1 fcgkj The land of enlightenment At the inauguration ceremony CM Nitish Kumar said that he would carry Bapu s ideas to every home. Speaking in front of a large number of Gandhian thinkers he expressed concerns over current situation in the country and said that the nation will not accept unilateral dialogue.the people of the country will decide which path is right one. CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA ISSUE On the completion of 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagraha, its centenary celebration was organised in Bihar, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Besides President Pranab Mukherjee and CM Nitish Kumar, many well-known Gandhian thinkers participated in various programmes organised on this occasion. During the centenary celebrations freedom fighters were honoured in Patna. The celebrations were termed as the biggest ever by Kumar Prashant, chairman of the New Delhi based Gandhi Peace Foundation. At the inauguration ceremony CM Nitish Kumar said that he would carry Bapu s ideas to every home. Speaking in front of a large number of Gandhian thinkers he expressed concerns over current situation in the country and said that the nation will not accept unilateral dialogue.the people of the country will decide which path is right one. The Chief Minister urged the Gandhian thinkers to deliberate and tell the people what would be the agenda for the country. He said that the environment should also be discussed. Nitish Kumar said that in this centenary year of Champaran Satyagraha, his government will go to every home in the state with Gandhian ideas. Films based on Bapu s thoughts will be shown in the villages. Even if 10 percent of the youths take Gandhian ideas to their hearts the society will change immensely within 10 to 15 years. The CM said that Gandhi Ji s ideas remained our guiding principles. We do not just talk about progress, but are on path of progress with justice. Mahatma Gandhi s grand-daughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee too was present at the event. He termed prohibition as the biggest tribute to Bapu in the centenary year. It is noteworthy that the preparation for the centenary celebrations of the Champaran Satyagraha was going on for the past three months. To make the celebrations memorable the CM was himself monitoring the preparedness. Various programmes based on Gandhian ideas will be organised during the centenary year, and the celebrations will be concluded next year. To celebrate the centenary year, for next one year story on Gandhi s life will be recited daily in schools after morning prayers. There are 50 stories collected for this recitation exercise. Get in touch Tel. +91-612-2547371 email:info@biharfoundation.in Web: http://www.biharfoundation.in
2 Contents 01 Champaran Satyagraha Issue 04 The house where Gandhi ji stayed will be traced 04 04 NIFT Patna s blue tribute to Champaran SATYAGRAHA After liquor prohibition, now campaign against child marriage and dowry 05 Gandhi panorama film festival organised 05 60 more seats at Chandragupt Institute 05 Special Campaign to raise literacy rate among women 06 Palm tree juice to become a brand after Maldah mango, Shahi litchi 06 Patna Metropolitan City on lines of Navi Mumbai and Pune 06 100 years of Patna Museum 07 Special attractions for children at Srikrishna Science Centre 07 First Dolby Atmos screen in Bihar 08 Some important decisions
3 Editorial The people associated with Bihar Foundation were planning to launch a monthly newsletter since a long time, which could provide a factual account of that month s positive activities in Bihar; an account, which could encourage them to be emotionally attached to the social-cultural and economic mainstream of Bihar. At the same time, it is a natural feeling for any immigrant to be attached to ones roots and heritage. The mainstream media, because of its inherent characteristics, is unable to highlight those points to the nonresident Biharis, which would make them feel very proud of their heritage. Even though, there is no dearth of such initiatives, every day, every week and every month in Bihar, what is required is to preserve such efforts. Bihar Foundation took this step around two years back through social media. This newsletter was the second important step taken in the same direction. It helped nonresident Biharis to connect to each other, to their roots and to the positive energy flowing in Bihar. The third and the most critical of these steps is to also write about its soft power - language, art, music, painting, food and such binding constituents - in an e-magazine so that people develop self pride and a stronger sense of identity. All these 3 steps - would help all non-resident Biharis to become brand ambassadors of Bihar, wherever they are. - Dr S. Siddharth, IAS Chief Executive Officer, Bihar Foundation
