October 2019 - Page 13 of 14

Bus bays in poll-code race

Source: telegraphindia.com

Decks have been cleared for completing the tender process of Transport Nagar in Ranchi and the new bus terminus in Dhanbad by the end of this month so that the construction work can begin before the model code of conduct for the Assembly polls comes into effect.

However, it will be a race against time to ensure the start of work on the new inter-state bus terminus (ISBT) in Jamshedpur and redevelopment of the Birsa Munda Bus Terminus at Khadgarha in Ranchi before the poll notification. Work on the new ISBT in Ranchi will start next year.

State urban development secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh, who is also the chairman of Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company (Juidco), reviewed the upcoming projects on Monday.

After a three-hour meeting, Singh directed Juidco officials and Bangalore-based private consultant iDeCK to complete the tender process of the Dhanbad bus terminus and Transport Nagar project at the earliest so that foundation stone could be laid by the end of this month.

“The private consultant and Juidco officials informed that the draft detailed project report (DPR) of Transport Nagar at Sukurhuttu ( Ranchi) and the terminus at Bartand in Dhanbad are ready,” Singh said.

Senior Juidco officials said the completion of tender process and the issue of work order would take a minimum of 21 days. Though the foundation stone can be laid by the end of this month, work can only commence in the first week of November.

“We are racing against time to ensure work gets started on this project to escape delay due to model code of conduct,” a Juidco official said.

The new bus terminus in Dhanbad will come up on 18.42 acres at Bartand near the existing terminus at a proposed cost of Rs 250 crore on a PPP (public-private-partnership) mode. It will have AC waiting halls, washrooms, parking bays for two and four–wheelers, retail shops. It can park 35 buses and as many as 18 buses can leave the terminus for various destinations at one go.

The Transport Nagar will come up on 40 acres at Sukurhuttu at a cost of Rs 250 crore and can accommodate 705 trucks. It will have a health care center, weight bridge, workshops, food court, canteen, retail shops and dormitory for 700 persons.

“A directive has also been issued to the private consultant to submit the DPR of the ISBT at Jamshedpur and renovated Birsa Munda Bus terminus at Khadgarha (Ranchi) by this week-end,” Singh said.

Juidco sources , said the foundation stone laying for Jamshedpur and Khadgarha projects couldn’t possibly take place before the middle of November and the poll notification would be issued by then.

The Jamshedpur ISBT would come up near Pardih in Mango close to NH-33 on 10 acres of land at a cost of Rs 35 crore. The Khadgarha bus terminus will be set up on 15 acres at a cost of Rs 144-crore.

Jharkhand doctor prescribes pregnancy tests on men, cries foul later

Source: indiatoday.in

Pregnancy tests for men complaining of stomach pain. This is what a doctor in a government hospital in Jharkhand has prescribed to diagnose two men who came for check-up following stomach problem.

This rather bizarre turn of events has been reported from a referral hospital at Simaria in Chatr district of Jharkhand. Dr Mukesh, serving at the hospital, prescribed pregnancy tests to two young men who had come for a check-up after stomach pain on October 1.

The patients had been taken to the hospital by their family members as they complained of intense stomach pain. The doctor prescribed other tests as well such as for HIV, HBA, HCV, CBC, HH-2 and ANC the last one is a test that is conducted to see if a woman is pregnant or not.

In this case the two patients, who were asked to undergo the ANC test were, 22-year-old Gopal Ganjhu and 26-year-old Kameshwar Ganjhu — to remind again, both are men.

When Gopal and Kameshwar visited the pathological lab of the hospital, the attending doctor was bewildered and told the patients that the ANC is done on women to check pregnancy. The doctor expressed surprise that the consulting doctor prescribed this test on two men.

The two men then went back to their village and told the fellow villagers. Soon, the word spread with amusement.

On his part, Dr Mukesh denied prescribing ANC test on two men when he was asked about the claim made by Gopal and Kameshwar. He cried foul claiming a conspiracy hatched to defame him.

He said, “This is not true. This is an effort to defame me. Those tests could have been added by overwriting.” However, this strange case has become a subject of great interest in this Jharkhand town

After Arrest of ‘SIMI Operative’, NIA May Reopen Gandhi Maidan, Bodh Gaya Blast Cases

Source: thewire.in

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) may reopen the serial blast cases in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and Bodh Gaya serial blast cases after alleged SIMI operative Azharuddin was arrested at the Hyderabad airport on Friday night, according to a report in the Times of India.

Azharuddin, who is also known as ‘Chemical Ali’, is an accused in the 2013 Bodh Gaya and Patna bomb blasts and had been on the run since December 2013 after the Chhattisgarh police’s anti-terrorist squad busted a SIMI sleeper module and arrested 17 operatives.

