INSIST
Internet News Service for India's Social Transformation

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.) COURSE 2023 BATCH LAUNCHED BY INDIRA GANDHI TECHNOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY, ZIRO, ARUNACHAL PRADESH

2021 INDIAN UNIVERSITIES DIRECTORY AND HANDBOOK GETTING RELEASED ON THE OCCASION OF THE WORLD CONSUMERS RIGHTS DAY ON 15 MARCH 2022

IAEWP TO LAUNCH FREE ONLINE AWARENESS COURSES ON PEACE, DISARMAMENT, SPIRITUALITY, INTERFAITH STUDIES Etc.

The Indian Institute of Applied Agriculture (IIAA) has launched the following Certificate Courses in different areas related to agriculture and allied subjects.

Dr. PRIYA RANJAN TRIVEDI IS PIONEER IN PERCEIVING THE ROLE OF COMPUTERS IN GOVERNMENT

WORLD INSTITUTION BUILDING PROGRAMME (WIBP) OBSERVES ITS 46th ANNIVERSARY AND ANNOUNCES THE 450-POINT PROGRAMMES, PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF INSTITUTION BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT

The 40th Anniversary of the Indian Institute of Ecology and Environment (IIEE) Observed and Celebrated on 5th June 2020

15 VOLUME WORLD ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT RUNNING INTO MORE THAN 8000 PAGES RELEASED FOR THE BENEFIT OF SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi presents First Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture on Environment on the occasion of World Environment Day 2019

dr. mridula saikia khanikor appointed as the new vice chancellor of indira gandhi technological and medical sciences university ziro, aruanchal pradesh on November 1, 2018

IGTAMSU SPONSORED REGIONAL MEET ON WOMEN, NURSING AND ENVIRONMENT INAUGURATED BY

RGU VICE CHANCELLOR Prof. saket kushwaha

IGTAMSU TEAM MEMBERS MEET THE HON’BLE EDUCATION MINISTER OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Mr. Honchun Ngandam AT ITANAGAR

Dr. Markandey Rai and Dr. Utkarsh Sharma appointed as IGTAMSU’s Chancellor and Pro Chancellor respectively

First Awareness-cum-Treatment Camp of the World Association of Auricular Therapy organised at New Delhi on 2^nd September 2018

Book titled "the challenges of 21^st century" authored by Dr. markandey rai released during national environment convention 2018 by union ministers shri suresh prabhu and Dr. JITENDRA SINGH

12 VOLUME INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT RELEASED BY HRD MINISTER OF INDIA SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR

national environment convention 2018 to be held under the joint auspices of iiee and nicer on 5-6 june 2018 at new delhi

Seychelles to get full support for establishing virtual university besides an international centre on environment

Book on RSS authored by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi and Dr. Bipin Kumar gets released by Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak of RSS

PACKAGE ANNOUNCED FOR IMPROVING THE FINANCIAL, ACADEMIC AND INFRASTRUCTURAL HEALTH OF UNIVERSITIES IN INDIA on 8 March 2018 at New Delhi

World Women Summit 2018 to be held on 8 March 2018 at New Delhi

The President Chancellor Dr. P. R. Trivedi of 2017 World Management Congress declares "Management of National Developement" as the theme for the Congress to be held on 21-22 December 2017 at New Delhi www.congress.ind.in

THE BOOK TITLED “THE LADY DIVINE : A PICTORIAL AND DIDACTICAL BIOGRAPHY OF HER HUMBLENESS NISHA JEEWACHH TRIVEDI” DEDICATED TO THE WORLD CITIZENRY ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL CHILD ON 11TH OCTOBER 2017

National Environmental Skills Development Summit 2017

World Education Convention to be held on 5-6 September 2017 will be organised by Afro-Asian- American Chamber of Commerce, Occupational Research and Development (ACCORD)

(2017 World Women’s Empowerment Summit Inaugurated on 11 July 2017)

World women's empowerment summit to be held at new Delhi on 11 July 2017

World clean environment summit 2017 to be held on 5-6 june 2017 at new delhi

2017 World Girl Child Education and Empowerment Summit to be held on 8 March 2017 under the aegis of Women's Agency for Generating Employment

International Women's Day Observed by Women's Agency for Generating Employment (WAGE)

Patna, 22 December 2016

CLEANING THE IVORY TOWERS : CLEANLINESS RELATED TRACK RECORDS OF UNIVERSITIES (CIU’s 13^th Anniversary to be observed on 12^th March 2017)

Kolkata, 5 October 2016 - World Teachers' Day

Dr.Priya Ranjan Trivedi Advocates for Creating World Class Universities

CIU to Celebrate its 12th anniversary on 5th OCTOBER 2016 AT KOLKATA on the occasion of united nations World teachers day

"G-51" group formeD for launching cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education (chase) with the support of 51 universities of india

COSPONSORED BY MORE THAN 50 UNIVERSITIES, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CLEANLINESS EDUCATION AND RESEARCH (NICER) LAUNCHED DURING THE AFRO-ASIAN CLEANLINESS CONVENTION 2016

national institute of cleanliness education and research (NICER) to clean up india

Voluntary Action and volunteer efforts discussed during the international volunteer day 2015

World Aids day observed at indian institute of health

New Delhi, 26 November 2014 : The Book titled "Narendra Modi : The Man India Needs," authored by Chancellor Dr. P R Trivedi, President, Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) was released by the Goa Governor Mridula Sinha in a glittering function attended by many foreign dignitaries including the Ambassador of Czech Republic H.E. Miloslav Stasek, the High Commissioner of Pakistan H.E. Abdul Basit and the Ambassador of Guatemala H.E. George de La Roche besides selected 200+ scholars of repute from all over the country. Releasing the book besides launching the "Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (CHASE) Project, Governor Mridula Sinha stressed the need for being cleaner, greener and hygienic with a view to making our country one of the models in the world.

The Governor of Goa Hon'ble Mridula Sinha releasing the book "Narendra Modi : The Man India Needs" in the poresence of the author Dr. P R Trivedi, Ambassador of Czech Republic H.E. Miloslav Stasek, the High Commissioner of Pakistan H.E. Abdul Basit and the Ambassador of Guatemala H.E. George de La Roche.

Citing the examples from from the holy books for cleaning oneself before any worship, she called upon the world citizenry  to learn lessons from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is an ideal example of a complete and dedicated leader who has thrown himself for the welfare of the humans living on this mother earth. She asked the schools, colleges and universities to implement "Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan : Clean India Movement" at the earliest. Cleaning the atmosphere, rural and the urban areas besides the human mind should be the topmost priority.

The book titled "End of Coalition Politics in Modi Era" authored by Dr. Imotemsu Ao, Registrar, The Global Open University Nagaland was also presented to the Governor on this occasion coinciding with the United Nations International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women. The CIU President Dr. P R Trivedi announced on this occasion that his book "Goa : Past, Present and Future" will be released by the Goa Governor next year in January in Goa.

The Books titled "Kerala : Past, Present and Future"  and "Uttar Pradesh : Past, Present and Future" were released by the Governor of Kerala, Justice P. Sathasivam and the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Naik respectively on the occasion of the World Teachers' Day in a glittering function organized by the Confederation of Indian Universities during its 10^th Anniversary in the presence of the Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Representatives from Spain, Bolivia, Guinea, Malawi, Indonesia, and Denmark besides the National Awardees including the Wrestler Ramphal and the Devotional Singer Narendra Chanchal. These Books authored by the Great Institution Builder and Philanthropist Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi contain all the relevant information regarding these States like the history, prehistory, culture, economy, education, industry, demography, tourism and infrastructure. 

The Kerala Governor Justice P. Sathasivam releasing the Book "Kerala : Past, Present and Future" authored by Chancellor, Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, President, Confederation of Indian Universities on the occasion of the World Teachers' Day at New Delhi on 5^th October 2014.

