Day: September 25, 2019

Ranchi diary: Ban on single-use plastic at Jharkhand government offices

Source: newindianexpress.com

Ban on single-use plastic at govt offices

Single-use plastic items will be banned at Jharkhand government offices from October 2. The rule will be implemented at all such offices, which are either directly or indirectly under control of the state government. Chief Secretary DK Tiwari, on the proposal of Forest department, directed to ensure that ban is implemented in every government office all over the state. According to the directions issued by the state government, the offices will have to make arrangements for collecting plastic waste separately so that it could be disposed of in a proper way. 

Pamphlets to check child-lifting rumours

To check mob-violence following rumours of child-lifting, the Ranchi Police has decided to distribute pamphlets in both rural and urban areas as well to spread awareness among the people. A team of police personnel and members of a peace committee will paste posters in some of the strategic locations, appealing the people not to pay heed to such rumours. The people will also be told about the provisions of law under which they could be punished, if found involved in any kind of mob-violence.  Earlier, Jharkhand DGP K N Chaubey had told the media that the police were holding meetings with the people and cautioning them against mob violence, but added that law enforcers need the society’s contribution and help to control the menace.

Authority to protect witnesses

To ensure security to court witnesses, an authority will be set up in each of the districts headed by a principal district judge. The authority will identify such witnesses who are vulnerable to pressure. The witnesses may also request to the authority to provide security if they feel that their life or property is in danger. It will encourage witnesses to appear in the court boldly without fear as it will provide them a sense of security inside and outside the court campus.  The suggestions for forming such an authority came after several witnesses were intimidated by moneyed people.

Feat for Sadar Hospital

Adding one more feather in its cap, Ranchi’s Sadar Hospital has come second in the country for treatment of patients under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. According to officials in the Ranchi administration, 6,840 patients were treated under the Ayushman Bharat in the last one year. Officials claimed that more than 45,000 patients were treated free of cost in the district, providing benefits worth more than `62 crore to them. Sadar Hospital has provided five times more benefits than the state’s premiere health institute, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.

Delhi Metro grey line: Dwarka-Najafgarh stretch inspection on Wednesday, services expected to begin soon

Source: dnaindia.com

The Commissioner of Metro Rail Safety (CMRS), Janak Kumar Garg will inspect the 4.2 km-long Dwarka-Najafgarh section of Delhi Metro (Grey Line) on September 25 (Wednesday).

Currently, trial runs are being conducted by the DMRC on 4.2 km-long Dwarka and Najafgarh stretch while its services are expected to begin soon.

Part of Delhi Metro’s Phase-3, the trials had begun in August.

The latest route of Delhi Metro (grey line) between Dwarka-Najafgarh will have three stations – Dwarka, Nangli and Najafgarh — out of which Dwarka and Nangli are elevated stations while Najafgarh is underground. 

The initial target to complete the line is by the end of this (September) month, however, this route is further being stretched by another 1.18 km till Dhansa Stand, which is expected to be completed by December 2020.

As the trial runs are being conducted, it is being ensured that the Metro train is not making interactions with any physical infringements (civil structure) and also to ensure that there are no physical blockages during the movement of the train on the track.

Meanwhile, the signaling trials are expected to begin in the days to come.

The new 4.2 km stretch between Dwarka and Najafgarh (Grey Line) will be linked to Blue-Line which connects Dwarka Sector 21 to Noida Electronic City and Vaishali in Ghaziabad.

According to DMRC, it is estimated that around 2 lakh commuters will be benefitted from Delhi Metro’s Dwarka-Najafgarh line.

Bomb materials stored by JMB terrorist at Electronic City, Bengaluru seized by NIA

Source: oneindia.com

New Delhi, Sep 25: The National Investigation Agency has recovered improvised explosive devices based on the disclosure by a terrorist of the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh. JMB Terrorist Jahidul Islam alias Kausar, who is in NIA custody disclosed that after the Burdwan blast in 2014, he and his associates took shelter in various locations in South India. He said that the hideouts were at Aribele, Kadugodi, K.R.Puram, Chikkbanavara and Shikaripalya, Electronic City in Bengaluru.

