Jharkhand: Colleagues use torches to get soldier airlifted

Source: dnaindia.com

CRPF troopers who are known for their abilities to overcome extreme challenges did the unthinkable to get a sick colleague airlifted in the dead of night. This time they used their torches to complete this operation.

The condition of Sudama Prasad Yadav, a Central Reserve Police Force soldier posted at Garhwa in Naxal-hit Jharkhand, recently deteriorated prompting doctors to refer him to a hospital in state capital Ranchi, over 200 kilometres away. It was 1.30 am.

In the absence of adequate light, calling a chopper seemed impossible. However, Yadav needed immediate medical care. “We then hit upon the idea of collectively using our torches to facilitate the landing of a chopper,” a CRPF officer told DNA.

About a hundred soldiers stood around the outer ring of the helipad with their torchlights on, ensuring a perfect landing. Yadav was then boarded, and it flew away in minutes. Officials said the soldier is being treated at Orchid Hospital in Ranchi.

Will make Jharkhand No. 1 state in country: Amit Shah

Source: indiatoday.in

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday promised that the Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in Jharkhand would work together to make the state the No. 1 state in the country. Shah said that since Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre, Naxalism has declined in the state and various welfare schemes have been successfully implemented in the state.

Shah was addressing a rally in Jharkhand’s Jamtara district. Jharkhand, along with Maharashtra and Haryana, is expected to go to the polls later this year. Shah was speaking after launching the BJP’s ‘Johar Jan Ashirwad Yatra’.

The yatra will crisscross Jharkhand’s 81 assembly constituencies ahead of the polls in the state.

Speaking at the rally, Amit Shah also Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed Pakistan its place by abrogating Article 370 and 35A and established that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.

Shah said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi should tell people of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana, when he goes to those election-bound states, whether he was with the decision to abrogate Article 370.

ATTACKS CONGRESS

“Removing Article 370, Modi ji showed Pakistan its place, and established that Kashmir is an integral part of India,” Shah said.

“Our stand has been to remove Article 370 ever since it had been there,” Shah said and asked “why the Congress felt a ‘stomach ache’ following its abrogation?”

Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Amit Shah said the party had also opposed and sought evidence after the surgical strikes.

“They (Congress) should tell the people which direction they want to go,” he added.

Shah said even while being in the opposition, his party leaders had supported the government on important issues.

“Atal Bihari Vajpayee had supported former prime minister Indira Gandhi after winning the Bangladesh Liberation war.

‘CONGRESS DID NOT HEED JHARKHAND’S WISHES’

Amit Shah went on to question what the Congress did for the state and slammed the party for not heeding the decades-old demand to create a separate state. (Jharkhand was a part of Bihar until 2000).

Shah said that the Congress had not accepted Jharkhand people’s decades-old wishes for a separate state and that it was former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who fulfilled the dreams.

“I don’t hesitate to say that Atal ji created Jharkhand and Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji nursed it towards development during the last five years,” Shah said.

“There is Modi government above [at the Centre] and Raghubar Das government below [in the state]. The double engine governments have changed Jharkhand, and the evidence is that the people of Jharkhand gave 12 of the 14 Lok Sabha seats to Modi government in the Lok Sabha elections,” Shah said.

“Naxalism was there, but now Jharkhand is headed towards [becoming] almost naxal-free and moving forward with developmental initiatives,” Shah said. “The double engine governments will make Jharkhand the number one state in the country.”

BPSC member quits, Vigilance files graft FIR

Source: hindustantimes.com

The Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) lodged a case on Monday against Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) member Dr Ram Kishore Singh for demanding Rs 24 lakh from a candidate to ensure his success in an interview six months ago.

One of the successful candidates, who went for an interview after qualifying in examinations held in 2018 for recruitment of deputy collectors and deputy SPs, had lodged a complaint soon after the interview.

Singh, a former BJP MLC, resigned from the Commission citing “personal reasons” on Monday, hours before the FIR was lodged. He also denied the charge.

The VIB had earlier sent voice samples and call details records of Singh and his associate Parmeshwar Rai to the CFSL in Chandigarh, where they matched.

Singh, currently posted as a professor in Patliputra University, was a BJP MLC for six years before being appointed as a member of the Commission in 2014. His tenure at the BPSC would have been complete in June 2020.

VIB DIG Shankar Jha said the FIR had been sent to the special vigilance court.

