If someone ever felt short of ideas and inspiration, one just needs to looks at the fabulous innovations which have taken place in Bihar over the last few years. Always lambasted for it’s under utilization of its natural resources, recent idea rich innovations have given momentum to grass root innovations.
This has been the most encouraging development; some of these innovations are just example of how people take upon themselves the task of development wherever state fails to reaches out. In many case state has partnered in fostering and shaping these initiatives.
Recently concluded Manthan Awards had some interesting nominations and of the many Bihar-based e-governance projects submitted as nominees this year, the Manthan jury picked Jaankari.
In this project the Bihar government provides a dedicated phone number for any information a Bihari would like to seek under Right to Information (RTI) Act. Basically, a simple service via telephone for public good. Jaankari works wonders for all without any literacy or technology barriers. It assists citizens in getting their RTI requests recorded and typed out by a Jaankari centre assistant and an email is sent to them and the officer concerned for record and action. Queries are responded to within 35 days.
Another social innovation project which has received global recognition has been the “Samman” Cycle Rickshaw project. US Ambassador during his visit to Bihar extended invite to Irfan Alam from President Barack Obama for his work with rickshaw-pullers. Washington will be hosting a conference to recognize the work of social entrepreneurs.
Bihar Government has set up Bihar Foundation to connect and leverage the large network of Nonresident Biharis who are willing to contribute towards development of Bihar.
The main objectives of Bihar Foundation is :
• To provide a forum for and to facilitate communication and interaction between Non-Resident Biharis (NRB’s) and the state of Bihar.
• To facilitate the participation of Bihari diaspora and other Indians in the development of the state of Bihar by involving them in the process of state building and by leveraging their strengths and resources in the fields of Agriculture and allied sectors, Agro based industries, Industries, Tourism, Education, Power, Social welfare, Medical and Healthcare sectors, Infrastructure and other areas of development.
• To unite and form Self Help Groups / local chapters of NRB’s in areas which have substantial Bihari migrant population and to aid them in developing the state of Bihar through strategic interventions in various fields.
• To take steps for improving the vocational training and skill capacity of migrant Bihari labour and to improve their wages and conditions of work.
• To set up libraries, reference and information centres and systems, promotion centres and bodies, demonstration and common service centres relevant to the objectives of the Foundation.
• To provide inputs and suggestions to the GoB regarding policies and schemes designed for the development of the state and to create such funds and endowments as necessary for their implementation.
The foundation has initiated various chapters in different parts of India and abroad. It’s a great initiative for Non resident Bihari people to come together and join the forum and work together to promote investment and collaborate with state for various initiatives.
The local chapters volunteers are working to:
• promote public awareness of the Bihar Foundation
• serve as a local resource in Foundation activities
• raise funds in their community
If you love Bihar and wish to contribute in its development, please volunteer at your nearest chapter or contact us.
The foundation is initiating its Bangalore chapter and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi will inaugurate the Bangalore Chapter .The chapter headed by Amar Pandey, IG (internal security) will mostly consist of software professionals in the city.
The chapter will form a working group for suggesting ways to promote investments into the IT sector in Bihar as the economy requires huge funds to sustain its high growth rate.Modi and CEO of Bihar Foundation Vivek Kumar Singh will meet Kris Gopalakrishnan, one of the seven founders of IT giant Infosys Technologies.
Bihar Foundation has already opened local chapters in Chennai and Bombay and preparing to launch its Delhi chapter in February.
Roads “as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks” was a promise that Lalu Yadav had once given to the people of Bihar. Ironically, it is his rival Nitish
Kumar who seems to be delivering on that front. Despite three years of floods followed by a year of drought, ‘backward and benighted’ Bihar reports a miraculous figure: 11% GDP growth, second only to Gujarat. The state’s economy has never grown so fast so consistently as it has since 2004-2005. A few pointers on what’s going right in Bihar:
* Getting anywhere in Bihar has always been an exercise in endurance. But that’s changing. More than 6,800 km of roads have been relaid and 1,600 bridges and culverts constructed in the last four years. Journey time in India’s 12th largest state, sprawling over 94,163 sq km, has been cut by half today in many places. Now, most of the state’s 38 districts — from northernmost West Champaran to Kaimur on the western end — are a drive of six hours or less from Patna.
