Category: Nalanda

Non-bailable warrant issued againt RJD lawmaker in sexual abuse case

Source: hindustantimes.com

A court here on Friday issued a non-bailable warrant against RJD legislator in Bhojpur, Arun Yadav, in a case relating to sexual abuse of a minor girl.

District and Sessions Judge R K Singh, who holds the charge of special POCSO court, issued the NBW against Sandesh MLA Arun Yadav following an application filed by the district police.

On Wednesday, the police had prayed before special court of POCSO act to issue a warrant against the MLA but the latter found several shortcomings in the petition.

According to sources, the court had asked the investigating officer to file the petition with update case diary. Since the court was closed for’ Anant Chaturdashi’ on Thursday, the IO filed a fresh petition with update case diary on Friday.

While the girl, in her first statement recorded under section 164 of criminal procedure code (CrPC) had failed to name the MLA, a video circulating on social media since September 1 purportedly showed her naming Yadav.

Subsequently, on September 6, her statement was again recorded before a magistrate under section 164 of CrPC following court’s nod. This time, she named Arun Yadav.

So far the police claimed to have arrested four persons in this case.

The Sandesh MLA is the second state legislator facing charges of raping a minor girl. Earlier, RJD MLA from Nawada Raj Ballabh Prasad was convicted and awarded life term in a rape case in Nalanda district.

Bihar: JD(U) block president’s son found dead at friend’s residence

Source: indiatvnews.com

A JD(U) block president’s son was found dead at his friend’s residence in the state capital, police said on Sunday, with his family alleging he was killed by his friends.

A JD(U) block president’s son was found dead at his friend’s residence in the state capital, police said on Sunday, with his family alleging he was killed by his friends.

Ayush Kumar, aka Saurav, 21, was the son of Vinod Mukhiya, who was elected unopposed for a second term as Rahui block president of JD(U) on Saturday in Nalanda district, said Patrakar Nagar police station SHO Manoj Kumar.

Ayush Kumar, a resident of Nijaay village in Nalanda district, had been preparing for competitive examinations in Patna, sources said.

His body was found from his friend’s residence in Chitragupta Nagar area this morning. Two of his friends have been detained for questioning, the SHO said.

Primary facie, it appears to be a case of suicide, he added.

When pointed out that the deceased’s family has alleged Ayush Kumar was shot dead by his friends, the SHO said police are investigating the case and everything will be clear once FSL report comes out. 

A legislator of the ruling Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in Bihar has alleged that the Nitish Kumar government banned pan masala in the state because an illegal money deal could not be reached.

Amarnath Gami, known for raising his voice, said on Tuesday, said, “Avaidh len den mein baat nahi bani to gutkha par partibandh laga diya gaya (The government proscribed the sale of pan masala in the state after an illegal money deal did not materialise).

Not only the JD-U legislator from the Hayaghat seat in the Darbhanga district raised his voice against the government decision to ban ‘pan masala’ but also questioned the liquor prohibition decision and demanded their immediate rollback.

He also urged the people to protest such decisions.

Terming the prohibition and ban on ‘pan masala’ as wrong, the JD(U) legislator said, “All such decisions appear good only on paper”.

Appealing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to reconsider the prohibition decision, he said the ban on liquor had failed and the pan masala ban would follow it.

The Bihar government proscribed the production and consumption of liquor in the state on April 5, 2016. Last week, it banned pan masala for one year.

Two railway engineers among a dozen people thrashed in Bihar on child-lifting rumours

Source: hindustantimes.com

In a worrying sign of mob attacks over rumours of child-lifting continuing unabated despite warning by the Bihar government to book the culprits under the Crime Control Act (CCA), a mob thrashed half-a-dozen people, including two railway engineers and a beggar woman, in two separate incidents on Tuesday.

