Cool Bihari: December 2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

Bihar marches ahead

Every year end when I post my last blog post for Cool Bihari I get a strange sense of pride and satisfaction which is hard to describe in words. May be it’s just an emotional outpour of a son for his motherland who yearns to be closer to Bihar or may be its just that every year our dreams are getting bigger and bolder. It’s a feeling which is stronger and more convincing, it’s a secret joy of seeing how we are all bouncing back and rewriting every letter in the chapter of the New Bihar.

Call it the renaissance of Bihar or Bihar 2.0; call it the New Bihar or revival of the golden past. You may choose the term depending on your faith and school of thought but the truth is that Bihar has truly bounced back strong and the journey which started few years back has finally seen some real changes on ground.

The year 2007 has seen many path breaking initiatives in Bihar; the world took notice of the emerging and untapped potential of Bihar. The doubting Thomases may continue to be skeptical but they must take cognizance of what our Ex-President Dr Kalam said, “India needs a developed Bihar which, more than any other state, has potential to achieve all the indexes.”

The faith affirmed in Bihar and its infinite potential has been proved as this year the State’s vital index of economic growth has seen significant improvement and right from revenue generation to development investment has gone up. Although the state did witnessed the scourge of a devastation floods as well but the resilience and optimism shown by Biharis from all walks of life has been remarkable. This blog has details of various events which shaped Bihar’s fortunes in the year 2007,as you go through the posts you’ll realize how each positive move in Bihar has given new confidence and renewed the pride of Biharis around the world. It has made each one of us proud of what we had and what we are aspiring for. Our heart swells with pride when we see our Bihari kids making news or a common man from Bihar achieve the extra ordinary. Sports, Arts, Media, Fashion, Science or technology or any sphere of life, Biharis around the world have achieved laurels for their unique achievements and contribution.

It has been a year of translating our dreams into action and we have taken the first and most important step in this direction, we still have a long way to go and we all know this. The challenges inspire us and the little success we had has boosted our faith in our dreams and we are all marching together in this journey.Wishing you all a very Happy New Year 2008.

Labels: Bihar 2.0, Bihar 2007

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Scientific Foresight 2007 successfully concluded

Scientific foresight event was successfully concluded in Patna yesterday after three days of brainstorming sessions on emerging opportunities and challenge in Science and technology. The event saw participation from students of various leading institutions who presented their papers on various themes.

Bihar is at the crossroads of a paradigm shift in the field of technology as the state is geared up to make headway with its talent pool. This was the final observation made by eminent speakers who participated in the Scientific Foresight – 2007. A three-day Scientific Foresight which concluded on Monday here showcased that how Bihar could jump over the IT bandwagon. The participating students showed their scientific acumen by presenting papers on science and spirituality and also on latest technology.

A resolution was taken to reach technology to the villages of Bihar. Finance and IT commissioner of Bihar, Navin Kumar said that a plan had already been prepared to put the state at par with the five leading states in the IT area. He informed the audience that BSWAN (Bihar State Wide Area Network) is a policy which would interconnect all 45 departments of the government with the 38 districts of Bihar to facilitate communication in the state. He also said that IT-enabled services would be provided to 8463 panchayats of the state through e-kiosk named Vasudha.

The highlight of the programme was introducing students to the benefit of innovation based on scientific approach. Mehmood Alam from Unilever said innovation was important for economic advancement. “It is not that only big MNCs could innovate. It is being already done at village level in the country,” he said. He counseled that innovations which are being done at village level must be taken into account at global level.

Dr. Anil Gupta, a teacher from IIM, Ahmedabad said that an occasion like this appears to be a beginning of renaissance in Bihar. He opined, “Bihar is getting out of the culture of patronage which is being replaced by creativity which is a sign of renaissance.” Dr. Gupta observed that the power of muscle is now replaced by the power of mind in the state. He called upon the youth to unburden their minds of the legacy of elders and start thinking afresh.

