Day: June 12, 2019

Govt lures investors for infrastructure projects

Source: dailypioneer.com

Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company Limited (JUIDCO) proposed infrastructure development projects worth Rs. 1850 crore to private investors under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) policy framework in a summit held in a hotel here on Monday. Under the proposed plan, ISBT, bus stations, and market complexes are to be built in three important cities – Ranchi, Dhanbad, and Jamshedpur. Investors from Ranchi and Gujarat were present in the summit.

A total of 5 bus terminal projects are to be built in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, and Dhanbad. Ranchi is to get a new bus station in Dubaliya, and the Khadgarha bus stand will be renovated under the new proposal. Two new bus terminals will be constructed in Dhanbad, and one in Jamshedpur. K Venkatesh Kumar, Vice President, Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) Limited (iDeCK) outlined the projects, the total cost of which is estimated to be around Rs. 250 crores.

Four market complexes in Jamshedpur are also to be revamped under the proposed plan. Varsha Pandey from IIDC Limited presented a background to the dilapidated condition of the old market complexes in main areas of the city, like Sakchi, Bistupur, and Golmuri. A phase-wise development of the markets was proposed, keeping in mind the amount of business to be affected by the project.

Ameet Kumar, Director of State Urban Development Agency (SUDA) highlighted the salient features of PPP policy to attract the investors present at the summit. He outlined the obligations of the government under a PPP contract. “The government will facilitate the developer in obtaining necessary project related approvals and clearances along with ensuring availability of project site for development,” he said. He remarked that State Government is already successful in PPP in various sectors.

Urban Development and Housing Development Minister C.P Singh, who was the Chief Guest at the event, spoke about the necessity to attract private investment by guaranteeing returns to the investors. “The investor is not a social worker; they demand returns for their investment. The government should approach the investors accordingly, so that everybody benefits from the deal. Urban development is the responsibility of the government. I hope this summit produces results,” he said. He also cited the example of the bus terminals constructed under PPP in Baroda, Gujarat, and hoped the same feat could be reproduced here.

Urban Development and Housing Development Secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh stressed on the importance of securing private investment in the urban development sector. “We have implemented many policies to attract private investment, but this meet is equally important. All doubts and suggestions are welcome. We’ll be preparing a draft investment policy after this meet. Upon its approval from the ministry, we will streamline the ISBT plans before October. These new bus terminals will be planned with on the lines of our airports, and with a vision of the coming 40 years,” he said.

However, many investors expressed concerns regarding the financial viability of the projects, which was not outlined properly in the various presentations. Issues of bankability were also raised by investors. Urban Development and Housing Development Secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh assured the investors that the finance aspect of the projects will be discussed thoroughly with various banks’ representatives at a later date.

Ranchi University Admission 2019: RU to launch new admission system for academic session 2019

Source: jagranjosh.com

Ranchi University Admission 2019: For the new academic session 2019-2020, the Ranchi University is going to launch a separate admission system for students willing to take admission in various under graduate and post graduate courses. Kamini Kumar, who is the Pro vice-chancellor, said that “the university would release the schedule for admissions on Monday.” Students of Ranchi University welcomed this decision of admitting students through its own system of individualized web portal and offline admissions.

In 2018, to promote transparency and streamline admissions, state universities directed students to register themselves on the governor’s/chancellor’s web portal without which they couldn’t secure admission in various courses. But students faced various technical glitches in the web portal during registration. As a result, the academic session was delayed. Thereafter, students had demanded a separate portal for every college along with the provision for off-line submission of admission forms.

On June 4, the vice-chancellor of Ranchi University, RK Pandey had met the governor and informed him about the various issues faced by students in the centralized portal in the last year. After this meeting, on June 8, the principal secretary to the governor had issued a representation to all vice-chancellors and secretary, department of higher technical education and skill development.

In the representation, all the VC’s of various universities are directed to set up an urgent meeting with the department of HRD in order to remove the difficulties through chancellor’s portal within a week. In case of removal of all the technical glitches is not feasible, then universities may proceed to start admission online through their respective websites and upload the data on chancellor’s portal.

In the meantime, 5 universities including Sido Kanhu Murmu University, Nilamber Pitamber University, Vinoba Bhave University,  Kolhan University and Binod Bihari Mahato Koyalanchal University have already commenced the admission process for under-graduate courses the automated portal. A total of 59,873 applications were already received at these five universities. On the other hand, the admissions process is being conducted through the university’s web portal at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University (DSPMU).