The Governor Justice P. Sathasivam informed the learned audience that Kerala was the only State with the lowest positive population growth rate (3.44%) and having the highest human development index (0.79%) in the country. He further added that Kerala held the highest literacy rate (93.19%) besides the highest life expectancy (77 years) and the highest sex ratio (1000 men : 1084 women). He also congratulated the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) for uniting all the 738 Universities of India for optimizing its available resources. He wanted everybody to remember what Dr. Sarvepally Radhakrishnan said about the university "A University is not a mere information shop. It is a praised where a man's intellect, will and emotions are discipline. In it, experience and adventure are combined to create a better man".

On this auspicious occasion, another Book titled "Uttar Pradesh : Past, Present and Future" getting released by the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Naik had many observers to know more about the most populous State of India. While releasing this Book, the Governor Ram Naik said that there are only five countries namely China, India, USA, Indonesia and Brazil have the credit of being more populous then Uttar Pradesh. In his all comprehensive comments made in Hindi language, he also said that Uttar Pradesh has the credit of being the birth place of the national language : Hindi and that the ancient culture emerged from Uttar Pradesh besides the creation of mythological literature like Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita. He also congratulated the author Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi for taking great pains in compiling information regarding all the Districts of Uttar Pradesh besides the relevant data regarding the educational facilities, industrial relations, culture, sports, economy and demographic details of Uttar Pradesh.

The Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Ram Naik releasing the Book "Uttar Pradesh : Past, Present and Future" authored by Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi in the presence of the Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam,  the Ambassadors and High Commissioners from Indonesia, Bolivia, Guinea, Spain, Malawi on the occasion of the World Teachers' Day at New Delhi on 5^th October 2014.

The Governor Ram Naik also desired that this publication be widely circulated in the State of Uttar Pradesh besides the tourists coming from all over the world for enabling everybody to know more about the salient features and the cultural heritage of Uttar Pradesh. He also invited the international dignitaries to visit Uttar Pradesh.

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain Gustavo de Aristegui while detailing the tertiary education scenario in Spain invited the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) to visit the different Universities in Spain for ensuring mutual and technical cooperation.

The Ambassador of the Plurinational State of Bolivia Prof. Jorge Cardenas Robes announced academic tie-ups between India and Bolivia for international education projects with a view to implementing action oriented programmes in both the countries.

The Ambassador of Guinea Alexandre CeCe Loua wanted educational cooperation between India and Guinea for reducing the wastage in education and for solving the burning problems of the educated youth of India and Guinea.

The High Commissioner of Malawi Dr. Perks Ligoya wanted Indian educational experts to go to Malawi for heading different Universities for bringing efficiency and productivity in the tertiary educational systems as there is a lack of trained educational man power in Malawi.

The Deputy Ambassador of Indonesia Tito Dos Santos Baptista wanted India and Indonesia to further strengthened the educational protocols for benefiting both the countries and the present number of students studying from India and Indonesia by leaving their countries for better specializations.

The Innovation and Research Counsellor in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark Kristoffer Brix Bertelsen expressed hope that India and Denmark will work together for quality higher education by exchanging information between the two countries.

The project "Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (CHASE)" was also launched besides the release of the "2014 Indian Universities Directory" running into 800 pages jointly by the Kerala and the Uttar Pradesh Governors.

The CIU endorsed the charitable work of "Sarbat Da Bhala" and felicitated its Founder Sdr. S.P.S. Oberoi. Many individuals, organizations, principals, professors and activists were praised for their outstanding contribution and accolades were presented to them.

Presently the keynote address the CIU President Chancellor Dr. P R Trivedi said that to his mind, the main problems in almost all States and Union Territories of the country was relating to peacelessness, poverty, unemployment, pollution and population explosion. In order to solve these problems, the solution could be in creating more and more jobs by also preparing a competent cadre of young professionals equipped with vocational and skill based knowledge. He further explain that India will be needing more than 550 million trained persons by the year 2024. That means, one third of every State's population will be required to become fully skilful. Accordingly Uttar Pradesh will have to produce 85 million skilled persons by the year 2024 and accordingly 8.5 million skilled persons every year. He hoped that the 2100 types of programmes designed by CIU in different areas related to hospitality, health care, environmental science, disaster management, tourism, geriatric care, remote sensing, bioinformatics, journalism, mass communication, information technology, e-governance, good governance will help the implementing agencies in providing training and research facilities to the young boys and girls.

Dr. Trivedi was of the view that while our country with 1250 million population has many problems but there are many excellent possibilities for helping the entire world. In order to achieve the appropriate targets, the urgent need is of providing value based education at the School, College and the University levels Institutions so that the movement for character building is speeded up fastly. There has to be a mass movement by bringing attitudinal and behavioural change among the minds of the educators, teachers, trainers and didactics.

While criticizing regarding the existence of more than required number of regulations to control tertiary education, Dr. P R Trivedi thanked the Government of India as it has decided to withdraw many of the old and obsolete laws, rules, regulations and statutes as these are making our developmental process very slow. Same is the case with education and training. There are more number of Statutory Bodies dealing with education which are not required in the present context. The Universities in India are responsible as well as autonomous organisations. They should be given full freedom to design their curriculum, conduct classes, prepare instructional materials and provide necessary support to the students to either seek jobs or to provide jobs by throwing themselves into the entrepreneurial fields, Dr. Trivedi opined.

New Delhi, 5^th September 2016

The "G-51" the Group of 51 Universities for introducing Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (CHASE) has been formed at the behest of the National Institute of Cleanliness Education and Research (NICER) for covering the entire country including all the States and Union Territories by launching an online / offline non-formal Post Graduate level course of one year duration leading to the Post Graduate Diploma in Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (PGD-CHASE).

Announcing this, the Director of NICER, Shri Utkarsh Sharma said that the contents of this unique Post Graduate Diploma include Introduction to Cleanliness; Hygiene Concepts; Sanitation Education; Public Health; Solid and Liquid Waste Management; Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance; Ecological and Environmental Protection; Project Work and Thesis.

The salient feature of this programme in order to strengthen the cause of Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan is that the 11 Volume World Encyclopaedia of Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (WE-CHASE) is presented to all the admitted participants in the CD format without any extra charge, Shri Utkarsh Sharma added.

Hon'ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee participating in the Clean India Campaign

The motivation for launching the much needed vocational and professional programme related to training in the fields of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education is based on the cleanliness movement started by the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi followed by many Indian Leaders before and after independence.

The Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan initiated by our Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has led the NICER to show itself into the new environment with full of zeal and enthusiasm to ensure that India becomes cleaner as well as greeners.

Hon'ble Prime Minister of India participating in the Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan.

The Post Graduate Diploma in Cleanliness, Hygiene and Sanitation Education (PGD-CHASE) is fully online although those living in the rural areas with no facilities of internet may get the books by post, Shri Utkarsh Sharma further added.

All the details regarding admission, curriculum, monitoring and evaluation etc. are detailed on the website : niceronline.com

Highlighting the torch bearing role of the National Institute of Cleanliness Education and Research (NICER), Shri Utkarsh Sharma opined that the NICER has a master plan to introduce cleanliness education in all the 800+ universities, 50,000 colleges and 1,5 million schools of our country besides the collaborative plans to clean up all rivers, mountains, temples, gurudwaras, mosques, monasteries, public places, industries, railways and roadways.

In his concluding remarks, the Director, NICER, Shri Utkarsh Sharma hoped that all the Union Ministers and their Bureaucrats and Departmental Heads, Governors, Chief Ministers, Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Principals of Colleges and Schools will immediately contact through the website : niceronline.com without any delay for getting benefitted for acquiring expert skills needed for our country with a view to mixing skill development with cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.

