Tag: CM

Jharkhand to feature in international sports map: CM

Source: dailypioneer.com

Chief Minister Hemant Soren today said that the State of Jharkhand has immense talent and potentials in the field of sports, especially among women players and the State will soon come in the international sports map.

He said that sports talents needs to be polished and trained, the efforts of the State for which will be soon visible in coming days.

The Chief Minister, while interacting with US Middlebury College Field Hockey team and Shakti Vahini organisation here on

Friday said that the focus of sports policy should be sportsperson and sports and the Government is committed to encourage sports in the State.

Soren asked Middlebury Field Hockey Trainer from Vermont, USA Catarine Parry DeLorenzo to think about giving training to the Jharkhand women players for a year rather than seven days.

The CM appreciated the efforts of the group for personality development of children and spreading awareness for curbing human trafficking apart from encouraging sports in tribal areas.  

Notably, 107 tribal girls from the villages of Gumla, Simdega, Khunti and Lohardaga district of Jharkhand have been trained for seven days by a training group of Vermont Middlebury Field Hockey by Shaktivahini and US Consulate in Kolkata. The final programme of this training will be held on February 01.

OSD to CM Gopalji Tiwari, Chief Trainer Catarine Parry DeLorenzo, Rishi Kant of Shakti Vahini, former member of National Commission for Women Manju Hembrom, Sneha Harsh, Priyanka Kumari, Pyari Kumari, Pyari Ekka, Purnima Niti, Somrai Kumari, Gress Murfy, Irin Nicols, Kelly Koel alongwith others were present on  the occasion.

Meanwhile, there was a huge crowd of visitors at CM’s residence at Kanke Road Ranchi on Friday. Soren came to know the problems of visitors from all sections of the State. People who arrived under the leadership of social activist Dr. Prabhat Minj from Latehar district presented their greetings to the CM by presenting the book “Swaved”. Social activist Dr. Prabhat Minj pleaded before the Chief Minister that the residential school is ready for Chetak’s building. It is necessary to have a school here so that the children around will have facilities for teaching work. Taking cognizance of this, the CM assured that soon this school teaching work will start.

Soren was sensitive to address problems of visitors. He also directed the officials concerned immediately to deal with public problems. The CM told the visitors that resolving their problems is the priority of the government. The present government is dedicated to protect their interest, development and progress.

Jharkhand CM celebrates Diwali in Jamshedpur, performs rituals on Gobardhan Puja.

Source – avenuemail.in

Jamshedpur: Chief Minister Raghubar Das celebrated ‘festival of lights’ Diwali with spouse Rukmini Devi, son Lalit Das and daughter-in-law and family members at Agrico area on Sunday. He met well-wishers and extended warm wishes to the people. The Chief Minister prayed for the welfare of the State.

On Monday, Das performed rituals to mark Govardhan Puja. After the rituals, he inspected several areas under his Legislative Assembly Area Jamshedpur East. Das, who was in city to celebrate Diwali, went to various areas in Burmamines and personally interacted with residents and took stock of development schemes. According to information, he asked authorities to focus on cleanliness of the areas.

He went to Raghubarnagar and met with locals. Talking to local citizens he said that the Government is dedicated towards development of State with special focus on cleanliness and infrastructure. He said that the people are reaping the benefits of the several welfare schemes is his Government’s priority.

 Das further added that the government would work efficiently in bringing speedy development, providing basic amenities and improving policing. He also said that ensuring corruption free governance will be his foremost priority. He also emphasised that his government would be accountable and ensure rapid development by utilising the abundance of natural resources.

Chief Minister’s legislative assembly area representative, Pawan Agarwal said that the Chief Minister has sought a report on two acre vacant land at Raghubarnagar. He asked local authorities to prepare a report so that the land can be used to develop G+ 8 residential areas for the needy families.  

Meanwhile the Chief Minister also visited several Kali Puja Pandals and sought blessings. The festival of lights, Diwali, also marks the beginning for worship  of deity, Goddess Kali. Festivities and enthusiasm for Kali Puja in city is same as seen for Diwali. Performing the Puja with faith devotees seek

protection against drought and war and blessings of general happiness, health and prosperity.

In Jamshedpur a number of Kali Puja pandals were constructed for the occasion. On Sunday the pandals were inaugurated amidst enthusiasm.

“Kali puja is also an important occasion for us and every year we look forward to celebrate in traditionally. A massive pandal have been constructed for the occasion. The festival is usually celebrated

during the Diwali,” Tapas Sen, senior functionary of Five Star Kali Puja Committee in Pursudih.

