Month: November 2019

Jitan Ram Manjhi Threatens To Pull Out Of Opposition Alliance In Bihar.

Source – ndtv.com

PATNA: Disarray in the opposition Grand Alliance in Bihar again emerged on Friday when former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s fresh threat of pulling out of the five-party formation was rubbished by other coalition partners as his pressure tactics.

They expressed the view that the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief was merely trying to play hardball and would ultimately fall in line.

Mr Manjhi had announced at the meeting of his party’s national executive meeting in Bihar capital Patna Thursday night it will go it alone in Jharkhand where it has never contested an election so far and field its candidates in all the 243 assembly segments in Bihar when Vidhan Sabha polls were held next year.

The mercurial leader, however, was yet to make up his mind as to which seats to contest in Jharkhand where elections have been announced and polling would commence by the end of this month.

His announcement of fighting all the Bihar seats was in line with his repeated threats issued in the aftermath of the drubbing received by the grand alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.

HAM had lost all the five Lok Sabha seats it had contested, including Gaya which Mr Manjhi himself lost to a relative newcomer Vijay Manjhi of the JD(U).

Speculation is rife that after having gravitated to the grand alliance last year, when he quit the NDA and ended up clinching a legislative council berth for his son from the quota of the RJD the wily leader may be eyeing a return to the formation headed by the BJP which seems on the upswing in the state as well as the country.

However, Mr Manjhi firmly denied any plans to return to the NDA when asked by reporters on Friday.

NDA sources say that Mr Manjhi’s entry is likely to meet with stiff opposition from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U) and against whom the HAM president had revolted before floating his own outfit.

Besides, the LJP of Ram Vilas Paswan would also not like to share his political space with another Dalit leader.

Meanwhile, RJD national vice president Raghuvansh Prasad Singh dismissed Mr Manjhi’s latest outburst, saying “he is simply engaging in a bit of shadow boxing to enthuse his party’s rank and file.”

“He may be having some demands which are not being met. But that happens to all parties in a coalition. Once the process of campaign for Bihar assembly elections picks up, he is going to find no other abode except the grand alliance”.

The views were echoed by Congress Rajya Sabha member Akhilesh Prasad Singh, who hoped that his current foul mood notwithstanding, Mr Manjhi will be firmly with the grand alliance when the poll bugle is sounded in Bihar.

Interestingly, former Bollywood set designer Mukesh Sahni whose support Mr Manjhi has been counting on since the recent by-polls, ended up at a press conference addressed jointly by leaders of the grand alliance and Left parties as a show of solidarity among forces opposed to the BJP-led coalition, which rules the Centre as well as the state.

The press conference was organized by RLSP chief Upendra Kushwaha on Friday and Mr Manjhi took care to ensure no leader of his party attended the same.

However, RLSP national secretary general Madhaw Anand told PTI “we are not able to understand the grouse of Manjhi, who is a senior and respected leader. He seems to be impatient about things like the grand alliance chief ministerial candidate and the respective share of seats for each constituent. We can only urge him not to cause more damage to the Mahagathbandhan by haste,” Mr Anand said.

Mr Anand was hinting at Mr Manjhi having fielded his candidate from Nathnagar assembly segment where by-polls were held last month and which the RJD lost by a margin less than the number of votes secured by the HAM candidate.

Taking a cue from Mr Manjhi, Mr Sahni had also fielded his party’s candidate from Simri Bakhtiyarpur though it did not come in the way of the RJD wresting the seat from JD(U) by a comfortable margin.

Mr Manjhi’s defiant stance during elections had followed repeated attacks on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on whose inexperience he blamed the Lok Sabha debacle of grand alliance and threw his hat in the ring for being projected as the opposition coalitions cm candidate, much to the annoyance of Lalu Yadav’s party.

UPSC IES 2019 interview: Tips and tricks to crack the exam.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Qualifying for the interview of UPSC engineering services, which is the final stage of selection has always been a dream for its aspirants. Everyone wants to perform their best at this stage. Afterall, the selected candidates are among the 0.5% who manage to crack the IES examination.

Nearly 1 lakh students compete for around 600 vacancies every year for different Engineering branches. While the written test evaluates the technical knowledge of the candidates, the IES Interview gauges their personality combined with their field-related knowledge. The interview also tries to bring out qualities like intuitive powers, spontaneity, practicality, soft skills, leadership qualities, confidence level and team spirit of the finalists. That said, it is the 200 marks and a set of rigorous questions that ultimately decides the fate of those 0.5% candidates whether they can manage to get through one of the most sought-after engineering recruitment examinations. Sounds gruelling? Fret not! All you need is a well-defined plan and some extra efforts to tackle all your apprehensions and give your best shot.

