Tuesday, 10 May 2011

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

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

Finnair collects 45 thousand euros for the kids of Bihar

Posted: 10 May 2011 07:03 PM PDT

New Delhi : A campaign by Nordic carrier Finnair and Unicef has collected over 45,000 euros for a programme to provide clean water and environment to children in the Indian state of Bihar, the airline said.

The funds were collected by the Change for Good campaign from Nov 29, 2010 to Jan 9, 2011, the company said.

The money would be used for a three-year Unicef programme which highlights the importance of sanitation, hygiene and clean water.

Besides building water points and toilets for schools, the project will also train teachers to inculcate aspects of hygiene among the students.

The collection for the campaign took place on nearly all international flights. This was the 15th edition of the fund raising campaign which, till date, has raised more that 1 million euros for Unicef’s work for the good of children.

During the campaign, Finnair donated 50 cents for each new member of the company’s Facebook page as well.

“This year we wanted to tell about Unicef’s work in aid of the world’s children also via our social media channels and at the same time bring a new element to the campaign,” said Maria Mroue, communication manager, Finnair.

“We gained 3,778 new Facebook fans during the campaign, as a result of which we donated to Unicef and the children of India 1,889 euros on our fans’ behalf. Finnair donated a further 7,000 euros to the collection,” he added.

Traffic police keen on tackling jam in Patna

Posted: 10 May 2011 08:06 AM PDT

PATNA: In order to regulate and streamline the traffic , Bihar police has decided to depute more officials to tackle the perpetual traffic jams in and around the state capital particularly on the busiestMahatma Gandhi setu bridge and from zero mile (outskirt of the city) to Fatuah.

This was decided in a meeting held here on Saturday under the presidentship of the director general of police (DGP) Neelmani. According to DGP, Patna police was allotted three deputy superintendent of police (DSPs) rank officials and 50 constables to regulate the traffic from Beur jail corner to Fatuah. Of late,the 30 km stretch from Beur jail to Fatuah has become the troubled zone . Traffic jams have become a regular phenomena. Till date, there was adequate traffice arrangements on this route which mainly connects Purnia, Ranchi via Nalanda.

Similarly the Vaishali police have also allotted three inspectors alongwith 32 constables to regulate the area from Ramashish chowk , Hajipur town to the portion of the Ganga bridge that comes under its jurisdictions.

Additional general of police (ADG) police headquarter Rajyavardhan Sharma said two cranes would be provided on both sides of the the bridge to help in removing the stranded vehicles and wireless fitted vehicle will monitor the traffic. A DSP rank officer will coordinate the traffic rules on this stretch.

Those who will overtake the vehicle on this stretch would be heavily penalised , said a senior police official. The traffic flow on Mahatma Gandhi setu has increased manifold following the ban of heavy vehicles on Rajendra rail cum road bridge near Mokama station. The condition of rail bridge is also in a very bad shape.

Bihar Cricket association to train 40 women cricketers

Posted: 10 May 2011 06:02 AM PDT

PATNA: Thanks to the four-day-long Sister Jayshree Memorial Inter-District Women’s Cricket Tournament, played here on Notre Dame Academy (NDA) campus from Thursday, Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) has found a bunch of talent which will help it revive women’s cricket in the state.

After the tournament concluded here on Sunday, BCA office-bearers announced that they would select a team of 40 women cricketers and train them in a bid to win coveted BCCI tournaments.

In the final match on Sunday, Muzaffarpur trounced Bhagalpur to lift the Sister Jayshree Memorial Trophy. The trophy was presented to Muzaffarpur captain Tanuja Kiran jointly by BCA convener Abdul Bari Siddiqui and ADG (BMP) A C Verma, who were the chief guests.

 

The tournament, organized for the first time in Bihar, indicates the revival of Bihar’s women’s cricket. It will work as a stimulus for women players to work hard,” said Siddiqui, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly.

