| People pledged to make Bihar better Posted: 24 Mar 2011 06:06 PM PDT  PATNA: With a raised right hand and a two-minute pledge, more and more people on Wednesday shared something in common on the occasion of three-dayBihar Diwas celebrations. They all joined a club of responsible citizens who took oath to make their state more beautiful and a much better place to live in.
Thousands thronged the stall set up by the state human resource department “Aao Shapath Lein”, where a list of 99 oaths were put up for the people of all age groups. Unicef, too, has extended its support to the stall. The unending queue for taking these oaths only indicated the enthusiasm and joy of common Bihari masses to witness a changing Bihar. “It is a proud day for all Biharis. I work in Dubai and was here on a vacation for a week only. But when I came to know of the Bihar Diwas celebrations, I extended my stay. There is nothing better than to be a Bihari now. We are all proud Biharis. We are proud to have worked hard to change the image of the state too. May God bless everyone and congratulations to our worthy chief minister. I take a solemn vow to make this state more beautiful,” said Sudhir Singh, a resident of Patna. “I will help the hungry and helpless, I will help my neighbours, I will give respect to the elders, I will help to encourage communal harmony, I will not keep child labourers in my home, I will not go for any gender discrimination, I will oppose dowry system….” these oaths were taken by a Class X student Amit Kumar. “It is indeed amazing to see people of all ages waiting patiently for their turn to be photographed with a colorful document mentioning the 99 oaths. Over 5000 people have already taken oath to make Bihar more beautiful,” said coordinator Nalin Verma. On the colorful oath document is printed “shram, bhaichara and gyan, yehi hai asli Bihar ki pehchan (labour, brotherhood and knowledge, the identity of real Bihar).”
“What a wonderful omen for us on this momentous day,” said Yusuf Ali, a young man working inMumbai who is on a four-day visit to his home town for this festive occasion.
“I have a strong sense of patriotism and a love for this state. I take a pledge to encourage women education, respect women and respect teachers,” said another youth from Gaya, Navin Prakash, who is pursuing his BTech degree.
The list of 99oaths has been finalized keeping the 99th foundation day celebration of Bihar, said principal secretary, state HRD, Anjani Kumar Singh  Get growth and development stories of Bihar daily to your inbox  |
| Bihari cuisines most captivating in Bihar Diwas Posted: 24 Mar 2011 07:58 AM PDT PATNA: For Shankar Kishore Chaudhary, answering inquisitive queries about his products has become a way of life. And why not, for this herbal farmer from Hajipur in Vaishali district has been dishing out exotic sweet delicacies made of ‘ole’ (elephant foot yam) when everyone else traditionally associates the crop with chokha, chutney and achaar. “We have been preparing 56 different ‘ole’ items, which include ‘puri’, ‘bhujia’, ‘chhole’, ‘rasgulla’, ‘chyawanprash’, ‘icecream’, ‘halwa’, ‘peda’, etc,” said Chaudhary, in Patna for participating in the ‘Vyanjan Mela’ at Bihar Diwas celebrations in Gandhi Maidan. He has also received two national level awards in farming. His biggest reward, however, came in January 2010 when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had a taste of the ‘ole’ kheer and lavished praises on him. In business since 1994, Chaudhary does farming on three hectares of land in Hajipur and has been exporting ‘ole’ seeds to states like UP, Goa, Haryana, Kerala and MP, among others. Besides he would soon be heading off to Kerala for imparting training on effective farming techniques to self-help groups there. Somewhat similar is the case of Sanjeev Kumar, a young organic farmer already given a national silver medal and a progressive farmer award. He has put up a cauliflower ‘kheer’ stall at the food festival. “We have been engaged in organic farming of cauliflower,” said Sanjeev, who also happens to be the secretary of Annadata Farmers’ Club, which has around 25 active members. Their Rajendra-Chakwara variety of cauliflower (named after Rajendra Prasad Agricultural University and Chakwara village) is to be released by the state government in 2012 and the process to patent this variety is already on, he said. Some like Sanjay Lal of the ‘Silao Ka Khaaja’ stall have been into the preparation of Bihari delicacies since ages. “My shop at Silao, called Shri Kali Sah, is more than 100 years old. We have been into the ‘khaaja’ business since the time of my great grandfather,” he said He too, like many of the distinguished stall-owners at the ‘Vyanjan Mela’, has many awards to his name, one of them being the Sagar Mahotsava award he received in Mauritius. Lal reminisced about the time when former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, had tasted and appreciated his ‘khaaja’ made with pure ghee. “Much before that, I used to send sugar-free ‘khaaja’ made of ‘gur chashni’ on special demand to former PM Morarji Desai,” he reveals after some prodding. The Bihar CM too, supposedly, loves his ‘khaaja’, a bulk of which is bought by visiting NRIs and foreigners to be taken back to their respective countries. The next step for Lal is setting