Nigeria: How Lawan, Gbajabiamila Emerged National Assembly Leaders

Source: allafrica.com/

By Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Adamu Abuh, Terhemba Daka and Segun Olaniyi

Abuja — Weeks of campaign, political intrigues and horse-trading at the upper legislative chamber climaxed yesterday with the election of Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan and Ovie Omo-Agege as Senate president and deputy Senate president.Leaving nothing to chance, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had ensured the event was preceded by a series of powerful meetings where battle strategies were mapped.

While the PDP adopted Mohammed Ali Ndume, hoping to checkmate the presidency’s alleged bid to pocket the National Assembly, the APC stockpiled its arsenal at ‘Fort Lawan’.Tension became highly stoked late Monday when an ‘Abuja court order’ suddenly emerged, threatening to down the hopes of lawmakers who banked on secret balloting. According to the document, the Senate standing rule of 2015 must be jettisoned for an open ballot method.

Anxiety went a notch further when the clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Ataba Sani Omolori, charged with conducting the election, was nowhere in sight while Ndume had already arrived at the chamber as early as 7:00 a.m. Ndume was followed by a candidate for the deputy senate president position, Kabiru Gaya (APC, Kano), who vowed to sustain his contest against Omo-Agege, the APC’s anointed candidate.

Gaya denied knowledge of the court order, saying that until proper information came through the right sources, he remained invulnerable to the pronouncement.The arrival of some APC governors and APC National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole left observers puzzled. News immediately began to fly that they had come to influence some aspirants to drop their ambitions for the party’s preferred candidates. This insinuation appeared credible as Gaya and another contestant, Francis Alimikhena, suddenly laid down their arms.

At 10:00 a.m., Omolori entered the chamber, announcing that he had received President Muhammadu Buhari’s proclamation of the Ninth National Assembly and declaring that the only business for the day would be the elections of the president of the Senate and his deputy.He told the lawmakers that the elections would be in strict compliance with Senate Standing Rule 2015, which permitted the use of secret ballot.

An uproar followed, with some senators including Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano State) objecting to the voting method and drawing the clerk’s attention to the court order. But others responded with shouts of “No court order! No! No!”The uproar continued for three minutes until Omolori restored order, warning he would not tolerate unruly conduct. He maintained that there was no court order served on him, and if there were any, he would not regard it.

Omo-Agege’s win might indicate the lawmakers ignored his alleged roles in the April 2018 snatching of the Senate Mace.Moments after the elections, Ndume addressed a press conference where he promised to work with Lawan. “Ahmed Lawan is my brother who is well experienced, having been here four years ahead of me. I will give him all the necessary support. I insisted on contesting against him in order to deepen democracy,” he said.

The bid by deputy Senate president of the Eighth Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, to seek re-election surprised many, as he had held the position consecutively for 12 years. A statement signed by his media adviser, Uche Anichukwu, congratulated Lawan and Omo-Agege, noting: “I have made my point and my colleagues have made their choice. It is now for us all to join hands across all divides to work for the success of the Ninth Senate and National Assembly as well as the peace and prosperity of our nation.”

While delivering his remarks at the end of the inauguration of the Ninth Senate, Lawan said his leadership would do justice to all. “Today means so many things. It is the commencement of another decade of our democracy and we will work to ensure best global parliamentary practices,” he promised, urging the support of his colleagues.

“We will not settle for anything less than the best. We will dream big, aim high and take good initiatives,” he added.

At the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila emerged Speaker, having polled 283 votes to defeat his lone challenger, Mohammed Umar Bago who had 76 votes. His deputy, Idris Ahmed Wase (APC, Plateau State) was returned unopposed.

Buhari meanwhile has congratulated the newly elected officers.In a statement by his special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, yesterday, the president also commended the legislature for its patriotism and non-partisanship before and during the election. He described the fair conduct of the exercise as a plus for the nation’s democracy. He said the emergence of the new leaders is “a new dawn, different from duplicity and perfidy of the immediate past.” He further charged the winners to use their positions for the greater interest of the country.