“It is very heartening that along with boys, girls are also displaying cricketing prowess. There is no dearth of talent. We just need to tap it,” Siddiqui added.

In the final, Muzaffarpur won the toss and elected to bat. Its players scored a breezy 144 runs in just 20 overs for the loss of seven wickets. In response, Bhagalpur made a good start, but its players could not match the guile of Muzaffarpur bowlers. They could manage to score only 127 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs, making Muzaffarpur victorious by 17 runs.

Muzaffarpur skipper Tanuja Kiran expressed her joy over the victory, while Bhagalpur team’s captain Sana Saif Ali said: “I am looking forward to playing in forthcoming matches with more practice.”

The player of the tournament award was given to Sanjana Roy of Muzaffarpur team, while the best batswoman award went to Purnima Verma of Bhagalpur. Best fielder award was given to Anu Priya of Patna and the best bowler award went to Tejeshwita of Bhagalpur team.

“We have started preparations for various tournaments in the coming months. After the training of 40 selected players, we will select 25 players,” said senior BCA member Ram Kumar.

The tournament generated much interest among NDA students. A class VII student, Soumya Jha, told TOI: “It was very exciting to watch women’s cricket. Along with my friends, I watched all the four matches.” Sanchi Shroff and Ritika Labh, both class IX students, echoed Soumya: “We will like to watch more such matches whenever we find an occasion.”

 

 

 

 

Osama Bin Laden: The monster invented by United States

Posted: 10 May 2011 04:41 AM PDT

If it was choice that made Saudi Arabian billionaire Osama Bin Laden a terrorist, his ascension to the status of most wanted fugitive was a result of America’s vacillating policies. The US, like a self-proclaimed Messiah, has long been perpetuating the values of democracy propagating its ideals beyond their boundaries. In theory, this way-too generous attitude of Uncle Sam sounded perfect. But in an attempt to create the so-called free societies, many of their missions did derail, failing their calculations, often ending up in catastrophes.

Insurgencies and revolts against the ruling power had been there since centuries. But in the past couple of decades, it has spread across the globe at an alarming rate like cancer. The catalytic evolution of Mujahideens – which started as an upheaval against the communist regime of Afghanistan and the occupant Soviet forces to what we see as today’s al-Qaeda has surpassed imagination. It has a new face and new mission now. Today it’s not something that’s confined to any particular territory. India, Indonesia, the States, England, Spain… all have experienced terror in its worst form.

My right might be your wrong, so if I revolt, will you call me a terrorist? The narrow line that demarcates a heroic revolutionary from a terrorist is drawn by perception. The self-appointed guardians like Osama never perceive themselves as villains. They call themselves the upholders of faith who wants to revive a society ‘corrupted’ by western ideas back to its old fundamentalist form.

Just a mere excuse, we all know; but the US itself used to refer Mujahideens as “freedom fighters” while they trained and funded them during a period ranging from 1979-1989. Remember how they portrayed the Mujahideens as heroes in ‘Rambo III’?

The US government’s longest and most expensive covert CIA operation ever undertaken was Operation Cyclone – a program that relied heavily on funds distribution, passing of weapons, military training and financial support to Afghan resistance groups Mujahideens, with Pakistan acting as  intermediary. It’s rumoured that funding came from different countries including Britain, Saudi Arabia, and even the People’s Republic of China.

Unlike the war-loving George W Bush, the then US president Jimmy Carter, though concerned about the Soviet advances, wanted to avoid war. He got mixed responses from his own government: the State Department seeking a peaceful settlement, while the National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in favor of the provision of arms to the rebels, not to mention the deep interest of Pakistan government as well. The Polish-American Brzezinski’s deep-rooted hatred for Communism could have stemmed from the ill effects of Communist rule in his native country. He stuck to the idea of encouraging the dissidents and supporting them financially. President Carter eventually had to yield to Brzezinski, and thus the US govt began providing skills and military experience to large numbers Afghani insurgents. This was continued by the Reagan administration for several more years.