Police claimed that Azharuddin or Azhar went to Saudi Arabia on a fake passport after hiding in Hyderabad for some time. A police official told TOI that Azhar had come back from Saudi Arabia to meet his family, which had shifted to Hyderabad, when he was arrested at the airport on October 11.

“Acting on a specific input, he was arrested by a joint team of Chhattisgarh Police and its Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) wing from Hyderabad airport on Friday after he landed (in a flight) from Saudi Arabia,” Raipur SSP Arif Sheikh said.

Azhar has been charged under sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act. A sedition case has also been registered against him.

Speaking to TOI, Sheikh said that the police had seized Azhar’s passport boarding pass, two driving licences and a voter ID card. “We expect his interrogation to reveal crucial links in the terror network and their operations. Azhar will be produced in [a] local court for transit remand,” the SSP said.

Police officials also said that Azhar, who was regularly in touch with SIMI operatives, had been involved in raising funds for banned terror outfits and brainwashing recruits. He is also accused of providing shelter and support to terrorists who organised the Bodh Gaya and Patna blasts.

A senior police official said that Azharuddin may have provided logistics to bombers in both the blasts. “His interrogation will make things clearer,” he said, speaking to TOI. While the trial in the Gandhi Maidan blast case is underway, all the five convicts in the 2013 Bodh Gaya serial blasts were sentenced to life imprisonment by an NIA court in June 2018.

In July 2013, ten bombs exploded around the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bodh Gaya and injured five persons. Later in October 2013, bombs exploded in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan, just before the then prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was scheduled to arrive for a public rally.

The suspects involved in the blasts allegedly took refuge in Raipur with Azhar’s aid. Sheikh, the Raipur SSP, told TOI that Azhar sheltered the bombers of both blasts. “We have taken him on two days’ remand for interrogation. [The] NIA and Intelligence Bureau (IB) sleuths were also interrogating him,” he said.

While 17 operatives linked to SIMI were arrested in December 2013 – of which Umer Siddiqui and Azharuddin Qureshi were later convicted in the Bodh Gaya case – Azhar managed to flee.

Angry With Waterlogging in Patna after Heavy Rain, People Surround Deputy CM Sushil Modi’s House

Source: news18.com

Patna: Irked over the problems of waterlogging and accumulation of trash in some areas of the city, a group of people on Sunday gheraoed Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi’s residence here.

The state capital was pounded by heavy rain late last month leading to waterlogging in areas such as Rajendra Nagar, Kankar Bagh and Pataliputra Colony. Even after a fortnight, water has not fully receded in some low-lying localities and garbage has not been cleared in some pockets.

“Around 50-60 people took out a march to Sushil Modi’s house (in Rajendra Nagar area) and returned after some time,” said City Superintendent of Police (Central) Vinay Tiwari.

On September 30, Modi and his family members were rescued by an SDRF team from his flooded residence in Rajendra Nagar. However, they returned later to the house.

The BJP leader, however, was not present during the protest, official sources said adding that security has been beefed up at Modi’s residence. Modi could not be contacted for his comment despite several attempts.

Angry people, carrying placards, shouted anti-Modi slogans and demanded action against officials who failed to flush out water fully in Rajendra Nagar area, making their lives difficult.

“He (Modi) left us in the lurch and fled to a safe place,” one of the protesters said.

A heap of garbage has piled up in the area and it has become quite difficult to live, another protester said. Another demanded an enquiry by Enforcement Directorate and CBI into the assets of all local BJP MLAs and ward councillors. They were also seeking compensation for the damage done to their properties in three days of incessant rain.

After demonstrating there for around 30 minutes, they reached the Patna Municipal Corporation office and protested there.

The state capital was pounded by 342.5 millimetres of rainfall between September 27 and 30, as against the state average of 255 millimetres.

Another group of people also blocked Bailey Road near Saguna More and burnt tyres to protest against the continued waterlogging in some areas. They also shouted anti-government slogans.

“Local people had blocked Bailey road near Saguna More at around 8 am for around half-an-hour. We got the blockade lifted after pacifying them,” a police officer said.

2013 Bihar Blasts Suspect “Chemical Ali”, Of Banned Group SIMI, Arrested

Source: ndtv.com

RAIPUR:

Suspected SIMI operative Azharuddin alias Azhar alias Chemical Ali, wanted in connection with the 2013 Bodhgaya and Patna bomb blasts, was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from Hyderabad airport after he landed from Saudi Arabia, an officer said on Saturday.

Ali (32), a native of Raipur, has been wanted since the last six years after he was named as an accused in connection with the Bihar blasts, Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Arif Sheikh told reporters.

