Panchayat Puppetry! Rohtas: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday attacked the prevalence of ‘mukhiya pati’ practice in Bihar, saying it is a “shame” on a state which gave a direction to the nation on many democratic initiatives. ‘Mukhiya pati’ refers to a system where the husband of the elected woman panchayat president wields power by proxy.    “Bihar has given a direction to the nation on many democratic initiatives. We don’t want such a direction to follow, it will kill the panchayati raj,” he said addressing villagers... 

Zahra Daudi (1923-2003): and some inspiring pages from Bihar’s history   By Dr Mohammad Sajjad A champion of women and labour rights and left-leaning freedom fighter, Zahra Daudi, was born at Chapra, Bihar on 16 March 1923. Her father Maulana Ali Asghar, a staunch nationalist, was close to the luminaries of the freedom movement like Maulana Azad and Dr Rajendra Prasad. Ali Asghar preferred to wear hand-woven Khadi clothes, participated in the Non Cooperation-Khilafat Movement and was a rabid critic of the Muslim League. He regarded Muslim League as disgusting collaborator of the... 

Kalpana : a Gaya born filmmaker starts ‘Silent River Film Festival’ in South California Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, an Award Winning NRI Film-Director/Writer/Actor and Poet is the founder of the Silent River Film Festival in Irvine, Southern California, taking the place from September 9th –16 2011. Kalpna Singh-Chitins, Director and CEO of the Silent River Film Festival was born in Gaya (Bihar) India and received her Master’s Degree in Political Science from Magadh University. She later studied Film-Direction at the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. Kalpna won the prestigious Rajbhasha... 

Dharhara sees fruit trees as banks, its girls as Lakshmi: now CM gifts it – Bal Kendra, Balika residential school Patna: Dharhara, a village in Bhagalpur district has made news a several times as a sturdy bastion of women’s rights which is rooted in its local tradition. Respect for the girl child is not something that Dharhara learnt either from modern ideologies or the enlightened intellectuals of today. According to its local tradition when a girl child is born to a resident of Dharhara, the family plants a fruit tree. For the daughters of Bihar’s Dharhara village, whose pledge... 

Census 2011 data for Bihar shows 20% rise in the State’s female literacy rate Good news: rise in female literacy Patna: according to reports in the press, the provisional Census 2011 data for Bihar shows a 20 per cent rise in the State’s female literacy rate. The data indicates that literacy rates for women in Bihar have risen from 33.12 per cent in 2001 to 53.33 per cent this census year. The State’s overall literacy rate has also shot up during the past decade, and now stands at 63.82 per cent — marking a 17 per cent jump from the 47 per cent in 2001; 21 of the 38 districts... 

Kidnapping refuses to leave Bihar: but it takes a romantic turn Fatuha: according to a report in the Hindi press, the Fatuha police are having a harried time because of a pile up of kidnapping cases. The routine is every time a girl elopes with a boy, the parents register a kidnapping complaint. The police have no choice but to take matters seriously since the kidnapping of a young girl is indeed the most serious matter imaginable for a family. Later, it routinely turns out, when apprehended the girls elect to go their parent-in-law’s house rather than the parents. According to the report... 

Eye care for everyone, football for girls:  a quiet revolution at Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital, Mashtichak, saran A family is getting ready for the wedding of their daughter. Rituals have started, and the girl is not aware of the fate that awaits her. She probably doesn’t even know what marriage is all about. She is 14 years old, a native of Pirari Village, P.O: Derni:, District: Saran.. Flashback: A few weeks ago… She was studying in class 10 when she heard of promotion of football among girls by Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital. Though with difficulty, she somehow managed to convince her parents...