He stated: “The Executive does not desire a rubber stamp Legislature. While separation of powers is essential, collaboration among all arms of government should be the name of the game. Opposition need not be virulent.”Stepping into the Next Level, the Legislature has a big role to play for the goals of the administration to be achieved. This is for the ultimate good of the nation. At the end of the day, we, the people, who elected our representatives at the national level, are the winners.”

This was as the group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) cautioned Lawan to defend the Nigerian Constitution and uphold the principles of separation of power.It also warned the senate president not to allow any third term gambit by Buhari, saying the country would collapse if any attempt were made to undermine tenure limitation.

In a statement by National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko, the rights body said its “best advice to the president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, is to stick to the constitutional norms and pristine provision that guarantees separation of power encompassed in Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the 1999 constitution.”


NIRDPR unveils programme to mitigate climate change impact

Source: thehansindia.com

Hyderabad: The National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) has launched an initiative to improve the adaptive capacity of the rural poor engaged in agriculture-based livelihoods to cope with climate change. Giving details of the initiative, NIRDPR Director-General W R Reddy said the programme is first of its kind in the country. It would cover as many as 638 drought and flood-prone villages in Mandla and Sheopur districts in Madhya Pradesh, and Gaya and Madhubani districts in Bihar under National Rural Livelihoods Mission.

All these villages are either drought-prone or flood-prone. Later, the project would be extended throughout the country, he added. The main focus of it is to establish a large-scale proof of concept on integrating community-based climate change planning and adaptation by working with climate-smart Community Resource Persons (CRPs) and National Resource Persons (NRPs), he said.

A training manual for the initiative ‘Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change (SLACC)’ Certificate Course was released during the first Training Program for Community Resource Persons (CRPs) organised at the NIRDPR Campus in Hyderabad recently. The aim of the course is to train a cadre of Climate Smart Community Resource Persons who are expected to disseminate the practice of sustainable livelihoods through adaptation to climate change. The programme would strengthen the skill sets of resource persons at the national and grass-roots level.

Further, the SLACC would create a cadre of over 200 certified ‘climate-smart’ Community Resource Persons and over 100 Young Professionals in villages, he said. In turn, they would combat the impact of climate change and secure their livelihood through climate proof planning and adaptations.

The cadre would further disseminate the climate resilient technologies to the farming communities in their respective allocated villages, as assigned by the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) staff. Dr Reddy said, “Climate change is a new and significant challenge to the disadvantaged population as it could affect the yield and income of small and marginal farmers, especially in rainfed farms.

Further, the initiative has in all prioritised 23 technology interventions for farm level activities for climate resilience. They aim to reduce the cost of cultivation, improve yield and income, profitability, empower women and generate employment. Various experts and agencies such as SRLM, KVK, Central Institute of Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad have contributed significantly to the training efforts.

Dr Ravindra S. Gavali, Course Co-ordinator and Head, Centre for Climate Change and Disaster Mitigation, NIRDPR said, totally, 200 CRPs would be trained in 5 batches through a certificate course and each batch consists of 40 CRPs.


Phone call threatening to blow-up Patna airport hoax, caller found to be class 2 student

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Inspired by a Bhojpuri film, a Class 2 student threatened to blow-up the Jai Prajash Narayan International airport in Patna, police on Tuesday said.

A police team was surprised to find that a threat call to the airport authorities was made by an eight-year-old boy.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Rajesh Kumar Prabhakar said the boy told the police team that he was inspired by the Bhojpuri film, “Train se Pakistan”, in which there was a scene of a phone call threatening to blow up an airport.

After police were informed about the call, a probe was launched to get the details of the phone number. It was found that the number was registered in the name of Siddhanth Sharma of Birla Colony.

Prabhakar said that when the police team was interrogating Sharma, his grand-son innocently confessed that it was him to had made the call by using his grandfather’s phone. The boy was then taken into custody

“The boy informed the police that when his grandfather was asleep, he had used his mobile phone. First, he found the number of the Patna airport on Google and then proceeded to make the call,” the DSP added.

The police, however, released the boy after his father issued a bond and assured that he would never repeat the mistake.

“Police have treated it as a childish mistake but directed the family to keep a close watch on the boy,” Prabhakar noted.

Patna Superintendent of Police P.K. Das said: “Police has decided to let him go with a warning that boy should not repeat it (incident) in the future.”