* Automobile sales in the state grew 45% in 2009, at a time when sales had dipped 20-25% in several other states during the economic slowdown. Is this buying spree an indication that a section of Biharis have more money to splurge than they did earlier? “A few people had money earlier too, but they didn’t flaunt it for fear of attracting extortionists and kidnappers,” says Ranjit Singh, director of a high-end Patna hotel. That fear may have evaporated now.
* Only 317 kidnappings for ransom were reported during the last four years as against 1,393 during the previous four. The kidnapping industry has clearly fallen on hard times. One indication of this is that doctors no longer refuse to go to patients’ homes on emergency calls. “Today you can see boards at clinics saying we go on calls,” says Dr Amulya Kumar Singh, who runs a nursing home in Patna.
* Most of Bihar’s infamous dons are behind bars. That includes Mohd Shahabuddin, the former RJD MP who had once gone live on TV, daring the state police chief to arrest him. Things are a little different now. A ruling JD(U) MLA, Sunil Pandey, attempted an encore of sorts in early 2006 when he brandished a revolver and talked murder on TV. But Pandey found himself behind bars within no time. Speedy trials have ensured a total of 38,824 convictions between 2006 and September 2009.The convicts included dons and their henchmen.
* Gun-toting strongmen are no longer a common sight on the streets of Bihar. Policemen patrol them now. And places like Siwan, where Shahabuddin once held sway, do not get deserted after dusk.
This improvement has shown results. Malls, shops and private educational institutions are coming up. So are mobile service providers and banking firms. It’s boom time for real estate with apartment buildings coming up all around. “That’s because even non-Biharis for a change want to have a foot in Bihar which has become a better place to live in,” says economist Shaibal Gupta of the Asian Development Research Institute. Adds Faizal Alam of Kalyanpur Cements, “Cement inflow to the state went up 18% to 51 lakh tonnes in 2008-09.” That’s an indicator of the construction boom.
Ironically, this economic growth has happened without any worthwhile contribution from the manufacturing sector. The state’s economy is growing because of a boom in agriculture and services sectors. “It’s government-induced growth,” admits Bihar Industries Association (BIA) president S P Sinha. According to former BIA president K P S Keshri, private investments in the manufacturing sector have been as little as Rs 1,500 crore during the last four years.
Many attribute the growth to the fact that the flow of Central funds to states has increased manifold in recent years. In the case of Bihar, it went up from Rs 37,341 crore during the five-year period 2000-2005 to Rs 55,459 crore during the next three years. But equally importantly, the funds are now getting better utilized than during the Lalu-Rabri regime when large chunks remained unspent. Also, adds Gupta, the state made concerted efforts to mobilise internal resources with its own revenue collection going up from Rs 2,919 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 5,256 crore in 2008-09.
The flip side is that much of this growth does not get reflected in social indicators which remain abysmal. But, as Gupta says, it would be unrealistic for anyone to “expect the moon” at this stage. “Right now the fundamentals are getting corrected and therefore you can find mostly infrastructural indicators of growth; one will have to wait for social indicators to become visible,” he says.
While contractors and realtors stand to gain, more than half the state’s 8.2 crore people — 1.25 crore families — still live below the poverty line. For these families to prosper, Bihar desperately needs huge investments and more growth. The State Investment Promotion Board, formed by the Nitish government, has received proposals worth Rs 96,000 crore. But most of them, especially the major ones, remain on paper as Central rules prove a stumbling block. For instance, thermal power plants cannot come up in Bihar because the Centre has so far refused to provide coal linkages to ensure regular supplies to any such new plant.
Also, Bihar has a lot of catching up to do with the rest of India. “There cannot be any comparison between Gujarat and Bihar, both of which reportedly grew by over 11%; since our base is low, even a small investment results in impressive growth in percentage,” Gupta points out. State officials admit that crucial sectors like health are still sick with meagre resources in comparison to other states.
From its bleak past, Bihar may be finally moving towards a brighter future, but the common Bihari is not patting himself just yet. Maybe he is still waiting for this high growth to translate into better food on his table and more money in his pocket.
For many, the news of Bihar’s remarkable turnaround growth of 11.3%, second highest in the country has come as a big surprise. Surprising as it may sound, it was expected growth for those who have been following the plethora of slow but steady fundamental changes which Bihar economy has been undergoing over the past few years. Undoubtedly, the leadership of the state deserves all the due credit and the much maligned bureaucracy also needs to be appreciated for the remarkable turnaround.
