Bihar government firm on 75 per cent school attendance

In state run schools in Bihar, students will now have to show up with at least 75 per cent attendance for claiming money meant for procuring cycle, dress and that of scholarship.

The Nitish Kumar led NDA government has been providing cycles , dress and even books to school children, a move which encouraged the parents to send their wards to school. Such an incentive policy for doling out direct cash subsidy to the beneficiaries was widely appreciated and even emulated by other states.

But in a new move, the incentives ranging from cycle to dress and books will be admissible to only those students whose attendance will not be less than 75 per cent.

"It will be a mandatory prescription. We found from a survey that 85 per cent teachers are present in schools. But we will also have to make sure that enrolled students also went to schools. The presence of enrolled children was less" the chief minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna.

The state government has also launched an campaign for doling out cash subsidy for cycle , dress and even scholarship amount. The government hopes to disburse nearly Rs 2800 crore by this month end by way of incentives to students . But this time the government has enforced a rider of 75 per cent school attendance for availing the incentives, a decision which has not gone done well with a section of guardians.

Marine training institute proposed in Bihar

A marine training institution has sought 15 acres land from the state government to open a centre in Patna.

"We have sought 15 acres from Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority for opening a centre here in a bid to make Bihar a supplier of seafarers in the country as well as abroad," founder director of Pentagon Maritime Training and Research Institute Nalin B Pandey told reporters.

The group owns two marine companies – Pentagon Shipping and Logistics in Singapore and Pentagon Marine Service in Mumbai. Pandey said the company would invest Rs 10 crore for starting the institute, which would begin functioning within an year of getting the land from the state government.

The aim, he said, was to open employment opportunity for youths of the state in the field of marine. There were roughly 30,000 people in the country joining the marine sector at present out of which about 7,000 are from Bihar.

By opening the training centre here, the institute would cater to the students of neighbouring  Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Odisha, besides Bihar itself, he said. Pandey said the institute would offer three courses - Marine Engineering, Nautical Science and general purpose rating at low cost. While the first course would be of four years, the second of 3 years and the last for a year.

The courses would cost between Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. Experts in marine engineering from Italy, Canada and Singapore in addition to those from within the country would be invited to conduct classes for the students. Campus recruitment would also be organised by inviting leading marine companies of the country, he added.

Bihar School Examination Board decides to declare ISc results before IA, ICom results

Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has decided to declare ISc results on a priority basis and before the IA and ICom results, now onwards.

The BSEB move comes in the wake of the new pattern of JEE for admission to NITs and other engineering colleges under which 40% weightage is to be determined by the ISc marks of the candidates. JEE (Mains) this year is scheduled for April 7. "We have decided to prioritize the ISc results so that engineering aspirants among our students do not suffer," BSEB secretary Lalan Jha told.

More than nine lakh students across the state would take the Bihar board's Intermediate exams this year scheduled to commence from February 18. Another 14 lakh students will take the Bihar board's Class X exams which will start on March 12. All the results will be declared by May-end, said Jha.

The board has also decided to make admit cards of Class X and XII examinees available on its website www.biharboard.net though a hard copy of the same will also be sent to the examinees. The admit cards will be available online almost 10 days before the commencement of the exams. "A printout of the same signed by the headmaster concerned will be a valid document," Jha said and added the facility would be of help in case of non-receipt of admit cards due to different reasons.

Tele-counselling sessions will also be organized for Class X examinees in the first week of February. Experts from Patna will address the queries and doubts of students pertaining to any portion of any subject, Jha said.

Asked if the BSEB has decided to make changes in the pattern of +2 exams in view of the new JEE pattern, Jha said the board was in talks with COBSE ( Council of Boards of School Education) to implement a new pattern that would be uniform across the country. "But the +2 examinations this year will be held on the old pattern," he said.

IIM-AHMEDABAD helps Bihar attract tourists

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has reached out to Modi-land for tourism development. He is getting tips from students of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad on developing and selling Bihar tourism.

Six students of post-graduate programme in Agri-business Management have worked on a project to improve the tourist inflow to Bihar. The students identified the problems in infrastructure, developed websites with attractive package deals and offered solutions in developing the eco-tourism in the state.

"We studied all aspects related to tourism including agriculture, industry and communication among other things to suggest an appropriate solution. We also identified the roles that could be played by a facilitatore”be it the government, private companies or associations," said Shashwat Siddhant, one of the students, who developed the project as part of their Rural Immersion Programme.

The students suggested developing two districts which have the potential to attract eco-tourists”Madhubani, which is home to Madhubani paintings, and Bhagalpur, which is famous for home made khadi and silk. The reports have been submitted to the respective district magistrates in Bihar.

The students studied three important aspects pertaining to Madhubani ” its paintings, Khadi and tourism-and conducted interviews with painters, weavers and others to develop a website on Madhubani paintings. The students, in collaboration with NABARD, are helping the tourism department set up e-kiosks at Madhubani railway station to provide information on the art and its availability.

The students also identified the religious importance of the districts in Bihar as mentioned in Ramayana and Buddhism. "Bihar is significant from the religious point of view. So we have also explored the angle of religious tourism as well," said Siddhant.

Bihar farmers better than scientists: Nobel laureate Joseph E Stiglitz

Nobel laureate Joseph E Stiglitz is impressed by the organic farming practices in Bihar's Nalanda district, terming its practitioners "better than scientists" and calling for their experiences to be researched so that these can be replicated elsewhere. "Indian farmers are better than scientists," Stiglitz said here after visiting organic farmers in Nalanda, the home district of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

"It was amazing to see their success in organic farming. Agriculture scientists from across the world should visit their farm land to learn and be inspired by them," said Stiglitz, a professor of economics at the prestigious Columbia University and here to deliver the Asian Development Research Foundation Lecture 2013.

