25 small Hydel power plants for Bihar

From a long time all of us know that Bihar does not have much power generation capacity. And then many of us would have heard or read about Bihar not getting the coal linkages or the water linkages for generating power through proposed thermal power plants. These thermal plants are good as they will be able to produce hundreds and thousands of Mega Watts of power. However we have been just hearing about them in the last 3-4 years with work only starting on one or two of such plants.

So I am very happy when someone finally spoke of generating power by hydro electric means. After all we get a lot of excess water in some places of Bihar and then we have rivers which can be used for generating Hydro electric power. So the proposal of putting together 25 Hydel power plants which will produce a total capacity of 800MW came as good news to me. Even if the capacity per plant would be small, the chances of getting these power plants built and commissioned faster, are much higher and can happen more quickly as we do not have to depend on coal linkages.

One of such projects is the Dagmara Hydel Power Project over River Kosi which will generate 130 MWs of power. Atleast Kosi will do more than disrupting lives of people if this power plant gets approved and built.

More details can be found in the Times of India article "Bihar proposes to setup 25 Hydel power projects"

Gates Vaccine Innovation Award for Nitish Kumar

The Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation will award Bihar Chief Minister the first Gates Vaccine Innovation Award. The Bill Gates and Melinda Foundation has accepted a proposal to confer the Gates Innovation Award on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the first Gates Vaccine Innovation Award.


The award will come at a time when immunization programs in Bihar have greatly improved in the recent times and no polio cases were reported in Bihar in the last 15 months.

Great Work Nitish ji and kudos to your team that made this happen.

More details can be found in the Indiawest article Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to Receive Gates Foundation's Innovation Award.

Prevent the Ayodhya verdict from hampering Bihar's growth

As Biharis start voting for the assembly elections this week, I hope and pray that the Ayodhya verdict is not able to slow down or completely stop the progress of Bihar.

I was going through an Outlook India article which said "Nitish seemed well placed to retain power before the Ayodhya verdict. Now it no longer looks a cakewalk." It signifies that before the Ayodhya verdict, Development would win in Bihar... but now with the Ayodhya verdict, Development is taking a back seat with many voters giving more weightage to the Ayodhya decision.

However my belief and the belief of many people is that the Ayodhya verdict should not be allowed to make our voting decisions and determine whom we should vote for. Rather vote for the development of Bihar. Ayodhya verdict doesn't change people's situation in Bihar either ways. Ayodhya doesn't provide a livelyhood to the people of Bihar nor does it change the views of people outside Bihar in they way they look at Biharis. The only way the people who laugh at Biharis will stop doing so and respect each and every Bihari is if Bihar develops. The very same people who ill treated Biharis or raised slogals against them or even bashed hardworking Biharis will want to partner with Bihar if Bihar continues on the accelerated growth path it has been on in the last 5 years.

What we don't need is a Chief Minister who used social justice as his rallying point and presided over a kingdom of unsafe streets, endemic poverty and the kidnapping industry (The Bihar Glossary). What we need is a growth story presided over by a CEO-style chief minister in tune with the new economy, a re-made landscape where the roads are smooth and the mind is without fear (The Bihar Glossary).

Vandita Mishra has in a very matter of fact way echoed the above in the first two paragraphs of her article "The Bihar Glossary" in the Indian Express.

Can people who read this post and can influence those sections of Bihar who view the Ayodhya verdict as bigger than the development in Bihar, come forward and exert their influence and educate people to put Bihar's development ahead everything else?

Interesting article - State going the Bihar way?

Bihar in the news again... this time being quoted by a Karnataka Minister in one of his address.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State going the Bihar way?

M B MARAMKAL, TNN, Jun 16, 2010, 10.37pm IST

MYSORE: It was a time when politicians from state and other states speaking about development used to quote the name of Karnataka and termed it a "developed state." They even used to caution people not to allow the state to go the Bihar way -- which was part of `BIMARU' (connoting sickness) states. BIMARU was the short form for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Today, the situation is reversed and now the opinion about Bihar among the politicians has not only changed, even development there in the recent years under the leadership of Nitish Kumar seems to have caught the attention of leaders from Karnataka forcing them to quote Bihar in their speeches.

Addressing the lawyers at a seminar `Development and role of lawyers in it' organized by the BJP legal forum, minister Suresh Kumar extensively quoted the Bihar model and the development path adopted by it.