Flood of stink in parched city

Source: telegraphindia.com

The capital may be reeling from an acute water crisis but a locality in the heart of the city is crippled by flood, albeit of drain water.

A roughly 150-foot stretch of the main road that connects Vidyapatinagar Colony in Ward No. 2 with Gandhinagar Colony and Kanke road has been under knee to ankle deep drain water for 10 days. The reason, said local residents and Ranchi Municipal Corporation sources, is the discharge of the existing sewage onto a waste land has been choked by the land owner, a grade-IV employee of the civic body.

Bhartendu Kumar Jha, a resident of the locality, said it is a problem that recurs twice or thrice every year.

“The road is inundated by drainage and sewage water. Ranchi Municipal Corporation is aware of this problem but the municipal authority never showed interest for permanent solution of the problem. I informed RMC officials and they once visited the locality and returned without giving any solution. Ranchi’s civic guardians apparently have always been immune to such criticism,” Jha said.

Sources in the civic body said the RMC employee and his family members own the 10-cottah vacant plot which is used as the discharge area of the drainage, and they have blocked the discharge.

“In the last two months, we received around two dozen complaints from local residents who said that some unknown person choked the drainage. Every time we cleaned it, the next day the drainage was found choked again,” said an RMC employee who pleaded anonymity.

Residents are being forced to stay indoors due to the overflowing drain.

“We are living in a hell with foul smells, insects and reptiles all around,” said Shiv Kant Mishra (75), a pediatrician whose house is situated next to the vacant plot.

“I can’t even go out of my house as my premises are flooded. The drain water has polluted my well. Parents face problem to visit my home,” added Mishra, who on average treats 40 children at his home clinic.

Raman Kumar, assistant to gynaecologist Sunita Jha who runs her private nursing home in the colony, said patients are not coming these days and they take medical advice over phone.

“The road is narrow and full of potholes and flooded so it is risky for pregnant women to visit the nursing home. This is one of the busiest roads of the colony, but unfortunately the RMC doesn’t care for basic civic amenities,” said Kumar.

Residents fear the worst is yet to come; schools are due to open next week after summer vacations. Vidyapatinagar Col-ony has a population over 10,000. Gandhinagar has four schools including DAV, and health centres such as CCL Hospital.

Most of the children of the locality study at these schools.

“My two daughters study at DAV school. I am worried how they will go to school,” said homemaker Sabita Mishra. “They will have to travel an additional kilometre. For the past 10 days me along with my children and husband have been living with my parents at Boreya.”

Around three years ago, the civic body had sanctioned Rs 36 lakh to extend the drainage pipe to Gandhinagar. However, work was stopped midway. The RMC reasoned that it would be an unnecessary expenditure since the mega drainage and sewerage project for Ranchi under the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) has already been kicked off including at ward number 2.

“Do we suffer till our locality is covered under JNNURM? This project is already running late,” said resident and shopkeeper Bapi Chatterjee.

“My business has suffered. We are always neglected by RMC.”

Contacted, Ranchi deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya said: “I personally called the land owner, who is an RMC employee, to allow his land as outfall but he gave cold response. Last year we decided to extend and connect the drainage with that of Gandhinagar. But the authorities of Central Coalfields Limited denied permission. We are trying to find an alternative.”

Homemaker Anita Jha said the locality would hold meeting within a couple of days “to decide whether to pay tax to the RMC”.

She added: “We the housewives have been facing problems. During the Assembly election we will surely teach the government a lesson.”

SIAM launches safe driver incentive app at MoRTH event

Source: autocarpro.in

Society for Automotive Fitness & Environment (SAFE), a SIAM initiative, in association with Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Transport Department, Government of Jharkhand, organised the 20th edition of SAFE Annual Convention today in Ranchi, Jharkhand where a new app was launched to recognise, reward and incentivise people with good driving behaviour called ‘Driver Safe App’.

The convention this year was themed around ‘Make Roads Safer: 50 by 2030’, which implies reducing 50 percent fatality rate by 2030, with a fitting tag line – Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. The convention was attended by prominent guests from the ministry and delegates from different backgrounds.

