Tag: jharkhand

14 die in rain-related incidents in Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh

Source: indiatoday.in

Fourteen people, including a minor, were killed in rain-related incidents in Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, while the Assam floods claimed one more life on Thursday.

The northern parts of the country received light to heavy rains, with the MeT Department saying rainfall activity has increased over central India, Northern Plains and Western Himalayan region since Wednesday.

Uttar Pradesh received traces of rainfall and state capital Lucknow recorded a high of 31.1 degrees Celsius on Thursday. However, nine people died in rain-related incidents across the state in the past three days. Meerut received 100.6 mm of rainfall, followed by Bareilly, which recorded 50.0 mm of rainfall.

Due to heavy rains recorded in parts of Rajasthan, three people, including a 15-year-old boy, were swept away in water in Shekhawati region. Parts of the state received rainfall from 7 cm to 15 cm. Didwana of Nagaur recorded 15 cm rainfall, followed by 13 cm each in Sadulpur, Bassi, Sikar, 11 cm each in Bhuhana and Phagi, 10 cm each Chirawa, Neem Ka Thana.

Three more deaths due to lightning strikes were reported in Jharkhand, taking the

death toll in the state to 15. On Wednesday, 12 people were killed by lightning in four districts of the state – six in Jamtara and two each in Dumka, Pakur and Ramgarh.

With the death of one more person, the toll in Assam floods reached 75 on Thursday as more than 34 lakh people remain affected by the deluge in 18 districts of the state, officials said.

Due to the release of excess water from the Kuricchu Hydropower reservoirs in Kuricchu River in Bhutan, western Assam districts of Barpeta, Nalbari, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri and South Salmara are facing rise in flood water level. However, water level receded in some other districts of the state on Thursday.

In Bihar, no fresh deaths were reported as flood water entered state’s West Champaran, taking the total number of flood-hit districts in the state to 13. The death toll remained unchanged at 123. The state Disaster Management Department said relief and rehabilitation work was in full swing as 82.12 lakh people are affected by the deluge in 13 districts.

Light to heavy rains lashed most parts of Himachal Pradesh, dropping the maximum temperatures by several notches below normal limits on Thursday, the Meteorological (MeT) Department said.

In Punjab and Haryana, light to moderate rains lashed most places, plummeting the maximum temperatures between two to seven notches below normal in the region.

Narnaul received 54 mm of rainfall, followed by 16 mm in Amritsar, 14 mm in Ludhiana, 12.4 mm in Chandigarh, four mm in Ambala, two mm in Patiala and 0.5 mm in Hisar, it said here.

There was some respite for people from hot and humid weather in Kashmir as

heavy rainfall in lashed most parts of the Valley, even as the downpour affected normal life in Srinagar leading to waterlogging in many city roads.

The Mughal Road and the Doda-Kishtwar highway were closed for traffic due to landslides triggered by heavy rains in Jammu region.

However, in Delhi, vast stretches of the city remained dry, in a departure from the weather department’s forecast of ‘very heavy’ rains in the national capital. On Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department had issued a red alert warning for Delhi.

IMD officials said the weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar recorded traces of rainfall. The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, recorded nil precipitation.

Several parts of Odisha were lashed by rains due to a cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, giving much needed relief to the farmers hit by deficit rainfall.

Jharkhand varsity ‘defenceless’ in job market

Source: telegraphindia.com

Jharkhand Raksha Shakti University, established in 2016 to provide efficient and trained professionals to meet the demands of police and other security forces, is in the eye of a storm with JMM leader Hemant Soren questioning its efficacy by suggesting that many of its graduates were now working as ATM guards.

While students did not quite endorse Hemant’s views, aired in a tweet, they, however, expressed their displeasure with the university authorities for not organising placements properly and not briefing potential recruiters adequately about the various courses in criminology, forensic sciences and industrial security that they were taught.