up his own ‘khaaja’ plant in Silao, the registration process of which is already complete. Swastik Sattu, a homegrown company, too, has its presence at the food festival, and a heavy rush is seen throughout the day at the stall. “Besides being tasty, ‘sattu’ also has many medicinal properties and negative side-effects, unlike junk food,” said Ramesh Agrawal, MD of Swastik Sattu. They have recently launched Swastik Gold Tea, a product packed and branded exclusively in Bihar. Visitors have been feasting on ‘balushahi’ at Suraj Kumar’s stall. All of 19, Suraj is looking after his family business with vigour and dreams of taking it places. Others, like Mahesh Kumar Singh, have been exporting their product – ‘laai’ from Barh – to countries like Mauritius. Looks like the CM’s vision of putting a Bihari food product on the dining table of every household in the country is inching closer to its realisation, what with the Bihari cuisine finally coming into its own at the ‘Vyanjan Mela’.  Get growth and development stories of Bihar daily to your inbox  |
| Today’s Bihar to be showcased in a film Posted: 24 Mar 2011 03:58 AM PDT PATNA: As part of a medley of events to showcase the Bihari spirit of enterprise and endurance on the occasion of Bihar Diwas celebrations to commemorate the 99th foundation day of the state, a Bhojpuri film festival with some rare films is currently going on. Eight Bhojpuri films spanning five decades of cinematic story-telling. are being screened at a local theatre during the festival. Among them is Deswa, a film by young Bihari film-maker, Nitin Chandra, which is awaiting theatre release. With impressive films like ‘Ganga Maiya Tohre Peeyari Chadhabou’, ‘Dangal’ and ‘Bidesia’, Bihar has much to offer. Besides, there is a huge, local talent bank waiting for an opportunity to do more relevant, meaningful and entertaining Bhojpuri films. However, it is hard to select a Bhojpuri film in sync with the Bihar of today and its aspirations. In this backdrop, a young producer-director, Nitin Chandra, has boldly deviated from the norm of making a ‘formula’ film in his debut work and scripted ‘Deswa’, building on the young Bihari aspirations and the changing dynamics in the state. Deswa has been shot entirely in Bihar. It has dominant presence of local talent and has given a platform to young Bihari actors working locally, who share the screen with Bollywood actors like Ashish Vidyarthi in the movie. “Deswa is an attempt to bring back the pride and the reality of modern Bihar, as it struggles to shed its backward image,” says Nitin. “It was overwhelming to see the positive response Deswa received at some of the film festivals. People were quite amazed to see that Bihar is not just about poverty, migrant labours and social backwardness. They were surprised to know that shooting in Bihar is a real possibility and makes for excellent frames! My movie is shot in my hometown of Buxar and also in Patna. I wanted the audience to see the real Bihar in a Bhojpuri film,” comments Nitin.  Get growth and development stories of Bihar daily to your inbox  |
| Bihar Diwas hosted Carnival for Children Posted: 23 Mar 2011 11:54 PM PDT PATNA: During the celebrations of Bihar Diwas, the state capital hosted a carnival for children, thanks to Theatre in Education (TIE)/Sanskar Rang Toli, the special performing wing of National School of Drama ( NSD), New Delhi, which has been invited by Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhawan. TIE performed at Kalidas Rangalaya on March 22 and March 23, and will also be staging plays in different schools of the city with its team of 38 members, including 15 artists, till March 30. These performances are for children above eight years, said Veena, technical co-ordinator, TIE, to TOI. The group has come to the city with two of its most popular children’s drama productions – ‘Kitabon Mein Halchal’, adapted and directed by Abdul Latif Khatana and ‘Adal-Badal’, based on a fairytale ‘The Changeling’ adapted and directed by KG.Krishnamurthy, conveying the message that offsprings of all creatures should be treated with motherly affection. Assistant director and an artist of the drama group, Kuldeep Singh, told TOI that they had also performed ‘Kitabon Mein Halchal’ at an international theatre festival held in Japan in 2007. The group has also performed in China, Japan and Philippines. After the Bihar Diwas celebrations are over, the group will give four performances at a school in Shastri Nagar on March 25 and two at Patna Collegiate School on March 29. TIE group also includes two members from Bihar, Manoj Kumar and Rana Santosh Kamal, who were closely related to theatres of Bihar a year back. Several artists in this team are from Kerala, Uttaranchal, Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. They will also provide a one-day training and hold an interaction workshop with the students of Kilkari.  Get growth and development stories of Bihar daily to your inbox  |
| Classical tones heard at Bihar Diwas Posted: 23 Mar 2011 09:54 PM PDT  PATNA: Celebrated flutist and Padma Vibhushan awardee, Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia masterfully blew different tones of classical music through his flute during a performance at S K Memorial Hall here on Wednesday, held as part of the Bihar Diwascelebrations.