Revealing the changed law and order situation in the state and how it has paved way for the people visit and invest in the state, Suresh Kumar said: "It is amazing that Bihar has recorded a highest growth of 11.3% behind 11.5% recorded by Gujarat. Recently, I was on a visit to Bihar to participate in BJP's national executive and I was told that 47,000 cases in various courts have been ended in conviction. Of these, 5,000 have been convicted for life," he said, pointing out that the lawyers and government played a role in paving the way for development. Not only should the government strive to improve the law and order situation, the leaders in it should think over various issues related to land, investment and providing facilities to people particularly living urban agglomerations.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/State-going-the-Bihar-way-/articleshow/6048079.cms

11.03% - Bihar's GDP growth rate between 2004-05 and 2008-09

The nation today will wake up to the reality that Bihar has been the second fastest growing economy in India in the last 5 years. At 11.03% GDP growth rate, Bihar is only marginally behind Gujarat whose GDP grew by 11.05%. This is surely going to make heads turn across India. Who would have thought that a state which had 5.15% negative GDP growth in 2003-04 and had been consitently declining in all sectors and all aspects, could change so much in so little a time.

This is another proof that good governance and a will to change things can do wonders. Kudos to Mr. Nitish Kumar and his team for doing something which many would have thought impossible or even a miracle to achieve in Bihar.

Everyone has heard the hype associated with the Gujarat growth story over the last few years, but Mr. Nitish Kumar and his team have again slowly and steadily brought about a change and shown the way of progress, which has become a hallmark of Mr. Nitish Kumar. Obviously it would have been more difficult to change a state like Bihar compared to Gujarat which was already prospering.

I am really happy that many people today will sit up and take notice of the change that has come to Bihar and will start appreciating the Bihari people more than they did before.

The detailed news can be found in the Times of India article "Bihar grew by 11.03%, next only to Gujarat"

Bihar's current GDP - Rs 1,05,148 crore and future

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has said that the the current government of Bihar has put the industrial revival of Bihar on fast track.


"Riding the crest of a 'good governance', Bihar is all set for an industrial revival during the next decade with the state's GDP moving towards achieving a healthy eight per cent growth."


This view was expressed by ASSOCHAM in its latest report entitled ''Bihar Vision-2020-A Growth Strategy'' which was released on 12th November 2009 in Patna.


ASSOCHAM has said that the prospect of the revival of industrialization in Bihar has brightened as the state's Gross Domestic Products(GDP) was expected to grow by eight per cent per annum during the next decade to reach a figure of Rs 2,64,781 crore from the present Rs 1,05,148 crore. The report attributed this prospect to good governance in Bihar in the last 4 years.


The report has pointed out that Services sector contributed to 55% towards the growth of GDP in Bihar, followed by agriculture at 35% and industries at 9%. The report expressed concerns that manufacturing sector was a challenge for Bihar as it contributed only 0.38% to the growth of GDP in Bihar (the lowest in the country).


However the emergence of food processing, agro products, pharmaceuticals, cement, iron and steel, tourism, health and infrastructure sectors reassures the investment potential of Bihar to everyone.

More details can be found in the article by Times of India and the article Industrial revival of Bihar put on fast track by NDA govt: ASSOCHAM by Webindia123

How should the people of Bihar react?

With the ongoing efforts of certain politicians in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and other states aimed against Biharis, that have lasted more than a year, a section of people from Bihar feel that one of the ways to react is by boycotting the products made in Maharastra to impact it economically and thus stop the rattle of the some of these politicians against Bihar and it's people.

In my view, it is a highly impractical and incorrect idea to boycott things made in Maharashtra. Some of the reasons for my belief are

1. Maharashtra has a reasonable size of residing Biharis. All attempts to boycott goods made in Maharashtra is likely to affect Biharis especially the lower starta of people working in these industries as labourers, operators, etc
2. A campaign run over emails and a couple of paper ads will not have much of an impact. A much larger campaign would be required which would entail enormous cost. Such a campaign is unlikely to succeed without the support of the Bihar Govt (which can never support this initiative openly).
3. Doing so would mean that we are also reacting like these politicians:trying to hold a section of people at ransom. Even if our campaign in successful, we will end up bulling thes politicians and these governments which does not send out a positive signal for the people of Bihar. There will be more violance against the people of Bihar. Are we equipped today to offer jobs to thousands of people who would have to leave these state and return to Bihar?
4. Infact other states might also start reacting unnecessarily against Biharis assuming that we might do a similar thing with those states. Afterall the image and respect for Biharis in various states has been at an all time low not too long ago.
5. Finally Maharastra, MP and any other Indian state are as much a part of Sovereign India as is Bihar. People from all states, like Biharis, have the right to stay and involve in commercial activities in any part of India. No one has the right to damage/destroy any businesses run by any Indian in any part of India.

