Month: July 2019

Bihar: Land of Rich Cultural Heritage

Source- hindustantimes.com

Geography

Bihar has hot summers and cool winters. It has a vast stretch of fertile plain drained by the River Ganga, including its northern tributaries Gandak, Koshi and Bagmati that regularly flood parts of the plains. Other rivers in the state are Falgu, Ghaghra, Durgawati, Sone, Punpun, and Karmanasa. Central parts of Bihar have some small hills, for example the Rajgir hills near the city of Rajgir.

Language

Hindi is the official language of the state, while Urdu is the second official language in 15 districts of the state. Maithili (including its dialect Bajjika), Bhojpuri, Angika and Magadhi are also widely spoken in this state.

Culture

Madhubani art, a form of painting that is world famous, is practised in the Mithila region of the state. Maithili music too orginates from the same region. The classical music in Bihar is a form of the Hindustani classical music. Gaya is another centre of excellence in classical music, particularly of the Tappa and Thumri styles. The Bihari thali consists of rice, roti, pickle, chutney, lentils and milk products. Llitti Chokha is a popular fast food.

Chatth Puja Almost all civilisations worship the ‘sun god’, but it has a unique form in Bihar. Chatth Puja is the only occasion where the setting sun is worshipped. For this four-day festival, people maintain sanctity and purity from even a month ahead.

Plant and animal life

Banyan, peepal, and palmyra palm trees are found in abundance. The forest regions are home to species of large mammals like Bengal tigers, leopards and elephants. Crocodiles are abundant along the Kosi river.

landmarks

Mahabodhi Temple, Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Nalanda University ruins, Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir, Golghar, Vikramshila ruins.

Famous people

India’s first President Rajendra Prasad, shehnai maestro and Bharat Ratna Bismillah Khan, social reformer Jayapraksh Narayan, poet Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’, politician Jagjivan Ram, and actors Manoj Bajpayee and Shatrughan Sinha.

Railway stations and airports

Main railway stations are Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Hajipur, Barauni, Samastipur, Chappra, Darbhanga. Airports are in Patna and Gaya.

Major cities

Arrah, Aurangabad, Bagusarai, Bhagalpur, Bihar Sharif, Chappra, Darbhanga, Dehri, Gaya, Jehanabad, Katihar, Motihari, Patna, Purnia and Siwan.

AES lens on Gaya now as 3 kids die

Source: hindustantimes.com

Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES), the mystery disease that has claimed lives of 156 children across Bihar so far, has claimed four more lives during the last 24 hours, taking the toll to 160, health officials said.

While one child died at the Muzaffarpur’s Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH), the rest three succumbed to their ailment at Gaya’s Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH).

Spread of AES from the state’s north to south is a matter of serious concern for the health department, which is already under fire for failing to contain AES deaths as the disease has been recurring every year during the extreme summer and causing much devastation.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar, while expressing serious concern over the death in the state assembly two days back, had said that experts from across India and even US had come up conflicting and incomplete findings on causes that lead to AES among children in Bihar.

ANMCH officials said at least six children were brought to the hospital, of which four showed AES symptoms while two were brought dead in the last 24 hours. The deceased, who were referred by primary health centres, were being treated for AES, official said.

Another one died on way to Patna.

Officials said that rest three patients of suspected AES are still undergoing treatment at the ANMCH and their conditions are said to be stable.

ANMCH superintendent Dr Vijay Krishna Prasad said blood samples of all the patients had been sent to the Rajendra Medical Research Institute in Patna for laboratory tests to ascertain the type of the disease. “At present, we have identified symptoms of Japanese encephalitis and AES, but the same can be confirmed only after the RMRI tests. We can just call it suspected encephalitis cases,” the ANMCH superintendent said.

He, however, said that the medical college is well equipped to counter the menace. “We have already created 30-bed ICU attached to the paediatric ward for AES patients. Besides, we have adequate medicines and experts to handle such cases,” the superintendent said.