Ali is suspected to have given shelter to terrorists involved in the Bodhgaya and Patna blasts.

“In December 2013, Raipur Police had busted a module of the banned outfit (Students Islamic Movement of India) in the state capital and over a period of time arrested 17 people, including SIMI sleeper cell head Umer Siddiqui, in connection with the Bodhgaya and Patna blasts,” the SSP said.

Another accused, identified as Azhar (believed to be Ali), who had allegedly given shelter to terrorists involved in theses blasts, had managed to give police a slip and subsequently fled the country, he said.

“After getting information that Azhar alias Ali had moved to Saudi Arabia on a fake passport and has been working there as a driver cum assistant at a super market, the state police were keeping an eye on him,” the officer revealed.

A special team of police and ATS personnel was constituted after they received input on Ali’s arrival at Hyderabad airport where he was arrested.

A passport, two driving licenses, a boarding pass and a voter ID card were recovered from Ali, he said.

Ali will be produced in local court, the SSP said, adding that police will seek a two-day remand for Ali.

“Ali’s interrogation is likely to reveal crucial details like if he had had any support base in Hyderabad,” the police officer added.

The world-renowned Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya was rocked by a series of blasts on July 7, 2013. Though there were no casualties, several people, including some monks, were injured.

Five Indian Mujahideen (IM) militants, convicted by a special NIA court in the 2013 Bodh Gaya blasts case, were sentenced to life imprisonment by an NIA court in 2018.

Chakardharpur to become new district by February: Jharkhand CM

Source: avenuemail.in

Jamshedpur, Oct. 13: During his whirlwind tour to different parts of Kolhan, Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Sunday promised to make Chakardharpur a different district by February, 2020. Addressing the Kolhan leg of Johar Jan Ashirwad Yatra at Chakardharpur, Das said that if voted to power the State Government will carve Charkardharpur as the new district.

Taking a dig at the regional parties, Das said that Jharkhand could not become a separate state in 1993 because of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. It was the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who kept the promise made to Jharkhand and gave a separate statehood status. “Keeping this in mind, I promise that voted to power Chakardharpur will be made a separate district by February 2020.

Targeting the Soren family, Das said that guruji and his son has served as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister but they worked to sell Kolhan’s mineral wealth to other states and countries. They did nothing for the development of the State.

Addressing a public meeting at Goilkera, Raghubar Das said that JMM has forgotten the martyrs. BJP has worked to honour the sons of the soil.

Das announced that on the demand of youths Goilkera-Gudri road will be constructed. For 14 years, development was disrupted in the State due to political instability. But after 2014 there has been a stable and strong government.

Das said that his Government has brought the State on the path of development during his five tenure of Chief Minister of Jharkhand. He went on to add that the people of Jharkhand will vote on the basis of his performance and he is confident to win in the elections.

The Chief Minister noted that the party’s vision is making Jharkhand a developed state. “We are promoting agriculture and industry together. We want to build basic infrastructure in the state apart from improved health-care facilities,” said Das.

The Chief Minister said that the state was making steady progress in making it one of the vibrant states in the field of industrial development. “Jharkhand government has framed policies to provide technical education and skill development. We have to just ensure that these policies are implemented. The need is to bridge the skill gap between the industry and the skill provider,” he said.

“We will ensure that mineral-abundant Jharkhand develops as number one state of the country,” he said. Das said the government is working efficiently in bringing speedy development, providing basic amenities and improving policing. He also said that ensuring corruption free governance has been his foremost priority.

Coach blames Jharkhand’s poor show on inexperience

Source: telegraphindia.com

he stellar 6.16m long jump by Priyanka Kerketta on Saturday proved to be Jharkhand’s lone medal, as the four-day 59th National Open Athletics Championships in Ranchi wrapped up on Sunday with Railways as overall champs.

Jharkhand state coach for the national games, Arvind Kumar, blamed the age of the Jharkhand contingent for the poor show. “Of the 24-member team, 22 athletes were in the Under-19 category. The team lacked the experience that their counterparts from other states had,” he told this paper from the venue.

Congratulating Priyanka, the 21-year-old Mandar girl, he said Jharkhand could have won another medal had ace 100m hurdle Sapna Kumari not suffered an injury.

But, the national meet had action aplenty on its last day. As on Friday, Sunday belonged to Odisha’s star sprinter Dutee Chand. Dutee, 23, who created a new national 100m sprint record at 11.22 seconds on Friday, was in her element on Sunday in the 200m sprint. She stormed to the finish at 23.17 seconds, leaving behind Archana Suseendran of Tamil Nadu and Chandralekha Anandhan of the Railways.

