Araria Group

Chanting anti-police and transport department slogans, the agitators said the state government was taking more than Rs. 10,000 in the name of road permit that is in direct contrast with other states where private ambulance owners are given the status of emergency workers thus being able to earn the same benefit as government-owned hospital services.

"We fulfill a special need of the society that is not offered by the conventional government ambulances in Bihar. These services include offering transportation of patients to the hospitals where the conventional ambulance services do not reach and carrying dead people from one place to another at a minimal price," union leader Ashok Kumar Singh said.

"If our demands are not met by the Bihar government soon, we would be forced to intensify our stir that could last weeks, if not months," said A. Ahmed, the union vice president.

Officials of the Meteorological Department say that the rains could arrive in Kerala any time between May 20 and 25. The monsoon was expected to hit the state by June 1.

The Met Department also predicted last month that the monsoons are likely to be near normal this year.

NASA, meanwhile, has predicted a bumper crop this year in Bihar and nearby areas. That may spell a bit of good news in the light of the food crisis.

Economic Advisory Council's Chairman C Rangarajan also suggested on Wednesday that inflation might come down to six per cent within three months, due to sufficient procurement of food grains particularly wheat amid cheerful prognostics for an early and healthy monsoon.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that the amount earmarked for distribution as loan during the current fiscal included Rs 7,075 crore in the agriculture sector and over Rs 1,050 crore in the industrial sector. The annual credit plan during the last fiscal was Rs 13,000 crore, said Modi.

He said that the amounts to be disbursed by various commercial banks had already been fixed in the range of over Rs 4,382 crore to be given as loan by State Bank of India and Rs 291 crore by Union Bank.

According to him, the maximum of Rs 3,808.11 crore would be loaned out in Patna district. The share of other districts would be: Muzaffarpur (Rs 874.83 crore), Saran (Rs 595.26 crore), East Champaran (Rs 591.76 crore), Rohtas (Rs 558.76 crore), Gaya (Rs 575.93 crore), Begusarai (Rs 550.67 crore), Bhagalpur (Rs 539.70 crore), Bhojpur (Rs 531.11 crore), Buxar (Rs 528.77 crore) and Purnia (Rs 519.91 crore).

He said the government is particularly concerned about meeting the target, and, therefore, the State Level Bankers' Committee is being held in the next half of this month.

The real estate markets too are facing a neat correction. This year may see a drop in the 'high value' properties market since retail customers are looking for buying homes that cost less than Rs 50 lakh. This is what builders, property portals and international property consultants are suggesting.

Aditya Verma, business head of Makaan.com, which gets an average of 7 lakh visitors a month, said, "Most visitors access Makaan.com primarily to look for properties meeting their requirements. Based on this vast user base, we can confidently say that 70 per cent visitors are interested in properties below Rs 50 lakh.

The trend in this data suggests that there will be a drop in high value properties. So, 2008 will see more upcoming projects in the less than Rs 50 lakh bracket."

Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj country head and chairman Anuj Puri agrees.

"Most major Indian developers are now actively getting into affordable homes to meet the existing shortage of 25 million residential units in the country. This is also a means for them to hedge the downside of a drop in the demand for luxury homes. There is a huge demand for residential units in the Rs 30-50 lakh range, but the metros have next to nothing to offer."

Replying to a question in the State Assembly on Monday he said according to the information received from the State-level Bankers' Committee, it was targeted to distribute credit cards among 6.88 lakh farmers in 2007-08. But the banks had sanctioned the Kisan Credit Cards for 3,10,702 applicants by December, 2007.

Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio, said that the State Bankers' Committee which met recently evolved an action plan to make available the Kisan Credit Cards to cent per cent farmers in eight districts by 2008-09. The districts selected for this purpose are Gaya, Purnia, Madhubani, Bhagalpur, West Champaran, Rohtas, Khagaria and Samastipur.

``Ek Bihari, sau bimari,'' the rabid editorial said, quoting from what it claimed was an SMS doing the rounds in Punjab. ``The UP-Bihari MPs have shown their ingratitude towards Mumbai and Maharashtra with their anti-Marathi tirade in Parliament. Those who criticized Maharashtrians in Parliament do not have a clean image. Some of them are even history sheeters.''

Political observers say the anti-migrant rhetoric is nothing but a political battle between Shiv Sena and the rebel Maharashtra Navnirman Sena to consolidate the sonsof-the-soil vote in Mumbai and Thane, which together have the largest chunk of 60 seats in the assembly. The immigrant bogey raised by the two parties also flies in the face of data collected by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, which shows the migrant influx to Mumbai has come down over the last 30 years, with the stream being diverted to new townships like Nashik, Pune and Chiplun.

