Month: September 2019

Modi in Ranchi today, to launch slew of welfare schemes, development projects

Source: hindustantimes.com

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a slew of welfare and development projects from Ranchi’s Prabhat Tara ground on Thursday, weeks ahead of the assembly polls scheduled this year-end.

Modi will dedicate country’s second Multi Model Terminal built at Sahibganj to the nation, inaugurate newly constructed state-of-the-art Assembly Building in Ranchi and lay the foundation of new secretariat building in Jharkhand capital.

He will also launch the Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana, Khudra Vyapari Dukandar Swarojgar Pension scheme and Ekalvya Model Residential School scheme.

“The PM will also launch several national projects from Jharkhand, which will help the country as well as state’s development and welfare schemes,” said CM Raghubar Das.

A pension scheme for small and marginal farmers will secure lives of estimate five crore farmers across the country including 10 lakh in Jharkhand by providing a minimum pension of Rs 3,000 per month to those who attain 60 years of age. The scheme has an outlay of Rs 10,774 crores for the next three years.

In Jharkhand, more than 1.16 lakh farmers have registered themselves under the scheme so far. Only small and marginal farmer, who own cultivable land up to two hectares, would be eligible for the scheme. Besides, the farmers, who are between the age group of 18 years and 40 years, would qualify for the scheme.

India’s second riverine Multi Model Terminal built at Sahibganj will be inaugurated by the PM through a two-way digital communication system from Ranchi.

The minister of state for shipping (independent charge) Mansukh Mandaviya will be present at Sahibganj.

Constructed at Rs 290 crore, the MMT is expected to open up industries of Jharkhand and Bihar to global market and provide Indo-Nepal cargo connectivity through waterways route. Besides coal, stone chips, fertilizers, cement and sugar and other commodities expected to be transported through the terminal.

The Sahibganj Multi Model Terminal is estimated to generate 2,500 jobs.

The PM will launch construction of 462 Ekalvya Model Residential School in tribal dominated blocks across the country by 2022. A total of 69 such schools will be started in Jharkhand. These will be opened in every block with more than 50% tribal population as well as those that have at least minimum 20,000 tribal population.

Jharkhand will get its new assembly building after 19 years of its creation. Built at Rs 465 crore on 39 acres of land, the assembly building has the seating arrangement for 162 members. Separate press gallery, officers’ gallery and visitors’ gallery have also been constructed in the building. Besides, it has 22 rooms for ministers and 17 for assembly committees.

The Prime Minister will lay foundation of Jharkhand secretariat building, which will come up on 40 acres of land next to the new assembly building in the core capital. The state cabinet has recently approved Rs 1238.92 crore for construction of the building.

Free wi-fi zones in Ranchi from November

Source: telegraphindia.com

As many as 10 busy areas of the state capital, including places like Main Road, Morabadi and Doranda, will have free wi-fi zones from November.

The private agency hired by telecom major BSNL is about to complete a survey of the areas after which the City Wi-fi project of the state IT and e-governance department will rollout.

According to sources in the district administration, hotspots would be set up at Sadar Hospital (on Main Road), State Guest house (Morabadi), Collectorate Building A-block and Collectorate Building B-block (near Kutchery Chowk), registry office (Hinoo), Government Bus Stand (Birsa Chowk), RIMS Campus (Bariatu), Birsa Munda Bus Terminus (Kantatoli), Ranchi Municipal Corporation office (Ratu Road), SSP Residence (Ratu Road) and Hatia Guest House (Doranda).

A senior BSNL official said users would have to login in to a specified webpage using his/her name and mobile number, and then enter the OTP he/she would be sent to enjoy free high-speed wi-fi for half an hour.

“After half-an-hour users would have to recharge online from the webpage to continue the service. We will unveil the the webpage before the launch of the project later this year,” said a senior BSNL official.

Recharge amounts would vary between Rs 9 and Rs 69 to provide data between 1 GB per day to 30 GB for 30 days.

State IT director U.P. Sah said that the Ranchi district informatics centre officer was coordinating with the private agency for selecting the strategic points. “As per the agreement with BSNL the project will roll out in Ranchi by November,” he told The Telegraph.

City Wi-fi will also be launched in Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Palamau and Gumla, but later.

“The Ranchi landmarks (for setting up hotspots) have been identified, keeping in view footfall and importance. In the first phase we have selected 10 spots for high-speed internet data service as a part of the City Wi-fi project. The private agency hired by BSNL has almost completed the survey at all locations,” said Ranchi district informatics centre officer Shiv Bannerjee.

BSNL chief general manager (Jharkhand circle) K. K. Thakur said they had integrated the City Wi-fi project with their mobile data offloading (MDO) service.

