| Biharprabha News Inbox Edition |
| Good Morning,
We are here again with some interesting stories in Bihar. |
| - Women ploughing fields in Bihar to bring rain
Patna: Women in Bihar have been ploughing parched fields to embarrass the rain deity to bring some badly-needed monsoon rains as drought stares this eastern Indian state for the third consecutive year. Media reports say women walk to their fields shortly after sunset and plough the dried and cracked fields chanting ancient hymns as part [...] Read it Online - Bihar implementing Right to Service Act by this Independence Day
Come Independence Day, August 15, and government officials who do not perform the common man’s jobs within a stipulated timeframe will face a fine that can go up to Rs.5,000 With the implementation of the Right to Service Act, people will no longer have to run around government offices to get their work done, a [...] Read it Online - Bihar simplifies the rules for compensation to victims
Now on wards in Bihar, compensation will be paid for loss of life, rape and serious injury even if the perpetrators are not identified, the state government decided on Tuesday. The proposal for the Bihar Victims’ Compensation Scheme, 2011 was sanctioned at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Principal Secretary Ravikant told [...] Read it Online - Bihar hearing RTI complaints using video conferencing
BSIC -Bihar State Information Commission launched today a video conferencing system for quicker hearing and disposal of complaints related to the Right To Information (RTI) Act, officials said. State Chief Information Commissioner ( CIC) A.K. Choudhary said the SIC will help dispose complaints against principal information officers for denying information under the RTI Act to [...] Read it Online - Oppositions size decreasing in Bihar assembly
Patna: The opposition is usually considered as a watchdog which keeps the ruling party in a democracy on its toes. But in Bihar, the party is fast losing out. Their ranks are dwindling fast and the reason behind it is that there is a virtual scramble among lawmakers to join the ruling party to enjoy [...] Read it Online
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The Biharprabha News Team | | | If you are unable to view this mail properly, click here | |
| Women ploughing fields in Bihar to bring rain Posted: 30 Jul 2011 10:23 PM PDT Patna: Women in Bihar have been ploughing parched fields to embarrass the rain deity to bring some badly-needed monsoon rains as drought stares this eastern Indian state for the third consecutive year.
Media reports say women walk to their fields shortly after sunset and plough the dried and cracked fields chanting ancient hymns as part of an old custom to invoke the deity. The women also dance and sing songs to please the weather deity.
They have vowed to continue all these practices until the weather deity smiles and rains lash their parched fields. The bizarre practice is currently being carried out in many drought-hit villages of Chakki block falling under western Bihar’s Buxar district, described as the “rice bowl” of Bihar.
“It is believed the women’s presence in the fields will embarrass the rain deity who in turn will send good shower to the dry fields. This is the most trusted custom continuing for centuries in the areas and we are quite hopeful of good results in the end,” said Rajvanshi Devi who leads the local women in performing these rituals.   |
| Biharprabha News Inbox Edition |
| Good Morning,
We are here again with some interesting stories in Bihar. |
| - Bihar implementing Right to Service Act by this Independence Day
Come Independence Day, August 15, and government officials who do not perform the common man’s jobs within a stipulated timeframe will face a fine that can go up to Rs.5,000 With the implementation of the Right to Service Act, people will no longer have to run around government offices to get their work done, a [...] Read it Online - Bihar simplifies the rules for compensation to victims
Now on wards in Bihar, compensation will be paid for loss of life, rape and serious injury even if the perpetrators are not identified, the state government decided on Tuesday. The proposal for the Bihar Victims’ Compensation Scheme, 2011 was sanctioned at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Principal Secretary Ravikant told [...] Read it Online - Bihar hearing RTI complaints using video conferencing
BSIC -Bihar State Information Commission launched today a video conferencing system for quicker hearing and disposal of complaints related to the Right To Information (RTI) Act, officials said. State Chief Information Commissioner ( CIC) A.K. Choudhary said the SIC will help dispose complaints against principal information officers for denying information under the RTI Act to [...] Read it Online - Oppositions size decreasing in Bihar assembly