Since JES generally strikes in a big way after the first showers across the Magadh division, the health department had earlier chalked out strategy to combat the situation. “There would no Muzaffarpur-like situation here as we are on high alert and patients are being promptly attended upon,” a health department official said.

“The Bihar government has announced Rs 50,000 compensation to the families that have lost their kids to AES. We are now preparing the patients’ records,” the superintendent said.

Meanwhile in Muzaffarpur, the epicentre of the disease, 24 AES afflicted children are currently undergoing treatment at the SKMCH while one is being treated at the Kejriwal Maternity Clinic.

5-day Jharkhand Monsoon Session to begin from July 22

Source: Source: dailypioneer.com

The State Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for 13th (Monsoon) Session of fourth Jharkhand Assembly starting on July 22. The Session, which will commence on July 22 will run till July 26. The first day of five-day session will be devoted to oath of new members (if any), placing of bills, tabling of first supplementary budget in the Assembly.

State Cabinet Coordination department secretary (in-charge), Ajay Kumar Singh said, “From second day to conclusion of monsoon session will be devoted to question hour and discussion on State bill and government works.”

Sources said that the monsoon session is likely to be last Assembly session of present government as formation of new government is to take place till January 6. The monsoon session also assumes importance as the State will go on election mode after the session.

Sources said that as this is the last Assembly session of present government, the Opposition will try to corner State Government on several issues. The lynching of Tabrez Ansari at Saraikela is one of the issue on which Opposition will try to attack Das’s Government.

However, the State Government, confident with Lok Sabha election results, is ready to face Opposition charges. Senior BJP leader and party MLA from Chhatarpur Radha Kishan Kishore said, “After the Lok Sabha election there is no Opposition. The issue such as land acquisition and religious conversion bill on which Opposition tried to disturb last Assembly sessions for five years has been rejected by people. The people in Lok Sabha election have rejected Opposition and their anti-Government, anti-State policies.”

In today’s Cabinet, the State Government also gave its nod for appointment of professors and assistant professors on contractual basis at medical colleges in Dumka, Palamu and Hazaribag. The Cabinet, after relaxing the provisions of Jharkhand Medical Education Service (appointment, promotion, and service rule) 2018, gave its nod for appointment of 76 posts of professors and 93 post of assistant professors on contractual basis at these three medical colleges.

As per the Cabinet provision, the professors will be appointed on the pay scale of Rs 1.62 lakh, while the assistant professors will be appointed in the pay scale of Rs 1.04 lakh monthly salary.

The State Cabinet also gave its nod for creation of 42 temporary police outpost and traffic outpost in Deoghar in wake of Shravani Mela. The 15 police outposts and 27 traffic outposts will be set up for period of July 15 to September 15.

In today’s Cabinet meet, nod for relaxation in road tax of Jharkhand Government run mortuary van, 108 emergency medical ambulance service van and vehicles of mobile medical unit. The Cabinet also gave its nod for amendment of Jharkhand Procurement Policy 2014. As per the amendments, Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) can take part in Government tendering policy. As per amended Procurement Policy 2014, cap on work experiences and minimum turnover bracket has been removed.

In today’s Cabinet meeting, 14 agendas were given nod, which includes amendments in GST, construction of roads in Koderma, Deoghar districts among others.

HC rebukes Bihar Govt for victimising IAS officer for acting against transport mafia

Source: dailypioneer.com

The Delhi High Court rebuked the Bihar Government on Tuesday for ‘humiliating, harassing and victimising’ an IAS officer who took a tough stand against the transport mafia despite threats to his life.

The court directed the central government to initiate inter-cadre transfer of the 2013-batch IAS officer Jitendra Gupta forthwith and issue the order to shift him out of Bihar cadre, completing the process within four weeks.

It also ordered the state to pay Rs 5 lakh to the officer as compensation within four weeks along with other dues, saying the court cannot undo the harm done to him but the amount awarded would apply some balm to his wounds.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Jyoti Singh said if the court failed to protect a man who had the nerve to stand up against the mafia and the state machinery, they would be doing great disservice to the system and setting a bad precedent, where no officer would gather courage take on the wrongdoers.