I would agree with some of the people who have said that rather than reacting against these states, we should rather focus on the development of Bihar. Creating self sufficiency in Bihar is the only way to improve the image of Bihar and command the respect that all Bihari people deserve.

Instead of focusing our efforts externally , let us focus our efforts internally.

1. Let us get our major political parties to support the development efforts for Bihar rather than just trying to derail and criticize all efforts being currently made.
2. I am highly surprised by the political party that was in power for 1.5 decades and responsible for taking Bihar to the drains. However they are quick to criticize all efforts (positive and negative) of the state today with the sole motive of making political gains. Undoing damage done over 15 years and more requires time to be undone and cannot be done in a short span of time. Hence let us try and influence such politicians, if possible, to contribute positively for the development and rise of Bihar.
3. Various political parties are carrying out morchas, bandhs, etc to highlight that no development is taking place in the current regime. However 87% common people agree that development is happening in Bihar. So we should convince the common people of Bihar to not get carried away by such claims of political parties motivated by just political ambitions.
4. Let us force everyone possible, to work for the development of Bihar.
5. The Government of Bihar had drawn ambitious plans to bring the GDP growth rate of Bihar on par with India's GDP growth rate of 8% in the 11th Plan. It had also drawn plans to increase the GDP of Bihar, which stood at Rs. 39,330 crores at the end of the 10th five year plan (2006), to Rs. 99,700 crores at the end of the 11th five year plan (2007-2012) i.e. in 2012. However, as of 12th Nov 2009 itself, the GDP of Bihar stood at Rs 1,05,148 crores. Doesnt this mean that the Government of Bihar is doing good work? So why not support it and strengthen it?

Let us force the rest of India and the rest of the world to give the due respect to us Biharis by our actions, our growth and most importantly the growth and flourishment of Bihar. That is in my opinion the best way to respond to petty politicians who talk or raise slogans against Biharis and Bihar.

Protect the Dolphins and increase eco-tourism - Prof. R. K. Sinha

After my last article on Dolphins in Bihar, I could not stop myself from reading Prof. R. K. Sinha's homepage in depth. As I read through his homepage, my appreciation for the efforts of this man continued to grow and I subsequently ended up writing to him. I got a reply from him and the reply shows how deeply involved and concerned Prof. R. K. Sinha is about the Dolphins.

I want to share the contents of his email and hope that all of us will be able to support his cause by promoting the use of the alternative to the dolhin oil, if and when we get a chance. Like Prof. Sinha has rightly said "By saving a dolphin, fishermen can earn the money daily, equal to what they can earn only one day by killing a dolphin" through promoting eco-tourism.

The contents of Prof. Sinha's email is given below.

"Almost ten years ago I developed an alternative to the Ganges River dolphin oil used by the local fishermen as fish bait. This oil is extracted from fish scraps thrown along the road side near any fish market. From the peritoneal fat attached to the viscera mainly of Rohu, Katla and Mrigal fishes, the oil can easily be extracted by heating the same in any utensil. This can be used as an alternative to the dolphin oil to support oil fishery.

We conducted field trials for 500 hrs in 121 days spread over three years with the help of local fishermen, published the findings in a reputed Journal"Biological Conservation" published from Elsevier from London in 2002. To popularize the oil among fishermen we undertook extension program at Patna, Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon in Bihar and also in Brahmaputra River in Assam from where fishermen were trained by us. They are using this alternative oil and earning good return besides saving the dolphin. Also this oil adds value to the scrap which is otherwise a big nuissance along the road side.