He said that though the pomp and show during Durga Puja is much higher but the devotion and festivities for Kali Puja are none the less. Meanwhile a number of Kali puja pandals have been constructed at Sonari, Burmamines and Pursudih.

Lightning kills 8 youths in Jharkhand, CM Raghubar Das announces compensation

Source: indiatoday.in

A lightning strike killed eight people in Jharkhand on Thursday. The incident happened in Jharkhand’s Garwha. The eight youths, hailing from Pasi Tola under Mjhiyon police station, were playing out in the open when the lightning strike killed six out of them on the spot.

The other two were rushed to a hospital but to no avail. They breathed their last in Sadar Hospital, Garwha on Thursday.

Garwha SDO Pradip Kumar said that it was raining and the youths tried to hide themselves under a tree. The trees are a good conductor of electricity. When the lightning hit it the tree the current was discharged upon the youths hiding under it.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said, “My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones.” Raghubar Das also announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each to the families of the deceased.

Meanwhile, senior geologist of Ranchi University — Dr Nitish Priyadarshi — expressed his concern over death due to natural disasters time and again in the far flung and rural areas.

Nitish Priyadarshi has cited that acute lack of awareness is the big reason of casualties from nature furies. Villages located at high altitude is common in Jharkhand and people don’t know that it is not at all advisable to go outside in fields and open spaces when there are any chances of thundering or lightning strikes.

“Above all still, the use of conductors are minimal in the rural areas. Massive awareness campaign is required to update the people to stick to the dos and don’ts during thundering and lightning. This is high time disaster management department of Jharkhand government should take a call to preempt casualties,” Nitish Priyadarshi said.

No compromise on corruption, communalism: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Independence Day

Source: indiatoday.in

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday asserted that there would be no compromise on “crime, corruption and communalism” under his rule, which has been characterized by “nyay ke saath vikas” (development with justice) and “sampradayik sauhardra” (communal harmony).

In his hour-long address at Gandhi Maidan here on the occasion of Independence Day, Kumar said a new system of policing was being introduced in the state for effective maintenance of law and order.

“We are never going to compromise on crime, corruption and communalism. ‘Nyay ke saath vikas and sampradayik sauhardra’ have been and will always remain our priority.

“From today, we have introduced a new system of policing wherein maintenance of law and order and investigation shall stand separated so that personnel engaged in either are not distracted by other demands of duty,” Kumar said after unfurling the tricolour.

The chief minister also inspected the tableaux depicting the various schemes launched and the measures taken during his 14-year-long rule in the state.

“Our crackdown on corruption will continue. Bribery, amassing of wealth disproportionate to assets and through misuse of public office will be severely dealt with. None of those who are involved in earning money through illegal and immoral means will be spared,” the chief minister said.

Kumar pointed out that a Public Service Grievances Redressal Act is in place which guarantees resolution of complaints in a transparent manner and a mechanism has been devised for deciding service-related issues of government servants in a time-bound manner.

“People must be made aware that ill-gotten wealth may bring momentary pleasure, but its long-term impact is perilous. We must always keep in mind the words of Mahatma Gandhi that we must consume only as much as we need, giving up greed in any form,” he maintained.

Recalling that he had ordered a complete ban on sale and consumption of alcohol three years ago, in line with the demand of women in the state, Kumar said it had evoked enthusiasm, with people forming a massive human chain on the theme of prohibition, though “many who think it is their right to drink, seem to be unhappy over this move.”

People must realize that consumption of alcohol cannot be a matter of rights, he asserted.

“I would also like to draw the attention of youth towards a report of World Health Organization which has done a study on the ill effects of consuming liquor,” he added.

The CM also spoke at length about the measures taken by his government to improve education scenario in the state, including the proposed launch of “Unnayan Bihar” programme next month which aims to emulate across the state a successful e-learning experiment carried out in Banka district.

He said that his government was committed to providing people with better health care facilities and that the expansion and upgrading of premier hospitals at Patna, Muzaffarpur and Gaya have been approved.

Kumar mentioned that his government was taking steps to boost agriculture, including the setting up of a separate power feeder for farmers.

He lamented that the effects of climate change are being felt in Bihar, where there has been a decline in average rainfall over the years, while untimely showers have caused flash floods.

“We are doing our bit to reverse the damage. Our Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali drive, launched recently, is a step in this direction”, he added.

The CM, after attending the Independence Day ceremony, visited the Rajdhani Vatika adventure park in the city where he tied a thread around a tree in presence of cabinet colleagues, including his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi.

The state government is observing the festival of “Rakshabandhan”, which falls on this date, as “Vriksh Suraksha Diwas” (Day for protection of trees).

