Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar discussed Vision 2030 with the members of Bihar Foundation Delhi NCR chapter during the lunch hosted by him at his residence for delegates of the Global Summit for Changing Bihar. Many of the Bihar Foundation Delhi NCR chapter members have come together to partner with this Social & Green Business for the Khushi Gram (Happy Village) programme. The group will work in the areas, mostly backward, rural and semi urban areas. Nitish Kumar asked about the details of the plan, its components and the sub regions.
Sushant, who looks after the online media division of the Khushi Gram programme, explained that it was an all Bihar plan that seeks to enter every village by 2015. Earlier, Kumar Amitabh who heads the socio-economic programmes and the Audio Visual news and documentation told the Chief Minister about the zero budget natural farming movement led by Subhash Palekar and the scope of eco friendly and sustainable rural and agri tourism that was apt for the villages of Bihar.
Nitish Kumar listened to the ideas objectively and suggested Amitabh to meet the Deepak Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Bihar. The team comprised of Harsh Narayan, MD, Dragon Labs & Executive Member, Spic Macay. Jitendra Narayan Singh of Awake India Foundation, Bibhuti Bikramaditya, Chairperson, Biharbrains and CEO of technology company, Tekbrains, Dr Sujit Kumar Singh, Secretary General, SAMPRAGIAN. He is an expert on Bamboo technology, and has brought in a sort of mini revolution in a hamlet Nirmali, Pipra block of Supaul district in Bihar. Surendra Kumar Singh, coordinator of The Oceanic Group, a social organisation working on Human Development and a Photojournalist at Radiance Media was also a part of the delegation that came from Bihar Foundation Delhi NCR chapter to participate and contribute to the ‘Global Summit for Changing Bihar’. Hari Om, an IT expert involved in e governance in Bihar and member of the team will be based here. The Bihar Foundation Delhi NCR chapter announced the launching of the Khushi Gram programme on the eve of the new harvest season on April 13, 2012 on this occasion.
“The site selected is in the Village Simaria-Pararia near Bararhra in Ara district. It is about six km from my village Bhakura, which on the banks of the tributary, Gangi and 12-13 km from Ara station. Gangaji flows about a km from our site and the guests would be taken to the bank of the revered River Ganga. The interesting point is that this a very clean stretch and our colleague Amitabh bhai says that the river water is also drinkable, which was a great for me also. The programme is being run in partnership with many companies and NGOs who have come from Delhi to try and give back something to their motherland. The details of the project will be announced soon. We are very happy to see the mood of the delegates here, many of who have come to us and expressed their desire to be a part of this project, which has partnerships at its core. We have also very motivating response of Prof YK Alagh, Chairperson IRMA (the man who led the Agro-Climatic planning in India, a former minister and Vice Chancellor of JNU).” said Ajit Kumar, founder, Vision 2030 & Social & Green Business. He is the also the Secretary of Bihar Foundation Delhi-NCR Chapter. Kumar is here with a delegation of prominent Non Resident Biharis staying in Delhi and the Nation Capital Region.
The Delhi-NCR Chapter Chairperson is Alok Chaturvedi, Resident Commissioner Bihar Bhawan, Delhi and Sharat Sinha, Deputy Commissioner, Delhi Police is the General Secretary. The chapter is inviting partnerships with other chapters and willing to take a more pro active role for the overall and sustainable development of Bihar. The Delhi-NCR chapter has three divisions / committees:
1. Human Development
2. Art, Culture, Tourism, Media & Entertainment
3. Business & Economy
In an exclusive chat with us, Lord Karan Bilimoria, Chairman Cobra Beer said that coming to Bihar was always a great experience. He first came to Bihar in 2008 and I must have come about 10 times or more in Bihar.
Lord Bilimoria is at Patna, the capital of Bihar to attend the Global Summit on Changing Bihar 2012. He described the growth taking place in the state as 'rapid'. “The state is going places and this was an important time in history for Bihar. There is huge transformation under the current Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar and his colleague, Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Modi. People who are still in the process of waking or have not woken up to this reality will be the losers. There is huge opportunity, but perception of those people takes time to change. It was a challenge when I came here.
