Bihar Entrepreneur Netwrork - BENcon

Bihar Society has been working with the sole motto of promoting Bihar in all fields. To promote entrepreneurship in Bihar, and to represent the aspirations and needs of entrepreneurs and investors, Bihar Society with the help of a group of successful Bihari Entrepreneurs , Corporate Executives, and Senior Professionals with roots in the Indian State of Bihar has successfully founded The Bihar Entrepreneurs Network (BEN).

Bihar Society is going to launch its inaugural annual event "BEN Conference" in the historical city of Bodh Gaya, Bihar India, which will be the largest professional and networking conference for entrepreneurs in Bihar. To mark 2600 years of enlightenment of Lord Buddha and revival of Bihar, we are organising this event on 21st and 22nd of May, 2011.

A New Bihar

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has got another feather in his cap from none other than President Pratibha Patil, the latter obviously impressed by the efforts towards empowering women and the overall development of the state under the stewardship of Nitish Kumar. Ever since coming to power (he has been re-elected for a second term) by defeating Laloo Prasad Yadav, the quiet and efficient Chief Minister of Bihar has gone about doing his job earning both admiration and respect from even his opposition. Under him Bihar has changed for the better. The image of Bihar as a land of crime, corruption, cattle, backwardness and poverty is now a thing of the past. Today there are visible signs of peace and development. This is indeed refreshing. Today Bihar would undoubtedly be the most improved State in the country. It’s indeed a great leap forward and due credit to the leadership of Nitish Kumar. When people talk about the new Bihar, they usually refer to the transformation—the State was in complete chaos when Nitish Kumar first assumed office in 2005. Bihar was more popular for its rampant kidnapping and killing, the disorder, poverty and caste politics. Things have changed and there is hope and optimism among the people. Not only within but the image of Bihar as perceived by the outsider is positive. This is very important for the future prospect of the State. With order, political stability and strong progressive leadership, investors will have confidence to enter Bihar and this will do a world of good to the local economy.

Source

The other aspect about the leadership quality of Nitish Kumar, which merits attention and applause, is the reformist zeal that he has demonstrated during his tenure as Chief Minister. This is rare for a politician because the more power you get to wield, the more entrenched your vested interest becomes. In the case of Nitish, he has challenged the status-quo on many occasions.

Take the case of the MLA Local Area Development (MLALAD) Fund, which the Nitish Kumar government has scrapped. In a unique approach, the failed LADF has been replaced by the CM Area Development Programme (CMADP). Under the plan, which will be at the district-level (as against the Assembly segment level), while the minister-in-charge, MLAs and MLCs concerned will only select schemes every year, its implementation will rest with a body of engineers headed by Engineer-in-Chief. Also, while chief/executive engineers will sign cheques, district magistrates can only monitor implementation of schemes so they meet deadlines.

As against arbitrary selection of contractors under the MLALAD Fund, there will be open tendering in which a CAG representative would be present. Bihar has therefore become the first state in the country to scrap the LADF because of the rampant corruption within the existing system. Nitish Kumar is not your usual run in the mill politician who clings on to power. He has an agenda and vision for the peaceful development of Bihar and its people. And he wants to deliver this vision through real performance and not just publicity stunts. Politicians in India and even Nagaland can learn from Nitish Kumar. He has been able to move away from the old ways of doing politics i.e. based on the status-quo. And in a way this is welcome development not only for Bihar but also for the politics of the country

Bihar Society as Co-Sponsor of 7th Annual India Business Conference organised by Columbia Business School.

Bihar Society as Co-Sponsor of 7th Annual India Business Conference organised by Columbia Business School. Have a look here and


7th Annual India Business Conference vF Reduced Size v2

Bihar Entrepreneur Network: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Friends,

For last few weeks we have been dicussion several ideas with some of you and we also had several conference calls on Skype, the outcome is following:

1) To establish a BIHAR ENTREPRENEUR NETWORK or BEN (something like TIE http://www.tie.org/)
BEN’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship among BIHARI community through mentoring, networking, and education. Dedicated to the virtuous cycle of wealth creation and giving back to the community, BEN’s focus is on generating and nurturing our current and next generation of entrepreneurs.