The ‘trained’ Mujahideens succeeded in thwarting the Red Army and the domestic Communist regime. By then, they grew in strength at an alarming pace which made the then Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, tell president George H. W. Bush, “You are creating a Frankenstein’s monster”!

Like Doctor Victor Frankenstein who created a monster in his lab, the American government was also creating monsters out of the insurgents, playing with their bruised egos. Osama Bin Laden wouldn’t have become so powerful had it not been for the support of America. It was the US that raised anOsama against Soviets and a Saddam Hussein against Iran by using terrorism as a foreign policy against its enemy nations. In the novel, the monster becomes confused and angry once he is abandoned by his creator. Likewise, these pawns like Laden and Saddam became hard to be contained once they got intoxicated by their own power.

The US support for the native Afghans was responsible for the radicalisation of that country. Millions of Afghans lost their lives in that war. The many battles transformed that nation into a disintegrated land which ultimately had fallen into the hands of rebels, who had zero knowledge in running a government. This in turn ruined it furthermore, ultimately leading to the Taliban takeover of the country in 1996.

The Talibanis, though fundamentalists, mostly comprised of young men who witnessed nothing but wars throughout their lives. Their minds were hardened by what they had witnessed, and their mindset differed from the youth of other countries who were blessed to have a home, a family, a stable government as provider and a solid military system to defend their lives. Hence, they were willing to resort to extreme means to achieve their goals. For the ones who have never experienced a ‘normal’ life, destroying lives was not a big deal. Growing in constant fear made them defensive, and they often resorted to violence as a pre-emptive attack.

This brings to my mind the psychological effects post 9/11 attacks. People were then talking about fear, they were afraid for their lives and the security system of their country. Americans started becoming xenophobic, an equally uncomfortable situation for the non-native Americans, especially Muslims. It was the same fear that made Bush launch an attack on Saddam, forcing them to make the first strike.

Fear often mars a person’s perception and it affects his/her behaviour. The people of other countries, including the Americans started experiencing that feeling a decade ago. If a stable country finds it hard to ensure the security of the lives of their citizens, imagine how hard it would be to convince the citizens of a war-torn country. They have been living in that fear for long, and if that have hardened their hearts, they can’t be blamed.

For the children of a war-torn nation, even the simple life seems a luxury, a distant dream. While the other kids play, they are denied a carefree life for if they go out to play; it will be at the risk of losing a limb for there are millions of landmines which are leftovers of the many battles they have fought. They live in fear, everyday.

We can hope against hope of things getting better in the comfort of our homes surfing through the television channels in an attempt to get a glimpse of that ‘reality’. But for the ones who go through that reality, it’s never the same and never will be. The terrorists are exploiting this very pain and fear. That’s what Laden did, targeting the vulnerable youths, presenting before them a false apparition of an idealistic society.

Al-Qaeda will never be the same after Laden. It might well have been shattered with the death of their passionate master commander. Ideology alone won’t serve the purpose if the integrity is hit and when it fails to lure young minds, the post-Laden era is less likely to thrive on a mere vision unless and until an opportunistic state forges an alliance with terrorists cashing in on extremism as a means to crush their enemy states.

That shouldn’t happen, at least not again…

 

Adapted from  here

 

 

Unicef to train teachers in Bihar

Posted: 10 May 2011 03:56 AM PDT

With an aim to make primary education simple and interactive, the Bihar government has tied up with the UNICEF. Launched under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan in November last year, the UNICEF-devised Leaning Enhancement Programme (LEP), jointly funded by the state and Central governments, has started functioning across 135 schools in five districts of Vaishali, Purnea, Banka, Samastipur and Gaya since last one month.