Shri Utkarsh Sharma also assured that the services relating to admission, counseling, guidance, monitoring and evaluation are the quickest as the process is automatic via the website : niceronline.com

CIU to Celebrate its 12th anniversary on 5th OCTOBER 2016 AT KOLKATA on the occasion of united nations World teachers day

Press Release

New Delhi, October 1, 2016 (United Nations International Day of the Elderly Persons)

The Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) established and inaugurated on the occasion of the Higher Education and Development (HEAD) Day on 15^th April 2004 at New Delhi will have its 12^th Anniversary Celebrations at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata where the Governor of Tripura Hon'ble Prof. Tathagata Roy will be the Chief Guest. He will also release the Indian Universities Directory 2016 containing the list and details of more than 835 Universities of our country duly recognized by the Government of India and the University Grants Commission (UGC). Addressing the Representatives of the print and the electronic media, the President of Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi said that many packages and state of art technologies will be discussed for the benefit of all the university level bodies. Main stress will be given on employment centric cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education with a view to strengthening the cause of Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan announced by the Hon"ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, he further added.

CIU President Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi addressing the Press and Media

Out of the existing inventory of more than 1000 Chancellors, Vice Chancellors and Heads of Institutions of National importance, important personalities to be felicitated during the 12^th Anniversary at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata on 5^th October 2016 at 4 pm include Prof. Gurdeep Singh, Vice Chancellor, Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand; Prof. P K Mishra, Vice Chancellor, North Orissa University, Odisha; Prof. Saket Kushwaha, Vice Chancellor, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga, Bihar; Dr. Anwar Shaikh, Director, International Affairs, Commonwealth, Vocational University, Tonga; Prof. Basab Chaudhuri, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal State University, West Bengal; Prof. Ranjan Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal; Prof. Gopal Chandra Misra, Vice Chancellor, University of Gourbanga, West Bengal; Prof. Smritikumar Sarkar, Vice Chancellor, University of Burdwan, West Bengal; Prof. Dipak Ranjan Mandal, Vice Chancellor, Sidho- Kanho-Birsa University, West Bengal; Prof. Anuradha Mukhopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Diamond Harbour Women's University, West Bengal; Prof. Mita Banerjee, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal University of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration, West Bengal ; Prof. Chirantan Chattopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal; Prof. Anil Bhumali, Vice Chancellor, Raiganj University, West Bengal; Prof. Purnendu Biswas, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, West Bengal; Prof. Dhrubojyoti Chattopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, West Bengal; Prof. A. S Kolaskar, Vice Chancellor, The Neotia University, West Bengal; Prof. H N Datta, Vice Chancellor, The Global Open University, Nagaland; Prof. Sunil Rai, Vice Chancellor, Assam Kaziranga University, Assam; Prof. J D S Panwar, Vice Chancellor, Venkateshwra Open University, Arunachal Pradesh; Prof. Fr. S. J Paul Fernandes, Vice Chancellor, Xavier University, Odisha; Prof. Shyam Sundar Pattnaik, Vice Chancellor, Biju Panaik University of Technology, Odisha; Prof. Siba Prasad Adhikary, Vice Chancellor, Fakir Mohan University, Odisha; Prof. E Saibaba Reddy, Vice Chancellor, Veer Surendra Sai  University of Technology, Odisha; Prof. Rash Bihari Prasad Singh, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda Open University, Bihar; Prof. Babu Sebastian, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala; Prof. R P Singh, Vice Chancellor, Kolhan University, Jharkhand; Prof Leela Chand Saha, Vice Chancellor, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Bihar; Prof R. C Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, Rajendrar Agricultural University, Bihar; Prof. P Pasupalak, Vice Chancellor, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Odisha; Prof. Anil Kumar Singh, Vice Chancellor, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University, Madhya Pradesh; Prof Ajoy Kumar Singh, Vice Chancellor, Bihar Agricultural University, Bihar; Prof. P Rajendran, Vice Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala; Prof. Amit Banerjee, Vice Chancellor, Siksha O Anusandhan University, Odisha; Prof A. Lakshminath, Vice Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University, Patna.

Other salient feature of the 12^th Anniversary Celebrations is that "The G-51" (Group of 51 Universities) will be formed and announced for ensuring the successful operations and implementation of the Centrally Sponsored projects like Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India Mission, Make-in-India Mission, Clean Ganga Project, Beti Bachao Abhiyan, Elderly Care Programme, Start Up India Programme, Clean Up India Project, Digital India etc., Dr. Trivedi opined.

Kolkata, 5 October 2016 - World Teachers' Day

Presenting Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee Memorial Lecture during the 12^th Anniversary of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU), Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, President of CIU and the State Chancellor of UN Affiliated IAEWP for the NCT of Delhi / South Asian Vice President of IAEWP thanked the Prime Minister Hon'ble Shri Narendra Modi who reiterated his Government's intention to set up 20 world-class universities this year. The idea is to bring about qualitative improvement in the standards of education - currently India has virtually no representation in international rankings of educational institutions, Dr. Trivedi ridiculed.

 
The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors being felicitated for their outstanding contribution

Dr. Trivedi added that the Central Government will identify 10 Government and 10 Private Universities and help them achieve "world-class standards". According to the HRD Ministry's concept note submitted to the Prime Minister's Office, these universities will have

• A corpus of at least Rs 1,000 crore

• A place in the top 500 in any renowned ranking system

• Accreditation by a reputed international agency

• Faculty-student ratio not less than 1:10 over 3 years of establishment

• Excellent laboratory facilities and cutting edge research

• A good mix of domestic and foreign students

• A good proportion of foreign or foreign-qualified faculty

• Teaching and research collaborations with reputed international universities

• At least two publications in each discipline in a reputed peer-reviewed journal every year

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi further added that this proposal is similar to Universities for Research and Innovation Bill 2012, which too sought to create a separate category of universities with autonomy to determine their own standards and decide on matters like faculty hiring and salaries, curriculum, fees, etc.

 
The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors having a group photograph with the Chief Guest
Hon'ble Shri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura, Hon"ble Mr. Olaf Iversen, Consul General
of Germany in Kolkata and CIU President IAEWP State Chancellor for Delhi Dr. P R Trivedi

Discussing and explaining the modalities of the selection of these Universities out of the existing inventory of more than 875 university level institution including the Central, State, Deemed and Privately Funded Universities besides the Institutions of National Importance, Dr. Trivedi said that the aspirant institutions will submit a detailed 15-year plan of how they would meet laid-down requirements of world-class universities. A Committee of experts set up by the UGC will evaluate the plans and pick the universities for upgradation. Applicants in the Government category should figure in the top 25 of the National Institution Ranking Framework. Those in the private category can be both greenfield and brownfield institutions. Brownfields must be deemed universities with an 'A' from NAAC; greenfields must have a corpus of Rs. 750 crore.

Elaborating the cooperation and support from the Government, Dr. Trivedi said that the institutions will be able to:

• Charge fees from foreign students without restriction, and determine fee for domestic students, provided no meritorious candidate is turned away for want of money. There should be adequate scholarships.

• Offer courses and degrees in new areas without consulting regulatory institutions.

• Initiate academic collaborations with foreign educational institutions without need for Government approvals.

• Hire foreign faculty with relaxed salary restrictions.

• Hire industry experts even if they don't have requisite academic qualification.

• Spend resources with full financial autonomy.

• Government world-class universities will get additional assistance of Rs. 500 crore over 5 years.

 
The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors having a group photograph with the Chief Guest
Hon'ble Shri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura, Hon'ble Mr. Olaf Iversen, Consul General
of Germany in Kolkata, the CIU President IAEWP State Chancellor for Delhi Dr. P R Trivedi and the
Organizing Committee Heads for the 12^th Anniversary Celebrations on 5^th October 2016.

Examining the prospects and the constraints, Dr. Trivedi commented that the details of the proposal are not public, and have not been analyzed threadbare. Allowing private players to set up entirely new institutions as world-class universities could be seen as an attempt to give big private interests easy passage into the education sector with little monitoring, and without the obligation of adhering to Government regulations. The proposal is silent on whether foreign education providers can use this route to enter India and set up campuses here.

