Tag: state-government

Jharkhand cabinet expanded, 7 take oath as ministers.

Source – hindustantimes.com

The much-awaited expansion of the Hemant Soren cabinet took place on Tuesday, with Governor Draupadi Murmu administering oath to seven ministers — five from JMM and two from Congress — taking the total strength in the state government to 10. much-awaited expansion The much-awaited expansion of the Hemant Soren cabinet took place on Tuesday, with Governor Draupadi Murmu administering oath to seven ministers — five from JMM and two from Congress — taking the total strength in the state government to 10.

Besides the chief minister, the state could have 11 ministers. Hence, one berth is still vacant in the cabinet.

The coalition government, led by chief minister Hemant Soren, took oath on December 29 last year. Two legislators from Congress — Alamgir Alam and Rameshwar Oraon — and RJD’s Satyanand Bhokta were also sworn-in along with Soren.

“Congratulations to all my colleagues on behalf of people for taking oath as ministers. This is not merely a cabinet, but Team Jharkhand which would work to accelerate the pace of development and realise the dreams of every Jharkhandi. Let’s work together for prosperity of Jharkhand and the country,” Soren tweeted, soon after the ceremony. The chief minister is yet to distribute portfolios among his teammates though.

On Tuesday, the five JMM legislators who took oath, included party’s old guard Champai Soren, Jagarnath Mahto and Haji Hussain Ansari to first-time legislator Mithlesh Thakur. The party also inducted five-term legislator Joba Manji, the only woman to have made it into the cabinet till now.

Party veteran Stephen Marandi, a six-term legislator, ex-minister and a former Rajya Sabha member, surprisingly missed the bus. He was chosen protem speaker for the current assembly and was being considered a front runner.

“It’s the prerogative of the chief minister to choose his team. I have no hard feeling. I congratulate the new team and wish they work hard to deliver according to the mandate we received,” Marandi told reporters after the ceremony.

Congress on its part inducted two-term legislators, Banna Gupta and Badal Patralekh, into the cabinet, taking the total number of party ministers in the coalition government to four.

While both the new recruits are in their 40s, Badal at 43 now holds the distinction of being the youngest member of this cabinet. Earlier, the party had sworn-in party veterans Alamgir Alam, 69, and Rameshwar Oraon, 72, into the cabinet. “Since I am the youngest, I would request the chief minister to give me a department that needs maximum hard work,” said Patralekh.

Santhal, Kolhan get maximum representation

While it took a month for the government to expand its cabinet, both parties have tried to give representation to all major geographical regions and social groups. However, tribal-dominated Santhal Parganas and Kolhan division, which gave a decisive mandate in favour of the alliance, have got the lion’s share.

Besides the chief minister, Alam, Patralekh and Ansari represent assembly seats in Santhal Parganas. The next in line is Kolhan division that would have three ministers — Soren, Manjhi and Gupta.

North Chhota Nagpur comes next with two ministers Mahto and Bhokta. South Chhota Nagpur and Palamu division till now has only one representative each.

Socially, besides the chief minister, three ministers are tribals, two are Muslims, two each belong to the Other Backward Classes and general category, while one minister belongs to Scheduled Castes. Manjhi is the sole woman minister.

2 dead in Darbhanga, Samastipur during Bihar govt’s programme.

Source – indiatoday.in

At least two people died in Bihar while taking part in a human chain organised by the state government on Sunday. While one person died in Darbhanga, another death was reported in Samastipur of Bihar.

The deceased have been identified as Mohd Daud and Reshma. It is suspected that Mohd Daud and Reshma, who were part of the human chain, died of heart attacks.

The human chain was organised to showcase the Bihar government’s environment conservation drive besides social reform measures like prohibition and campaigns against dowry and child marriage.

Mohd Daud was a 55-year-old government teacher who died while taking part in a human chain organised by the Nitish Kumar government, officials have said.

He died in Keoti police station area close to the Runway Chowk where he fell ill and collapsed. Daud was rushed to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Hospital sources said the deceased had suffered a cardiac arrest though it was not clear whether he was suffering from heart disease.

He taught at an Urdu medium secondary school and the district education officer has been instructed to look into the incident and take necessary action.

WBPSC Recruitment 2020: Apply for 262 Workshop Instructor and Assistant Engineer Post at pscwbonline.gov.in

Source – www.pagalguy.com

West Bengal Public Service Commission is a registered body under the aegis of the state government of West Bengal. It handles the duty for organising various recruitment drives periodically according to the vacancies available with different departments, ministries, and undertakings of the West Bengal government.

