Friday, 16 March 2012

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

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

Bihar Diwas Celebrations kick-started in New Delhi

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:15 PM PDT

Bihar Diwas Celebrations 2012For any other state  in India, it may be unusual  to celebrate its Birthday, but when it comes to Bihar, people are more enthusiastic and much proud to celebrate  and mark its creation as a separate state as Bihar Diwas.  This trend started in 2007 after Nitish Kumar came into the power. What marks this year’s Bihar Diwas  special is that  Bihar was created in 1912 and  it completes  its 100 years on March 22 this year.

This time  a 15 Day long function starting from today, has been organized at Dilli Haat New Delhi where  Bihari culture, tradition, heritage, cuisine, handicrafts etc. would be at display.  Over 40 stalls comprising Bihari handicrafts, clothes and other items are at display. The natural beauty and tourist places are exhibited. The famous Bhagalpuri silk, Mithila paintings, materials of sikki goods, stone carved elephants of Bhabua, terracotta, jute jewellery and tikuli items as well as handmade bedsheets are also be exhibited. Bihari cuisine are also available for visitors. Cultural programme will be organised in the evening from 22nd March to 27th March in which Bihar's traditional folk songs and dance will be presented. Folk songs and dances of the State in Bhojpuri, Maghi and Maithili will be available for audience to enjoy.

Government has taken this opportunity to revamp the glory of Bihar  and that’s why a majority of celebrations take place outside Bihar.  This yearly celebration marks a call to Bihari Diaspora and unites 3 million people of Bihar under a bond of uniqueness and pride.

 

Four Films to be broadcasted worldwide to mark Bihar Diwas 2012

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:50 PM PDT

Bihar Government  has taken  a leap forward towards Centenary Bihar Celebration by broadcasting  Four Promo films related to the pride of Bihar, in Cinema Halls and Television Channels. Additionally these films would be shown in schools , colleges and Panchayats

The four films are of one minute each and have songs by  famous folk singer Sharada Sinha glorifying the pride of Bihar.

These  will be broadcasted in all districts till March 31st when the Bihar Centenary Celebrations will come to an End

Marking 100 years of  Bihar’s Birthday these events are being organized at several places in and outside India including Dubai, Qatar, Trinidad, Mauritius etc.

Bihar Utsav is being organized at Dilli Haat in New Delhi. It started today  and would continue till March 31st. During this period, the rich culture, tradition, heritage and handicrafts would be showcased.

A Centenary Car Rally would be  also be flagged off  in Delhi on March 22.

 

 

 

Google Controls over 3 percent of India’s GDP

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 08:35 AM PDT

3 percent of India’s Gross Domestic Product is due to Internet and is directly or indirectly controlled by Google.
Head of Google India, Rajan Anandan said  that despite the underdeveloped internet infrastructure in India, “3.2 percent of the GDP  of India is due to Internet”. He was speaking today at the India Today Conclave,

Anandan was speaking at a session titled ‘Who will win the web’. With him was Kirthiga Reddy, country head for Facebook. The two internet giants are in competition to dominate internet.

Hailing the consumers as the ultimate winners of the internet wars, Anandan said it was futile to argue which company would emerge the winner in an environment where “there are new players every five years”.

According to Anandan, mobile internet, video content, social networking and e-commerce were the four biggest trends in the digital world, especially in India.

“I expect mobile internet users to cross the 1 billion mark in four years, out of which 200 million will be from India.”

Earlier, Reddy showcased how Facebook, and social networking in general, was changing the way how people communicate.

“Examples such as Saavn, an online music site, and closer home, Delhi Traffic Police, that have been able to tap into the power of social networking, have grown exponentially,” she said.

Both Delhi Traffic Police and Saavn use Facebook to target and interact with people.

Union Budget 2012 – A detailed Review

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 06:52 AM PDT

It has made all the right noises about the need to reform and prune subsidies, and even extends incentives to tax payers. But without targets, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s 7th union budget remains a manuscript of good intentions for the Indian economy.

