Ranchi Archives - Page 4 of 19

Tribal disconnect, policy failures led to BJP’s loss in Jharkhand.

Source – wionews.com

When I travelled across Jharkhand- my home state in 2017 – public opinion was still in the BJP’s favour. Saffron flags could be seen outside houses in a tribal village on the outskirts of Ranchi. People said that BJP volunteers met them and that they are hopeful that the government will bring development. The changes that central schemes like Ujjwala Yojana brought were visible as many houses got gas connections. Many of them built toilets from the funds allotted by the government.

Yet, the BJP’s defeat was in the offing months ahead of the state elections. Polling in Jharkhand was underway when the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by Parliament but national politics had little impact on the state elections which was fought on regional issues.

Raghubar Das who not only became the state’s first non-tribal chief minister, but also the first to complete a full five-year term was an unknown figure when he took over the post.

His compatriot and former CM Arjun Munda remained much popular. Munda was also a formidable tribal leader in the state.

But Das’ rift with Munda was an open secret and this meant that the latter was mostly not involved in campaigning.

It didn’t help much for an already unpopular CM to sideline well-known veterans and give tickets to Congress turncoats. Anti-corruption crusader Saryu Rai who spoke against tainted ministers in Das’ cabinet was denied a ticket.

Rai later defeated Das as an independent from Jamshedpur East.

The BJP hardly won any seat in the tribal belt while Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) swept the region. Tribal discontent against the government was growing. One of the major concerns was proposed amendments to two land laws- the Chotanagpur Tenancy and the Santhal Parganas Act.

The amendments which did not materialise sought to lift restrictions on the sale of tribals’ land to industries. The opposition dubbed the government as ‘anti-tribal’ and a lack of communication with the people made the situation worse for the BJP.

While Das addressed rallies in Hindi, his rival Hemant Soren – a tribal leader – spoke in regional languages.

The lack of a prominent tribal face was made worse by the saffron party’s fallout with its ally All Jharkhand Student’s Union (AJSU) which was popular among the tribals as well as the OBCs.

The BJP eventually fought the elections alone in a state where no party has been able to secure a majority on its own.

Policy failures too served a blow to the BJP government. The global investors’ summit ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ gained a lot of traction but failed on the ground. The event failed to create jobs and attract investments as the state lacked enough infrastructure to support the establishment of new industries. And once again, the government failed to assuage tribal anger on the issue of land. This as new industrial projects meant acquisition of land in tribal areas.

Army man dies in Jammu, wife commits suicide in Ranchi.

Source – indiatoday.in

A woman shocked by the death of her husband, who was in Indian Army, committed suicide by jumping into the well on the outskirts of Ranchi on Thursday morning, the police said.

According to the police, Maneeta Oraon, wife of Bajrang Bhagat, 29, committed suicide by jumping into the well in her village Channo, which is 40 km from Ranchi.

Bajrang Bhagat died on December 30 at Jammu, where he was posted. His dead body was brought to the village in the evening on January 1.

The last cremation was scheduled on Thursday. She was shocked with the death of her husband.

The woman’s body has been sent for post-mortem.

Maneeta was married with Bajrang two years ago. They had no issue.

According to the villagers, the sister-in-law of Maneeta used to taunt her for having no children. After death of her husband, she found herself helpless and decided to commit suicide , the police said.

Bajrang had joined Indian Army in 2012. He was transferred to Jammu from Maharashtra three months ago. He died after falling from the bed. Police have started to probe the reason of his death.

CAA ‘anti-people’ cry in Ranchi

Source – telegraphindia.com

Nearly 2,000 people protested peacefully against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) at the Bapu Vatika in Morabadi here on Thursday.

A large number of people comprising activists, students, women including many in burqa, and members of various minority, tribal and political parties and civil society outfits took part in the Sankalp Sabha as the protest was named, hosted by the Sajha Manch, an united forum.

They started by reading out the Preamble of the Constitution under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Many speakers, irrespective of religious or political affiliation, described the CAA, NRC and NPR as “anti-constititional and anti-people”.

“The CAA violates Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution,” pointed out well-known activist Balram, adding that jal-jangal-jameen and the culture of the people of Jharkhand speak volumes about nationality. “Nothing else is required to prove it.”