Here is a list of preparation tips and tricks for the upcoming IES interview:

1.Pay attention while filling the Detailed Application Form (DAF): Prior to your interview, the most crucial thing is to fill the Detailed Application Form (DAF) very carefully. Because, a lion’s share of the interview questions will be based on your own profile such as your previous job experience, hobbies, your hometown, college, etc. You cannot afford to go wrong while answering those questions and stick to the information while you are talking at the interview.

2.Focus on current affairs: The candidate must stay updated with the latest national and international affairs. So flip through the newspapers, surf the current affairs blogs and news pieces and take quizzes as much as possible.

3.Keeping the knowledge about your subjects and the final year college project in place: The interview board pays a lot of attention to a candidate’s technical & subject know-how. So make sure you get your basic concepts right and prepare two/three of your favourite technical subjects and their practical applications as you will be asked questions about your understanding of the subjects

4.Emphasize on the tricky questions: The interviewer might ask questions related to your state /city and its historical importance, your hobbies, your weaknesses, the reason behind joining IES and much more. These questions should be answered tactically to avoid creating any negative impression on the panel. For instance, while talking about your weaknesses, direct your answers smartly towards your strengths.

5.Never create answers: Not sure about your answer to a particular question? Say it clearly to the interviewer. Never try to say anything negative or create answers to something you are not sure about. It will only create a negative impact and confusion.

6. Groom yourself well on the D-day: We all must have heard the saying, the First impression is the last impression. So, make sure you are formally dressed and well-groomed for the interview as this will create a lasting impression on the interviewer from the time you enter the interview room.

Remember, it is the selection day so give your best shot at the interview with patience, confidence and clarity. This will increase your chances of getting through the interview with utmost success. Good Luck!

IBPS PO Score Card 2019 out @ibps.in: Check direct link here; Know Prelims Marks & Mains Exam Date.

Source – jagranjosh.com

IBPS PO Score Card 2019 Prelims @ ibps.in: Check your IBPS PO Prelims Scores/Marks now by visiting the official website of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) – ibps.in. The highest marks attained in the IBPS PO Prelims 2019 exam will be declared as the IBPS PO Cut off Marks 2019. The IBPS PO Scorecard 2019 contains the overall marks secured by candidates in the preliminary exam as well as marks attained in each section. Earlier, the IBPS had declared the IBPS PO Result 2019 on 1 November 2019. Check your scores of IBPS PO 2019 Prelims Exam now on the direct link given below.

IBPS PO Prelims Scores determine who has obtained the highest marks and who has obtained the lowest. Now, the IBPS would soon be releasing the IBPS PO Cut Off 2019. Candidates can check their scores of the IBPS PO Prelims till 30th November 2019. The scores can be checked online. The qualified candidates will now b called to appear for the IBPS PO Mains 2019 exam which is scheduled to be held on 30 November 2019. Soon, IBPS will be releasing the IBPS PO Mains Admit Card 2019.

IBPS PO 2019 Recruitment exam aims to fill a total of 4336 vacancies of Probationary Officers/Management Trainee in the participating public sector banks. Check your scores now by clicking on the direct link below and start preparing for the IBPS PO Mains 2019 exam.

IBPS PO Score Card 2019

Step 1: Visit ibps.in

Step 2: Click on “View your scores for Preliminary Exam for CRP PO/MT IX”

Step 3: Fill Roll Number & Date of Birth

Step 4: Save your IBPS PO Prelims Scores 2019.

IBPS PO Mains 2019: Exam Date

IBPS PO Mains 2019 Exam will be conducted on 30th November 2019. The Mains exam will be conducted online in the online objective MCQ format. Candidates who would qualify the IBPS PO Mains will be called for the IBPS PO Interview 2019, which will be conducted in December 2019.

IBPS PO 2019 Recruitment Drive commenced in August 2019 to recruit POs/MTs in the banks. Hopefully, the recruitment drive will get over by January 2020 with the released of final merit list.

Mob lynching in Jharkhand: Mubarak becomes latest victims of lynchings.

