Month: January 2020

Over 4,000 chemists go on three-day strike in Patna from January 22.

Source – newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Patna’s famous Govind Mitra road and other adjoining areas, which have the maximum number of retail as well as wholesale chemist shops, wore a deserted look on Wednesday with 4,0000 chemists going on a three-day strike from January 22.

The chemists, who are a part of the Bihar Chemists Association, staged a dharna in support of a charter of their demands including an immediate check on unnecessary harassment on the pretext of completing formalities of work.

However, in a humanitarian move, Prasan K Singh, president of the association, said that medicine shops opened in the premises of hospitals were exempted from participating in the strike.

Bihar Adopts Tariff of ₹4.15/kWh for Procuring 2 MW of Power from Floating Solar Projects.

Source –

The Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (BERC) has approved ₹4.15 (~$0.058)/kWh as the tariff to procure 2 MW of power from floating solar PV projects in Darbhanga.

Floating solar projects have great potential in a state like Bihar, where land acquisition is a challenge.

This tariff was proposed by the Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Limited (BSPHCL) and Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency (BREDA). The Commission added that the procurement would meet the stipulated long-term RPO trajectory of the DISCOMs.

Earlier, a joint petition was filed by BSPHCL and BREDA for the approval of the tariff. The project is being set up in Darbhanga, and the power is to be purchased by the North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) and the South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).

The Commission has also directed the petitioners to draft the PPA in line with the guidelines for the tariff-based competitive bidding process for the procurement of power from grid-connected solar PV power projects issued by the Ministry of Power (MoP).

The tender for the projects was initially floated on August 22, 2019, and the last date for the submission of bids was September 12, 2019. As there were no bidders, the tender was extended eight times. Finally, four bidders submitted bids on the last bid date, which was October 27, 2019.

After the competitive bidding, the price of ₹4.15 (~$0.058)/kWh, as quoted by Avaada Energy Private Limited, was found to be the lowest price.

The petitioners had claimed that during the year 2019-20 and 2020-21, they would face a deficit of solar power, whereas, in the year 2021-22, they would have surplus solar power. However, in its supplementary submission, BSPHCL revised its calculation and said that the DISOMS would face a shortage of power in all the three years.

The petitioners had also submitted that apart from the Bihar Renewable Energy Policy 2017, the state of Bihar has also started Jal-Jeevan Hariyali Program, which includes promoting solar projects to be installed on rooftops, ground-mounted, and water bodies.

The Commission observed that BREDA had not taken adequate care while floating the tender as certain provisions of the RfP were not in line with the draft PPA. The two inconsistent points were:

  • As per the RfP, the developer should commission the project within 12 months of the effective date of the PPA. On the other hand, the PPA mentions that the developer should commission the project within 18 months.
  • There is a provision to encash performance guarantee and a reduction in the rate of tariff in the RfP. In case the project is delayed beyond 24 months from the effective date of the PPA, the PPA should be terminated, the document states. However, in the PPA, it is mentioned that the PPA will be terminated if the project is delayed beyond 30 months.

The Commission asked the petitioner to reexamine the draft PPA and ensure that there are no discrepancies from the guidelines.

The Commission also noted that the petitioners had claimed that the price discovered during competitive bidding was lower than the BERC’s FiT (feed-in-tariff) of ₹4.17 ($0.06)/kWh, but the Commission observed that these two could not be compared as the FiT for the FY 2019-20 is applicable only for ground-mounted projects and not floating solar PV projects.

Last year, the state Commission penalized the DISCOM for not fulfilling its RPO shortfall.

IIM Ranchi ranks among top 20 B-schools in India.

Source – dailypioneer.com

With rising competition, students aspiring to pursue a Management in Business Administration (MBA) are in for some good news.

The ninth institute of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi established in the year 2010 has made it to the top 20 business schools according to Inside IIM MBA Rankings 2020.

IIM- Ranchi is the first second generation IIM to be featured in the list beating its counterparts like IIM Rohtak which till two years was amongst the top 25 business schools in the country.

“The institute- IIM Ranchi is very serious with whatever it is doing and our main concern is that wherever our students go, they should be known as the products of IIM Ranchi. Institutes are known by their own faculty members and products. The faculty here also strives to mould the students not just academically but also prepare them for the society. It is our endeavour that our products should be appreciated wherever they go,” said Professor Shailendra Singh, Director IIM Ranchi.