On July 22, Hemant tweeted: “Jharkhand Raksha Viswavidyalaya ko @dasraghubar ji ne tamjham ke baad shuru kiya aur aaj pahle batch ke bacche sadak par hain. Bhari fees bharne ke baad inhe majboor kiya gaya Bangalore mein ATM guard ki naukri karne ko. Bataiye kya lakhon, varshon shiksha lene ke baad yahi naukri ke haqdar hai Jharkhand ke yuva? (Raghubar Das started the Jharkhand Raksha (Shakti) University with great fanfare but its first batch of students are on the streets. They pay steep fees and yet are compelled to work as ATM security guards in Bangalore. Tell me, are Jharkhand’s youths only worthy of these jobs after spending lakhs and years on education?”

At the university at Meur’s Road campus, students aired their views on the tweet freely but did not want to be identified.

“Security agencies want to appoint us as guards when we approach them because they do not an idea about the courses we are taught. I hold the university authorities responsible for this as it did nothing to let the agencies know what qualifications we have,” said one who completed a one-year post graduate diploma in industrial security this year.

Another student, who has done an MSc in criminology this year, agreed.

“The university is taking no steps to ensure placements. It should have signed an MoU with various employers in the government and the private sector to ensure placements. Hence, despite getting the best education, students are not getting jobs. We are struggling like any other state university students,” he said.

An assistant professor of the university did not deny the students’ contention, but clarified that a university wasn’t supposed to provide jobs.

“A university can give education. But for jobs, students have to make their own efforts by appearing in various competitive examinations, meeting employers and impressing them with their skills,” he said, adding that Jharkhand Rakshashakti University was imparting quality education in its chosen fields.

“But as far as agencies’ offer of ATM security guards is concerned, it is the fault of the particular agency, not ours,” he added.

Asked to comment specifically on Hemant’s tweet, the assistant professor said: “The first batch of 70 students, whom the JMM leader was apparently referring to in his tweet, was well trained. To the best of my knowledge, 50 per cent have got jobs and those who haven’ are competent enough to get jobs. Students of the university are given 15 grace marks in police recruitment examinations.”

Registrar Manoranjan Kumar Jamuar parried a comment, saying he was in a meeting. But vice chancellor Ajoy Kumar Singh rejected Hemant’s views.

“This year, out of 15 students who appeared for NET in criminology, five qualified. This indicates that our teaching level is good. Also, as many as 10 students got admission in Delhi University,” he added.

Jamuar also claimed that the university’s placement records were better than general universities of Jharkhand, but did not present data to back his claim.

The state government established Jharkhand Raksha shakti University in 2016 to provide trained manpower to meet the demands of police, military and other security forces by providing an opportunity to youths of the state to build careers in these services.

Students are also offered training to tackle contemporary challenges arising out of terrorism, economic offences, cyber crimes, telecommunication offences and the other offences that require expertise in forensic science.

23 dead in Bihar, Jharkhand after lightning strike

Source: indiatoday.in

At least 23 people were killed and three others injured in lightning strikes in Bihar and Jharkhand, police said on Wednesday.

Thirteen people died in Aurangabad, East Champaran and Bhagalpur districts of Bihar, while in Jharkhand, 10 people lost their lives in Jamtara, Ramgarh and Pakur districts.

The deaths in lightning strikes occurred since Tuesday night, police officials said adding that three persons were injured in Jharkhand.

Bihar is also witnessing heavy rains.

Of the seven deceased in Aurangabad district of central Bihar, four persons, including a woman, were killed on Tuesday night in Goh police station area, Station House Officer (SHO) Venkateshwar Ojha said.

Three more persons died in Rafiganj and Kasma police station areas of the district.

In East Champaran, two persons, including a 13-year-old girl, died in their sleep when lightning struck the asbestos roof of their house in Patpariya village under Mofussil police station limits, the Station House Officer (SHO) Manish Kumar said.

Two others were killed in Gobindganj and Kotwa police station areas in lightning strikes in the morning.

A couple of more persons lost their lives at Sanokhar and Amanda police station areas in Bhagalpur district on Tuesday night, police said.

Unconfirmed reports, however, claimed that over 30 people were killed in the rain-hit state.

