Category: Ranchi

CBI arrests serial offender in Ranchi’s own Nirbhaya case

Source: hindustantimes.com

In a major breakthrough, the CBI has arrested a 23-year-old “serial rape offender” allegedly involved in brutal rape and murder of an engineering student on December 16, 2016, in Ranchi.

Rahul Rai, who carries many pseudonyms like Ankit, Aryan and others, was picked up by the CBI from a Uttar Pradesh jail where he was cooling his heels in other rape cases. After committing the gory crime in Ranchi, Rahul reportedly fled to Lucknow where he committed three rape crimes in a similar manner.

The Ranchi’s Nirbhaya was raped and murdered at her house. The perpetrators had burnt her after committing the crime.

The incident occurred on the fourth anniversary of the gory gang rape and murder of a paramedical student in New Delhi and had rocked the state which witnessed widespread protests, rallies and candle marches demanding immediate arrest of culprits.

The CBI’s Lucknow special crime branch on Saturday produced Rahul before a Ranchi court which forwarded him in judicial custody till July 6.

The court of special judicial magistrate (CBI) Ajay Kumar Gudia is yet to decide on the CBI’s request, seeking Rahul on police remand for interrogation.

Earlier, the case was investigated by the Ranchi police and the crime investigation department (CID) but no breakthrough was made.

The police had conducted DNA tests on more than 80 suspects in this case but all reports didn’t match with the victim’s DNA.

Cyber experts had also been engaged to search and examine social media, including mails, but they too failed to find any clue.

The state government on January 3, 2017, had finally recommended for a CBI probe. A year later, the Centre approved the government’s request leading to registration of FIR by the CBI on March 28, 2018.

The semi-naked half-charred body of the victim was found inside her house. The incident came to light after the girl’s sister, failing to reach her on phone, sent some neighbours to check on her. On reaching the house, they found the door ajar and smoke emanating from the room.

When they entered, they found her body lying near the bed with her face fully burnt. Other materials in the room were also gutted.

The premiere investigating agency registered the FIR against unknown persons under Sections 448 (house trespass), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 376 (rape) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.

CBI’s deputy superintendent of police (DSP) RS Solanki was entrusted with the investigation of the case.

Smart City, AIIMS, 500-bed Dumka hospital get environmental clearance

Source: hindustantimes.com

The Jharkhand government’s five big-ticket projects, including Smart City, AIIMS and 500-bed Dumka hospital, got the much-awaited environmental clearance (EC) from the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), officials said on Wednesday.

SEIAA chairman SEH Kazmi said, the environmental clearance for five building construction projects -civic tower, convention centre, Rabindra Bhawan in Ranchi, AIIMS Deoghar and 500-bed hospital building in Dumka- was given in SEIAA’s 74th meeting held on Tuesday.

Construction work of multistorey civic tower and convention centre under Ranchi Smart City scheme were stopped for want of environmental clearance around three months back.

The Centre had picked Ranchi under its ambitious Smart City project in May 2016. Jharkhand is developing country’s first Greenfield smart city project on an area of 656 acres of land, acquired by the state government from Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) Limited.

Vice-president, Venkaiah Naidu on September 9 in 2017 laid the foundation stones of three major projects such as convention centre, urban civic tower (UCT) and Jharkhand urban planning management institute (JUPMI)-worth around Rs 700 crore. Barring JUPMI, two other projects were waiting for the required EC.

Chief executive officer (CEO) of Ranchi Smart City Corporation Limited (RSCCL), Amit Kumar said, “With getting clearance, mobilisation of building materials and labour force have been started from Wednesday. Now, the projects are expected to progress with its schedule.”

However, the project proposals were given clearance with certain conditions. “We have decided to grant environmental clearance to the project proposals with conditions recommended by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) subject to if remaining plots of the projects are found to be ‘Jungle Jhari (forest bush)’ in future, the project proponent will have to abide by the provisions of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,” said SEIAA member secretary Kamlesh Pandey.