Statistics don’t lie: Why Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is miles ahead of other contenders

Source: dailyo.in

Though the Bihar Assembly polls are scheduled for 2020, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has already declared Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate. While it appeared a little hasty and ill-timed for a party that drew a blank in the Lok Sabha polls, many argued that RJD’s declaration was more for intra-party consumption, and not for the people of Bihar. However, RJD’s apparent taste for Bihar’s top job has prompted many backroom boys across political lines to take a closer look at the Lok Sabha poll results. This is obviously an attempt to find whether RJD’s desire carries any weight in Bihar and if the political pecking order in the state has any new entrant.

A fresh data analysis of votes has been pulled out to assess if the poll outcome also has some hidden meaning attached to it. While statistics are notorious for not telling the whole story, the data analysis of voting during the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar has really thrown up some surprising assessments. The biggest surprise first: The BJP, which bagged the maximum votes in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, is not the biggest gainer if you compare performance of political parties during the last two elections held in Bihar.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP bagged 96,18,904 votes in Bihar. In the 2015 Assembly polls, the saffron tally was 93,08,015 votes. Clearly, despite their impressive showing in Bihar, having won all 17 seats contested in 2019, the BJP has gained just about 3.10 lakh votes from 2015. So, who is the biggest gainer in Bihar? The results of a data analysis — based on a comparison of the last two elections held in Bihar — are convincingly in favour of Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) or JD(U). In 2015, Nitish’s party had bagged 64,17,041 votes. In 2019, its vote tally shot up to 89,02,719 votes. If you compare the two performances, it becomes clear that Nitish’s party has added more than 24.85 lakh voters in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

The JD(U)’s leap of 38.73% over its 2015 tally is staggering. If we compare the votes gained by the two ruling parties in Bihar (JD(U)’s 24.85 lakh votes to BJP’s 3.10 lakh), it becomes clear that the jump in Nitish’s vote tally is eight times more than that of the BJP. More surprises come to fore when the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s vote tally of 2019 is compared to the number of votes it polled in 2015. The RJD bagged 62,70,107 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls compared to 69,95,509 votes in the 2015 Assembly polls. So, the RJD has lost just 7.25 lakh votes in 2019 against its performance in 2015. The figure, however, also reveals a significant insight.

While the JD(U) has raised its vote tally by nearly 39% over its 2015 performance, its electoral gains have not come from the losses of its opponents. The majority of additional votes that Nitish’s party has gained in Bihar appear to have come from new voters. Incidentally, since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar has topped the country’s tally when it comes to adding new voters to the electoral roll. The figure for new voters in Bihar was 61,33,940, whereas West Bengal with 55.02 lakh new voters and Rajasthan with 43.45 lakh new voters, were second and third, respectively. 

“Assuming that about 60% of Bihar’s new voters actually voted in the Lok Sabha polls, the number comes up to 36 lakh. If we place this figure against the 24.85 lakh new votes that Nitish Kumar’s party has added to its kitty in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it seems that nearly 70% of the new voters have voted for JD(U),” says a senior IAS officer. “It is clear. While JD(U) has kept its support base intact, it has also added majority of the new voters in Bihar to its vote tally. The reasons are abundantly clear. The new voters, the youth of Bihar, are smart enough to identify the leader whom they can count on for vision and leadership,” says JD(U) spokesman Rajeev Ranjan Prasad. “They [Bihari youth] can differentiate between a run-of-the-mill politician and a statesman like Nitish Kumar”.

“This explains why majority of the new voters have voted for the chief minister’s party,” Prasad adds. The assumptions are well supported by Bihar’s electoral record as Nitish has, indeed, remained the fulcrum of Bihar politics since his party defeated Lalu Prasad’s RJD in the October 2005. From 2005 to 2019, Bihar has seen four Assembly and three Lok Sabha polls. Barring the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the winner always had Nitish by his side in six of those seven elections. Though Nitish always talks about pooling all sections together, JD(U) sources admit that around 30% extremely backward castes (EBCs), and 15 per cent Mahadalits (the most marginalised among the Scheduled Castes) form the nucleus of the JD(U)’s strength.

Together, these two social sections have over 150 castes, constituting nearly 45% voters in Bihar. If RJD’s solid support base among the Yadavs, the single-largest caste group in Bihar with 14% of the population, combined with a sizeable chunk of 16% Muslim votes, has failed to stop Nitish in successive state elections, it was largely because the Bihar CM had similar consolidation of EBCs and Mahadalits behind him. Now, it seems the new voters have also preferred Nitish over others.

