Day: August 22, 2019

Gaya school headmaster honoured

Source: hindustantimes.com

Virendra Kumar, headmaster of Pawra Middle School in Gaya’s Gurua block, has been honoured by the union ministry of human resources for his efforts towards educating children in an area hit by Maoist violence.

Union minister Ramesh Pokhrial gave away the award to Kumar at a function in New Delhi on August 18.

Earlier, Kumar was honoured by Sri Aurobindo Society, which had earlier sought innovative ideas from teachers across the country with regard to teaching in schools. Three lakh teachers submitted their ideas, of which 66 teachers, including two from Bihar, were selected for the honour. The two teachers who got the award were Kumar and Mukesh Kumar of Begusarai.

Kumar, himself son of a teacher, was promoted as headmaster of the Pawra school in 2017. He was surprised to see low number of students and teachers in the school. “The next morning, I travelled around the village and realised villagers were reluctant to send their children to school. After much persuasion, some agreed to send their wards to the school,” said Kumar.

Gradually, children started coming to the school and the attendance of students shot up to 95 per cent from 20-30 per cent.

“’We now have 341 students enroled. I first tipped two kids from each class and made them the mohalla leaders. I also gave whistles to every mohalla leader and asked them to blow the whistle while leaving home for school, to gather other fellows. The kids’ team moves around the village half-an-hour before school starts. And thus, all children reach here on time,’’ Kumar said.

MCI inspects PMCH, may okay 50 more MBBS seats for Jharkhand

Source: hindustantimes.com

Jharkhand may get 50 more MBBS seats in current academic session as a three-member team of Medical Council of India (MCI) on Wednesday held sudden inspection of Patliputra Medical College Hospital (PMCH), Dhanbad, for verification of compliance report over 100 MBBS seats.

Though the MCI inspectors refused to share details with the media, they looked satisfied after the inspection and verification of the compliance reports sent by PMCH to MCI about faculty strength in college and infrastructure in hospital.

The MCI team comprising Dr RG Vevek Medical College, Kolkata, Dr Ram Awadh Singh Kushwaha of RGM Medical College, Lucknow and Dr Jaswinder Singh of Chandigarh Medical College reached PMCH on Wednesday morning and began inspection of hospital’s OPD, wards, radiology and pathology department one by one before reaching college.

MCI Inspectors also took registration of OPD patients of the day till 2 pm (1601), admitted indoor (517) major operation (30), minor operation ( 64), normal delivery 15, cesarean (10).

PMCH principal Dr Shailendra Kumar said three-member MCI team made spot inspection of all faculties and hospital wards and verified them with our compliance report. Now on basis of their findings, the MCI board would decide to permit 100 seats in the current session. “ We are hopeful of regaining 100 MBBS seats as maximum deficiencies have been fulfilled”, he said.

MCI had increased 50 seats each (total 100) to PMCH and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College Hospital (MGMMCH) Jamshedpur in 2013. But due to deficiencies MCI reduced 50 seats of PMCH in 2017 and MGMMCH in 2019.

“In March, the MCI had inspected PMCH and pointed out deficiencies to be fulfilled to get permission for 100 seats. In April, PMCH had sent compliance report. Today Inspectors had come to verify compliance report”, said principal. He said only 20% faculty deficiency is left otherwise posts of senior residents and junior resident and assistant professors have been filled up.

Till date, Jharkhand has 580 MBBS seats, including 100 each of three newly set up, Palamu, Hazaribagh, Dumka, 180 of RIMS Ranchi,50 each of PMCH and MGMMCH.

PMCH superintendent Dr HK Singh said except oxygen pipe line, the hospital has fulfilled all deficiencies pointed out by the MCI.

Police rifles fail during gun salute to former Bihar CM, Nitish Kumar miffed

Source: indiatoday.in

In a major embarrassment to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, none of the 22 guns fired when former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra was accorded a state funeral in his ancestral village Balua Bazar in Supaul on Wednesday.

According to the protocol, the former chief minister was to be given gun salutation by a guard of honour but none of the 22 guns fired during the funeral, which was attended by Nitish and senior ministers of the state government.