4 THE HOUSE WHERE GANDHI JI STAYED WILL BE TRACED The Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the government will trace the house where Gandhi ji stayed. The CM said that the house is a heritage for us, and so it would be developed as a living museum. The government will renovate the house. Nitish Kumar was speaking on the occasion of golden jubilee of Gandhi Museum. During the programme the CM released four books published by Bihar State Archives Directorate for Chmparan Satyagraha year celebrations. One of the four newly published books is Writings and Speeches of Mahatma Gandhi Relating to Bihar. This book was first published in 1960. Now it got reprinted. The second book being reprinted is Gandhi ji in Bihar. This was first published in 1969 by Bihar State Archives Directorate. The third book is Records of the Visit of Mahatma Gandhi in Bihar in Different Phases. Gandhi ji visited Bihar many a times after 1917. The fourth book is a Bihar centered Gandhi pictorial. NIFT PATNA S BLUE TRIBUTE TO CHAMPARAN SATYAGRAHA By remembering Chmparan Satyagraha one also thinks of indigo and indigo farmers. National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Patna has paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of the Champaran Satyagraha centenary celebrations. In an exhibition organised by the NIFT the historic journey of indigo so far and its other aspects were shown. In the exhibition, clothes designed by the students too were presented. Clothes with different shades of blue have drawn attention of the visitors. AFTER LIQUOR PROHIBITION, NOW CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHILD MARRIAGE AND DOWRY Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently said that Bihar had played an important role in freedom struggle and now the state would play a big role in social reforms. He said that Balika Cycle Yojna and total liquor prohibition have brought considerable changes in the society. The CM said that a big campaign against child marriage and other social evils would be initiated on a large scale which would establish a new image of Bihar. Speaking in a programme on the occasion of Veer Kunwar Singh Martyrdom Day the CM said that Bihar had played a crucial role in freedom struggle but this got ignored. During first freedom struggle of 1857 Veer Kuwar Singh of Bihar had provided the leadership and came out as a hero. The CM said that the good results of liquor prohibition are there to be seen and people have recognised the changes that came in the wake of prohibition. After distribution of bicycles among girls, the liquor prohibition is an extraordinary event which has brought positive changes in the society, and also changed people s views. The CM called for a vigorous campaign against child marriage and practice of dowry. He said that there would be a huge movement against these social evils and that would make Bihar a distinct Bihar. He said that laws are already there against child marriage and dowry but these social evils still continue. Nitish Kumar said that no major movement has yet taken place for social reforms in recent years. We should play our roles in social changes and take a pledge to work against social evils while keeping self-esteem and selfrespect. The CM said that only remembering great men is not enough and one should take lessons from their lives, and try to understand their ideas.
5 GANDHI PANORAMA FILM FESTIVAL ORGANISED Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently inaugurated Gandhi Panorama film festival and flagged off a Heritage Tour. The festival was curated by Bihar State Film Development and Finance Corporation Limited. The buses left the state capital Patna to pass through Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, West Champaran and places related to the Champaran Satyagraha. Gandhi Panaroma film festival will also be organised in Motihari, Betiah, Gaya, Hajipur and other places. Altogether 12 films will be screened during the festival. The first film screened during the festival was about Gandhi ji s childhood. The 11-minute film showed how Gandhi ji started to follow the path of truth and nonviolence in his life. 60 MORE SEATS AT CHANDRAGUPT INSTITUTE Patna based Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna (CIMP) will add 60 more seats for management courses. At present only 60 students get admission to the institute. The seat numbers will be increased to 120. CIMP is among dream projects of the CM Nitish Kumar. In a meeting in his chairmanship CIMP s governing body recently deliberated on increasing the seat numbers. During the meeting the CM has asked the institute to arrange scholarships for poor students. He also called for greater opportunities for students of Bihar for CIMP s courses. The first phase of building construction works for CIMP has already been completed. The works for the second phase are in progress. All students of CIMP courses have been getting good placements. SPECIAL CAMPAIGN TO RAISE LITERACY RATE AMONG WOMEN Soon state s 8000 Lok Shiksha Kendras will participate in a special campaign to raise literacy rate among women. Here women will get vocational training in tailoring and other skills along with learning to read and write. Also, they will be given training in speaking skills to ensure their effective participation in Panchayti Raj System. At every Lok Shiksha Kendra 10 to 15 women will be chosen for vocational training in tailoring. Priority will be given to newly literate women who are under 30 years of age. A fortnightly reading session will be organised to help women develope their communication skills. All the Lok Shiksha Kendra will have their own libraries so that newly literate women could get chance to read their favourite books.