The institute has also made it to T.I.M.E’s list of top B- schools in India. Making it to the fourth spot, IIM Ranchi is in the AAA+ category of institutes which offer high quality of education, faculty, infrastructure and also have a 100 per cent placement record. It has beaten institutes like Management Development Institute (MDI) Gurugram and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai which are in the fifth and sixth place respectively.

“The institute has immense potential and students get admission after facing difficult competition. They work extremely hard while our teachers are like potters who shape them with inspiration and motivation. Ultimately the products come out as good professionals who have a demand and stand out in the industry. It’s very encouraging to see our efforts being appreciated,” added the Director.

Pathalgarhi supporters killed seven villagers in Jharkhand: Police

Source – telanganatoday.com

Ranchi: Supporters of “Pathalgarhi” movement, armed with lathis and axes,kidnapped seven villagers and later killed them in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand for allegedly opposing their stir, police said on Wednesday.

Inspector General of Police (Operation) Saket Kumar Singh said the policemen reached Burugulikera village on Tuesday night after getting information about the killing of seven natives. After murdering, the killers had dumped bodies of the victims in a forest.

A panchayat representative was among those massacred, he said.

After an overnight search operation, bodies of the seven villagers were recovered from the forest, four km from the village, he said.

The place is over 175 km from the capital Ranchi.

There was a meeting over ‘Pathalgarhi’ movement in the village on Tuesday when a dispute had arisen, West Singhbhum Superintendent of Police Indrajit Mahata said.

Following the development, supporters of the movement kidnapped seven villagers and later killed them with the help of lathis and axes, he said.

Pathalgarhi is a name given to a tribal protest which seeks autonomy for village sabhas (Gramsabhas). Those demanding Pathalgarhi want no laws of the land be applicable on the tribal people in the area. The Pathalgarhis reject government rights over their forests and rivers.

As part of the movement, Pathalgarhis erect a stone plaque or signboard outside the village/area, declaring the village as sovereign territory and prohibiting the entry of the outsiders.

Expressing grief over the incident, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said “Law is above all and the guilty will not be spared. The police is investigating the matter.” A high-level meeting will be convened to prevent recurrence of such an incident, he said.

Pathalgarhi movement had hit the national headlines in the middle of 2019.

On June 19, five NGO workers were allegedly abducted and gangraped by armed men associated with the Pathalgarhi movement. They were performing a street play at a school in Khunti district of Jharkhand when they were targetted.

The raiders had branded the NGO workers as “dikus” (outsiders).

On June 26, another group of armed Pathalgarhis had abducted three security personnel posted at the former BJP MP Karia Munda’s home in Khunti. They were released later.

The Pathalgarhi groups have been active across four districts of Jharkhand – Khunti, Gumla, Simdega and West Singhbhum. All of them are Maoist-infested districts.

Soon after being sworn in as the chief minister on December 29 last, Hemant Soren had announced his decision to withdraw all sedition cases registered during the Pathalgarhi movement and protests against the amendments to Chotanagpur Tenancy Act (CNT Act) and Santhal Paragana Tenancy Act (SPT Act).

At least five feared dead in Jharkhand’s Chaibasa following clash over ‘Patthalgadi’.

Source – newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: At least five persons were reportedly killed at Buru Gulikera village under Sonua Police Station of Chaibasa in Jharkhand allegedly after a clash that took place among villagers during a meeting on ‘Patthalgadi’ on Sunday.

Though there is no official confirmation in this regard, senior officials in district administration claimed that they have strong inputs that at least five villagers of Buru Gulikera have been killed following a violent clash between two groups.

According to the sources, the clash took place between ‘Patthalgadi’ supporters and those who were against it, while documents like Aadhaar and Voter Identity cards were being collected by ‘Patthalgadi’ activists following a heated exchange leading to the killing of at least five persons while some others are also said to be missing.

Collection of government documents was being done in the area for the last 10-15 days which was being opposed by some of the villagers which finally resulted in a violent clash between the two groups, it said.

Senior officials of the district administration have been camping near the village, but no dead body has been recovered while the report was being filed till late in the night on Tuesday.

“We have inputs that few people have been killed following a clash which took place during a meeting in Buru Gulikera village, but no dead body has been recovered so far. It is yet to ascertain who were the people who got killed and who killed them as none of the villagers are cooperating with the police,”
said Chaibasa Deputy Commissioner Arwa Rajkamal.

Notably, the area being left-wing extremism (LWE) affected, police are taking all precautions to reach out to the villagers as there are possibilities that the Maoists might have planted land mines on the way to the village.

