jharkhand Archives - Page 17 of 37

Riding high on wins in recent polls, AIMIM seeks to expand in Bihar, Jharkhand.

Source – livemint.com

Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has set its sights on the Bihar and Jharkhand assembly elections due next year, after winning the Kishanganj assembly seat in Bihar in the recent by-election.

The Hyderabad-based party lost Maharashtra’s Byculla and Aurangabad Central seats in the state assembly election partly because of its failure to sew a coalition with Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi. However, it won two new seats —Malegaon and Dhule City.

“Right now, we are focussed on building our organizational strength,” Adil Hassan, leader of AIMIM’s youth wing in Bihar, said over the phone. “We had 1.5 lakh members and that may go up to 5 lakh after the Kishanganj bypoll win this month, and our aim is to have 15 lakh members across Bihar by end of December. The voters in Seemanchal and other areas now have faith in Barrister (Owaisi), who has raised various issues of ours in the Parliament. Minority areas in Bihar are the most deprived for decades.”

In Maharashtra, the AIMIM contested 44 assembly seats and managed to win two, getting about 740,000 votes across the state. It was an increase from the 500,000 votes in the 2014 polls, where it contested 24 seats.

In Bihar’s Kishanganj, AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda won with a margin of more than 10,000 votes over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sweety Singh. More interestingly, the Congress lost its deposit, getting just 25,825 votes, indicating a shift among Muslim voters. The seat falls under Seemanchal, one of the most backward areas in the state. If AIMIM manages to make deeper inroads, it might change the state’s political landscape, especially for the Congress, which gets a chunk of votes from Muslim voters.

Hassan did not say how many seats the AIMIM plans to contest in the Bihar state polls next year.

Another AIMIM leader based in Hyderabad, who did not want to be named, said that in the 2015 elections, the party had contested just six of the 24 seats in Seemanchal, and plans to contest more than six seats in the 2020 state polls, adding that a decision will be taken on the final tally later for both Bihar and Jharkhand. “We will be contesting in Jharkhand for the first time, and will also put up tribal candidates,” he added.

The AIMIM would have won a few more votes had its alliance with VBA (an alliance of Ambedkar’s Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and other caste/community organizations) gone through. The VBA, which managed to get significant deposits in some of the 250-plus seats it contested like Aurangabad Central, however, did not win any seats.

The alliance between the VBA and the AIMIM broke in September, just a month before the Maharashtra assembly elections, as the former offered the AIMIM just eight out of the 288 seats. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the AIMIM had wrested the Aurangabad seat from the Shiv Sena, when the alliance between AIMIM and VBA was still intact. AIMIM’s Maharashtra head Imtiyaz Jaleel won the seat, and is the party’s only other parliamentarian apart from Owaisi.

“The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress would have won some more seats had the VBA and AIMIM not been in the fray. This very much goes much in line with what Owaisi said during the results of the 2019 general elections, that the myth of the Muslim vote bank has been broken. He said that if there is any vote bank, it is the Hindu vote bank (with the BJP),” said political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.

Reddy added that the results of the Maharashtra state polls and the Bihar bye-poll will only help Owaisi and the AIMIM expand across the country. “He will go ahead with his plans, and it is to be seen how the opposition and Congress will deal with that situation,” he opined.

Chhath Puja special trains from Puri to Patna, Hatia, Bhagalpur.

Bhubaneswar: The East Coast Railway (ECoR) is running special trains from Puri to Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar and Hatia in Jharkhand ahead of Chhath Puja.

Two special trains will run from Puri in Odisha to Hatia and Bhagalpur on Wednesday, ECoR said in a statement.

The Puri-Hatia-Puri special train will depart Puri at 1.30 pm on Wednesday and reach Hatia at 4 am the next day. In the return direction, the train will leave Hatia at 9 am on Thursday and reach Puri at 11 pm the same day, it said.

En route, the train will halt at Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur City, Jharsuguda and Rourkela railway stations.