In Samastipur, two engineers were thrashed in Munnichak-Sarsauna village under Bangra police station while they were busy conducting a survey for a new rail line project. The incident took place around 11.45 am when some villagers surrounded them, suspecting them to be child-lifters, and thrashed him.  The mob also damaged their vehicles and snatched mobile phones.

A police contingent was also called in to control the situation after villagers went on a rampage and attacked the policemen as well. “An FIR has been registered against named persons of the village and 15 unidentified for attempt to murder, rioting, criminal assault and criminal intimidation,” said local SHO Anil Kumar. Efforts are on to nab those named and others, he said.

Both engineers hail from Uttarakhand, the police said.  

In Begusarai also, a mob assaulted a mentally challenged woman at Khatopur village, suspecting her of being a child-lifter. The woman was rescued by police. 

Earlier, in Lakhisarai, a woman was mercilessly thrashed on similar rumours.

In Nalanda, a mob attacked a beggar, suspecting him to be a child lifter. Later, an investigation found him innocent.

Govt to set up committee to study corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board

Source: thehindu.com

The Government is set to form a high level committee to examine the aspects of corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and work out the modalities, defence sources said while rejecting apprehensions from employees that there is an attempt at privatisation.

“A high-level committee will study the issue and take a call on what needs to be done,” a senior source said. It will be a political call on how to go about.

The Kolkata-headquartered OFB with 41 factories spread across the country functions under the Department of Defence Production. Due to this every decision and action needs the approval of the Cabinet, officials said. For instance, in 2001 the OFB was to set up a plant at Nalanda in Bihar to manufacture bi-modular charges for the Army with initial investment of around ₹800 crore, which went up to ₹2,000 crore later. But the plant has not been set up till date, the source said.

On the contrary the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) do not have such hassles and have been establishing joint ventures and partnerships for technology development and other things. “At the current rate and in the present model OFB has no future,” the source said, and added that today there is “no accountability and result orientation” and the need is to move to a system of accountability on the lines of DPSUs. The total support to OFB is around ₹6,500 crore both from indents from the Army and direct budgetary support.

Alleging moves to privatise the OFB, three recognised Defence Federations under the OFB have launched a month-long strike from August 20. There are about 82,000 employees in OFB of which around 46,000 are industrial employees who went on strike, sources said. “As of now the strike is not worrisome. The Defence Ministry is in continuous discussions with them,” another official said.

In the last few years, several measures have been undertaken to augment capacity and increase production of the factories under the OFB. At least 20 cases of capital upgradation were cleared in last few years, the official added.

This is not for the first time, though, that corporatisation of ordnance factories is being considered. There have been recommendations by various committees and several attempts over the last two decades but there has been no progress.

Four-year BEd course finds few takers

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

PATNA: Even as the chancellor’s secretariat has come out with the statutes governing the conduct of the four-year integrated BEd course from the current academic session, there are few takers for this much-publicised academic programme in the state. Hardly six institutions are capable of introducing this teachers’ training course.

Uniform ordinance and regulations of the BEd course were assented to by the chancellor recently on the recommendation of a three-member committee comprising Nalanda Open University former vice-chancellor (VC) Rabindra Kumar Sinha, Munger University VC Ranjit Kumar Verma and B N Mandal University VC A K Roy. The committee was constituted following the Union HRD ministry’s decision to introduce four-year integrated BEd course in the universities from the current academic session.

In Bihar, Nalanda Open University (NOU) has once again been made the nodal agency to conduct state-level combined entrance test for admission to this new course. The test is likely to be conducted in September, NOU registrar (examination) S P Sinha said.

All the universities in the state have been directed to furnish the list of colleges imparting BEd course within a week. The course can be imparted only in regular degree colleges where it is being imparted along with three-year degree courses in arts and science. Teachers’ training colleges, in general, are not competent to run this course.

The four-year BA BEd and BSc BEd courses would be open to students who have passed their Intermediate examinations. “This programme will save one precious year of students as they will be able to complete the course in just four years instead of usual five years,” Sinha said.

