district.

"The value of science has to be propagated to people at large and they should be made to realize the role played by science in their day to day life. Youngsters should be motivated to enquire into science," he said in his inaugural speech at Mega Science Fair here.

Kalam emphasised on establishing science museums and laboratories across the country to remove fear against science from the minds of the children.

Kalam, popularly known as 'Missile Man', referred to his special relationship with Bihar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who was the chief guest.

"I am very close to Bihar, particularly I have worked with Nitish Kumarji when he was minister of railways and later as Chief Minister of Bihar for the last seven years. He is working for development and bringing peace and prosperity for all the citizens of Bihar," he said.

He said the presence of chief minister was indeed an important message to all the people of rural villages of Bihar that education, particularly science education would reach the unreached.

Non-governmental bodies 'Agastya International Foundation' and 'Viksit Bharat Foundation' have successfully operated a mobile science Lab during April-July 2010.

Nitish Kumar in his address said science helped fight superstition. He appealed to children to give topmost priority to science in their studies.

Cold wave sweeps Bihar, rail and air services affected

Bihar is in the grip of cold wave-like situation with the minimum temperature plummeting sharply with foggy weather conditions disrupting rail and air services.

Meteorological office Director A K Sen said there has been sharp decline in the day temperatures over the past three-four days which has set in chilly weather condition throughout Bihar.

The condition will persist over the next couple of days with chilly winds sweeping through the plain regions of the state, he said.

Chapra remained the coldest place in Bihar with a minimum temperature of 6.2 degree celsius, while Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur recorded minimum temperature at 7.7, 6.7 and 9.1 degree celsius this morning, the Met office said.

A thick fog enveloped large parts of the state disrupting rail and air services with a number of trains, including the Delhi-Patna Rajdhani Express running late by several hours, Railways sources said.

Landing and take off of commercial flights at Patna airport were affected due to poor visibility, airport director Arvind Dube said.

The state government has made arrangements for bonfires at public places like bus stands, street corners and night shelters, Disaster Management Minister Renu Kumari said.

It has sanctioned Rs 28 lakh for bonfires and related arrangements for the poor people, she said.

The big districts have been given Rs two lakh each and the smaller districts Rs 50,000 each, she said.

All schools in Patna district have been closed down till January one next due to the cold conditions.

East Champaran becoming hub of flower trade

 With farmers shifting to flower cultivation in a big way, East Champaran, from where Mahatama Gandhi tested the potential of satyagraha against British rule, is fast emerging as a hub of the flower trade.

According to an estimate the flower trade in the district, about 100 km from the state capital, is valued at Rs five crore annually at present.

More than 500 farmers, big and small, have left cultivation of paddy and sugarcane and shifted to cultivation of flowers.

Vast tracts of land in Motihari, Madhuban, Pakridayal and Chakia blocks could be seen blossoming with flowers. Rajnigandha, Lilly and Chandramauli are the popular varieties of flowers grown here.

Lalbabu Chaurasia, owner of Ravi flowers centre and who is in the trade for last 32 years, told that over 500 farmers of the district have shifted to flower cultivation and are reaping rich commercial gain.

Since the district is on border with Nepal, sending the flowers to international markets through Nepal earns a handsome profit. Besides, flowers in bulk are sent to West Bengal, he said.

With flower trade gaining popularity, more than 25 shops selling flowers have come up in the heart of Motihari town which is popularly known as “Phool gaon” (flowers village).

Chaurasia said earlier the flower trade was marginal with some in neighbouring districts of Muzaffarpur, Sheohar and Gorakhpur.

“But, the trade has picked up in last 3-4 years making it a profitable business for hundreds of farmers,” another farmer Sanjay Pandey said.

Shivendra Kumar, another farmer, said with the trade becoming profitable workers from neighbouring West Bengal were also flocking here to ean Rs 10,000-12,000 per month.

District Horticulture Officer Dharamvir Panday said the government was promoting cultivation of flowers by giving almost 90 per cent subsidy on cultivation of gladius.

The government has set up poly houses at four places in the district to train farmers in floriculture, he added.

Farmers are shifting to flower cultivation in East Champaran where Mahatama Gandhi tested the potential of satyagraha, emerging as hub of flower trade

Six pilgrims killed in mishap in Bihar

Gopalganj: Six pilgrims on way to take a holy dip on the occasion of Kartik Purnima were killed while another was injured in a mishap between a jeep and a tractor trolley in Bihar's Gopalganj district.

The mishap took place when the jeep carrying a group of pilgrims to Gandak River collided head-on with a tractor trolley.

The six pilgrims were killed on the spot and efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the victims.