On his processing business in Bihar, the Lord from United Kingdom added, “I am proud to say that in partnership with Molson Coors (famous US brewery, a Fortune 500 country also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It is also one of the last brewery makers. Our joint venture make us the only brewery in Bihar now after we bought the existing one at Bihta in June 2011. During this period, we have doubled the turnover. We are given direct employment to about 100 people and indirect employment to about 500 people. I have upgraded the brewery and am going now to see the production facility in Bihta. Our operation here is led by the GM, Dayashankar Prasad, who is very well looking after the affairs here.”
On the benefits and Vision 2030, Bilimoria explained that it was known fact that beer just has only 5.5% alcohol in comparison to the country liquour consumed by the poor person has about 65% alcohol. India just has 20 million hecta litre of Beer production in comparison to 400 million hecta litre produced by of China. The average in Bihar is very low at just 1.5 litre per person per year. Beer can be used for refreshment, lifestyle choice as well as weaning away people from country liquor, which is a socio-cultural problem. It benefits the agriculture sector, especially barley production, which is quite good in Bihar. Close by, Orissa has five breweries, so the scope.
Before departing for Bihta, he could resist himself from talking about the culture and history of the land. “Bihar has been the cradle of civilization. The famous British universities came up only after Nalanda University was burnt, so the state has the most glorious history. There were great people like Lord Buddha and Emperor Ashoka in ancient times in this Bihta. The state is on the right path and will be exemplary in governance and development with the strong administrative decisions like the right to services act and appointment of 3 lakh teachers. We are the Ambassadors of Bihar, not only in other states of India but also in other countries.”
Good morning friends,
This is not a letter but a column which underscores the need to overcome the challenges with confidence, care and caution. This is the story of Bihar 2012, that I want to narate just 12 hours before the Global Bihar Summit 2012 is inaugurated by the Nepalese Prime Minister, Baburam Bhattarai. This is the story of three leaders and motivators (not only politicians as is commonly understood but from other sections also). Today I will introduce you to three such people. These three people have many commonalities, like mix in the crowd as well as keep their independent views alive. They at first look look like any normal educated Bihari. But they are more than the normal. With their sheer hard work, they have been able to achieve for their society what people thought tough (many called impossible in Bihar).
Meet Renu Kumar (Kushwaha), the Minister for Industries and Disaster Management. At first look, it is difficult to identify her and separate her from the crowd and the people she wishes to hear, talk and serve. She is fully involved and interested to listen their views and learn about their problems, which she has to resolve. Few hours back, when I requested her to comment on the Global biahr Meet, she immediately pointed that Industry and people were coming to Bihar with the improvements in infrastructure and safety as well as better policies. She also spoke of the Media and Entertainment business and the session which has Tripurari Sharan, Director General, Doordarshan and Former Director, National Film and Television Institute of India moderating and prominent people like Javed Akhtar, Lyricist, Prakash Jha, Film Maker, Shekhar Suman, Actor, Shatrughan Sinha, Actor & MP, Udai Shankar, CEO, Star India speaking. It was surprising to see her vision that this can be a vibrant industry in Bihar also at a time when many states still treat this industry, more entertainment that business.
She has the good chance of having CK Mishra as the Principal Secretary of the department. Mishra is a person who looks at solutions amidst the problems. Crisis handling seems to be his forte. The senior IAS officer deals equally comfortably with the media, industry, his team and the political bosses. It was under his time that the new Industrial Policy was announced few months back and many industries received approvals and started / are starting operations. He was also instrumental in giving a good start to the Summit preparations and was the CEO of the Bihar Foundation for a short while before handing over the baton to a younger officer Deepak Kumar Singh. But he continues to lead the team overseeing each and every venue, material and arrangements.
Bibhuti Bikramditya, Chairman, BiharBrains (BBrains Development Society) is doing many of what he preaches, “--Bihar, which was known to be the hub of Technical brains, paradise for Intellect, Center for learning cultural ethics and religious values, have become back-runner in the race of all round development. To rejuvenate this past glory, there is need to start movement for developing the scientific culture and research environment in the state .
A collaborative conduit of local research in Bihar should be created with the national/ international research institute to bring synergy for sharing interdisciplinary knowledge, fostering young creative researchers who work across different faculties, and entrepreneur education based on the integration of humanities and science. The mission should be to address the needs and work towards achieving these goals and cooperation among scientific research, innovation and enterprise creation. Create an information linkage to address the local and global challenge through scientific innovation in research institutes. Develop a competitive advantageous and real world need higher education environment in Bihar through the integration of education, research, innovation and experiential learning. There is need to address challenges that are complex and demand multidisciplinary approaches. These must be built on a foundation of scholarly excellence: Create core disciplines of Science & Engineering Super Cluster to work for complex research and innovative ideas.
