Tag: jharkhand

Jharkhand Witnesses 35% Rainfall Deficit

Source: weather.com

Jharkhand is witnessing a 35 per cent rainfall deficit in this monsoon season, a Met Department official said here on Monday.

“Jharkhand has received only 181 mm rainfall against the normal 276 mm till now. In the last two days, the rainfall has improved and it will continue for next 48 hours,” S.D Kothal, Director of the Ranchi Met Department, told IANS.

“But the rain will shift towards the Himalaya region from July 10 to 12. When it will retreat, state will then witness an improvement of the rainfall.”

The worst affected areas of the state are Godda and Pakur where rainfall shortage is more than 70 per cent. Garwah and Chatra have witnessed over 60 per cent deficiency.

Due to the shortage, paddy sowing has not gained momentum.

Jharkhand has not received normal rainfall in the last two years.

In 2018, the Jharkhand government had declared 129 blocks in 18 districts as drought-affected and released Rs 490 million for immediate relief.

As per the Met Department’s data, Jharkhand received 72 per cent average rainfall in 2018. However, in some places, it was less than 50 per cent. The worst affected were Pakur and Koderma.

The average rainfall in the state is 1,027.7 mm, but in 2018 it received only 741.9 mm.

Jharkhand: Three men thrashed in Ranchi, allegedly forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, say reports

Source: scroll.in

A mob thrashed three men and allegedly forced them to chant “Jai Shri Ram” in Ranchi, Jharkhand, The Hindu reported on Saturday.

Aamir Wasim, who lodged a complaint at the Doranda police station, said he and his friends, Altaf Ali and Ali Ahmed, had gone to the airport area on Friday to take photographs when the incident took place. “We were riding our two-wheelers and were in kurta pajamawhen some people besieged us,” Wasim told The Hindu. “Without any provocation, they beat us up and told us to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. As the crowd got bigger, we fled from the spot,” Wasim said, adding that security personnel near the Birsa Munda Airport rescued them.

Community members blocked the MG Marg near Church Complex, demanding that the culprits be arrested. The demonstration went on till late evening on Friday. “We have deployed police along the MG Marg to prevent further escalation,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta on Saturday. “Now the area is peaceful. We are keeping a close watch on the situation.”

A similar incident was reported in Barpeta district in Assam on the same day. Three youths were beaten up and allegedly forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” in Jyoti Gaon area, according to Northeast Now.

Wajed Ali, who filed the first information report, said four people on two motorcycles thrashed Rakibul Haque, Burhan Ali and Kurban Khan, who were working there at a medical store. “They also forced the trio to chant “Jai Shri Ram”,” Ali said. Ali claimed the four suspects verbally abused Haque and tried to kill him by strangling him.

On June 18, a 24-year Muslim man was assaulted by a mob and forced to say “Jai Shri Ram” in Jharkhand’s Seraikela Kharsawan district. He died four days later. On June 24, a 25-year-old Muslim man was allegedly beaten up, verbally abused, and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” in Diva area of Maharashtra’s Thane district. The same day a 26-year-old madrasa teacher and two others were allegedly assaulted in Kolkata for not chanting “Jai Shri Ram”.

HEAVY MONSOON RAINS TO LASH PARTS OF PATNA, GAYA, PURNIA AND BEGUSARAI IN THE NEXT 24 HOURS

Source: skymetweather.com

Though the Monsoon has arrived long back over Bihar and Jharkhand, due to the absence of any significant weather systems, Monsoon remained deficit over these states. Only scattered rains were observed over a few places.

At present, a Cyclonic Circulation is lying over southeast Uttar Pradesh and adjoining Madhya Pradesh. Also, a trough is extending from Northwest India to Northwest Bay of Bengal across Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

These two systems will act as a catalyst and enhance the rainfall activities over Bihar and Jharkhand. We expect moderate rains over most of the places with few heavy spells during the next 24 hours. As a Trough is likely to shift further North, rainfall activity would cover most parts of Bihar and then the heavy rains might intensify. As per our experts, these heavy rains would continue over Bihar till July 11. Jharkhand too would receive moderate to heavy rains during the next three to four days. Thereafter, rainfall will decrease over the southern part but light to moderate rains will continue. Places like Supaul, Purnia, Araria, Patna, Gaya, Katihar, Aurangabad, Rohtas, Bhojpur, Begusarai, Munger, Nalanda, Buxar, etc are likely to be impacted by heavy to very heavy Monsoon rains in the next 24 hours.