6 PALM TREE JUICE TO BECOME A BRAND AFTER MALDAH MANGO, SHAHI LITCHI Bihar s Shahi litchi and Maldah mango are famous world over for its unique taste. Now a new agri-brand Neera will be made available to the people. From 1 st April Bihar Neera (unfermented juice of palms) Rules, 2017 has come into force. Now toddy collected at village level will be taken to a processing plant. There Neera and jaggery will be produced and sent to the market. Jeevika members will find job opportunities in this operation. For Neera production counting of palm, date and coconut trees has already been done. The Excise and Prohibition Department will manage these trees across the state for every financial year. Juice from these department managed trees will be taken to different plants for Neera and jaggery production. Plants for Neera production is being constructed in Vaishali, Bihar Sharif, Bhagalpur and Gaya. Like milk co-operative societies, self help groups of Jeevika will do the job of sending toddy to Neera factories. PATNA METROPOLITAN CITY ON LINES OF NAVI MUMBAI AND PUNE A plan to develop Patna in the lines of Navi Mumbai and Pune has been in progress. The Patna Metropolitan Committee has got its own office recently in Shashtri Nagar. Also, appointments of engineers and town planners have been done. A four-member team of the committee recently visited Kharghar of Navi Mumbai and Magarpatta of Pune. The team has reported its findings to Urban Development and Housing Department. The department will include this in a presentation to be shown in the presence of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It would be worth mentioning here that to ease the crowd pressure on Mumbai the Maharashtra Government created City and Industrial Corporation (CIDCO) in 1970. Then Navi Mumbai was developed in 344 square kilometer area with Kharghar and 13 other townships. The townships were connected with rail and road network. Wide roads were constructed too. Besides the areas served at present by Patna Municipal Corporation, the metropolitan city will include Fatuha, Maner, Naubatpur, Danapur and Bihta too. In the first phase many modern colonies too will be developed at several places. In the meantime, the decks have been cleared for a metro rail service in Patna and very soon it would become a reality. The government has already been issued the No Objection Certificate for the project. Although the proposed route of the metro rail got changed a little bit. Now, the first metro will run on the airport route. In the government prepared DPR the first phase of metro rail covered a stretch from Danapur to Mithapur via Bypasss, the High Court and Patna Junction railway station. The airport route was chosen for the second phase. The railways and the central Home Ministry have given clean chit to the metro project with some suggestions and conditions citing security concerns. The DPR for the project was prepared by RITES, a central government agency. The project is worth 17,000 crore rupees. In the first phase of the project a 14.5 km long track will be laid down connecting Danapur to Mithapur via Bypass, the High Court and Patna Junction. It will incorporate airport route too. In the second phase the metro rail will connect Patna Junction railway station to Gandhi Setu via Dak Bangla, Gandhi Maidan, Rajendra Nagar Terminal and Agam Kuan. This metro line will be 16 km long. In the third phase the metro rail will connect Mithapur s Bypass Chowk to Transport Nagar via Didarganj. This line will be 13 km long.. 100 YEARS OF PATNA MUSEUM A seminar and other events were organised in Patna to celebrate 100 years of Patna Museum. Many wellknown experts participated in the seminar to highlight the importance of artifacts kept in the museum. The museum also contains many rare manuscripts besides rare artifacts. On this occasion a speech competition was organised for children on the theme of Patna Museum through the eyes of children. Children in large numbers participated in the competition. Children, their parents and others gathered at the museum for the event were seen taking their photos with rare artifacts. A special painting exhibition too was arranged which was visited by thousands of people. The special thing about the exhibition was presentation of poetry along with paintings. A total of 17 artists participated in the exhibition.