“The BJP and RSS want to break the unity and social fabric of the country and spread hatred among communities,” alleged Ibrar Ahmad, the chief of the local Anjuman Islamia, a minority social outfit.

“The people of Jharkhand, in the Assembly recent polls, have rejected the BJP for its anti-people agenda,” said tribal activist Dayamani Barla, describing the CAA, NRC and NRP as “anti-people”.

Those who attended it included members of the United Milli Forum, the Anjuman Islamia, the Majlis-e-Ulema (Jharkhand), Muslim Youth Forum, political parties such as the Congress, the RJD, JVM, the Aam Admi Party and the CPI, and the organisations such as the National Alliance for People’s Movement, the All-India Students Federation, the Ulgunan Sena, the Janvadi Lekhak Sangh and the Indian People’s Theatre Association.

Former Congress Union minister Subodh Kant Sahay and other leaders sat through the proceedings to express their solidarity. Protesters carried placards with slogans opposing the CAA, NRC and NPR and “Mazhab nahi sikhata aapas mein bair rakhna from Allama Iqbal’s famous poem Saare Jahan Se Achcha…

Afzal Anees, an organiser, said the event was so peaceful that CM Hemant Soren’s motorcade passed peacefully.

Hemant, it is now known, opposed NRC and CAA and also expressed it through a two-part tweet on December 29. “I don’t think the NRC is feasible or implementable. The entire country is up in arms against CAA…”

CAA protest plan in place.

Source – telegraphindia.com

Aprotest meeting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) drew around 1,000 people to Zilla School ground here on Monday where a decision was taken to launch a series of peaceful protests in the capital next month.

“We will organise peaceful protests beginning from January 2 in Ranchi next month. The first programme will be held near the Gandhi statue in Morabadi on January 2. We will observe it as Sankalp Divas,” activist Balram said on behalf of Sajha Manch, a united forum of social and political activists.

Another activist, Ashok Verma, said they would read aloud the Preamble to the Constitution and sit on a dharna there.

“We will organise similar programmes on January 8, 16, 23, 26 and 30,” said Ibrar Ahmad, the chief of the local Anjuman Islamia.

On the Republic Day, the protest meeting will be held at the gram sabha level where people will read out the Preamble and take a pledge to protect its spirit.

The Constitution gives guarantee of equality to all citizens, but the government’s move violates it, the activists said.

“There are many tribals and poor people in the state who can’t submit documents as proof of their being citizens of this country. The Mundas of Khunti don’t even have ownership documents as their land is a community property,” Balram said, explaining why they were opposing the NRC and NPR.

Nadim Khan, a Left leader who conducted the meeting, said they had initially planned a Samvidhan Bachao March (Save the Constitution rally), but the district administration didn’t give permission.

Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay was also present at the the meeting that demanded the repeal of the CAA and withdrawal of the NRC and NPR proposals.

The participants also expressed solidarity with the students of 33 universities who are protesting against the CAA and the NCR and condemned Uttar Pradesh police’s high-handed attitude against the protesters.

Sweaters team up with raincoats in Jharkhand.

Source – telegraphindia.com

Chilly, foggy and wet. Jharkhand woke up to a freaky Thursday, with the weather god showering unseasonal rain at many places, including Ranchi and Jamshedpur.

Kuru in Lohardaga district topped the rain-o-meter with 28mm while the IMD observatory in capital Ranchi recorded over 20mm of rain.

Ramgarh, Hindgir (Ranchi district), Putki (Dhanbad district), Dhanbad town and Tenughat (Bokaro district) recorded around 10mm rain in the past 24 hours (between 8.30am of Wednesday and 8.30am of Thursday).

Intermittent rain was also reported from Bokaro, Khunti, Chaibasa and places in Seraikela-Kharsawan. Steel city Jamshedpur also saw light intermittent showers.

The weather conditions resulted in an interesting temperature flip-flop. Maximum or day readings came down by 4-6°C notches below normal , while minimum or night readings rose due to formation of clouds and heavy moisture inflow into the atmosphere.

Ranchi on Thursday recorded a maximum temperature of 16°C against Wednesday’s 19.7 °C. Thursday’s day reading was four notches below normal. In Jamshedpur, the day reading dropped to 19.4°C on Thursday, five notches below normal. On Wednesday, the IMD observatory here had recorded day temperature of 24.9°C. Day temperature also saw a fall in several other districts, including Daltonganj, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Hazaribgah, Koderma and other districts in Santhal Pargana.