Three-hour runway shutdown at Patna airport spooks 12 flights, 2000 fliers

Source: hindustantimes.com

A three-hour suspension of operations after a fire tender got stuck near the runway at Patna airport on Wednesday afternoon forced the diversion of nine flights, delayed three others on the ground and held up the departure of other flights from Delhi, Mumbai and other airports affecting around 2000 passengers.

The fire tender had gone to extinguish a fire on the grass along the runway when it got stuck 22 metres from the runway edge, said an airport spokesperson.

The fire was caused after firecrackers were used to chase away birds which pose serious risk to aircraft. Airport authorities at Patna still use rudimentary methods to scare away birds from the runway.

“A crash fire tender (CFT) was immediately sent to the site to extinguish the fire. After extinguishing the fire, the CFT got stuck in the area possibly due to soft surface because of overnight rain,” the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a statement later in the evening.

“The CFT was removed with help of cranes and other earth moving equipment, available at the ongoing new airport terminal building project construction site,” the statement added.

All incoming flights to Patna were diverted between 12.30pm and 3.16pm. Air operation was shut from 12.10 pm, when the Air Traffic Control (ATC) spotted the fire in the grass, and restored at 3.40 pm. The AAI issued notice to airmen (NOTAM) for temporary runway closure from 1.10 to 3.30 pm.

Among the flights diverted were four of IndiGo, two each of GoAir and of Spice Jet and one non-schedule charter flight of Saraya Aviation.

Three flights were diverted to Varanasi, and two each to Lucknow, Kolkata and Ranchi.

Among the flights diverted to Varanasi were IndiGo 6E-811 flight from Kolkata to Patna; Saraya Aviation’s VTEJZ flight from Delhi to Patna; and SpiceJet’s SG-6258 from Bengaluru to Patna.

Those diverted to Ranchi included IndiGo’s 6E-485 from Bengaluru to Patna and GoAir’s G8-2511 from Delhi to Patna. IndiGo’s 6E-6126 from Delhi to Patna and SpiceJet’s SG 954 from Ahmedabad to Patna were diverted to Lucknow. Similarly, GoAir’s G8-131 from Delhi to Patna and IndiGo’s 6E-787 from Mumbai to Patna were diverted to Kolkata.

GoAir’s G8-378 to Bangalore, Air India’s AI-410 and IndiGo’s 6E-2325, both bound for Delhi were delayed at the airport for more than three hours.

Interestingly, air traffic controllers had given IndiGo’s flight to Delhi the clearance for takeoff, but the pilot decided against it as it was fraught with risk. The pilots returned to the parking bay from runway 07 after which the AAI sought NOTAM for temporary closure of runway.

The AAI’s decision to send the CFT, which weighs around 37 tonne within 22 metres of the runway’s edge on unmetalled surface especially after Patna registered 94.4 mm rainfall on Tuesday evening, has also come under the scanner since the fire engine can easily fight a blaze from a distance of almost 90 metres.

Lightning strike in Bihar kills 18 in 24 hours

Source: indiatvnews.com

At least 18 people were killed, while nearly half a dozen were injured in incidents of lightning strikes across Bihar in last 24 hours, an official said on Wednesday. The deceased also included women and children. 

According to an official of the Bihar State Disaster Department, the casualties were reported from Kaimur, East Champaran, Jehanabad, Gaya, Patna, Vaishali and Muzaffarpur.

Five deaths were reported from Kaimur, three from East Champaran and one each in the remaining districts, he said. 

“The state government has ordered ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of those who lost their lives,” an official of the Disaster Management Department said.

According to the weather office, lightning strikes are usually reported during the June-September monsoon season.

BEWARE OF THE WATER: 17 killed by lightning in Bihar, flood-like situation in several parts of the state

Source: dnaindia.com

At least 17 people, including men and children, were killed in incidents of lightning strikes in different parts of Bihar in the last 24 hours. Four deaths were reported in Kaimur district, four in Gaya, one in Katihar, three in Motihari, one in Ara and two each in Jahanabad and Arwal.

In Kaimur, a woman and a child died due to lightning strike. In Gaya district, one person died due to lightning strike in Tankuppa block and two lost their lives in Imamganj block. In Katihar, a person identified as Bhumeshwar Yadav died due to lightning strike. Sources told Zee Media that Yadav, a resident of Sukhay village, was struck by lightning when he was working in his field. 