The state disaster management department said Bihar has received an average rainfall of 28.9 mm on Wednesday, which was 221 per cent above normal.

In Jharkhand, five persons, including two minors, were killed and another suffered injuries at Kusmahapahadi block of Jamtara district, Circle Officer Chandradev Prasad said.

All of them were returning after taking a bath at a nearby pond when it started raining. They stood under a road bridge when lightning struck them.

A 60-year-old woman also lost her life at Bindapathar village in Jamtara, the circle officer said.

In Ramgarh district, two persons were killed and as many injured when lightning struck them at Chikor village. They were watching a cricket match standing under a tree when the incident happened, Patratu sub-divisional police officer Prakash Chandra Mahto said.

Two women also died in lightning strikes while working in the fields at Littipara and Hiranpur police station areas in Pakur district, police said.

23-year-old is Chandrayaan-2’s Jharkhand connection

Source: telegraphindia.com

he Rs 978-crore Chandrayaan-2 mission to the Moon, which was successfully launched onboard the GSLV-MkIII-M1 rocket from the spaceport in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on Monday, has a Jharkhand connection.

Ranchi boy Gaurav Vaibhav, 23, who passed his 12th from Jawahar Vindya Mandir Shyamali in 2011, is a flight dynamics scientist for the mission, which is intended to help India become the fourth country to soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon after the former Soviet Union and the US in 1966 and China in 2014.

Gaurav has been working with the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (Isro’s) satellite centre in Bangalore since 2015 after completing his BTech in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology in Kerala.

“Chandrayaan-2 is very important to me as it is my first interplanetary mission experience,” Gaurav told The Telegraph on Monday. “I learnt a lot, and felt the heat of being part of this historic mission. Being a flight dynamics scientist, I am involved in designing and planning of events to make the lander achieve the required landing site on the Moon. This kind of work requires a lot of numerical computations and analysis.”

Chandrayaan-2, made up of an orbiter and a lander with a rover, is expected to throw more light on the Moon. The Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, Isro had earlier said, had “conclusively discovered traces of water” on the Moon. The first mission had also discovered water ice in the Moon’s north polar region.

Gaurav has been part of the Chandrayaan-2 mission for the last one-and-half years.

“Within this timeframe, I had carried out the lander trajectory analysis and successfully completed the allotted activities,” he said.

Asked if anyone else from Jharkhand is part of the mission, Gaurav said: “Since many centres of Isro are involved, there could be (other) people from Jharkhand or Ranchi also but I would not know.”

He said there were lows, of at times stumbling on a problem, and highs — of achieving the solution.

“It has been really a fabulous learning experience for me. There were many challenges. Being the maiden lunar landing mission of India, soft landing on the required site is critical. All the subsystems are expected to perform; even one small system failure may lead to crash-landing. Since this landing phase will be of roughly just 20 minutes, recovery of any failure within that time isn’t possible,” he said. “Working together with so many subsystems in an integrated manner strengthened me technically from every aspect.”

Asked why the mission’s July 15 launch was cancelled, Gaurav said: “Cryogenic filling in the launch vehicle is done just four hours before the launch because it is highly inflammable.

On July 14, the required pressure could not develop during cryogenic filling because of an unexpected gap in a valve. Hence the mission was postponed till the problem was rectified. Fortunately it was observed at the right time and a major catastrophe was averted.”

Gaurav’s father Sudhir Upadhyay, under secretary in the state home department, who lives in Harmu Housing Colony, said he was proud of his son for being a part of the historic mission.

Over Ten Detained in Jharkhand in Lynching of Four Elderly Tribals

Source: thewire.in

Gumla: Over ten people were detained for allegedly lynching four elderly tribals, including two women, accusing them of practicing witchcraft in the Gumla district in Jharkhand, police said Monday.

Suna Oraon (65), Champa Oraon (79), Fagni Oraine (60) and Piro Oraine (74) were beaten to death by a group of ten masked men in Nagar-Siskari village on Saturday night, they said.

However, nobody in the village is willing to talk about the incident, police said.