Numerous candidates who are interested in government jobs participate in the recruitment campaigns organised by the West Bengal Public Service Commission.

According to the latest notification published by the West Bengal Public Service Commission, i.e. WPSC Recruitment 2020, applications have been invited from interested candidates for the position of Instructor and Workshop Engineer across various departments of the state government. A

s per the official notification released on 16th January 2020, the total number of available vacancies is 262. Out of which 244 vacancies pertain to the post of workshop instructor and 18 vacancies pertain to the post of Assistant Engineer.

The application process should be completed by the candidates by logging-on to official website of West Bengal Public Service Commission @pscwbonline.gov.in. The last date for completion of the online application process for the post of workshop instructor is 5th February 2020 and for the post of Assistant Engineer is 4th February 2020.

Candidates must, therefore, complete their applications before the cut-off date, so as to avoid any hassles later on. Only those applicants will be considered for the WPSC Recruitment 2020 who have completed their application process before the last date.

Candidates must apply for either of the available positions only as applying for both the profiles will lead to cancellation of the candidate’s application.

Stay connected with fellow students on PaGaLGuY for  WBPSC Recruitment 2019

Merely meeting the eligibility criteria does not guarantee an interview for the candidates. The candidates will be selected based on their qualifications as well as performance in the preliminary screening test.

Age relaxation norms, as specified by central government, will be applicable to the WPSC Recruitment 2020.  Candidates must keep their original educational documents, experience certificates, caste certificates, and other documents ready as the same must be produced when requisitioned by the commission.

If at any stage of the selection process, it is found that the candidate does not meet the requirements, the candidature can be cancelled at any time.

Party can wrest Bihar on its own: BJP’s Paswan.

Source – asianage.com

Patna: Amid the political turmoil over leadership in the NDA, Dalit leader and BJP MLC Sanjay Paswan Wednesday said that “the party has the capability to contest and win elections in Bihar on its own”.

Sources said that his statement is likely to create tension in the NDA as the BJP top brass has already announced that the party will contest the Assembly elections in alliance with the JD(U) and chief minister Nitish Kumar will be the face of the NDA.

In September 2019, Mr Paswan had raised the political pitch by stating that the CM should hand over the reins of the state government to the BJP and move to the Centre.

On Wednesday, Mr Paswan told reporters in Patna, “It’s the people of Bihar who want to see a BJP leader becoming the chief minister.” However, he also clarified that “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi will take a final decision regarding the issue but the BJP is a strong party and has the capability to contest and win elections on its own in Bihar.”

Sources said that a section of the BJP led by senior leaders including Mr Paswan has been in favour of promoting firebrand leader Giriraj Singh as the chief ministerial candidate of the NDA in the state.

Mr Paswan’s statement is also crucial because the BJP is part of the state government in Bihar which is being led by the JD(U). Political analysts are of the opinion that in the current scenario where Lalu Yadav is serving a jail term in the fodder scam case, Nitish Kumar has emerged as a stronger leader in Bihar. Nitish Kumar has been the NDA’s face in Bihar since 2005.

The party’s state unit reacted strongly after Mr Paswan gave the statement. Talking to this newspaper, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand said, “Every decision related to the 2020 Bihar election will be taken collectively by the top leadership of NDA partners after proper consultation in due course. Party president Amit Shah has already said that Nitish Kumar will be the face of the NDA in Bihar. The statement being given by some leaders in their individual capacity is not the party’s stand.”

Jharkhand: Local issues win over BJP’s Hindutva and vikas model.

Source – hindustantimes.com

At a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in the Jamtara constituency for the Jharkhand assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath asked the crowd: “Koi Irfan Ansari jitega toh Ram Mandir kaise banega? (If some Irfan Ansari wins, how will Ram Mandir be constructed?)”. This was just one of the many instances of how BJP leaders used the Ram Mandir, the reading down of Article 370, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to mobilise voters on communal lines in the elections.

In Jamtara, Irfan Ansari, the gathbandhan’s candidate, supported by voters of all communities, won by a margin of more than 35,000 votes. Not just in Jamtara, but gathbandhan’s decisive win across Jharkhand shows that voters were not impressed with the BJP’s Hindutva agenda. Rather than gaining, the BJP ended up losing a few seats as compared to 2014. The gathbandhan, comprising the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), won 47 seats (JMM – 30, Congress – 16, RJD – 1), while the BJP secured only 25 (down from 37 in 2014) in the 81-seat assembly.