Deshmukh seeks legal opinion on action against Bal Thackeray

In a shoddy case of binding error, the Maths textbook meant for Class V students for schools under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan ended up carrying portions from a Geography book meant for Class VII.

While the blunder was committed by the Bihar State Text Book Publishing Corporation in 2007, state HRD minister Brishen Patel admitted to the "mistake" in the assembly only on Tuesday. He was careful enough to point out that it wasn't a printing error, but a mistake at the stage of binding over which the ministry has no control.

The printer's contract was cancelled and payment stopped for this blooper, and no work will be allotted to the firm in the future, said Patel. A joint panel was also formed to look into the causes of this embarrassing gaffe.

RJD Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, who raised a question regarding the errors in the Assembly, also wondered whether there was any mechanism to check the contents and quality of school textbooks. To this, Patel said checking of textbooks was primarily the responsibility of the SCERT.

But the import of the charge lay in the context it was said -- a day when the Delhi L-G's "innocuous" comment had ruffled the feathers of "North Indians". Lalu lost little time in slamming the controversial soundbite, saying it was "meant to increase his (L-G's) visibility on air and was unbecoming of the high office he holds".

But many felt that Tejinder Khanna's gaffe also gave Lalu Prasad the opening to repeat his complaint yet again that the appointment of governors and L-Gs is made unilaterally by Congress in UPA regime. Khanna is considered close to Congress.

In the same vein, Lalu was seen as venting the long-pending demand of allies for a share in the appointment of ambassadors, who are either career diplomats or those considered close to the lead party of the UPA. The blunders by Congress nominees, like Indian envoy to US Ronen Sen's "headless chicken" remark, deepens the angst of the partners also for it is they who are called for fire-fighting. UPA sources confirmed that the railway minister is miffed at Congress not "sharing power" outside the ambit of ministries and alliance politics of Bihar.

The state police headquarters has identified 21 such politicians, and a pro posal has been mooted for setting up special courts to ensure speedy trial of the criminal cases pending against them. Confirming this, Principal Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah said they would soon request the Patna High Court to constitute special courts exclusively for these cases.

"We are hopeful that the special courts would be constituted within the next two weeks, and trial of the high profile cases would be pursued vigorously. The state government is committed to bringing these cases to their logical end," said Amanullah.

The move is reportedly on the pattern of Nitish Kumar's recent attempts to promote Buddhist and Jain circuits in the state on the world tourist map.

Incidentally, Nitish Kumar and his party JD(U) apparently distanced themselves from the recent BJP-VHP-sponsored agitation on Ram Setu in the wake of the controversial affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by the Congress-led UPA.

Sources said the Nitish government had already entrusted the task of identifying such places associated with Lord Ram in the state with authenticity to the Bihar state board of religious trusts administrator Kishore Kunal.

A former IPS officer, Kunal, was reported to have already studied ancient Sanskrit texts, Khsemendra's Bal Ramayana,Valmiki's Ramayana and famous Sanskrit dramas Prasanna Raghav and Anarg Raghav to locate sites associated with Lord Ram and Sita in the state.

The Mithila Mahatmya, an 18th-century work, describes the famous "Parikarma", which covers 128-km distance between India and Nepal. The Parikarma, very popular among Hindu pilgrims, starts from Kalyaneshwar (popularly known as Kalna) in Madhubani of Bihar near the Nepal border.

Going by the age-old texts, some places are already identified with Lord Ram.According to Valmiki's Ramayana, "Siddhashram" in Bihar's Buxar town is identified with Ram as he had performed yagna here.

Key Posers On Quota

• Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the anti-quota peti- tioners, had argued that the Act could not be implemented on the identification done on the basis of 1931 census and with Centre not excluding the "creamy layer" from the benefit of reservation.
  
• The Supreme Court then asked ¦ how the Centre had endeavoured to implement the Act without identifying and determining its real beneficiaries.

Vahanvati said technically the court was right in saying that without issuing the notification on the SEBC list, how did the Centre want to implement the quota law.

However, he said the notification in this regard could not be issued and was held back as the arguments in the matter had started.

While the Department of Posts plans to develop vacant space in post offices for retail, filmmaker Jha revealed that he would develop 19 malls in Bihar and Jharkhand.

"We plan to develop 1,800 plots and space running into lakhs of square feet for retailing," S. Samant, CGM (Business Development), Department of Posts, disclosed. Tenders would soon be invited and a post office retail model would be developed purely on PPP (public private partnership) basis just as the Railways and airports have.