Source – enewsroom.in

Ranchi: Mubarak Ansari, 48, becomes 22nd mob lynching victims in Jharkhand. While Akhtar Ansari, 26, has managed to live on, despite receiving serious injuries from a mob thrashing. He  is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.

Mubarak and Akhtar were accused of stealing a battery from a truck in Govindpur colony of Bokaro. The two accused hail from a village closeby. On Nov 5, the duo was intercepted by the owners, in Govindpur, when the they were allegedly whisking away a truck battery. Following which the owners invited many more resident, who tied Mubarak to a pole and began to mercilessly beat the two.

“We were mercilessly beaten from midnight to early morning of Nov 6. Only when some villagers of my village crossed by and identified us, that they called our village Sadar (local committee president), who informed the police,” said Akhtar in written complaint to the police.  Akhtar, is at present undergoing treatment,  also mentioned in the FIR that Mubarak succumbed to the injuries that he sustained due to mob lynching.

Like other lynching case, in this case too, the entire episode of Mubarak and Akhtar being lynched was recorded on camera. Female voices could also be heard inciting the mob and also demanding for a compensation.

Bokaro police has arrested four accused in this lynching case. Interestingly, in this case one of the arrested accused is a woman, who has been named in the FIR lodged by Akhtar.

The lynching of Mubarak is the latest one in the long list of at least 22 victims of lynching cases that has taken place in Jharkhand under Raghubar Das led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. People have been lynched sometimes on the basis of alleged stealing charges, sometimes for transporting beef and cows and sometimes for child lifting or theft. And mostly Muslims or members from the scheduled tribe (tribals) and scheduled caste (dalits) have been victims of these heinous crimes that have been taking place in Jharkhand, over these three years.

A recent case of Tabrez Ansari was highlighted across the world and the issue was even raised in United States and in its Security Council.

However, only in two cases (Alimuddin Ansari of Ramgarh and Mazloom Ansari of Latehar), conviction of the accused took place at the lower courts.

While it is well known to every that killers of Alimuddin are on bail now and have even been felicitated by the Hazaribagh MP Jayant Sinha.

CARE’s Work In Bihar Shows Progress Is Possible Against The Toughest Problems.

Source – forbes.com

Where will you find CARE? Think of trouble spots around the world where there are humanitarian disasters tied to extreme poverty, conflict, hunger, or a lack of basic healthcare or education. CARE is on the ground in these places, addressing survival needs, running clinics, and helping individuals, families, and communities rebuild their lives.

CARE’s scope is truly global. In 2018, the organization reached 56 million needy people through 965 programs in 95 countries, in places such as Mali, Jordan, Bangladesh, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, India, the Dominican Republic, and Niger.

CARE didn’t start out as a huge global charity, though. Founded in 1945, CARE provided a way for Americans to send lifesaving food and supplies to survivors of World War II—“CARE packages.” Today, it responds to dozens of disasters each year, reaching nearly 12 million people through its emergency programs. The rest of CARE’s work is through longer-term engagements, such as its work in Bihar State, in northern India.

Bihar, with a population of more than 110 million people, is one of India’s poorest states—and has some of the country’s highest rates of infant and maternal mortality as well as childhood malnutrition. Since 2011, CARE has been working with the Bihar state government and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to address those problems and to increase immunization rates for mothers and children.

The results to date have been significant: The percentage of 1-year-olds with completed immunization schedules increased from 12% to 84% between 2005 and 2018; there were nearly 20,000 fewer newborn deaths in 2016 than in 2011; and the maternal mortality rate fell by nearly half, from 312 to 165 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births between 2005 and 2018. How? Some of CARE’s initiatives involved improving healthcare facilities, mentoring nurses, supporting local social workers and midwives, and tracking the care given to weak and low-weight newborns.

Wherever you find CARE, you’ll also find the impact of CARE’s donors, putting their dollars and euros to work buying food and medicine, paying teachers, and offsetting the million-and-one costs of providing relief on a truly global scale. Like all large NGOs, CARE needs to communicate with its donors, especially the largest foundations, providing timely reports, demonstrating compliance with grant terms and conditions, and displaying complete fiscal transparency. That’s part of their necessary overhead. For CARE, the cloud is helping it improve communications while reducing that overhead.

Lowering Back-Office Costs

In fiscal 2018, CARE’s total incoming support was $604 million, from sources including private donations, government funding, and other grants. CARE solicits donations from individuals through its website and direct mail, but a significant part of its finances come from governmental and foundation grants, explains Jared Janeczko, interim CIO.

