Nalanda University gets library gift from Singapore

Singapore will design, build and donate a state-of-the-art library, estimated to cost US$5-7 million (S$6.2-8.7 million), to the upcoming Nalanda International University in Bihar.

This was revealed by Singapore's former foreign minister George Yeo.

Mr Yeo leads the international advisory panel for raising funds for the university. He said the board, led by Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, had approved Singapore's proposal. "People of Singapore are upbeat and keen on making their contribution to the university project," added Mr Yeo.

India's external affairs minister Salman Khurshid has also offered funds. He said a special provision of funds will be made in India's upcoming budget for the university.

Many countries, including Singapore, China, Thailand and Japan, have showed keen interest in helping the university that had existed till 1197 and at its heyday was once home to over 10,000 international students and scholars from Korea, China, Japan, Persia and Turkey. It was the centre of higher learning in Bihar then and had been supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors. The ruins of the university still remain on site and Professor Sen has urged for the site to be included in the UNESCO heritage list.

The project to rebuild this ancient university was an initiative of India's former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in 2006. According to the board's plans, the university will be built on a vast area of 446 acres in Rajgir, 10km from the site of the ancient Nalanda University located in south-east Patna.

Eight architectural companies, six from abroad and two Indian companies, have shown interest in designing the university and have already submitted their proposals to the board. The vice-chancellor of Nalanda University Dr Gopa Sabharwal said the short-listed firms would be called to make their presentation by April.

The new Nalanda International University will offer residency facilities to students and teachers, much like its predecessor, and offer courses in science, philosophy and spiritualism along with social sciences.

The university is set to begin academic activities from the 2013-14 session from rented premises with two subjects - historical studies and environment and ecological studies.

Prof Sen who is also the university's chancellor said: "There has been some delay but things will be back on schedule. The two faculties with which we will start the academic session are the School of Historical Studies and Archaeology and Environmental Studies and Ecology."

Jilted lover chops off girl's nose in Kishanganj district

A young girl's nose was chopped off by her jilted lover, who also made an unsuccessful attempt to rape her in Bihar's Kishanganj district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Sunday when the youth finding the girl alone in her house here tried to rape her.

The girl resisted him and the youth in a fit of rage chopped off her nose with a sharp weapon, the police said.

The youth, who was in a relationship with the girl, was opposed by her family.

He was arrested after the incident and a local court sent him to jail, while the girl is under treatment.

Her mother had filed a complaint with the police a month ago that the girl was being pressurised by a neighbour to marry the youth.

The police had arrested the neighbour but the youth kept harassing the girl, the police said.

Bans jeans, T-shirt for girls in Siwan

After three of its girls went missing, a village in Siwan district has barred girls from using mobile phones and wearing jeans and T-shirts, an official said Monday.

The villagers also imposed heavy fines on girls if they violated the diktat.

The ban was imposed Sunday by self-styled social reformers of Makhnupur village under Pachrukhi police station in Siwan district, 150 km from here.

The decision was taken after three girls - including two cousins - went missing last week. They are yet to be traced.

"A group of villagers issued an order to impose a fine of Rs.10,000 if a girl is found anymore using a mobile phone or wearing jeans and a T-shirt outside her house," a local police official said.

An 11-member committee has been formed to implement the ban.

Mobile phones, jeans and T-shirts are the cause of all evil in our society, including increasing love affairs and elopement," said Satyender Sharma, a villager.

In the last three months, nearly half a dozen village panchayats across the state have banned girls and women from using mobile phones and ordered them not to wear provocative clothes.

Bihari scientist settled in US offers his services in the state for developing Nano sciences

Professor RatneshwarLal , who hails from a remote village in Darbhanga district, currently at the university of CaliforniaSan Diego (UCSD) has earned abig name in Nano medicine. Lal is positive about state's potentials for developing Nano sciences. "During my brief stay in Bihar I got an opportunities to meet some of the bureaucrats. I am willing to share my experiences in Bihar if the government needs my services and expertise", Lal told.

Lal was in India week-long visit to deliver key note lectures at the 13th international conference of the Controlled Release Society (CRS) India Branch in Hyderabad and National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore. While in Bihar he gave a public lecture at LN Mithila university, department of Physics. In Patna he made his presentation before a select group of academics and bureaucrats at the Aryabhatt knowledge university, Magadh Mahila College and NIT Patna. Lal is married to an US PhD scholar in Sociology Debby Sherman. He said that he is more willing to pay back to the society.

