Thursday, 28 April 2011

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Bihar News, Latest News from Bihar, News of Bihar, Biharprabha News

Bihar to replicate Maharashtra education model for physically challenged

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 05:37 PM PDT

MUMBAI: Maharashtra is now being seen as a pioneer in special education for physically challenged students. The Bihar and Orissa government have approached the state to replicate the model of the education and training centre in Navi Mumbai, which has specialized in training physically challenged students.

“The replication process has been initiated in Orissa,” said Vijay Nahata, director-general, information and public relations. Nahata, a state cadre Indian Administrative Service ( IAS) officer, was recently conferred the prime minister’s award for excellence in public administration. “The Bihar government wanted me to visit the state and explain the model, but I turned down the offer due to time constraints,” Nahata said.

The PM’s award was presented to Nahata for his project of starting the centre for the betterment of children with physical disabilities, during his tenure as Navi Mumbai civic chief.

“There were nearly 30 students when I started the project and the annual budgetary provision was Rs 10 lakh. Now, the centre has its own building and a budgetary provision of Rs 12 crore,” Nahata said. He added, “Teaching normal students needs patience. But teaching physically challenged students needs much more than that. We train parents too, so that it makes their job easy to handle the special children.”

The centre at Navi Mumbai pays parents who attend classes along with their children Rs 50 per day. -

 

 

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Bihar Prisoners art to be showcased in an exhibition

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 07:37 AM PDT

PATNA: A first-of-its-kind exhibition to showcase paintings and sculptures made by prisoners from jails across the country will be held in Kolkata soon. This all-India exhibition will begin soon after the West Bengal polls at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture. From Bihar alone, 20 art pieces have been sent to Kolkata.

B D Sharma, IG, prisons, West Bengal told TOI over phone, “So much talent is hidden among the prisoners languishing in our prisons. This is an attempt to showcase their talent in a grand way. We are inviting officers from all over the country to see the creations,” he said, adding “the exhibition will be open for general public too”.

“So far we have received entries from 15 states, including Goa and Jharkhand,” Sharma told TOI.

From Bihar, 20 art pieces, including paintings and sculptures, have already been sent. Five entries have been sent from the city’s Beur Central Jail alone.

Bihar IG, prisons, Ramesh Lal told TOI, “Anyone will be amazed to see the creativity of these inmates.” Lal has himself kept on display two beautiful paintings made by prisoners.

While paintings were selected from Beur Central Jail, terracotta items and stone sculptures were brought in from Bhagalpur jail.

A four-member committee was constituted to shortlist items for exhibition. Its members were IG, prisons, Bihar, superintendent of Beur jail, DG (provision) and a DIG-rank officer.

 

 

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Bihar to have a Task force to eliminate corruption

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 05:36 AM PDT

Patna, Apr 25 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today directed the state unit of NDA to set up a task force comprising ruling coalition members to help the state government in its drive against corruption in the state. Kumar gave the directive to the state unit NDA Convenor Nand Kishore Yadav during ‘Janata Darbar’ at his residence, JD(U) Spokesman Sanjay Singh told reporters here. The task force comprising NDA activists would keep a watch over public servants against corruption, particularly in the schemes like Indira Awas Yojona, he said. The members would also advise the state government about various measures to root out corruption in the state, Singh said.The task force would further spread awareness among the people about various central and state welfare schemes so that they could seek benefit as a matter of right and without paying bribe to the officials for the same, the JD(U) leader said.

 

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Roads of Bihar to follow Mumbai model

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT

You might be cursing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for bumpy roads every monsoon, but the Bihar government thinks otherwise. The Bihar government is impressed with the BMC's techinques and plans to replicate its road construction and maintenance technique. A delegation of  officials from Bihar's state road construction department visited the city in December and returned impressed, which was followed by the visit of an engineer from the civic body's roads department, Vishal Thombare, to Patna early this month.

According to civic officials, the delegation was 'highly impressed' with one particular technique called the ultra white thin topping (UWTT). This technique is mainly used to repair asphalted roads. Officials said that the strength of this technique lies in the fact that roads can be repaired in a shorter duration and are more durable.

"An asphalted road, which is repaired with this technique, will have no potholes at least for 10 years. The delegation from Bihar was very impressed with this technique," said a BMC official. Also, the level of the road would not increase.

A senior member of the delegation said, "Yes, they told us that utility digging did result in potholes. However, we were very impressed, particularly the UWTT technique."

The official even said that the state would replicate it soon. "Next time we work on roads in Patna, we will use this technology." RN Kulkarni, chief engineer, roads department said, "We are glad that they are impressed by our work."

 

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Bill to regulate private nursing home and clinics soon

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 12:32 AM PDT

Patna, April 24: Ara resident Radha Nandan Kumar, 80, was rushed to a private nursing home in the state capital after he suffered a heart attack three days ago. He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). He was allegedly put on ventilator without consulting a cardiologist.

