'Bihar does need special status'

PATNA: Eminent social scientists drawn from different parts of the country on Wednesday justified the demand for according special status to Bihar for ensuring its proper development. Though the state is replete with natural resources, special status would speed up its pace of development, they observed.
Participating at the two-day national seminar on ‘Development needs of Bihar and justification of the demand for special status’ organised by Patna University (PU) geography department here, they said that Bihar had got enough development potential and the state has really developed a lot in recent years.But a lot remained to be achieved to make it fully developed, they added.
Inaugurating the seminar, PU vice-chancellor Sudeepto Adhikari pleaded for survey of natural resources at the district level and exploring the feasibility of development on small scale. There was no dearth of resources in the state, he said. Former head of L N Mithila University’s geography department Nandeshwar Sharma observed that Bihar was competent enough to develop on its own.
Prominent among those who addressed the seminar included RNP Sinha of MS University, Vadodara, Ezaj Imam of JP University, Chhapra, Sriram Ray of Tilka Manjhi University, Bhagalpur, Kedar Jha of Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribagh, SN Prasad and Anuradha Sahay of Patna University.
At the outset, PU geography department head Ras Bihari Prasad Singh welcomed the guests. PU geography teacher K N Paswan proposed a vote of thanks.
has started trial of the new device on the pattern of Delhi Metro trains. If it is successful, the railways would implement it on priority basis in local trains across the country, he said adding the new system would facilitate local commuters most.
According to RDSO director SK Srivastava, railways has been consulting several other agencies which are competent in designing and developing such a device. The trial conducted so far by RDSO has been fruitful in the sense that the GPS-based device fitted in local trains was able to locate stations either coming or passing, he said.
Besides, railways has made a proposal to install Light Emitting Diode (LED) screens inside local trains, similar to those fitted in BEST buses in Mumbai. The LED screens could also display advertisements of commercial products yielding revenue to the railways, a Board official said.
According to Danapur rail division PRO R K Singh, railways has been running several pairs of local trains, including MEMU and DEMU, on different routes of Danapur division under East Central Railway ( ECR ). However, the mainline from Mughalsarai to Jhajha has been facing acute constrains due to constant run of mail and local trains, he said adding the GPS-based facility on local trains would prove to be a boon for the common people while undertaking journey by crowded local passenger trains.