|            | Patna (Bihar Times):   Former President Dr A P J Abdul
    Kalam––though inadvertently––settled the   dispute over
    the identity of the famous ancient scientist,
    Aryabhatt. He   said that Aryabhatt, a noted scientist
    from Bihar, was a source of   inspiration for him. Not
    only is Bihar the land of Aryabhatt but also   of
    Chandragupta Maurya, Mahavir and Gautam Buddha. He
    said that he felt   proud to be here in the land of
    greats. He appeared very much impressed by   what he
    said the beautiful land of Bihar.
   Kalam’s view on Aryabhatt’s   Bihari identity seems to
    be the final word on the debate. Though he hails   from
    the southern most tip of India, Rameshwaram in Tamil
    Nadu, he never   said that he was from Kerala as is
    being claimed recently. A South Indian   scientist recently claimed that Aryabhatt was from Kerala and
    not Bihar.   This led to debate in the scientist circle
    and was duly reported on this   website.
 (1.Prof. Anand Sharan says..  2.Viewers comments on the issue..) 
 Aryabhatt issue apart the meeting at S K Memorial   Hall
    brought fresh Kalam’s last visit to Patna at this very
    venue on   January 19, 2007. He inaugurated the Global
    Bihar Meet then. Today he was   greeted with the same
    enthusiasm and again he started his speech   with
    Namaskar.
 
 Chief minister Nitish Kumar, while speaking on   the
    occasion, said that the Nalanda International
    University had started   functioning from Friday with Dr
    Kalam as the first Visitor. He also   appreciated the
    central government’s initiative in this direction.
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