“Over ten villagers have been taken into custody since Sunday for interrogation. Locals used to visit the deceased, who were suspected of performing witchcraft, with the belief that they could cure diseases,” SP Anjani Kumar Jha said.

He said the victims were not involved in any land dispute, which many experts believe becomes the reason behind accusing people of practicing witchcraft.

“Branding a person as ‘witch’ is one of the tactics to usurp his or her properties. Majority of the incidents occur in tribal areas as sorcery is widely practiced there,” said Premchand, chairman of Free Legal Air Committee, which works towards the eradication of witchcraft.

Jharkhand govt must engage with Khunti citizens, protestors demand

Source: downtoearth.org.in

Every tenth person in the sites of ‘Pathalgadi’ by tribal communities face sedition charges, alleged protestors in Jharkhand. The police have invoked draconian laws, including allegations of sedition, against 30,000 unnamed people, they claimed.

The tribal protestors demonstrated in front of the Raj Bhavan — the guvernatorial seat — in Ranchi on July 22, 2019.

Those at the receiving end are mostly from Khunti, Arki and Murhu blocks of Khunti district, where ‘Pathalgadi’ was at its peak in recent years.

“The brutal manner in which the Jharkhand government is dealing with the Pathalgadi movement is a gross overreaction to legitimate and nonviolent demands from local adivasis,” development economist Jean Dreze, who has been working in the region for several years, said. The tradition of self-government should be valued and celebrated, he added.

Residents of more than 100 villages have put up stone plaques at village entrances to claim the power granted to Gram Sabhas under the constitutional provisions of the Fifth Schedule and the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA).

The special provisions are to protect the local community in tribal areas and recognise the role of Gram Sabha in self rule as reported extensively by Down To Earth.

The movement, however, has not gone down well with the state government, which has come down hard on some locals (includign a few intellectuals) who advocated the movement. Twenty such persons, including journalists and writers, face police cases allegedly for raising the issue on public fora.

The tribal community as well as experts have pointed out that Pathalgadi originated in 2015-16, when the government tried to take away land. People protesting under the umbrella of Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a network of activists and people’s organisations.

Some 1.5 million people of Jharkhand were displaced, 41 per cent of whom were tribals.

In the last few decades, there have been several alleged attempts to grab land in the name of development projects (Koel-Karo hydroelectricity dams, Arcelor-Mittal steel plant, etc) in Khunti.

Former Lok Sabha MP and Founder of Jharkhand Movement AK Roy Passes Away in Dhanbad

Source: news18.com

Dhanbad: Former Lok Sabha MP and founder of Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC), A K Roy passed away at a hospital here on Sunday.

Roy, a bachelor, was 90, party sources said. The veteran Left leader and chief patron of CITU Jharkhand state committee was admitted to the Central Hospital here on July 8 following age-related problems and he died of multi-organ failure, doctors said.

He was one of the founders of the Jharkhand movement.

The three-time MP from Dhanbad was also founder of Jharkhand’s regional party Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC).

Roy won the Dhanbad Lok Sabha seat in 1977, 1980 and 1989, besides representing Sindri seat in Bihar Assembly in 1967, 1969 and 1972.

Along with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren and former MP late Binod Bihari Mahto, Roy began

Jharkhand movement demanding a separate state from Bihar in 1971. Jharkhand became a separate state on November 15, 2000.

Roy was born in Sapura village, now in Bangladesh. His father Shivendra Chandra Roy was an advocate. He completed MSc in Chemistry from Calcutta University in 1959 and worked for two years in a private firm. Later, he joined PDIL Sindri In 1961.

He actively participated in Bihar Band agitation on August 9, 1966 and was arrested and sent to Jail. As he opposed the then government, the Projects and Development India Limited (PDIL) management dismissed him from job.

Roy entered trade union and started agitation in Sindri Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCI) and against private colliery owners. In 1967 he contested on CPI (M) ticket from Sindri Assembly seat of Bihar and won.

But he resigned from CPI(M) and formed his Marxist Coordination Committee.