SPECIAL ATTRACTIONS FOR CHILDREN AT SRIKRISHNA SCIENCE CENTRE Patna s Srikrishna Science Centre will expand its offerings for curious minds beyond the limits of Physics and Chemistry. To impart knowledge to young children a new gallery is being built. Here children will get knowledge while playing games. From a Doll House to a Doctor Clinic, there will many attractions in the new gallery, which will help children enhance their knowledge on general health issues. They will learn about healthy foods as well as harmful foods. There will be several fiber models of vegetables in the gallery which will display its benefits whenever a child will touch them. There will be an artificial park too in the gallery. This imitation park will have remote operated cars and bikes. Children will be able to move around the park in these toy vehicles. With the new gallery the science centre hopes to attract more young visitors. The historic Gandhi Maidan of the state capital too will soon get its own children s park. There will be dozens of sports related equipment in the park. The park will remain open from 5 am in the early morning till 8 pm in the evening. Altogether 200 children will be playing there at any given time. The Park is being constructed over a 10,000 sq. ft. area. There will be adequate lighting arrangements at the park, and also a high-mast lighting facility. The park will contain rides for children of every age group like- Jumbo Spring Duck, Duck Spring rider, Rocking Boast, Shark Spring rider, Elephant seesaw and Dolphin seesaw. FIRST DOLBY ATMOS SCREEN IN BIHAR Famous actor and senior MP Shatrughan Sinha has inaugurated Bihar s first Dolby Atmos screen at Mona Cinema in the state capital Patna. This is the latest initiative for a better cinema experience for capital s cinegoers. This cinema hall is first in Bihar and Jharkhand to get the much sought after theatre sound system. On this occasion Sinha hailed the addition of Dolby Atmos in a Patna cinema theatre. The Dolby Atmos sound system not only delivers clearer sound effects but it also allow audience to get a feel of various scenes around them. This audio technology was developed in 2012 and termed as a revolutionary sound system. In the meantime, a plan is afoot to build film city near Rajgir. This will be a major achievement for film industry in the state. 7
8 Some important decisions taken by the Bihar cabinet in April month under the Chairmanship of CM Nitish Kumar The Bihar cabinet has cleared an amendment bill for the Goods and Services Tax or GST. The cabinet has approved the re-employment of 135 Junior Engineers for one more year who have been working on contractual basis in the Minor Water Resource Department. The state cabinet has approved 2952 crore rupees for subsidies to consumers of electricity for the year 2017-18. The cabinet has accepted a proposal to nominate Justice Samrendra Pratap Singh of Patna Hight Court as Executive Chairman of Bihar State Legal Services Authority. The cabinet has given go-ahead to give review benefits of 5th and 6th Pay Commission to staff of local municipal bodies. The cabinet has also accepted a proposal to make Triveniganj in Supaul district and Sursand in Sitamarhi district Nagar Panchayats; and, to upgrade the status of Daudnagar in Aurangabad district from a Nagar Panchayat to a Nagar Parishad. The state cabinet has accepted a proposal to allow conversion of properties allocated by Bihar State Housing Board from lease-hold to free-hold on payment of a lump sum fee. The cabinet has approved Bihar Road Safety Fund Rules 2017 and Bihar Road Safety Council Rules 2017. The state cabinet has increased the dearness allowance to 136 percent from 132 percent of state government employees and pensioner who come under Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, effective from 01 January 2017. The cabinet has also approved a proposal to provide relief in dearness allowance and relief to state government employees and pensioner who fall under unrevised Fifth Pay Commission recommendations from 01 July 2016 and 01 January 2017 respectively. The cabinet has also given go-ahead to Bihar Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2017. The state cabinet has approved a proposal to introduce e-stamping system in the state and to appoint Stock Holding Corporation of India as the authorised agency for e-stamping. The cabinet has given its nod for naming a newly constructed bridge on Mahane river near Sikandara village of Belchhi block of Patna, as Ram Kishor Setu. The state cabinet has upped the Bihar Contingency Fund volume from Rs 350 crore at present to Rs 6,403 crore till March 30, 2018. The government has approved a proposal to handover the operations and maintenance work of state tubewells to selected person or institution or organisation from villages of the related command area. The state cabinet has approved a proposal for constitution of Bihar Secretariat Canteen Manager Group Rules, 2017. www.sauvcommunications.com http://www.facebook.com/biharfoundation2015 http://twitter.com/biharfoundation http://www.youtube.com/channel/ucol7yyzjftghrb4padk3a2a Bihar Foundation Head Office: 6th Floor, Indira Bhawan, RCS Path, Patna, Bihar (INDIA). Phone: +91-612-2547371 Email: General: info@biharfoundation.in Helpdesk: helpdesk@biharfoundation.in