Gassing the future scope and possibilities, Dr. Trivedi said that a law can be brought by Parliament, or such institutions can be declared Deemed Universities. Should the HRD Ministry choose the Deemed University route, the University Grants Commission will have to amend its Deemed University Regulations.

Dr. Trivedi congratulated the Central Government for recently announcing the desire to have 20 Universities that are ranked among the world's great universities. Although that goal is praiseworthy, the ability to make the dream a reality seems far-fetched based on my experiences over the past year doing research on higher education in India.

Dr. Trivedi also observed that regardless of which rankings one considers, a glut of universities in the United States always appear in the top 200. By one measure, eight of the top 10 and 50 of the top 100 universities in the world are from the US. The result is that other countries try to mimic what they think the Americans are doing, but they learn the wrong lessons.

 
The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors being felicitated for their outstanding contribution in the specialized
areas related to educational planning, administration, research and development

India's plan is to have half of the 20 world-class universities come from the private sector. The assumption seems to be that private universities are among America's best institutions and that the small number of new privates in India might be better situated to vault into the elite 200 than the many older central and State Universities.

The US Government also does not fully fund all of its public universities; that is music to the ears of Indian politicians who want to use public monies for other public services.

Such an interpretation of America's dominance in world-class rankings is a misreading of why American universities continue to dominate league tables. Here are five ways to think about American higher education that may be useful for helping India achieve its goals :

World-class universities are old: Of the top 200 universities in the world only one is less than 50 years old. A handful of US universities are just over 50 years old, but most have been around for much longer. However admirable some of India's new private universities are, there is almost no chance that any will leap into the top 200 in the next decade - and certainly 10 private universities won't. If India wants to break into the upper echelon within 10 years it will be done by public universities or not at all.

• World-class universities have strong vice-chancellors without term limits: Public and private universities in the US have vice-chancellors who are largely chosen because of their fundraising and intellectual prowess. They generally do not serve with term limits and are not political appointees. At my own University of Southern California, I have had two presidents in 22 years. The Board of Trustees, with faculty input, hired them. My current president is raising US$7 billion over 10 years to strengthen our endowment. India's vice-chancellors serve very short terms, are often political appointees, and almost never raise significant amounts of capital from donors and philanthropists.
• World-class universities have institutional autonomy: Strategic plans, hiring and tenure determinations and budgeting decisions are made by the faculty and administrators of America's best institutions. Deans and faculty researchers have a significant amount of authority over their budgets. In India the ministry and the University Grants Commission exert enormous oversight that disables any sense of institutional or individual autonomy.
• World-class universities have significant discussions about academic quality: The standards for tenure and promotion at premier American universities continue to rise. The determination of the standards is set, and quality control is carried out, by the faculty. Tenure is a process that ensures faculty rights, but also requires faculty responsibilities. In India, discussions about quality, if they occur, take place on national commissions, not within a university, and faculty appointments are seen as government sinecures for life.
• World-class universities see academic freedom as the central value of academic life: Academic freedom is always debated and arguments about the limits of academic freedom have swirled on American campuses for a century. The general precept is that faculty, through the protection of tenure, has an obligation to ensure that a university's faculty and students are able to speak what they desire, however controversial those statements may be. In India, academic freedom is questioned by individuals inside and outside the university and a chill on free speech on campus is evident.

Dr. Trivedi suggested that if India wishes to have a handful of world-class universities created within the next decade then we will have to ensure that public funding and philanthropic support increase. We can't say we want academic excellence and hamstring vice-chancellors or micro-manage from ministry offices or overlook issues of quality control or create a climate where academics are unable to speak truth to power.

Dr. Trivedi emphasized that India certainly has the intellectual capacity to have dominant universities, but significant structural reforms are necessary if that promise is to become a reality. In an increasingly globalized world, the picture of the tranquil university steeped in quaint intellectual pursuits and buffered from real-world concerns appears to be rapidly fading. Institutes of higher learning seem to be shedding the "ivory tower" image and embracing a vision of well-oiled engines of research that promote economic growth, Dr. Trivedi felt.

Dr. Trivedi also observed that the proposed World Class Universities are now commonly viewed as vital to advance a nation's development, there is an urgent need for conventional wisdom to be scrutinized. Too many countries believe that if they don't expand in this regard, they won't be taken seriously on the world stage. The notion of the world-class university has taken on a life of its own.

Explaining the scope of world class, Dr. Trivedi wanted to ask as to what does "world class" really mean? He observed that for some it means being a superpower in terms of science and technology research. It is connected to the idea that universities are going to produce technological innovations.

Dr. Trivedi also stressed the need for research assessing the extent to which professional development currently taking place in universities in fact leads to greater empowerment for students and faculty. The trend to produce world-class universities, to my mind, represents neither pure progress nor pure wickedness, with the 'bad guys' taking over. The bottom line is that countries and universities need to think carefully and pay attention to what theyare doing, rather than just automatically following the pack.

Assuring the 50+ Vice Chancellors present in the 12^th Anniversary Celebrations of the Confederation of Indian Universities held at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata on 5^th October 2016 on the occasion of the World Teachers' Day where the Chief Guest was the Hon'ble Governor of Tripura Prof. Tathagata Roy who also assured of his fullest cooperation for strengthening the cause of CIU for enabling the university level institutions to become world class. While inaugurating the 12^th Anniversary Celebrations of CIU and releasing "The Indian Universities Directory 2016", the Governor Prof. Tathagata Roy recalled the outstanding contribution of CIU in uniting all the Universities of India and by implementing action oriented programmes not presently covered by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

While reciprocating the plan envisaged by CIU, Chancellor Dr. P R Trivedi announced that Tripura will be the priority State for implementing cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education for making Tripura as a model State.

It may be mentioned that the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) under the dynamic leadership of the great institution builder, philanthropist, thinker and environmental scientist Chancellor Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has designed a masterplan paradigm for helping all the 875+ university level institutions to optimize their available resources and for greening and cleaning their ivory tower and for ensuring proper skill development with a view to producing more number of job givers rather than job seekers for ultimately solving the burning problems relating to peacelessness, poverty, unemployment, greed, pollution, faulty educational system and population explosion.

Releasing the bilingual Book titled "Darbhanga : Past, Present and Future" in the Gandhi Sadan, the official Guest House of Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Chancellor Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, President and Plenipotentiary of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) said that through this unique Book, the cultural heritage of Mithila region will be brought on the world map. Dr. Trivedi further added that the entire District of Darbhanga will be optimally developed with the help of all the 329 Panchayats and 1269 Villages by associating the local Schools, Colleges and Universities with a view to ensuring urgent solutions of the problems including unemployment, peacelessness, poverty etc. by providing skill based training in general and cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education in particular.

The President and Plenipotentiary of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) releasing the Book
titled "Darbhanga : Past, Present and Future" at 10.30 am on 5^th November 2016 at Gandhi Sadan,
L N Mithila University, Darbhanga in the presence of the  Acting Vice Chancellor of LNMU
Prof. Ram Chandra Thakur, Former Vice Chancellor of Rajendra Agricultural University Prof. Gopalji Trivedi,
 Registrar of LNMU Dr. Ajit Kumar Singh, Maharajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh Chair
Dr. Vinod Kumar Chaudhary and PIO of LNMU Dr. N.K. Agrawal. 