“As an NGO we have many sources of funding, and all of those sources have different compliance requirements,” says Janeczko. “We’ve configured our software to adhere to those requirements, whether imposed by a donor government or foundation or the country in which we are operating.”

A particular donor might have restrictions that say its grant money may—or may not—be used only for specific purposes. CARE needs to show that the money was spent in accordance with those requirements. Similarly, the country where CARE is spending the money on expenses such as food, fuel, salaries, rent, or electricity, might charge certain taxes or insist on specific documentation.

This requires sophisticated accounting and business management software. For a number of years, CARE has used Oracle’s PeopleSoft to manage its operations and satisfy both donors and governments in host countries.

“At the end of the day, donors want to know that their donation is going to the beneficiary, so having a financial solution like PeopleSoft gives us that ability,” says Janeczko. “A grant manager uses PeopleSoft to run grant reports based on financial transactional data. We deliver those reports together with impact data to provide a comprehensive overview of our programs.”

Over the past year, CARE has migrated from instances of PeopleSoft running in its own private cloud to PeopleSoft running within Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Janeczko sees two major benefits to the PeopleSoft migration to the cloud. The first is reduced operating costs. “Our focus is on delivering humanitarian aid. It’s not on supporting global systems. So the main motivation for us was to minimize costs,” he says.

The second improvement is that they’re always current on the latest version of PeopleSoft, as well as all of its patches and fixes. “We were so far behind with our PeopleSoft updates,” he grimaces. “As an organization, we weren’t able to keep up with the release cycle.” Now, PeopleSoft running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is a fully managed service. “That frees up our IT team to focus on delivering internal customer support, supporting our country offices as well as our donor requirements.”

The PeopleSoft migration to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure proved a fast and painless lift and shift, with the system up after four days. “It was a nonevent from the end-user perspective,” Janeczko says.

The next process CARE’s IT team plans to simplify via the cloud is travel and expense reporting. “As a global organization we send people all over the world, yet we are still doing travel and expense reports in Excel spreadsheets—it’s a huge inefficiency,” Janeczko says. “It’s also functionality that we plan to deploy in PeopleSoft, now that we’re on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.”

Time is money, and the less time spent running reports, the more resources become available for the children of Bihar, refugees, the poor, the displaced, the hungry—all over the world. Because if one thing is certain, CARE’s work won’t be finished anytime soon.

Share of Women in Subordinate Courts Highest in Telangana, Least in Bihar.

Source – news18.com

Telangana has the highest share of women judges at 44 per cent and Bihar the lowest at 11.5 per cent in subordinate courts, while seven states did not have a single woman judge in their high courts as of June 2018, according to a report.

The share of women in the judiciary has come down and despite wide acceptance of value of gender diversity, the actual presence of women in state judiciaries is underwhelming, the Tata Trusts’ India Justice Report-2019 stated.

It said that “among the large and mid-sized states, at just above 44 per cent, Telangana had the largest share of women in the subordinate courts, but at the high court level, this drops to a meagre 10 per cent.”

“Similarly, Punjab with 39 per cent at the subordinate level, (the share of women judges) drops down to 12 per cent in the high court,” it said.

“This pattern is apparent everywhere with only Tamil Nadu breaking the trend with a high number of women at the high court level (19.6 per cent), and more women than its quota of 35 per cent at the subordinate courts,” according to the report.

Data of 18 large and mid-sized states, and seven small states was taken for the Tata Trust report.

The share of women judges at subordinate courts in Meghalaya is 74 per cent and in Goa, 66 per cent the highest among small states.

“However, Goa’s share at the high court level was just 12.68 per cent. Sikkim demonstrates a high share of women at both levels, with 64.71 per cent in the high court and 33.33 per cent at the subordinate court level.

“In terms of absolute numbers, however, this would be one female judge of three, at the high court-level, and 11 female judges out of 17 at the level of subordinate courts,” the report said.

The ranking is an initiative of Tata Trusts in collaboration with Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS- Prayas and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

“The presence of women judges portrays the institution that upholds law and dispenses justice as an equal opportunity space driven by fair, meritocratic, and non-discriminatory practices and norms.

“Arguably, women on the bench also influence the quality of judicial decision-making, because the inclusion of their life experiences must necessarily allow a wider variety of human experiences into the process of judging,” the report said.

The country has about 18,200 judges with about 23 per cent sanctioned posts vacant, as per the findings of the report.