2) To Conduct an ENTREPRENUER conference in Bodh Gaya in April to foster entrepreneurship, share learnings with first generation entrepreneurs and promote Bihar as Brand for Business, this will be under joint sponsorship of Bihar Society Govt. of Bihar ( confirmation awaited). The original IDEA to have this conference is of Naveen jee (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=650349891) and Ankit (http://www.facebook.com/ankit.gle).

This conference will also be the Launch pad for the BEN.

3) To have a BEN-NASSCOM event in PATNA in 2011- This event will be considered after successsful completion of BEN conference and formal launch of BEN.( Abhishek Kumar Singh is owning these job fair project and more details will be shared later)

4) TO organise an online Job Fair and a physical job fair at Patna ( Abhishek Kumar Singh is owning these job fair project and more details will be shared later).

4) To Establish a Venture Capital Fund which will be called BIHAR ANGEL NETWORK (BAN) to promote, finance for excpansion or to finance seed capital to current and future BIHARI enteprenuers.

Atul (http://www.facebook.com/atultech) and I have agreed to take a lead and any one of you can join in this initiative. BAN will be promoted as a company and any one willing to contribute towards the Fund will be a shareholder. Corporate and other structure will be shared with the interested members on one to one basis. Since we are very particulat about success of the BAN, we would be very selective in choosing our shareholders…a committment and passion for doing something good for Bihar should be Paramount.

TO start with we have committed following amounts and I am listing it below: If any one of you would like to chip in as shareholder in the Venture Fund ( BAN) then please feel free to add your name and the seed capital you would like to put.

1) Atul Kumar – USD 5000
2) Santosh Pandey – USD 5000

The Idea is to start with a seed capital of USD 100K and grow from there. We are also in touch with some Angel Investor and might get some big or moderate funding to start with.

If you want any more details on any of the above matters please feel free to get in touch with :

1) Ankit
2) Atul
3) Naveen

Santosh Pandey

The Himalayan Times : Bihar´s economic boom and its Impact on Nepal

Until the mid-twentieth century, Nepal had a closed economy. The cottage and small industries owned by the private sector, particularly the households of Newars, Gurungs, Rais and Sherpas, were confined to the production of handloom cloths to meet the demands of the local people. Import was rare/limited from India in order to meet the demand of refined cloth and other luxurious goods for the elites. People in general were confined to using home-produced goods. Almost all the goods used in every day life were produced and consumed locally. However, with the changing times, the requirements of the people are being met through imported goods from India as well as China.

There are, however, a few industries that have been established in the Terai belt of Nepal to produce sophisticated goods with a view to chase the growing demands of the people of Nepal. The goods produced by these industries have a wide market, even covering the North-East part of India along with the entire market of Nepal. In the past, tt had been because of the presence of depressing environment to establish industries in Bihar, a northern most populous state of India. This had also encouraged Indian entrepreneurs to invest their capital in the development of industrial sector of Nepal with a view to catering goods and services required by the people of both Bihar and Nepal. As a result, industrial establishments were mushrooming in the Tarai earlier. But, today things are entirely different. Bihar is converting into a lovely place, with greater optimism. Indian entrepreneurs have started to invest in Bihar. Parallel industrial enterprises have begun to operate in recent years with greater capability. The result has been that the Nepalese industries are in for dire straits.

It may be worthwhile to refer to a relevant THT article (March 2, 2011) that had analyzed the adverse impact of high economic growth rate of Bihar on the employment and production in the Nepalese industrial sector. It has reported that some of the industries located in Sunsari-Morang industrial corridor (SMIC) have been facing a shortage of industrial labor as their workers prefer to work across the border.

In my earlier article some time back, I had dwelt on the rapid economic development of Bihar. The article had highlighted the miraculous development of Bihar which has been achieved in a short span of time, but not associated with the implications of Bihar’s economic boom on the Nepalese economy.

