Free saplings to drive home green message
In a first-of-its-kind move, voters queuing up at the 13 green booths in the city on May 19 will be gifted of a sapling each. The move is aimed at raising awareness on the importance of forestation. The Patna district administration came up with this idea and accordingly, the green booths were arranged at the Pataliputra and Patna Sahib constituencies. Kumar Ravi, Patna’s district magistrate who also doubles up as the district electoral officer, said the booths would be decked up with plants and eco-friendly signages to drive home the point.
Smart meters for residents soon
Bihar residents will soon get new-age pre-paid meters for recording electricity consumption. Energy Efficiency Services Limited, one of the companies involved in distributing power across the state, has placed an order for 78 lakh smart pre-paid meters. According to official sources, as many as 1.5 crore Bihar residents will have pre-paid meters installed over the next one-and-a-half years. Pratay Amrit, CMD, Power, held a meeting to review the ongoing work to install these meters. He was told that 2,000 consumers have already installed these GPS-enabled meters on an experimental basis for irrigation and agricultural purposes.
Raising awareness on child rights
The Child Rights Centre at Chanakya National Law University on Thursday organised an awareness and educative session on child rights. The event featured 90 girls between 8 and 18 years of age. The event was organised to mark the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). While the girls sought to raise awareness on their rights, Sneha, centre coordinator of Child Rights Centre, stressed on the need to educate children, especially girls, on the laws in force to protect their rights during an interactive session.
Bodh Gaya lit up in festive colours
A three-day spiritual celebration kicked off at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya on Thursday to mark the 2,581st birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. Tight security arrangements have been made for visitors at the event. A day-long function was organised, depicting the life and sermons of Lord Buddha. A seminar on ‘Buddhism: Harbinger of Inter-religious Harmony’ was also organised during which visiting scholars and Buddhist monks dwelt at length on the spiritual essence of Buddhism. Buddhists and monks, in their thousands, have arrived to take part in the celebration.