The state government had asked the degree colleges in the state a few years back to introduce BEd course along with general undergraduate courses, but hardly any institution had then responded to this directive. Now, with the revised National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) regulations and also in the light of the provisions of the New Education Policy, all the training colleges along with general degree colleges are expected to introduce the four-year integrated BA BEd and BSc BEd courses, said the principal of a training college.

Bihar: Ailing mother tries to sell sick children

Source: dnaindia.com

After a chilling case of two kids being sold by their poor mother due to her inability to treat them and herself of tuberculosis came to light, the local administration has admitted all of them in a hospital and they are being taken care off.

District Magistrate Yogendra Singh said as soon as the matter was reported by the media, the authorities were immediately rushed to take care of the matter. “We have a special ward in the hospital for malnourished children and have sent their samples to exactly determine the disease. Proper care of the mother and her kids are being taken,” said Singh.

Sonam, a resident of Kalyan Bigha of Harnaut block, was abandoned by her husband after she and the kids fell sick. Unable to deal with her condition, she decided to sell her two children for Rs 50,000 for her treatment. When media personnel came to know about this, they informed the DM. The DM immediately took cognizance of this and made arrangements for proper treatment of the three.

Singh informed that the medicines in the hospital are free of charge and if medicines are needed to be ordered from outside, financial assistance will be provided. 

The DM summoned the Civil Surgeon and Deputy Superintendent of Nalanda and directed them of treating the woman without any kind of leniency. At the same time, he also directed the immunization team to conduct a survey to identify those who are suffering from TB-like illness and initiate their treatment.

Tomb of Kashmir’s last Muslim ruler lies in ruins at Nalanda

Source: hindustantimes.com

With the Centre revoking Article 370 which gave special status to J&K, the Kashmir Valley is once again in focus. But Yusuf Shah Chak. the last independent Muslim ruler of the Valley, has remained obscured and unknown for a long time.

Chak is buried in Nalanda and his tomb is in disrepair and unprotected.

Chak was exiled to Bihar by the Mughal emperor Akbar. The area where he had settled along with his family and relatives in Biswak village in Nalanda and also maintained a cavalry force of 500 horses, was later known as Kashmiri Chak. Though the exiled Kashmiri ruler died in Odisha in 1592, his body was brought to Bihar and has been lying buried along with the tombs of his wife, sons and other relatives at the graveyard at Biswak near Kashmiri Chak.

Though his Mazaar is encircled with boundary wall, the land outside this wall at the cemetery is open and has remained prone to encroachments in the past. Some concrete structures and thatched roof hutments too have come up around its periphery.

Earlier, some locals erected a boundary wall around his Mazaar, but the entire area of the cemetery outside this wall is open to encroachment.

Recently, Yasir Iqbal, a descendant of the Chak ruler’s relative, wrote a letter to the Minority Welfare Department, Bihar, drawing the attention towards the increasing threats of encroachments at the site of the cemetery .

He has made an appeal to take steps to stop encroachment and has also requested for the boundary wall at the cemetery. In the letter, Iqbal also made requests to preserve this piece of history and to take initiatives to tap tourism potential of the site.

“The minority welfare department has forwarded the request letter to the department concerned which is responsible for creating the boundary walls at graveyards and has directed to take actions as necessary,” SI Faisal, special secretary cum director, minority welfare department, said.

The site has a great tourism potential and it can be tapped. “But it’s the domain of the tourism department. They should take initiatives in this direction and should develop it,” he said.

Yasir Iqbal said many Kashmiris have been eager to come here to pay tribute to their last ruler. “Many intellectuals have also been coming here, but the place lack even basic infrastructure. Even the road to Kashmiri Chak village was developed in 1977 when Sheikh Abdulla, the prominent leader of Kashmir had arrived to witness Yusuf Shah’s tomb” he said. There is also no place at the village to stay. “You have to find the accommodation whether at Islampur or at Rajgir,” he said.