The Puri-Bhagalpur-Puri special train will leave Puri at 10.30 am on October 30 and November 6 and reach Bhagalpur at 7 am on the following days.

In the return direction, the train will leave Bhagalpur at 8.30 am on October 31 and November 7 and will reach Puri at 6.45 am on the following days, the release said.

En route, the train will stop at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore, Hijli, Midnapur, Bankura, Adra, Asansol, Durgapur, Sainthia, Rampurhat, Gumani, Barharwa and Sahibganj stations.

While one Puri-Patna-Puri special train has already left Puri on October 26 and returned to the pilgrim centre on October 28 from Patna, another will leave the Odisha town at 9.25 am on November 2 and reach the Bihar capital at 6.15 am the next day.

In the return direction, the special train will leave Patna at 1.45 pm on November 3 and will reach Puri at 9.45 am the next day, it said.

En route, the train will halt at Khurda Road, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore, Hijli, Midnapur, Bankura, Adra, Asansol, Chittaranjan, Madhupur, Jasidih, Jhajha, Kiul, Mokama and Bakhtiapur stations.

India: Jharkhand On Shaky Ground – Analysis.

Source – eurasiareview.com

On October 19, 2019, Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres shot dead a couple in Khunti District. According to the Police, the rebels shot dead Sheetal Munda (50) and his wife Made Munda (45) at Aada village under the Saiko Police Station of the District, branding them ‘police informers’. Sheetal Munda was the deputy Sarpanch (head of the Panchayat, village level local self-Government institution).

On August 4, 2019, two youths were shot dead by CPI-Maoist cadres in Badani village under Arki Police Station limits in Khunti District. The Maoists alleged through pamphlets that they were ‘police informers.’

These were the four civilian fatalities recorded in the District in the current year so far (data till October 27, 2019). According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), since September 12, 2007, when the Khunti District was carved out of Ranchi, the former has accounted for at least 73 civilian fatalities as a result of Naxalite [Left Wing Extremist, LWE]-linked violence. However, when Khunti was a part of Ranchi District, it had recorded at least four civilian fatalities in LWE-linked violence, since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data.

Khunti is one among 26 districts of 56 affected, spread across eight states, that has witnessed more fatalities in civilian categories than in the Security Force, SF, or Maoists categories. According to SATP, since September 12, 2007, Khunti has recorded a total of 152 fatalities [73 civilians, 17 SF personnel and 62 Naxalites (Left Wing Extremists)]. Significantly, out of the eight States, Jharkhand with (545 civilian fatalities) is also among the four that have registered more fatalities in the civilian categories than in the SF or Maoists categories. The other three are Bihar (209 civilian), Odisha (284), and West Bengal (483).

LWE-related Fatalities in Khunti District: 2007* -2019**

Years	Incident of Fatalities	Civilians	SFs	LWEs	Total
2007	3 (21)	3 (35)	0 (1)	2 (14)	5 (50)
2008	4 (61)	4 (61)	6 (38)	1 (61)	11 (160)
2009	7 (101)	5 (68)	7 (71)	4 (61)	16 (200)
2010	7 (89)	6 (73)	0 (25)	3 (45)	9 (143)
2011	12 (79)	11 (79)	0 (29)	9 (50)	20 (158)
2012	10 (68)	16 (49)	2 (25)	1 (29)	19 (103)
2013	7 (55)	4 (47)	0 (26)	10 (57)	14 (130)
2014	8 (56)	7 (49)	1 (14)	4 (39)	12 (102)
2015	5 (33)	1 (15)	1 (5)	5 (37)	7 (57)
2016	7 (49)	6 (34)	0 (8)	7 (40)	13 (82)
2017	13 (82)	5 (29)	0 (4)	4 (25)	9 (58)
2018	2 (30)	1 (17)	0 (10)	2 (26)	3 (53)
2019	6 (29)	4 (14)	0 (9)	10 (29)	14 (52)
Total	83 (706)	73 (570)	17 (265)	62 (513)	152 (1348)

However, the data suggests, civilian fatalities, which peaked at 16 in 2012, have recorded cyclical trends thereafter, but never reached double digits again, suggesting improvements in the security situation in the District, primarily as a result of increasing SF dominance on the ground.