The southern Terai plain, adjoining Bihar, is the place where almost all industrial enterprises are concentrated. Since the past few years, Bihar has been posting a high economic growth rate. It facilitates all the economic sectors to grow and develop. This has significant implications on the production and employment in the Nepalese economy.

The products of Nepal would be of lower quality in comparison with the goods produced in Bihar. Similar is the case of per unit cost of production. There is a significant difference between the earnings of laborers in Nepal and Bihar with those in the latter earning significantly more than in the former. That is to say, the wages of industrial labor within a distance of less than 100 kilometer from Nepal differ significantly. The probable impact of this on the industrial output will be extraordinary by all means.

The production of selected five industries has been declining as a result of labor shortage. It is obvious that they are not operating to full capacity because of human resources crunch. It has been reported that the said industries are facing a shortage on an average of above 60 persons per day as the laborers are migrating to Bihar. That does not augur well for the industries in the country. The average daily production has declined from more than 24 tonnes in 2007/08 to 13 tonnes in 2010/11. According to Morang Industry Association data, SMIC has 50,000 working there, but it requires further 30,000 additional workers to be able to run to full capacity. The 450 industries in operation, are seeing their production drop to half of what it was a few years back.

Actually, this pushes us towards more dependence in terms of products we are consuming, and employment. It is not a new thing for us as we are witness to around a thousand Nepali people going abroad in search of employment—most of them are destined to be workers in foreign countries. Moreover, most of what we consume are also imported.

The historical trend of the labor movement and goods consumed has the same story. It is because the livelihood of the Nepalese has been dependent on employment in India. Only a small segment of our labor force earns its livelihood from industrial activities at home. The recent trend indicates that this segment of our labor force has also started to move towards Bihar because of better opportunity cost. If this trend continues, the industries which are still operating in the Terai might be compelled to suspend their activities.

In such a situation, the government needs to check migration of industrial workers to Bihar, by offering attractive plans and programs.

Source: http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/

My message to William Dalrymple

Dear Mr. Dalrymple,

First of all I would like to introduce myself. I am a born Bihari (Indian). Today I got very offended after reading your interview in WSJ wherein you quoted " that few would’ve turned up had the festival taken place in Patna". As a Bihari and also a resident of Patna, I would like to ask you on what basis you are spreading such a negative image of Patna?

Bihar & Patna is already suffering from a negative image due to biased Indian media and on the top of that such statement from a Historian and writer of your repute does no good to this image but having an incremental impact on the bad perception.

Few year back ( in 2007) also you had given similar statement in Financial Times London regarding Bihar wherein you has given a statement which was about an election in Bihar at a time when there was no election in Bihar. It was extremely negative right from the word go, associating certain reprehensible practices which are culturally far more likely to happen in other states than Bihar.

Some of our fellows Biharis had communicated their apprehensions to you at that time also and you had assured that you will not try to propagate a negative and biased opinion about Bihar any further.

But alas, you did it again this time, and that too without any solid reason. Did you try ever to organise any such thing in PATNA in Bihar? then on what basis such an opinion?

Let me invite you to come to Bihar to get a first hand feel of Bihar/Bihari and our hospitality, culture and warmth. I guarantee that you will be surprised and bowled over.

We are planning to Organize several big festival ( Mahotsava as it is called in HINDI) for example Rajgir Mahotsava, Gaya Mahotsava, Dasrath Manjhi Love Mahotsava, Nalanda Mahotsava, Vikramshila Mahotsava, Patliputra Mahotsava and many more).

The reason for sending this message are not only to communicate to you that we as Biharis are hurt by your irresponsibly statement in international media but also to invite you to have a first hand experience of Bihar so that you can form a more objective and correct opinion about Bihar.

Would also like to invite you to our Facebook Bihar Page and our Volunteer NGO effort for betterment of Bihar. Please see the link below:

a) http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_153744714660549&ap=1
b)http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_188103284536849&ap=1

I also read your clarification that you Love Bihar and hence this invitation to the cause of Bihar. Hope you will reply back or help Bihar rather than only curse and criticize.

regards,

Santosh
Santosh Pandey

Patna Police turns matchmakers

They have always been 'criminal-catchers'. But now, Bihar's policemen are turning expert matchmakers as well.