At Scientific Foresight, students from various schools and colleges presented their papers on science and technology. Ankit Anand, a student from Science College put his paper on “Possibilty of space transport using radiation” Good papers were rewarded with first, second and third prizes won by students from Patna.

The country’s topmost luminaries of the field presented papers and offered suggestions on innovating new ideas. Principal Secretary of Science and Technology, Ajay Kumar who was instrumental in organizing Scientific Foresight said that scientific talent in rural areas should be encouraged.

Read more about Scientific Foresight at the links below.

Video of Scientific Foresight Inaugaration

Second day Highlights

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Labels: Bihar 2.0, Bihari Talent, Scientific foresight

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

India Child Genius is a Cool Bihari

I'm just proud of my home state which of course has recently earned bad name for some wrong reasons- but I'd love to do something for it “-Subham Prabhakar,winner of India’s Child Genius event.

Amazing and inspiring, that’s all I can say about this young genius who feels so passionately about his state and country. If media has its way the state of Bihar would only be credited with crooked politicians and mafias, you can almost feel the sadistic pleasure in branding Bihar as the “most lawless state”. Thanks to the efforts of Subham who keeps reminding everyone that it’s the same Bihar which has been the cradle of learning and knowledge.

Subham Prakhar won the title of "India's Child Genius" after several rounds of stiff competition between some 16,000 schoolchildren. Both of his parents are currently unemployed and Subham had to depend on generous relatives and the internet to gain access to the books he needed to prepare for the competition. Besides a glass trophy, an Encyclopaedia Britannica CD-rom and a pair of gold and silver pens, Shubham won a cash prize of one million rupees ($22,200).

Shubham had won every competition he entered before applying to take part in India's most prestigious and popular brain game show.

"I've never stood second in life and that's how I wanted to be," he says.

Subham,we wish you the very best for all your future endeavors.You truly make us proud.

Labels: Bihari Newsmakers, Bihari Talent, India Child Genius, Subham Prabhakar

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 8:59 PM | Permalink | Comments

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Scientific Foresight

Patna is hosting the third Scientific foresight event starting from today till 24th Dec .The event has been a great success over the years and this year the event has scaled new heights with the global scale all round effort put by the students ,organizers and the Science & technology Dept of Bihar govt.

This Symposium is aimed to provide an opportunity to explore the hidden aptitude of the budding engineers and scientists.

Participating students will be able to develop their interests and awareness about the contemporary industrial and research trends in areas of science and technology. They will be able to update their technical knowledge and also enhance their communication and presentation skills.

The three day affair will have 10 seminar sessions and display of industrial products, models and innovative posters The event will witness paper presentations and panel discussions on various subjects .Experts and guest speakers are likely to address the students and share their ideas and thoughts with the budding talents .

Thanks to the efforts of Science and technology Principal secretary Ajay thakur and the convernor Ramraj and his team the event has been pathbreaking in reviving the scientific temper in the state.This event will surely go a long way in restoring the prestine glory of Science and technology in Bihar and set new benchmarks.

Labels: Bihar 2.0, Events, Scientific foresight

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Investment potential in Bihar

Investment climate in Bihar has been improving over the last few years and more and more investors are showing keen interest in exploring the diverse investment and development opportunities in Bihar. In the last few days few big investors like Reliance, Tata, Bharti and other private and public bodies are exploring diverse options of investment.

Reliance Industries, Tata Chemicals, Bharti Enterprises’ Fieldfresh and Indian Oil are among several large companies that have evinced interest in leasing closed sugar mills that the Bihar government is offering, mainly to exploit opportunities to make ethanol to meet mandatory petrol blending norms that were introduced this year.

Last month, the Bihar government decided to offer 15 closed mills belonging to the Bihar State Sugar Corporation on a long-term lease of 60 years, extendable by 30 years, on the recommendation of SBI Capital Markets.

Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, Renuka Sugars, Upper Ganges Sugar, Dhampur Sugar and India Glycols, which have acquired the Request for Qualification (RFQ) forms from the Bihar government.