This will be the first long spell after the initiation of Monsoon and the rains are likely to pay visit most parts of the states. Till date, for the Monsoon season, Bihar is rain deficit by 49% while Jharkhand is deficit by 44%. There are chances that with these hefty rains, deficiency levels might get recovered with a good percentage.

BJP leader from Jharkhand joins JD(U) in presence of Nitish Kumar

Source: hindustantimes.com

Several political leaders from the neighbouring state of Jharkhand, including one from BJP, joined JD(U) on Sunday, following the party’s decision to go solo in the upcoming assembly elections in four states.

Those inducted into the JD (U) fold by national president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar were Prem Kataruka, former state secretary-cum-spokesperson of BJP, Manoj Yadav of JVM (P) and Arun Mandal and Prabhat Kumar Prabhakar of JMM.

Till now, as an unspoken rule, Bihar allies JD (U) and BJP have exercised restraint in allowing leaders from joining each other’s parties.

The notable crossover of Sanjay Jha from BJP into JD (U) camp in the state was an exception. Jha, who was elevated to the post of national general secretary, is now a minister.

Sunday’s development, viewed in the context of JD (U) turning down the ‘single berth’ offer in the union cabinet, is indicative that the party is not shy of triggering a political realignment in states ruled by its saffron ally. Jharkhand is one of the two BJP ruled states, other than Haryana, that goes to polls along with Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir later this year.

Arun Kumar Singh, in-charge of JD (U) affairs in Jharkhand, said that the joining of leaders will strengthen the party and help in providing a leg-up to its electoral prospects in the state, where voters are looking for an alternative.

That the Jharkhand state unit had already started its preparations on all the 81 assembly seats was evident from the claims of JD (U) state president Salkhan Murmu, who was pitching for Nitish-model of ‘Sushashan’ in his home state which, he believed, will usher development and also remove the friction between adivasi, moolvasi and others, so that people live in harmony.

Their optimism for a ‘good showing’ also stems from the rout faced by opposition parties—JMM, JVM (P), RJD and Congress—during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. “The JD (U) is in a position to provide a credible alternative to the tribals, minorities and others, particularly after the dismal electoral performance of the JMM-Congress combine,” he said.

Backing JD-U’s more than satisfactory poll performance in Arunachal Pradesh and the strong re-iteration that it was “not part of NDA outside Bihar,” a team of Prashant Kishor’s organisation has already landed in Ranchi to conduct an independent survey to assess the party’s electoral prospects in as many as 35 assembly seats in the first phase.

A BJP leader, not willing to be named, said that such things, ahead of elections, is a common phenomena and ‘disgruntled’ elementshave little or noimpact on final outcomeas voters remain wary and recent pollshave shown that theyreject ‘turncoats’ more often than not.

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.

Jharkhand mob violence: Internet shut, police deployed in tense Meerut days after lathi-charge

Source: indianexpress.com

Internet services were shut on Friday as Meerut remained under heavy police deployment amid tension, days after a police lathi-charge on a group of people assembled at Indira Chowk in the city to protest against the mob violence in Jharkhand last month which led to the victim’s death four days later.

More than 50 people have been arrested so far in connection with the protest.

Badar Ali, who allegedly led the protests, was arrested on Thursday from near a mall in Meerut. The police will initiate proceedings under the National Security Act (NSA) against him; his properties will be seized, officers said.

Meerut SSP Ajay Sahni said: “Police patrolling is on since 6 am and the deployment was made as a precautionary measure. Internet services were shut since rumors of a Bharat Bandh were afloat. Members of the community concerned have claimed that they are not supporting the bandh and things have returned to normalcy.”

The accused have been booked under IPC Sections 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon), 352 (assault), 336 (act endangering life personal safety), among others.

Meerut police personnel, along with members of Rapid Action Force and Provincial Armed Constabulary, were deployed in areas around Indira Chowk. A flag march was conducted by senior police officials, including Meerut zone ADG.

Since Sunday, local residents said, fewer people have ventured out of their homes.

Noor Hassan, who runs a welding shop near Indira Chowk, said: “It was supposed to be a peaceful march. Yes, there was no permission, but the police action made it worse. Now that Internet has been shut down and there is heavy police presence, people fear something might happen. Most people are not leaving home.”

On Sunday, a group of people led by Badar Ali congregated at Faiz-e-Aam Inter College and were supposed to conduct a 2-km march up to Hapur Adda to protest the death of Tabrez Ansari, who was beaten up by a mob in a Jharkhand village and allegedly asked to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. He succumbed later.

According to the police, the group did not have permission for the gathering. Following arguments, the police said they had to do a lathi-charge to maintain law and order. No serious injuries were reported.