Yes, each of India’s 35 million tax payers stands to gain at least Rs.2,000 ($40) annually and some among them will benefit from the revision in income tax slabs. Many also stand to profit from the new scheme that provides incentives on investment in equities.

But all these minor gains get wiped out by the hike of 2 percentage points in virtually every service, as also the revision in the standard excise duty rate from 10 percent to 12 percent, which Mukherjee proposes in the budget tabled in the Lok Sabha Friday.

That leaves one to turn to the other aspects of the budget — fiscal consolidation, how to nurse the economy back into shape, lower the subsidy bill and kick-start the reforms programme that seems to lie in state for quite some time now.

Here, the budget is full of just promises. Mukherjee himself says there is need to “bite the bullet” but does not actually do so in a clear sign that his Congress paty has been unable to convince the allies within the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

In fact, there were great expectations, not just because the UPA’s second stint is well past the mid-way mark of its tenure, but also since this national budget will run co-terminus with the first year of the country’s 12th Five Year Plan.

The Economic Survey, authored by finance ministry’s Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu, and the monetary policy review of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had also prescribed a host of measures to ensure high growth for the Indian economy. But there appears to be little action on them.

There is no timeline for introducing a pan-India goods and services tax and direct tax code. There is only a reiteration of intention to introduce bills to open up pension, insurance and banking sectors. On black money, he just promises a white paper.

Even on subjects like allowing foreign airlines to particpate in the domestic aviation sector and overseas capital into multi-brand retailing, there is the same, all-familiar line: The government is trying to build consensus among difficult and ideologically incompatible allies and decision will be taken soon.

So when the Sensex fell 200 points Friday, it was no surprise.

Let us also look at fiscal consolidation. At 5.1 percent of gross domestic product, the fiscal deficit is alarmingly high. While Mukherjee argues it is lower than the revised estimate of 5.9 percent for this fiscal, it is well above 4.6 percent projected earlier.

But there are, indeed, positive sides to the budget, especially on the issue of helping the corporate sector raise funds at competitive rates globally, higher allocations for infrastructure development and social sectors, and an affirmation on pruning subsidies.

The finance minister also says the subsidy bill will be brought down to 2 percent of GDP and further down to 1.75 percent over the next three years, while also promising direct transfer of food, fertiliser and fuel doles to the intended beneficiaries.

Yet, given his own initial assessment that the Indian economy was clearly on the road of recovery with growth pegged at 7.6 percent for the next fiscal, and that inflation would be lower next year, one expected much, much more from the $300-billion budget.

“Whether or not today’s announcements make tomorrow morning’s headlines matters little, as long as they help in shaping the headlines that describe India a decade from now,” the finance minister said in conclusion of his 110-minute speech.

Perhaps, as a veteran of seven budgets, Mukherjee knew how the news will be played out. On that count, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi was better off. With a fare hike, he did what others did not dare for past 10 years — knowing well he was going to lose his job.

List of 100 Centuries made by Sachin Tendulkar

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:47 AM PDT

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored his elusive 100th international tonne on Friday, against Bangladesh in the fourth match of the Asia Cup at Mirpur. Interestingly it was his 49th ODI Century but first ODI Century against Bangladesh.
As a token of respect to the legend, we present the list of Centuries made by him till date.