Meanwhile, the upcoming All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), which is coming up at Devipur in Deoghar, was also granted the clearance. Foundation of the institute on 272 acres of land was laid in May last year. The construction work of the building is in progress.

Teachers’ recruitment process for AIIMS has already begun. A recruitment notice by AIIMS Patna was issued recently for appointment of eight professors, 11 additional professors, 13 associate professors and 30 assistant professors. If sources in the health department are to be believed, the session of the institute will begin from August this year with 50 seats of MBBS.

Similarly, SEIAA also granted environmental clearance to 500bed hospital coming up in Dumka district. Besides, the Rs 155-crore Rabindra Bhawan, proposed to be a cultural hub of Ranchi, also got the clearance for its speeding construction.


Exit heatwave, get ready for rains

Source: telegraphindia.com

Jharkhand is likely to experience showers from Thursday with the monsoon expected to make its grand entry in the state sometime over the weekend, the weather office has indicated.

Ranchi Meteorological Centre officials said conditions for the advancement of the southwest monsoon had become favourable ever since the severe cyclonic storm Vayu had waned. This meant that over the next three to four days the monsoon would move into parts of Andhra Pradesh and remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, some more areas of Bay of Bengal, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and Odisha.

“We expect monsoon to arrive in Jharkhand around June 22. If that happens monsoon would have a delayed its arrival this time in Jharkhand by 12 days,” explained S.D. Kotal, director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre, adding that as on Tuesday, the northern limit of monsoon (NLM) was passing through Mysore, Salem, Cuddalore, Alipurduar and Gangtok.

Kotal said the monsoon was expected to enter Jharkhand from somewhere between Sahebganj and Pakur and move towards central, southern and later north western parts of the state.

He also indicated that premonsoon showers would start over Jharkhand in the next 48 hours (June 20 onwards).

“Light rain and thunderstorms are likely at isolated places in the districts of western and southern Jharkhand in the next two days. After that both cloud and rainfall coverage area was expected to increase,” he explained.

The Ranchi Met office withdrew its heatwave alert on Tuesday, bringing to an end a weeklong spell of extreme discomfort that forced residents to stay indoors in the afternoons and prompted schools to extend summer vacations for primary students.

Weathermen said a trough at mean sea level was running from northeast Uttar Pradesh to north Bay of Bengal across Bihar, Jharkhand and Gangetic Bengal. A low pressure area was also likely to develop over north Bay of Bengal during the next three to four days.

On Tuesday, Capital Ranchi and its surrounding areas recorded a maximum temperature of around 37°C against Monday’s 37.3°C.

Palamau headquarters Daltonganj recorded around 40°C, three notches above normal. On Monday, Daltonganj had logged 41.4 °C. Jamshedpur, Chaibasa in West Singhbhum, Seraikela and several other places in the Kolhan region of southern Jharkhand recorded highs between 41° and 42°C, four notches above normal.

Met statistics revealed that several isolated places across Jharkhand, including Daltonganj and Garhwa, witnessed rain and thunder during the past 24 hours. Heatwave conditions also prevailed in isolated places in central and southern Jharkhand.

Smart buckets for Ranchi garbage solution

Source: telegraphindia.com

The civic body in the capital will be using RFID-tagged buckets for door-to-door garbage collection to ensure better monitoring of the process and to plug some of the shortcomings that include sanitation workers skipping homes during their rounds.

“At the moment door-to-door waste collection is not that effective. There are complaints that either our staff don’t visit all houses or that households do not deposit waste at the collection points. This prompted us to think about RFID-tagged buckets for household waste collection,” Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) CEO Manoj Kumar said.

RFID stands for “radio-frequency identification” and refers to a technology whereby digital data encoded in RFID tags, or smart labels, are captured by a reader via radio waves. RFID is similar to barcoding in that data from a tag or label are captured by a device that stores the data in a database.