The state's crime graph may have witnessed a sharp decline in recent times - as claimed by none other than Chief Minister Nitish Kumar - but that has not taken the load off the police.

In fact, they are often busy with another equally challenging responsibility - help lovers torn apart by family opposition get married.

On November 25, the policemen at Khajekalan in Patna solemnised the wedding of such a couple on the station premises. Alka and Akash Bharati had faced strong opposition from their families because they belonged to different castes.

Alka, a resident of Bela in Gaya district, reached Akash's home in the Lodi Katra locality of Patna on Wednesday. She had run away from home. She told Akash's family she would kill herself if anyone tried to play villain in her love story.

Sensing the threat was not an empty one, Akash's family took her to the police station. Alka told the police she and Akash had been in love for more than two years and wanted to get married.

The daughter of a railway employee, Alka was Akash's neighbour before her father was transferred to Gaya. The couple fell in love and remained in touch even after Alka left for Gaya.

When Alka repeated her suicide threat before station house officer Vinod Kumar, the police called Akash.

He supported Alka. The police then verified their certificates - to confirm their age - and advised them to go for court marriage with the consent of their families.

But probably fearing opposition outside the station premises, the couple said they wanted to get married immediately.

Their wish was granted and they were taken to a nearby temple for the ceremony.

Instead of family members, the couple sought blessings from the police for a happy future.

This is not an isolated example of police turning marriage pandits in Bihar. Recently, about eight weddings have been arranged by the men in khaki in different parts of Bihar.

On October 13, the Gardanibagh police helped a teenager, Pallavi Sinha, marry her boyfriend Prem Kumar. Once again, caste difference and financial status had turned their parents against the match. In this case, the local police didn't stop with the wedding.

They went ahead and hosted a reception at the police station.

The Malsalami police had helped Rakesh and his longtime girlfriend, Jyoti Kumari, unite on August 12, 2008.

Jyoti's family was dead against her marrying an illiterate auto- rickshaw driver, but the police obviously found such parental concerns unnecessary.

On April 8, 2008, a woman constable Vidya Devi from Agamkuan police station got 22-year-old Radha married to Ram Lalit Kotwal amid much fanfare. Radha had been abandoned by her family for falling in love with Kotwal.

Though the Bihar Police are flooded with complaints of young girls being abducted, a majority of them turn out to be cases of elopement. In 2008 alone, 214 abduction cases were found to be false.

Prehistoric cave art found in Bihar

Patna, June 29: A young explorer says he has discovered prehistoric cave art in Bihar`s Rajgir hills that are known for their Buddhist heritage and has asked the Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) to validate his claim.

"We have found cave art of the prehistoric age in the dense forest of Rajgir hills. The discovery is of immense importance," Deepak Anand, an explorer associated with Nav Nalanda Mahavihara, a Nalanda-based deemed university, told IANS on telephone.

"There is no doubt that the art is pre-historic. The location from where the art has been discovered was unexplored till date. The cave, its location, colour, rock structure and pattern clearly show that the art is pre-historic. Also, the art was made by rubbing hematite (iron oxide) on rock by men living in the areas that substantiates it to be prehistoric," said Anand, who is in his late 20s.

"The Archaelogical Survey of India (ASI) has been requested to visit the site and ascertain the dating of the art," he added

"Prehistoric cave art has been found at several places across the world but discovery of a pre-historic cave art at Rajgir was different from others. It is an unique one," said Anand, who has an experience of seven years in the exploration field.

Anand found the series of caves on June 19 in the Rajgir hills, about 100 km from state capital Patna, during his exploration of the archaeological site.

"After we found it, now what we want that world`s best archaeologists, who are experts on this Paleolithic art, should visit the site," Anand said.

He said Rajgir hills are waiting for explorers and archaeologists from around the world.