Gupta, who was represented through senior advocate Sachin Datta and lawyer Sourabh Ahuja, had sought transfer to Haryana alleging threat to his life for acting tough against the transport mafia there.

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had earlier directed the Centre to consider the case of the officer for inter-state deputation to Haryana or for central government deputation.

It had directed the state government not to withhold its consent for the inter-state deputation or central deputation of the officer and communicate it to the Centre.

The state government challenged the CAT order before the high court. It claimed that the tribunal failed to understand the mala fide intention of the officer for seeking cadre transfer which was to avoid a criminal case.

The high court dismissed the state government’s appeal against the CAT order.

In 2016, Gupta was arrested in a corruption case and was sent to jail. He was later granted bail and the FIR was quashed following Patna High Court’s order.

In Tuesday’s verdict, the bench said the resistance of the State government to let go of the officer on an inter-cadre transfer bewildered it.

Parliament nod for central rule in J&K, key reservation bill

Source: hindustantimes.com

The government’s approach to managing strife in the state of Jammu and Kashmir will be guided by former prime minister, the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s approach of “Jamhooriyat (democracy), Insaniyat (humanity), and Kashmiriyat (the spirit of Kashmir)”, home minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday during a discussion on the state. At the end of the debate, the Upper House adopted a resolution to extend President’s Rule in J&K by six months, and passed a bill to ensure 3% reservations in jobs and education for people living near the International Border.

But the velvet glove of Vajpayee’s approach would also include an iron hand, Shah said in the Rajya Sabha, promising a tit-for-tat response to anyone trying to disrupt peace in the state. “They will be given a response in their language.”

In the course of the discussion, Shah added that assembly elections would be held in the state on the Election Commission’s advice and the government would not delay the polls “even by a day.”

During the debate, the leader of Opposition in the House Ghulam Nabi Azad said the government’s zero-tolerance policy didn’t seem to be working as attacks against security forces had spiralled during the last five years. “If you have zero tolerance, how come there have been 16 attacks including Pathankot, Nagrota and Uri,” he asked.

“When it comes to assembly elections, the government is hesitant. You want to run the government without accountability,” Azad added.

During his speech, Shah went on to elaborate on each aspect of his government’s policy regarding the state.

He spoke of the end of Sufi traditions and Kashmiri pandits being driven away from the state. “Were Sufi saints not a part of Kashmiriyat? Were Kashmiri Pandits not a part of Kashmiriyat? If we talk about Kashmiriyat today, we have to think of them too. A time will come when the Pandits and the Sufi saints will offer prayers alongside at the Kheer Bhawani temple,” he said.

He said the concept of Jamhooriyat was not limited to electing MLAs. “For 70 years, 40,000 people who could have become sarpanchs were sitting at home.

We have taken Jamhooriyat to the villages,” he said. He asked the Congress why panchayat and municipal elections were not held before and why democracy in the state be restricted to “just three families”.

Speaking about Insaniyat, he said that under President’s Rule, schools were restarted, bureaucrats ordered to go to villages to take schemes forward, and residents were provided with electricity, toilets and food.

“We want development in the Valley. The Valley is ours and we want people to prosper like the rest of India. But we will not tolerate any separatist movement and terrorism. Terrorists who do not want to join with India have no place in the government’s scheme of things. They will face severe action and difficulties,” he said. Unlike in the past, foreign and defence policies have been segregated keeping national security at the core, he said, while talking of the 2016 surgical strikes and the Balakot strikes. “We want peace with the world but there cannot be peace with those who do not respect our borders,” he said.

Responding to a question from some members on the government’s continued criticism of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s handling of the Kashmir situation, Shah asked why Nehru agreed to ceasefire when a third of Kashmir was with Pakistan, why India went to the United Nations after the instrument of accession was signed, and why a plebiscite was required. “Was it not a mistake? Will we not learn from our mistakes?” If the Kashmir problem has not been solved from 1947 to 2019, surely it is time to go for a new approach, he added.