But according to American Barcode and RFID (AB&R), a firm with expertise in the technology, one of the more significant advantages of RFID over barcoding is that RFID tag data can be read outside the line-of-sight, whereas barcodes must be aligned with an optical scanner.

In Ranchi, that generates nearly 700 MT of municipal solid waste daily from 53 wards, RMC waste collection vans visit lanes and play jingles using a PA system to ask residents to deposit waste in bins installed in the vans.

“At the moment there is no monitoring to see whether the staff visit each and every lane in a locality. With the introduction of RFID-tagged bins we will be able to monitor when the bins are being filled and at what time they are emptied. This would give us an idea about the visit of our staff and also enable segregation of waste at source as there will be two differently coloured bins for dry and wet waste,” Kumar explained.

RMC staff, he said, would scan the QR code with a reader, record the data, including quantum of collection, date and time of collection on a daily basis. These would be recorded at a command control centre.

RFID tags would also be installed on compactors and vehicles to alert staff when these are filled.

“The bins and vehicles can be emptied and cleaned immediately which will prevent garbage spilling on to roads as is often the case,” he added.

Kumar said RMC had asked Bangalore waste management consultant InfraEn to submit a detailed project report by July. “After that we will get the project sanctioned from the department and start the tender process,” he added.

RMC sources said that efforts were on to complete the tender process and issue a work order to a selected agency during the monsoon.

“We want to complete the tender process and issue a work order by October so that waste collection using RFID-tagged bins can start before implementation of the model code of conduct as Assembly elections are in due the state,” said a senior official who added that RMC would like to start the process in phases.

“It will not be feasible to purchase such a huge number of RFID-tagged buckets for Ranchi that has nearly 2.5 lakh households. Hence, we will start in phases, taking up a limited number of wards one by one,” he added.

‘Disease will spread’: ‘Metro Man’ Sreedharan asks PM Modi to reject AAP govt’s free travel scheme for women

Source: freepressjournal.in

New Delhi: Opposing the AAP government’s proposed free travel scheme for women in the Delhi Metro trains, its former chief E Sreedharan has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to agree to the proposal as it would set an “alarming precedence”.

He said the”disease” will spread fast to all other metros in the country, making them dependent on state government for subsidies. In a letter to the prime minister, Sreedharan, popularly called ‘Metro Man’, said if the Delhi government is “so keen” to help women commuters, it can pay the cost of their travel directly to them rather than making travel free on metro trains. The proposed move will push the Delhi Metro into “inefficiency and bankruptcy”, he said.

The former Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) chief has also sought Modi’s intervention in the matter. Reacting to Sreedharan’s letter, the ruling AAP said although it disagrees with it, it welcomes his viewpoint on the issue, saying that metro will not suffer any losses due to the proposed scheme. The party also rejected his suggestion for direct bank transfer to beneficiaries. In the letter, Sreedharan said when the first section of the Delhi Metro was to be opened in 2002, he had taken a firm decision that no one would be given travel concession.

Even the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had bought a ticket himself to travel to the station from where the metro’s first section was inaugurated, he said. “I would very earnestly request you sir not to agree to the Delhi government’s proposal of free travel to ladies in the Metro. “If the Delhi government is so keen to help lady commuters, I would suggest it can pay directly to the lady commuters the cost of their travel rather than make travel free on the metro,” Sreedharan said in the letter.

Earlier this month, the Arvind Kejriwal government announced that it would make commute for women in public buses and metro trains free. “Now, if ladies are to be given free travel concession in Delhi Metro, it would set an alarming precedence to all other metros in the country. The argument of the Delhi government that the revenue losses would be reimbursed to the DMRC is a poor solace,” the former DMRC managing director said. The DMRC is a joint venture of the Centre and the Delhi government and one shareholder cannot take a unilateral decision to give concession to one section of the community and push the Delhi Metro into “inefficiency and bankruptcy”, Sreedharan said.