There should also be a focused academic research environment: Identify core competence and interest of local scientific pursuit and support their survival and existence. A science and innovation park should be developed through active connection with start ups incubator business to help the forward and backward linkage for science research. Core competent subject area of science research should be created to build the sustainability and competence: The goal must be to create a momentum towards building a 'Scientific Innovation and Enterprise Center' in Bihar to stimulate the research and innovation environment in the State. The plan should be establishing a science and engineering discovery suites as a sustainable model for discovery, development, and commercialization of innovation for the larger benefit of people and economic growth of the state. Partnerships for Innovation and enterprise connection will stimulate the transformation of knowledge created by the research and education. To develop a set of ideas for pursuing these goals, we need to create a support, promising partnerships among academia, the private sector, and state/local/ federal government that will explore new approaches to support and sustain innovation environment for vibrant enterprise creation.
I do hope, the goal, mission and target of the conference will be achieved with active support from educated and elite society of India and abroad.” The Bihar Science Congress started by him is now on the annual calendar of many national and international scientists, researchers, professors and technologists."
With people like these, we have lots of hopes of achieving the Vision 2030 of basic services to all well within the time frame and put a smile on every face.
Now let me sign out and catch some sleep before I wake up to meet some more leaders in the morning, who have been the dynamic force behind the Global Bihar Summit 2012 as well as Bihar’s growth in recent years.
You can mail your feedback, questions, queries, information, news, ideas and photos on ak.radiancemedia@gmail.com.
The Global Summit on Changing Bihar is now through the final round of preparations with strong instructions from the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi to have high level of security and cleanliness in the city. There were two rounds of meetings by the Deputy Chief Minister yesterday. The Chief Minister also called the organizing committee members to take stock of the situation himself.
Top officials will visit the venue later in the day today to apprise themselves of the on-ground situation of both the venues of the event, Sri Krishna Memorial Hall and Hotel Maurya. The management and staff of Sri Krishna Memorial Hall and Hotel Maurya are putting in their best to showcase their hospitality to the over 1000 expected delegates from all over the world.
The Bihar Foundation chapters also have their delegates participating at the conference and the numbers of participants is swelling as the time for the event is nearing. Mumbai and Delhi chapters are expected to have about 25 member delegation as of the time of filing this story, but the numbers may rise as more confirmation reach the Bihar Foundation and the Institute for Human Development offices. Other chapters also have their representatives either in the city or on their way. Invitations have been sent to the guests and people can register online also through the website of the Summit, http://www.globalbihar.net. In case of any query or clarification, the names of officials to be contacted and their communication details are also given on the website.
This is the most opportune moment which the state, its leaders and residents as well as Pravasi and Non Resident Biharis, who would not like to miss and be a part of the unique growth story that is being written in the second decade of the 21st century. The path to be taken to steer the growth trajectory in a sustainable, equitable and inclusive manner will also be discussed, debated and deliberated. Rural Development and Agriculture is a key area on the agenda, apart from education, skill and knowledge development, health, urban development and research.
At this juncture, Bihar's average economic growth rate in the past five years stood at 11.3%, Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said this to the media yesterday quoting a report by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO). The growth is calculated on the basis of 2004-05 price base. Modi said that he was confident that said the economic growth rate of Bihar in 2011-12 is expected to be 13.13%. he pointed that this was at a time when the most countries and states are witnessing low growth rates.
So for now it seems all roads lead to Bihar and it is time to remember two great people Emperor Ashoka and Sher Shah Suri, who were instrumental in the ancient and medieval period in building roads and shelter for the public. Though, they ruled the entire country centuries ago they are still remembered for their administration. And now again Bihar has roads, that she can be proud of, also to mention the praises by CP Joshi, Union Surface Transport minister who was on a visit to Bihar recently.
Jean- Paul Adam, currently youngest Minister of the Republic of Seychelles is on his first official visit to India. I had a nice interaction with Adam early this month when he had come here with the President of the Republic of Seychelles. A charming and eloquent person, who always seems smiling, the minister is always willing to take the fist step forward. Adam was first appointed to the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs in June 2010. Prior to this, he was the Secretary of State in the office of the President since May 2009. He served in the Office of the President as Director General Presidential Affairs and then Principal Secretary from 2006 and 2009.