Domicile issue sparks row in Jharkhand after JMM chief Shibu Soren’s poser on land records.

Source – newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: A fresh controversy over domicile policy erupted after Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren said that 1932 ‘khatian’ (land records) be made the basis for granting domicile certificates to Adivasi-Moolwasi of the state. 

JMM’s key ally Congress, on the other hand, is of the view that 1932 ‘khatian’ cannot be the only basis for domicile as the land-survey was conducted in different point of time in different districts.

However, it vowed that current cut-off year, 1985, will definitely be revised taking everyone in confidence so that jobs could be assured only to the locals of Jharkhand.

Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren said that the promises made to the people in the party manifesto before elections will definitely be fulfilled.   

‘Sthaniya Niti’, previously known as domicile policy, has been a contentious issue for the state since its creation as successive governments could not define it.

The BJP government, when in power, made 1985 as the cut-off year and laid out other criteria.  

As per the provisions in the new Domicile Policy announced by Raghubar Das Government in 2016, people living in Jharkhand since or before 1985 will be considered as local inhabitants.

HIV-positive woman gang-raped in Bihar.

Source – hindustantimes.com

A young widow afflicted with HIV was gang-raped in a compartment of the Patna-Bhabua Intercity Express train on Monday night, police said on Tuesday.

Two men overpowered the woman around 11.50pm when the train was nearing its last stop, raped her and filmed the incident, police said, adding that both the accused were arrested and the woman sent for medical treatment.

Police said the 22-year-old woman from a village in Kaimur district boarded the train from Gaya where she had gone to get medicines at an anti-retroviral therapy centre. “The victim is undergoing treatment for HIV and was returning from Gaya when the incident took place in the train,” said Lallu Singh, SHO, GRP, Sasaram.

GRP (government railway police) officials said the arrested men were booked on charges of rape and filming the act under sections 376D and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and section 67A of the Information Technology Act.

The accused identified as Birendra Prakash Singh and Dipak Singh, both in their 30s and residents of Chaiti Muhalla of Kudra market in Kaimur district, boarded the train at Patna. They followed the woman after she boarded at Gaya and committed the crime when they found her alone in the compartment after the train left Kudra, police said.

“The accused were supposed to alight at the Kudra station but they chose to stay on the train to commit the crime. When the train left the Kudra station, the accused overpowered the widow and gang-raped her as the compartment was empty,” Singh said.

One of the accused was caught assaulting the victim by a GRP patrol team when the train reached its final stop at the Bhabua Road station during routine checking.

“When the train reached the station, a patrolling team noticed that the gates of one of the compartments were shut and its window shutters were down . It raised suspicion and some policemen entered the compartment. They found that a woman was being raped by one man, with another person filming the act. While one of the men was caught on the spot, the other managed to flee,” said another senior police officer.

The SHO said the other accused was nabbed on Tuesday afternoon after his identity was disclosed by his arrested accomplice.

Maoist waiting for train for south India in Jamui arrested by Bihar STF.

Source – hindustantimes.com

The special task force (STF) of the Bihar police arrested two persons including a hardcore cadre of the prescribed CPI (Maoist) from separate raids at Jamui and New Delhi, a police officer said Tuesday.

Acting on a tip-off, an STF team arrested a hard core Maoist Amrit Bhulla, a resident of Goli in Jamui. He was an active member of the gang led by Maoist Commander Sidhu Koda.

“Bhulla was wanted in connection with several criminal cases lodged against him at police stations in Jamui and neighboring state Jharkhand”, said a police officer, adding that police team arrested him near Jamui railway station when he tried to catch a train for South India.

In another incident, a wanted criminal Nityanand Singh was arrested from Bahadurgarh in New Delhi. He is wanted in around eight extortion and murder cases.

He had come under the police radar after he allegedly murdered a jewellery businessman named Sriman Narayan Gupta on December 29, 2019 in Barhara when he refused to pay extortion of Rs 1 lakh. Tracing his whereabouts, the Bihar police traced him to Delhi and approached the local police to seek assistance in nabbing the fugitive.

Earlier he demanded extortion of Rs 5 lakh from mobile shop owner Suraj Keshri, a trader of Saraiyabazar in Bhojpur district and threatened to eliminate him and his family if his demands were not met. Nityanand also fired on him but Keshri survived.