The septuagenarian flutist once again demonstrated that he is rightly considered an innovator and also a traditionalist. He challenged the expressive frontiers of the flute through his innovative and masterful blowing skills. Chaurasia, who came to Bihar after two years, said he was more than thrilled to be here. “I am very happy to be here. Bihar is scaling new heights of development and progress. This turnaround has thrown open new avenues of opportunities for both the established and the struggling artists,” he said. “A cultural celebration at such a mega scale is rare in India. It seems as if the entire Bihar is diving deep into the sea of music,” he added. Chaurasia, who has also composed music for several Hindi films, expressed happiness y over the overwhelming response to a series of cultural events being organised on the occasion of Bihar Diwas. Celebrated ghazal singer Bhupinder Singh and his wife Mitali Singh also mesmerized the packed audience at the S K Memorial Hall on Wednesday evening. “It is for the first time in my life that I am witnessing musical festival on such a grand scale. I had not imagined that a magnificent music festival like this will take place in India and that, too, in Bihar,” the singer said. “Now musical concerts are filled with women till late into night. Such a thing was unimaginable some years ago,” he stated, adding, “I have performed before diverse audience but I rarely find audience in other states as attentive as in Bihar.” Bhupinder and wife Mitali added: “The new system of governance has boosted musical talent in the state. Bhojpuri films production in the state has also significantly improved in quality.” Noted Hindustani classical guitar player Kamala Shankar left the audience spellbound at the Indira Gandhi planetarium here. Music lovers tapped their feet in appreciation as she beautifully stroked strained strings with her delicate fingers to produce mellifluous music. Audience rose in their seats in applause after the performance of celebrated classical music vocalist of Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, Ashwini Raja Bhide Deshpande. Classical singer Pandit Shyam Das Mishra and other noted artists also performed at the LN Mishra Institute auditorium till late evening.  Get growth and development stories of Bihar daily to your inbox  |
| Bihar diwas showcases 213 child artists stage plays Posted: 23 Mar 2011 07:47 PM PDT PATNA: As many as 213 child artists from all overIndia are performing nukkad natak ( street plays) and various other plays during the celebration of Bihar Diwas at a three-day ‘Rashtriya Bal Rang Mahotsava’ being organised by Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhawan at Kalidas Rangalaya here. This Mahotsava is also a tribute to Rekha Jain, a veteran of children’s theatre who passed away recently. Altogether 12 teams from all over India have come here to give performances. Of them, nine teams comprising 137 child artists are from Bihar. Four teams are from Delhi, Assam and Haryana with 76 child artists. On the last day of this Mahotsav on Thursday, Shilpkanan theatre group of Assam will perform ‘Prem Bin Nahi Dharm Aana’, Dharohar group from Haryana will perform ‘Bobby Breaker’ and Khilona of New Delhi will stage its drama ‘The Clowns Cry For The Moon’. The theatre groups of Patna, including Naunihal, Akshara Arts, Sargam Arts and Raag will present nukkad natak. On the first two days of the Mahotsav, Theatre in Education (TIE)/ Sanskar Rang Toli, a wing of National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, and various other theatre groups of Bihar, including Panchkoshi from Saharsa, Modern Theatre Foundation of Begusarai, Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhawan of Patna, HMT of Patna, Safarmaina of Patna and Praveen Sanskritik Manch, Patna gave their performances.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/213-child-artists-stage-plays/articleshow/7773650.cms  Get growth and development stories of Bihar daily to your inbox  |
PATNA: Chief minister Nitish Kumar has declined the offer of Patna University (PU) to confer upon him an honorary doctorate degree at the annual convocation scheduled for March 28. The PU syndicate had decided to award the degree to Nitish in view of his valuable contribution to the development of Bihar.