Abhinav Panwar of Delhi raced to gold in the men’s 200m (21.37 seconds), ahead of Karre Ashok from Services and M. Manikanda Arumugam M. of the Railways.

Chitra Palakeez Unnikrish of Railways grabbed the women’s 800m gold by breasting the tape in 2.04.59 seconds, breezing past teammate Shipra Sarkar and Pramila Yadav of Uttar Pradesh. Among men, Md Afzal P. of Services clocked 1:50.88 seconds in the 800m race to win it over teammate Ankesh Chaudhary and Tamil Nadu’s Mujamil Ameet.

Rekha Singh of Delhi topped the women’s hammer throw with a 56.38m hurl, as did Taranveer Singh Bains of Services in men’s with a 68.49m hurl. Women’s high jump saw Rubina Yadav of the Railways leap 1.76m. In the men’s long jump, Sreeshankar M. of Kerala won gold with a 7.93m leap.

‘Happy and proud’: R Praggnanandhaa’s sister Vaishali says he deserved to win gold in Chess Championship

source: dnaindia.com

After the 14-year-old R Praggnanandhaa won gold in the under-18 open category in the World Youth Chess Championship, his sister Vaishali said the whole family is ‘happy and proud’ of her brother’s achievement.

“We are very happy and proud. I saw the video. It was very emotional, we felt very happy. It was all his hard work. He deserves it,” Vaishali told ANI.

Praggnanandhaa achieved the feat in Mumbai on Saturday. He scored an impressive and unbeaten 9/11 and he ended with a performance rating over 2700.

Praggnanandhaa also got praised by Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand.

“Congrats!! Very proud of you!! In our next session in Chennai, you have some nice games to show me !!” Viswanathan Anand tweeted.

Vaishali said it was a ‘really nice’ gesture of Anand as she said: “It was really nice of him. He tweeted about his achievement and it was very nice.”

Vaishali further stated that she is lucky to have a brother like Praggnanandhaa.

“He is 14-year-old and has won the U-18 world championship, it is really great. I am really lucky to have him as a brother,” she said.

Nudge to get IIT seal on Ranchi’s Kantatoli flyover

Source: telegraphindia.com

he state urban development department will seek the cabinet’s approval to engage IIT-Bombay for vetting the Kantatoli flyover project and sanction Rs 17 lakh as fee to the tech institute.

The project is being undertaken by Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Juidco).

In 2016, the state government had directed the department to get the project vetted by an IIT, but it could not be done because the original design of the flyover was changed several times.

“The project has been approved by the Central Design Organisation. However, we want to remain on the safe side by removing flaws in the design and construction, if there are any, by getting the project audited by a third party. As the design and layout of the project was changed several times, it was not possible to hire any agency to vet the project till we have a final design,” a Juidco official said.

Originally, the total length of the flyover was around 900 metres. Later, the layout was changed and the length of the flyover was revised to 1,250 metres.

Secretary of urban development department Ajoy Kumar Singh said: “We had sought quotations from IITs. IIT-Bombay quoted Rs 17 lakh as vetting fee. Now this matter will be taken up with the

cabinet for approval so that the fund is allocated and the tech institute is roped in on nomination basis.”

Cost escalation is another issue that has impeded the execution of the project, which is going on at a tardy pace.

Initially, the project cost was estimated at Rs 192 crore. Currently, it stands at Rs 257 crore.

In August, the urban development department moved a proposal seeking the finance department’s approval for the revised budget.The estimate committee of finance department examined the proposal and forwarded it to empowered committee.

The empowered panel formed a committee headed by an official of the rank of engineer-in-chief of road construction department.

“That committee has given its report, which we are going to place before the finance department. I am hopeful that the entire process will be completed soon. After that, the proposal will be placed before the cabinet for its approval,” Singh said.

Murshidabad triple murder: Protest held by members of various Hindu outfits in Ranchi

Source: indiatoday.in

Various members of Hindu organisations, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), protested in Ranchi, Jharkhand on Sunday against the triple murder of a family in Murshidabad.

According to sources, at least 100 people joined the protest to show solidarity to the RS-associated family that was allegedly murdered in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on October 10.

The agitators recreated the murder scene by performing a play, said sources.

The state police found the bodies of Bondhu Gopal Pal, a 35-year-old primary school teacher, his wife beauty, and, son which were found lying in a pool of blood at their residence in Jiaganj area of Murshidabad.

The incident came to light after the neighbours did not see the family members at the Vijayadashami celebrations in the area.

Videos and graphic photos the dead family members did rounds on social media platforms too.

The triple Murshidabad case invoked sharp reactions against Kolkata police and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.