Patna: The opposition is usually considered as a watchdog which keeps the ruling party in a democracy on its toes. But in Bihar, the party is fast losing out. Their ranks are dwindling fast and the reason behind it is that there is a virtual scramble among lawmakers to join the ruling party to enjoy [...] Read it Online - Anna Hazare to draft bill for Bihar's Lokayukta
The Anna Hazare team is ready with its draft bill to set up an anti-corruption bill in Bihar,following a request from the chief minister Nitish Kumar, “When we met Kumar to seek support for our Jan Lokpal bill on June 30, he had requested us to draft a lokayukta bill for Bihar. We have completed [...] Read it Online
| Current Weather in Patna
Temperature: 29°C | 84°F, Current: Partly Cloudy , Wind: 0 kmph, Humidity: 84% | Have a nice day
The Biharprabha News Team | | | If you are unable to view this mail properly, click here | |
| Bihar implementing Right to Service Act by this Independence Day Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:20 AM PDT Come Independence Day, August 15, and government officials who do not perform the common man’s jobs within a stipulated timeframe will face a fine that can go up to Rs.5,000 With the implementation of the Right to Service Act, people will no longer have to run around government offices to get their work done, a minister said. To check rampant corruption and red-tapism in Bihar, the state assembly had in March passed a bill that provides for fines on government officials who do not do common the man’s work within a stipulated timeframe. The move follows Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s commitment to hasten the delivery of services like issuance of caste certificates, mutation, police verification for passports and installing new electricity connection to ration card holders and others services within a stipulated timeframe. “Once the bill is implemented, it will provide a big relief to people who run from pillar to post and are forced to pay bribes to get their work done in government offices,” state Bihar Water Resources Development Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told IANS. According to the bill, it will be mandatory for state officials to get the work of the people done within a stipulated timeframe or face a penalty of Rs.250 that can go up to Rs.5,000. In various speeches over the past two months, Nitish Kumar said the bill would help government weed out corruption from the grassroots level to the top. The chief minister said if a government official failed to deliver a service within a given timeframe, he or she will be held personally responsible and the government will impose a fine for the delay.   | | Bihar simplifies the rules for compensation to victims Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:19 AM PDT Now on wards in Bihar, compensation will be paid for loss of life, rape and serious injury even if the perpetrators are not identified, the state government decided on Tuesday. The proposal for the Bihar Victims’ Compensation Scheme, 2011 was sanctioned at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Principal Secretary Ravikant told reporters. Under the scheme Rs one lakh for loss of life, Rs 50,000 in the case of rape, Rs 25,000 for grievous hurt, Rs 25,000 for injuries after an acid attack, and Rs 25,000 for mental torture would be provided. This will be given even if the perpetrators are not identified, he said. The setting up of 30 new exclusive police stations in the state for tackling cases registered under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989 was also agreed upon. The new police stations would be in addition to the existing ten, he said, adding that 510 posts would be created for meeting the manpower needs for them.   | | Bihar hearing RTI complaints using video conferencing Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:16 AM PDT BSIC -Bihar State Information Commission launched today a video conferencing system for quicker hearing and disposal of complaints related to the Right To Information (RTI) Act, officials said. State Chief Information Commissioner ( CIC) A.K. Choudhary said the SIC will help dispose complaints against principal information officers for denying information under the RTI Act to people. Complaints from all over the state will be heard in Patna through video conferencing, saving three days. The move comes after the success of SIC’s information call centre — the Jankari. A brainchild of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jankari enables people living in the remotest corners of the state to submit applications for information under RTI on the phone.   | | Oppositions size decreasing in Bihar assembly Posted: 30 Jul 2011 11:08 AM PDT Patna: The opposition is usually considered as a watchdog which keeps the ruling party in a democracy on its toes. But in Bihar, the party is fast losing out.