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Sl noScoreAgainstFormatGroundDate
1119*EnglandTestManchester9-Aug-90
2148*AustraliaTestSydney2-Jan-92
3114  AustraliaTestPerth1-Feb-92
4111  South AfricaTestJohannesburg26-Nov-92
5165  EnglandTestChennai11-Feb-93
6104*Sri LankaTestColombo (SSC)27-Jul-93
7142  Sri LankaTestLucknow18-Jan-94
8110  AustraliaODIColombo (RPS)9-Sep-94
9115  New ZealandODIBaroda28-Oct-94
10105  West IndiesODIJaipur11-Nov-94
11179  West IndiesTestNagpur1-Dec-94
12112*Sri LankaODISharjah9-Apr-95
13127*KenyaODICuttack18-Feb-96
14137  Sri LankaODIDelhi2-Mar-96
15100  PakistanODISingapore5-Apr-96
16118  PakistanODISharjah15-Apr-96
17122  EnglandTestBirmingham6-Jun-96
18177  EnglandTestNottingham4-Jul-96
19110  Sri LankaODIColombo (RPS)28-Aug-96
20114  South AfricaODIMumbai14-Dec-96
21169  South AfricaTestCape Town2-Jan-97
22104  ZimbabweODIBenoni9-Feb-97
23117  New ZealandODIBangalore14-May-97
24143  Sri LankaTestColombo (RPS)2-Aug-97
25139  Sri LankaTestColombo (SSC)9-Aug-97
26148  Sri LankaTestMumbai3-Dec-97
27155*AustraliaTestChennai6-Mar-98
28177  AustraliaTestBangalore25-Mar-98
29100  AustraliaODIKanpur7-Apr-98
30143  AustraliaODISharjah22-Apr-98
31134  AustraliaODISharjah24-Apr-98
32100*KenyaODIKolkata31-May-98
33128  Sri LankaODIColombo (RPS)7-Jul-98
34127*ZimbabweODIBulawayo26-Sep-98
35141  AustraliaODIDhaka28-Oct-98
36118*ZimbabweODISharjah8-Nov-98
37124*ZimbabweODISharjah13-Nov-98
38113  New ZealandTestWellington26-Dec-98
39136  PakistanTestChennai28-Jan-99
40124*Sri LankaTestColombo (SSC)24-Feb-99
41140*KenyaODIBristol23-May-99
42120  Sri LankaODIColombo (SSC)29-Aug-99
43126*New ZealandTestMohali10-Oct-99
44217  New ZealandTestAhmedabad29-Oct-99
45186*New ZealandODIHyderabad8-Nov-99
46116  AustraliaTestMelbourne26-Dec-99
47122  South AfricaODIBaroda17-Mar-00
48101  Sri LankaODISharjah20-Oct-00
49122  ZimbabweTestDelhi18-Nov-00
50201*ZimbabweTestNagpur25-Nov-00
51146  ZimbabweODIJodhpur8-Dec-00
52126  AustraliaTestChennai18-Mar-01
53139  AustraliaODIIndore31-Mar-01
54122*West IndiesODIHarare4-Jul-01
55101  South AfricaODIJohannesburg5-Oct-01
56146  KenyaODIPaarl24-Oct-01
57155  South AfricaTestBloemfontein3-Nov-01
58103  EnglandTestAhmedabad11-Dec-01
59176  ZimbabweTestNagpur21-Feb-02
60117  West IndiesTestPort of Spain19-Apr-02
61105*EnglandODIChester-le-Street4-Jul-02
62113  Sri LankaODIBristol11-Jul-02
63193  EnglandTestLeeds22-Aug-02
64176  West IndiesTestKolkata30-Oct-02
65152  NamibiaODIPietermaritzburg23-Feb-03
66100  AustraliaODIGwalior26-Oct-03
67102  New ZealandODIHyderabad15-Nov-03
68241*AustraliaTestSydney2-Jan-04
69141  PakistanODIRawalpindi16-Mar-04
70194*PakistanTestMultan28-Mar-04
71248*BangladeshTestDhaka10-Dec-04
72123  PakistanODIAhmedabad12-Apr-05
73109  Sri LankaTestDelhi10-Dec-05
74100 PakistanODIPeshawar6-Feb-06
75141*West IndiesODIKuala Lumpur14-Sep-06
76100*West IndiesODIBaroda31-Jan-07
77101  BangladeshTestChittagong18-May-07
78122*BangladeshTestDhaka25-May-07
79154*AustraliaTestSydney2-Jan-08
80153  AustraliaTestAdelaide24-Jan-08
81117*AustraliaODISydney2-Mar-08
82109  AustraliaTestNagpur6-Nov-08
83103*EnglandTestChennai11-Dec-08
84163*New ZealandODIChristchurch8-Mar-09
85160  New ZealandTestHamilton18-Mar-09
86138  Sri LankaODIColombo (RPS)14-Sep-09
87175  AustraliaODIHyderabad5-Nov-09
88100*Sri LankaTestAhmedabad16-Nov-09
89105*BangladeshTestChittagong17-Jan-10
90143  BangladeshTestDhaka24-Jan-10
91100  South AfricaTestNagpur6-Feb-10
92106  South AfricaTestKolkata14-Feb-10
93200*South AfricaODIGwalior24-Feb-10
94203  Sri LankaTestColombo (SSC)26-Jul-10
95214  AustraliaTestBangalore9-Oct-10
96111*South AfricaTestCenturion16-Dec-10
97146  South AfricaTestCape Town2-Jan-11
98120  EnglandODIBangalore27-Feb-11
99111  South AfricaODINagpur12-Mar-11
100114BangaldeshODIMirpur16-Mar-12