The latest CSO data shows that in the five-year period between 2004-05 and 2008-09, Bihar's GDP has grown by a stunning 11.03%.In this period, Bihar - traditionally a laggard state that actually saw a 5.15% negative growth in 2003-04 - is the second fastest growing state, just a shade behind Gujarat's well-publicized growth of 11.05%. Last 3 years the growth has been at around 17-18%.
In my view, this is just tipping point of the much awaited change and thankfully the state didn’t miss its last chance to make up for the colossal losses of the past. Bihar’s GDP in real numbers is still one of the lowest in the country and there is much effort needed to give the state its due which has been denied so far. The growth has been primarily fuelled by reinstating basic governance model in place and considerable effort of the current administration has been towards doing damage control of the past. The state would have done much better if it hadn’t been for the natural calamities and half hearted support from the central govt for few of its critical projects.
India Today reported on the some of the highs of the year for Bihar.
· Bihar initiative of reserving 50 % seats for women in Panchayat Raj Institutions and local bodies was adopted by the country.
· A large number of companies and private institutions reached Bihar.
· Bihar registered a quantum leap in tourism sector. Bihar Administrative Reforms Mission Society Constituted.
· Bihar's percentage per capita growth of 12.07 per cent is not much behind the all India per capita growth rate of 12.73 per cent.
· According to Bihar economic survey for 2008-09, State has registered impressive growth trends in three sectors in the state - construction (21.53%), communications (16.01%) and trade, hotels and restaurants (12.03%).
· Among all States and union territories, Bihar with a crime rate of 118 stood at 28th position in the country.
· In the education sector Bihar remained a viable centre for quality learning, as the already functional branches of Indian Institute of Technology, Chanakya Law University and Chandragupta Institute of Management-which were established during the earlier years- continued to draw top talents.
· Besides, a panel led by Nobel laureate Amartya Sena is also in the process of setting up an international university at Nalanda. Process is underway to accord the status of central university to Rajendra Agriculture University.
A lone tree still stands amidst stark sand filled surroundings which were once lush green farmland. This is one of the few landmarks that survived the deluge.
Kosi revisited: Gwalpada is a small town 15 km's south from Madhepura. This region was ravaged by a fierce flood in 2008 & the inhabitants of this region are still facing the hardships caused by the flood and its aftermath. Worst affected are those who live in the interior areas & do not have good connectivity with bigger towns of this area.
Bhanwar tola or Bhanwar pokhar is such a village. Located 15 km inside of the Gwalpada town, it is still cut out from the main road as bridges on either side of approach road had been washed away in floods & not yet been repaired.
We visited this area earlier this week & distributed Blankets & warm clothes to these people who have been living on the embankment for a long time now. The ward member of this area had been in regular touch with us after the floods & as promised to him earlier this year, we distributed the blankets there as soon as we received them.
Staying overnight at Madhepura, we left for Gwalpada early morning, around 3.00Am. We had to reach them before daybreak to avoid being stopped at other villages in the route as we were carrying blankets. We drove in almost total darkness because of heavy fog with visibility down to 5 meters at times on the broken embankment approach road. It was a difficult ride, but we managed to reach Bhanwar tola before daybreak
We reached the Bhanwartola around 5am & were received by the village ward member who then guided us to this settlement.
The only source of warmth for these people are blankets & small bonfire from dry vegetation. They don't have permanent shelter & live under rough thatched shelters & plastic sheet covers.
Its kind of difficult when all the people around coverage on the vehicle to get blankets, but after the initial rush things settle down and distribution is done according to the list of beneficiaries handed over to us by the ward member.
It was heartening to see that the blankets & warm clothes for women & children which we had distributed last year had given them some warmth. Although many of these clothes were in tatters, it had helped them see through last winter. In fact the only warm clothes they have were the ones given by us last year. No one from any other relief agency have been here.
It gives a bit of satisfaction to see & hear that our small but continued effort has helped these very poor people, isolated deep inside the Kosi devastation area
Its the children out here who break your heart. Barefoot, with just a pair of shorts or shirt, they prance around excited,inquisitive and smiling, always. Many of them have suffered a lot, infected with diereses, weak from malnutrition & confused about their future. Despite all this, their cute little faces beam up every time you talk to them. Its amazing, how tough they have become in at small age. Its humbling.