Their ranks are dwindling fast and the reason behind it is that there is a virtual scramble among lawmakers to join the ruling party to enjoy power.
This trend has given a free run to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is now in the thick of a controversy involving allotment of prime industrial plots to the kin of ministers, lawmakers and bureaucrats.
In the past five days, at least two parties in the Opposition have merged with the ruling Janata Dal (United) whereas two prominent leaders of the main Opposition, Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) have quit.
Key portfolio
While RJD leader Ram Bachan Rai has joined the ruling JD-U, Dr Shakeel Ahmad Khan who held key portfolios in the previous RJD government looks headed for Kumar’s party.
The fast-shrinking opposition suffered the third consecutive jot on Monday evening when the three-member LJP (Lok Janshakti Party) Legislature Party in the Legislative Council merged with the JD-U in the presence of the chief minister.
Later, council chairman Tarakant Jha formally recognised the three MLCs (Members of the Legislative Council) as members of the JD-U. This has virtually ended the existence of Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP party in the Upper House.
In the past week, Shibu Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) ceased to exist in the Bihar assembly when its lone member, Sumit Kumar Singh, was officially inducted into the JD-U.
With the merger, the combined strength of the opposition in the Assembly or Lower House has come down to 36, while in 75-member State Council or Upper House, their combined strength has come down to a mere 12 seats.
This has literally left the opposition voiceless, thus ending their relevance in the state politics.   |
| Anna Hazare to draft bill for Bihar’s Lokayukta Posted: 29 Jul 2011 05:58 AM PDT The Anna Hazare team is ready with its draft bill to set up an anti-corruption bill in Bihar,following a request from the chief minister Nitish Kumar,
“When we met Kumar to seek support for our Jan Lokpal bill on June 30, he had requested us to draft a lokayukta bill for Bihar. We have completed the work,” said Arvind Kejriwal, a member of the Hazare team on the joint drafting panel for the lokpal bill. Bihar is among the 11 states, which so far does not have a lokayukta, but Kumar is keen to have one soon. “He has called us for discussion in the first week of August to finalise the draft so that he can place it before the state cabinet,” said Kejriwal. Kejriwal’s colleague, lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the importance of their team having drafted the bill was that it retains most of the provisions of the their version of the lokpal bill at the national level. “It has been drafted keeping in mind that in a federal structure, the powers of a state are different from that of the Centre." According to Hazare’s team, their draft lokayukta bill provides for bringing the CM in its ambit. “There has been no clarity on this so far. Different states have adopted different stands on this issue,” said a member of India Against Corruption. The draft bill also empowers the lokayukta to initiate a probe once it is convinced that the complaint is genuine. It has done away with the procedure to seek permission of higher officials before beginning an inquiry against any public servant. The Hazare team hopes to convince the Kumar government to bring the state bureaucracy within the lokayukta’s ambit and not just a particular category of higher officials. “We expect some clarifications from the Nitish Kumar government, since this is for the first time that any state government will be accepting a civil society draft almost in totality,” a member said.   | | Kerala follows Bihar model in weeding out corruption Posted: 29 Jul 2011 01:56 AM PDT Kerala may become the second state in India after Bihar to bring in a law to make officials punishable for flawed services at the government offices, with the Congress-led state government giving the proposal serious consideration.
"The services that the citizens should get from the government should be provided in time and we are seriously considering the proposal to make it their legal right," Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told a meeting of the secretaries and district collectors held here yesterday.
According to the Right to Service Act of Bihar, it is mandatory for the state government and its agencies to extend services to people within the stipulated timeframe, failing which the officials concerned could be penalized.
The law covers 30 services including issuance of driving license, passport enquiries, banking services, farmer credit cards and ration card. It comes as an extension of India's powerful Right to Information Act. The public servants will be fined Rs250 for a day's delay or the maximum of Rs5,000.