During interrogation, Nityanand said that he and his associate had planned to extort money from businessmen in Bhojpur and made a list of targets. They started calling them individually and also sent their henchmen to threaten them.

Chandigarh to have direct connectivity to Goa, Chennai and Patna from March.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Come summer, and Chandigarh will have direct air connectivity to important domestic destinations such as Goa, Patna, Surat and Chennai, taking care of both leisure trips and official business of residents.

The summer flight schedule, which will be enforced at Chandigarh International Airport on March 29, has another good news for travellers — the number of flights are proposed to be doubled from 32 to 65.

However, putting a dampener on this welcome development, the schedule makes no provision for new international flights even as 24×7 operations became a reality at the airport in April last year. Only the two existing flights to the UAE — Sharjah and Dubai — have been listed.

Meanwhile, IndiGo is all set to resume its Dubai flight from February 15. The flight was suspended from December 14 onwards, citing cancellations and delays due to poor visibility.

IndiGo to operate 28 flights

IndiGo is likely to operate 28 of the 65 proposed flights. These include flights to Goa, Chennai, Surat and Patna. The one to Goa will take off past midnight. Even GoAir will operate a flight from Goa to Chandigarh.

Vaneet Sharma, director of a travel agency in Sector 17, said the new destinations will boost pan-India connectivity and also help in boarding international flights from Delhi. “For going to Goa, people first have to go to Delhi, but now it will be easier for them to reach the tourist destination. Moreover, the flight timings are very flexible.”

Sanjeev Vashisht, member of the airport advisory committee, who is also former president of the Mohali Industry Association, said the new destinations, especially Goa and Patna, will boost the tourism sector. “We are hopeful that international flights will start from October this year after installation of the advanced instrument landing system CAT-3,” he said.

Welcoming the direct flight to Patna, Jatinder Pal Singh, senior vice-president, gurdwara coordination committee, Mohali, said: “It was a long-pending demand of residents of our region, as Patna Sahib is the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh. Devotees have to travel by train, which takes a long time. Now, they will be able to take a direct flight.”

New domestic destinations

Flight to and from Goa, Surat and Chennai will begin on March 29.

IndiGo flight 6E-6137 will arrive at Chandigarh from Goa at 6:40am and will depart for Ahmedabad from Chandigarh at 8:10am.

GoAir flight G8-814 will arrive at Chandigarh from Goa at 9:45am and will depart for Surat (G8-815) at 10:15am.

IndiGo flight 6E-6147 will arrive at Chandigarh from Bengaluru at 11pm and the same flight (6E-6144) will depart to Goa after midnight at 12:40am.

IndiGo will also provide direct connectivity between Chandigarh and Chennai. Flight 6E-8052/8053 will arrive at Chandigarh at 1:30pm and depart for Chennai at 2pm.

IndiGo is also going to operate two flights between Chandigarh and Patna from March 30.

The first flight (6E-6141) will arrive from Ahmedabad at 11:35am and then depart for Patna (6E-6148) at 12:05pm.

The second flight (6E-6926) will arrive from Patna at 6:35pm and will resume its return journey at 7:05pm.

All these flights will operate six days a week, from Monday to Saturday.

JP Nadda started career as Bihar Movement man.

Source – indiatoday.in

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader JP Nadda, who was elected as the national president of BJP on Monday, represents two different cultures – Bihari and Himachali. He spent his childhood in Bihar and learned the nuances of politics in his home state Himachal Pradesh.

JP Nadda belongs to Vijaypur village of Bilaspur district and was born on December 2,1960, in Patna.

He started his political career in 1975 as an activist of Bihar Movement (JP Movement). He later joined ABVP and contested student Central Association elections in Patna University and became secretary in 1977.

He earned his Bachelors degree from Patna University and was an active student leader between 1977 and 1979 in Ranchi.

JP Nadda started his first political agitation in 1985 as a student leader from his hometown Bilaspur. He migrated from Ranchi University to Himachal University, Shimla from where he earned his LLB degree.

He was also elected as ABVP president.

JP Nadda contested his first assembly elections in 1993 from Bilaspur Sadar assembly constituency and was leader of opposition in Himachal assembly between 1994 and 1998.

He won another assembly election in 1998 from Bilaspur and became Health minister of Himachal Pradesh. In 2007, he again contested the assembly election and became Forest and Environment minister.

However, Nadda had to resign in 2012 after he was asked to join the central leadership and was elected to the upper house of the Parliament in 2012. He became a Cabinet minister and was made Union Health Minister.