Economic and tax reforms have helped Bihar in improving its overall investment and financial health of the state. This has also shaped financial discipline and administrative rehaul leading to better governance. Vital indicators in the state are indicative of this positive development. Another new reform is the new model for administering VAT, which would seek to provide a truly simple regime for small taxpayers and a complete e-governance solution for medium and large taxpayers.
The Investment Climate Department of the World Bank has been working with the Bihar government on a tax simplification project for the past year. The purpose is to identify changes needed in tax laws, procedures, rules, forms and systems in the commercial tax department, to reduce compliance burdens for taxpayers and increase efficiencies in tax administration. The Bihar model seeks to further incentivize small, informal, non-taxpaying businesses to register for tax and join the economic mainstream by also providing help with other critical small business needs: access to finance, insurance and market information.
The proposal is to set up Laghu Kardata Seva Kendras that would, in addition to providing tax services to small taxpayers, facilitate loans from banks and financial institutions for the businesses that register for tax. The Kendras will also help small businesses get in touch with insurance providers and avail insurance services for their businesses. It is also envisaged that other services, such as provision of market information, would also be provided by these Kendras. It is proposed that these centres be set up as a public-private partnership, with a private or non-government organisation working with the commercial tax department to establish the Kendras.
Bihar model for VAT administration can be a very useful instrument of industrial and economic growth and generation of employment. Dr Asim Dasgupta is believed to have observed that it is an interesting proposal that could be followed by other states if it succeeds in Bihar. So, Bihar is pioneering an innovative approach in tax administration that other states could one day emulate. A truly wonderful example of how dynamic political leadership can bring moribund bureaucracies to life.
Given below in brief are the flood relief work undertaken near Bharathua, in Aurai block , Muzaffarpur.
1. Muzaffarpur
Location - Bharathua embankment, 40 Km from Muzaffarpur on Sitamadhi highway.
Panchayat: Benipur
Relief for people living on Bagmati embankment near villages Bharathua, Benipur & Shankarpur
This embankment was breached earlier this month & thousands of people took refuge here. They are still living on the embankment in pathetic conditions with polythene sheets as their only protection against nature.
Sushma Ji of Tejasaswi Sewa Sansthan, Sonepur has been working with these people shortly after the inundation.
Tejasawi Sewa Sansthan (TSS) had written to Ashok requesting help & we were able to communicate & coordinate help for the same earlier this week.
We had met Sushma Ji & members of TSS at their Sonepur office on 25th of this month & delivered the relief material listed below
Clothes : Children, women,men( used clothes) 12 cartons
Today early morning, we picked Shusma Ji & her colleague from Sonepur and reached the distribution site by 9 am. After walking for 3-4 KM , the materials were brought to the embankment. TSS had earlier made a list of beneficiaries from those taking shelter on the embankment & distribution was done accordingly. As we also had to go to Madhubani ( Benibad) for flood relief, we were carrying clothes & medicines for the same. However, as we saw that it would not be possible to cover even one section of beneficiaries with the material that TSS had, we gave them the clothes we were carrying for Benibad ( 5 cartons)
A lot more has to be done in that area & we will try our best to help them with what we have. Sushma Ji & her team are committed and hardworking,but they have limited resources& are maybe a bit new to field experience, specially in volatile surroundings & hence we are also helping her with distribution process. Today Srikant ji was with them & helped with what he could.
We will be working with TSS for Aurai region in the coming days.
All these villages fall under mahadalit (mushar samudaya)
The distribution of relief material in this area was carried out by "Gyan Sewa Bharati Sansthan"(GSBS) located at lehariasarai, Darbhanga
GSBS was in touch with Ashok and the request was forwarded to us during the first week of August.
Relief material in the form of clothes & medicines were sent to them on 11th Aug'2009 :The details being,
10 cartons of clothes for children, women & men ; each carton on an approximation contained 60-100 cloth sets.
One carton of Electral ORS sachets.
These materials were sent by Bus to Darbhanga with two member from our team, Srikant Ji & Rajesh.
They met Mr.S.N Jha, Mr Bhupendra, Mr Lalit Jha ( Father of S.N.Jha) and along with Srikant Ji went by train to Biraul & from Biraul took trekker, rikshaw & boat to reach the identified villages by evening.