"We have outlined our vision on the governance in the 100-day agenda of my government. The government's hallmark is transparency and speed. The citizens should get the services that they need today itself, not tomorrow. Every officer has the responsibility to implement the government's policy," said Chandy.
He also directed the officers to take a lenient approach to the people who vacate their land for infrastructure projects.
They should get the actual market value of the land, evict them only after paying compensation, provide the deserved with housing, ensure employment in the government and public sector u it's and consider them as the first beneficiary of the projects that they vacate their land for.
He reminded the officers that his government was completing its first 100 days on September 12 and all the promised that he made to citizens should be kept.   | | Nitish’s Facebook page hacked by unknown Posted: 28 Jul 2011 11:56 PM PDT The Facebook page of Mr. Nitish Kumar created by fans was hacked by an unknown invader who posted an objectionable message on it, police said on Tuesday. Police have begun investigations after lodging a case here. The Nitish Kumar fan page has 8,145 followers. “The cyber crime cell of police is looking into the case as this is a case of cyber crime,” Inspector General Arvind Kumar Pandey said. An aide in the chief minister’s office here said it was not an official page of Nitish Kumar on Facebook but was created by his fans three years ago. “This page has the biggest fan following of Nitish Kumar,” the aide said.   | | Bihar Cadre officers appointed as executive director of World Bank Posted: 28 Jul 2011 11:51 PM PDT Mr M N Prasad, presently Secretary to the Prime Minister, has been appointed as Executive Director of the World Bank in place of Mr Pulok Chatterji. Mr Prasad is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the 1972 batch (Bihar cadre). His appointment will be for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier, an official press release said. Mr Chatterji, an IAS officer of the 1974 batch (Uttar Pradesh cadre), is expected to be posted to the Prime Minister’s Office. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has also approved the appointment of Mr Surajit Mitra, IAS (AM:77), presently in the cadre, as Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs vice Mr Vivek Mehrotra, IAS (HY:74) on his retirement on July 31, the release added.   |
| Salman Khan with 5000 fans donates blood for Mumbai blast victims Posted: 25 Jul 2011 04:24 AM PDT Pune: Known for his generous acts, Bollywood’s bad boy Salman Khan in Pune donated blood for the victims of Mumbai blasts on Thursday. And following the footsteps of their favourite star, over 5000 people came for the noble cause, at the city’s Sambhaji Park. Hundreds of Khan’s fans were seen shoving and jostling necks to have a glimpse of the actor. Hailing the cause, the actor said blood has no religion and it is the most precious gift a human being can give.   | | Vastanvi not sacked because of his Modi remarks Posted: 25 Jul 2011 02:40 AM PDT Silence gripped in the villages Vastan and Akklakuwa(his native villages) in neighbouring Maharashtra, as the news of removal of Maulana Ghulam Vastanvi as the Vice-Chancellor of Darul Uloom Deoband came. It was not too long ago when villages with key madrasas and Darul Ulooms in south Gujarat as well as neighbouring Maharashtra, where he has set up the sprawling Akklakuwa educational complex, had celebrated Vastanvi's appointment as the Deoband V-C. His appointment was marked with two 'firsts' — he was the first non-alumnus as well as non-UP resident to be appointed to the post. The celebrations continued till his comments on the state of Muslims in Gujarat under Chief Minister Narendra Modi, reportedly praising the development work done by the latter. "His praise for Modi was used as a tool; he had to go because he is not from that region, he is a Gujarati," said Vastanvi's cousin Iqbal Randera, adding that he "never praised Modi" and that news was "mis-reported".   | | Can England get 9 Indian Wickets on final day? Posted: 24 Jul 2011 11:53 PM PDT Ruthless England came down hard on wounded and battered India, first through Matt Prior’s century and then through a probing 27 overs, to end up needing nine wickets on the final day. India, though, had fingernails dug in at the edge of the cliff. Forced to bat at Nos 2 and 3 respectively, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman were made to look ungainly, but they batted out 131 deliveries between them in the final session of the fourth day. Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar were not available to bat in their usual positions because of injury and illness respectively. Those tuned into the match would have known that the real game on the fourth day would begin some time in the final session, when England – effectively 193 for 0 at the start of the day – would declare to leave India four sessions to bat, give or take. The journey to that point proved fascinating though. Ishant Sharma, a rhythm bowler, found his groove against a surprisingly circumspect batting line-up, reducing England to 62 for 5 and incredibly bringing an Indian win into the faint edge of the frame. Prior and Stuart Broad then introduced India to reality, all but ruling out their chances of winning with a 162-run seventh-wicket stand. Prior summed up the England team’s attitude when he began attacking, scoring a century at a strike-rate of 85.83, although defensive fields meant he hit only five fours and a six. And Broad could do no wrong. After his unbeaten half-century, he took a wicket in the first over of a spell for the third time in this match, removing Abhinav Mukund, who once again looked solid before he sighted Broad. Until Prior and Broad counterattacked, India did decently in the absence of the injured Zaheer Khan. It helped that England were in their shell at the start of the day even though the ball hardly swung then. During that period Praveen Kumar dismissed Alastair Cook for a rare single-digit score, and Andrew Strauss fell to his second ordinary sweep off Harbhajan Singh. The next hour belonged to Ishant. No matter where this matches goes, the spell of 5-3-4-3 he bowled just before lunch will hold significance for the rest of the series. For starters he let Kevin Pietersen know that he was not be bullied. In the first innings, Pietersen had put Ishant completely off his line and length by walking across and towards him. Today Ishant welcomed him with a bouncer, got extra bounce and the glove. Then followed the two quintessential Ishant wickets. Ian Bell got one that left him against the angle, taking the edge. Two wickets in one over. Two overs later, Ishant got one to move in sharply to Jonathan Trott, against the slope, and hit the top of off. That ball would have got greats out. Sixty-seven runs came in 26 overs before lunch, for the loss of five wickets. Post lunch, India weren’t as aggressive. They didn’t begin with Ishant, who had bowled 11 overs in the first session. When they reintroduced Ishant, he got Eoin Morgan with a short ball that did the batsman in for pace. Prior, though, didn’t inhabit the shell his team-mates had. Faced with his aggression, India backed off a bit. The fielders wilted. Prior exploited the in-and-out field well. Every time he got room he drove emphatically, anything straight was punished into the on side, and potentially the biggest blow was a meaty sweep into Gambhir’s elbow at short leg, minutes before tea. The batsman had to go to the hospital for an x-ray, and came back just before stumps with news that there was no fracture. Prior had broken India’s spirit, though. Post tea, he and Broad went into Twenty20 mode, scoring 95 runs in 12 overs. Ishant’s earlier resurgence now seemed just a minor blip. India took off their tired specialist bowlers, no longer making an effort to make England bat as long as possible. Dhoni brought himself on, making Dravid, due to open the innings in a matter of minutes, keep wicket. That didn’t seem to affect Dravid’s concentration when he walked out after Prior’s century heralded the declaration. The openers saw off eight overs, but Broad came on to dismiss Abhinav in a fashion similar to the first innings: played on. Like with Abhinav, England tried a repeat dismissal with Laxman, keeping their fine leg square and bowling into his