Minimum temperatures hovered between 12 to 15 °C (three to four notches above normal) in most parts of the state on Thursday.

S.C. Mandal, the acting director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre, predicted an improvement in weather condition from Friday. “Light rains will be experienced in several pockets till late in the night today (Thursday). But, we are expecting dry weather from Fridat as the impact of the anti-cyclone prevailing over Jharkhand and neighbouring Chhattisgarh would wane, ” he said.

The weatherman extended the forecast of shallow to moderate fog for the next 48 hours.

Residents scurried for cover as the day temperature saw a plunge. I prefered to stay indoors while my husband wore a raincoat to office,” said Purnima Singh, a homemaker in Sonari.

Train timings hit

The prevailing cold wave in northern parts of India has thrown into disarray the schedules of many long-distance trains coming to Tatanagar from New Delhi and other destinations.

Thursday’s Rajdhani Express between New Delhi and Bhubaneswar via Tatanagar ran 10 hours late. The schedule arrival time of Rajdhani Express at Tatanagar is 10.30am but the train was expected to reach around 9pm.

The Puri-bound Purushottam Superfast Express, scheduled to reach Tatanagar at 8pm, was also late by three hours. The Haridwar to Puri Utkal Kalinga Express was also running late for the second consecutive day on Thursday. Against its correct arrival time of 8.20pm the train was expected at Tatanagar on Thursday around 10.30pm.

The New Delhi-Puri

Neelanchal Express fared no better. Against its arrival time of 7.30am on Thursday, it reached Tatanagar at 2.30pm. The Amritsar-Tata Jammu-Tawi Express, scheduled to reach Tatanagar at 10.30am, reached at 1.30pm, after a delay of three hours.

Railway authorities blamed the fog and cold wave for the delays.

CIP Ranchi Recruitment 2020: Walk in Interview for Various Posts on 21 January @cipranchi.nic.in

Source – pagalguy.com

Central Institute of Psychiatry was established on May 17, 1918, and is governed by the Government of India. CIP is situated on Kanke, Ranchi which is the capital city of state Jharkhand.

CIP has released an official notification on its website inviting applications to fill vacancies for the post of Chief Administrative Officer, Library and Information Officer, Occupational therapist Gr. I and Senior Dietician. The deployment will be on a contractual basis for six months. The vacancies are open only for unreserved category candidates.

Details of the posts available

Post: Chief Administrative Officer

No of vacancies:01

Salary: RS.33,705/pm

Education and Experience: Candidates should have a degree from a recognized university along with a minimum of 2.5 years of work experience in account and administration.

Must have knowledge of financial rules and procedures of Government of India.

Post: Library and Information officer

No of vacancies:01

Salary: RS.33,705/pm

Education and Experience: Candidates should have a master’s degree in Library Science from a recognized university along with a minimum of 5 years of work experience in a library at a recognized institute.

Post: Occupational Therapist

No of vacancies:01

Salary: RS.27,563/pm

Education and Experience: Must have a master’s degree in Dietetics from a recognized university along with a minimum of 2.3 years of work experience in a hospital.

Post: Senior Dietician

No of vacancies:01

Salary: RS.27563/pm

Education and Experience: Must have a master’s degree in occupational therapy with a specialization in Neurology, psychiatry from a recognized university along with a minimum of 2.3 years of work experience in a psychiatric hospital.

Application procedure

Eligible and interested candidates can apply for the above-mentioned posts by appearing in a direct walk-in interview at CIP Ranchi on January 21, 2020, at 11:00 am.

Candidates are supposed to report at CIP Campus at around 9:30 am.

Applications should be submitted in the Director’s office by 09:30 am on January 21.2020.

Documents required

Candidates must appear for the walk-in-interview with the following documents.

Handwritten or typed application
Bio-data
2 passport-size photographs
Proof of Date of Birth
Marksheets and degrees
Proof of experience
Identity proof

Candidates are supposed to present these documents at the time of the interview in order to be eligible for the interview. Candidates failing to present the following documents will not be considered for the interview as well.

Frequently Asked Question (FAQs) –

Question: What is the salary offered for the post of CAO?

Answer: The salary offered is Rs. 33,705/- per month.