“The private agency, Go IP Global Services, is currently conducting a survey. We will be launching the City Wi-fi project first in Ranchi by November. Surveys are also on in six other cities where the project will also be launched soon,” said Thakur.

Bihar Police accuses man who died five years ago of breaching peace

source: indiatoday.in

The Bihar Police is in the news once again for its antics. The police of Barh, a town right next to state capital Patna has become a laughing stock.

The Barh police booked a person under Section 107 (breach of peace) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC). The only problem is that the accused died five years ago.

The police issued a preventive notice against the dead youth saying that he is expected to vitiate peace in the region.

The matter relates to communal tensions between two communities over prayers at a temple in the Masood Vigha neighbourhood in Barh.

In order to maintain peace in the region, the police issued a notice under Section 107 against both groups and asked the responsible officers to take action.

The matter is nearly eight months old. The police had issued a notice against Masood Vigha resident Ajay Yadav alias Bhulla and his father Ramkrit Yadav in January 2019.

However, Ajay Yadav died five years ago.

In a hurry, the police recommended the matter to higher officials without the necessary background checks. No police officer is ready to talk about the error made.

Nitish Kumar is captain of NDA in Bihar, says Sushil Modi

Source: thehindu.com

Days after party MLC Sanjay Paswan’s statement that Nitish Kumar should quit his post of Bihar Chief Minister and enter national politics, senior leader of Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi on Wednesday tweeted to say, “Nitish Kumar is the captain of NDA in Bihar and will remain its captain in next assembly elections in 2020 also.”

Earlier, State BJP MLC Sanjay Paswan had urged Nitish Kumar to relinquish his post for the BJP, at least for one term.

“Nitish Kumar is the captain of NDA in Bihar and will remain its captain in next assembly elections in 2020 also…when captain is hitting 4 & 6 defeating rivals by inning where is the question of any change,” tweeted Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. Mr. Modi is a senior BJP leader in Bihar and considered close to Mr. Kumar.

Mr. Sanjay Paswan had on August 9 created upheaval in the State’s ruling NDA alliance by saying, “Nitish Kumar should now step down from the post of Chief Minister for BJP…we trusted him for 15-long years and he should now reciprocate the same for the BJP for at least one term.”

Mr. Paswan had further said that, “When people are supporting PM Modi government on all issues like abrogation of Article 370, Ram Mandir, Triple Talaq and NRC, why should Nitish Kumar not relinquish his post for the BJP for one term in Bihar?” He also added, “He [Nitish Kumar] has been the Chief Minister of the State for long 15 years and now the BJP should get chance for the development of the state with the PM Modi model.”

Party sources told The Hindu that Sanjay Paswan might not have made such comment about Nitish Kumar without having a “green signal” from the top party leadership in Delhi.

Supporters of another Bihar BJP leader and MP from Begusarai, Giriraj Singh, have performed prayers to see him as the chief minister of Bihar. However, Mr. Singh, who is also a Minister in the Modi Cabinet, later explained that his supporters might have said this “in over-excitement out respect for him”.

The Janata Dal-United (JD-U), though, reacted sharply to Sanjay Paswan’s comment. “Only Nitish Kumar will be the face of the NDA in the next Assembly elections in the State and it has been accepted even by the top BJP leaders,” said party leader and spokesperson Nikhil Mandal, while another party leader and chief spokesperson Sanjay Singh asked Mr. Paswan, “Where were you during the 2015 Assembly poll when the people of Bihar had voted for Nitish Kumar and not the BJP?”

Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav, though, dared the CM to “contradict” what the BJP leaders were saying. “Has the CM guts to contradict what BJP leaders are saying? Is it not true that honourable Nitish Kumar got votes in the name of PM Modi without releasing his party’s manifesto and got 16 of his party leaders elected as MPs on the BJP manifesto [in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll]…Is it not true that he has been supporting the BJP on every Bill?…Then how come he is different?” tweeted Mr. Yadav.

Recently, projecting Mr. Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate for the Assembly poll next year, the JD(U) released its revised party slogan “Kyon kare vichar, jab hain hi Nitish Kumar (why should we mull over, when there is Nitish Kumar)”. Earlier, the slogan was “kyon kare vichar, thike to hain Nitish Kumar (why should we mull over, when it’s okay to have Nitish Kumar) but they revised it when the media raised questions over the word “thike” (just okay).

Bihar: 2 members of Viveka Pahalwan’s gang filmed brandishing AK-47, arrested

Source: indiatoday.in

Two members of the dreaded Viveka Pahalwan gang in Bihar were arrested after they were caught on camera brandishing two AK-47 rifles a few days back.

Both members, Vicky and Chandan, were arrested from Mokama in rural Patna days after a video of them wielding the assault rifles went viral.