ribs. Laxman pulled two boundaries along the ground. England didn’t have a first-innings dismissal for Dravid to go by. Still they did well enough to him. Chris Tremlett and Broad especially bowled superb outswingers. While the two applied themselves, there was some luck involved too, as there invariably is in such situations: they were beaten 15 times between them. One Broad over summed up the kind of odds the two were fighting. The first ball swung away late, beating the outside edge. Dravid looked to cover the movement of the next ball, but this one came in and kicked to beat the inside edge. Dravid looked for the bounce, but the next one stayed low. The bat came down in time; it kept coming down in time until stumps. Read More http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/content/current/story/524519.html   | | Litti-Chokha Stall reopened at Patna Junction Posted: 24 Jul 2011 11:11 PM PDT Litti Chokha Stall has been re-opened on the platform 1 of Patna Junction.It was inaugurated by GM East Central Railways Mr. K K Srivastava on Saturday.In the past, the stall selling `litti-chokha’ was inaugurated at Patna Junction on March 27, 2006, at the instance of the then railway minister Lalu Prasad. However, this stall was closed a few years ago due to some reasons, sources said. Mr. Srivastava said that the Railway Board, which has taken over the catering services from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), under its new catering policy, intends to popularize this delicacy, particularly in Sawan month when the rush of passengers at Patna Junction is heavy. This delicacy would fulfill the needs of the people. Besides, special care has been taken to prepare ‘litti-chokha’ free of garlic and onion in view of Sawan month as most of the devotees do not prefer it during the period, the ECR GM said, adding the railways would open such stalls at all major stations falling under the ECR. According to divisional railway manager (DRM), Danapur, L M Jha, two pieces of `litti’ with `chokha’ would come for Rs 5 only while two pieces of ‘litti’ with ‘chatni’and ‘channa’ have been priced at Rs 6. The railways would maintain the quality and taste of this popular dish. Special care will be taken of proper hygiene while preparing `litti-chokha’. Keeping in mind the huge demand for this delicacy, the railways has planned everything accordingly, Jha said. The DRM said that while this stall has been opened at platform no. 1, efforts be made to make it available at other platforms, too. About 234 passenger trains are passing through Patna Junction these days daily. Thus, demand for ‘litti-chokha’ would be high in future, Jha added. He said that the railways has arranged sale of `chura-dahi’, another popular delicacy of Bihar, at Patna Junction. Incidentally, the railways has been giving a serious thought to include these two popular cuisines in the railway catering service menu card to cater to the needs of passengers from Bihar on running trains, sources said   | | Canadian media lauds efforts of Super 30 Posted: 24 Jul 2011 11:05 PM PDT The Super 30,a free coaching center in Bihar which helps economically backward students crack the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE), has been given an extensive write-up in a leading Canadian newspaper
The article and photo-feature in the Toronto-based The Globe and Mail has lauded Super 30 school, run by Anand Kumar, for doing a “great job for the poor sections of the society”.
Anand Kumar has been described him as a “fanatical hero”, who has been trying with tremendous zeal to take the talented students from the lower strata of the society to the top.
Earlier, Time magazine had described the school as the ‘best in Asia’, while the magazine Newsweek put it in the list of world’s four most innovative initiatives.
“This recognition has only added to my responsibility and passion to do more. The main credit for the success should go the talented bunch of students, who put in a lot of effort to change their destiny. Super 30 is just a small example to show how much talent India has, which needs to be tapped. I have a dream that no student in the world should be deprived of opportunity to study,” Anand said Sunday.