"Possibilities of more discoveries are good in the Rajgir hills. We strongly feel that many more discoveries will be made here which world does not know about," he said.

Anand said there was an urgent need to propagate and promote discovery of prehistoric cave art.

"Unless we propagate it on massive scale it will be unknown to the world. Till five to 10 years ago, people used to fear visiting the Rajgir hills. Nobody used to venture there. No explorer or archaelogist would go there as the hills were considered a Maoist stronghold. But now things have changed," he said.

Anand is currently working in a documentation project titled Mapping of Nalanda.

Indian Air Taxi services from July 1 from Patna

PATNA: Fliers willing to avail chartered plane services in Bihar have now an option. Private carrier Spirit Air has decided to launch charted flight
services, christened `Indian Air Taxi' from Patna from July 1.

To begin with, airlines sources said, the service would be offered to destinations having functional airports. "As it is a chartered service, destination is to be decided by the customer, but the only pre-requisite is existence of a functional airport at the destination as one has to adhere to aviation rules for landing and take off of an aircraft," said a Spirit Air official.

A Cessna-172 Sky Hawk aircraft, which would have the capacity to carry three passengers apart from the pilot, would be offered to the passengers. The aircraft can fly for seven hours non-stop. "In case someone opts for a destination which needs more than seven hours of flying, the flight would hop at a suitable place for re-fuelling," said the official.

Those opting for the services would have to pay something between Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 per flying hour. Rates for flying idle hours would be Rs 12,000 per hour for the first two hours and Rs 9,500 per hour for next three hours.

The private carrier had earlier announced that it would offer air taxi services to major district towns of Bihar and Jharkhand as well, but for now those willing to travel to these places by air would have to wait.

Reason being non-availability of security, fire tenders and ambulance at the airstrips in districts which the Spirit Air wants to connect with Patna and Ranchi. These three basic facilities are a must, according to the civil aviation rules, at the time of landing and take off of an aircraft from air strips, which do not fall under any airport.

Spirit Air had earlier written letters to both the state governments asking them to provide these facilities in the districts which have airstrips, but a positive reply is still awaited.

"Our team would once again meet senior officials of Bihar and Jharkhand requesting them to consider our proposal as people in districts too would like to avail the service which is first of its kind in these two states," said the Sprit Air official.

Meet The Miracle Indian Woman Who Cries Tears of Blood

Indian woman Rashida Khatoon has been dubbed a 'living miracle' because she cries tears of blood.

According to the Austrian Times, the women of Patna in Bihar has become a 'holy shrine' where people see her weep blood several times a day.

Even the doctors are stunned at Khatoon's condition.

"I do not feel any pain when it happens but it's a shock to see blood instead of water," the Daily Star quoted her as saying.

The local Hindu holy men have declared her a living miracle.

People visit her home daily to see her cry blood and have even showered her and her family with gifts as holy offerings.

Development in Bihar: overview, appraisal and approach

Development in Bihar: overview, appraisal and approach

Publish at Scribd or explore others: School Work development bihar

Young Girls from Bihar-run News Channel in Rural Bihar

There is always and end to a tunnel,which brings Light.
its welcome how small it is,looking at the gloomy picture.

Bravo Gairls.

Women take sex education to madarsa

Women’s empowerment is getting a new resonance in an underdeveloped Bihar district. Kishanganj, which didn’t have a district hospital till a few years back, is witnessing a revolution with an NGO teaching reproductive and sexual healthcare to teenage girls in a madarsa.

On International Women’s Day, the tale of attitudinal change through innovation and conviction is worth recounting.

The adolescent reproductive and sexual healthcare programme — Project Sanjivini, which began in 2004, was carried out in 15 villages, addressing girls between 10 and 19.

Convincing village elders in a predominantly Muslim district to allow young girls to attend classes on sex education wasn’t easy. It took Azad India Foundation (AIF) two-and-half years to gain the confidence of the people. But there is significant attitudinal change now, says AIF executive director Yuman Hussain.