In Motihari, three people, including two girls, died due to lightning strike, while a young person lost his life in Ara. In Jahanabad, one person died in Jaffarganj, while one death was reported from Meerganj village in Ratni bloc.

Meanwhile, several parts of Bihar is witnessing a flood-like situation due to overflowing rivers caused by incessant rainfall. In Patna, the water level of River Ganga rose 55 cm above the danger mark at Gandhi Ghat. The capital city experienced torrential rains for five-straight hours, causing water logging in Adalat Ganj, Kankarbagh, Sri Krishna Puri, Pataliputra and Rajendra Nagar.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) on Wednesday issued a flood alert for all the districts in Bihar along the course of Ganga from Buxar to Bhagalpur and said that the situation along the course of the rivers should be monitored closely.

2.7 Lakh Prohibition Cases Pending, High Court Asks Bihar For Plan

Source: ndtv.com

PATNA: More than three years after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rolled out an ambitious prohibition policy, its success remains a matter of debate. But one thing it has achieved is an alarmingly high pile of excise cases. Now, the Patna High Court has asked the state government to present a plan for how it plans to dispose these cases.

In a recent judgement, the court noted that the total number of such pending cases till July 8 this year is some 2.7 lakh.

In the absence of adequate judicial officers and support staff, the management of these cases is near impossible.

In an affidavit, the government has said that so far 67,000 people have been arrested and over 52 lakh litres of liquor has been seized. However, only 2,629 cases have been disposed of.

After the state government’s affidavit, the court has directed the Chief Secretary to file another about how the state hopes to tackle the problem of increased litigation.

The move is seen as one directed to draw attention to courts getting overburdened with excise and prohibition cases.

Bihar had banned country liquor from April 1, 2016 and prohibited the consumption of any alcohol six months later.

But at its peak, the law the led to an average of 172 arrests every day or one every 10 minutes.

‘Ploy by Companies to Pressure Govt to Lower Taxes’: Bihar Minister Says There’s No Economic Slowdown

Source: news18.com

Patna: The country is not facing economic slowdown and big companies are trying pressurise the government to lower tax rates by showing a decline in manufacturing, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi claimed on Wednesday. His comment invited immediate ridicule from the opposition RJD.

Modi, who also holds the finance portfolio in the Nitish Kumar government, cited the example of Parle G biscuits and said its demand had, in fact, increased in Bihar.

He doubted the claim of its manufacturers that a fall in demand of the company’s biscuits could have been caused by developed states opting for expensive pastries instead of the cheap confectionary with a higher tax rate. But it did not appear to be so.

Parle, the manufacturers of Parle G biscuits had recently warned of a massive lay-off following a slump in production which they blamed on a fall in demand caused by an increase in prices.

The rise in prices, it said, is due to a rise in the cost of production resulting from higher tax rates payable for confectionery items under GST, which came into force two years ago.

There is no mandi (economic slowdown). All these reports one gets to see in the media about automobiles and other sectors suffering is actually a ploy by lobbies in the corporate world to put pressure on the government for lowering tax rates, the senior BJP leader said at a programme organized by a news channel in Ranchi.

Sushil Modi was heavily trolled on Twitter by opposition RJD for his comments. Veteran RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary charged him with “trying to wish away a financial crisis that is too stark”.

“Of late, Sushil Kumar Modi has begun sounding like the French monarch who said if people did not have bread, they should eat cakes,” Tiwary told PTI here.

The phrase is commonly attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette supposedly uttered during one of the famines that occurred in France in 1789 during the reign of her husband

King Louis XVI ahead of the French Revolution.

Recently, he (Sushil Modi) said that the decline in automobiles was because people did not like to buy vehicles during the Pitri Paksha which in fact began only last week and continues for only a fortnight,” Tiwary, who was a member of the Rabri Devi cabinet, said.

“Before that he had scandalized all by claiming that economic slowdown was some sort of a seasonal phenomenon which occurred during monsoons and automatically got rectified later on. It all displays his utter ignorance about financial matters, though he is the minister in charge of the department, the RJD national vice-president said.

He said, the recent report by an international media house has stated that investors are withdrawing capital from the country and there are no fresh investments. Noted economists have time and again pointed out that the unimpressive GDP growth rate of five per cent too might be an exaggerated figure as it does not take into account the huge unorganized sector which is yet to recover from the impact of demonetization, Tiwary said.

Our Deputy CM seems to be in the same frame of mind as last year when he had hoped for less crime during a religious festival by cajoling criminals with folded hands to give up their activities for the period, he quipped.