The Ganges dolphin got the status of National Aquatic Animal of India by the Prime Minister on 5th October during the First Meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority at the Residence of the Prime Minister. In the meeting, as one of the co-opted Expert Members of the Authority, I explained the ecological and economic importance of the dolphin and requested the Prime Minister to declare the dolphin as a National Aquatic Animal. During an International Conference on Ganga organized by me at Patna University in Nov 2006 I had requested the Chief Minister of Bihar Sri Nitish Kumar to get this species status of National Aquatic Animal and he had written two letters to the Government of India with the same request. On my request and the two letters of the CM, Prime Minister declared the Ganges Dolphin as National Aquatic Animal then and there. Indeed it was very exciting for me and Sri Nitish Kumar who told me "tab apka sab kam to ho gaya" just after the meeting was over.

Promoting eco-tourism to watch dolphin in its natural habitats will provide one of the alternative livelihoods to the fishermen and help save the dolphin also. By saving a dolphin, fishermen can earn the money daily, equal to what they can earn only one day by killing a dolphin. Moreover, the species is our Aquatic heritage as it is endemic to the rivers of the Ganga-Brahmaputra system. It is our prime duty to save the species from extinction."

Bihar growth statistics - Economic Survey 2008-09

Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi, Dy. Chief Minister for Bihar has tabled results of a growth survey. The results indicate the following

Growth Rates
construction - 21.53%
communications - 16.01%
trade, hotels and restaurants - 12.03%
Agriculture - 1.38%

The Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) growth rate is estimated to be 5.57% which is lower than the national average of 6-7 %. However as per the Dy. CM this figure is 5.57% is higher than the average growth Bihar has seen of 3-4%.

As per the survey Bihar stands 28th in the crime chart of the nation.

Industrial front:
No of proposals approved - 164
No of proposals already implemented - 15
No of proposals ready for production - 1

49 proposals worth 23,000 crores are in advanced stages of implementation.

These and some more statistics have been presented today and more details can be read in the Times of India article "Bihar witnesses impressive growth in three sectors"

I would love to know the methodology of this survey, who were the participants etc as knowing that would give me more confidence about the report.

Bihar's journey into wilderness (and the way out of it)

I was reading some interesting articles on Bihar and some of them clearly caught my attention. While reading these articles it hits me that most state actors (i.e. people in the state government) and national actors (i.e. people in the central government) knew the extreme condition of Bihar even 5 years back. Many acknowledged that Bihar was the poorest state in India, had the highest poverty levels of 40%, there was no growth , most of the over 50 public sector units were either not working or sick and illiteracy stood at over 50%. However to create a central goverment, the UPA took the help of parties like RJD and thus had to turn a blind eye to the plundering of Bihar over many years.

One will argue that only when the central government is stable can it take up initiatives to improve a particular region of the country. However the bigger challenge the centre will cite is the response to central initiatives by state governments. Thus multiple successive central governments could not change Bihar, not even initiate any activities that could take Bihar on the way to progress and prosperity and this was evident during the central rules of both UPA and NDA. And no use talking about the state government which ruled Bihar for 15 years only to systematically drive the state into the ground.

But as with many revolutions, people will one day rebel against atrocities and overthrow the rulers and the same happened in Bihar too. Notwithstanding the severe effect of caste politics in Bihar and the caste cards played by political parties, the people of Bihar got together and voted for a change in the November 2005 state elections. People came above caste politics to support the formation of a new government, full of hope for a better Bihar. Even then most people were skeptic about the possibility of turning around Bihar by the new government. This skepticism is clearly visible in an article published on 30th November 2005 by " K. P. S. Gill" in the Pioneer called "Restoration of Bihar's fortunes". K P S Gill has not minced his words when he has described the situation in Bihar and his skepticism towards the possibility of a change in Bihar.

To quote verbatim from that article "For a decade and a half in Bihar, however, Lalu had been able to escape public ire by the shameless fraud of his slogan of 'social justice', and the cynical manipulation of caste and communal sentiments, to the exclusion of any measure of acceptable governance, political probity, and personal integrity. Indeed, Lalu has played the caste and communal puppeteer so brazenly that he has, on occasion, explicitly rejected development and governance as potential electoral issues, and has systematically driven his State into the ground. "

And Mr. Gill's skepticism has been shown from this statement of his "A frisson of hope is sweeping across Bihar today, but a measure of caution is necessary. The administration in the State has been so completely subverted, its restoration will be a Herculean task. Worse, it is not clear whether the State's new leadership really has the vision or capacity to engineer a strategy of revival - it is sobering to recall that both Nitish Kumar and his deputy, Sushil Kumar, trace their political roots to Jai Prakash Narain's disastrous 'total revolution', as did Lalu, and there remains the danger of a lapse into half-baked and populist ideologies of confused socialism."