“An old lady who attended one of the health classes in Mohiuddinpur came back with both her daughters-in-law to have them operated so that they don’t have more children,” she says.

In another instance, a 16-year-old girl, keen on pursuing her education, stood her ground and said she would marry only after she turned 18. “Aware of the hazards of early childbirth, Rosy turned down the marriage proposal,” recalls Parwez Raza, coordinator of the programme.

According to the 2001 census, Kishanganj has the lowest female literacy rate (18.5 per cent) in India.

Cases of human trafficking and cases of HIV/AIDS are on the rise, says the AIF. Early marriages and pregnancies are common.

Najma Das, an AIF field worker from Kishanganj, made a social breakthrough when she began to teach reproductive healthcare to girls in the madarsa.

"We didn't start off by directly talking about birth control and permanent contraception. But with time, we put our message across and the girls were keen to understand," said Das.

The endeavour has the approval of religious leaders. Gyasuddin, a 70-year-old cleric from Mohiuddinpur village, had this to say about allowing women community leaders from AIF to teach at his madarsa: "The Koran says that if need be one should go to China to acquire education. So why not the madarsa?"

Rehabilitation package for Patna beggars soon

Patna, Nov 24 (IANS) The Bihar government has now planned a scheme to rehabilitate Patna's beggars. The Bhikshu Welfare Scheme will provide them an opportunity to be self-reliant and to live with honour and dignity.

"The state cabinet has approved Rs.22 million for the launch of rehabilitation package for beggars," Girish Shankar, prinicipal cabinet secretary, said Friday.

According to sources, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to launch the scheme Nov 24, the day his government completes two years in office.

Under the scheme, all beggars, including the disabled and minors, would be issued identity cards.

Aged beggars would be admitted to an old-age home, minors would be provided education facilities, and able-bodied beggars would be engaged in various activities to earn livelihood.

Women beggars will be trained to earn livelihood with respect, sources said.

The state government will extend the beggar welfare scheme to other Bihar cities if the scheme proves successful here. There are nearly 10,000 beggars in Patna.

Last month, the state government decided to set up an innovative school-cum-home for daughters of beggars in Patna to provide them a safe shelter and training in vocational courses.

The centre, likely to be called Balika Grih, will be set up soon, said Vijay Prakash, state welfare department secretary.

"It will be the first of its kind in Bihar with the sole aim of providing an opportunity for personality development to these girls," Prakash said.

The Bihar government has approved the project, which will cost the state exchequer Rs.2 million annually.

One of the main aims of the Balika Grih is to prevent girls from begging. A recent study on beggars revealed most of the daughters of beggars were forced into begging due to lack of job opportunities.

Apart from education, they will also be trained in dance, music, handicrafts and fine arts.

A study on street children in Bihar revealed nearly 200,000 kids, including 50,000 minor girls, were engaged in begging.

Patna, Nov 22: The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has signed an MoU with the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB).

Patna, Nov 22: The Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has signed an MoU with the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB).

The project aims at improving the overall distribution of electricity in the state by 2012 at an expenditure of Rs 1240.86 crore.

The four-party agreement was signed by PGCIL Chairman and Manganig Director (CMD) R. P. Singh, state Energy Secretary Rajesh Gupta, BSEB Chairman Swapan Mukherjee and Union Ministry of Power Director Lokesh Chandra in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, state Energy Minister Dijendra Yadav, state Chief Secretary A. K. Sinha and several other senior officials.

The Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, after signing the MoU asserted that following the completion of the third and final phase of the work within the next five years, the overall power scenario in the state would undergo a sea change to ensure better living conditions.

"The laying of transmission line by the Power Grid would go a long way in providing electricity to every household even in rural areas of the state," the Chief Minister said.

He also described the Rs 2,500 crore project as a "major milestone in the ongoing industrialisation programme of the state government."

"It has become the need of the hour to improve the entire power transmission network in Bihar in line with that of the national power grid so that the proposed extra generation of electricity by the NTPC and the BSEB are not wasted," Kumar said and requested the Power Grid CMD to ensure that the work of the final phase was completed on time.