HC allows repatriation of 104 Jharkhand kids to home state

Source: indianexpress.com

THE PUNJAB and Haryana High Court has ruled that a child welfare committee is well within its rights to ask a children’s home located in its jurisdiction to send back inmates of other states or districts to their home region in case it requires to accommodate local children in need of shelter.

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A single bench of Justice Tejinder Singh Dhindsa gave the verdict in the case of Ferozepur-based Arya Anathalaya, which was earlier this year asked by the district child welfare committee to send back nearly 104 children of Jharkhand to their home state.

Justice Dhindsa in the verdict, however, added that “even such course of action can be adopted only after consultation with the concerned child welfare committees in the home districts from where the inmates are currently lodged”.

Arya Anathalaya was established in 1877 for providing shelter to children who had lost their parents or had nobody to take care of them, its plea had said in the court. There are 104 – 60 boys and 44 girls – at the home, all of them from Jharkhand.

The HC said that the State counsel has not been able to cite any provision under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 to construe that there is an embargo with regard to admitting children, who may be residents from outside Punjab. It, however, added that the child welfare committee wanted to admit local children to provide them the shelter but it was refused on the ground that the facility was already full to its capacity.

“If the petitioner Anathalaya declines admission to the children who are in need, for the reasons that it already has utilized its capacity to the hilt by admitting inmates from Jharkhand, no exception can possibly be taken to the decision of the child welfare committee, Ferozepur in calling upon the Anathalaya to send such inmates back to their home districts or states,” the order read.

Meanwhile, the State has told the court that the repatriation of the children staying in Anathalaya would be taken up with the child welfare committees of Jharkhand and put into operation in a phased manner and that too with proper consultation and co-ordination with the concerned child welfare committee of Khunti and Ranchi districts in Jharkhand.

Toyota Expands Its Dealership Network With A New Showroom In Jharkhand

Source: motoroids.com

Yesterday, Toyota extended its dealership network in India with the inauguration of its 364th touchpoint in Jharkhand. The newly unveiled Dhanbad Toyota is a well-equipped, world-class facility which will cater to 3S (Sales, Service and Spares) requirements of customers and is also the 5th touchpoint in the state of Jharkhand. The touch-point was Inaugurated by Mr N Raja, Deputy Managing Director – Toyota Kirloskar Motor along with Mr Rituraj Sinha, Dealer Principal – Dhanbad Toyota. With its philosophy of ‘Customer First’, Toyota is geared up to ensure the most enjoyable and hassle-free car buying experience for every customer associating with the brand.

This new dealership spreads across 46000 sqft and will cater to the customers from the eastern parts of Jharkhand. Dhanbad Toyota is equipped with many modern amenities to strengthen Toyota’s existing network in the region and help in achieving the highest level of customer satisfaction with an entire team of well-trained professionals and service teams. In addition to showcasing the entire range of Toyota products in India, the new dealership is fully stocked to facilitate distinctive offers to customers in car servicing like Express Maintenance, Body & Paint Repair and other Value-Added Services. These services are undertaken by professionals from the best technical institutes supported by Toyota and constantly upscaled through unique skill training of global standards.

Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Rituraj Sinha, Dealer Principal – Dhanbad Toyota said, “It is our absolute privilege to get associated with Toyota, one of the global leaders in car manufacturing. We are grateful to Toyota Kirloskar Motor for their confidence and thereby making us a part of their India journey. We at Dhanbad Toyota, are here to affirm Toyota’s commitment to its customers through their experience with best-in-class purchasing and service offerings at our full-fledged facility. As ambassadors of Toyota, we look forward to representing the premium brand by demonstrating Toyota’s renowned global standard products and service quality to the people in the region, ensuring the highest level of satisfaction of the valuable Toyota Customers.”

Commenting on the opening of the new dealership, Mr. N Raja – Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “The inauguration of Dhanbad Toyota marks yet another milestone in our relentless commitment to establish fruitful and everlasting relationships with our patrons as we continuously strive to reach closer to our customers and deliver world-class Toyota products and services lineage through their delightful experience with us. We are glad to have intensified our reach in the state of Jharkhand, which is a very important aspect of our growth strategy, thus aligning with our approach to offer advanced amenities and quality services through strategically located network set-ups in different parts of the country. We have been successful in establishing a positive synergy with all our dealer partners as a result of which, Toyota has set a benchmark in the sales & service offering to the customers. As our dealer partner, Dhanbad Toyota has a good understanding of this prominent market and is aligned with Toyota’s deep-rooted focus on high-quality service with ‘Customer First’ approach. We are confident that this state-of-the-art showroom in Dhanbad will further strength our presence in this region by catering to the increasing demand for Toyota cars and enable customers to enjoy the experience of car ownership with Toyota brand”.