What was further shameful is the fact that the policemen tasked to fire the gunshots kept on trying repeatedly in front of the chief minister and other dignitaries, but failed.

It may be mentioned that the state government had decided that Jagannath Mishra would be accorded a state funeral as he was a three time Chief Minister but what transpired at the funeral only exposed the sloppiness of the state police.

RJD legislator Yaduvansh Yadav who was also present at the funeral has claimed that the incident was the insult to the former Bihar Chief Minister and demanded that a inquiry should be initiated in this case.

Jagannath Mishra’s funeral was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister receive Kumar Modi, Health Minister Mangal Pandey and Bihar assembly speaker Vijay Choudhary.

Nitish banks on Prashant Kishore’s Jharkhand groundwork for rich poll harvest

Source: hindustantimes.com

Janata Dal (United) national president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is all set to launch party’s election campaign in poll-bound Jharkhand on August 25. Mega preparations are on in the state’s capital city by the party workers to welcome Kumar, who would be holding a meeting with around 2,000 leaders from across Bihar during his four hours stay on Sunday.

Assembly elections are due in Jharkhand later this year. The state carved out of Bihar in 2000 has remained a traditional BJP stronghold. The opposition led by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), however, has had its brief share of power on more than one occasion with the JMM patriarch Sibu Soren and his son Hemant Soren – currently the party’s executive head – serving as chief ministers of the state thrice and once respectively.

The JD(U) since its formation in 2003 had remained in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) across states including Jharkhand, expect from June 2013 to August 2017, when the party switched to Rashtriya Janta Dal-led Grand Alliance (GA) in Bihar. The party, which had won six out of the 81 assembly seats in 2005, doesn’t have any presence in the state legislature as of now and its organisational strength has been fading with each passing year.

However, buoyed by its recent successes in the Lok Sabha polls when it won 16 out of the 17 seats it had contested in Bihar followed by the triumph in Arunachal Pradesh – where JD(U) went on to become the second largest party winning seven seats, the JD-U is now striving hard for Jharkhand assembly polls to build up on its push to become a strong national party.

“Nitish Kumar’s scheduled visit on Sunday has already set eye-balls rolling in Jharkhand’s political circles. The state badly needs Kumar’s model of development and we are confident that we will make a difference with or without any alliance in the coming polls,” said JD-U Jharkhand president and former BJP parliamentarian, Salkhan Murmu.

JD-U had contested the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in alliance with BJP and also intends to contest the 2020 assembly polls under the NDA. However, during the recently held party’s executive committee meeting in Patna, the party leaders announced that outside Bihar they would go solo in all polls.

In Jharkhand, if JD(U) fails or refuses to bridge an alliance with any party, it would be pitted against a strong NDA – comprising BJP and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) and a resolute Grand Alliance (GA) comprising JMM, Congress, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and the left.

The party leaders, both in Patna and Ranchi, are unperturbed by the prevalent political combinations. Influenced from Rajya Sabha deputy speaker Harivansh in the state and backed by expertise of poll strategist Prashant Kishore, whose teams have been working clandestinely in all 24 districts for last six months, JD(U) leadership is confident of altering all the set poll equations.

“Our party vice-president, Prashant Kishore’s teams have done extensive ground work and have found out that there exists immense potential for JD(U) to make headway in the neighbouring state,” said a senior JD(U) leader requesting not to be quoted.

Though the party has announced to contest all 81 seats, it may scale down to 35 seats or even less after Kumar’s meeting with local leaders and office bearers, leaders, adding, they would field candidates in constituencies where they stand a chance to win or give a tough fight.

According to the insiders, the party would focus on constituencies with high Kurmi voters’ percentage. Several disgruntled Kurmi leaders associated with other parties are being lured to join JD(U).

Shailendra Mahato, vice-president of JD(U) unit in Jharkhand, said that among others, Kumar would be accompanied by Kishore, Member of Parliament Lallan Singh, Bihar welfare minister and Jharkhand in-charge Ram Sevak Singh and general secretary Arun Kumar Singh.