Azad accused the government of using President’s Rule as a ploy to run the state from New Delhi. “Stop running the government from Delhi. That will be the biggest confidence-building measure,” he said.

Shah dismissed the allegations in his detailed, one-hour long reply to the five-hour discussion on two bills. “We have no drought of governments. We are there in 16 states. We have no desire to rule through the President’s Rule,” the minister said.

Responding to the criticism that if elections could be held for panchayats and Lok Sabha, why couldn’t they be held for the assembly, Shah said security forces had their reservations about being able to provide security to more than 1,000 contestants and had conveyed it to the Election Commission.

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019 will allow people living near the International Border to benefit from a 3% reservation that was so far available only to those living along the Line of Control and Line of Actual Control. Shah said this would benefit more than 350,000 people living in 435 villages scattered across the districts of Jammu, Kathua and Sambha.

Former chairman of the National Commission for Minorities and former divisional commissioner of Kashmir Wajahat Habibullah said there was no choice but to extend President’s Rule at this point. He said the people living close to the International Border faced the same vulnerabilities that those near LoC faced and the reservation bill was a good move.

Bihar mother-daughter tonsuring case: Arrest warrent issued for 5 accused

Source: hindustantimes.com

A local court in Vaishali issued an arrest warrant against five people for assaulting and tonsuring a 48-year-old woman and her 19-year-old daughter in Bihari village on June 26. The women were assaulted and ‘punished’ by a local councillor, after they protested against his attempt to rape the daughter. A video of the incident had become viral on social media and the police had arrested the councillor and four others for their alleged involvement.

Dr Rajulben L Desai, member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) , who visited the victims, asked the Bihar government to provide adequate compensation and free legal aid to help the women get justice. Rachna Raj, secretary of the district legal service authority (DLSA), also met the victims and provided them with a legal advisor.

Vaishali SP MS Dhillon said that a plea for the arrest of five accused, identified as Md Manjur Ansari, Md Kalim, Md Ishtewar, Md Javed and Md Padua, was submitted in the court of additional chief judicial magistrate Alok Kumar Mishra on Saturday, following which the court issued an arrest warrant against them, after a hearing on Tuesday.

Read | 2 women assaulted, tonsured for resisting rape bid by councillor in Bihar

Two of the accused,ward councillor Mohammad Khurshid and barber Dasrath Thakur, were arrested immediately after the incident and are already in judicial custody.

“The court has issued an arrest warrant against the five named accused. Now, we will go ahead with the due procedure,” said Sanjay Kumar, SHO of Bhagwanpur police station. He said that a case has been registered against seven people under section 376 (punishment for rape), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences), 354b (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

The police informed that the victims recorded their statements before the court of second class judicial magistrate, Vandana, under sections of 167 CrPC. In her statement, the middle-aged woman revealed that all the accused forcibly entered their house and tried to rape her daughter. When she protested, the accused persons abused and beat up the victims. The women approached some of their fellow villagers, who took them to the police station.

The Bihar state women’s commission has also sought strong action against the accused. Dilmani Mishra, the commission’s chairman, said that the incident was highly condemnable.

“I have talked to eyewitnesses, the police and visited the spot where the incident occurred. I will send a report to the NCW,” said Desai.

Police bust interstate cyber frauds’ gang, 2 held

Sourcea: dailypioneer.com

In a major breakthrough against cyber crime, Jharkhand Cyber Cell busted a interstate racket of fraudsters who hijacked people’s bank account using information from the ANYDESK APP.

Addressing a press meet on Wednesday, Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police, Anish Gupta, said Ranchi police arrested two cyber criminals in a case of Rs 25,000 fraud through the Anydesk App. Arrested persons had used the App to withdraw money from the account.

The arrested fraudsters include Vivek Kumar Mandal from Jamtara and Amir Khusro, a resident of Deoghar. Police have recovered 20 Debit cards, 20 fake SIM cards, 5 mobile phones and Rs 15,000 cash from the criminals, he added.