However, the biggest concern has been encroachment of the land. “The cemetery is spread over five acre land area at Biswak and over one acre land at Kashmiri Chak. But the tombs of Yusuf Shah, his wife and sons for decades remained unknown. There was almost a jungle around it and the tombs were hardly visible. Then we got it constructed a few years ago. But the area outside is still open and is being encroached inch by inch. Some concrete structures and thatched roof hutments have also come up on its border areas,” he said.

Yusuf Shah Chak ruled Kashmir from 1579 to 1586. In 1579 he was deceitfully imprisoned by the Mughal emperor Akbar, but was later released and was exiled to Biswak area of Bihar.

“He had a Mansabdaari of 500 horses. In fact, his love and knowledge of art and literature had impressed Mughal Badshaah and that became the reason for his release. He had married Habba Khatoon, the legendary poetess whose verses are still sung by the locals in Kashmir,” he said.

IIT grads cannot be selling detergents: Pranab

Source: outlookindia.com

New Delhi, Aug 4 Former President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the country needs its graduates from premier institutions such as IITs to serve larger purposes rather than advance the sales of detergents at large multinationals.

“We require the talent of an IIT graduate for better purposes, than advancing the sale of detergents at any of the large multinationals. That job can be done by anybody. But surely the talent, knowledge and merit of an IIT graduate isn”t required for that,” Mukherjee said.

Speaking at the 10th edition of the Indian Management Conclave here on Saturday, the former President laid emphasis on the need to promote basic research in the country.

He cited the example of the first year of his Presidency when at the convocation of one IIT he asked the Director whether he knew of any student who had dedicated his life for basic research or education. “The Director fumbled and replied he is not sure.”

India has led the excellence in education for more than 1,800 years from 6th century BC to 12th century AD with universities such as Takshshila, Nalanda and Vikramshila, Mukherjee said.

“We don”t want that every year thousands of students go abroad for higher studies. Rather I want the traffic should reverse, like it used to happen for over 1,800 years. Till Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed, India was leading in the field of higher education.”

Mukherjee said he was proud of the country”s IIT graduates.

“India has a brand name. Beginning from the first five-year plan to the 12th five-year plan, we built huge infrastructure in higher education. More than 1,000 universities, 36,000 colleges, increase in number of IITs from eight to 16, 30 NITs, scores of IIScs and also the management institutions,” he said.

“But unfortunately in over 70 years from 1933, there has been no Nobel laureate who is doing basic research work in any Indian university. It is not the question of lack of talent, but ambience or the environment where students are encouraged for basic research. This is the most pertinent thing in education,” he added.

Citing the example of former Chief Justice of India Sudhir Ranjan Das, Mukherjee said that he used to take classes for school students.

The former President said the country needed teachers who helped students in fostering research.

He cited the example of the legendary Vashishtha Narayan Singh, a mathematician who obtained a PhD from the University of Berkeley despite being poor due to the encouragement from his teachers.

“I would urge the teachers and faculty members to build such excellence,” he said.

Mukherjee added that in general ratings globally, hardly any Indian university found a place in top 200. “It is not that Indian universities are not competent, but there are certain technicalities that are followed by others which are not followed by us.”

Mukherjee said: “The world is going to be a global village, and we all will be the residents of that global village. We need to equip ourselves for the global economy by updating our skills. We have to find out new skills, new technologies and new methods that can help in advancement of society.

“India is going to be the largest economy but I don”t want that economy to be stagnant.”

New Education Policy, the way to Nalanda, Takshasila glory, says VP Shri Naidu

Source: indiaeducationdiary.in

New Delhi: Expressing concern over India’s slide from the heights of Nalanda and Takshasila to not being among the world’s top 100 educational institutions now, the Vice President of India and Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that the New Educational Policy will make India a global educational hub. He urged the public to give their views and suggestions on the draft NEP by the stipulated time of 15th of this month.