Sachin knocks his 100th ODI Tonne

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 04:20 AM PDT

Sachin TendulkarSachin finally got his 100th ton against Bangladesh in the ongoing Asia Cup.

Tendulkar took 138 balls to reach the milestone which had eluded him more than a year. His 99th hundred came on March 12 against South Africa during the World Cup.

 The series in England where we hoped for the elusive 100, the test Match in Kolkata where he almost got it and the Australia series where every Sachin fan was praying hard.
Hi scored first Test century in 1991 at Manchester against England while hit his maiden ODI tonne against Australia at Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Saif – Kareena to tie knots by 2012 end

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:48 AM PDT

saif_ali_khanBollywood actress Kareena Kapoor Friday said she hopes to settle down with beau Saif Ali Khan and become the ‘Begum of Pataudi’ by the “end of this year”.

“Hopefully, by the end of this year,” Kareena said at the India Today Conclave 2012 here, following a question about her D-day.

“I am working on ‘Heroine’ and I need to finish the film first. But we’re not going to announce the date yet. I don’t understand why the entire nation is in a hurry to make me the Begum of Pataudi. There’s no rush. Obviously people have to be patient,” she added.

The 31-year-old has been romantically with Saif, 10 years her senior, since 2007.

Saif was anointed the 10th Nawab of Pataudi in 2011, after his father, Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi’s death.

Mobile Bills to rise following service tax hike

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 03:40 AM PDT

Bills for mobile phones are expected to rise following a two percent hike in service tax, Bharti Airtel said Friday.

“Service tax gos up from 10 to 12 percent and obviously that will be passed on to the customers,” Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

He also said that the budget didn’t contain anything specific for the telecom sector, which is awaiting the new National Telecom Policy (NTP) scheduled to be announced in June.

“On an overall basis, there is nothing that changes the fortunes of the telecom company. They have got more on stake on the telecom policy per se which we are expecting to follow the budget.”

The new NTP is expected to do away with roaming charges and implement one nation full mobile number portability (MNP), besides providing telecom the status of an infrastructure sector, which will help ease credit flows to companies for funding rollout plans or expansion activities.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday proposed to raise the service tax to 12 percent from the existing 10 percent while presenting the budget for 2012-13, adding that a few essential services such as education will be exempted from the service tax.

Mittal also said that the telecom sector was already being heavily taxed on an overall consumption perspective.

“About 30 percent of what customers pays to a telecom company goes in some sort of taxation or the other and I am not talking about indirect taxation which is income tax,” Mittal said.

“Now when you increase the service service tax it is obviously a further enhancement of those levies for the industry,” he added.

Highlights of Union Budget 2012

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:08 AM PDT

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is presenting his 7th Federal Budget in the parliament. He started with, “Madam Speaker Sir, I rise to present the Union Budget 2012-13″. Below are the highlights of the Union Budget, updated frequently