Mr. K. P. S. Gill ends the article with " If we have a stake in India, we have an equal stake in Bihar's future." which is so very true for everyone in India.

The state government in the last 3 years has proven a lot of skeptics wrong, including Mr. K.P.S. Gill. It has shown that good governance can be brought in, even in the worst of conditions if we have a will to do so. I agree that there is a lot that is remaining to be done but the beginning has been made. It is for people like us to make sure that this beginning is not lost to the charms of the very people, who ruled the state mercilessly for 15 years, by getting eye washed by small contributions that they are making today. It is because of what the current state government has achieved that many leaders from RJD, LJP and Congress have started contributing a little to the development of Bihar to project that they care about the people of Bihar. However we should not get hoodwinked by these petty politicians and give them the mandate at the current stage in Bihar.

The growth mechanism in Bihar has not reached a self-sustaining stage and will get disrupted if we do not give the current ruling party / parties in Bihar the mandate to continuing the splash of change that they are bringing to Bihar. Once the change in Bihar (improvement of law and order, development of infrastructure, strengthening of education, inflow of investments, etc) becomes self sustaining, then we will not have to bother about which party is ruling Bihar. But till then we should not get moved by statements and actions of those very people who destroyed Bihar for over 15 years.

Most of us who will read this post understand the above statement of mine, but there would be many people living in Bihar who might not. It is in our interest to educate all the people we come in touch with to continue providing the mandate to the current ruling coalition in Bihar (even strenghtening Nitesh's party would be good idea) because this is the man who has shown a ray of hope to Bihar and it is upto us to see how we make the best use of it. As Mr Gill had said, we have an equal stake in Bihar's future.

I am posting the link to Mr. K. P. S. Gill's article on my side bar on the right side for those who want to read it as there is a lot of information of value in that article.

Thus this and some other articles that I have come across motivated me to write this up. I will post some other similar reviews in the coming days about the other interesting articles that caught my eye.

PS: For those of you who might think that I am making a political statement, I just want to add that I am not. I just want Bihar to progress and I just want people in Bihar to develop. And I strongly believe that the team led by Nitish Kumar that started the change, is the best team to take the change through to the desired success. I just want that all the Biharis in the world can proudly and shamelessly stand anywhere and in any groups of people and say that "I belong to Bihar"

Should caste politics come in the way of Bihar's Development

I read this article in Times of India three times between yesterday and today trying to make out how caste politics plays an important role in Bihar. Again and again the thought and fear about casteism playing a role in abruptly dismantling Bihar's growth and development has been worrying me. Thus I have decided to pen my thoughts down.

The caste system is strongly prevalent in Bihar with it playing a major role in Bihar's Politics. Major elections have been won and lost on the basis of caste votes. Political parties play the caste games at the times of elections to sway the votes in their favor. With illiteracy so high in Bihar and 40% people living under poverty (it is fair to assume that majority of these 40% are illiterate), voters can easily be swayed by charasmatic speaches of leaders who may or may not work for the progress in education, infrastructure, social awareness and equality, etc.

Some articles which caught my eye are Money, caste used to sway Bihar MLAs (older article dated18 Apr 2005, by Dipak Mishra) and Development on everyone's agenda (current article dated 16 Feb 2009, by Dipak Mishra)

This article shows how the people can be influenced not to support leaders who are working for the progress of Bihar. Can we afford this kind of politics to continue?

How do we then educate the people in Bihar against this daunting task so that the progress path does not get derailed? I am not in Bihar and I don't know if anything is being done about this by people, but sure would love to know. Has anyone got any idea whats happening in this front?

I definitely do not want Bihar to go back to the path of negative development, increased crime, delayed justice, no security for people, etc. I am worried because the people are not educated enough to take the right decisions in getting the right candidates to power who would work for the development of the state.

