Nalanda: Rajgir is the land of all religions: CM Nitish Kumar.

Source – prabhatkhabar.com

Rajgir (Nalanda): On Sunday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended the closing ceremony of the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj, the first Guru of Sikhism. Ardas joined after paying obeisance at CM Rajgir’s Sheetal Kund Gurdwara. Jathedars from different parts of the country welcomed the Chief Minister by presenting him with a saropa and a symbol.

After serving the langar to the devotees, the Chief Minister himself anchored the langar in the anchor hall at Rajgir’s hockey ground. On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that Rajgir is the land of all religions. The message of love, unity, equality, brotherhood, spiritual light should go from here. Guru Nanak Dev first started his journey from the eastern region and Patna came as the first Guru via Buxar through the river Ganges.

From here, he gave a message of Onkar Satnam. He said that Guru Nanak Dev Ji declares that he should win over his disorder and evil. Ego is man’s worst enemy. He said that a large number of people come to Rajgir. In view of this, eco tourism is being given a big boost in Rajgir. Next year it will be completed by becoming a Gurudwara of Rajgir. He invited all Sikh devotees to come here on Prakash Parv next year.

CM said that today the land of Rajgir too became blessed with an Onkar Satnam. No one would have thought that in Rajgir, there will be millions of langars.

He said that the media should be told about Guru Nanak Dev Ji. CM said that Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj had reached Rajgir via Gaya, Nawada, Hisua. At that time it was Holi. People requested him that the water of all the kings of Rajgir is hot.

Gurunanak Dev touched the water of the pool with his foot and the water became cold, hence one pool of Rajgir was named as Sheetal Kund. He said that Rajgir is the land of Makhdoom Saheb. The Malamas fair is held here for three years in Hinduism. It is believed that 33 crore Gods and Goddesses reside here at that time. Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha came here before and after attaining enlightenment.

He said that langar has great importance in Sikhism. Anchor is a great service. Gurunanak Dev considered both men and women equal, so the woman should be respected. The Chief Minister said that a lot of work has been done for women in the state. Today women are awakening.

No NRC in Bihar? People Apprehensive Despite CM’s ‘Assurance’.

Source – newsclick.in

Patna: Two days after Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) national vice-president Prashant Kishor was assured by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will not be implemented in Bihar, many including minorities, are apprehensive about this promise.

After JD-U supported Citizenship (Amendment) Bill [CAB] in both the houses of Parliament, Kishor had reportedly offered to resign from his post.

“Who will believe Nitish Kumar, who is a known paltu ram (a turncoat)? He was opposing NRC publicly till the last month and later, his party supported CAB in Parliament. He has now assured that he will not implement NRC in Bihar. Was he sleeping when the JD-U supported CAB?” questioned Afroj Alam, a retired government employee and a resident of Phulwarisharif.

Mohd Munna, a rickshaw-puller, said that Nitish Kumar no longer has people’s trust, as he says something and does something else. “We had voted for his party, but later, he joined hands with the BJP. How can we trust him now?” he asked.

Arshad Azmal, vice president of Sahulat, a mico-finance society in Patna, said “The CM is not saying anything to the people of the state; so, there is skepticism.” He added that after JD-U supported CAB in Parliament, even vocal Muslim supporters of Nitish Kumar appear hesitant to stand with him.

“How can we take his assurance seriously now because it was Nitish, who had publicly declared to work for RSS-free India and had announced ‘mitti mein mil jayenge Magar BJP se hath nahi milayenge (We’d be rather reduced to ashes than work with BJP)’,” said Mahendar Yadav, convenor of Koshi Nav Nirman Manch.

Danish Ahmad Khan, a social activist fron Gaya, said “Nitish Kumar is trying to fool the people. NRC is a central subject and no state government has the right to disobey or overruled it. He displayed his motives while voting for the Bill in Parliament.”

Danish alleged that Nitish has his reasons to support CAA, as he is embroiled in various scams: from multicrore Srijan to Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case.

Ranjeev, a green activist, told NewsClick that this is nothing but another jumla ahead of Bihar Assembly polls. “Times have changed. Earlier, JD-U was critical of controversial issues like Ram Temple, Article 370, Triple Talaq. Now, the party has supported controversial CAB despite some party leaders’ opposition,” he said.

Three senior JD-U leaders including national general secretary K C Tyagi and two Bihar ministers, Ashok Choudhary and Shayam Razak, had opposed NRC. “If NRC can’t be implemented in Assam, how can it be implemented in Bihar? We can assure [the people] that NRC will not be implemented in the state,” Choudhary said.

Protests against CAA and NRC continued in Bihar on Monday as well. The Left parties have called for a statewide bandh on December 19, while the RJD will observe a shutdown on December 21 against the controversial Act.

However, notwithstanding the protests, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh has said that NRC should be implemented across the country—including Bihar.

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar writes to PM Modi for immediate ban on porn sites.

Source – thehindu.com

In the wake of rising incidents of rape and gang rape of women and minor girls across the country, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to immediately ban pornographic sites and inappropriate content.