They came back to Darbhanga by night & Mr. Jha assured of distribution of the materials to the above mentioned villages within the next few days.
Srikant Ji stayed overnight at Darbhanga & after meeting Mr Jha & receiving a list of medicines needed there came back to Patna.
I have been in touch with Mr Jha regarding the distribution & follow up of the condition there & had requested him to send the photographs of the distribution & details of the materials distributed by mail.
I have not received any mail from Mr Jha till now, & after inquiring about the same, I was assured that the mails & photographs have been sent to Ashok about a week back.
If Ashok has any such mail, I would request him to forward it to me.
We were supposed to leave today for a 4 day camp at Kusheshwarsthan but have postponed it as I have not had any communication with GSBS on the proposed day of distribution & neither have I received any mail from Mr. Jha or Ashok regarding the status & details of distribution of last consignment of clothes, although Srikant ji was informed about distribution of medicine & clothes by people of that area. I am waiting for the same.
Total expenses for this 3 day trip was around Rs.4000 which included bus fare- 240, luggage charges (bus) 800, transportation of luggage to & from bus stand ( Patna & Darbhanga) 600,porter charges 200, train ticket & expenses ( for members of GSBS & Srikant Ji) from Darbhanga to Biraul, rickshaw & trekker charges to & fro from the boat stand Rs 450, food expenses for the same number of persons for 3 time Rs 1200 & casg given to Rakesh for helping Srikant Ji carry 10 large cartons of clothes from patna- darbhanga -Rs 120.
All expenses in transportation & food etc for members of GSBS was borne by us. All the members of GSBS were helpful during the relief effort.
The medicines sent consisted mainly of Electral Sacahets ( 1000 pc large sachet ,Electral W.H.O formula based) & some B-complex capsule strips.
Mr jha has gone to his village, & I will be going to Kusheshwarsthan in a few days when Mr Jha will be back at his office Srikant Ji too has gone back today.
Our relief effort will continue as it has been for the last month or so.
Thanks for all your help.
Best regards, ~chandan
Note: [Ashok's Response]: Till now I have not received any update from Mr Jha. However here is a mail from Ms. Sushama Singh Ji. -------------
Respected Sir
We extend hearty thanks to you and your esteem team for providing support for the flood victims. Today we have distributed clothes and medicines among the flood victims in Orai block of Muzaffarpur district. Chandan Jee has sent one person to share his hands in distribution of clothes and medicines- His name is Mr. Shree Kant Singh from Patna.We request you to provide more clothes and medicines, so that we could able to cover more people. Some of the clothes were very worse, the people are not accepting it, so we request you to kindly give us good clothes. We need more medicines also.
Today we came back from madhubani where we were stuck up for 2 days.. the highway was under water, we wre in bagha block. The situation is so different..there are no indicators either in media or in peripheral neighborhood about whats happening inside the flood prone areas. Highway frm madhubani to benibad is flooded. we came back via madhepura.
Went to sonepur & gave the relief materials to Tehjashwai Sewa Sansthan. They will be going to aurai to distribute the materials on sun.
We will be picking them up from Sonepur tomorrow morning & going with them for distribution at Aurai.
Another accolade for Nitish Kumar for setting Bihar’s development wheels in motion on a fast track mode. Earlier also Nitish has been felicitated for the special effort of his government , he is now the Economic Times Business reformer of the year 2008-09.
The jury members were unanimous in their choice, giving Nitish performance higher rating than any other chief Minister.The national calamity in Bihar following the Kosi river changing its course highlights the state of affairs in Bihar, once rated as the best in administration. Since taking over as the state chief minister, Nitish Kumar has been trying to rebuild the system of governance that has virtually broken down. Bihar being primarily an agricultural state, Mr Kumar has been stressing on agro-based industries.
He believes this will help in keeping land acquisition to a minimum. The chief minister has gone to the extent of saying that he does not want SEZs in the state and his government has identified agro-processing, handloom and textiles, handicrafts, pharmaceuticals and leather as areas with comparative advantage.
The other areas where he has made a good start are employment generation and infrastructure development. He beat other states to put in place an employment-guarantee programme for agricultural labourers, which promises 80 days of work, in addition to the 100 days mandated by the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme.