Police had earlier registered an FIR against both the henchmen of muscleman Viveka Pahalwan, who is considered as the biggest rival of Anant Singh, who is an independent MLA from Mokama.

Local police had been carrying out searches in Mokama and in neighbouring areas to trace the duo over the past few days.

However, the police team led by ASP Lipi Singh finally managed to trace Vicky and Chandan having tea at the local railway station, following which they were arrested.

Several reports suggested that Viveka Pahalwan claimed that the AK-47s wielded by his henchmen were not real but made of plastic.

Authorities have taken both the henchmen to an undisclosed location and are interrogating them regarding the whereabouts of the AK-47 seen in the viral video.

The fresh arrest of the henchmen could help in tightening the noose around local gangsters operating in the Barh-Mokama area in rural Patna.

Bodh Gaya to be Developed as Next Tourist Destination: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Source: india.com

New Delhi: Amongst the 16 tourist destinations in the country, Bihar government’s tourism department has prepared an elaborate plan to develop Bodh Gaya as one of the iconic travel destinations.

The State tourism department on Monday held talks with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar while showcasing a detailed presentation on the action plan to promote tourism and the developmental vision for accommodating tourists in the district.


As per a Times of India report, the CM subsequently addressed a meeting with the tourism department at ‘Sankalp’ hall in his residence in Patna and recounted that the government was already taking concrete steps to promote tourism in Bodh Gaya.

The government is setting up a Mahabodhi Culture Centre with an auditorium to accommodate up to 2000 people as a part of the tourism goal. He also directed the tourism department to fix a date to visit Bodh Gaya for a better understanding of the vision.

Further, the CM said that the state government was also working on a plan to link Bodh Gaya, Rajgir and Vaishali, the three important places where Lord Buddha visited and stayed. “We are also working to provide all facilities to Buddhist monks and tourists visiting Bodh Gaya from other places,” he added.

CM Kumar has also asked the tourism officials to work on promoting agroforestry produces as a part of the marketing strategy as well as educate farmers on promoting crop cycle.

The Principal Secretary of tourism department Deepak Kumar Singh earlier informed that a total of 846.83 lakh saplings have been planted in the state from 2012 to 2019.

JMB operative arrested in Chennai, more inroads into Burdhwan, Bodhgaya blast cases

Source: oneindia.com

Chennai, Sep 10: A terrorist suspected to be associated with the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh has been arrested from Chennai.

The arrest comes in the wake of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) making several arrests from in connection with the Bodhgaya and Burdwan blasts case from South India.

The arrest was made on the basis of the investigation of Habibur Rehman, a close aide of Jahidul Islam arrested by the NIA last year from Ramanagara near Bengaluru. The sleuths of the NIA are currently questioning Rehman and during the interrogation, it came to light that he had travelled to several places across the country.

He told the NIA during interrogation that he had travelled to Bengal, Bengaluru, Kerala and Chennai. During the interrogation of Islam to the NIA had learnt that he had travelled to several places across the country and the agency suspects that it was to strengthen the activities of the Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Rehman according to the NIA landed in Bengaluru in 2015. He then took up a job with a contractor in K R Puram. However, following an NIA crackdown which led to arrests in Maharashtra, he moved out of Bengaluru. The case of Islam too is similar. He was residing in Bengaluru and following the crackdown, he moved to Ramanagara, the NIA has learnt.

NIA officials tell OneIndia that these persons had a free run all these years. They would mingle with the local population and take shelter. They were so convincing that their contractor for whom they worked had no idea about their activities. The NIA is now trying to ascertain, where these persons had transported the bombs that they had prepared. It may be recalled that hours after Habibur’s arrest, two bombs were found in a drain at Ramanagara.

Rehman was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam alias Kausar. He was also associated with other JMB leaders like Rahamatullah and Moulana Yusuf. He was an active member of JMB, Bolpur Module in West Bengal. He had attended a number of training camps conducted by JMB.

Bihar: Family Of Four Dies Of Asphyxiation Inside Septic Tank

Source: thewire.in

Muzaffarpur: Four persons of a family died of asphyxiation inside a newly-constructed septic tank at a village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Tuesday, an official said.

The incident occurred at Madhuban Kanti village under Bara Bharti panchayat of Minapur block this morning when a man, who went to remove the scaffolding of the newly-built septic tank, fell into it accidentally, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (East) Kundan Kumar said.

He died of suffocation after inhaling toxic gas. Another three persons of the family, who rushed to save the first one, entered the tank and also died of asphyxiation, Kumar added.

The deceased were identified as Madhusudan Sahni, Kaushal Kumar, Dharmendra Sahni and Veer Kumar Sahni, he said adding that all of them could be in the age group of 30-35. The bodies were sent to Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital here for postmortem.

Minapur Circle officer Gyan Prasad Srivastava announced that an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh would be paid to the next of kin of those died in the incident.