Shri Naidu further called for a holistic and value-based education that will lay strong foundations for the vibrant economy that India is emerging as. He spoke on the challenges to Indian education after releasing a book ‘The Dynamics of Indian Education’ authored by Prof. J.S. Rajput at the Vice President’s residence, here today.

The Vice President said; “These are the critical times for the country and there is a need for having a fresh look at the education system. I have been consistently advocating the need for revamping the education system to not only make our universities world-class, but to make India the knowledge hub. I am glad that the draft of the New Education Policy makes several out of the box suggestions that have the potential to turn India into a global education hub.”

Shri Naidu stressed that primary education shall be in the mother tongue which enables learning other languages effectively at later stages. Highlighting the knowledge traditions of India, he referred to several German Universities promoting Sanskrit to decipher ancient palm leaves and scriptures for clues for scientific innovation.

Former Union Minister Shri Arif Mohammad Khan who spoke on the occasion said that the land of India for ages is marked by the tradition of knowledge and wisdom. He referred to Prophet Mohammad as having said; “Sitting in Mecca, I am feeling the cool breeze of Knowledge from India. I am an Arab without Arabness; I am not an Indian but feel the Indianness.”

Prof. Rajput, former Secretary-General of Lok Sabha, Shri Subhash Kashyap and Chairman of Prasar Bharti, Shri A. Surya Prakash spoke on various aspects of Indian Education.

Following is the text of Vice President’s address:

“I am immensely pleased to release the book “The Dynamics of Indian Education” written by well-known educationist, Prof Rajput.

The book covers a whole gamut of issues relating to Indian education system and I must compliment the author for this timely work on a topic that is very close to my heart.

As we all are aware, India has a rich history, tradition and culture of education system from Vedic times. The Gurukul system of imparting knowledge and skills used to focus on holistic development of individuals. Education of women was also accorded huge importance during ancient times and there were well-known women scholars during the Vedic period.

In fact, India was once known as Vishwaguru because of its world class centres of learning like Takshashila, Pushpagiri, Nalanda and others. It was stated that around 10,000 students, including many from foreign shores used to study diverse subjects at Takshashila.

India contributed not only in philosophy and spirituality, but in sciences, mathematics, astronomy and other areas. The objective was “welfare of one and all – Sarva Bhut Hite Ratah”

Subsequently, following foreign invasions and the colonial rule, India lost its pre-eminent position. Today, one finds that not a single Indian university figures in the top-ranking global educational institutions.

These are the critical times for the country and there is a need for having a fresh look at the education system. I have been consistently advocating the need for revamping the education system to not only make our universities world class, but to make India the knowledge and innovation hub.

We need to recapture the past glory. Our education system must remain deeply rooted to culture, while simultaneously steadfastly pursuing new frontiers of knowledge.

Undoubtedly, our post-Independence achievements in education are praiseworthy. We have near total enrolment in schools in spite of over-threefold increase in population!

The recent launch of Chandrayaan -2 and other remarkable achievements in space sciences have unveiled before the world the Indian tradition for the quest of knowledge. It inspires and motivates young Indians and our scientists deserve all the praise for making us proud. Elsewhere, Indians working at NASA and Silicon Valley have made the country proud with their contributions.

I feel that the need of the hour is to provide quality education at all levels to all people. I am glad that the draft of the New Education Policy makes several out-of-box suggestions that have the potential to turn India into a Global education Hub. With the draft report placed for another round of receiving inputs, I hope that many more suggestions would come forth to make Indian universities achieve their rightful place in the global rankings.

I must however, mention that in our march towards a knowledge society, we need to strengthen our school education on priority basis. In particular, special attention has to be bestowed to improve government schools.

We must reform the education system to do away with rote learning. We need to promote concept learning, critical thinking, creativity, problem solving skills as also multilingualism and digital literacy to enable the students to confidently face challenges and successfully pursue their careers.