Won’t Tolerate Mob Lynching or Any Crime: Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das

Source: thewire.in

Ranchi: Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das has asserted that there will be no discrimination based on caste or religion while dealing with those involved in mob lynching or other crimes and anarchy won’t be tolerated.

Talking about the recent lynching of Muslim youth, accused of stealing a motorcycle in Saraikela Kharsawan district, he said, “My government strongly condemns this incident. Our commitment is to punish criminals… Jharkhand is the only state in the country where such cases are taken up on a fast-track basis with quick punishment to the guilty.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last month said in Rajya Sabha that this lynching incident pained him and the guilty should get the severest punishment. He, however, said that for this incident, the entire state should not be pronounced guilty and everyone put in the dock.

Tabrez Ansari was beaten up by a mob, and a video showed that he was purportedly made to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’. He later died.

Das urged people to refrain from taking law in their hands and expressed his government’s commitment to “punish the criminals” irrespective of caste or the religion.

He also lashed out at the opposition for “giving a communal colour” to stray incidents and said things should not be blown out of proportion and “the government or any particular political party should not be blamed for such incidents”.

“It is a matter of great sadness that the opposition starts playing politics on such issues”, he said.

“Be it this kind of crime or any crime, my government will not tolerate any anarchy… There will be no discrimination in punishing criminals… the colour of blood is the same. Our motto is to ensure communal harmony, peace and brotherhood,” Das told PTI in an interview.

He said his government has constituted a special investigation team to probe the incident and eleven people have been arrested, and two police officers suspended.

According to him, there had been lynching cases during Congress regime too, but this is the first time that action against the guilty is being taken through fast-track courts in Jharkhand.

Das said that Jharkhand has followed Supreme Court guidelines fully in this regard.

The apex court had in 2018 said that “horrendous acts of mobocracy” cannot be allowed to overrun the law of the land and issued a slew of guidelines to deal with mob lynching and cow vigilantism, besides asking the centre to consider enacting a new law to deal with such cases sternly.

It had asked the state governments to designate a senior police officer, not below the rank of superintendent of police, as nodal officer in each district to take steps to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching.

Modi, in his speech, had objected to some people calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching.

“Is this fair? Why are they insulting a state? None of us have the right to insult the state of Jharkhand,” he had said and referred to violence in states ruled by opposition parties.

“All kinds of violence, whether in Jharkhand or West Bengal or Kerala, should be treated as same and law, should take its course,” he had said.

On June 24, leader of the opposition in the upper house Ghulam Nabi Azad had said that Jharkhand has become a lynching factory where Muslims and Dalits were lynched and attacked every week.

Last year, a fast track court in Jharkhand had convicted eleven people for lynching a meat trader in June 2017 over the suspicion that he was carrying beef in his car.

Bihar’s 1.48 crore power consumers to get smart prepaid meters by 2020

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Come August 2020 and Bihar’s 1.48 crore power consumers will get smart prepaid electricity bill measuring meters installed in their houses. 

After successful completion of the target, Bihar would become the first state in the country with all its power consumers availing facility of prepaid electricity meters.

Buoyed by recent Lok Sabha victory, the Nitish Kumar government has directed officials of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL) to achieve the target of complete installation of smart prepaid electricity bill measuring metres by August 2020, ahead of the state assembly elections in 2020.

CM Nitish Kumar has assigned the task of completing the installation to chairman-cum-chief managing director(CMD) of BSPHCL Pratay Amrit, who has played an effective role in ensuring the complete electrification of villages in record time in the state. 

In the last five years, Bihar has spent a whopping Rs 55,000 crore on electrification works and ensuring availability of power.
 
The CM while lauding the performances of electricity department at a function organised to inaugurate and kick-start various schemes worth Rs 697 crores on Tuesday, said that department should also achieve the target of installing the prepaid meters on top priority.

“Once the prepaid meters are installed, consumers will face not problems like inflated bills of which is major complaint by consumers”, Kumar said.
 
He also asked the power officials to replace all the old wires within the stipulated time frame and ensure separate power connection under the agriculture incentive plan to the farmers.

Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, also present at the function, said that the number of power consumers in the state has increased from 37 lakh in 2012 to 1.48 crores in 2019.

“Thanks to the ample availability of power in even remotest parts, state government got a huge revenue of Rs 9,072 crores. The ample power availability has reduced the sales of inverters and gensets in the state to a great extent”, Modi said.

Pratay Amrit said that installation works of smart prepaid meters will start in July from Arwal and Sheohar districts of the state. He informed the government in his welcome speech that old wires in 28874 circuit km were replaced. “The number of power sub-stations has increased also from 95 to129 with a registered demand of power around 5389 megawatts in the state”, he said.