Speaking on the occasion, chief guest, C P Singh, minister of urban development, housing and transport department, Government of Jharkhand welcomed the automotive industry in Jharkhand and requested to spearhead their CSR funds for automotive testing centre at Jharkhand. He also stressed that the lawmakers should first adhere to the road rules and regulations and then enforce the same for the public. He also informed that Transport Department secures crores of funds and provides it to the Police department for proper allocation. The corporates and the enforcement agencies have to go a long way to make safe and secure Jharkhand.

Addressing the delegates, Prawin Kumar Toppo, secretary transport, Government of Jharkhand laid emphasis on the road safety concern and said, “Safety on the roads is as much a responsibility of individuals as it is on the law enforcers. He welcomed the auto industry for managing the road safety work in Jharkhand by opening the ILC centre and training centre.” 

SIAM and the Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) also launched ‘Driver Safe App’ which is a platform to recognise, reward and incentivise people with good driving behaviour. This app is designed to provide better knowledge to the drivers to prevent road accidents and can detect a driver’s way of driving, the driving pattern and the level of proficiency in driving. Based on this, skill-based training can be provided to drivers which will eventually help in reducing accidents and thus lead to safer roads.

P.K. Banerjee, executive director, technical, SIAM said, “This is a unique initiative to make better drivers and better traffic management system in today’s fast paced era.” 

The sessions were divided in four categories under four ‘E’s of safety, namely, Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Emergency Services. The first session highlighted on educational transition for school, colleges and for all road users and also to create a roadmap to impart education for safer driving habits making ‘Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand’. During this session, Arun Lakshman, road safety consultant automotive skill development council,  Neeru Sachdeva, road safety expert, Gyan Mandir Public School, S Dheerendra, road safety specialist, Safe India Drive, Hyderabad, Pankaj Singh, director, Health & Safety at ACC Limited (Lafarge Holcim Group) shared their insights to all delegates.

The second session emphasised on the steps to be taken for bringing stringent enforcement for road discipline for achieving  Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. Anil Chikkara, MLO, Delhi transport department, and Ritwik Mishra, consultant road safety cell, transport department, Jharkhand presented their insights to all delegates.

The third session was focussed on safe transport and road engineering and suggested that sustainable steps should be taken by enforcement bodies in making Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. This session was presented by  H M Naqvi, chief general manager, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI),  Rama Shankar Pandey, managing director, Hella India, S R Hariharan, deputy general manager, Volvo Trucks India and B Bhanot, consultant, Rosemarta.

The last session, titled ‘Emergency services’ – Bringing sustainability in public health and air quality, discussed the importance of bringing sustainable solutions for emergency services achieving Safe Jharkhand. Sure Jharkhand. During the session, Nitin Madan Kulkarni, health department, Jharkhand,  Eilia Jafar, chief program officer, Save LIFE Foundation, Dr M S Khalid Quasmi, deputy general manager (Occupational Health Services), Tata Motors and Dr Gaurav Gupta, national professional officer (Injury and Disability Prevention), World Health Organisation (WHO) presented their insights. Abhinav Kumar Verma, an accident survivor victim also shared his traumatic experience at the convention.

Jharkhand: Two Days After Reported Missing, A Journalist And Two Others Found In Police Custody

Source: thelogicalindian.com

Three people Rupesh Kumar Singh, 33, a social activist and independent journalist; Mithilesh Kumar Singh, 45, social activist and lawyer at Ramgarh Civil Court; Singh’s driver Mohammad Kalam, 42, were arrested allegedly with explosives from Dobhi More at NH-2, near Sherghati, around 30 km from Gaya, according to a Prabhat Khabar, a local newspaper, reported on June 7.

The same day, on which the details of their arrests published in the local newspaper, a unit of Bihar Police raided the house of Rupesh in Ramgarh and Bokaro and seized his laptop, mobile phone and “Naxal literature,” reported Newslaundry. However, the writing which was being referred to as “Naxal literature”, was nothing but a few articles written by Rupesh in Laal Mati, a magazine in which he is an editor.

While searching the house, the police were not able to provide any warrant when asked for the same. “I kept asking them for a copy of the search warrant, but they didn’t produce any. They took away his laptop, a few books on Lenin, Marx and other ideological stuff,” said Ipsa Shatakshi, Rupesh’s wife to Newslaundry.

The Case

On May 4, all three persons went missing while they were on their way to Mithilesh’s ancestral village in Aurangabad from Ramgarh. The same day, Mithilesh’s family lodged a missing person complaint at the Ramgarh police station. However, the report was filed the next day.