Minister Adam started his diplomatic career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Trainee Protocol Officer (1996-1997) and later as Second Secretary (2001-2004).
Adam has a Degree in English Literature and French which he attained at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom (UK). He also has a Masters in International Political Economy which he obtained at the Department of Government, International Politics and Philosophy at the University of Manchester, UK.
In his portfolio as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister Adam’s vision is to further promote and safeguard the national interests of the Republic of Seychelles through an active diplomacy based on fostering good relations with our regional and international partners and propelling the cause of Small Island States. In parallel with the Ministry’s vision, Minister Adam aspires to create a diplomatic platform that will allow Seychelles, by 2014, to have greater visibility and positive presence in the international arena.
Jean Adam, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Seychelles in his Annual Diplomatic cocktail speech on Friday, 11 February 2011 talked about his dream and vision, “We will be more and more active as players in regional organisations. And we are ready to play a stronger role in terms of promoting good governance, stability and peaceful development in our region and beyond.”
In addition to his successful experience as a public servant, Minister Adam has also represented Seychelles as a swimmer at the international level on numerous occasions including the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the 1994 World Swimming Championships in Rome, the 1998 World swimming Championships in Perth, Australia and the World Swimming Championships in Barcelona in 2003.
He was a Bronze medallist in the Indian Ocean Games held in Seychelles in 1993 and at the African Games held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1999. In the Indian Ocean Games held in both Reunion and Mauritius in 1998 and 2003 respectively, Adam was awarded silver and bronze medals.
Minister Adam taught as a part time lecturer at the Manchester University and Seychelles Polytechnic Twinning Programme between January 2006 to January 2009, where he taught International Politics. Adam is also Member of the Board of Trustees of the Seychelles University Foundation since 2007. Minister Jean- Paul Adam is married and father to two girls.
The Seychelles Government has today completed the signing for a $10 million USD Radar system to cover Seychelles’ Southern Exclusive Economic Zone with the Government of India. The Seychelles Foreign Minister, Jean-Paul Adam, who is currently on an official visit to Delhi signed the agreement with his counterpart the Minister for External Affairs, SM Krishna, following a bilateral meeting on deepening cooperation between the two states.
This is Minister Adam’s first official bilateral visit to India, primarily as a follow-up to issues discussed between President James Michel and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Delhi earlier this month. President Michel visited India in February 2012 to attend the 2012 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit.
“The Radar signing represents a significant step-up in our capability to better secure our EEZ, particularly against the threat of piracy and better protecting our fisherman at sea, and this generous support shows the partnership and commitment of India in protecting the Indian Ocean,” said Minister Adam. This radar will allow a better picture of the Southern EEZ and will complement the radar system already donated by the UAE which covers the North EEZ. This system will be managed by the SPDF.
The bilateral discussions held mainly focused on deepening cooperation particularly in areas of defence, maritime piracy, and education. Minister Adam applauded the Indian Navy’s Rules of Engagement, for what he described as an effective and strong deterrent against piracy in the region, and the Indian Governments initiatives to explore updating local piracy laws.
A follow-up on the Dornier aircraft being gifted by the Indian Government and a commitment to further increase cultural and youth exchanges between the two states was also discussed with Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna.
Minister Adam, who is accompanied by the High Commissioner Designate to India, Waven Williams, who will be presenting his credentials to the Indian Government in the coming weeks. Seychelles Charge d’Affaire to India, Jean-Claude Adrienne is also accompanying him, The minister will be in India till 16 February and will be meeting other High Level officials also.
Seychelles and India established diplomatic relations in June 1976. Cooperation between India and Seychelles currently centered on military cooperation, through the provision of experts, training, equipment, joint training exercises and joint surveillance missions; education, through the provision of scholarships and technical training opportunities; as well as health, trade and investment, and information technology.
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19/02/12
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar discusses Vision 2030 with delegates of Bihar Foundation
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17/02/12
EXCLUSIVE: Lord Karan Bilimoria to expand Beer production to help agriculture in Bihar
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17/02/12
Global Bihar Summit 2012: Bihar has leaders who can help achieve Vision 2030 on time
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15/02/12
Global Bihar Summit 2012: Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister review preparations
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14/02/12
Jean- Paul Adam, swimmer, teacher and Foreign Minister of Seychelles charms India
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14/02/12
Seychelles and Indian Minister sign for Radar system for EEZ security in the Indian Ocean
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