Events of ADRI (Patna - Ranchi)
Patna, 7 December. Shree KNP Verma, Hon'ble Education Minister, Bihar inaugurated the Workshop on Multidisciplinary Approach to Indian History : Scientific Validation of Narratives on Indian History today at the Bihar State Higher Education Council (BSHEC) Seminar Hall. This workshop was organized by a Texas-based think tank Indian History Awareness and Research (IHAR) and Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) in collaboration with BSHEC.
In his inaugural address the Minister said that the youth of Bihar should be properly made familiar with the state’s history so that they can contribute properly to its development. He said “the concept of ‘university’ was uniquely prevalent in Bihar and students used to flock from all over the world to study here. Bihar contributed immensely to the development of human capability. Aryabhatta gave the concept of ‘Zero’ from here.” He added: “in his honour our government has established Aryabhatta Knowledge University, and also established Chanakya National Law University.”
Dr. Raj Vedam, Director IHAR, elaborated on the motivation for the workshop, saying we have failed our youth in giving them a sense of identity but nevertheless they have a sense of underlying unity. He refuted the claim that the Aryans invaded India from the North-West by presenting genetic evidence. According to modern research, the ancestors of all non-African people migrated from Africa about 75 thousand years ago. A lot of ancient astronomical discoveries were made in India but are wrongly attributed to other regions of the world.
In his special address, Dr. Subrato Gangopadhyay, President IHAR, asked for everyone to work for the goal of making Bihar the Vishwa Guru once again. His institution is striving to get the spirit of Indian history to every nook and corner of the world. Professor Prabhat P Ghosh, Director ADRI, regretted the fact that the explosion of knowledge of History is not being incorporated into the History curriculum of our schools.
Some 65 participants from schools, including DPS Patna and Tribhuvan School, and universities and colleges, including Magadh and Patna, attended the day-long workshop.
Earlier, Professor Kameshwar Jha, Vice-Chairman Bihar State Higher Education Council (BSHEC), welcomed the guests and Dr. Rekha Kumari of BSHEC proposed the vote of thanks.