I need not once again enumerate the importance of teaching in mother tongue from a young age. In fact, I have consistently been advocating the need to make it mandatory for mother tongue to be the medium of instruction up to primary level.

I am told that some of the top universities in Germany teach Sanskrit to enable the scholars of the subject decipher ancient palm leafs and scriptures and find clues for scientific innovation. We should not neglect Sanskrit. I feel that no language should be imposed, nor any language opposed.

Teachers are the pivot of national educational endeavors. We need best of the minds in teaching profession. Once in the profession they need to internalize “yavadjeevait adhiyate viprah” – the wise continue to gain knowledge throughout life.

Teachers should be torchbearers of the society. I am told that there are around 1 crore teachers and 30 crore students from KG to PG level in the country. Filling up all the vacant positions of teachers is equally important to make our education effective.

Teachers play the most crucial role in shaping the character of a child after his or her parents. Therefore, teachers should have societal concerns. We must develop a model of education that reflects Indian culture and ethos. We need to inculcate cultural, moral, ethical and spiritual values among children.

I hope the new educational policy will address various concerns on reforming the system and fulfill the need for India-centric education architecture. The draft policy should be studied with an open mind. People should give constructive suggestions rather than criticize it for the sake of criticism.

We need education for progress and development. Probably more than that, we need Education for Character Development. Value based education that prepares the young for an India that abounds in ‘social cohesion and religious amity’ is our goal.

The book practically covers all the aspects mentioned by me. Prof. Rajput strongly pleads for value education, character formation and celebration of unity in diversity. I wish him well in his efforts.

Human organs available in India like peanuts: YSRCP MP

Source: newkerala.com

New Delhi , July 31 : A Rajya Sabha MP on Wednesday raised concerns over the availability of human organs like peanuts and urged the government to penalize those involved in such rackets with death penalty.

“Despite successive governments’ efforts to stop illegal organ trade, India has become one of the biggest countries for organ trade, as also the cheapest too, in the world. It is available like peanuts,” YSRCP’s Prabhakar Reddy said in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour.

He said the organs like kidney, liver and heart are easily available and the government should take it seriously so that it could be stopped.

“Otherwise, amend the legislation in such a way that whoever is involved in this, including doctors, the middle-men and the hospital staff. It needs severe penalties which goes up to the death penalty be imposed on those involved in these rackets. I hope that the government would amend the legislation in such a way that it is stopped,” he said.

BJP’s Gopal Narayan Singh demanded that the name of Bakhtiyarpur railway station should be changed to either Rajgir or Nalanda, as it was named after Bakhtiyar Khilji, who was an invader and destroyer.

“It’s a blot on Bihar. It should be removed,” Singh said.

Bakhtiyarpur station connects Bihar’s historical places like Nalanda, Rajgir, Pavapuri and Biharsharif. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was born in Bakhtiyarpur.

Trinamool Congress’ Manas Ranjan Bhunia urged the central government to reduce the percentage of disability from 80 per cent to 50 per cent and provide all possible help, including financial help to physically challenged and handicapped male and female.

“They need active support of the central and state governments. At present, the standing rules and directions are that if any physically challenged person does not have 80 per cent of incapability, then such a person would not get any help from the central government. This has created a serious situation when most of the physically challenged are not getting any support,” he said.

“This situation demands a serious look and thought by the central government to reduce the percentage of disability from 80 per cent to 50 per cent,” he said.

CPI-M’s E Kareem sought for recognizing person working in central government’s schemes as workers.

“More than one crore workers engaged in different schemes of the central government, such as Anganwadi, ASHA, SSA, Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Most of them are women and coming from very poor sections of society. They are getting a meagre remuneration in the name of honorarium.”

“There is a long pending demand to recognize them as workers. The 45th Session of the Indian Labour Conference had recommended to recognize them as workers and extend social security and other benefits and not to privatize this sector. But, this recommendation has not been implemented so far. The government should implement the recommendation of the 45th Indian Labour Conference,” he said.