NIA officials tell OneIndia that from the hideout in Electronic City, several incriminating articles meant to be used for preparation of IEDs and grenades such as two cuboid shaped batteries wrapped with plastic tape and electrical wire, one capacitor, three switches, one micro lithium cell, one plastic transparent box containing black colour chemical wrapped in a white paper, hand gloves, identity cards, rent agreement of one of the hideouts, handwritten letters in Bengali language, one digital camera and silver articles looted during dacoities committed in Bengaluru in 2018, have been seized.

He further said that he and his associates had test fired three rocket shells at Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu. He said he and his associates, Habibur had prepared these rockets using a crude device. From here the NIA seized remnants of explosive materials such as 8 batteries of 1.5 volt each, a hollow cylindrical carton used for launching the rocket shell and pieces of electrical wire.

Jahidul was arrested in August for his role in both the Burdwan and Bodhgaya blasts. Islam, who is a member of the Jamaat ul Mujahideen Bangladesh was arrested from Ramagara, around 50 kilometres from Bengaluru, Karnataka. Based on specific information, the NIA raided his home.

During the search, the NIA found some electronic devices besides traces of explosives. He is a top leader of JMB in India and is wanted in Burdwan blast case and in many other cases in Bangladesh also. He is the master mind of the Bodhgaya case.

Earlier the NIA arrested two persons in connection with the planning of a bomb blast at the Bodh Gaya complex on January 19 2018. The arrested persons have been identified as Abdul Karim and Mustafizur Rehman, both residents of West Bengal.

They were arrested from the labour camp of Bengali speaking persons in Mallapuram in Kerala. The NIA says that the duo were hiding in this camp after planting the improvised explosive devices.

The NIA has so far managed to establish the identity of 10 persons involved in the conspiracy. With the nabbing of these two persons, the number of persons to be arrested in this case has gone up to 5.

The NIA says that the conspiracy was hatched by ten persons belonging to the Bangladesh based outfit, Jamaat-ul Mujahideen, Bangladesh.

It may be recalled that the Intelligence Bureau had warned that several illegal immigrants would look to make their way down south and the entry point would be Kerala. In the above mentioned case, the arrests were made from a Bengali camp. Officers have been saying for long that illegal migrants from Bangladesh take shelter in such camps, as it becomes hard for security agencies to detect.

Women Anganwadi Workers Beaten Up By Policemen in Jharkhand

Source: thequint.com

On 24 September, many protesting Anganwadi Sevika Sahayaka Sangh workers were beaten up in Jharkhand’s Ranchi by the police on the 40th consecutive day of their protest.

The protest was organised close to the Raj Bhavan in Jharkhand’s Ranchi. In a video of the incident one cannot see the presence of female police officials. A policeman can be seen punching a woman on her right arm after he kept beating her with a lathi.

The workers have been on a hunger strike for 12 days.

WHAT WERE THEIR DEMANDS?

1. Anganwadi workers should be declared government workers. Till then the sevikas should be paid Rs 18,000 and sahayakas should be paid Rs 9,000.

2. Mini anganwadi sevikas should be treated the same way anganwadi sisters are treated.

3. To end the practice of an upper age limit while granting promotions to the anganwadi workers.

4. Anganwadi workers should be given social security benefits.

5. Retirement age of workers should be increased to 65 from 60 years, like was done by the Bihar government. At retirement sevikas should be given Rs 5 lakh and sahayakas should be given Rs 3 lakh.

The Quint contacted the DGP of Jharkhand Kamal Nayan Chaubey, but the call went unanswered. The article will be updated as and when we get a reaction.

Jharkhand ATS nabs Al Qaeda suspect from railway station in Jamshedpur

Source: hindustantimes.com

Jharkhand police’s anti-terrorist squad (ATS) has arrested suspected Al Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent (AQIS) terrorist Kalimuddin Mujahiri, who had been absconding for more than three years, officials said in Ranchi on Sunday.

The most wanted terror suspect, a madrasa owner, was picked up by a special team of ATS from Tatanagar railway station in Jamshedpur late on Saturday night and rushed to Ranchi.