He had set up Super 30 to prepare 30 students for the IIT-JEE in 2002, providing free boarding lodging and coaching to the selected aspirants. In the last nine years, 236 students from Super 30 have made it to the IIT-JEE. This brought it into focus, with Discovery Channel, Al Jazeera and Japan’s NHK channel making films and documentaries on Super 30.   | | Central University of Bihar finishes with a great placement record Posted: 24 Jul 2011 10:48 PM PDT PATNA: Central University of Bihar can now boast of some grueling placement record. Out of 25 Students completing MA this year, 18 have got job offers. “These students, after receiving four semesters’ rigorous training in development studies, are now prepared to work as development professionals and consultants,” said Janak Pandey, the VC of CUB. Seventeen out of 25 students are currently working with NGOs and donor agencies engaged in developmental work. The remaining one is associated with IIT Patna in research work. Institutions like Participatory Research In Asia (PRIA), an international centre for learning and promotion of participation and democratic governance; SkillPro, a foundation that focuses on developmental issues; and NGOs namely Society for All Round development (SARD), Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD), Chetna Vikas and Mithila Gram Vikas Parishad have taken these students for packages ranging between 2.4 lakh and Rs 5.4 lakh. Arvind Prakash Suraj and Rakesh Kumar Singh are now working with SARD, Atul Kumar with SkillPro in the city itself, while Mamta Kumari is working at Lok Prerna, Deoghar (Jharkhand) and Nupur at city-based branch of PRIA. Prashant Ranjan has got a job with CARD, Dhantalli (MP) and Rahul Roshan is now working at Punjab State AIDS Control Society, Ludhiana. Pulkesh, who prefers to work in Bihar, has been interviewed by ‘Aide et Action’, an international development organization, recently. Only those who have plans to study further have not responded to recruitment. Rajan Kumar and Prashant have qualified in prelims for BPSC. Two other students Arvind Prakash Suraj and Shilpi have qualified in entrance examination for MPhil programme at JNU, New Delhi. Mohit Kumar, who has topped in first three semesters, is interested in research and is looking for a suitable institution for research studies.   | | Government to introduce Yoga in the school syllabus Posted: 24 Jul 2011 10:39 PM PDT State government is willing to introduce yoga classes in government schools across the state. The move has been undertaken following concern over rising stress level among students and growing number of suicides. Yoga is expected to significantly reduce stress among students, thus overcoming depression among them and checking suicidal tendencies. “The programme aims at holistic development of learners. Complete physical and mental development is a must for a student to do well academically,” said state project director, Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC), Rajesh Bhushan. In order to teach yoga, the government has created an army of about 1,100 trained yoga instructors. “This army has been created in a mission-mode, so that the learners receive, along with quality education, training in living a healthy life,” Bhushan added.   | | Government plans to use Eagle to tackle Maoists Posted: 24 Jul 2011 10:37 PM PDT Central Government has planned to deploy Israeli Heron's eagle eyes to track their movements on real time basis and use armoured MI-17+ to deploy forces for quick operations. The two-pronged strategy supplemented by central and state police forces on the ground is expected to be used in a big way post-monsoon to make forward thrust deep inside the Maoist territory where security forces suffer heavy losses because of unknown terrain. Three Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles will take off from the Begumpet airport in Hyderabad in the first week of August and take trial flights over the vast expanse of Dandakaranya forest and beyond. The trial flights by the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) on clear sky days will help fine tune the response time of security forces against a Maoist build up by supplying real time imagery of the terrain. "They are being fitted with night vision and thermal devices to counter Maoist offensive at any time. Though their ability can reduce sharply because of dense foliage, we hope they can at least tell of a big movement," sources said. Having a range of 800 km, Herons can fly clandestinely between a few hundred feet to 15,000 feet and supply very clear video feeds and images of movements on their flight path. Eager to tackle the Maoists at the earliest, who are desperate to expand their area of operations after being hit badly at the top level, the Union home ministry hopes that the six wet-leased armoured M-17 plus choppers will start operations by September end or the first week of October. By positioning them strategically in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Gadhchiroli in Maharashtra, the Centre wants to cut their response time to less than an hour in times of exigencies, the sources said. The Maoists, according to the Centre's anti-Naxal think tank, are lying low for the time being because of suffering setbacks at the leadership level but are planning big offensives soon. Following an aggressive policy against the Naxal leadership with the help of Andhra Pradesh's special intelligence cell and other state polices, the Centre has managed to arrest 7 of the 14 CPI (Maoist) polit bureau members. Besides, 11 members of their Central Committee are also in judicial custody. Officials expect the Maoists to change their strategy once they face the new weapons and want the states to implement the scheme of 400 fortified police stations at the earliest. "We have already cleared proposals for over 300 police stations. Unless the states implement it on the ground, the UAVs and choppers will not be of much help," said sources.   |
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