Striking a rather interesting note, film-maker Prakash Jha disclosed his plans to develop 19 multiplex-cum-malls in Bihar and Jharkhand.

The question of Why Bihar brought smiles to many a faces. "Bihar and Jharkhand are a picture of contradiction for all. While the place, that was once a golden state, has the best brains and has been known for mineral riches, it always brings a scowl on the faces of investors because of the lawlessness that prevails," he said.

"With the coming in of the new government, the quantum of Bihar budget has tripled to Rs 53,000 crore. It is here where I see the opportunity," he said.

"Remember, Bihar is now to rest of India what India was to the rest of the world not long ago. But the scenario is changing," he said.

Jha said they had acquired 19 pieces of realty and the work was in progress in three of those. "We have already signed up with Adlabs for putting up screens," he said.

"Talks are on with the FIPB for tax sops," Jha said. "We will rent out the outlets for farmers as well as open quite a few e-centres," the filmmaker said.

He advised investors to start looking at other southeastern and eastern states like Orissa, West Bengal and Bihar.

Agenda of the meeting

1. Finalization of Letter for all MPs of Bihar for the endoresment of IISER in Bihar

2. Finalization of Strategies for apporaching MPs and Minsiters and raise voice for the getting IISER in Bihar.

3. National and Local Media Support .

As energy becomes more subtle it becomes more pervasive. The energy of the body is not as fine as the energy of the breath.

The energy of thought is even subtler and emanates from pure consciousness which makes it the most pervasive. Energy always carries a charge.

Similar charges attract each other which is why anger incites anger and trust begets trust.

Energy is communicative. The energy surrounding us whether from our house or from the people enters our energy fields and auras. This can influence our responses and physical health.

Many of the displaced are yet to get any food packets or water. Most are fighting for survival with virtually nothing to eat. They are sleeping under the open sky and forced to drink the polluted flood water. Help from the sky is their elusive last hope.

Every time a helicopter or a small plane hovers into the sky, their hopes rise thinking at last they would get some food. But it turns into disappointment as the planes go by without dropping packets. It has been so for the last four days.

Reports pouring in from different flood-hit areas paint a harrowing picture of the miseries of the people. There is acute shortage of essential medicines as well as doctors in rural areas hit by floods.

About 10.8 million people, of the state's 82 million, have been affected in nearly 5,000 villages across 18 of Bihar's 38 districts in what officials say has been the worst flooding in three decades, preliminary estimates by the disaster management department say.

Nature's fury has claimed over 80 lives, destroyed hundreds of homes and simply cut off several districts.

The state government on Sunday pressed four helicopters of the Indian Air Force to air-drop relief packets in the worst-hit Madhubani and Darbhanga districts. On Saturday, two IAF helicopters were pressed into service for the first time to air drop 2,440 relief packets in Darbhanga district.

According to official sources, each 5 kg packet contains 4.5 kg of sattu (ground gram), half kg of salt, candles and match box. There has been no move to provide safe drinking water bottles to the marooned people.

Bihar was the first state to have formed SAP, a model which was reportedly appreciated by the union home ministry. Sources say the state government, in coordination with the Shasastra Seema Bal, has already stepped up vigil along the porous Indo-Nepal border, covering districts of north Bihar, in the wake of the armed Maoist attack at Riga in Sitamari, which claimed the life of an SAP jawan and injured six others. Riga is just 4 km away from the Indo-Nepal border.

The authorities are reportedly working to create a special intelligence wing to deal with the Maoists.

Over 400 armed Maoist rebels blew up a road bridge, attacked a police station and a block office at Riga in a bid to loot a nationalised bank, but the police successfully repulsed the attack.

All entry and exit points of Sitamari district have been sealed and raids are being conducted to apprehend Maoists. The authorities have also sealed the Indo-Nepal border in Sitamarhi district and SSB jawans are conducting combing operations.

Despite instructions from security agencies, the government has decided against banning incoming international calls where the caller line identification (CLI) is not displayed. Instead, International Long Distance (ILD) players such as Reliance, Bharti and VSNL, who carry these calls to India have been asked to continue with the existing procedure until the Department of Telecom (DoT) can devise a new mechanism to tackle the issue.

Last month ET had reported that Indian security agencies had asked ILD carriers to ban incoming international calls where CLI was not provided by the foreign calling party.

The DoT's move comes after both ILD operators and the telecom Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) sought a clarification on the issue. Besides, DoT has also accepted Trai's view on the issue that any decision to stop ILD incoming calls where CLI is not received from the foreign party would raise serious issues like non-completion of substantial international calls from many countries and also have an adverse impact on the collection of Access Deficit Charge.