Considering the overall fatalities in both the Maoist and SF categories since September 12, 2007, we find that the SFs have achieved an overall positive kill ratio of 1:3.64. More importantly, the SFs last lost a trooper on August 18, 2015, when a Policeman, identified as Dhumul Siwaiya, was killed in an encounter under Murhu Police Station limits in Khunti District. A CPI-Maoist ‘area commander’, Chandan aka Kalika Munda, was also killed in that encounter. Police recovered an AK-47 rifle and six loaded magazines from the encounter site.

Khunti is one of most backward regions of the State. Indeed, the NITI Aayog on March 28, 2018, launched the baseline ranking for ‘Aspirational Districts’ constructed on published data of 49 indicators (81 data points) across five developmental areas of Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion and Skill Development, and Basic Infrastructure. Khunti is among the 115 identified backwards Districts, where the Government is committed to raising living standards, using a composite index of key data sets that included deprivation as enumerated under the Socio-Economic Caste Census, key health and education sector performance, and the state of basic infrastructure.

According to a September 19, 2019, report, Jharkhand Rural Development Minister Nilkanth Singh Munda claimed that Khunti has never seen development work as has been witnessed during the last five years. To give development a boost, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda noted that Khunti was one of the ‘aspirational’ districts of the country, and that “Development is taking place here rapidly. The government is working with the goal of making Khunti a developed district. ”

Khunti has an area of 2,535 square kilometers and shares its borders with Ranchi in the north and east; Saraikela-Kharsawan in the south-east, West Singhbhum in the south, and Simdega and Gumla in the West. All these Districts, with the exception of Saraikela-Kharsawan, are among the ‘30 worst Maoist-affected’ Districts, across seven States in the country, according to Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA). Moreover, all these Districts are among the 90 districts in 11 States that are considered LWE affected, according to a Government release of February 5, 2019.

Several concerns persist in the District. Like in rest of Jharkhand, not only the CPI-Maoist, but several of its splinter groups operate in Khunti District. There are more than 12 such small breakaway groups, including the Peoples’ Liberation Front of India (PLFI), Jharkhand Liberation Tigers (JLT), and Jharkhand Sangharsh Morcha (JSM). These groups survive by extortion, arson, creating disturbances and even executing contract killings. According to Police, “These organisations collect illegal levy from coal traders, contractors and companies involved in coal mining, and indulge in arson and disturb coal transportation and other development works when not paid.”

An October 11, 2019, report, revealed that a squad of 20 rebels, including women, from Jhinkpani, Kuchai and Kharsawan were camping in the forest areas of Kuchai along the border with Khunti. Three suspected Maoists, identified as Maheswar Mahali, Ranjit Mahali and Shahani, had prepared the plan and were leading the squad. Intelligence reports suggested that there was a CPI-Maoist conspiracy to detonate explosives on a railway track and target the Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali superfast train.

To fight the LWE menace, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP), and a special task force, the Jharkhand Jaguar (JJ), have been deployed in all the LWE-affected District of Jharkhand. A September 30, 2018, report, suggested that more than 2,000 paramilitary forces were deployed in Khunti.

According to the latest data provided by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), Jharkhand had a police-population ratio (policemen per hundred thousand population), as on January 1, 2017, of 174.96, significantly lower than the sanctioned strength of 229.19, though much higher than the national average of 150.75. The ratio was 167.92 per 100,000 on January 1, 2016. On January 1, 2005, the police-population ratio of the State was 160.5, again, much higher than the then national average of 140.4.

The LWE insurgency in Jharkhand in general, and in the Khunti District in particular, has been substantially degraded and criminalized, with extortion operating as the primary driver for the many splinter formations. Sustained SF pressure, combined with aggressive development, particularly of infrastructure and communications, is necessary to facilitate processes that would bring these residual problems to an end.