5-day Jharkhand Monsoon Session to begin from July 22

Source: Source: dailypioneer.com

The State Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod for 13th (Monsoon) Session of fourth Jharkhand Assembly starting on July 22. The Session, which will commence on July 22 will run till July 26. The first day of five-day session will be devoted to oath of new members (if any), placing of bills, tabling of first supplementary budget in the Assembly.

State Cabinet Coordination department secretary (in-charge), Ajay Kumar Singh said, “From second day to conclusion of monsoon session will be devoted to question hour and discussion on State bill and government works.”

Sources said that the monsoon session is likely to be last Assembly session of present government as formation of new government is to take place till January 6. The monsoon session also assumes importance as the State will go on election mode after the session.

Sources said that as this is the last Assembly session of present government, the Opposition will try to corner State Government on several issues. The lynching of Tabrez Ansari at Saraikela is one of the issue on which Opposition will try to attack Das’s Government.

However, the State Government, confident with Lok Sabha election results, is ready to face Opposition charges. Senior BJP leader and party MLA from Chhatarpur Radha Kishan Kishore said, “After the Lok Sabha election there is no Opposition. The issue such as land acquisition and religious conversion bill on which Opposition tried to disturb last Assembly sessions for five years has been rejected by people. The people in Lok Sabha election have rejected Opposition and their anti-Government, anti-State policies.”

In today’s Cabinet, the State Government also gave its nod for appointment of professors and assistant professors on contractual basis at medical colleges in Dumka, Palamu and Hazaribag. The Cabinet, after relaxing the provisions of Jharkhand Medical Education Service (appointment, promotion, and service rule) 2018, gave its nod for appointment of 76 posts of professors and 93 post of assistant professors on contractual basis at these three medical colleges.

As per the Cabinet provision, the professors will be appointed on the pay scale of Rs 1.62 lakh, while the assistant professors will be appointed in the pay scale of Rs 1.04 lakh monthly salary.

The State Cabinet also gave its nod for creation of 42 temporary police outpost and traffic outpost in Deoghar in wake of Shravani Mela. The 15 police outposts and 27 traffic outposts will be set up for period of July 15 to September 15.

In today’s Cabinet meet, nod for relaxation in road tax of Jharkhand Government run mortuary van, 108 emergency medical ambulance service van and vehicles of mobile medical unit. The Cabinet also gave its nod for amendment of Jharkhand Procurement Policy 2014. As per the amendments, Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) can take part in Government tendering policy. As per amended Procurement Policy 2014, cap on work experiences and minimum turnover bracket has been removed.

In today’s Cabinet meeting, 14 agendas were given nod, which includes amendments in GST, construction of roads in Koderma, Deoghar districts among others.

Jharkhand to hire university students for study on ‘dwindling’ mammals, endemic plants

Source: hindustantimes.com

Jharkhand biodiversity board is all set to carry out studies on dwindling mammal species from Jharkhand forests in a bid to chalk out strategy for their conservation.

For this, the board has decided to rope in eligible students from different universities of the state studying in subjects linked to biodiversity such as botany and zoology, officials said.

“The draft of the study plan is ready which will be finalised this month. If everything goes on dotted plan, first round of the study would be started in a month or two,” said LR Singh, state biodiversity board chairman.

Singh said university students take up dissertation to present their findings on a particular topic, which is an essential part of their education.

“We have decided to give topics to universities and invite their students. We will give a nominal remuneration. The exercise will enhance their knowledge on a particular subject and interest towards research,” Singh said.

Singh said, “The study will comprise information gathering of past 30 years. It will help us understand the status of mammals 30 years back and now.”

The board has prepared an initial format for the research under which the state would be divided in different grids. “People of different age groups in each grid would be interviewed. They would be shown photographs of respective animals to local people. They would also be asked about status of mammals two-three decades back and now. Their information would be documented for chalking out conservation plan,” Singh said.

Blame it deterioration of forest ecosystem or lack of government initiative, population of hordes of animals such as tiger, leopard, bison, wild dog, sambar, four-horn antelopes, mouse deer and crocodiles have “dwindled” over their period in the state, observed the board.

The board also plans to conduct a study on endemic plants. Singh said, “We do not have documental of endemic plants in Jharkhand. The objective of the study to identify endemic plants of specific locations of Jharkhand, conserve them and document their importance.”