Biharprabha News » Darbhanga

Is Darbhanga becoming another Terrorism hub ?

IANS — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:53:11 +0000

Darbhanga has been the crown of Mithilanachal, the most prominent cultural abode of Bihar. Best known as the City of Ponds, Darbhanga appears in many chapters of Glorious Indian History. The philanthropy of King of Darbhanga has been well known in all times.

Recently a blot in the fame of Darbhanga has appeared which links it to various terrorist activities ocurring in the Country. It may be a coincidence, but 12 of the 13 people arrested recently for links with terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) are from Darbhanga in Bihar.

Asadullah Rehman alias Dilkash, Kafeel Ahmed, Talha Abdali alias Israr, Mohammed Tarique Anjuman, Haroon Rashid Naik, Naqi Ahmed Vasi Ahmed Sheikh, Nadeem Akhtar Ashfaque Sheikh, Mohammed Qatil Siddiqui, Gohar Aziz Khumani, Mohammed Adil, Mohammed Irshad, Gayur Ahmed Jamali and Aftab Alam alias Farooq — all were caught in the past six months from various places in India for alleged involvement in a string of bomb attacks.

Of the 13, six are in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, four in a Bangalore prison and three in Mumbai. Barring Mohammed Adil, a Pakistani from Karachi, the rest are from Darbhanga.

Why Darbhanga? Different experts give different reasons.

Mumbai Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria said it was the elusive member of IM, Ahmed Siddi Bappa alias Yasin Bhatkal, who chose the Bihar district to indoctrinate young men.

Former Intelligence Bureau chief Ajit Doval has another theory.

“IM members target densely populated Muslim areas. With help from conservative people, they brainwash others,” Doval told IANS.

“Darbhanga has been targeted as a part of their new module since 2001 when SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) was banned.”

The radical SIMI was the forerunner of IM, which has been blamed for a string of terror attacks across India.

Arun Bhagat, formerly of the Research and Analysis Wing, said a terrorist group works like a queen bee.

“After a systematic geographical search of a particular Muslim- dominated area, outfits like IM start a nucleus, recruiting new members. That is the reason so many are from Darbhanga,” Bhagat told IANS.

Darbhanga, situated 132 km from Patna, has a population of 3.2 million according to the 2001 census. As per the 1991 census, its Muslim population is 555,429.

New Delhi-based expert on terrorism Ajai Sahni said it did not necessarily mean that the IM was targeting only Darbhanga to look for new members.

“Once a member belonging to another state is caught, the next module might come to light,” said Sahni.

Activists of Indian Mujahideen, which has declared war on the Indian state, have indeed been operating in various parts of India. These include Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Uttar Pradesh.

The Indian government outlawed the Indian Mujahideen in June 2010. The US has designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organisation.

Bihar Coming up with 38 new Hsopitals

Bihar Reporter — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:49:31 +0000

Bihar Government is currently constructing a new Sadar Hospital in every district of Bihar. This includes a 500 bed Hospital in 9 district , 300 bed hospital in 18 district while 100 bed hospital in the remaining 11 district. The number of beds has been decided based upon population of each district. These hospitals would be fitted with high end equipments and surgical facilities in order to provide better health facilities to the people of Bihar.

Government is also spending over Rs 100 crores for the setting up of 75 Bed Hospitals in 21 subdivisions of the state, of which hospitals had been constructed in 13 subdivisions.

The construction of hospital building has been completed in ten districts – Buxar, Kaimur, Banka, Kishanganj, Jamui, Sheikhpura, Supaul, Araria, Lakhisarai and Khagaria. In Khagaria, a new 100-bed hospital has already been inaugurated.

Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey recently said that it had been decided in 2010-11 to upgrade 15 referral hospitals into subdivisional hospitals, of which 10 hospitals in Kaimur, Munger, Saran, Katihar, East Champaran, Nalanda, Gaya, Purnia and Madhepura districts had already been completed.

5 more Patna model Cities in Bihar

Bihar Reporter — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 12:57:08 +0000

On the lines of of Patna five other cities of Bihar Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Purnia and Darbhanga would be developed. This is step is being taken to lessen the concentration of people and resources in Patna and acheive a equality in development.

As per a report published in a leading Hindi Daily from Bihar, these cities would be provided with
1. Smooth Road Connectivity
2. 24 hours Power
3. Multi- Speciality Hospitals
4. Shopping Complexes
5. Industrial Areas
6. Integrated Office Spaces.
7. Proper Sewarage System

Presently Patna is the only city in Bihar where all these facilities are fully available. Incidentally, Bihar is the only state in Eastern region where no city other than the capital city is fully developed.
The Government has planned to make Patna a metropolitan/mega city while other cities would be semi-metropolies. Patna has been granted metropolitan status 2 years back. In June 2009, the World Bank ranked Patna as second place in India, after Delhi, in terms of the ease of starting a business. It has also been ranked 21st fastest growing city in the World and 5th in India

Patna academician receives honor from Oxford

Bihar Reporter — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:45:55 +0000

Dr. Birbal Jha,noted academician and pioneer of English language teaching in Bihar has received appreciation from Oxford University for his new book “Celebrate Your Life”.
Prof Elizabeth Schoel, Emeritus Course Leader in Personal growth at the University of Oxford termed it as a work of great benefit especially in India context, but nonetheless relevant to an international audience.