Wanted: Saviour for felled trees in Jharkhand.

Source – telegraphindia.com

Remember the outrage recently when the Supreme Court stepped in after thousands of trees were cut in Arey, a suburb of Mumbai, for the Metro rail project? Now sample this: The Jharkhand forest department has still not been able to implement a high court direction from three years ago on transplanting trees cut for infrastructure projects.

The department has been struggling to complete the tender process to find an agency to undertake the task.

Concerned over mindless felling of trees in the name of development, Jharkhand High Court while hearing a public interest litigation in June 2015 had imposed a total ban on cutting of trees for widening highways.

The court had constituted a high-powered panel of lawyers and experts to study the present conditions and the need to cut trees for projects. The committee comprised the regional chief conservator of forest (RCCF) of Ranchi as its chairman and also the road construction department chief engineer, former IFS officer Narendra Mishra, environmentalist Bulu Imam, and the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) CEO.

The committee had in its report suggested empanelment of a tree transplanting agency.

“We had started the tender process for empanelment of tree transplanting agency three times in the last three years but the process could not be completed as only one firm took part in the bidding process,” a highly placed forest department source said. “We have again started the process again and have also initiated talks with some local agencies to show interest in the tender bid so that we can complete the process.”

The high court had in August 2016 had criticised the state government for delay in arranging a tree transplanting agency.

A senior forest official associated with the project of finalising the tree transplanting agency confirmed that Hyderabad based Volvo Trucks is interested in executing the work across state.

“Volvo Trucks has tree transplanting machines and has taken part during all the tender processes. However, no other agency took interest as the truck-mounted transplanting machine costs in excess of Rs 4 crore. We are in talks with some local agencies so that they take part in the tender agencies, even if they do not meet the eligibility criteria, to complete the tender process through multiple bidders. This is because we cannot complete the bidding process with a single bidder. We hope to complete the exercise by the end of October,” said the official.

According to the norms, whoever applies for the job should have at least three years’ experience in this field in the country. The company should also have a qualified team of at least one tree biologist and/or silviculturist (tree specialists, especially for forests) and a minimum of 10 tree transplanting machines, besides adequate number of complementary machines and other requisite resources to successfully carry out the task in time.

Jharkhand principal chief conservator of forest Sanjay Kumar said the department wanted to comply with the high court direction.

“The department is trying its best to select a tree transplanting agency for empanelment across state as per the advise of the high power committee constituted by the high court,” Kumar said. “Hopefully, it will be completed soon. As of now, agencies carrying out development work requiring tree felling are either carrying out tree plantation or transplantation on their own. It is mandatory to compensate for each felled tree by planting trees.”

The PIL was initiated suo motu by the high court on the basis of a news report that the road construction department had cut thousands of trees but had not planted saplings as it was supposed to do so.

Geologist and environmentalist Nitish Priyadarshi, lecturer in the department of environment and water at Ranchi University, said that in recent years hundreds of trees have been felled for road widening projects.

“In the last one or two years, hundreds of old trees have been cut in Taimara under Bundu police station area along NH-33 for its widening. There are proposals to cut hundreds of trees for widening of the Ranchi-Khunti and Ranchi-Silli road. Tree transplanting is the best method as merely planting saplings are no replacement for cutting old trees; the saplings would take years to grow, which would harm the ecology,” said Priyadarshi.

There are reports that nearly 3.44 lakh trees would be felled for the North Koel reservoir (known as Mandal dam) in the Palamau Tiger Reserve. “Tree transplantation should be done for projects both in city and rural areas as loss of tree cover will harm the environment,” Priyadarshi said.

After success in Maharashtra polls and Bihar bypoll, AIMIM sets sight on Bihar, Jharkhand.