  •  Income tax to be levied at 10% for individuals with income from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, 20% for individuals with income from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and 30% for individuals with income of Rs 10 lakh and above
  • Deduction of up to Rs.10,000 from interest from savings bank accounts.
  • No change in corporate taxes but measures to enable them better access funds
  • Witholding tax on external commercial borrowings reduced from 20 percent to five percent for power, airlines, roads, bridges, affordable houses and fertiliser sectors.
  • Defence to get Rs.1.93 lakh crore during 2012-13.
  • National Skill Development Fund allocated Rs.1,000 crore.
  • Four thousand residential quarters to be constructed for paramilitary forces with an allocation of Rs.1,185 crore.
  • National Population Register to be completed in two years.
  • Number of proactive steps taken on black money (stashed away abroad); information has started flowing in, prosecution to be initiated; White Paper in current session.
  • Allocation of Rs.200 crore for research on climate change.
  • Irrigation and water resource company to be operationalized.
  • National mission on food processing to be started in cooperation with state governments.
  • Integrated Child Development Scheme to be strengthened and restructured with allocation of Rs.15,850 crore.
  • Allocation of Rs.14,000 crore for rural water supply and sanitation.
  • Infusion of Rs.15,888 crore in public sector banks, regional rural banks and NABARD in 2012-13.
  • Infrastructure will require Rs.50 lakh crore in 12th Plan, half of this from the private sector.
  • Completion of highway projects 44 percent higher than in previous fiscal.
  • External commercial borrowing of up to $1 billion permitted for airline sector.
  • External commercial borrowing permitted to low-cost housing sector.
  • From 2012-13, full subsidies for providing food security; in other sectors to the extent the economy can bear this.
  • Hope to raise Rs.30,000 crore from disinvestments.
  • New equity savings scheme to provide for income tax deduction of 50 percent for those who invest Rs.50,000 in equity and whose annual income is less than Rs.10 lakh.
  • Corporate market reforms to be initiated.
  • Bills on micro-finance institutions, national land bank and public debt management among those to be introduced in 2012-13.
  • Personal income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 2 lakh for individual tax payers
  • Duty on luxury cars hiked to 27 per cent b
  • To introduce Rajiv Gandhi Equity Scheme
  • Qualified foreign investors will enter bond market 
  • Direct cash subsidy to be given for oil and kerosene
  • Propose Rs 60,000 crore for infrastructure development 
  • Fiscal 2011-12 year of recovery interrupted; reality turned out to be different.
  • Efforts will be targeted at leakage proof availability of subsidies
  • Average crude price likely to exceed 115 dollars per barrel in 2012 
  • Subsidies to be under 2% of GDP
  •  Rs 30,000 crore to be raised by disinvestment
  • India’s GDP growth in 2012-13 expected at 7.6% 
  • Agriculture and services continue to perform well and slowdown can be attributed to slow manufacturing industry
  • Current account deficit to be 3.6%

India hikes its military budget by 17 percent

Posted: 16 Mar 2012 02:07 AM PDT

indian armyTo give a further push to its rapid military modernization, India Friday hiked its military spending by over 17 percent to Rs.1,93,407 crore (over $42 billion/Rs.1.93 trillion).

In real terms, this increase amounts to Rs.28,992 crore ($6.5 billion) in the total outlay for defence for 2012-13 compared to Rs.1,64,415 crore ($36 billion) for the previous year (2011-12).

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, presenting the general budget for the next fiscal in the Lok Sabha, said this allocation was based on the present needs projected by the defence ministry and that further needs for national security would be met.

He also announced a raise in the capital expenditure of the armed forces to Rs.79,579 crore ($17.5 billion), a 15.7 percent hike from last year’s capital allocation of Rs.69,199 crore ($15 billion).

The capital expenditure will go towards new procurement of weapons and systems, and towards committed liability in the form of payments for contracts already signed in the previous years.

India is on the verge of signing a whopping $20 billion contract for 126 Rafale medium multirole combat aircraft, apart from a $600 million deal for 75 Pilatus PC-7 basic trainer for its air force.

It has already signed contracts for 10 C-17s transport planes and upgrade of 51 Mirage-2000 combat jets in 2011.

It also has 49 warships on order with several shipyards, of which 40 are with Indian shipyards.

Several artillery purchases for its army are also due. In particular, the proposal to buy 145 ultralight howitzers from the US under a government-to-government sale is also progressing.
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