“One is tempted to view “Celebrate Your Life” as yet another self-help manual, but it forms a core of knowledge which is eminently suitable for use in a classroom environment as well.” added the Oxford professor.

Dr. Birbal Jha founded British Lingua in 1993 with a mission to help students develop communication skills in English, develop their personality, and qualify for a better career.Since then thousands of students have graduated from this institution. BAP Pvt Ltd, which is the company running British Lingua, has set up teaching centres in Delhi, Patna and many small, non-metropolitan cities so that students even with a rural background can benefit from its courses.Today British Lingua has total 10 branches – two in Delhi, three in Patna, one in Darbhanga, one in Muzaffarpur, one in Dehri-On-Sone, one in Giridih and one in Budaun.

Bihar strengthens security arrangement for Durga Puja

Bihar Reporter — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 11:22:50 +0000

Bihar Government is preparing well to make this Durga Puja a peaceful celebration. 3000 additional cops have been deployed at sensitive locations and effective arrangements are being made to curb any anti-social activities. The Police has also been alerted in the wake of the recent terror attacks in different parts of country and their repetition.Small groups of police led by DSP-rank officials have been given charge of different areas.
The deployment of these forces will start from October 3 and will remain in place till the Durga Puja celebrations end on October 6.

“We a request the people to be cautious and report anything suspicious to the nearest police station immediately,” Patna DIG, Vineet Vinayak said.

Government has also made a dedicated team of Women Police Personnel to deal with eve-teasing and other such women-harassing activities.
Any incidents of Eve-Teasing can be reported to 9470001390 .

Three companies of plain clothed force, with each company having 200 personnel, will keep an eye on eve-teasers. Another helpline number 9470001389 can also be used for the purpose.

Additionally, steps have also been taken to prevent chain snatching. Patna police will deploy 50 police bikers.

The Patna police have also requisitioned Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel for deployment at sensitive places. “There are quite a few sensitive areas in the city. We will deploy RAF personnel at all such places,” the senior cop said. Apart from security, all Organizing Committees have been issues guidelines under which No loudspeaker should be played after 10pm.

Ambulances on demand has been made at all prominent pandals and strategic locations and hospitals, mainly PMCH, have been kept on alert.Firefighters have also been asked to remain ready to control any cuch incident. Anti-riot vehicle, Vajra, will also be kept ready.

Google Internet Bus Arrives in Bihar

Bihar Reporter — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 08:08:17 +0000

Google Internet Bus has finally arrived in Bihar.It is an initiative by Google Inc to educate people about what the Internet is, and how it may be beneficial to their lives, by taking the Internet experience to them through a customised Internet-enabled bus.The Bus is supposed to visit nine districts in Bihar to create awareness among the people about the use and application of internet, Google India Managing Director (Development and Research) Piyush Ranjan said today.

The Bus is presently at Patna and will leave for Chapra on September 16.
The Schedule of the Bus Arrival in various districts is as follows.
06 Sep Patna
16 Sep Chapra
19 Sep Bhagalpur
26 Sep Katihar
29 Sep Purnia
01 Oct Darbhanga
07 Oct Arrah
12 Oct Gaya
18 Oct Bihar Sharif

The bus which has already travelled 120 towns across south India, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh and would tour Patna, Gaya, Nalanda, Ara, Saran, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Katihar and Purnia districts during its 40 days stay in the state. The bus during its travel through Bihar would show the usefullness of internet to students, teachers, government and business in addition to basic familiarisation on using services like search, email, social networking, online maps.

Ranjan further emphasized the role of Internet in our daily life. “Internet has positively touched the lives of more than 56 lakh people and around 16 lakh people went online after coming in contact with the bus.We hope to create awareness about internet and believe that continuous efforts will enable the common man to utilise the power of knowledge and information for economic prosperity”.

65 new industrial units got land in Bihar

Bihar Reporter — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:19:08 +0000

BIADA- The Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority has allotted 23.15 acres of land to 65 different industrial units at Muzaffarpur, Ramnagar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Dharampur (Darbhanga), Pandaul (Madhubani) and Samastipur industrial areas in north Bihar.

These allotments were made in the meetings of Project Clearance Committee (PCC) from August 3 to 10 at BIADA’s offices in Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur, chaired by the BIADA managing director. The meeting was attended by the representatives of Bihar Industries Association, Confederation of Indian Industries, Bihar state council, and Bihar State Pollution Control Board. According to a BIADA release, plots were allotted to 65 entrepreneurs for setting up, among others, food processing, plastic and textile units, and printing press with a total investment of Rs 1,115.49 crore, according to executive director, BIADA, Bhogendra Lal.