While recalling the history of Darbhanga, the great institution builder and environmental scientist Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi further added that Darbhangā is 5^th largest city of Bihar and rapidly developing. Darbhanga is also the second biggest medical hub of Bihar. The history of Darbhanga dates back to the Ramayana and Mahabharata periods; it is among the oldest cities of Bihar. According to the Vedic sources, the Videhas first migrated to the area from the banks of Saraswati in Punjab; they were guided to the east of Sadanira (Gandak River) by Agni, the God of Fire. Settlements were established and, thus, flourished the kingdom of the Videhas, the Selfless. In the course of time, Videhas came to be ruled by a line of kings called Janaks. In this line of kings, there was a very famous king named Mithi. To commemorate his greatness the territory was named as Mithila. Another famous king was Janak Sirdhwaja, father of Sita. The legends speak of various learned men patronized by Janak Sirdhwaja, who himself was an erudite scholar. Prominent among them were Yagyavalkya, who codified the Hindu law in his Yagyavalkya Smriti and Gautam, who had various valuable philosophical treatises to his credit. King Janak was himself a great philosopher and his ideas have been eternally enshrined in the Upanishads, especially in the Brihad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣada.

The President and Plenipotentiary of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) releasing the Book titled
"Darbhanga : Past, Present and Future" at 10.30 am on 5^th November 2016 at Gandhi Sadan,
L N Mithila University, Darbhanga in the presence of the  Acting Vice Chancellor of LNMU
Prof. Ram Chandra Thakur, Former Vice Chancellor of Rajendra Agricultural University Prof. Gopalji Trivedi,
Registrar of LNMU Dr. Ajit Kumar Singh, Director of the National Institute of Cleanliness Education and Research
(NICER)  Dr. Utkarsh Sharma, Maharajadhiraj Sir Kameshwar Singh Chair Dr. Vinod Kumar Chaudhary
and PIO of LNMU Dr. N.K. Agrawal. 

He also mentioned that the name Darbhanga is the mutated form of "Dwarbanga". That is, it is the combination of words "Dwar" (Gate) and "Banga" (Bengal) meaning "Gateway of Bengal". If one notices Bengali and Maithili, he will find many a phonetic similarities particularly in the main verbs of both the languages which ends with word sounding "Chhe".

He was also quoting the views of some scholars that Darbhanga was named after Dar (Dwar) and Bhangaa which means broken gates. It is assumed that the gates of the Qila (at Qilaghat probably) were broken (by cannons or elephants) in 1326 AD when Tughlak forces attacked the last independent North Indian Hindu king.

Further elaborating the past history and glory of Darbhanga, Dr. Trivedi explained that according to Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol 11 Page 158 "The Darbhanga family traces its origin to one Mahes Thakur, who is said to have come from Jubbulpore about; the beginning of the sixteenth century. He took service as a priest with the descendants of : Raja Siva Singh, who still exercised a nominal supremacy in Tirhut; but when they collapsed before the advancing Muhammadan power, Mahes Thakur induced Akbar to grant him what are now the Darbhanga Raj estates. He and his descendants gradually consolidated the power of the family in both agrarian and social matters; and though, owing to recusancy at the Permanent Settlement, the Raja of that period was for some time deprived of a portion of his property, the British Government eventually recognized him. During the first half of the nineteenth century, owing to mismanagement and litigation, the estate fell into considerable difficulties. But the litigation had the effect of deciding that the estate was impartible and that the inheritance to it was regulated by primo- geniture; and owing to a long minority of over twenty years from x860 onwards, during which the estate was under the Court of Wards, it is now in a very flourishing condition. Darbhanga town has been the headquarters of the family since 1762, prior to which date they re- sided at Madhubaru. The present Maharaja Bahadur, Sir Rameswar Singh, K.C.I.E., succeeded on the death of his brother in 1898. The estates at present comprise lands situated in the Districts of Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Monghyr, Purnea, and Bhagalpur, with a total area of more than 2,410 square miles".

Member of the Editorial and Compilation Team for bringing out the Book on Darbhanga,
Dr. Saroj Chaudhary, Assistant Professor of Sociology, LNMU receiving the first copy of the Book
from the Chief Guest and President of the Confederation of Indian Universities Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi.

Stressing the need for restoring the ancient cultural heritage of Mithilanchal, Dr. Trivedi said that in the thirteenth century Mithila was invaded by Afghans, who deposed the Kshatriya ruler and placed a Maithil Brahman in control of land revenues over much of this region. This family soon began calling themselves kings, distributing land to other members of their caste, so that gradually land passed into the control of Maithil Brahmans. It was taken by the Turks in the 14th century. During Akbar's reign in the sixteenth century, a second Maithil Brahman family came to rule as the Khandavala Dynasty.

Special Invitees attending the Book Release Function on 5^th November 2016 at Darbhanga.

It enjoyed stability under the Mughals and Hindus began to flock to this town since the beginning of the 19th century when the Maharaja of Darbhanga shifted his residence to the town and was granted the title Maharaja by the East India Company. It was the biggest town of North Bihar for centuries, but after Muzaffarpur was connected to broad-gauge railway in the mid-1970s, the latter overtook Darbhanga due to shift of trade, commerce, business and transport to some extent.

During Akbar's reign in the sixteenth century, a second Maithil Brahmin family came to rule as the Khandavala Dynasty. During this period, Akbar also planted 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga, at a place now known as Lakhi Bagh. In British times, their estate, Darbhanga Raj, was the largest and richest of the great zamindari estates. Their capital was in Bhaur village in Madhubani, later shifted to the town of Darbhanga. They controlled most of Mithila until after Independence when the Republic of India abolished zamindari (Maharaja of Darbhanga was actually a zamindar entitled to add the title Maharaja in his name, besides the British title: KCIE (Knight Commander of Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire).

The Maharaja of Darbhanga, Sir Kameshwar Singh, was also an integral part of the Constituent Assembly of India and was instrumental in campaigning for retention of privy purses and land rights for rulers. He single handedly negotiated rights of various rulers and nawabs.

Maharaja of Darbhanga also spent much time in today's called kolkata, Bengal. It can be seen in various places as he has built various important places for Bengal, as in Calcutta University Building is "Darbhanga Building" Dalhousie Square and various important buildings there is also made by him. He has made great contributions to Bengal and Indian education and society.

A view of the important personalities and invitees attending the Book Release Function at 10.30 am
on 5^th November 2016 at Gandhi Sadan, LNMU, Darbhanga.

The main languages spoken in this district are Maithili, Hindi, Urdu, however Hindi is used for official documentation. Here, Urdu is spoken by locale Muslim community in a unique style. In Darbhanga City, local residents speak a relaxed style of Maithili. Other languages spoken by their respective speakers in Darbhanga are Bajjika, Bengali, Marwari, Punjabi and Sindhi.

Dr. Trivedi urgently felt the need for restoring the important historical places of Darbhanga like the Raj Fort, the Queen Palace, the Darbhanga Musuem, the Shayama Mandir, the Jama Masjid and all the Lakes and Ponds.

As per data released by the government of India for the 2011 census, Darbhanga is an Urban Agglomeration coming under category of Class I UAs/Towns. The total population of Darbhanga UA/Metropolitan region is 306,089. The male population of which is 161,346 while female population is 144,743. Total literates: 205,203. Male literates: 115,620. Female literates: 89,583. Sex ratio: 898, Child sex ratio: (0-6 years) 905 and Effective Literacy State rate (7+ Pop): total Persons: 80.88, Male: 86.43, Female: 74.68, Compare to 2001 India census, Darbhanga City had a population of 267,348 while the district had a population of 3,295,789. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Darbhanga has an average literacy rate of 64%, which is higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72% and, female literacy is 56%. In Darbhanga, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age. Darbhanga is a place where people of different languages and religions live. There are many lingual minorities which have contributed to the development of Darbhanga.

Darbhanga has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen climate classification Cwa).

Darbhanga is located in the northern part of Bihar.

Darbhanga is well connected via rail and road services.