Roy was called a ‘political saint’ by his associates and followers as his bank account always showed ‘zero balance’ till he breathed his last.

Roy lived in the house of a party worker at Pathaldih area, 17 km away from Dhanbad, for the past one decade.

Earlier he lived in his party office at Temple Road at Purana Bazaar here. “He was the first MP in the country who opposed increase in perks and pension proposals in 1989 for MPs, though his proposal was defeated,” Anand Mahto, a former MCC MLA, said.

Smoking in Bengaluru-Ranchi flight gets Jharkhand man deplaned

Source: hindustantimes.com

A Jharkhand resident has been arrested and faces up to 3 months jail or Rs one lakh fine for allegedly smoking inside the lavatory of a Ranchi bound flight. Deepak Kumar Sharma, a resident of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand was deplaned from an IndiGo airlines flight (6E 485) and handed over to the police on Friday.

A smoke alarm inside the aircraft went off, blowing the lid of Sharma’s illegal conduct, when the Airbus 320 aircraft enroute Ranchi landed at Patna around 2.30 pm, police said.

The passenger was first handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), tasked with airport security, before he was handed over to the airport police station that charged him with smoking inside the aircraft, said Garima Mallik, Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna.

The Police were considering if Sharma had to be charged under the non-bailable section of the relevant act, SHO of airport police station, Jaishankar Prasad said seniors were being consulted on the matter while Patna SSP said non-bailable section had not been invoked so far.

The incident raises questions over the airport security which shouldn’t have allowed the accused to pass through with a matchbox or a cigarette lighter.

According to airport sources, the accused could end up paying a penalty of up to Rs 1 lakh or spend up to three months in jail for risking security inside aircraft.

Section 25 of the Aircraft Act states, “The owner or the operator and the pilot-in-command of every aircraft registered in India, shall exhibit or cause to be exhibited in prominent place(s) in the aircraft, notice(s) stating where and to what extent smoking is prohibited or permitted therein. No person shall smoke: (a) in any part of an aircraft or in its vicinity, in which a notice is displayed indicating that smoking is prohibited. (b) Anywhere in an aircraft during take-off, landing or refuelling or during a period in which a notice is temporarily displayed indicating that smoking is prohibited.”

Jharkhand death: Kin point to lack of food, govt officials cite illness

Source: indianexpress.com

Jhingur Bhuyia, 42, died in Dorhagara village of Kanhachatta block of Jharkhand on Tuesday night. He left behind two children aged six and one, and wife Rubi Devi, who attributed his death to illness and lack of food.

Rubi Devi said her husband, who used to work as a daily wage labourer, was paralysed for a year, and the family did not have any income or a ration card. Her husband’s death, she said, was due to “his prolonged illness and lack of food at home, due to which he could not be fed well.”

She said she had borrowed Rs 100 from her neighbours to buy milk for her husband.

Denying that Bhuyia’s death was caused by hunger, Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Singh told reporters, “Prima facie, the death was due to illness.”

According to Singh: “Two months ago, Bhuyia had a paralytic attack on his face and could not eat solid food. The family had a ration card in his mother’s and sister-in-law’s name and his family got their share. There was a request by Bhuyia’s wife to add their names in the ration card, which has now been done. Our investigation says there was no food scarcity at home. This is not a case of death due to hunger.”

SDO Deepu Kumar, part of the inquiry team, told The Indian Express that the “actual cause of death” will be known after the post-mortem report. He added, “It is a baseless claim that the family did not have a ration card.” Bhuyia’s mother Maso Budhni (now deceased) had an Antyodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) card and his sister-in-law Basanti Devi has a ration card.

Rubi Devi said, “These cards are not in our name, and are being used by my brother-in-law who lives separately. They used to give me around 5-6 kg rice, which we could use for a few days. For the rest of the month, we had to often depend on other villagers.”

AAY households constitute the poorest of the poor and are entitled to 35 kg foodgrain a month.