While the efforts of the current state government in developing the state has finally convinced the stalwarts of RJD and LJP to atleast start talking about development, I am not sure if the principles of development have got indoctrined into them. For all practical reasons I have not seen any of them ever focus for the development of the state while incharge of state government and machinery.

All I want is the development and progress of Bihar accelarates further. I would like to know if some work is going on for social awareness and uplifting of people which would ensure development continues happening in Bihar.

I am open to thoughts and suggestions on what can be done to contribute to the growth of Bihar

27.9% of new trains for Bihar - Interim Railway Budget 2009

The new trains (12 of the 43 introduced this budget), will definitely add to the comfort of the people of Bihar and will add to the growth initiatives taken up by the present government in Bihar.

More trains means better connectivity from the state. It's ironical that Bihar has got 27.9% of the trains in the last budget of the current central government whereas Bihar had not got a single train when our Railway minister Mr. Lallu Prasad Yadav had presented his first railway budget as part of the present central government, in 2004-05.

I am happy to see that overtime Mr. Lallu Prasad Yadav has also started thinking about the progress of Bihar and has started contributing to it too. If I have my say, I hope that Mr. Lallu Yadav gets to become the railway minister again in the new government that will be elected at the centre this year. Atleast he was able to start thinking for the people of Bihar after being in the railway ministry for just one year. After all it took him just his 2nd railway budget (of 2005-06)to realize that he can do something for Bihar from the centre and he ended up introducing two new trains from Bihar. It just took one year for him in the Railways Ministry to start thinking atleast something for Bihar but in 15 years of his rule in Bihar he never was able to think for any development of Bihar. (This shows that the central government is more suited for Mr. Lallu Prasad Yadav and not the state government)

So I vote that Mr. Lallu Prasad Yadav continue being involved in Central politics as he atleast does something for Bihar from there and leave the state level politics in Bihar to the state government currently in place. This would mean a joint development of Bihar both from within the state and from the Centre.

I hope Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan is also seeing what the other 2 are contributing for the state and starts doing something for Bihar too. After all he is also a powerfull minister in the current central cabinet and will be a powerfull minister in the central cabinet in the next ministry too, no matter who comes to power at the centre.

There are more details about how many trains were started, etc, in the last 5 years, in the following article from times of India

12 of 43 new trains for Bihar

India's own Grand Canyon - Tutla (Tutala) in Bihar

If the people responsible for its development can get it right, India will start boasting of its own Grand canyon as Tutla, barely 18 Km away from Sasaram in Rohtas district. Tutla will be developed as a major eco and adventure tourism site of international importance. Resembling the grand canyon, Tutla is spread over approximated 240 square kilometers.

The vertical cliff like rock formation and the natural cutting by weather gives it a close resemblance to the famous Grand Canyon of US. Tutla is located on the border of Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and surrounded by mountain ranges from three sides.

Tutla has a waterfall which falls from a height of more than 210 meters (approx 700 feet) into a small lake which gives it a picturesque look. "The waterfall is surrounded by high rising mountains which have red coloured stones giving it a magnificent look. Adjacent to the mountain, flows the river Sone which could be seen in a panorama from top of the hill.

Compare this with the height of the Niagara Falls which is just about 176 feet (approx 54 meters) due to rocks at the base. ( actual fall is just 70 feet)

Tutla is also in close proximity to Rohtasgarh fort, Sher Shah Suri's mausoleum and Mundeshwari all of which could be utilised as a nearby excursion area.

The link for this news article with further details is available at

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Tutla_to_be_raised_as_adventure_site/articleshow/4102398.cms

Read all about the Grand Canyon at
http://www.nps.gov/grca/

Read about the Niagara falls if you want to at
http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_about_Niagara_Falls.htm

Tourism comes to Bihar

The central government is now putting more focus on improving tourism in Bihar. The government is now toying with the idea to introduce luxury trains in the Buddhist circuit in Bihar on the pattern of the prestigious


News courtesy - Times of India. More details at

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Centre_mulls_luxury_trains_in_Buddhist_circuit/articleshow/4083990.cms

Bihar soon to have multi-purpose cultural complex

Bihar will soon have a state of the art multipurpose cultural complex in the heart of Patna on the patterns of New Delhi's Mandi house.

Source - Times of India

For more details please read

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/Bihar_soon_to_have_multi-purpose_cultural_complex/articleshow/4083955.cms