“Our national president would be in Gaya on August 24 where he would stay back overnight. Next morning after breakfast, he will leave for Ranchi by road and hold crucial meetings till 5 pm before he departs for Patna by the evening flight,” he said.

Nand Kishore Yadav, BJP’s Jharkhand co in-charge, said that JD(U)’s foray into Jharkhand assembly polls does not affect his party much as JD(U) has contested polls independently in several states. “Our alliance with them is only in Bihar. We do not have anything to do with their decisions,” he said.

Govt to set up committee to study corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board

Source: thehindu.com

The Government is set to form a high level committee to examine the aspects of corporatisation of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and work out the modalities, defence sources said while rejecting apprehensions from employees that there is an attempt at privatisation.

“A high-level committee will study the issue and take a call on what needs to be done,” a senior source said. It will be a political call on how to go about.

The Kolkata-headquartered OFB with 41 factories spread across the country functions under the Department of Defence Production. Due to this every decision and action needs the approval of the Cabinet, officials said. For instance, in 2001 the OFB was to set up a plant at Nalanda in Bihar to manufacture bi-modular charges for the Army with initial investment of around ₹800 crore, which went up to ₹2,000 crore later. But the plant has not been set up till date, the source said.

On the contrary the Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSU) do not have such hassles and have been establishing joint ventures and partnerships for technology development and other things. “At the current rate and in the present model OFB has no future,” the source said, and added that today there is “no accountability and result orientation” and the need is to move to a system of accountability on the lines of DPSUs. The total support to OFB is around ₹6,500 crore both from indents from the Army and direct budgetary support.

Alleging moves to privatise the OFB, three recognised Defence Federations under the OFB have launched a month-long strike from August 20. There are about 82,000 employees in OFB of which around 46,000 are industrial employees who went on strike, sources said. “As of now the strike is not worrisome. The Defence Ministry is in continuous discussions with them,” another official said.

In the last few years, several measures have been undertaken to augment capacity and increase production of the factories under the OFB. At least 20 cases of capital upgradation were cleared in last few years, the official added.

This is not for the first time, though, that corporatisation of ordnance factories is being considered. There have been recommendations by various committees and several attempts over the last two decades but there has been no progress.

Jharkhand’s industrialists’ banner reminder of industry SOS

Source: telegraphindia.com

Jharkhand’s industrialists are angry over what they say is the state’s insensitivity to a dire situation for businesses, and they plan to remind the Raghubar Das-led government about the harsh ground reality through hoardings at strategic locations, including in front of the chief minister’s residence in Ranchi.

The reality for businesses, the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) said at a news meet held in the state capital, was in stark contrast to expectations of industrial growth claimed during Momentum Jharkhand in 2017.

The FJCCI is the coordinating body for more than 10,000 industrial units operating across the state.

“The hopes generated during Momentum Jharkhand are completely dashed with industrialists fighting for survival and nearly 1,000 big and small industries downing shutters in the last few months due to the insensitivity of the state government,” FJCCI president Deepak Maroo said during the news meet held at Chamber Bhavan in Ranchi on Wednesday.

“We tried presenting our stands before every responsible persons including ministers, chief minister and bureaucrats but so far we have not received any solution to our woes and had no option but to display our sentiments through hoardings, beginning with a hoarding near the CM residence at Kanke,” he added.

The FJCCI hoardings will be put up at eight locations in Ranchi, and similar billboards will be sent to industries and trade bodies for display at strategic locations across all 24 districts.

“We would like nearly four-five such hoardings put up at strategic locations like near the district collectorate and near the residence and office of ministers and MLAs across the districts — to make them aware about the problems faced by us,” Maroo said.

The hoardings declare: “Vyapariyo ki marmik pukar — ab to sudh lo sarkar” (Poignant call of traders — at least remember us now, government).

They highlight problems faced due to frequent power cuts, complete failure of the single-window system of clearances for business, harassment of transporters by police officials, unhygienic condition and poor infrastructure in industrial areas, rising cases of theft and crime, and rampant licence raj and red tape.

“Industries in the last one year have suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore due to poor policies of the government. The claims of hassle-free clearance through single-window system and ease of doing business is simply an eyewash. Momentum Jharkhand has failed to generate any revival for industries,” Maroo said.