Gupta said that in an attempt to control increasing numbers of cyber crime in the State, Jharkhand Cyber Cell constituted a Special Investigation Team to investigate the cases of fraudulent withdrawal of cash from customers’ accounts.

Narrating the whole story about busting the gang, Gupta said that this was done from the businessman—a resident of Kanke Road, Satyendra Kishore. “On June 4, a call from a cyber criminal on the mobile of businessman Kishore came in the name of SBI Bank’s Chief Manager Amit Kumar Mishra. The fraudster asked Kishore to log in to Internet Banking Account in the Yono App Account. After that, an application called Anydesk was asked to be downloaded and the online SBI asked to log in anywhere.

After that, the messages of SBI continuously on the registered mobile number in Satyendra’s bank account started coming. Then, the cyber criminal asked Satyendra to share his profile password on the Yono app,” he added.

“After sharing the profile password, other bank accounts of Satyendra were also inquired. The person who called Satyendra on this matter was suspicious and then Satyendra went to the bank and said the manager to talk to him. The caller refused to come to the bank.

But by then the criminals had to withdrawn Rs 25,000 through the App. Satyendra gave information about the withdrawal of money and filed a case at Gonda Police Station. Cyber Cell started investigation of the case. During the operation, Cyber Cell found that the money was transferred to Vivek Kumar Mandal’s Paytm account.

To catch the culprits, the SIT started raids. After which Mandal was arrested from Fatehpur in Jamtara and on his information, the police arrested Khusro, a resident of Palajori police station in Deogarh district.

He was also involved in this crime with discretion. But the kingpin of the gang Sushanta Das, resident of Jamtara running the racket from Kolkata is still at large,” said Gupta.

Appealing bank account holder through media the SSP said that never disclose about the bank account details to anybody.

AES in Bihar: Providing all support to contain it, Centre tells SC

Source: business-standard.com

The Centre told the Supreme Court Wednesday that it was proactively providing all support to Bihar in containing and managing Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in which more than children have died.

In an affidavit filed on a plea seeking measures for containment of the disease, the Centre said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had visited Bihar on June 16, to review the situation in Muzaffarpur.

It said that after the visit several decisions were taken including construction of a 100 bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at SKMCH hospital in Muzaffarpur by the state government in one years from the funds of National Health Mission (NHM).

“The land for the same (100-bed Paediatric ICU) is available in the premise of the SKMCH hospital and will be provided by the state,” the affidavit said.

It said a decision has been taken to set up five virology labs in different districts of the state from the NHM funds and the location of the districts will be decided in consultation with the state government.

Detailing further decisions taken, the Centre said: “In the adjoining districts, 10-bed Paediatric ICUs to be setup so that such cases can be treated early and there is no unnecessary load on the facilities available at SKMCH. Funds for this are to be provided through NHM.”

The ministry said that to enable early detection and treatment of the hypoglycemia cases, a dedicated team of doctors will be placed in endemic Primary Health Centres with required facilities, at least for three-four months before and during expected onset of disease.

“As for present, the concerned PHCs and CHCs (Community Health Centres) should take prompt corrective measures for hypoglycemia at the facility itself to utilize the golden hour”, the affidavit said.

It said that a Super Speciality Block is being constructed at SKMCH hospital, Muzaffarpur and it would start functioning by first week of December.

Besides these steps, the affidavit said that Ministry of Earth Sciences has been requested to upgrade its IMD Observatory facility for improved monitoring of climate related parameters such as temperature humidity, rainfall and share it with the state government for better preparedness and management of AES.

It said the minister has decided to constitute inter-disciplinary, high quality research team for ascertaining the case of AES with specific reference to Muzaffarpur.

“The vacant positions of district epidemiologist and entomologist in Muzaffarpur to be filled up immediately by the state government,” the health ministry said added that health is a state subject as per the Constitutional provisions.

The apex court is hearing a petition filed by advocate Manohar Pratap who has said that he was deeply “pained and saddened” by the deaths of more than 126 children, mostly in the age group of one to 10 years, in Bihar due to AES.

