Children take to Patna zoo theatre
An ultra-modern 3-D theatre set up at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park has become the city’s most favoured destination for children. Built at the cost of Rs 8 crore, the 3D theatre has been equipped with state-of-the-art equipment at an additional cost of Rs 3.6 crore. Inaugurated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recently, it can accommodate 150 visitors at a time to enjoy the five shows, each of 40-minute duration. The first 3D show, titled” Conquest of the Skies’, was watched by an audience of over 100 in its inaugural start. The shows are believed to have found favour with visitors, especially children.
Dolphin count in Bihar’s Ganga rises
A team of researchers and conservationists of Vikramsheela Biodiversity Research and Education Centre (VBREC) are elated over the sighting of 82 dolphins in the 72.8 km stretch of Kosi river during a recent survey. Sunil Kumar Chowdhary, director, VBREC said that the sightings, including that of 50 adults, between January and February in 2019 in Supual, Saharsa and Bhagalpur districts proved that conservation efforts had succeeded. In 2018, only 60 Ganga dolphins, were sighted during the survey.
900 runaway children rescued
The number of children running away from their homes is on the rise in Bihar’s interiors. In the latest illustration of this worrying trend, the Railway police claimed to have rescued 900 such children in the last 14 months, from January 2018 to February 2019. The minors rescued included 231 girls. “Failure in school examinations and picking up frequent quarrels with parents were cited as reasons by the children for fleeing home,” Ravindra Verma, Inspector General, Railway Protection Force (RPF), said.
Enrolment for girls up, not seats
A fallout of the Nitish regime’s emphasis on girls’ enrolment has been that more girls have been passing into the college system, where adequate seats for women are not available. The enrolment in matriculation has crossed 8 lakh with additional pressure on college seats. Even, leading Patna based colleges have limited seats for women. For a class of 60, the enrollments cross 300 and more young women standing around attending classes, or peering through a window while standing outside classrooms, is a common sight.