During the Momentum Jharkhand 2017, nearly 210 MoUs were inked with Jharkhand government, promising investment of more than Rs 3 lakh crore.

FJCCI industry sub-committee chairman Ajay Bhandari blamed lack of coordination between the legislature and bureaucracy for the sorry state of affairs. FJCCI electricity sub-committee chairperson Vinod Tulsiyan criticised the government for allowing hike in power tariff from April this year despite no significant improvement in supply. This, he said, has led to economic

burden on industrialists and several ingots units have closed down.

Bus transport association official Arun Budhiya said that tax policies on the transport sector have resulted in heavy losses for transporters, specially those in the heavy vehicles segment.

“We want the government to talk to us and sort out our problems and this is the reason we have resorted to the hoarding campaign to draw their attention,” Maroo said. “If they do not relent, then we will have to go for mass agitation.”

Transfusion hub for thalassemia in Ranchi

Source: telegraphindia.com

Ranchi became the first district in Jharkhand to get the latest thalassemia pumps and medicines at a day-care integrated centre for thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia and haemophilia at the Sadar hospital after Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) funded Rs 16 lakh to set up a Thalassemia Wellness Centre.

The Wishing Factory, an NGO set-up by 24-year-old youth Partth Thakur from Mumbai, who is a patient of thalassemia, is executing the project on behalf of IRCTC.

State health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni, IRCTC deputy general manager Tarum Kumar and Partth Thakur inaugurated the advanced centre with the pump library.

“This is the third centre funded by IRCTC in the country after Pune and Jaipur. This will come as a great help for thalassemia patients. These pumps, also called iron chelation pumps, are used to maintain iron level and remove additional iron from the body in a way increasing their life span. I have asked Sadar hospital to submit a requisition of medicines and equipment to IRCTC for the future. The state government would also launch a special drive across Jharkhand to identify patients of thalassemia and sickle cell so that they can be given proper treatment,” said Kulkarni.

Deputy general manager of IRCTC informed that besides eight pumps, 4,000 vile of Desferal, 200 leucocyte filters and 2,000 butterfly needles have been provided.

“We will sustain the centre for at least one year and during this period we will provide financial support to the centre. This is the third centre IRCTC has funded and we are going to open some more in other states,” said Tarum.

Sabana, who had come to the day-care centre for the treatment of her 11-year-old child Irfan Ansari who is suffering from thalassemia, said: “My younger son Jisan died last year because of thalassemia. My husband works at a bicycle shop and we can’t afford the cost of the treatment. Somebody told me that my son can get good treatment here,” she said.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s scions stage late-night dharna in Patna

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Former deputy CM of Bihar and younger son of imprisoned RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav staged a dharna amid rain in Patna on Wednesday night. Tejashwi sat on the dharna demanding immediate arrival of any senior official of the state government to assure the people that no further demolition of the milk market would take place.

As a part of anti-encroachment drive carried out by the Patna administration, some portions of the milk market, that was built by then CM Lalu Prasad Yadav were demolished. Tejashwi Yadav was apprised of this situation soon after he returned to Patna after months of political hibernation.

The protest led to traffic snarls and a complete lockdown of the area. “A complete mess has been created in the state by CM Nitish Kumar led government. We wouldn’t now allow it to continue in the systems and leave the state in a mess.  We will set everything right,” he said, adding that demolition of milk vendors market, near Patna junction, was deliberately done by officials.

The entire traffic movement in the city went haywire with hundreds of vehicles being stranded on the road. “I will continue on the dharna till the arrival of any senior official to assure to the people that no further demolition of the market would be don,” he said.

Meanwhile, upon knowing that his younger brother is sitting on dharna, Tej Pratap Yadav, the elder son of Lalu Prasad Yadav, also reached the dharna site and joined his brother.

“Now, my Arjun will demolish all those who are ruining the lives of poor people in government. I will be with him like Krishna,” Tej Pratap Yadav said. The ruckus continued till late night in and around the roundabouts near Patna junction by thousands of supporters of Lalu’s scions.