Source – livemint.com

HYDERABAD : After winning two new seats in the just concluded Maharashtra assembly elections and the Kishanganj assembly segment in the Bihar by-elections, the Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has now set its sight on the upcoming Bihar and Jharkhand state polls which will be held next year.

AIMIM, led by member of parliament from the Hyderabad seat Asaduddin Owaisi, is all set to contest a chunk of the seats in both states, which might change the political landscape, especially for the Congress (which relies on minority or Muslim votes). In Maharashtra, the AIMIM contested 44 assembly seats and managed to win the Malegaon and Dhule City seats, getting about 7.4 lakh votes. It was an increase from the 5 lakh votes in the 2014 pols, where it contested 24 seats.

In the Kishanganj bypoll in Bihar, the AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda won the seat with a margin of over 10,000 votes the BJP’s Sweety Singh. More interestingly, the Congress lost its deposit, getting just 25,825 votes, indicating a shift among Muslims voters. The seat falls under the Seemanchal region, which is one of the most backward areas In Bihar.

“Right now we are focussed on building our organizational strength. We had 1.5 lakh members and that may not go up to five lakh, and our aim is to have 15 lakh members across Bihar till December. The voters in Seemanchal and other areas now have faith in Barrister (Owaisi), who has raised various issues of ours in the parliament. Minority areas in Bihar are the most deprived from decades,” said Adil Hassan, leader of AIMIM’s youth wing in Bihar.

Hassan did not say how many seats the AIMIM plans to contest in the Bihar state polls next year. Another AIMIM leader, who did not want to be quoted, said that in the 2015 elections, the party had contested in just six seats of the 24 in the Seemanchal region, and that a decision will be taken on the final tally later for both Bihar and Jharkhand. “We will be contesting in Bihar for the first time, and will also put up tribal candidates,” he added.

While the AIMIM lost both the Byculla and Aurangabad Central assembly seats (which it won in 2014), the party would have won a few more had its alliance with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (an alliance of Ambedkar’s Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and other caste/community organizations) gone through. The VBA, which managed to get significant deposits in some the 250-plus seats it contested (like Aurangabad Central), however, did not win any seats.

Reddy added that the results of the Maharashtra state polls and the Bihar bye-poll will only help Owaisi and the AIMIM in expanding across the country. “He will go ahead with his plans, and it is to be seen how the opposition and Congress will deal with that situation,” he opined.

Regional parties eye political pie in State polls.

Source – dailypioneer.com

Despite the NaMo wave in the country and the State, where the BJP repeated its 2014 feat of victory on 12 out of 14 Lok Sabh seats in 2019 General Elections, several regional and smaller political parties are enthusiastically eyeing to make their political ground in Jharkhand. So much so that a number of parties have already announced the number of seats, on which they will field their candidates.

While the Nitish Kumar led Janta Dal United has decided to go alone in State Assembly polls, terming its alliance with the National Democratic Alliance just for Lok Sabha polls, it has also made announcement of tentative candidates for about 14 seats in the State.

The party that had two legislators in the third Assembly of the State, is eyeing its traditional voters alongwith the Kurmi voters, who play a significant role in Jharkhand politics.

The AAP Jharkhand unit has also got a shot in the arm after former Jharkhand cadre IPS officer and ex State in-charge of Congress Dr Ajoy Kumar joined the party recently. The party is also ready to contest elections on more than 40 seats and organising workers conferences across various Assembly segments.

“Our assessment of applications on 40-42 seats across the State is going on. It’s a process through which we finalise whether to contest elections on a particular seat or not. It mainly depends on the number of active workers in the area and also the background of applicants is checked before a name is finalised.

We have been organising workers conferences in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and other prominent places of the State to boost the morale of workers,” said Rajesh Kumar, Spokesperson AAP, Jharkhand.Similarly, The Nationalist Congress Party, State unit has announced to contest elections on 30 seats in Jharkhand. Former Minister and State president of NCP Kamlesh Kumar Singh said that they were in constant touch with other opposition parties to get into an alliance.