Two days later, around 1 pm on June 6, Mithilesh called Rupesh’s brother to inform that Rupesh was fine and they were on their way back to Ramgarh. But the call got disconnected before Rupesh’s brother could further ask anything. “We immediately rushed to Ramgarh police station and informed them about the call. At the same time, we were also concerned about not bothering police too much, but just wanted to keep them updated,” said Ipsa.

The same day, on June 6, Gaya Assistant Superintendent of Police (Naxal) Navin Kumar Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police Ravish Kumar held a joint press conference with three accused (masked faces) in the background.

“We were tipped off that an explosive-laden four-wheeler was heading towards Chhakarbandha in Dumaria. Subsequently, we beefed up the security along NH-2 and started checking the vehicles approaching Chhakarbandha,” said Ravish.

The police officials stated that the accused were carrying the explosives. They further said that Rupesh primarily supplies explosives to Maoists. The accused have been charged under Sections 414 and 120B of the India Penal Code, along with other sections under the Explosive Substances Act.

Ipsa, rubbishing all the charges levelled against Rupesh, told Newslaundry, “Rupesh always used to say that when you stand for the causes of poor and the marginalised, the establishment will try to crush you. That’s exactly what happened today. He has been arrested for working on Dalit and tribal issues. There is not an iota of doubt that the police is trying to implicate him in a false case.”

At the moment the accusations are one-sided, as local journalists were not allowed to talk to the accused and had to rely on information provided by government officials. “We requested police officials to let us talk to the accused, but they never agree,” a local journalist said, on condition of anonymity.

Over 50 Children Have Died of Suspected Japanese Encephalitis in Bihar

Source: newsclick.in

Patna: In the last nine days, several children have died in North Bihar of suspected Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). On Monday alone, about 20 children reportedly died, while three deaths were reported early Tuesday in Muzaffarpur town hospitals. As per reports, five five children died in two villages — Harvanshpur Paschim and Khirkhaua under Bhagwanpur police station in Vaishali district — in last the 24 hours due to symptoms similar to AES after being admitted to hospital.

As helpless parents look on, dozens of children are still battling for their lives with symptoms similar to AES and are undergoing treatment at two hospitals in Muzaffarpur. So far, the disease has already claimed the lives of 53 children, but the state government is playing these deaths down by claiming that these were due to hypoglycaemia.

In Muzaffarpur, the state government-owned Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) and private Kejriwal Hospital, where most of deaths took, have names and address of the victims. But state government, particularly the health department, is not prepared to accept this reality.

Meanwhile, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey has denied that these deaths were due to AES. Pandey, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, said that only 11 children had died since June 2 and most of the deaths were due to hypoglycaemia, adding that only one child died due to Japanese encephalitis. “There is a situation of misconception in connection with deaths of children in Muzaffarpur. We have got information of deaths due to hypoglycaemia, except one death due to JE,” he was reported as saying.

AES cases have surfaced in Bihar in such a large number after a gap of three years. Last year, a total 40 cases of AES were reported in which seven deaths occurred.

But this year, the situation is alarming, said sources. This can be gauged from the fact that the two paediatric intensive care units at SKMCH are full and the hospital authorities were forced to open a third PICU to accommodate fresh cases. Ironically, with heavy rush of seriously ill children on Monday, there were no bed available to admit new suspected AES cases in the PICU the hospital and officials had to get the general ICU vacated by shifting patients to other wards.

“We have been admitting seriously ill children in PICU and the general ICU to provide treatment in view of the situation and regular arrival of new patients” SKMCH’s chief medical officer, S P Singh, said.

SKMCH superintendent Sunil Kumar Shahi said “It took us by surprise. We hardly expected such a bounce back this year”.

Helpless parents, after failing to get their seriously ill children admitted in SKMCH, are left with no option but to rush to privately run Kejriwal Hospital in Muzaffarpur.

Most of the children with suspected AES belonging to the rural poor section (dalit, other backward classes and extremely backward classes) of the population in Muzaffarpur and the neighbouring districts of Vaishali, Sitamarhi, Samastipur, Sheohar, East and West Champaran.

Locally known as Chamki Bukhar or Mastishk Bukhar, AES is widely seen as a deadly disease for children in flood-prone North Bihar districts. While the cause of deaths of children may be AES or any other, Sanjay Kumar, the principal secretary in the health department, reiterated that the deaths this year had occurred due to hypoglycaemia, resulting from high heat and humidity.