Besides Centre, the apex court had also asked Bihar government to file its response on the issue.

In a shocking revelation about medical care facilities in Bihar, which is facing an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, the state government Tuesday told the Supreme Court that there are only 5,205 doctors in government-run health centres against the sanctioned strength of 12,206.

The state government, in an affidavit filed in the apex court, said that only 5,634 nurses were there in government run hospitals and health centres against sanctioned strength of 19,155.

The court had on June 24 directed the state to apprise it about the status of public medical care facilities, nutrition and sanitation within a week in view of deaths of over 100 children in Muzaffarpur due to the outbreak of AES.

Regarding AES cases, the state government said 824 cases have been reported and the number of deaths was 157.

It, however, said that it was not known whether 24 deaths out of 215 cases were due to AES.

“State of Bihar had already taken all possible steps to prevent the spread of the disease by providing additional medical facilities at the affected region, public awareness campaign at the village level, involving various agencies to assist the government etc,” it said.

Symptoms of AES include high fever, convulsions and extremely low blood sugar levels. Among the factors said to trigger the syndrome are malnutrition.

There were more than 44,000 cases and nearly 6,000 deaths from encephalitis in India between 2008 and 2014, said a 2017 study published in The Indian Journal of Medical Research (IJMR).

Researchers said the patients often report acute onset of fever and altered consciousness, with a rapidly deteriorating clinical course, leading to death within hours.

Litchis grown in Muzaffarpur, the country’s largest litchi cultivation region, are said to contain a toxin which can cause a drop in blood sugar levels if consumed by a malnourished child.

‘Nation Responsible for Dying Kids in Bihar, Time For Child Survival Policy That Fixes Accountability’

Source: news18.com

New Delhi: With over 100 children dead due to Encephalitis in Bihar since June 2019, the biggest question that remains to be answered is who is to be held responsible?

“Children, obviously, cannot be held responsible for either ‘bringing’ or ‘allowing’ their death. So, there are two parties that could be held responsible – the State (including public health care system) and parents/guardians,” says Ali Mehdi, senior fellow of Health Policy Initiative at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

“By State, with a capital S, I do not exclusively mean the present state or Central government, but we as a nation. Present governments in state and Centre should accept their shares of responsibility, but we as a nation are primarily responsible for the pattern of child deaths in the country,” he adds.

Every year, Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) or Chamki fever returns to haunt one of India’s poorest and most malnourished states, Bihar, leaving hundreds of children dead and others with permanent neurological damage.

From litchi to heat wave, various factors have been pointed out as the cause behind the deaths. However, one thing that gets consistently overlooked is the fact that it is a collective failure.

“Even if the role of the State was limited to tackling the shortfall in parental capability to save their children, most child deaths would still be the responsibility of the State since most parents would have done their best, as they deem fit, to keep their children alive,” says Mehdi.

“Every preventable child death is unjust, and the State is responsible for it… it is a collective failure,” he adds.

The recent AES outbreak also brought back to spotlight the public healthcare system in Bihar, which is struggling with poor infrastructure, shortage of manpower and administrative failure.

The situation is so bad that National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) was forced to send a notice to the Union Health Ministry and Bihar government over the rising number of children dying due to AES.

But can the public health care system be blamed for this medical crisis? “With efficient and equitable health systems and doctors, especially at the primary health care level, many deaths could have been prevented.

However, the challenges which surround it are reflective of the challenges of ‘structural’ causes,” says Mehdi, adding that blaming the medical system alone would be ‘unfair’ as it’s a ‘systemic failure’ of the Indian State.

Going by the magnitude of the AES outbreak, which returns every year during summers, there’s a desperate need for concrete steps to save children from this deadly disease.

“Given the endemic nature of child mortality in India – it has been the world’s largest contributor to child deaths since 1953 – it is high time for India to have a National Child Survival Policy with clearly delineated responsibilities,” Mehdi stresses.

He believes that there is a need to fix responsibility for child survival in the constitution for things to change in “any major way”.