When Radha's condition deteriorated, the nursing home authorities advised his relatives to fly him to Delhi. But they charged Radha's family members Rs 60,000 as ICU fee though the nursing home does not have an ICU for heart patients.

"We did not know about it at the time of admission. Why did they admit him in the first place if they did not have the facility or the expert?" said a distraught relative of Radha.

Sources said Radha's case is not an isolated one. Like the nursing home in Kankerbagh that fleeced Radha's relatives, a number of clinics and health hubs have come up in Patna. Most do not have proper infrastructure, equipment or medical professionals to provide healthcare services.

At present, there is no law or regulatory body to check these nursing homes that do not even need a licence to open doors.

"There are very few nursing homes in the city that provide quality healthcare. Most are out there to make money by cheating the patients," said Yaarpur resident Rajeev Agarwal.

"Recently, a boy in my neighbourhood became unconscious in school. He was rushed to a private nursing home at Gandhi Maidan, where he was admitted in the ICU. Hours later, the doctors at the nursing home declared the boy dead. The nursing home authorities also charged his parents Rs 25,000. Later, in the post-mortem report, it emerged that the boy had been 'brought dead' to the nursing home. An FIR was lodged against the nursing home authorities but nothing has been done till date," said Agarwal.

On being advised to take Radha to Delhi, his relatives arranged for an air ambulance from a super speciality clinic. But the doctor in the ambulance found Radha's condition not stable enough for him to fly — he had low blood pressure. He was then shifted to another hospital under the supervision of a cardiologist. His condition is still critical.

On being asked what the state government is doing to regulate such nursing homes from duping patients and their families, Amarjeet Sinha, principal secretary, health department, said: "We are finalising the Clinical Establishment Act. The provisions of the act have been laid down. It will soon be presented before the cabinet for approval."

The state government passed the bill in 2008 but the rules and norms are yet to be implemented.

Doctors and medical professionals are, however, sceptical about how effective the act would be in enforcing quality healthcare delivery. Most of them believe it would lead to an "inspector raj".

"When a government official is given the authority to issue licences or conduct inspections, there are chances of corruption. Therefore, a more comprehensive policy should be made," said Dr A.K. Agarwal, a neurologist.

Dr Ajay Kumar Singh, general secretary, Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA), said while they were in favour of the act, they also had reservations about some of its provisions.

"We have reservations on some of the provisions of the act, like jail term for doctors if they violate the norms, supervision of healthcare by bureaucrats, regulations of fees by the state government and restricting nursing homes to commercial areas. BHSA and the Indian Medical Association should be taken into confidence before finalising the draft of the act," added Singh.

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Bihar first to set up agriculture cabinet for farmers

Posted: 28 Apr 2011 12:29 AM PDT

PATNA: Bihar has become the first state in the country to constitute an agriculture ‘cabinet’ with an aim to improve the agrarian sector and address the plight of the farmers.

The new ‘cabinet’ is headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and will have in it ministers of 18 departments including water resources, irrigation, energy, rural works, sugarcane industry, animal husbandry and disaster management.

“Agriculture sector is one way or another dependent on all these departments,” an official said.

The chief minister’s agriculture advisor Mangal Rai, former director general Indian Council of Agriculture Research ( ICAR), is a special invitee to this cabinet. The first meeting of the agriculture cabinet is to take place Tuesday.

“All these departments will work with a single goal to develop the agriculture sector,” the official said.

“It is not only a big news for the millions of farmers of Bihar, but beginning of turnaround for agriculture sector. This will help the state to achieve second green revolution,” state Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh told IANS.

Singh said the Bihar government has given highest priority to the agriculture sector and increased its budgetary allocation from Rs.25 crore to almost Rs.844 crore in 2011-12.

The news of a cabinet exclusively for the agriculture sector was cheered by the farmers.

“It appears that the Bihar government is turning its attention to agriculture sector,” Mahavir Mahto, a farmer near Patna, said.

In the last five years, Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said that he wants to have one or two agriculture product from the state on the plate of every Indian in the coming years.

The state government chalked out a roadmap for the agriculture sector in 2008.

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

Atul Singh, an economist researcher in New Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that Bihar’s agriculture growth instead of going up has shown declining trend.

“It is a hard fact revealed by the government’s own economic survey,” Singh said.

According to the official data, against the national productivity average of 2 tonnes of rice per hectare, the state’s rice productivity is about 1.5 tonnes per hectare.

In case of wheat, the state’s productivity is 2.2 tonnes per hectare against the national average of 2.7 tonnes.

The state government holds repeated droughts and floods responsible for this poor production.

The state government admits on its official website that agriculture is the key to the overall development of the state economy.

Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar’s economy, 81 percent of workforce, and generation of nearly 42 percent of the state domestic product, it says.

“Barring maize and pulses, productivity of various farm produce in Bihar is much below the national average. Though the area under cultivation is shrinking, there is tremendous scope for income generation, by improving productivity. Adverse climatic condition, like draught and floods, do play a role in decreasing products,” the official website says.

 

 

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