Darbhanga Junction is one of the oldest Railhead of North Bihar, It's a A1 category railway junction and a model station on the East Central Railway and is one of the highest earning most important railway junction in zone and in state, Darbhanga is the busiest station of Samastipur Division as it is connected directly to all the major cities of India, viz., Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Amritsar, Patna, Nagpur, Kanpur, Ranchi, Pune, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Raipur, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Siwan, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Raxaul, Mysore, Ajmer Bangaluru etc. About the beginning of railway in Darbhanga and it's neighboring areas The Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 11, p. 158/159. says: "The famine of 1874 gave a great impetus to the construction of railways, and the District is on the whole well off in the matter of com- munications. Its south-west corner is traversed for . 29 miles by the main line of the Bengal and North-Western Railway, and also by 25 miles of the new chord-line from Hajipur to Bachwara, which runs parallel to the Ganges embankment from east to west. From Samastipur a line runs to Darbhanga town and there branches off in two directions, the first north-west to Sitamarhi through Kamtaul and Jogiara, and the other due east to Khanwa Ghat on the Kosi (Old streem) near Pratapganj. The total length of the line within the District is 146 miles. Most of the earthwork for a line from Sakri to Jaynagar on the Nepal frontier was completed as a relief work during the famine of 1897 ; and the line, which has now been opened, should tap a large grain supply from Nepal". The Darbhanga Junction connects very large part of North Bihar and Tarai of Nepal with rest of India as major Rail head. It is the main station of Darbhanga and Madhubani.

Darbhanga is connected to other parts of India by National Highway 57 , National Highway 105 and Bihar State highways 50, 56, 88 and 75. Darbhanga is also connected to the Madhubani which is located at Nepal border and Sitamarhi.

East-West Corridor expressway, which connects the Porbandar, Gujarat to Silchar, Assam passes through Darbhanga which provides greater connectivity for trade purposes.

The city has two bus stands - Darbhanga Bus Stand and Laheriasarai Bus Stand - and a new interstate bus stand is under construction for the city. Bus services are available from Darbhanga to all the nearby major cities viz. Patna, Gaya, Kolkata, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur.

For local transport, the commuters have the options of city bus and auto-rickshaw. Auto rickshaws are the popular mode of local commuting. The City Bus Service is also in the city by BSRTC.Low floor buses are also proposed for the city by Central Govt.

Darbhanga Airport is the longest runway airport of Bihar, and is operated by the Indian Air Force at present. It is spread over a 200-acre area of the city. It was built exclusively for the use of Maharajah of Darbhanga's aeroplanes. Spirit Air started operations from Darbhanga in 2009, but was forced to withdraw due to its smaller strip. Spirit Air has again started its service from Darbhanga Airport.

Darbhanga Aviations was a private Indian airline started in 1950 by Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga. It had three aircraft and became defunct by 1962.

All India Radio has a 20 kW medium-wave radio station in Darbhanga which transmits various programs of mass interest and cover a part of Noth Bihar and terai of Nepal. Another DAS transmitter of 20 kW MW is expected to start soon who will replace existing analog transmitter in future. Doordarshan has one DD National and one DD News LPT relay transmitters. Darbhanga still don't have FM transmitter yet.

Further explaining the cooperation with L.N. Mithila University, Dr. Trivedi assured the acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Ram Chandra Thakur, the Registrar Dr. Ajit Kumar Singh, the PIO, the Convenor of the Book Release Function Dr. N.K. Agrawal, Dr. Vinod Kumar Chaudhary, Head, Maharajadhiraj Kameshwar Singh Chair on Sociology and several Heads of Departments and the Deans of Faculties that the proposal for the establishment of the Centre for Nano Science and Technology will be endorsed by the CIU and that the Encyclopaedia of Nano Science and Technology will be presented to LNMU Library very soon in the presence of the Vice Chancellor Prof. Saket Kushwaha who was away to USA for signing MoU and technical cooperation with US based universities and other establishments.

Others who presented their views on the occasion of the Book Release Function were Prof. Gopal Ji Trivedi, Former Vice Chancellor, Rajendra Agricultural University and others from LNMU including Dr. Ajit Kumar Singh, Dr. Vinod Kumar Chaudhary, Dr. Vaidya Nath Chaudhary, Dr. Chandra Bhan Prasad Singh, Dr. Surendra Kumar Suman, Dr. Muneshwar Yadav, Dr. Ram Kumar Jha, Dr. Anil Kumar Jha, Dr. Utkarsh Sharma and Dr. Vinay Kumar Chaudhary.  

All the invitees specially the Chief Guest and the Special Guest offered their tributes to the great poet and writer Shri Nagarjun on the occasion of his death anniversary by offering flowers on his statue kept and installed in the university campus at Darbhanga. 

Muzaffarpur dated 4^th November 2016 the Book titled "Muzaffarpur : Past, Present and Future" compiled by the renowned institution builder, management thinker, philosopher and technocrat turned environmentalist Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, President, CIU was jointly released by the MLA of Muzaffarpur Shri Suresh Kumar Sharma and the MLA of Vaishali Shri Raj Kishore Singh in the august presence of the renowned agricultural scientist Prof. Gopalji Trivedi and the renowned linguist Prof. Damodar Thakur.

The MLA of Muzaffarpur Shri Suresh Kumar Sharma receiving the first copy of the Book
"Muzaffarpur : Past, Present and Future" from the Author Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi in the
presence of the MLA of Vaishali Shri Raj Kishore Singh at 3 pm on 4^th November 2016
 in the Amrapali Auditorium, Club Road, Muzaffarpur.

In their inaugural address both the MLAs congratulated and thanked Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi for his outstanding contribution towards this unique compilation for highlighting the ancient Bajji culture of this region besides explaining the need for conducting integrated developmental programmes in all the 1800+ villages of Muzaffarpur District. The MLA of Muzaffarpur, Shri Suresh Kumar Sharma was also presented with the first copy of both English and Hindi editions of the Book on Muzaffarpur.

The MLA of Vaishali Shri Raj Kishor Singh while thanking Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi for bringing out this unique Book also advised him for bringing out another Book on Vaishali for which Dr. Trivedi happilly agreed and assured the MLA that the bilingual Book on Vaishali will be brought out soon and that the same will be released at Vaishali in the second week of February 2017.

The Book launching function for the Book titled "Muzaffarpur : Past, Present and Future"
was organised by the Central for Social Learning at Muzaffarpur on 4^th November 2016.
In the Inaugural Session, those sitting on the dais are Dr. P R Trivedi, Dr. Gopalji Trivedi and
the MLA of Vaishali Shri Raj Kishore Singh at the Club Road, Amrapali Auditorium.

The Former Vice Chancellor of Rajendra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Prof. Gopalji Trivedi presented the keynote address and hoped that Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi will prepare a master plan for Muzaffarpur for solving all problems including water, sanitation, hygiene, sewage, sewerage, traffic congestion, pollution, law and order besides lack of facilities in the area of skill based training.

The renowned Professor of English and the reputed linguist Prof. Damodar Thakur hoped that Dr. Trivedi will bring out more publications related to Muzaffarpur and the Tirhut Division with a view to highlighting the ancient cultural heritage of this area besides proposing a neological and a neocratic approach to local governance.

Discussing the features of this Book Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi said that Muzaffarpur is the second most popular and populous city after Patna in Bihar. Muzaffarpur, famous for Shahi lychees, is the largest city of northern Bihar. It is situated on the banks of the perennial Burhi Gandak River, which flows from the Someshwar Hills of Himalayas. Muzaffarpur is one of the many gateways to Nepal. Clothes and food-grains are traded between Nepal and Muzaffarpur.

CIU President Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, Vaishali MLA Shri Raj Kishore Singh and
Renowned Agricultural Scientist Prof. Gopalji Trivedi during the release function.