“A large number of children and youth are watching pornographic, violent and inappropriate content. In many cases, videos of rape incidents are being circulated on social media, which severely affects the brains of children and youngsters, and such material has also been seen as a factor leading to crimes of rape,” Mr. Kumar said in his one-page letter to Mr. Modi.

Serious concerns

Earlier, on December 6, while addressing a public meeting in the course of his ongoing Jal Jeevan Hariyali Yatra on climate change in the Gopalganj district, Mr. Kumar had expressed serious reservations over the free use of porn sites by children and youth. He had also urged students and youth to stay from visiting porn sites as it eventually led to “perversion” in their minds.

“Though there is a provision for this in the Information Technology Act, 2000 [amended in 2008], it is not effective. In this regard, the honourable Supreme Court, too, has given several directions to the government,” said Mr. Kumar.

‘Unlimited availability’

He added, “In my opinion, the unlimited availability of such improper material in the name of freedom of expression and thought is not proper, and it is an urgent need to take effective steps to check this to prevent crimes of rape against women and children. There is an urgent need to give strict directions to Internet Service Providers as well, and a vigorous awareness campaign along with parents, educational institutes and NGOs too is important.”

Recent incidents of rape and gang rapes from various parts of Bihar have rocked the State government. On December 9, a 20-year-old girl student of Patna University was allegedly gang raped by four youths, and later all four accused persons in the case were arrested by the police.

Crores of people in Bihar set to form 1,600 km long human chain on January 19, 2020.

Source – newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Come January 19 Bihar will set yet another world record of over 16,200-km long human chain formation with more than 8 crore people across Bihar to reaffirm commitment towards liquor ban.

This would be the third human chain formation after an 11,292-km long human chain was formed in Bihar for the first time in 2017 comprising of 2 crore people.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar claimed that the 16,200-km long formation of human chain on January 19 in 2020 would be a manifestation of people’s resolve to ensure complete prohibition and fight against social evils like child marriage and dowry.

The human chain would also create awareness on the conservation of water for life and greenery.

“The people’s commitment on Jal-Jeevan-Haryali would be reflected through the formation of world’s longest 16,200-km human chain with more than 8 crore people,” a senior officer of education department said.

In 2018, around 4 crore people formed a 14000-km long human-chain showing solidarity to the liquor ban made effective in the state from April 5 in 2016.

According to official order issued to all district education offices, the formation of human-chain will start from 11.30 am to next 30 minutes on January 19.

The centre point of proposed third human-chain would be at the historic Gandhi maidan and all district headquarters would be linked with the formation of human-chain in all the 38 districts.

The longest 1320-km long human-chain will be formed in Muzaffarpur followed by 732-km long in Samastipur, 696-km long in Patna, 648-km long in each West and East Champaran, 576-km long in Saran, 564-km long in Sitamarhi, 516-km long in Gaya, 504-km in Rohtas and Nalanda each and other districts.

Elaborate security arrangement will be made to ensure the safety of people.

Among them, the participation of women and girls is expected to be in massive numbers.

“If everything goes well, this would be the world’s longest human-chain ever made for the causes of social reforms and anti-alcoholism The Indian satellites would be clearly capturing the human chain from the space”, said a senior preferring anonymity.

What Bill Gates Said About Bihar’s Efforts To Fight Poverty, Diseases.

Source ndtv.com

PATNA: Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Sunday praised the Bihar government’s progress in fighting poverty and disease in the last 20 years. He said only a few places have been able to surpass the achievements made by the state.

The co-chair and trustee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who is on a visit to Bihar, said this at a meeting with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna.

“Over the past 20 years, few places have made more progress against poverty and disease than Bihar. Compared to her mother born two decades ago, a child born today in Bihar is twice more likely to reach her fifth birthday,” a press release quoted Bill Gates as saying.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to working with the state government to ensure health and education for all children, the statement said.

The state government also announced its commitment for continued partnership with the foundation to find solutions to the state’s critical health and development goals.

“Now, we have to make sure that all children are able to grow up healthy and get a good education. And our foundation remains committed to working with the state government to make that happen,” the statement said.

Commenting on the interaction, Mr Kumar expressed happiness with the collaboration as it would help improve public health services.

“We are pleased with our collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve public health services, community level behaviour change, scaling up innovation across health, nutrition and agriculture. Bihar is keen to continue partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to further strengthen sustainable systems across departments like health, social welfare, agriculture, empowerment of women and rural development,” the chief minister said.

The discussion also focused on giving priorities to structural reforms in the health sector with a need to strengthen primary health care by building a robust, resilient and responsive health system in Bihar, the statement said.

Elaborating on the “impressive” progress made by Bihar, the statement mentioned decisive actions towards reforming the state health system through creation of a Public Health Management Cadre for delivering good quality clinical care and bringing more administrative and management capacity into public health.

Mr Gates was apprised of the chief minister’s flagship programme “Jal-Jivan-Hariyali”, an inter-departmental effort to combat the effects of climate change. The chief minister was accompanied by his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, health minister Mangal Pandey and key officials during the meeting.