If there is an alliance, the NCM will contest on 10 seats. However, if the NCP is not in any alliance it will contest polls on 30 seats, he added.

The All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has won two Assembly seats in Maharashtra and one seat in Bihar in the recent elections, is also gearing up to field its candidates in the coming elections. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who had recently organised a rally in the Capital city has been getting scores of letters and calls for candidature in the polls.

The AIMIM has recently announced that it will contest the State elections on 50 seats if there is no alliance with likeminded parties. The party has claimed that it will win at least 12 seats this time.

YUWA MOMENTS: COURAGE AND CONFIDENCE IN RURAL JHARKHAND.

Source – aif.org

It’s the second half and the score is tied. In a desperate final attempt to take the match, my teammates run an offensive play, and I’m left behind with the goalie to guard the net. A pass is intercepted, and suddenly, a tiny 13-year-old girl is racing towards me, football in her stride, my teammates trailing behind her. I have 10 seconds to act, and make a move to block her dribble. But Monika—a girl who is half my weight and more than foot shorter than me—easily evades my weak defensive maneuver and scores. Frustrated, I apologize to my teammates for letting them down. “Don’t be sorry,” Shanti, my teammate, quickly responds. “When we fail, we fail together.”

Wise words for a 12-year-old, and certainly unexpected after her new teammate cost the match. It’s moments like these that have defined my first month serving as an AIF Clinton Fellow with Yuwa India, an NGO based in Ormanjhi, Jharkhand. Yuwa uses team sports and education to build character, confidence, and courage in girls from impoverished villages in the area.

From my first day here, it was easy to see that these girls are special. A group of fifteen fifth graders quiz me daily to make sure I still remember their names. Young coaches, who use their wages to pay for their studies, arrange pick-up football matches after school. In my science class, girls are so eager to participate they’ll often call out “Excuse me Jane? May I?” while wildly waving their hands. They even ask me for extra homework. My teammates teach me to say “Get away from me, or I’ll fight you!” in Hindi. Girls applying to college approach me to read their personal statements and ask about majors. While leading a workshop, a girl told me my game was boring, and suggested we try something else. In all of these moments, I’ve seen a confidence that’s contagious, inspiring me to match their energy and enthusiasm. And in a society where they are seldom told they are valuable, these moments are all the more incredible.

In Ormanjhi, being a girl is generally not easy. Five out of every ten girls here are married before age 18, and many girls tell tales of averting child marriage, fighting their parents to maintain their freedom or their right to an education. Some face discrimination at home, who prioritize their brothers’ education over their own; young men are 1.5 times more likely to be literate relative to their female peers. Others talk of harassment from young men for their involvement in Yuwa’s football program, or face challenges at home too terrible to write about. Despite these obstacles, Yuwa girls continue to break gender norms and societal expectations through sheer determination and hard work.

…

I’ve also witnessed countless ‘Yuwa moments’ with Neha Baxla, my project supervisor, who has worked with Yuwa since 2013. Neha’s role in the organization has hugely contributed to its ability to gain acceptance within the community to conduct its football programs and English medium school. As Child Development Officer, Neha’s primary job is to build relationships. She knows every Yuwa girl – all 400+ of them – and can tell you the names of each girl’s parents and siblings, as well as their occupations, assets, and history. She’s the Yuwa School counselor, and girls regularly approach her for various needs, from finding pads to seeking safety from family violence. She also manages Yuwa’s life skills workshop program, training nearly 40 Yuwa coaches, many of them upper class students at Yuwa School, to lead workshops on topics ranging from personal hygiene to financial literacy.

Every social organization needs a Neha. A Jharkhand native who grew up working in rural communities, Neha can connect to beneficiary communities in ways that outsiders cannot. Her full-time job it is to earn their trust, which has been vital to Yuwa’s ability to conduct effective programming. As a part of my AIF Fellowship Project, I interviewed Neha to learn more about her experiences with Yuwa and to better understand the principles that guide Yuwa’s work. Together, we came up with four key areas that other social impact organizations should consider:

Opportunities for leadership—Build a culture where stakeholders have the chance to lead. At Yuwa, the kids make fundamental decisions about how programs are run, such as when to hold practice, when school starts, and save money each week to purchase football equipment. Older students have the opportunity to work as coaches, leading workshop and practices daily for their teams.