There are many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (with progressive memory loss as we grow older), Parkinson disease (muscle tremors), tuberculosis, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and some kinds of cancer are linked to defective arrangements of proteins" he added.

Talking about his latest research on nano medicine, he said : "When proteins are not properly arranged (the process commonly known as protein misfolding), they make structures that are usually toxic to cells and tissues in our body. Above mentioned diseases and many more diseases are linked to such protein misfolding".

According to Lal, misfolded proteins have disordered structures and often appear as clumps (commonly called plaques) in the pathological samples from diseased patients. All Alzheimer's patients' brain samples have such plaques. Interestingly, all different diseases have plaques but they are made of different proteins.

"Ratnakar leads a simple life at home and work and enjoys strong ethical standards. He does not miss to visit his relatives and friends whenever he visits India and abroad. For him achievements in professional life should not be at the cost of social bonding", recall his two social scientists friends Pramodanand Das and Rajeshwar Mishra .

Lal born in a small village, Balour in Darbhanga district did his early education in Balour, Patna and Muzaffarpur, graduating in BSc Physics (Hons) in 1976. He then moved to JNU in New Delhi for higher education.

He then moved to USA and received his PhD in 1987 in neurobiology from the university of Alabama. After postdoctoral training at California Institute of Technology (Caltech), he was a faculty member at the university of Chicago and the University of California at Santa Barbara. Before assuming his current position at University of California San Diego (UCSD), he was a professor and the director of the newly established Centre of Nanomedicine at the University of Chicago.

Bihar to focus on electronics equipment manufacturing

After success in food processing, the information technology (IT) and telecom hardware manufacturing has caught the eyes of Bihar government. The state has now decided to give special attention to this sector and plans to declare it as a "thrust area".

"We may have missed the BPO bus," said Naveen Verma, principal secretary of the Industries Department, "but we do not want to miss this opportunity. The central government has already announced, in its National Policy on Electronics, that use of locally made component will be encouraged. The policy makes the use of local component mandatory for electronics manufacturers. It is a huge opportunity for us as the policy offers fiscal incentives." The policy, which was introduced last year, aims to boost indigenous manufacturing of electronic goods, so that it can fill the gap between domestic demand and supply in electronics goods.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajpaksa arrives at Bodh Gaya

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpaksa, accompanied by his wife Shiranthi Rajpaksa and a 70-member delegation, on Friday arrived at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya for pilgrimage.

Rajpaksa was received at the Gaya International Airport by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Education Minister PK Shahi and senior state government civil and police officials, official sources said. He was accorded a guard of honour by the state police.

From the airport, the cavalcade of the Sri Lankan President and members of his delegation drove straight to the Mahabodhi temple where they will perform religious rituals, the sources said.

Rajpaksa would meditate before a peepal tree where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment and visit the Sri Lankan Buddhist Vihar in the temple town. The Chief Minister will host a lunch for the Sri Lankan President and his delegation, the sources said.

Meanwhile, CPI(M-L) Liberation workers raised slogans against the Sri Lankan President from some distance as his cavalcade drove towards the Mahabodhi temple.

The protesters, who had mingled in the crowd that gathered to welcome the visiting dignitaries, shouted slogans like the 'Killer of Tamils go back'. Two of the protesters have been detained for questioning, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Law and Order), Rakesh Kumar Dube said.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Bodh Gaya town in view of the Sri Lankan president's visit, police sources said.

Rapist gets death sentence within four days of trial at fast-track court

A rapist at Katihar has been sentenced to death within four days of being produced before a fast-track court. The accused had been charged with raping his 3-year-old niece. He had also allegedly strangled her to death.

Police provided the court with evidence within 24 hours of arresting the man, speeding up the process further. However, his lawyer says he will take up the matter to high court.

"We are going to appeal the decision in the high court because the sentence has been given based only on circumstantial evidence. There are no witnesses," defence lawyer, DK Jha said.

The accused raped his niece on January 24 and also threatened to kill her if she told anyone. Within four days of the hearing the district and sessions court judge sentenced the accused to be hanged on the basis of the evidence.