Kanpur tanneries move to Bihar

Kanpur, November 23 Nearly 256 tannery owners out of the total 402 in the city have decided to move their tanneries from the bank of river Ganga here to Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

The reasons behind this decision include harassment by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), poor power supply and soaring cost of land and labour, said tannery owners.

Zafar Alam, vice-president of Jajmau Tannery Association (JTA), said that recently, a delegation of industrialists from Bihar had come to Kanpur to look into prospects of starting leather industry in their state.

He added that the cost of land in Muzaffarpur is about one-tenth of Kanpur and the administrative machinery there assisted industrialists in procuring necessary documents like No Objection Certificate (NOC) and others.

JTA General Secretary Shahid Hussain said, “The scenario in Kanpur could be understood from the fact that UPPCB had sealed at least 103 tanneries and other agencies, even when they fulfill pollution control norms.”

Yet another reason is easy availability of labourers. In the tanneries, most of the workers are from Bihar. Therefore, the tannery owners there find it easy to recruit them in large numbers and at a cheaper cost.

Uttar Pradesh Leather Industry Association Chairman Mohammad Ishaq said, “In Uttar Pradesh, the leather industry faces problems due to neglect by the state government, extortion in the name of pollution norms and power scarcity. On the other hand, the Bihar government has promised suitable land at cheaper rates, uninterrupted power supply, a pollution control plant and other subsidies.”

Ishtekhar Ahmad, Secretary of the Association, said, “The shifting of leather industry, which earns revenue to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore a year and provides employment to 1.5 lakh people, would be a major setback to UP.”

A tannery owner, Haji Mohammed Ishaq, who plans to move to Bihar, said pollution control board officials have often sealed tanneries and cut power supply, leading to huge losses. “We also have to pay huge amounts to government officials to evade harassment and closure,” he added.

Irshad Alam, another tannery owner in Jajmau, said that the long list of problems have pushed about 80 to 100 tanneries in the state on the brink of closure, thus leaving 10,000 labourers unemployed.

“With the leather industry moving out, the state government will not only lose a major source of revenue but also of employment,” he added.

Bihar's image has changed for good, claims Nitish Kumar

Patna, Nov 24 - Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said Saturday that Bihar's image has had a positive change and national and international institutions have shown interest in investing in the state.

'In the last two years, our government has strived to provide development with justice to all sections of society,' Nitish Kumar said while releasing a report card here on completion of his government's two years in office.

'Things have changed and the image is also changing. Bihar is on the threshold of making its own rare brand of development,' Nitish Kumar said.

'We have underlined improvement in law and order, agriculture and rural development, campaign against corruption, qualitative improvement in education, road and infrastructure, health services, minority welfare, welfare of women, children and disabled as our priorities.'

Speedy trial of criminal cases has sent the message that criminals can no longer roam freely and 'the rule of law has been established in the state' he said.

The report card highlighted communal harmony in the state and numerous schemes started for the development and welfare of minorities, dalits, backward castes and women.

On the occasion, Nitish Kumar announced launching of four welfare schemes, including Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojna and Kanya Suraksha Yojna.

He said the government had decided to provide free textbooks to Muslim students and Rs.10,000 grant to each student of the Muslim community who secures first division in matriculation board examination.

Under Mukhyamantri Kanya Vivah Yojna, girls from families having an annual income less than Rs.60,000 will be given a grant of Rs.5,000 on registration of their marriage.

CM for better care of poor children

The International Child Rights Day was observed on Tuesday with the state government, in collaboration with Unicef, releasing the "Convention on the Rights of the Child" (CRC) Report, 2007 for Bihar entitled "Sankalp".

Releasing the report, CM Nitish Kumar laid stress on taking care of children of disadvantaged sections with love and dignity. He said the agencies should expand their child rights campaign to cover more areas and population. He informed the gathering that the government has initiated all inclusive schemes to cover all social strata and giving more emphasis on girl children for their education, training and health.

On this occasion, welfare minister Rameshwar Paswan, social welfare secretary Vijay Prakash and Unicef representative Vijayraj Bhandari also spoke.