“A ‘New India’ has to shed its world leader status in backwardness. And that has to begin with the humble acknowledgment of the challenge itself – nationalist chest-thumping isn’t going to help save lives or reduce poverty in the country,” Mehdi adds.

Every child deserves to lead a reasonably long, healthy and productive life to be able to realise their full potential, and for that, “shots of vaccinations would not be enough – children deserve a shot of justice to survive.”

“The Central and state governments have to stand up and assume responsibility for children’s survival and development up to a particular age at least. This should be included in the Constitution and a national policy be developed,”Mehdi says.

He goes on to add that people should be allowed to take the governments to court over harm to their own / children’s health and survival due to defined structural factors, such as air pollution, lack of sanitation and inadequate nutrition.

In addition to framing clear national policy for child survival, Mehdi says Indian health care system needs an urgent overhaul.

Some of the changes Mehdi recommends include developing ‘public health cadre to address social determinants of health’ (The Mudaliar Committee of 1959 recommended an ‘All India Medical Service cadre along the lines of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)), ‘sustainable financing’ mechanisms to address child deaths and malnutrition, more ASHA / ANM level workers to tackle the problem at the local level, as well as a strong regulatory mechanism for private health services and price control on medicines.

In the end, shifting the blame on the state vs central government won’t serve the purpose unless “we as citizens, as a nation have to stand up and own responsibility.”

CBI cracks down on loan defaulters

Source: thehansindia.com

New Delhi : In a possibly the biggest synchronised action against alleged bank loan defaulters, the CBI on Tuesday launched a massive crackdown by carrying out searches at over 61 locations in 18 cities after registering 17 cases involving swindling of funds to the tune of Rs 1,139 crore, officials said.

Over 300 officers drawn from various units of the agency swooped down at over 61 locations and knocked the doors of alleged defaulters on the basis of complaints received from various nationalised banks and inputs developed by the agency under close monitoring of CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and senior officials in Delhi.

The figure, which stood at around Rs 640 crore, swelled to Rs 1,139 crore as the agency continued filing of FIRs during the day and expanding its search operations.
Braving the waterlogged streets of Mumbai due to incessant rains, the agency officials carried out searches at promoters and directors of Winsome Diamonds founded by absconding diamantaire Jatin Mehta who was booked in a fresh FIR registered under this operation.

This was the 16th FIR against Mehta accusing him of allegedly defaulting Rs 202 crore from Exim Bank. He is accused of allegedly swindling funds to the tune of Rs 6,500 crore.

The searches in Mumbai also covered two other firms booked in separate FIRs on a complaint by Union Bank of India.
Five places were searched in connection with Rs 57 crore loss caused to the bank by Supamad Trading Pvt Ltd and one place was searched in connection with Asuti Trading Pvt Ltd for causing loss of Rs 50 crore to the bank.

Two places were searched in Delhi and Mumbai in connection with Asuti Trading. By evening, the agency had already registered 17 FIRs across the country and the process of registering more is going on, they said.

The searches were being conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Ludhiana, Thane, Valsad, Pune, Palani, Gaya, Gurugram, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Surat and Kolar, among others, the officials said.

Delhi-based SL Consumer Products Ltd has been booked by the CBI for causing loss to Union Bank of India to the tune of Rs 55 crore, Aligarh-based Samprash Foods Ltd for loss Rs 60 crore to Union Bank of India, Chandigarh-based International Mega Food Park Ltd for loss of Rs 40.17 crore to SIDBI, Bhopal-based Ranjeet Automobiles for loss of 34.36 crore to Bank of Baroda, Surat-based Jalpa Textiles Pvt Ltd for loss of Rs 28 crore to Bank of Baroda, they alleged.

Three FIRs pertaining to alleged irregularities in disbursal of housing loans in a Union Bank of India branch in Bhubaneswar were also registered by the agency in which senior bank officials have been named as accused.

The loans resulted in the loss of Rs 24.17 crore to the bank, the officials said, adding that searches were conducted at nine places in Odisha.