Resurgent Bihar

BIJHAR meets Shri Shyam Saran

Written by Rajesh Anand

Date : Friday 31st Aug 07
Venue : Indian High Commission, Singapore

Expats can be development propellers: Saran

The erstwhile Foreign Secretary to the Government of India and currently aspecial envoy in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Mr. Shyam Saran in his recent visit to Singapore pointed out that expatriates from Bihar and Jharkhand have been making their marks in various fields and this will further propel the positive changes which Bihar is witnessing in recent times. He added, groups like BIJHAR has the potential to play a significant role in the foreseeable economic and cultural resurgence of Bihar.

In his meeting with the Bijhar delegation last week at the Indian High Commission, Mr.Saran who is a 1970 batch Indian Foreign Service officer shared latest information on Nalanda University project and other development issues. To the pleasant surprise of all present, he informed that Tiger Airways flight on the Singapore-Patna route is in the offing.

Bijhar President, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Roy apprised Mr.Saran of Bijhars mission, its diverse membership, its annual activities like organizing festivals, get-togethers and other social and charitable activities that it undertakes. He was also informed of the charitable work carried out for the relief of the flood victims in north Bihar. Bijhar sought advice from the Indian High Commission on how to transfer the relief fund to the affected.

BIJHAR Meets Bihar's Dy. CM

Written by Rajesh Anand
Date: 21May2007 Venue: Holiday Inn Park View, Cavenagh Road, Singapore The Shahjehan Room of Tandoor Restaurant at Holiday Inn turned into a memorable meeting ground for BIJHAR (Singapore) when 24 of its key members had the the privilege of meeting the suave, dynamic and a confident Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar the honourable Shri Sushil Kumar Modi and his equally amiable wife Smt. Jessie Modi on a Monday evening. The impromptu but extremely impressive exchange of ideas and information during the 2 hours meeting over dinner will be cherished by the bijharis for a long time to come. Thanks to Bihar Times which published a news about Shri Modi's visit to Australia and Singapore, BIJHAR office bearers contacted Modi and in a very short time arranged this most eventful meeting. Shri Modi was in Singapore to study the Goods and Services Tax structure for implementation of a similar regime in India. Shri Modi, in his capacity as Bihar's finance minister was a part of the delegation of 6 Indian states. On 21 May, Shri Modi also met the Singapore PM Mr. Lee Hsieng Loong.
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Vision of a Developed Bihar: BIJHARs Role

Written by Manjari Kishore with inputs from Rajesh Anand & Serbjeet Prasad
The Government of Bihar's Planning Commission Head, Mr.NK Singh in his focused Singapore visit tried to sell the dream and vision of Nalanda university as a revived seat of learning and also the vision of a 'Developed Bihar' to all the concerned enthusiasts-- foreigners as well as Bihari expats in Singapore--who want to see this dream come true. In his series of interactions with different government and corporate organizations and registered Bihar-specific societies, Mr.Singh met BIJHAR, a registered society of expatriates from Bihar and Jharkhand to give a detailed idea of the present reality and vision for Bihar, which in ancient period reached the pinnacles of governance and learning with Nalanda University as its crowning glory. Sharing a very objective view on the ground situation, Mr. Singh said that the law and order situation has improved in the state. Road construction projects worth Rs.18,000 crores are to be implemented in the next 3-4 years, some 700,000 posts for teachers are being created, thousands of police posts that were vacant earlier are being filled up, ex-army men have been called upon to train the new recruits in the police, BIT is opening a new branch in Patna and talks are underway for having Patna branches of IIT and MDI. Ratan Tata and Mahindra Group Chief, who visited Bihar earlier, are exploring avenues of new businesses in the state. Max, a group known for state-of-the-art health services is going to set up such a hospital in Patna and this is highly significant in view of the fact that almost 50% of the total 1.58 million patient turnout in AIIMS Delhi is from Bihar. Mr.Singh added that there would also be an effort to get drugs manufacturers to Bihar as the state purchases drugs worth 2000 crores every year.
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President Kalams vision: Nalandas renaissance

Written by Manjari Kishore

‘ President Kalam: A True Visionary

The three-dimensional model including education with value system, economic development and transforming religion into a spiritual force, is what is essential for world peace; and that is exactly what we envision Nalanda university to forerun as a seat of education and research, which enables unity of minds from an international community,’ emphasized the President of India, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam in his keynote address via live videocast.

The President delivered a philosophically enriching speech at the international symposium on ‘Nalanda: Buddhist Cultural Links Between Eastern and Southern Asia’ organized under the aegis of East Asian Institute, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Institute of South Asian Studies and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of National University of Singapore on monday in the heart of the city-state, Singapore.
Speaking on India’s economic development under the topic of ‘Evolution of Enlightened Citizen on Planet earth’, Dr.Kalam shared the country’s vision of becoming a ‘developed nation’ by the year 2020. Five areas where India’s competence for an integrated action lies are: Agriculture and food processing, Education and Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology, Infrastructure development and self-reliance in critical technologies.

Reiterating the significance of his proposed three-dimensional model, he said, this should lead to the evolution of a prosperous and peaceful world society and it is precisely in this context that he envisions Nalanda university to play a pioneering role, leading to the evolution of universal peace.

The Foreign Affairs minister of Singapore, Mr.George Yeo whose initiative culminated in the 16 country seminar on Nalanda optimistically said that the Buddhist community in the region wants to get involved in this project involving revival of Nalanda university and Buddhist circuit in India.