UP, Bihar at bottom of India’s justice league.

Source – indiatoday.in

Law and order has always been a major concern in the two big states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Despite claims of improvement over the years by respective state leaderships, a recent report by Tata Trusts has statistically proven that these two states have the worst justice system in India.

The study, titled India Justice Report’, which Tata Trusts published on Thursday, developed an index of justice system across the country using four parameters police, prisons, judiciary and legal aid. An assessment of 18 bigger states revealed that UP and Bihar have the worst justice system in India. While UP ranked at the bottom of the list, Bihar stood at number 17.

On the basis of these parameters, a score was allotted to each state on a scale of 10. None of the states had the perfect score. UP and Bihar got a score of 3.32 and 4.02 respectively. Following them from the bottom were Jharkhand (4.3), Uttarakhand (4.49), Rajasthan (4.52) and Andhra Pradesh (4.77).

The state with the best justice system according to the report is Maharashtra with a score of 5.92. It is followed by Kerala (5.85), Tamil Nadu (5.76), Punjab (5.53) and Haryana (5.53).

The average score of all the bigger states turned out to be 4.95, which means more than 50 per cent conditions to get a perfect score for the justice system have not been met. In fact, of the 18 big states surveyed, 11 had a score of above 5.

Collectively, the data paints a grim picture. It highlights that each individual sub-system is starved for budgets, manpower and infrastructure; no state is fully compliant with the standards it has set for itself. Governments are content to create ad hoc and patchwork remedies to cure deeply embedded systemic failures. Inevitably, the burden of all this falls on the public, the report says.

Why UP, Bihar rank at the bottom

A deeper look at the statistics reveals that in almost every aspect, UP and Bihar exchanged the last and second last position.

Policing

The study took several factors to assess the police system in the states, ranging from modernisation, inducing women, diversity, budgeting, human resource planning and infrastructure.

On this front, the best score was achieved by Tamil Nadu 6.49. UP received a score of 2.98, whereas Bihar got 3.77. UP fared poor in terms of budgeting, spending on police per person, vacancies and diversity.

Prisons

This parameter was assessed on various factors ranging from overcrowding, inclusion of women staff, adequate human resources, budgeting, infrastructure, etc.

Jharkhand fared the worst with a score of 3.46. It was followed by Uttarakhand (3.72), Punjab (4.35), Andhra Pradesh (4.35) and UP (4.42). Surprisingly, Bihar stood at number six with a score of 5.61. The best in this regard was Kerala with a score of 7.18.

Judiciary

This parameter was assessed on availability of judges, clearance of cases, spending on judiciary, etc.

Bihar, with a score of 2.41, fared the worst in this regard. It was followed by UP (3.7), Karnataka (3.76), Uttarakhand (4.17) and Jharkhand (4.3). Tamil Nadu again featured on the top in terms of judiciary with a score of 6.99. It was followed by Punjab (6.57), Haryana (6.23) and Maharashtra (5.96).

On an average, Bihar saw a bleak growth in expenditure on judiciary in comparison to total spending. From 2011 to 2016, the state expenditure rose by 17.8 per cent; however, expenditure on judiciary rose by only 8 per cent.

Legal aid

The report also highlighted the importance of legal aid. It said that almost 80 per cent of India’s 1.25-billion population is eligible for free legal aid, but only 15 million people have availed it since 1995.

Here too, the parameter was assessed on the basis of budgeting, human resources, diversity, infrastructure and work load. With a score of 2.5, UP fared worst, followed by Uttarakhand (4.46), Bihar (4.52) and Odisha (4.61).

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar lays foundation stone for 500-bed hospital in Ujiarpur.

Source – newkerala.com

Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary and state Health Minister Mangal Pandey were also present at the event. The medical facility is set to be named Shri Ram Janki Medical College and Hospital.

Speaking to ANI about the development, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, who represents Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency, expressed pleasure over the development.

“I had made a promise to the people of Ujiarpur that the government will open a hospital in this area. Today, we have come one step closer to fulfilling my promise to the people of the constituency and ‘Mithilanchals’,” Rai said in New Delhi.

He said that currently, people in the region have to travel to metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai to get proper medical treatment. “However, this 500-bed hospital will provide all kinds of medical facilities to the people right here,” Rai said.

“I especially thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Health Minister, Bihar Chief Minister, and Bihar Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar. Today, the foundation stone was laid and soon the dream of mega Hospital in Ujiarpur will become reality,” he added.