Mr Kumar has also identified promotion of investment opportunities as equally important. With poor infrastructure and the absence of long-term policies hindering private investment, he has kickstarted a series of legislative and administrative reforms. A new industrial policy was put in place in 2006, as was the Bihar Infrastructure Development Enabling Act. A new policy for the sugar processing sector — an important crop in the state — was also brought in.
The new industrial policy makes land available at concessional rates and promises reimbursement of 80% of VAT deposited. And these initiatives seem to have paid off, with the government receiving proposals from a number of big sugar manufacturers. An industrial complex with sugar mills, ethanol and power generation plants has been cleared. Measures to revive the textile industry have also been pushed through. With the state relying almost entirely on the Centre for its power needs, Bihar plans to put up new thermal and hydel power plants.
Bill Gates, now better known for his philanthropic activities in health sector across the globe, has turned his attention on Bihar and its people hit by various diseases like polio and kala-azar. Gates, who had a discussion with chief minister Nitish Kumar through video-conferencing from Delhi, promised to constitute a task force and dispatch it to Bihar within a few days which will work out areas of co-operation through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) apart from polio and kala-azar.
After a 35-minute talk, an elated Nitish commented, “I spoke to Bill Gates the philanthropist and not the Bill Gates, the Microsoft giant.” Gates accepted invitation to visit Bihar sometimes during his next India visit. Gates had expressed desire to see Nitish, but the CM could not make it to Delhi in view of the ongoing assembly session. Gates commended Nitish for progress in health programmes and was impressed with significant increase in childhood immunisation which recorded progress from 11 per cent to 51 per cent in one decade. But his stress was on complete elimination of polio in view of fresh cases reported from north Bihar and western UP.
Nitish pointed out that as many as 13 cases of polio, eight of which reported from Kosi region, and said with concern that majority of the cases came from the areas where 10 rounds of polio vaccination had been done and one case where 20 rounds were undertaken. “I have a new appreciation for how challenging it is to vaccinate every child in the Kosi region,” Gates responded. “However, we cannot let the polio eradication effort stall just because it is difficult. We are ready to work with your government and all partners in the polio effort to stop transmission in Bihar,” said Gates.
A state-of-the-art floating restaurant in Patna will add to the attraction for tourists visiting Bihar.A 75-seater luxury yacht will take the visitors on a cruise through the Ganges River, as they dine in the fine surroundings of the restaurant. It will be operated by the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation on the Ganga river twice every day.The floating restaurant will be made available to the locals on rent, forprivate functions like marriages, parties and other social functions.With the launch of this restaurant, the government hopes toattract tourists to the state and provide a boost to the industry.
National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), the US space research and exploration agency, has declared after 20 years of research that this nondescript town, 25 km south of Patna, is the best location on earth to watch the largest solar eclipse of the century on July 22.NASA has also listed it among the best places from which to observe the stars.
Aryabhatta (476-550 AD) had figured this out a long time ago. The famous 6th Century astronomer-mathematician from India’s Golden Age — who first proposed that the earth rotates on its axis and developed the concept of zero — had located his observatory at the sun temple that existed in Taregana (literally, song of the stars) then. “Tare-gana” means counting of stars. It was here that the sixth century astronomer-mathematician Aryabhatta camped here here for his studies.
Following unknowingly in his footsteps, scientists, tourists and eclipse chasers from across the world suddenly want to visit Taregana. The problem: Taregana does not have hotels or other facilities to receive so many guests.
The solution: The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation will put up tents and temporary cottages to cope with the rush. The July 22 eclipse, which will begin at 5.29 a.m., will be the longest in the 21st century and last 6 minutes and 39 seconds. It will not be surpassed in duration till July 13, 2132, ie, 123 years from now.
Its difficult being a good Boss in bad times when layoffs, pay cuts, and restructing have hit organisations everywhere .In this video interview, management professor and author Robert Sutton offers his advice on how to be a good boss in today’s difficult climate.
Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is located in Chicago, Illinois in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Initially endowed by Sears, Roebuck and Company president and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, it first opened in 1933 during the Century of Progress Exposition.
Among its diverse and expansive exhibits, the Museum features a working coal mine, a German submarine (U-505) captured during World War II, a 3,500-square-foot (330 m2) model railroad, the first diesel-powered streamlined stainless-steel passenger train (Pioneer Zephyr), and a NASA space capsule used on the Apollo 8 mission.