Embarrassed by 15,000 primary school teachers failing to clear the last two competency tests (in which under-class five questions were asked and a minimum 30 per cent marks were required to be scored to qualify for promotion) as well as the overall poor quality of primary education in the state, the government is all geared up to make sure that all students from class one to four are covered under the programme.

The one-year programme will be extended to other schools in a phased manner and will become a permanent feature to ensure quality of education
Under the programme, teachers will have subject-wise growth profile of each student. Parents will be informed at regular intervals about the progress or lack of improvement of their wards.

Parents will be able to register their complaints with Block Education Officers and District Superintendents of education. Thus, it's not merely regular attendance of teachers but also their teaching abilities that will be under the scanner of the parents.

Before the programme was introduced, primary school teachers were trained by the personnel of the Block Resource Centre and Cluster Resource Centre, two immediate levels to monitor quality of education. Officials from District Institute of Education and Training, Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC) and UNICEF representatives visited school to 'teach' the teachers.

The government started a toll-free helpline at State Council of Education, Research and Training to help teachers.

Bihar Education Project Council Special Project Director Rajesh Bhushan said, "Once we achieved our main aim of getting back out-of-school children, we focussed on quality of education."

Bhushan said intervention schemes such as LEP will not only improve quality but also get community involvement in monitoring education quality. LEP, he said, will work two-way — enabling teachers to focus on each student in a classroom and involving parents to keep pressure on teachers to ensure quality. Bhushan said teaching Hindi, English, science and mathematics have been simplified through the LEP. "Every teacher has a booklet on each chapter," he said.

Hindustan launches job paper titled Hindustan Jobs

Posted: 09 May 2011 11:56 PM PDT

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd (HMVL) has informed BSE that it has launched weekly Hindi newspaper Hindustan Jobs. The compact newspaper, which hit newsstands on May 8, 2011, is priced at Rs 7. The employment weekly would carry government as well as private job ads and would be circulated across the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi.

In a prepared statement, Amit Chopra, CEO, HMVL, said, "Hindustan Jobs marks an important milestone for us. It addresses a need gap in the market and is a well researched and innovative product offering. The product's unique proposition of providing a one-stop, fast, relevant and reliable source of job related information is sure to make it a delight for the consumer."

Hindustan Jobs has been designed by leveraging synergies from within the HT Media group with content partnership with their job portal Shine.com. "Shine's expertise in the job information market has helped us deliver a superior product and provided us with a competitive edge," Chopra added.

The launch of Hindustan Jobs follows the re-launch of Hindustan on April 12, 2011. The brand had repositioned itself with refreshed content, design and a revamped product portfolio. Rajan Bhalla, Head – Marketing – Strategic Businesses, HT Media, noted, "The search and need for jobs is a big life concern in the Hindi belt. As a brand, Hindustan is committed to making a difference in the lives of readers. Hindustan Jobs is just that. It reinforces Hindustan's core proposition – Tarakki ko Chahiye Naya Nazariya – by taking employment opportunities to Hindi markets in a new and innovative format."

Commenting on the new offering, Shashi Shekhar, Editor-in Chief, Hindustan, said, "Hindustan Jobs is a great innovation in Hindi journalism. The Hindi belt has a large population of educated youth. Jobs are the need of the hour for them. It is the duty of journalists to serve the demand of society. It is an opportunity to positively influence the lives of people who are seeking opportunities for progress."

Hindustan Jobs is the latest in the series of innovations launched in the last few months by the publishing house. English teaching product – Jaano English, personal finance supplement – Hindustan Money and the women's magazine, Anokhi, have been launched by the group recently.

A release issued by the group stated: "Currently, the print job information market is dominated by the government-run Employment News and carries only government jobs. The market also has a slew of private players, which cater to extremely localised markets."

Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd is the publisher of the Hindi newspaper Hindustan, Hindi magazines Nandan and Kadambini and the news website livehindustan.com. The company is a subsidiary of the HT Media Group, a diversified media group with interests in radio, print and online media.

 
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