Muzaffarpur is located at 26^o07′N 85^o24′E. The city lies in a highly active seismic zone of India. In the disastrous earthquake on 15 January 1934, much of the town suffered severe damage and many lives were lost. It has an average elevation of 47 meters (154 feet). This saucer shaped, low-centered town lies on the great Indo-Gangetic plains of Bihar, over Himalayan silt and sand brought by the glacier-fed and rain-fed meandering rivers of the Himalayas. The soil of the town is highly fertile, well drained and sandy, white coloured and very soft. The landscape is green all year round. The town is surrounded by the flood plain dotted with ponds and oxbow lakes, with sparkling sandy river banks and clean air and water. Numerous private fruit orchards and idyllic rivers are also nearby. The city has a water-table just 20 ft. below ground level.

Muzaffarpur now is a rapidly growing city. The unplanned growth in the last decade has been phenomenal. Thousands of villagers migrated to this City from nearby villages in the rapid urbanisation of post-independence India, and this has created serious infrastructure problem. The drainage system and garbage disposal system is disorderly and practically non-existent.

The downtown areas of Muzaffarpur are Tilak Maidan Road, Kalyani and Saraiyaganj and Motijheel. These areas are densely populated with small shops as well as branded shops selling a plethora of goods and services. Motijheel is the main shopping area.

Dr. Gopalji Trivedi, Prof. Damodar Thakur, Dr. Utkarsh Sharma and Shri Janardan Sharma
during the Book Release Function at Muzaffarpur on 4^th November 2016.

Chakkar Maidan has a small encampment of members of the Territorial Army non-departmental unit 151 Inf Bn (TA) JAT.

Muzaffarpur City has old temples like Baba Garib Nath (Shiva Temple) and Devi Mandir Durga, Chaturbhuj-sthan,which has also a red light area, Raj Rajeswar Devi Kali (Durga)build by Darbhanga Maharaj and Kalibari, the Kali temple. There are also Hazrat Bilal Mosque Brahampura Data Kammal Shah Majaar Purani Bazaar, Kothiya Shareef Kanti Several large and small places of worship.

Muzaffarpur City was established by and named after an Afghan Md. Muzaffar Khan, an Amil (Revenue Officer). The District is bounded by the East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Vaishali, Saran, Darbhanga and Samastipur Districts. It has won international encomiums for its delicious Shahi (Royal) and China Lychee species.

While the history of this City is not available fully but that of the recorded history of the District dates back to the rise of the Vrijjan Republic, when the center of political power shifted from Mithila to Vaishali. The Vrijjan Republic was a confederation of eight clans of which the Licchavis were the most powerful and influential. Even the powerful kingdom of Magadh had to conclude matrimonial alliances in 519 B.C. with the neighbouring estates of the Licchavis. Ajatshatru invaded Vaishali and extended his sway over Tirhut. It was at this time that Pataliputra (the modern Patna) was founded at the village Patali on the banks of the sacred Ganges river, and Ajatshatru built an invincible fortress to keep vigil over the Licchavis on the other side of the river. Ambarati, 40 km from Muzaffarpur is believed to be the village home of Amrapali, the famous Royal court dancer of Vaishali.

Prof.  Gopalji Trivedi, Prof. Damodar Thakur, Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi with the Director
of Centre for Social Learning Shri Rajiv Ranjan Kumar during the lighting of lamp ceremony.

From the visit of the Hieuen Tsang until the rise of the Pala dynasty, Muzaffarpur was under the control of Maharaja Harsha Vardhan, a powerful sovereign of North India. After 647 A.D. the District passed to the local chiefs. In the 8th century A.D. the Pala kings gained control over Tirhut and kept it until 1019 A.D.The sixty-sixth descendents of the Palas are the Pauls in Muzaffarpur. Samiran Kumar Paul, the eminent scholar, teacher and Poet is one of them. Chedi kings of Central India also exercised their influence over Tirhut until they were replaced by the rulers of the Sena dynasty towards the close of the 11th century.

Sometime between 1211 and 1226, Ghais-u-ddin Iwaz, the ruler of Bengal, became the first Muslim invader of Tirhut. However, he could not succeed in conquering the kingdom, merely extorting tributes. It was in 1323 that Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq established his control over the District.

The traditional Indian Oil Lamp being lit jointly by the Chief Guests Shri Suresh Kumar Sharma,
MLA of Muzaffarpur, Shri Raj Kishore Singh, MLA of Vaishali in the presence of
CIU President Dr. P R Trivedi, CSL Director, Shri Rajiv Ranjan Kumar and the Director of
K.C. Mount Fort School Shri Rajnee Ranjan Trivedi.

The history of Muzaffarpur would be incomplete without a reference to the Simraon dynasty (in the north-east part of Champaran) and its founder, Nanyupa Deva, who extended his power over the whole of Mithila and Nepal. During the regime of Harasimha Deva, the last king of the dynasty, Tughlaq Shah invaded Tirhut in 1323 and gained control over the territory. Tughlaq Shah handed over the management of Tirhut to Kameshwar Thakur. Thus, the sovereign power of Tirhut passed from the Hindu chiefs to the Muslims.

Towards the close of the 14th century the whole of North Bihar, including Tirhut, passed to the kings of Jaunpur and remained under their control for nearly a century, until Sikandar Lodi of Delhi defeated the king of Jaunpur. Meanwhile, Hussain Shah, the Nawab of Bengal, had become so powerful that he exercised his control over large tracts including Tirhut. The emperor of Delhi advanced against Hussain Shah in 1499 and got control over Tirhut after defeating its Raja. The power of the Nawabs of Bengal began to wane and, with the decline and fall of Mahood Shah, north Bihar formed a part of the mighty Mughal Empire. Though Muzaffarpur with the entire north Bihar had been annexed, the petty chieftains continued to exercise effective control over this area until the days of Daud Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. Daud Khan had his stronghold at Patna and Hajipur, and after his fall, a separate Subah of Bihar was constituted under the Mughal dynasty, with Tirhut forming a part of it.

The victory of East India Company in 1764 at the battle of Buxar gave them control over the whole of Bihar and they succeeded in subduing the entire District.The British India Association gives glimpses of part of the British period. The success of the insurgency in Delhi in 1857 caused grave concern to the English inhabitants in this District and revolutionary fervor began to permeate the entire District. Muzaffarpur played its role and was the site of the famous bombing case of 1908. The young Bengali revolutionary, Khudiram Bose, a boy of barely 18 years, was hanged for throwing the bomb at the carriage of Pringle Kennedy, who was mistaken for Kingsford, the District Judge of Muzaffarpur. After independence, a memorial to this young revolutionary patriot was constructed at Muzaffarpur, which still stands. The political awakening in the country after the First World War stimulated nationalist movement in Muzaffarpur District as well. The visit of Mahatma Gandhi first time in Bihar to the house of Pt. Ambika Datta Sharma in village Gyanpur, now Bhojpur on the Ninth April 1917 when Pandit Sharma along with some other persons lead the Mahatma to Acharya J.B. Kriplani, professor of GBB College, Muzaffarpur. This was the first visit of Mahatma MK Gandhi in Muzaffarpur on the 10th. April 1917; next he visited Muzaffarpur in December 1920 and again in January 1927 had tremendous political effect in arousing the latent feelings of the people and the District continued to play a prominent role in the country's struggle for freedom.

Muzaffarpur played a very significant role in the history of North-Eastern India. The peculiarity of Muzaffarpur in Indian civilisation arises out of its position on the frontier line between two most vibrant spiritual influences. To this day, it is a meeting place of Hindu and Islamic culture and thoughts.

All sorts of modified institutions, representing mutual assimilation, rise along this border line. It has undoubtedly been this highly diversified element within her boundaries that has so often made Muzaffarpur the birthplace of geniuses.

In January 1934, a colossal 8.1 magnitude earthquake struck the area, completely demolishing part of the city. The region was shaken strongly again in the 1988 Bihar earthquake.