"There is a need to take the experiences of these farmers seriously and go for research to give a scientific approach to adopt it outside," he added. According to Chanchal Kumar, a senior government official who accompanied Stiglitz, the economist minutely inquired about the techniques. He said that Stiglitz also told farmers that the increasing trend of organic farming is good for the health too.

Bihar is turning its attention to popularising and promoting organic farming in the state to usher in a new "Green Revolution" in agriculture. The Nitish Kumar government has already decided to promote organic farming in at least one village of the state's 37 districts. It launched an "organic farming promotion programme" over a year ago, intended to develop organic grams (organic villages).

A sum of Rs 255 crore (nearly 50 million USD) has been sanctioned for development of organic farming, said an official of the agriculture department. The new techniques however did not have many takers in the beginning. "Initially the farmers were reluctant to adopt organic farming despite the state government providing free seeds, fertiliser and experts to guide them. But now more farmers have expressed interest in adopting the method of farming," said a district official in Nalanda.

Last year, a young farmer of Darveshpura village in Nalanda set what is claimed to be a world record in potato production through organic farming. Earlier, farmers of the same village created a world record by producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare. Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said that he wants to have one or two agriculture products from the state on the plate of every Indian in the coming years.

"Several steps, including promotion of modern techniques of farming, organic farming and use of improved seeds, have been taken in the last two-three years, but it is still a long way to go in developing the agriculture sector," said the agriculture department official.

Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar's economy, employing 81 per cent of workforce and generating nearly 42 per cent of the state's domestic product, according to the state government.

Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar unhappy with ad hocism in state varsities

Expressing their concern over the sluggish growth of higher education in Bihar, the academics have urged the powers that be not to carry forward some of the crude legacies of yesteryears if they really want to revitalize the system of higher education.

The year that has just passed witnessed some serious controversies over the appointment of VCs and the ad hocism prevailing in the universities. The universities were made to run in blatant violation of the provisions of the Act and statutes owing to serious differences between the two constitutional authorities, the state government and the chancellor, said Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar (Futab) working president Kanhaiya Bahadur Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh.

The state education department also did not lag behind in destabilizing the system by ignoring the orders of the court resulting in over 3,000 writs and contempt cases. The education department is yet to set a benchmark for itself as the bureaucrats have failed to decide what actually are their duties and responsibilities in shaping the higher education system, the two leaders said.

Appointment of teachers, rationalization of posts, resolution of the perennial problems of designated demonstrators, non-payment of salaries to the fourth phase constituent college teachers, implementation of recent Supreme Court directions with respect to the teachers absorbed over three decades back, and denial of second promotion to a large number of teachers despite a national consensus on granting at least two promotions in the entire career are some of the issues which must be resolved without any further delay, they said.

They further said that the government has failed to come out with a concrete policy on delinking of intermediate teaching from degree colleges, opening of model colleges and accommodation of a large number of inter pass outs into the higher education stream.

Semester system is being introduced without revamping of the examination sections of the universities, which find themselves unable to cope up with the present workload. In some universities, honours papers are being examined at obscure places by unqualified persons, they alleged. The leaders demanded revival of the Bihar State Inter University Board which can serve as a policy framing body as well as an advisory council to the state government and the chancellor. The academic policies must emerge from some academic body, they added

Mauritius president visits his ancestral village in Bihar

Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag today could not hold back his emotions when he reached his ancestral Wajidpur village near Patna.

"Main apne pardada ki dharti par akar bhawuk hun (I am filled with emotion on reaching the land of my forefathers," he said at Wajidpur in Patna district from where his forefathers were taken to Mauritius as indentured labourers by the then British rulers about 150 years ago.

"I greet your land and you people," Mr Purryag told people who had gathered to welcome him.
Accompanied by his wife Anita, Mr Purryag is in Patna for his first ever visit to Wajidpur. Purryag's distant nephews Mahesh and Ganesh Mahto spoke for some time with the Mauritius president.

Mr Purryag recalled that he had visited Bihar about 25 years ago to find out the land of his forefathers, but failed during his three-day stay in Patna then.

He thanked Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for tracing his ancestral village that made this visit possible. He lauded Mr Kumar for bringing development in Bihar and changing negative perception about the state and its people.

"Now Bihar and its growth story is being talked about not only in other parts of India, but across the globe. Now we all proud of our Bihari origin," Mr Purryag said.

Mr Purryag said he and the people of Mauritius always cherished their association with India and Bihar.

Apologising to locals for being able to spend only sometime in the village, Mr Purryag said he would return to spend quality time with them and his relatives.

He also recalled the struggle and sacrifices of his forefathers after being taken to Mauritius.

Mr Purryag said, "Our forefathers were lured by Britishers to go to Mauritius for a better life where they could virtually lay their hands on gold mines.

"However, they found only stones and boulders when they reached Mauritius. There was abject poverty and nothing much to eat," the Mauritius President said, adding that they worked tirelessly to build a modern and developed Mauritius.

"Our forefathers provided good education to their children for success in life" and since then, successive governments in Mauritius had given stress on educational infrastructure, he said.

During his brief visit to Mauritius in early 20th century, Mahatma Gandhi expressed pain and anguish at the plight of the indentured labourers and their families, Mr Purryag said.

Gandhi had then laid stress on giving education to their children, he said.

In the Mauritius president's honour, the Bihar government laid a foundation stone for a high school in the village where he was also felicitated in presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other ministers.

Mr Purryag's relatives in the village gave gifts like village soil contained in a silver 'lota' (pitcher), freshly harvested paddy and dhoti to the visiting President and his wife