Build community – There’s no ‘I’ in team, or in football either. Creating a team setting gives girls the opportunity to learn from each other and grow together.

Provide strong mentors –It’s important for children to have someone to talk to about the questions in their lives, especially when there’s stress at home. Girls regularly reach out to their coaches, teachers, and mentors to ask for help, which is vital to building resilience.

Create value – Provide opportunities for earning. Girls who coach earn enough to support their entire families, and often pay their own school fees. Parents learn to value their daughters.

This is only the beginning of my journey with Yuwa, and I can’t wait to see how this list grows during my remaining eight months here!

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.

Opposition looks to build on state poll results in winter session, Jharkhand polls.

Source – livemint.com

NEW DELHI : The performance of Congress – Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, one of the most time tested political alliances, has given hope to opposition parties to build upon the peformance to boost index of opposition unity particularly in upcoming winter session and Jharkhand polls later this year. The development comes on the back of the failure of opposition parties to come together on a broader national pitch during Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.

While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is on course to form government in both the recently polled states of Maharashtra and Haryana, the opposition parties in both the states managed to increase their tally compared to previous election. In Haryana, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP could not cross half way mark and had to take support from Dushyant Chautala led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) to make its bid for power.

Opposition parties, particularly Congress, is now hopeful that the result could be used to build consensus upon electoral understandings, political positioning and policy views. Senior opposition leaders say that the immediate impact of this can be seen in upcoming winter session of Parliament and elections in Jharkhand slated for later this year.

“There has always been issue based understanding between all the key opposition parties but Thursday’s result will boost that unity. NCP has always been a strong ally of ours and Maharashtra’s performance showcases that when opposition parties are together then the BJP faces a stiff competiton. We are hopeful that a similarly strong alliance is struck ahead of Jharkhand polls,” a senior Congress leader said requesting anonymity.

In Jharkhand, Congress is in talks with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left Parties to contest the upcoming state polls. The opposition’s performance in the BJP incumbent state will be crucial as just five months ago, the NDA had won 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats.

Opposition parties are also hopeful that the state polls’ performance will boost greater coordination on the floor of Parliament during winter session. Two key issues which a united opposition is likely to take up in the session includes state of economy and situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The issue of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank could also be taken up by both Congress and NCP in the next session of Parliament.

Jharkhand: Vote for BJP even if candidates are dacoits or naughty men, says Godda MP Nishikant Dubey.

Source – scroll.in

Nishikant Dubey, the Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Godda in Jharkhand, told voters to support candidates of his party even if they are criminals, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday. The minister also said that voters should support “handicapped” BJP candidates as well.

“I want to request you all that whoever the BJP fields, be it a handicap, thief, dacoit or a naughty man, we must support that candidate,” Dubey told BJP workers in Deoghar district’s Jamtara city on Wednesday. “We should have faith in the decision of national [BJP] president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Raghubar Das.”

He later defended his statement and claimed he was speaking metaphorically. “I told the party workers that even if they personally feel that the candidates are handicaps or criminals, it was their duty to support them, as our national president Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister, Raghubar Das always chose good people to contest elections,” Dubey said.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren said the statement showed the BJP’s fear about the upcoming elections. “It shows the rubbish and unparliamentary thinking of the BJP MP,” Soren said. “He describes himself as the second Chanakya but his statement is a reflection of the fear and desperation within the BJP over their electoral prospects.”

Soren added that the real problems in the state are unemployment, inflation, corruption and the shutdown of schools and colleges. “But the BJP wants to field thieves and dacoits with an invitation to further loot our homes,” he added. Elections to the Jharkhand Assembly are due by the end of the year.