Bihar to setup more embankments to check flood

Bihar Reporter — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:43:00 +0000

Patna, July 5 (IANS) Bihar plans to construct more embankments to control floods and protect millions of people from being uprooted, a minister said Tuesday.
‘Construction of embankments is the only solution at present to get rid of floods in Bihar. It is the best available measure against flood protection,’ Bihar Water Resources Development Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told IANS.
At a time when fear of devastating floods is back, the state government plans to construct 1,600 km of embankments in the next five years.
‘An action plan is being prepared by the department to construct more embankments to provide protection to millions of people living in flood prone-districts,’ Choudhary said.
He said that according to the plan, an additional 26 lakh hectares would be protected if proposed embankments are constructed.
The minister said that till date the state government has constructed 3,629 km of embankments to protect the lives and property of people in over 30 lakh hectares of land out of a total of 68.8 lakh hectare in flood-prone areas.
During the floods in 2007, about 37 embankments were breached followed by the devastating flood in 2008 when the Kosi river breached its embankments, officials said.
The state government took measures for strengthening the embankments in 2009 but three were breached, while in 2010 only one embankment was breached.
After two consecutive years of drought, the fear of floods is back in Bihar with incessant rains and heavy water discharge into the Kosi river from Nepal.
However, Choudhary said all embankments were safe and there was no need to panic. ‘The government is fully ready to face any eventuality if the water level in rivers
poses a threat.’
But he conceded that many villages in flood-prone districts face threats due to the increased water levels.
Reports suggested that the authorities have asked hundreds of people to shift to safer places following the rising water level of the Kosi. The state government has asked engineers and district officials to keep a 24-hour vigil.
Choudhary said the eastern Kosi embankment, which had breached in 2008, flooding five districts of northern Bihar, was totally safe. ‘We are taking care of it. There is no need to panic.’
In 2008, over three million people were rendered homeless in Bihar when the Kosi river breached its bank upstream in Nepal and changed course. It was said to be the worst flood in the state in the last 50 years.
According to the water resources department, a lot of water has been discharged into the Kosi in the last one week after heavy rains in Nepal as well as in Bihar.
Two days ago, the Bagmati river breached its embankment in Muzaffarpur district, while the rising waters in the Gandak and Kosi rivers are also posing a serious threat.
All the inundated villages are in the flood-prone districts of Muzaffarpur, Gopalganj, Purnia, Araria, Saharsa, Madhepura and Bagaha, officials said.

Intra-state luxury AC buses to hit roads by mid July

Bihar Reporter — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 15:06:26 +0000

PATNA: The state government has decided to take concrete steps to boost tourism on an unprecedented scale. Special arrangements and packages have been designed to boost tourism, especially in Budhhist and Jain centres.

As a step ahead, Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) is all set to change the face of travelling on Bihar roads. It will roll out as many as 92 AC luxury buses in different routes within the state. These inter-city buses will run across the state.

In total, 92 luxury AC buses are proposed to run on 17 routes in the state. While 10 of these routes would connect Patna with other district headquarters, four other routes will be connecting Patna with district headquarters in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand.
Many of these luxury coaches are proposed to run by mid-July.

“We are planning to get mostly Volvo buses,” said an official adding we want to ensure a complete smooth ride for our tourists as well as local passengers.

The corporation that initiated the process of inviting applications from interested service providers in April this year, have already shortlisted a few of them and agreement has also been finalised. At present, the corporation is in the process of obtaining permits for these buses.

BSRTC sources also disclosed that as many as 30 buses, all 32-seaters would soon be rolled out on Muzaffarpur roads.

Bihar to increase milk output by 50 percent

Bihar Reporter — Tue, 31 May 2011 09:13:23 +0000

PATNA: To meet the growing demand for milk from Bihar and outside, Sudha Dairy, owned by Bihar State Milk Co-operative Producers Federation Limited (Compfed), is currently working

on a plan to increase its milk output by over 50% by the end of 2011-12 fiscal.

According to official sources, at present, Compfed has 14 dairies with a daily production of 14 lakh litres. This is sought to be increased to 22 lakh litres by the end of current financial year.

With this objective, Compfed is setting up several new dairies and expanding the capacities of many old ones.

Sources said that three new dairies are likely to be commissioned by this fiscal at Biharsharif, Dehri-On-Sone and Jamui. While Biharsharif dairy will have a capacity of 4 lakh litres per day, Dehri-On-Sone will produce 1 lakh litres of milk daily and Jamui dairy 10,000 litres daily.

Besides, the capacity of Samastipur Dairy is being expanded to 5 lakh litres from 2.5 lakh litres daily and of Muzaffarpur dairy to 2.5 lakh litres daily from the present 1.5 lakh litres. The capacities of Compfed’s other dairies at Ara, Gaya, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Darbhanga, Kaimur and Bokaro are also being expanded.

Meanwhile, demand for Sudha Dairy’s milk from within Bihar and outside Bihar remains buoyant. Said an official, “We are currently supplying milk to Delhi, UP, Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Assam. There is demand from Andhra Pradesh and other areas too. On the other hand, local demand, too, has gone up.” Sudha Dairy is geared up to meet this demand, he said.