The results have surprised many as the BJP (with All Jharkhand Student Union party) won 12 of 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state only six months ago. In the general elections, the BJP was able to sway voters on Hindutva, nationalism and its so-called “vikas” model. But this time, the party paid dearly for the widespread unpopularity of chief minister Raghubar Das and its severing of ties with the All Jharkhand Student Union, which is supported by an OBC base. The striking takeaway is that, unlike the Lok Sabha election, this time, people voted mainly on misgovernance and failures of the BJP-led government. The opposition parties also played their role in mobilising voters on local issues.

The BJP’s “vikas” model – roads, toilets, houses and LPG cylinders – may have got the party some votes. But the general neglect of welfare – food security, social security schemes, public health and education – cost the party many more. Disruptions in the Public Distribution System due to its linkage with Aadhaar was a common complaint across the state. The breakdown of food security schemes also led to the death of at least 23 persons because of starvation.

Both the state and central BJP leadership often referred to the Das government’s work as “double-engine vikas” i.e. development powered by same party at state and Centre. This was also a key pitch in this election campaign. But it failed to cut ice in the face of rising unemployment, stagnating rural wages and economic insecurities of people.

There was increasing disconnect between the government and the needs of the people, exemplified in tribal areas (Scheduled Tribes comprise 26% of the total population). Despite increasing its cultural and political footprint in the 28 Adivasi Vidhan Sabha seats over the years, the BJP could win only two (whereas it got 11 in 2014). In the last five years, the party gained the reputation of being detrimental to tribal interests. A major reason was the attempts by the government to forcefully acquire tribal land for corporates. To this effect, the government repeatedly tried to amend local tenancy laws. It was forced to abort these efforts after they were met with massive protests across the state. The repressive response of the government to several protests against these policies alienated the tribals further.

To weaken the protests, the state government tried to divide the adivasis on religious identity. It formulated the anti-conversion act and used it to pit non-Christian adivasis against Christian ones. The blatantly communal agenda of the government was further exposed by the series of mob lynching incidents. Since 2014, Jharkhand has witnessed the highest number of incidents of lynching against Muslims and tribals – mostly triggered by rumours of consumption, smuggling or slaughter of cows. In many cases, local leaders of the BJP or other members of saffron groups were involved or extended tacit support to the perpetrators.

To the opposition’s credit, it focused on people’s issues throughout its campaign and effectively exposed the failures of the government. Unlike in the Lok Sabha elections when the opposition failed to get its act together on the ground, the parties, mainly JMM, mobilised people through yatras, rallies and door-to-door campaigning. The opposition could communicate its commitments and messages clearly to the voters. Moving beyond the traditional Adivasi vote base, the JMM was able to make inroads amongst the electorally significant backward caste voters (OBCs comprise about 35% of population). It was also successful in consolidating votes on the question of “Jhakhandi” identity as opposed to BJP’s Hindutva.

Despite driving its campaign with a “double engine” fuelled by 20 rallies of Modi and Amit Shah, the BJP, as expected, is trying to distance its national leadership from the loss. But the result is as much a reflection on state government’s failure as a statement against the BJP’s communal and divisive politics. As massive people protests against the CAA and NRC continue across the country, the Jharkhand result comes as an electoral referendum against the two policies. The question is will the national Opposition take a leaf from this result and take a clear stand against BJP’s Hindutva in the days to come.

Polling underway for final phase of Jharkhand assembly elections.

Source – newsonair.com

Polling is underway for the fifth and final phase of Assembly elections in Jharkhand. 12 percent voting was recorded till 9 am.Voting is taking place for 16 constituencies spread over Sahebganj, Pakur, Dumka, Jamtara, Deoghar and Godda districts of Santhal Pargana region in this phase.

Polling in five Naxal infested assembly segments of Borio, Barhait, Litipara, Maheshpur and Sikaripara will be held between 7 AM and 3 PM. In the remaining 11 seats, voting will continue till 5 PM. 236 candidates including 29 women are in the fray for this phase.