Even officers and staff, including managing director of the DMRC, purchase tickets when they travel on the metro on official duties, he said. Reacting to the issue, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said he was “surprised” and “pained” to read Sreedharan’s letter addressed to the prime minister. “Sir, your stand appears to be a result of misunderstanding about the Delhi government’s proposal. You will appreciate that after completion of Phase-III of the DMRC, its services were designed to have a capacity of daily ridership of four million,” Sisodia said.

The Aam Aadmi Party also issued a statement. “We look forward to addressing Sreedharan’s concerns over our proposal. He believes making metro travel free for women will result in losses and inefficiency in the functioning of the Delhi Metro. “We want to assure him that the Delhi Metro will not suffer any losses since the Delhi government will reimburse the agency for free rides taken by women, thus eliminating the possibility of inefficiency,” AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said in statement.

It stated that according to the former DMRC chief, the Delhi government should transfer the subsidy amount directly into accounts of travellers. “This is not a practical solution. There is no way to determine precisely how many women will use public transport, for what distance, for how many days, therefore making it impossible to calculate the direct subsidy transfer needed to reimburse travel for women,” Bharadwaj said.

Jamshedpur’s Aniket emerges state topper, Ranchi’s Ankit 2nd topper in JEE Advanced

Source: hindustantimes.com

Jamshedpur boy Aniket Gudipaty emerged as the Jharkhand topper with an all India rank (AIR) of 29, while Ranchi’s Ankit Kumar Jain was the second topper from the state with an AIR of 30 in the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Advanced, results of which declared by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee on Friday.

This year, a total of 38,705 candidates qualified for the JEE Advanced from all over India. Over 700 students qualified for the examination from Jharkhand, according to numbers received from different coaching institutes.

Aniket, a resident of Jadugora in East Singhbhum district, had topped in Jharkhand in the second round of JEE-Mains held in April. Gudipaty made the state proud by emerging as the IIT-Khargapur zonal topper in JEE Advanced.

“As per results of the JEE Advanced declared today, Aniket from Atomic Energy Central School (AECS), Jadugora ranked 29th nationally to emerge as the IIT-Khargapur zonal topper. West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, parts of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh come under the IIT-Khargapur zone,” Aniket’s father GGVLM Murty said.

Aniket went to his parental place in Peethapuram, Andhra Pradesh after winning the gold medal in the National Science Olympiad (Chemistry) in Mumbai a few days ago. He closely missed out on being among the four students from India to be selected for the International Science Olympiad. Aniket was a school topper who received 95.8% marks in his Plus-2 exams from AECS, Jadugora.

“He had obtained AIR 22 in JEE Mains with 100 percentile to become the Jharkhand topper and now he is the state topper, as well as the IIT Khargapur zonal topper. There are no words to describe how happy we are. He had also cleared Kishore Vaigyanik Protosahan Yojna (KVPY) exam with AIR 31 earlier. But his target has always been pursing computer science from IIT Bombay and he will go there,” said Murty, who is an electrical engineer in UCIL here.

Ranchi boy Ankit was also the state topper in first round of JEE Mains held in January and stood second in the second round of JEE Mains held in April.

Son of businessman Vinod Kumar Jain, Ankit cleared his Class 12 examination with 92.8% marks in aggregate this year from Delhi Public School (DPS), Ranchi. “Besides classroom studies, I used to devote 5-6 hours daily for the JEE examinations,” Ankit said. He too wants to pursue computer science from IIT Bombay.

Transporters’ strike hits coal supply in Dhanbad’s power plant

Source: hindustantimes.com

Transporters’ strike hit coal supply at Maithon Power Limited (MPL) in Dhanbad, leading to the crisis of electricity production in the thermal power unit, Ramesh Jha, MPL chief executive officer.

Jha said situation in power plant worsened as supply of coal and transporting of ash from the MPL plant completely interrupted due to strike by workers. The tool down strike entered 6th day today.

“Regular maintenance activities of critical equipments have been stopped due to the workers’ strike leading to the closure of the plant”, said Jha. Coal transporters have stopped supplying coal since Saturday demanding revision in fare.

The district administration on Wednesday held meeting at Maithon for resolving the strike but failed to address the grievances of the protesters. Rural superintendent of police Aman Kumar, who chaired the meeting, said the meeting would be held again tomorrow. “Negotiation is continued. I have called management and land losers leaders in Dhanbad tomorrow for talk and I hope crisis would be resolved”, he said.

Already 170 land losers have been “laying a siege” to the power plant, demanding compensation promised by the power company. The protestors under the banner of MPL Vishthapit Sthaniya Samiti along with the Kamgar Union – the recognised union of the power plant – have been holding the stir in support of 18 points demand. The workers too started tool down strike inside the plant for enhancement of salary payment from June 10. However Nirsa MLA Arup Chatterjee, who represented the land losers and workers, held the management of the MPL responsible for failure of talk. “Agitating people have 18 points demand. At the meeting, we proposed that for time being implement only three points – job to land losers, increase salary of workers and ensure gratuity of employees but MPL officers were not agreed on any of these demands”, he said.

Nirsa MLA, however, denied charges that agitators stopped entry and exit of officials in the plant and workers were hampering coal feeding in hopper inside plant.

“No one stops officials. Rather, agitating land losers are also helping them so that power generation runs smoothly”, he said.

MPL is joint venture of Tata Power and DVC which generates 1050 MW power per day and caters requirement of four states Bengal, Delhi Punjab and Kerala. MPL official said plant needs 15000 ton coal per day for generation 1050 MW power.

Inter-state bridge connecting Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana faces road block

Source: newindianexpress.com

MALKANGIRI: A 900-metre approach road is all that is required to operationalise the bridge over river Saveri near Motu but it is not happening. 

The 290-metre bridge, built as part of Vijayawada-Ranchi Corridor National Highway near Motu, was completed three months back and still awaits the approach road to connect it to the highway. 

Once operational, the bridge will provide direct road link between Malkangiri and Hyderabad in Telangana and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. 

The bridge would not only facilitate 24×7 inter-state bus services between Malkangiri and the two neighbouring states but also boost business in the district.

It will also help in tackling Maoists. The bridge will enable security personnel of all the three states to ensure round-the-clock inter-state patrolling to take on the Maoists.

Presently, only one private bus plies between Malkangiri and Hyderabad via Dornapal bridge in Chhattisgarh.

The travel time would be reduced considerably and one would only take 14 hours to cover a distance of 520 km from Malkangiri to Hyderabad, said Bhakta Rout, president of District Private Bus Owners’ Association.

According to sources, at least five private bus owners from Jeypore, Nabarangpur and Koraput are interested to ply buses to Hyderabad and Vijayawada via Malkangiri instead of Salur and Sunki to save time.

The state-run OSRTC buses would also ply to Hyderabad and Vijayawada once the bridge is opened.

A National Highway official based in Jeypore, Vinod Bagarti said tender for the approach road was invited before the election model code of conduct came into force but there was no participation. 

A fresh tender would be floated again, he said and added that the matter is now with Bhubaneswar-based National Highway Chief Engineer’s Office. If no tender is received in the second attempt, Government would take a final call, he added.

What to See and do in Ranchi in 24 Hours

Source: india.com

The capital of Jharkhand, Ranchi, is a stunning city that’s home to more waterfalls than one can imagine. Famously also known as the ‘City of Waterfalls,’ Ranchi’s hilly topography and strategic geographical location makes it a natural paradise on Earth. Here’s what you must see on your trip here.

The Waterfalls

The most spectacular waterfall in Ranchi is the Hundru Falls, where you need to climb down 750 stairs to reach the foot of the waterfalls. Other must visit ones are Dassam Falls, Jonha Falls, and Panchghagh Falls that are all known for their spectacular beauty and the lush greenery surrounding them.