Rubi Devi said she received her Aadhaar card a few months ago, but could not get a ration card from the local PDS dealer despite going to his shop several times. The PDS dealer could not be contacted. “Before his death, it was a struggle, I had to ask everyone for food. Many people helped…,” Rubi Devi said, sitting outside her kuccha house. “Our food comprised rice and potatoes. Rarely did we have pulses.”

She added, “We have a small piece of land, but due to lack of water, the produce is limited to one season. We will harvest corn in a few months. This is divided between the three brothers, and we don’t get much.”

She also said she was never offered any job under MGNREGA. The MGNREGA website states that Bhuyia had a job card made in his and his wife’s name in 2007, but does not have any work details.

When contacted, the panchayat’s Mukhiya Rajwanti Devi said the family never approached her for any job or problems. “The family should have told us so that I could have gone to higher officials,” she said.

According to the family members, Bhuiya was treated at an “ayurvedic centre” in Bishnugarh, more than 100 km away. Villagers said they did not trust the public health centres (PHC) as the doctors are usually not available. Less than 2 km from the village at Kanhachatti block area, an additional PHC is run with three Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM). There is no doctor. ANM Sulekha Kumari said, “Doctors rarely visit this centre, few people come to us. Deliveries happen quite often, but we face problems because of water scarcity. We get water in buckets from neighbouring area for deliveries.”

On this, DC Singh said he would have to check, “It is a fact that there is shortage of doctors and vacancy of 130 doctors in Chatra,” he said. An additional PHC covers population of 20-30,000 and acts as a referral unit for health-sub centres.

No ease of business for this Jharkhand entrepreneur

Source: telegraphindia.com

A soft coke unit, whose foundation stone was laid by none other than chief minister Raghubar Das in December 2017 as a showpiece project borne out of the state’s first Global Investors’ Summit earlier in the year, is yet to have a power connection.

BL Soft Coke Industry, set up by Sastrinangar industrialist B.L. Agarwal at Kalyanpur, about 13km from here, by investing around Rs 65 lakh, has been running on power from diesel generator sets, leading to higher costs that has adversely impacted the SME’s bottomline.

Worst, a scrubber installed as per Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board guidelines to control emissions, hasn’t been functioning properly for want of a regular power connection.

“We had high hopes when we went to Bokaro in December 2017 during the state’s third ground breaking ceremony. Foundation stones were laid online of as many as 105 units with chief minister Raghubar Das presiding over the function amidst much fanfare. But till now, one of our basic requirements hasn’t been fulfilled,” said B.L Agarwal’s son, Gaurav, who runs the unit on behalf of his father.

Gaurav said they had approached officials of Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL) in Dhanbad more than 30 times ever since they had applied for an electricity connection on September 6, 2017. “But, we are yet to get a power connection. We are facing a lot of difficulties,” he said.

A year ago, Gaurav received a call from an official in the state government’s single window cell that is supposed to streamline permissions and clearances that entrepreneurs may require.

“I was asked if I was facing any difficulty. I told them about the delay in getting an electricity connection. But the issue is yet to be resolved,” he said.

Soft coke is a byproduct of coal with lesser ash content and moisture. BL Soft Coke Industry produces around 400 tonnes of soft coke per month for which it requires 30-40 litres of diesel to run generators and other factory equipment.

JBVNL junior engineer Chandan Kumar promised to resolve the issue in a day or two. “We have already completed all formalities for awarding a connection to BL Soft Coke Industry. There was an error in the company’s application form. Instead of applying for a 10HP (horse power) connection the factory applied for a 2KVA connection,” he said.

Gaurav admitted the error, but reasoned that it could not be the reason for such an inordinate delay. “The power connection could always have been given and the issue of load sorted out later. I can’t understand the reason for the delay when there is electricity in all the villages near my factory,” he said.

Jharkhand Industries and Trade Association general secretary Rajiv Sharma said the experience of BL Soft Coke shows how red tape is killing entrepreneurship. “JBVNL is earning a bad name for itself and for Jharkhand. The state government is framing policies for the convenience of businessmen with good intentions, but the benefit of the policies are not reaching the targeted people,” he rued.