The Child Rights Day is a day of worldwide fraternity and solidarity between children and stakeholders promoting welfare of world's children. On this day in 1959, the UN General Assembly had adopted the Declaration of Rights of the Child and later held a Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989.

In order to ensure a broad-based dialogue between the state government departments, civil society members and child rights organisation, the department of social welfare was called upon to act as a nodal agency for coordination.

Bihar, in the last few years, has made significant progress in the implementation of various programmes. It even initiated measures which had a lasting positive impact on child rights in the state. Large-scale appointment of teachers, making provisions for school uniforms for the underprivileged and improvement in school infrastructure are indicators of the larger vision that the state has for its children.

The Unicef is running Apna Ghar for the orphans and street children. One such child, Sonu, spoke on the occasion in English and Hindi. This 14-year-old boy of class V said he learnt about rights and also the right to live, learn and study. The children also presented a song on the occasion.

Nitish opens ONGC's exploration campaign

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated a Rs. 150 crore land survey and oil exploration campaign of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation here on Saturday.

The ONGC has planned extensive survey and exploration in 2537 square kilometre block covering parts of Purnia, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar districts bordering West Bengal under which it will drill three wells and invest Rs. 150 crore till 2015.

Later, addressing a gathering at the Indira Gandhi stadium here Kumar expressed the hope that considerably large reserves of oil and natural gas would be found in the block situated in the gangetic basin.

The chief minister said his hope stemmed from the presence of Gondwana rocks under the soil in the region as wherever these rocks have been found, including in Assam, oil reserves have been struck.

Addressing the function, ONGC chief general manager A.K. Biswas lauded the Bihar government for giving a licence to it for starting the exploration within three months of submission of application.

Biswas said that the ONGC believed that the exploration campaign would unlock the hydrocarbon potential of the Purnia gangetic basin.

Unknown facts about ex-Darbhanga king

The last Maharaja of Darbhanga, (1907-62), was the first person in India to get a bust of Mahatma Gandhi made by celebrated artist and niece of Winston Churchill -- Clare Sheriden. The bust was presented to the then viceroy of India Lord Linlithgow to be displayed in Government House (now Rashtrapati Bhawan).

This was acknowledged by Mahatma Gandhi in a letter to Lord Linlithgow in 1940. Gandhi, in a interview during his visit to Bihar in 1947, said that the Maharaja was an extremely good person and like a son to him.

Interestingly, the Maharaja also donated three fighter planes to the airforce in the World War II. On another occasion he donated Rs 5,000 each for Sikh and Hindu personnel in the Army to celebrate festivals. He also donated 50 ambulances to the Army Medical Corp.

These are some unknown facts about Maharajadhiraj of Darbhanga which find mention in a 450-page book entitled "Courage and Benevolence: Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh". The book, which is already in print, will be formally released by the Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation on the occasion of his birth centenary celebration on November 28. Former JNU professor Manager Pandey will formally release it at a function at Darbhanga.

Noted sociologist Hetukar Jha, who is the editor of the volume, told TOI that the book "contains rare letters, speeches, documents and photographs depicting the personality of the last Maharajadhiraja of Darbhanga".

He helped people from all walks of life, irrespective of his/ her political affiliation or social standing. Among his beneficiaries were stalwarts such as Dr Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Shubhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Maharaja of Jaipur, Nawab of Rampur and others in India, besides Swami Bhawani Dayal Sanyasi of South Africa. Being the biggest zamindar of India, he was also one of the great industrialists who controlled 14 industrial units of sugar, jute, cotton, iron & steel, aviation, print media, etc. His raj, spread over 2500 sq miles containing 4,495 villages under 18 circles in Bihar and Bengal, employed over 7,500 officers.

He also donated huge amount of money to educational institutions like the Calcutta University, Allahabad University, Aligarh Muslim University, Patna University and Bihar University, the book says.

The Maharaja also donated to the organizations such as the Congress and League of Depressed Classes and social organizations.