“He has been changing locations and appearances continuously to dodge the police. We had formed special teams which have been keeping an eye on him and tracing his possible locations,” Murari Lal Meena, additional director general of police (ADGP, operation), said while speaking to HT.

“As soon as we got a tip-off that Kalimuddin had come to his home in Azad Nagar, Jamshedpur, our team arrested him from Tatanagar station last night,” Meena said.

“He was absconding for the last three years and this (his arrest) will help us in cracking the AQIS network in Jharkhand and also other parts of the country,” he added.

Kalimuddin and his son Huzaifa were believed to have fled to Bangladesh or Nepal after being released by Jamshedpur city police in 2016. They were released after some local leaders in Mango area of the city assured the police that they will produce them in a police station whenever required.

“Kalimuddin has been visiting Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and South Africa apart from brainwashing youths and mobilising them to join AQIS in Jharkhand, Asansol, Kolkata, Gujarat, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh,” Meena said.

“He has close links with arrested AQIS top recruiters Abdul Rahman Ali Khan Katki alias Haider alias Masood and Jamshedpur-based Abdul Sami alias Ujjair alias Hassan. Katki always stayed in Kalimuddin’s home or madrasa and used it as a hideout often,” he said.

Katki was arrested by Delhi Police’s special cell from Odisha’s Cuttack in December 2015 and Sami from Nuh in Haryana in January the next year.

Syed Md Zeeshan Ali Haider, also from Mango, was arrested in Delhi on August 10, 2017, after being deported from Saudi Arabia. His brother Syed Md Arshian Ali is believed to have joined ISIS in Syria.

Katki, Sami and Zeeshan are lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi.

Kalim is the ninth in the list of suspected AQIS operators in India and fourth from Jharkhand against whom proclaimed absconder order was issued by the courts so far.

ATS sources said another wanted terrorist Abu Sufiyan from Chatra has been traceless for long and believed to have been in jail in Syria after allegedly joining ISIS.

Kalimuddin’s son Huzaifa also studied at Katki’s madrasa near Cuttack where ATS and Delhi Police special cell claimed that host of young men from Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal were brainwashed to join AQIS.

ATS had attached the property and belongings of Kalimuddin in September 2017 in Azad Nagar and his madrasa Jamia Mohammad Bin Abdullah Madrassa where AQIS chief operator Katki used to stay during his city visits since 2001.

The court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) in Jamshedpur had issued the proclamation order declaring Kalimuddin a proclaimed absconder on September 23, 2016, under section 82 of criminal procedure code (CrPc) on a plea by Jharkhand ATS.

Earlier, a special designated court in Delhi had issued the proclaimed absconder order against eight suspected AQIS terrorists, including three from Jharkhand. Zeeshan, Arshian Ali and Abu Sufiyan from Misraul under Tandwa police station in Charta district of the state were among them.

Two more operators Ahmad Masood Akram alias Monu and Raju alias Naseem Akhtar are currently in Ghaghidih jail.

Jharkhand’s director general of police (DGP) Kamal Nayan Choubey congratulated ATS superintendent of police A Vijaya Laxmi and her team for successfully tracing and arresting Kalimuddin.

“This has reiterated the relevance of our ATS and STF and their penetration in carrying out their challenging jobs. This success will go on to help us break the terrorist network in Jharkhand and elsewhere,” said Choubey in his message.

Giriraj Singh To Replace Nitish Kumar In Bihar After Assembly Polls? His Reply Shocks Everyone

Source: newsnation.in

It is being long speculated that Union minister and the firebrand leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Giriraj Singh is likely to replace Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister, if the Saffron party outscores JDU in Bihar Assembly polls. However, putting all the speculations to the bed, Giriraj Singh on Tuesday asserted that his political innings may “come to an end” with the completion of the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

It is to be noted that that the clarification from Giriraj Singh comes in reply to the reporters’ queries about him being a probable chief ministerial candidate after the assembly polls in Bihar next year. The BJP leader said, “I am one of those party workers who entered public life to fulfil the dream of integration of Kashmir pursuing which Syama Prasad Mukherjee had sacrificed his life. PM Narendra Modi has achieved that.” 