Question: When is the walk-in-interview scheduled for?

Answer: The interview will be conducted on January 21, 2020, 11:00 am onwards.

Question: What are the application fees?

Answer: There is no application fee applicable under the ongoing recruitment drive.

Question: What is the duration of the contract?

Answer: The total duration of the contract is six months.

23-year-old convict gets death penalty in Ranchi rape and murder case.

Source – hindustantimes.com

A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court here on Saturday awarded death sentence to a man for the 2016 rape and murder of an engineering student at her home in the city’s Buty Basti.

Rahul Raj, a resident of Bihar’s Nalanda district, was convicted on Friday for raping a BTech student , and murdering her before setting her house on fire on December 15, 2016.

The case was registered the next day and was later handed over to the Jharkhand CID. The crime came to light when the victim’s sister, who was in the family home in Ramgarh district, failed to get through to her over the phone.

Alarmed, as the victim was alone in the house, her sister requested a neighbour to check on her. The neighbour visited the house and found the charred body of the victim amid thick smoke. The CBI, which took over the investigation from the state police, began suspecting Raj, when the agency found that after living in the area for three months, he had suddenly left.

Further investigation revealed that Raj, 23, was absconding and had a criminal past. He had many pseudonyms and was in a Lucknow jail in connection with another case. He had to be taken into custody from Lucknow and was produced in CBI court on June 22, 2019.

Reports said that police reached Raj’s village and took blood samples of his parents. The DNA test revealed a match with the samples lifted off the victim. The CBI filed the charge sheet on September 13, 2019 and the court framed the charges on October 25. Raj, an auto rickshaw driver, had come to Ranchi in 2016. He had reportedly been keeping an eye on the victim for a while before attacking her.

Special judge Anil Kumar Mishra on Saturday awarded the death sentence with a fine of ~5,000 under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), life imprisonment with a fine of ~5,000 each under Sections 376 and 449 of the IPC and seven years’ rigorous imprisonment with a fine of ~5,000 under Section 201 of the IPC.

Ranchi, Jharkhand Assembly Election Result Updates: Counting of votes begins.

Source – indiatoday.in

Results for elections held for Jharkhand’s Ranchi assembly seat are being announced today. Ranchi assembly seat went to the polls in December 2019 along with 80 other assembly constituencies of Jharkhand. The Jharkhand assembly elections were held over five phases in December 2019. The overall voter turnout was recorded at 65.17 per cent in the Jharkhand assembly elections 2019.

The Ranchi assembly seat voted on December 12 in the third phase of the Jharkhand assembly elections 2019. Results for the Jharkhand assembly election results 2019 are being announced on Monday, December 23.

Counting for the elections held to Jharkhand’s Ranchi assembly seat is currently on.

The Ranchi assembly is located in the Ranchi district of Jharkhand and falls under the Ranchi parliamentary constituency. In the 2014 Jharkhand assembly election, Chandreshwar Prasad Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won from the Ranchi assembly seat.

Jharkhand is currently ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party under Chief Minister Raghubhar Das.

In the 2019 Jharkhand assembly elections, the BJP is up against an alliance of the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. Jharkhand is the third state where elections have been held since the 2019 Lok Sabha election when the Narendra Modi-led BJP stormed back.

Apart from Jharkhand, elections have been held in Maharashtra and Haryana. In both the states, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party but could not secure a majority on its own. In Haryana, the BJP formed government by joining hands with the Jannayak Janata Party. In Maharashtra, the BJP failed to form a stable coalition, which led to an alliance of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress coming to power.

In Jharkhand, Congress borrows a strategy from Maharashtra’s Sharad Pawar.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar’s campaign strategy in Maharashtra shaped the Congress’s line of campaigning in Jharkhand as it kept the focus on local issues, economy and jobs, and avoided getting into a debate on nationalism, as pushed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The state, where tribals play a key role in politics, witnessed a bitter battle of narratives. While the BJP made Article 370, Ayodhya and Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), now an Act (CAA), its poll plank, the Congress and its alliance partner Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) stuck to their tactic of keeping the rivals engaged on local matters, and limited their discourse on national issues to economic slowdown, price rise and unemployment.

The Congress had undoubtedly taken a leaf out of Pawar’s book as the Maratha leader during the Maharashtra elections successfully dodged the BJP’s nationalism narrative and extensively campaigned on local issues.