Kumar explained that when children play in the open under the scorching sun, it leads to dehydration and affects their intake of food and water, leading to hypoglycaemia.

According to him, Bihar had reported 34 cases of hypoglycaemia, resulting in 10 deaths till date this year, while one death was due to dyselectrolytemia (electrolyte imbalance).

However, with increasing cases of suspected AES, the state government has introduced a verbal autopsy form to fix responsibility for any lapses in treatment and referral. “We have a standard operating procedure for treatment of AES”, he added.

The health department has also issued an advisory urging parents to prevent their children from playing in the open under the sun at a time when the temperature was hovering between 42 to 43 degrees Celsius.

Interestingly, contrary to the denial of children deaths due to AES by a top health department officer, chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday at a press conference, in reply to question on child deaths due to AES in Muzaffarpur, said the health department had been keeping a close watch on the situation. “Ahead of the rains (monsoon) ,every year this disease (yeh bimari) creates havoc. It is a matter of concern that every year children are dying due to it”, he said.

The chief minister said the health department had taken steps to contain the disease and was sensitising the people about measures to prevent it.

According to doctors, AES is a severe stage of encephalitis characterised by inflammation of the brain. The disease is transmitted through mosquito bites, leading to infection that causes high fever.

“Every year, encephalitis hits Muzaffarpur, Gaya and other neighbouring districts in May or June. But this year it seems to have affected a large number of children,” a health department official said.

BPSC Civil Service 64th Main Exam Admit Card 2019: Check Exam and Other Details Here

Source:

BPSC Civil Service Main Exam Ad,mit Card 2019: Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC)has published a notification for BPSC Civil Service 64th Main Exam 2019. All those candidates, who have qualified in BPSC 64th Prelims Exam, can apply for mains exam on or before 02 April 2019.

The admit card is expected to release in the last week of June or First week of July 2019.

BPSC has invited online applications for 64th Main Exam upto 02 April 2019. However, the application fee should be submitted online from 12 March to 26 March 2019. Candidates are also required to send the hard copy of online application along with other documents to the office of Bihar Public Service Commission, 15, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Near Bailey Road, Patna, Bihar latest by 15 April 2019 upto 05:00 PM.

Bihar civil service main exam will consists of three papers including a qualifying paper General Hindi of 100 marks and General Studies Paper 1 and General Studies Paper 2. Both General Studies Papers will carry 300 marks each. There is an Optional Paper which the candidate has to choose while filling the Application Form. The Optional Paper is of 300 marks.

How to download the BPSC Civil Services Admit Card 2019?

  • Go the official website -http://onlinebpsc.bihar.gov.in/Index
  • Click on the Link ‘BPSC Civil Services Admit Card 2018 for Mains’
  • Provide username, password and captcha code
  • Click on login button.
  • Download the admit card and take a print out for future use

The candidates who qualify the BPSC Main Exam will be called for Interview. The final merit list will be prepared on the basis of performance Main Exam and Interview.

BPSC Civil Service 64th Main Exam 2019 Online Application: BPSC has Extended the online application date for Civil Service 64th Main Exam 2019. As per the revised date candidates can now apply for the Mains Exam till 30 April 2019. Bihar PSC 64th main exam will be conducted in the month of June.

Bihar civil service main exam will consists of three papers including a qualifying paper General Hindi of 100 marks and General Studies Paper 1 and General Studies Paper 2. Both General Studies Papers will carry 300 marks each. There is an Optional Paper which the candidate has to choose while filling the Application Form. The Optional Paper is of 300 marks.

BBPSC had invited online applications for 64th Main Exam upto 02 April 2019 while the application fee was submitted online from 12 March to 26 March 2019. Candidates were required to send the hard copy of online application along with other documents to the office of Bihar Public Service Commission, 15, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Near Bailey Road, Patna, Bihar latest by 15 April 2019 upto 05:00 PM.

BPSC had announced 64th Civil Prelims Result on 16 February 2019 in which 295444 candidates appeared out of which 190109 candidates qualified the exam.

The candidates who qualify the BPSC Main Exam will be called for Interview. The final merit list will be prepared on the basis of performance Main Exam and Interview.