A delegation of Manitoba, the western province of Canada, led by its deputy premier-cum-minister of agriculture, food and rural initiatives, Rosann Wowchuk, called on the chief minister, Nitish Kumar.The Canadian delegate showed its willingness to enter into collaboration with Bihar and expressed interest in reviving agriculture and marketing activities here.

The team comprises top-level executives from Candian agro-based organizations, including the International Grains Institute, Wheat Board, and the researchers of Manitoba University. The chief minister appreciated and promised full cooperation to the delegation.

Bihar’s CM Nitish Kumar also laid the foundation stone of a medical college at Bettiah, the headquarters of West Champaran, thereby fulfilling the dream of the last queen of Bettiah Raj, Maharani Janaki Kunwar. He laid the foundation stone of the first of the four medical colleges promised by his government at the Maharaja Harendra Kishore stadium, Bettiah, amidst great rejoicing. He said the construction work on the badly-needed college would start at the earliest possible, adding a polytechnic institute would also be established here.

Labels: Bettiah, Bihar 2.0, Development Projects in Bihar, Education in Bihar, Investment in Bihar, Revival of Bihar

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 6:09 PM | Permalink | Comments

Bihari Cuisines

I was getting too nostalgic about food from home and ended up finding these interesting (mouth-watering) links on Bihari Khaana.

http://ruchii.wordpress.com/?s=bihar

http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/2007/11/cuisine-of-bihar.html

http://ghar-ka-khana.blogspot.com/2007/10/rci-cuisine-of-bihar.html

http://jugalbandi.info/2007/11/chokha-pesto-bihari-style/

http://cookingandme.blogspot.com/2007/11/bihari-subzi-shahi-paneer.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Bihar

http://www.ifood.tv/group/bihari_food

http://freshflavors.blogspot.com/2007/11/bihari-khichdi-and-aloo-baingan-methi.html

http://cookingandme.blogspot.com/2007/11/bihari-subzi-shahi-paneer.html

http://thebuddingcook.blogspot.com/2007/11/aloo-rasedaar.html

http://the-cooker.blogspot.com/2007/11/mirchi-achaar-pickle-bihari-style.html

http://www.monsoonspice.com/2007/11/bihari-thali.html

http://the-cooker.blogspot.com/2007/11/mirchi-achaar-pickle-bihari-style.html

It’s interesting to observe that despite the wave of changes in eating habit all over India Biharis around the world continue to enjoy homemade and traditional ghar ka khaana.Another interesting fact is that Biharis who migrated to other parts of the world also continue to relish traditional Bihari cuisines like Khichadi,chokha and many other rich bihari cousines.I have a very amusing chutney song by terry gajraj from Caribbean which goes with these wording "maani beele roti daadi chokhe daal". Amazing isn't it :)

PS:Do drop me a mail in case you want to have the song :)

Labels: Bihar Cuisines, Bihar Culture, Chutney

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 2:34 AM | Permalink | Comments

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Appan Samachar-Women News channel in Bihar

Aapaan Samachar is an all-women community news network located in Bihar’s remote Ramlila Gachi village.

"We look around for issues that affect the villagers, shoot them and then put them on air,” says the channel’s news anchor Khushboo.

This news network runs on minimum resources. Reporters, camerapersons and anchors, all move around on bicycles with their handycams, looking for stories of human interest.

Aapaan Samachar is free to air. The network, in addition to providing news that is of use to these villagers, is also a vehicle for women empowerment. This makes Santosh Anand, who has funded the initiative, a proud man.

“It’s a great move in the direction of women empowerment. The parents of these girls want their daughters to move ahead in life and venture into such initiatives," he says.

Managing with bare minimum resources, the channel has far-reaching impact. The issues raised by these firebrand reporters concern everyone, making this news channel No. 1 in the race for eyeballs.

Watch the Video on IBN-CNN live.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Labels: Appan Samachar, Bihar 2.0, Development Projects in Bihar, Grassroot Innovation, Social Entrepreneurs, Women achiever from Bihar

Posted by Ajit Chouhan at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments