Two wanted Maoists surrendered before Bihar police with huge cache of arms

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: After years of chasing, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) guerrillas, two hardcore Maoists of Vaishali district in Bihar surrendered at police headquarters on Monday with a huge cache of arms and ammunition.

The Maoists, identified as Amarnath Sahni (45) and Rakesh Sahni (40) of Jandaha block were wanted in more than a dozen cases of insurgency-related crimes including the murder of two farmers in 2018.

ADG (Hq) Jitendra Kumar told the media that Amarnath Sahni has been accused of 14 cases whereas his associate Rakesh Kumar is named in six Maoist related crimes in the state.

“They surrendered before the police headquarters with one carbine machine gun, 2 pistols and a large number of cartridges and one country made one round pistol,” Kumar added.

Khattar may get notice from Bihar women panel Read

Source: deccanherald.com

The Bihar Women Commission has taken umbrage at Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s statement wherein he referred to “Bihari girls” while speaking about Kashmir and Article 370. The woman panel is likely to send a notice to Khattar asking him to explain what he meant by “Bihari brides” and the rationale behind making such innuendoes while speaking about Kashmir.

The whole controversy arose after Khattar, while addressing a meet in Haryana on Saturday, said, “Earlier, OP Dhankarji, a Haryana minister, used to say that brides had to be brought from Bihar for the youths of Haryana. But now, as Kashmir is open, brides would be brought from there.”

Dhankar had earlier said so in reference to Haryana’s poor sex ratio.

However, the chairperson of the Bihar Women Commission Dilmani Mishra found the statement made by Haryana CM “highly objectionable and completely avoidable.”

“He will have to explain what he meant by Bihari brides,” said Mishra, adding that the women’s panel will soon send a condemnation notice to Khattar.

“When he was discussing Kashmir and Article 370, what was the necessity to argue that brides from Bihar were needed in Haryana for marriage. It’s an insult to all women and should be condemned by everyone,” said the panel chairperson.

The All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) too has castigated Khattar for his unsavoury remarks. “His statements about Kashmiri and Bihari girls should be condemned in the strongest words. The way he said how Kashmir was open and brides should be brought from there, shows the mindset of such leaders. These people (Haryana leaders) reportedly kill their daughters in the name of honour killing/social status and then talk of Bihari girls or Kashmiri bride. These statements were just not acceptable,” said Meena Tiwari, national general secretary of AIPWA.

Jharkhand ensuring last-mile public healthcare delivery

Source: ehealth.eletsonline.com

With healthcare becoming a focus point, as reflected through Narendra Modi Government’s game-changer Ayushman Bharat scheme, the Government of Jharkhand has gone out of its way to evolve the State’s healthcare delivery system, enabling people of all strata of the society better patient care in terms of accessibility and affordability.

One must have vivid memory of last year’s incident when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the scheme from the soil of Jharkhand, providing much needed succor to poor and vulnerable section of the society. Taking a leaf from the Centre, the Jharkhand Government is taking all measures to improve care delivery system to ensure wellbeing of each and every citizen of the State.

Our latest cover story titled ‘Jharkhand Making Giant Leap to Ensure Inclusive, Affordable Healthcare’ thus touches upon various aspects of this all-important healthcare sector.

It highlights how the State has come a long way since its inception in 2000 and has made tremendous progress in every sectors including healthcare.

Despite having lots of challenges in terms of hilly terrain and a large swathe of tribal population, the State has improved its rank in healthcare index and recent Niti Aayog report vouches for the same. The story encapsulates how the State Government has leveraged Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to fill infrastructural gaps on many fronts.

The latest issue also features insightful interview of Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni, Secretary, Department of Health, Medical Education & Family Welfare, Government of Jharkhand, who sheds lights on various initiatives of the Government undertaken to improve healthcare delivery to the last mile.

We also have a special feature on Emergency Medical Services which takes into account various aspect of emergency care and its significance in providing immediate care in critical situations.

The magazine has also insightful articles on Public Private Partnership model which plays a pivotal role to resuscitate healthcare infrastructure.

The articles on behalf of Medall, Ziqitza HealthCare, Apollo Tele Health Services, Healthmap, and Tata Motors present comparative accounts of their contribution to bolster patient care across length and breadth of India. With such a bouquet of articles, interviews and stories, we hope this edition will evoke an invaluable response from our esteemed readers.

HEAVY RAINS IN BAG FOR RANCHI, HAZARIBAGH, JAMUI FOR THE NEXT TWO TO THREE DAYS

Source: skymetweather.com

The weather over the eastern states of Bihar and Jharkhand was running consistently warm and humid with a cloudy sky. Though, scattered places have received light to moderate rains in the last 24 hours.

As on August 10, the state of Bihar is running rain deficit by 7%, while Jharkhand is rain deficient by 36%. Presently, a Cyclonic Circulation lies over northern parts of Bay of Bengal. An upper air Trough is extending from North Bihar to this system across Jharkhand. While, the eastern end of Axis of Monsoon Trough is also running across Central parts of Jharkhand.

This Cyclonic Circulation over North Bay of Bengal will be intensifying into a Low-Pressure Area during the next 24 to 36 hours and will be moving Northwestwards.

Under all these weather conditions, the rainfall over the states of Bihar and Jharkhand will increase during the next two to three days.

Hence, light to moderate rains are likely at many places over these states. Places like Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Jamui, etc may receive heavy showers. Though, Northeast parts of Bihar will experience light rains at scattered places.

There will be relief from the ongoing warm weather in the states as temperatures will be decreasing in the upcoming days as soon as the rains take over. Also, these rains will turn out useful for the ongoing paddy crops.

Vice President Naidu launches state DBT scheme for farmers in Jharkhand

Source: dailyexcelsior.com

RANCHI, Aug 10: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday launched the Jharkhand Government’s ‘Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana’ under which money would be directly transferred into the bank accounts of farmers in the state.

Under the scheme, beneficiaries having farm land of less than one acre to five acres, will get Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 in their bank accounts.
As soon as Naidu launched the scheme, money was transferred into the bank accounts of farmers, and some them showed their mobile phones with the money transfer message to the vice-president.

“I saw the happiness in the face of the farmers who showed me the message on their mobile phones. I congratulate the government and the farmers on the occasion,” Naidu said.

He said the Centre has taken a pledge to double the income of farmers by 2022 and in that endeavour, the government is continuously increasing minimum support price (MSP) for 23 farm produce.

Calling for conservation of rainwater in view of depletion of ground water, Naidu said conservation of rainwater should be made people’s movement and hoped that farmers would use traditional method to help conserve ground water.

Praising the Centre and the state government’s efforts in protecting the interests of “annadata” (food providers), Naidu stressed on the importance of developing village and recalled the efforts made by him when he was the Union Rural Development minister.

“You need to have a structural change in the agricultural sector, and it should be the top priority,” he said.

According to an official statement, under the Mukhya Mantri Krishi Ashirwad Yojana, approximately 35 lakh farmers will be benefited and by September/October and Rs 3,000 crore would be sent in the accounts of the beneficiaries.

The launching ceremony was also held in other 23 districts, apart from Ranchi.

Under the scheme, Rs 5,000 is given to those farmers having one acre or less agricultural land, Rs 10,000 to those having two acres, Rs 15,000 for having three acres, Rs 20,000 for having four acres and Rs 25,000 for having five acres of agricultural land. This is scheme apart from the benefits the farmers are getting under Centre’s PM-Kisan Yojana. (PTI)

Eid-el-Kabir: Buhari urges Muslims to avoid violent extremism

Source: pulse.ng

The President said extremism is giving Islam a wrong name. 

He said this on Saturday, August 10, 2019, while felicitating with muslims.

He said, “Islam is a religion of peace and we should avoid violent extremist ideas that give Islam a wrong name because our conduct leaves more lasting impressions than what we say by word of mouth.

“Violent extremism is the greatest challenge facing Islam today and the only way we can neutralise its evil influence is to distance ourselves from the activities and teachings of those who preach indiscriminate violence against innocent people. This flies in the face of the teachings of Islam.”

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, Buhari also advised parents to “protect their children from the deadly exposure to violent extremists who manipulate and exploit those children for their own evil agenda.’’

He also said that the extreme idea of Boko Haram became a major force because Muslim societies failed to act on time to stop the style of preaching by extremists.

He said, “Boko Haram became a deadly force and a major security scourge because Muslim societies were indifferent from the beginning to the activities of extremist preachers who manipulate innocent and gullible followers.”

He, however, assured Nigerians that his administration was working hard to bring an end to Boko Haram terrorism, kidnappings and banditry.

In Jharkhand, BJP poised to gain by default as Opposition is in disarray

Source: business-standard.com

From all appearances, the Jharkhand Assembly polls later this year look like a cinch for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). If the Lok Sabha election outcome is a hot lead — the National Democratic Alliance won 12 of the 14 seats and secured a vote share of 55.29 per cent— the BJP and its partners, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), can stage an encore in this neck of the woods that seldom gives a winner an absolute majority in the legislature.

Jharkhand has an Opposition that a ruling party would dream of. In this case, the BJP and the AJSU (the LJP does not have a legislator) governed for five years after winning the 2014 elections with a bare majority. “It is the most conducive Opposition a party in power can hope for. Even if people search for an alternative, they can’t find one. The BJP gains by default,” a Ranchi-based veteran political observer said.

The BJP’s Jayant Sinha, Hazaribagh MP and a former central minister, remarked: “The Opposition alliance doesn’t have a leader, an ideology, a common minimum programme or the skills to work together. People saw through this hotchpotch combine.” The “combine” comprised the Congress, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) or JVMP, and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

Recent developments support the observations on the Opposition’s plight. Jharkhand Pradesh Congress chief Ajoy Kumar quit his post on Friday, accusing some colleagues of indulging in corrupt practices and promoting their own interests over the party’s and said “worst criminals look better” than them. A few days ago, Kumar was roughed up allegedly by allegiants of his rivals in the party, Subodh Kant Sahay, former Union minister, and Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu, Rajya Sabha MP.

The RJD split vertically, which gave birth to the RJD (Democratic), led by Gautam Sagar Rana. The JVMP, helmed by former BJP chief minister Babulal Marandi, suffered a setback after its MLA and Marandi lieutenant, Pradip Yadav, was jailed on an attempted rape charge. The JMM, the mainspring of the Opposition grouping, hit a rough patch after its patriarch Shibu Soren was defeated in the Dumka Lok Sabha seat, his fief, for a third time and his son and heir apparent, Hemant, led the coalition to a defeat in the last state polls.

With a spring in its step, the BJP encapsulated its target in the “Mission 65 plus” slogan, based on the fact that in the parliamentary polls, it led in 63 of the 81 Assembly constituencies. In 2014, the BJP and the AJSU together won 40 seats. Shivpujan Pathak, the BJP’s state media minder, claimed: “The ambience hasn’t changed. Our biggest achievement is we offered Jharkhand its first stable government lasting five years. Before 2014, there were instability and Maoist attacks. Under our government, there is inclusive development, fuelled by a double engine because we have a government at the Centre too.”

According to Sinha, the “double engine-driven growth” was a force multiplier in at least three sectors. Under the Ujjwala Yojana, a targeted scheme to provide cooking gas connections to BPL households, the Jharkhand government distributed free burners, with the first costless cylinder; it plans to hand a second cylinder shortly so that women do not revert to the “chulha” if the wait for a refill gets long and uncertain. Second, the Ayushman Bharat Health Protection scheme was universalised to cover any person having a ration card. “In effect, two-thirds of Jharkhand’s population are covered,” said Sinha. Third, the Rs 6,000 annual minimum income support to farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi was enhanced by the state government — additional Rs 5,000 per acre to farmer who owned less than an acre, not as a loan or an amount to be redeemed. The scheme was projected to benefit nearly 2.3 million small and marginal farmers who already received interest-free loans and a crop insurance cover.

However, even BJP sources conceded there were “challenges” to face and loopholes to plug. The Santhal Pargana region, accounting for 18 Assembly seats, is on the BJP’s radar because of concerns that tribal voters may turn to the JMM and the Congress for succour. “Our government is backward caste-driven,” a senior BJP leader said. Chief Minister Raghubar Das is from the backward caste Vaish community.

Memories of 2016 still anger tribals. That year, Das amended the Chotanagpur and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Acts to permit the acquisition of tribal-owned land for “development”. These Acts proscribed the transfer of tribal land to non-tribal people and favoured community ownership. After huge protests, the government withdrew the amendments in 2017.

The BJP sought to assuage tribal people’s sentiments by resorting to symbolism. It kicked off 2019 with a 15-day campaign to collect soil from the villages of pre-Independence martyrs and build a statue of tribal legend Birsa Munda on the old jail campus in Ranchi. BJP President Amit Shah visited Munda’s village, Ulihatu, to felicitate his descendants.

Will the gestures help? A central leader’s answer was: “Jharkhand’s demography is diverse. The BJP has to portray itself as an inclusive entity and not a sectional one.”

Sri Lanka and Cambodia to promote Theravada Buddhism – President

Source: dailynews.lk

Sri Lanka and Cambodia should work together to spread the teachings of Theravada Buddhism throughout the world, President Maithripala Sirisena has said in Phnom Penh.

The President made these comments while attending a religious ceremony at Wat Langka Preah Kosomaram in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Saturday.

In order to achieve this objective measures will be taken to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two countries, he added.

Accordingly, the establishment of a Sri Lankan Mission in Cambodia will be expedited and two consuls will be appointed for both the countries to coordinate the activities, President Sirisena further said.

Buddhism is the historical foundation of the relations between Sri Lanka and Cambodia and while strengthening economic and trade relations, our two countries should work in unison towards the noble mission of preserving Theravada Buddhism, the President said.

The King, Prime Minister and the government of Cambodia have already pledged their support for this endeavor and the process will be taken forward with the assistance of Maha Sanga of the two countries. Discussions on the expansion of investment and trade activities between Sri Lanka and Cambodia have been successfully concluded said the President adding that an invitation was extended to the Cambodian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka at the earliest opportunity.

The President also participated in the veneration of sacred relics brought to Cambodia at the request of the Chief Incumbent of Lanka Preah Kosomaram, the Most Venerable Samdech Preah Maha Ariyavamsa Dr. Sao Chanthol, who had requested the President for a sprout of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree and sacred relics of the Buddha to be venerated by the Cambodian people.

On the advice of the Most Venerable Omalpe Sobhitha Thero, steps were taken to bring sacred relics that reposed at the Sri Bodhiraja Dharmayathanaya temple in Embilipitiya and a sprout of the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi to Cambodia in coordination with the visit of the President.

The President observed religious rituals at Lanka Preah Kosomaram temple and paid floral tribute to the sacred relics. The Maha Sanga in Cambodia, the Deputy Prime Minister Samdech Chaufea Veang Kong Som OI and a large number of clergy and laity attended this event.

Crimes against women on the rise in Bihar, MLA says incidents can’t be brought to zero

Source: zeenews.india.com

Recent weeks have seen a spurt in the rate of crimes against women in the state of Bihar which has put the glaring spotlight on the police and political machinery here. While opposition parties have upped the pressure on the government, BJP MLA Arun Sinha said that such crimes can be reduced but cannot be eliminated completely.

The political uproar in Bihar comes in the backdrop of rise in crimes against women with three incidents in the recent past adding fuel to fire. In a state where the crime graph has been steadily on the rise, incidents against women too have been reported. In one incident, three men allegedly raped a minor girl and then tried to kill her in Chapra. While cops arrested two of the accused, the third managed to flee. The minor is in a critical condition at PMCH Hospital.

In a separate incident, the body of a 16-year-old girl was recovered in a mutilated condition in Nalanda’s Baellor village. Cops say that the head was beaten with bricks in an attempt to conceal the identity of the victim who may have been raped before she was killed.

In the third gruesome incident. a minor girl was kept inside a hotel room for four days and repeatedly raped in Muffasil district of the state.

These three incidents, in particular, have inflamed political tensions with Congress spokesperson Rajesh Rathore saying that girls and women are not safe under the government of CM Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi. “There are Nirbhaya-like incidents happening in Bihar everyday and the government is silent,” he said. RJD’s Mrityunjay Tiwari also echoed similar thoughts and said that the message of good governance is false.

In the government’s defence, JDU’s Rajeev Ranjan admitted that the recent crimes against women have been shocking. BJP’s Sinha, however, courted controversy while mounting a counter. “Such crimes can be brought down but cannot be eliminated completely,” he said. Sinha also appealed to people to come out and report such crimes.

There have been 605 rape cases which have been reported in Bihar between January and May of 2019. The maximum number of these have been in Patna – 41.

In 2018, 1475 cases of rape were reported across Bihar while 1195 cases in 2017 and 1008 cases were reported in 2016.

Bihar police drive to stop mob violence

Source: thehindu.com

The Bihar police have launched a massive drive on social media and are conducting awareness programmes appealing to people to stay away from mob violence which has taken eight lives in the past two-weeks, mostly in Patna district. Over two dozen cases have reportedly been triggered by rumours of child lifting in past one month.

On Saturday, a man was beaten to death by a violent mob in Mohammadpur village under the Naubatpur police station in Patna district. The lynching took place on rumour that the man was a child lifter.

“As many as 43 people have been named and 150 are unidentified in the FIR…we have arrested 23 of those involved in the incident,” the officer-in-charge of the Naubatpur police station, Samrat Deepak Kumar, said.

He added that the local police have been appealing to people, while making announcement on loudspeakers, not to believe in such rumours.

Earlier, on August 3, two such incidents of mob violence took place in Rupaspur and Dhanarua villages.

Alarmed with the rising trends of mob violence over child-lifting rumours, the police headquarters has instructed all district police superintendents to launch a drive against such incidents and make people aware through social media and public interaction not to believe rumours.

‘Don’t believe rumours’

Patna Senior Superintended of Police Garima Mallik held public meetings in different locations in the capital and appealed to the people not to fall prey to such rumours. The Patna District Magistrate, Kumar Ravi, too has expressed concern over such incidents and asked people to remain vigilant about such rumour mongering.

In most of the incidents, the victims have been from weaker section of society. Apart from Patna, such incidents of mob lynching have also been reported from Kaimur and East Champaran districts. In Patna district, incidents of mob lynching were mainly reported from Sadisopur, Neora, Maner, Rupaspur, Fatuha and Naubatpur.

“Special drives have been launched to sensitise people against such rumours…special patrolling of police personnel too have been initiated in such rumour-prone areas”, State Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey told media persons on Saturday.

In 2018 as many as 19 incidents of mob lynching were reported from the State while in 2017 and 2016 the number of such incidents were 13 and 7 respectively.