At the inauguration of the Pitri Paksh fair at Gaya in 2018, Sushil Modi had urged those involved in anti-social activities to refrain from indulging in crimes during the fortnight-long congregation as visitors came from far and wide and they might return with a bad image of Bihar in mind. The deputy chief minister had invited severe ridicule from political opponents for it.

Consul General Zha Liyou Attends Bodh Gaya Celebration Prayers for 70th Anniversary of Founding of The People’s Republic of China

Source: kolkata.china-consulate.org

On September 15th, at the invitation of the Kolkata Chinese Buddhist Association, Consul General Zha Liyou attended the Celebration Prayers for the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 72nd Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of India, jointly organized by the Bodh Gaya Chinese Temple and the Mahabodhi Temple.

More than 1000 people attended the event, including Visva-Bharati VC Bidyut Chakrabarty, Mahabodhi Temple Management Secretary N. S. Dorjee, Kolkata Chinese Buddhist Association President Chen Qiwei, Bhikkhu-in-Charge of Maha Bodhi Society of India Headquarters-Kolkata Ven. M Medhankara Thero, Mahabodhi Temple Chief Monk Chalinda, Bodh Gaya Chinese Temple Chief Monk Huirong, and monks from 68 temples in Bodh Gaya, representatives of overseas Chinese in Kolkata, media reporters and local Buddhism followers etc.

On the morning of the same day, accompanied by the Chinese lion dance performance, participants of the event left the Chinese Temple and walked to the Bodhi Tree of the Mahabodhi Temple. Monks devoted themselves to chanting of Song Of The Triple Gem, praying for the anniversaries of the two countries and stable development of the bilateral relations.

The Consul General delivered a speech and expressed his pleasure to join the prayers for the two countries at the Mahabodhi Temple. China learned Buddhism from India and becomes the largest Buddhist country in the world. As two ancient civilizations in Asia, China and India have achieved remarkable development achievements benefiting their people and making great contributions to prosperity and development of Asia and the world, as well as building a community with a shared future for mankind. He hoped that the event would create a good atmosphere for the development of Sino-Indian relations in the new era, and people from all walks of life including Buddhism would continue to support the development of Sino-Indian relations and contribute to people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Master Huirong and Chief Monk Chalinda thanked the people from all walks of life for attending the prayers and jointly praying for the health of Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping and their upcoming informal meeting in India, as well as bilateral relations and people of the two countries, and both firmly believed that the prayers will definitely become true.

Prof. Bidyut Chakrabarty, Mr. N. S. Dorjee, and Ven. M Medhankara Thero highly appreciated the prayers and wished it a complete success and the best of the Indian-China relationship.

Mr Zha and his wife jointly presented the guests with souvenirs specially made for the 70th Chinese National Day. With the monks chanting the Mahamangala Sutta and the distinguished guests lighting the candle devoted to Buddha, the event was successfully concluded.

Times of India, Hindustan, Bodh Gaya TV and other local media were present to report the event, and interviewed the Consul General.

One killed in clash between Patna University hostel students, locals

Source: indianexpress.com

A 45-year-old man, a bystander during a clash between Patna University hostel students and local residents, was killed after a stone thrown by one of the parties hit him on the head.

The police have arrested 20 students in this regard.

The clash took place after eight students were earlier arrested for passing objectionable remarks against a local girl.
According to the police, around 12.30 am on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, over a hundred students living in Cervantes and Minto hostels of Patna University and local Lalbagh residents began pelting stones at each other. Mohammed Shoukat, who had been standing at a tea stall, was hit by a stone on his head, and died on the spot.

His death sparked fresh protests from locals, forcing police to raid the hostels. Twetny students were arrested around 2 am. To avoid further clashes, police have been deployed at Lalbagh and near the hostels.
Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Garima Malik said: “We are taking stern action. The police deployment will continue and more arrests can be made”.

The chain of events started on Saturday, when inmates of the two PU hostels took out a protest march against the “poor quality” of food served in hostel canteens. During the protest, some students allegedly passed objectionable remarks against a local Labagh girl. After some locals protested this, one resident was beaten up. Police later arrested eight hostel students for passing the remarks and for assaulting the local resident.

The Monday night protest was triggered after students learnt that three Lalbagh residents had recorded their statements with the police against the arrested students.

Meanwhile, Patna University administration has taken stock of the situation and might take action against the students after an internal inquiry.