The hospital in Ujiarpur will be completed within 36 months at a cost of around Rs 591.77 crore.

Ramjanki Trust Samastipur had allotted 21 acres of land for the hospital and medical college, which is a joint effort of the state and central government. The hospital will be equipped with advanced medical facilities including ICU and dozens of operation theatres.

Once complete, this will be the second-biggest hospital in the state.

Jharkhand Assembly polls: Congress-JMM seat-sharing talks in final stages; announcement likely today in Ranchi.

Source – firstpost.com

Seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for the Assembly election are in final stages and an announcement is likely on Friday, sources said.

The Congress, JMM and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are attempting to form an alliance to defeat the ruling BJP in the five-phase election in November-December in the eastern state.

According to sources, deliberations are on between senior leaders of the Congress and the JMM for finalising the seat-sharing agreement and an announcement is likely to be made in Ranchi on Friday.

Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Rameshwar Oraon and Congress Legislature Party leader Alamgir Alam met JMM chief Hemant Soren.

Sources said the JMM is likely to be the leading partner in the alliance and will contest on more than 50 percent of the seats.

The Congress may settle with 25-30 seats in the 81-member Assembly, leaving the rest for smaller allies.

The Congress had contested on all seats in the last Assembly election in 2014, it may settle for 25-30 seats as part of the alliance.

The Congress has already held preliminary discussions on its possible candidates for the election at a meeting of the party’s screening committee.

Another meeting of the screening panel will be held on 9 November. On the same day, a meeting of the central election committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi will be held to finalise the list of candidates.

Sources said the Congress is unlikely to succeed in its efforts to form a grand alliance with the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) of Babulal Marandi deciding to go it alone in the election.

The Left parties are also unlikely to be a part of the alliance as their demand for seats are unlikely to be met, sources said.

The Left has two members in the current Assembly, while the Congress has six.

Sources add that the RJD is likely to settle for around 6-7 seats as part of the alliance, even though Lalu Prasad Yadav’s outfit has been demanding 14-15 seats.

“Our aim is to remove the Raghubar Das-led BJP government… The Congress and its partners will try to fulfil the dreams of people of the state that have not been fulfilled so far,” RPN Singh, the Congress party in-charge of Jharkhand affairs, told PTI.

Asked if the Congress was willing to play second fiddle to JMM in the state, he said that when there is a coalition, all allies contest as a family to accomplish the dreams of the people of Jharkhand.

Singh said the Congress would soon come out with a manifesto of its own, besides having a common minimum programme with the JMM.

How fish farming transformed lives of dam displaced people in Jharkhand.

Source – downtoearth.org.in

Around 12,000 families lost their livelihood due when the Chandil dam came up in Jharkhand’s Saraikela Kharsawan district in the 1980s. Its reservoir on the Subarnarekha river submerged more than 100 villages.

The people affected struggled for decades with the Jharkhand government for better rehabilitation and employment.

Now they have found an alternative source of income — pisciculture.

Some of those displaced because of the dam formed a cooperative society in ’05 to rear fish in the reservoir. The right to fish in the waterbody that came up on their land was one of the demands of those affected by the project.

In the late 2000s, the Jharkhand government focused on developing fisheries as an alternative income source for the state’s farmers. The cooperative took the opportunity to benefit from the government’s push for commercial fishing in water bodies.

After testing some success the Jharkhand government introduced the cage culture in the state’s dam reservoirs to scale up commercial fish production in 2012-13.

Cage culture is an intensive fish farming technique in which fish are kept in cubicle-shaped net enclosures. It is ideal for controlled fishing in large waterbodies in which it is otherwise difficult to restrict fish movement.

Jharkhand’s catch of fish doubled to 208,450 tonnes in 2018-19 from 104,820 tonnes in 2013-14 because of cage culture. There is an annual demand for 200,000 tonnes in the state itself.

The state government trains farmers from across the state on various aspects of fish-rearing. To maximise profits, farmers prefer commercial fish such as Pangasius (Basa) for cage culture.

The fish take around nine months to reach a weight of around a kilogramme. At times the cultivators sell them even at six months. 

The Jharkhand government has presented fish farming as a success story, calling it the ‘Blue Revolution’. 

Some 128,000 fish farmers now rear fish in the state’s tanks, reservoirs, check dams, and coal pits across two lakh hectares.