Birsa Zoological Park

One of the best zoos in the country, Birsa Zoological Park is divided into two sections: the larger area is home to wildlife such as lion, tiger, hyena, fox, wild cat, barking deer and elephant and the smaller area is thoroughly a botanical section with one of the most beautiful Rose Gardens you’ll ever see.

Rock Garden

Rock Garden is considered second to the Jaipur Garden in its appearance. Nestled atop Gonda Hills, rocks from the Gonda Hills were used to carve this beautiful garden and the statues inside. Kanke Dam, right at the bottom of Gonda Hills, is a must visit too, for it offers unparalleled peace and tranquility to the tired traveller.

Ranchi Lake

Located at the foot of Ranchi Hill, the lake is located at the centre of the city making it easily accessible to travellers. It is the perfect place if you want to go boating, or just watch a sunset or soak in the beauty of the panoramic view of the hills around.

The temples

The most frequented attraction in Ranchi is the Sun Temple. The highlight of its wonderful architecture are the eighteen wheels and seven horses; the unique design adding a touch of splendour to the temple. Another one is the 17th-century Jagannath Temple, situated on hilltop in the city. It looks a lot like the Jagannath Temple in Puri; and affords an excellent view of the entire city.

Bhima Koregaon case: Pune police raid activist Fr. Stan Swamy’s Ranchi home

Source: thehindu.com

A Pune police team on Wednesday searched the residence of human rights activist Father Stan Swamy in Ranchi in connection with the Bhima Koregaon–Elgaar Parishad case and for his alleged Maoist links. This was the second time the city police raided his house in Ranchi’s Namkum area.

While electronic devices, including a hard disk and some other materials, were seized, the 83-year-old activist was not taken into custody. 

The Pune police were assisted by the Ranchi police in the search that lasted nearly three hours, said sources.

Ashutosh Sekhar, Superintendent of Police, Ranchi (Rural), told The Hindu, “The search began after 7 a.m. and lasted nearly two-and-a-half to three hours. The Maharashtra police team took some electronic material and some documents. They will examine this material and decide on the future course of action.” 

The previous raid

Raids were conducted by the police at Fr. Swamy’s residence on August 28 last along with that of six other academics and activists known for their dissentious views against the powers that be.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Swargate division) Shivaji Pawar, the investigating officer in the case, told The Hindu that the police seized some electronic devices and other material from Fr. Swamy’s house. “We have not taken him into custody. We conducted this operation for gathering more evidence as a part of the ongoing investigation in the case. The materials seized will be sent for probe,” he said.

Fr. Swamy runs a school for Adivasi children and a technical training institute in his residential premises. A vocal critic of the Jharkhand government, he is known for his work among the tribal people of the State through his NGO, Bagaicha.

In 2016, he released an expose following a Jharkhand undertrials’ study, which showed that an overwhelming majority of the tribal people languishing in jails were falsely implicated and arrested for daring to protest against the violation of their constitutional and human rights.

On August 28 last, the houses of activists Sudha Bharadwaj, P. Varavara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde were raided, along with that of Fr. Swamy as part of the second crackdown by the Pune police on alleged ‘Maoist sympathisers’ as part of their investigation into the Bhima-Koregaon clashes.

Four of them, including Ms. Bharadwaj, Mr. Rao, Mr. Gonsalves and Mr. Ferreira are now lodged in the city’s Yerwada Jail. 

Last year’s crackdown

On June 6 last year, the city police, in its first nationwide crackdown in the case, arrested five activists, including Dalit publisher Sudhir Dhawale, advocate Surendra Gadling, Nagpur University professor Shoma Sen and activists Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson for their alleged links with the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and their roles in the ‘Elgaar Parishad’ and the Bhima-Koregaon clashes.

Two charge sheets have been filed against a total 23 accused in the case on a number of counts, including for alleged Maoist links, veering youths towards Maoism and attempting to destabilise the State. The first charge sheet, a 5,160 page indictment, was filed in November 2018 and the second in February last.