The summer, between April and June, is extremely hot and humid (28/40^oC,90% Max.) and winter is pleasantly cool, around 06/20^oC. The air pollution is lower than in other areas, so the air is comparatively clean. The best months to visit are October through March. It is best to avoid visits in the summer and the monsoon season (Mid June to September) due to the heat, and heavy rains in the District.

Muzaffarpur is the largest commercial tax payer in Bihar after Patna.It is famous for exporting lychee. Long ago, the area was famous for hand-woven textiles, sugar cane, and other products. The District has a few sugar mills, which are now old and dilapidated. It is the commercial hub of North Bihar and the wholesale market of Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad. Textile mills in the famous Marwari community dominate Suta Patti. The commercial hub of the City is Motijheel, Kalyani Chowk, Purani Bazaar, SarriyaGanj, Jawaharlal Road, Harisabha Chowk, Bela Industrial Area, Club Road, Islampur, Shafi Daudi Market, Andi Gola, Chata Bazar, Company Bagh, Tilak Maidan Road, Juran Chapra, Bank Road, Mithanpura, Aam Gola & Many more.

The land use around Muzaffarpur is mainly agricultural and horticultural. While litchee and mangoes are abundantly grown, principal crops are rice, wheat, pulses, jute, maize and oil seeds. Vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, onion, tomato, radish, carrot, beetroot, among others, are also grown. Sugar cane, potato and barley are some of the non-cereal crops grown.

The main livestock of the town are cattle, buffalo, goats, and poultry.

Muzaffarpur City has several industries, big and small. The railway wagon industry is one of the City landmarks. Muzaffarpur is an important centre for the wholesale cloth trade.

Bihar has emerged as brewery hub with major domestic and foreign firms setting up production units in the State. Vijay Mallya's group, United Breweries Group, is setting up a production unit to make litchi-flavoured wine, in Muzaffarpur in 2012. The company has leased litchi gardens. Real estate is also a part of muzaffarpurs economy.As muzaffarpur is the most responding and preferred area after patna.

The litchi crop, which is available from May to June, is mainly cultivated in the Districts of Muzaffarpur and surrounding Districts, in an area of about 25,800 hectare producing about 300,000 tonnes every year. Lychee is exported to big cities like Bombay, Kolkata and to other countries. India's share in the world litchi market amounts to less than 1%. The names of the litchi produced in Muzaffarpur are Shahi and China. The fruits are known for excellent aroma and quality.

As of the 2011 India census, Muzaffarpur had a population of 4,22,670. Males constituted 52.96%(218,509) of the population and females 47.04%(1,90,215). Muzaffarpur had a literacy rate of 85.07%. Male literacy was 88.77%, and female literacy was 80.91%. Seventeen percent of the population was under 6 years of age. Being as the hub of Bajjikanchal (Western Mithila), Vajjika is spoken by the natives of the District. However, Hindi is the language used for official documentation. Urdu is the second official language. It is dialect of Maithili and belongs to western part of Mithila region.

There is no specific, authentic and purely Muzaffarpur cuisine as such most of the cuisine can at best be termed as Bihari Cuisine The basic ingredients are rice, wheat flour, lentils(green and yellow), root and leafy vegetables, Indian spices, ground nut oil, Mustard seed oil, ghee, sugar and jaggery, among others. The traditional breakfast includes [( "Chura-Dahi and Chini", "Flattened Rice, Curd and Sugar")] is one of the most popular break fast combination of Bajjika area equally popular both among urban and rural population being most hygienic and ready made, jalebi, poori, Samosa or potato Curry served hot with any of a variety of Chutney and finished with Milk Tea. Indian-Chinese dishes such as noodles, Tandoori dishes and South Indian like Dosa, Idaly dishes are also eaten. Some of the ethnic cuisine and special dishes like Thekua, Purukia, Tilkut, Tarua, Dhaknesar, etc. are cooked during festivals, religious functions and marriages. In modern Muzaffarpur, ethnic cuisines find place with the oily, hot and spicy foods of the Pan-Indian type.

Toddy (Taari) is a fermented juice of the Palm tree which has about 5%–8% alcohol and is very popular as "Poor Man's Beer" in Muzaffarpur. A variety of spicy dry, baked, fried, deep fried or curried Mutton, chicken, fish and shellfish are prepared and eaten. Mughalai and a few Continental dishes, such as Macaroni or Spaghetti, duly Indianised, are home cooked and relished by some people. Pre- and post-dinner Betel nut (Paan) chewing is very popular, along with chewing tobacco.

Muzaffarpur Railway Station is a major railway junction, with two suburban stations, Ram Dayalu Nagar and Narayanpur Anant (Sherpur). It is served by over 43 pairs of trains each day and virtually all major Indian cities and towns are connected by daily or weekly trains. Within Bihar, it is well connected to cities like Bagaha, Narkatiaganj, Bettiah, Raxaul, Motihari, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, Jaynagar, Samastipur, Hajipur, Chhapra, Siwan, Saharsa, Barauni, Begusarai, Khagaria, Naugachia, Katihar, Kishanganj, Patna, Bhagalpur and Munger. It is also very well connected to most major railway junctions in neighboring Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

To Delhi there are 69 weekly connections, and to Kolkata 62. There are also daily (or multiple daily) trains to Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Ambala, Agra, Kanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Katni, Satna, Bikaner, Jaipur, Mumbai, Gondia, Raipur, Ranchi, Dhanbad, Tatanagar, Asansol, Durgapur, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, Cooch Behar, Guwahati, Tinsukia, Dimapur and many other stations.

Direct multiple weekly or weekly trains are available for Jammu, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Ajmer, Udaipur, Bhopal, Pune, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Valsad, Porbandar, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Vishakapatnam, Bangalore, Mysore, Palakkad, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Erode, Chennai and many other stations. Local and inter-state buses start from Imli Chatti and Bairiya Bus Station. The airport, Muzaffarpur Airport, had regular flights to some cities but does not operate any commercial flights now. National Highway 57 comes via Gorakhpur, Motihari and crosses Muzaffarpur and National Highway 57 via Purana Staff Line Hotel, Etwarpur Taaj goes to Darbhanga, Purnia. The east-west corridor crosses Muzaffarpur thus connecting it to all the major towns and cities in India. The National Highway 77 starting from Hajipur passes through Muzaffarpur and connects Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi. Recently, the National Highway 102 has been constructed which connects Muzaffarpur to Chhapra. The National Highway 28 connects Muzaffarpur to Barauni. All 6 National Highways having junction here. Currently, a Ring Road is under construction all around Muzaffarpur and a new bridge over Burhi Gandak river. Bus, Taxi, Rickshaw, Auto Rickshaws, etc. are used for local transportation.

Muzaffarpur has an All India Radio Rely station known as Akashvani Muzaffarpur. It broadcasts on FM frequencies.

Muzaffarpur is the second leading centre of education in Bihar after Patna. It has a medical and an engineering college, and has one of the oldest universities of Bihar (Bihar University, now known as B. R. Ambedkar Bihar University). The first president of the Indian Republic, Dr Rajendra Prasad was a teacher in the Langat Singh College, Muzaffarpur.Initially headquarters of Bihar University was at Patna.People of Muzaffarpur demanded to shift its HQ to Muzaffarpur.A steering committee was formed to achieve this goal with Dr.Maghfoor Ahmad Ajaz as convenor and Acharya J.B.Kripalani,Ashok Mehta, Mahamaya Pd.Mahesh Pd.Sinha and others as members. Peoples movement succeeded and UGC directed Bihar Govt. to shift HQ of BU to MUzaffarpur

Muzaffarpur town has a small museum namely Ram Chandra Sahi Museum.

The Book Release Function was attended by more than 100 intellectuals from Muzaffarpur and the adjoining areas. At the outset Shri Rajiv Ranjan Kumar, Director, CSL welcome the Guests and at the end the Director of NICER Dr. Utkarsh Sharma proposed a hearty vote of thanks.