“It was deliberate on our part to keep the elections focussed on local issues and not fall into the BJP’s trap of making it nationalism-centered. We had also received feedback that there is strong anti-incumbency against BJP chief minister Raghubar Das and as such they will raise the pitch on Article 370, Ayodhya and the CAB,” said senior Congress leader Ajay Sharma. “We didn’t let that happen and kept the campaign entirely Jharkhand-centric.”

Sharma handled the Congress’s campaign in Ranchi and assisted the party’s Jharkhand in-charge, RPN Singh, in campaign strategy and planning.

He said the Congress also thwarted all attempts by the BJP to make it Prime Minister Narendra Modi-centric elections, as the ruling party decided to increase his number of rallies after assessing that the local leaders are not getting the required traction on the ground.

The Congress had crafted different campaign plan for each of the five phases of elections. The party had also planned to end the campaigning on December 18 with a rally by either Congress president Sonia Gandhi or party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The latter, eventually, addressed a public meeting along with JMM chief Hemant Soren at Pakur in the Santhal-Pargana region.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi addressed four rallies across the state.

“For the first time in 18 years, the Congress was in a fighting-fit form and we gave our best. Besides, the in-charge [RPN Singh] camped in the state for 40 consecutive days which never happened in the past,” said the party’s state working president, Rajesh Thakur.

But Jharkhand BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo dismissed the contention that the ruling party was on the back-foot on local issues and instead blamed the opposition alliance for polarising the elections.

“We started with ‘Ghar Ghar Raghubar’ campaign and talked about stability and development in the last five years of the BJP government. But the Congress and JMM leaders started polarising the elections by talking negatively about Article 370 and we responded by exposing their double standards,” Shahdeo said.

He claimed that the alliance also hit the panic button after getting the feedback that the minority voters were supporting the BJP in large numbers. “At the same time, national issues are always paramount for us. As far as increasing the Prime Minister’s number of rallies, the figures available suggest a clear 80.9% strike rate for him as compared to 18.1% that of Rahul Gandhi,” added Shahdeo.

But political analysts said the local issues dominated the poll discourse among a large section of voters during the elections. “Roti [bread], kapda [cloth] aur makaan [house] are important for all and they take precedence over national issues. Voters across the country have shown that they vote differently for national and state elections,” said LK Kundan, associate professor of the political science department at the Ranchi University.

The elections for the 81-member Jharkhand assembly were held in five phases between November 30 and December 20. The results will be declared on December 23.

As per their pre-poll agreement, the Congress is contesting 31 seats while the JMM 43 seats and the RJD seven.

On the other hand, the BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union or AJSU Party could not come to an understanding and are fighting the elections separately.

“It is a ploy. They [BJP and AJSU] have been together for five years and will join hands after the elections. The people are seeing through their drama and will hand over a crushing defeat to them,” Sharma said.

Special CBI court convicts Ranchi’s Nirbhaya rape-murder accused after trial.

Source – indiatoday.in

Aspecial Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Friday convicted the main accused in the rape and murder case of an engineering student in Ranchi, Jharkhand, after a swift trial that lasted for a month, officials said.

In a big success in the most brutal crime which took place three years ago on the fourth anniversary of Delhi’s Nirbhaya rape and murder, the probe agency cracked the case using profiles of people in an area to narrow down suspects.

The CBI nailed Rahul Raj, who had absconded after committing the crime on the night of December 15-16, 2016, and used a number of aliases, using DNA lineage of his parents which matched with the sample found on the victim’s body and nails, the officials further said.

Officials said Raj is a habitual offender and is accused in a separate sexual assault case in Bihar and a number of theft cases Uttar Pradesh.

The CBI took over the investigation on March 28, 2018, and managed to crack it open in June this year, arresting Raj from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, where he was in Jail for a separate crime, they said.

The court framed charges against him in the last week of October and in a swift trial, in which 30 witnesses were scrutinised over 16 working days.

The verdict came on a day expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court for raping a minor girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district.

The quantum of sentence for Rahul Raj, a resident of Nalanda in Bihar, by the Ranchi Special court will be pronounced tomorrow.

The gruesome raped and murder case had triggered public outrage with innumerable protests outrage across the country in 2016.