“I did not enter politics to acquire positions of power. So now I see my political innings nearing its end. It may come to an end with the completion of Modi’s ongoing tenure, Giriraj Singh added.  

It is worth mentioning here that Assembly elections in Bihar for all 243 seats will be held in October 2020. The term of current assembly, which was elected in 2015, will culminate on November 29, 2020.  

Giriraj Singh is currently serving as the Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Giriraj Singh defeated CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar from the Begusarai parliamentary constituency.

Amid soaring prices, onions worth Rs 8 lakh stolen from godown in Patna

Source: hindustantimes.com

Amidst the reports of soaring onion prices across the country, a case of onion theft worth more than Rs 8 lakh from a dealer’s godown has surfaced from Bihar.

Dheeraj Kumar, the godown owner alleged on Monday that he found the godown broken in and 328 bags of onion along with cash missing when he came in the morning.

“At around 6 in the morning I came to know that the door of my godown was broken, approximately Rs 8 lakh worth of onions kept in 328 bags, cash of Rs 1 lakh 73 thousand and a television set kept in the godown were stolen,” Kumar told reporters here.

He, however, added that he had insured the goods in his godown and therefore was hopeful of getting some relief.

“The godown was built in a desolate spot where usually people do not visit after eight at night, the theft could have happened anytime in the night. My goods were insured, I will lodge an FIR and then try to get the amount from the company,” Kumar said.

Vinod Thakur, the police inspector agreed that a theft had taken place and prima facie it seemed that it was onion and bags which were stolen from the godown.

“The shutters were up and the doors of the room were open, the lock of almirah too was broken. We have begun the investigation and try to nab the culprits,” Thakur said.

Separate medical university to be set up in Bihar

Source: hindustantimes.com

Bihar will have a separate full-fledged medical university to cater to all medical, nursing and paramedical courses.

Announcing this, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday said the government was working in this direction and had constituted a four-member committee to explore possibilities to have an independent medical university.

He said the idea was to carve out medical education from the Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU), which currently mentors all technical and medical institutions, and to create a separate medical university, which will have under its ambit all medical, ayurvedic, unani, paramedical and nursing colleges. The AKU will then cater to only technical institutes like engineering colleges, added Modi.

Speaking at a function to mark the completion of first year of the Ayushman Bharat universal health scheme, he said Bihar should strive to improve its coverage, both in terms of treatment and issuance of e-golden cards to its beneficiaries.

He said Bihar would open 11 new medical colleges, which would wipe out the shortage of doctors in the next four-five years. At the same time, Modi was critical of the Congress, for opening only four medical colleges in undivided Bihar since independence during the nearly-65-years period it governed the country.

The deputy CM said the Centre was committed to opening 75 new medical colleges in India this year and asked the health minister to avail of the opportunity by giving 20 acre land and making a formal request on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Expressing concern over booming population, he also urged the health department to study the total fertility rate (TFR – child bearing capacity of a woman) pattern in West Bengal, where it was as low as 1.6, whereas the same was 3.2 in Bihar.

The TFR in other southern and western states like Tamil Nadu (1.6), Maharashtra and Karnataka (1.6 each) was also less, while those in Uttar Pradesh (3), Madhya Pradesh (2.7), Rajasthan (2.6), Jharkhand (2.5) and Assam (2.3) was higher.

Earlier, state health minister Mangal Pandey said the state had to achieve much more than what it had achieved in the first year under Ayushman Bharat. He expressed concern at the fact that only 147 private health facilities were empanelled under the scheme in Bihar against 18,000 private centres in the country.

Highlighting efforts to improve health services in the state, Pandey said the government would issue the tender this week for the ₹5,500-crore project to convert the existing 2,500-bed Patna Medical College Hospital into 5,400 beds over the next seven-eight years. He also said nine district hospitals would be upgraded and 22 others would get CT scan facility.

Earlier, state principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar said this would be a year of recruitment for the health department as it would recruit 2,425 doctors in addition to 4,000 general duty medical officers as also 9,130 grade A nurses to tide over the shortage of doctors and nurses.

Health secretary and chief executive officer of Bihar health authority, Lokesh Kumar Singh, gave a brief overview of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in the state.