Features

Nitin Chandra, the budding film director from Bihar, after successfully making 'Bring Back Bihar', a documentary depicting on the plight of Biharis in Mumbai, in his next project deals with the recurring flood situation in Bihar and how the central and state governments have failed to recognize the actual reason for this annual nightmare.

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward.

With great pleasure I wish to share with the readers of Bihar and around the world, a brief history of the Khuda Baksh Oriental Public library and its founder, as recorded by my eminent historian father, Syed Ahsan Shere.

A Journey of Faith and Realization
Shiva is one of the most popular gods in the Hindu pantheon. One can find a Shiva temple or at least a Shiva Chabutra (platform) in almost every village of India.

A few months ago, we had received a letter from Mr. Donald L. Reid of Ayrshire, Scotland, informing us that there is yet another place on this planet that shares the name of the capital city of Bihar, Patna. Since then, we, at PatnaDaily.Com, had been toying with the idea of sharing this information with our visitors but for one reason or another, the idea remained just that, an idea!

It is a common misconception that Vardhaman Mahaveer was the founder of Jainism. But now it is proven by many Indian and western scholars and historians that he was not the founder but a reformer who reformed and refined previous teachings of Parshwanath, the 23 rd Jain Teerthankar (Prophet).

Recently we received a letter from Mr. Dorian Williams who was a British soldier deployed in India before the country gained independence in 1947. Below is the transcript of our email exchange. We hope you like it as much as we did. - Editor

Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan is the sweetest of festival – solemn, sacred and simple that registers and testifies the chaste bond between brother and sister, and perhaps found nowhere in any other human civilization the world. This is a great Indian social bonding and a very special occasion. The thread is symbolic, but the love it carries is noble and deep. The meaning of protection lies in the true love and bonding a brother feels for his sister, not on this day only but for the whole of life. It signifies, without doubt, that a brother must protect his sister from all the evils. It demands that the stronger must protect the weaker.

Bihar has a long history of organized education. Once upon a time, Bihar was a leading place in terms of higher education. Nalanda and Vikramshila University was the two most important centres for learning in India. Nalanda University being the focal point handled all branches including (Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Metaphysics, Ethics) and housed up to 10,000 students at its peak.

Rice is the most popular grain in the world, even more than wheat. It is consumed by most of Asia as the main staple and is used as a side dish in Europe, Africa and America. Thus it is a commodity with tremendous potential in world trade. And Patna Rice can be a huge geographic indicator with tremendous business potential.