Maize crops falling victim to fall armyworm in Bihar

Source: downtoearth.org.in

Maize crops are falling prey to the deadly Fall Armyworm (FAW) in Bihar, India’s third-largest corn producer.

There are officials reports of FAW attacks on maize crops from the districts of Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Saran and Sheohar, an official of the state agriculture department said. “But unconfirmed reports also suggest presence of FAW in other maize-growing districts of north Bihar,” he added.

FAW was first detected by entomologists C M Kalleshwara Swamy and Sharanabasappa in maize fields at the University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shimoga, in Karnataka last year. It is an invasive and polyphagous (feeding on many foods) pest. It can attack cereals and forage grasses.

The deadly pest has since spread across many states in the country.

Last year, FAW was detected at a few places in Bihar, but maize crops were not infected. This year though, things are different.

Thousands of maize-growing farmers in Muzaffarpur and neighbouring districts are worried about the latest attacks of FAW.

“We have never faced anything like it in the past,” Narender Yadav, a marginal maize-growing farmer from Guaridih village in Muzaffarpur’s Gaighat block, said.

“This is something new and harmful. I don’t know how to protect my crops,” Yadav, who lost his crop to FAW last week, said.

“We have information that FAW has damaged maize crops on nearly 60 hectares (ha) so far in two panchayats of Gaighat,” Muzaffarpur District Agriculture Officer Krishna Kumar Verma, said.

There were also reports of FAW damaging maize crops in some villages under the Bochaha and Minapur block. “I have directed agriculture officers in these blocks to collect information,” Verma said.

According to him, a team of experts including agriculture scientists from Patna had visited Gaighat last week after the pest attack to study the worm and suggest measures to tackle it.

“Soon after the presence of FAW was reported, we informed the state agriculture director and issued an advisory on how to manage the pest,” RN Singh, associate director of Bihar Agriculture University at Sabour in Bhagalpur district, said.

“We have already taken measures and advised farmers to use insecticides on their maize crops,” Adesh Titarmare, state agriculture director, said.

However, there is no official confirmation of FAW presence in the Kosi-Seemanchal region of north-eastern Bihar, which accounts for nearly 65 per cent of its total maize production. The districts included in the region are Araria, Madhepura, Saharsa, Supaul, Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar.

According to official numbers, Bihar has a high maize productivity of 3,904 kg/ha, which is more than the national average of 2,889 kg/ha. Bihar has witnessed a visible growth in maize production in the past decade.

The state produced 1.36 million tonnes of the crop in 2005-06. This increased to 3.85 million tonnes in 2016-17, as the high-yielding maize of Rabi season has been replacing winter wheat and paddy in the state.

PM Modi to launch farmers’ pension scheme in Ranchi on Sept 12

Source: avenuemail.in

Ranchi, Sep 10 (IANS) Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would launch three national level and two state level schemes from here on September 12.

“The Prime Minister will launch three national and two state level schemes here on September 12. The first scheme is Kisan Mandhan Yojna, under which farmers will get Rs 3,000 pension; the second is laying the foundation stone for 462 Eklavya schools exclusively for quality education; the third is a pension scheme for small shopkeepers,” the Chief Minister said in a press conference here on Tuesday.

Das said that under the farmer’s scheme, more than one lakh farmers have been registered in the state. As per the available data, Jharkhand is fifth largest state in terms of farmers pension registration. Farmers between the age of 18 and 40 years will get the benefits of the pension scheme after turning 60, Das said.

“Similarly, small shopkeepers between the age of 18 and 40 years will be eligible to get pension after turning 60. The small shopkeepers registered with the government will get Rs 3,000 pension per month. Of the 462 Eklavya schools, 69 will be set up in Jharkhand for providing quality education to the tribal children.

“The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the two state level schemes. First, the inauguration of the state Assembly building and the second is a multi-modal terminal at Sahebganj,” said the Chief Minister.

Jharkhand is set to get it’s own Assembly building, which has been constructed on a 39-acre land costing Rs 465 crore. It will have a sitting capacity of 162 legislators.

Modi will also lay the foundation stone for the new Secretariat which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,238 crore on 68 acres of land.

The Prime Minister will also dedicate to the nation India’s second riverine multi-modal terminal in Sahibganj built at a cost of Rs 290 crore in a record time of about two years.

Modi had himself laid the foundation stone for the IWAI’s Sahibganj multi-modal terminal (MMT) in April, 2017. It is the second of the three multi-modal terminals being constructed on river Ganga under the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP). In November 2018, the Prime Minister had inaugurated the MMT at Varanasi.

The MMT at Sahibganj will open up the industries of Jharkhand and Bihar to the global market and provide Indo-Nepal cargo connectivity through waterways route.