Prominent among them are Jharkhand Ministers – Louis Marandi and Randhir Singh, JMM leader Hemant Soren, Congress leader Alamgir Alam and Pradeep Yadav of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people to exercise their franchise in the final phase Jharkhand elections. In a tweet, Mr Modi asked people to participate in this festival of democracy and vote in record numbers.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made for free, fair and peaceful polling. Jawans of central para military forces have been deployed at all booths. Over 41 thousand security personnel of state government have also been deployed.

Helicopters have been pressed into service for air patrolling. Borders with Bihar and West Bengal have been sealed to check infiltration of anti social elements. Chief Electoral Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said, 1,347 polling booths are being monitored online, out of a total of over 5,300. 

India’s first national dolphin research centre to come up in Patna.

Source – newindianexpress.com

PATNA: India’s and Asia’s first National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC) will come up on the bank of the Ganges in the premises of Patna University.  

Proposed in 2011 the project to set up the national dolphin research centre continued hanging in balance for next eight years, however, the state government has finally expedited the work 

According to deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi, around 1,455 dolphins have been sighted during a survey conducted in 2018-19 in the river Ganga by the teams of experts.

“The state government is working hard to set up the national dolphin research centre in the premises of Patna University”, Modi said, adding that a 7 km long stretch between Sultanganj and Kahalgao in Bhagalpur district has already been declared as Vikram Sheela gangetic dolphin sanctuary.

The gangetic dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal but frequently falls prey to illegal poaching.

The presence of dolphins in the Ganga gives a sign of a healthy ecosystem because dolphins live at least in  5 ft to 8 ft deep water.

The gangetic dolphin has been declared  an endangered aquatic animal and is one of the four freshwater dolphins species in the world as another three species are said to be found in the Yangtze River, the Indus River in Pakistan and the Amazon River globally.

The proposed NDRC in Patna would play a major role in facilitating deep and wide researches on the life cycle of dolphins and their behavioural significances in context with climate change.

NGT dismisses plea against Bihar govt”s policy on sand mining.

Source – outlookindia.com

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday dismissed a batch of applications filed against a Bihar government policy which allows artificial bifurcation of homogenous stretches of river bed in terms of sand mining.

A bench headed by NGT”s judicial member S P Wangdi said that ”Bihar Sand Mining Policy, 2019” was in conformity with the directions given by the Supreme Court and the ”Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016” in this regard.

On applicants” argument that while framing the policy, the state did not state the source of power under which it was published, the NGT said “this contention appears to have been made overlooking the obvious power of the State to make policies, pass orders, issue administrative rules, circulares, instructions etc. in exercise of its executive powers so long as those are not violative of the constitutional and statutory provisions.”

“We find that the ”2019 Policy” does not appear to suffer from any inadequacy or infirmity as pointed out by the applicants,” the bench said.

The bench further said, “Upon consideration of the submissions, we find that the 2019 policy is in conformity with the directions of the SC and the ”Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016”.”

It also rejected applicants” argument that restricting grant of leases only upto two to an individual in the ”2019 Policy” was in violation of the provisions of Article 19 (1) (g) (right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business) of the Constitution of India, saying that the NGT was not the right forum to decide it.

Advocate Keshav Mohan, the additional standing counsel for the state government, opposed the applications, saying that the policy ensured that sand mining in Bihar was carried out in an environmentally sustainable manner to ensure availability of adequate quantity of sand for construction at a reasonable price and generate employment.

The applications had said, “Vide the said policy, the respondent no. 2 (…) have sought to artificially bifurcate identified units of the river in the garb of controlling exploitation imposing unreasonable restrictions in permitting one individual or entity to have only two blocks in violation of law.”

The 2019 policy was brought in haste…It is urged that the 2019 policy is in direct contravention of the judgments passed by the Supreme Court and the NGT,” the application had said.

It said that the 2019 policy was “in conflict with the ”Sustainable Sand Mining Guidelines, 2016″ and an earlier decision of the SC as “it permitted division of river stretches in a district into contiguous blocks.”

The ”Sustainable Sand Mining Management Guidelines, 2016” strictly “prohibits artificial breaking of homogenous stretches of river bed for granting leases for sand mining”, the application said, adding that “the policy was required to be revisited to fit into the framework of the SC order”. PTI UK SJK UK TIR TIR

Slowdown will hurt Jharkhand: Chidambaram

Source – telegraphindia.com

The slowdown of the Indian economy will hurt Jharkhand because “another incompetent” person is heading the state government, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said here on Friday.

He said the Narendra Modi government had ruined the country.

“Indian economy is in a deep trouble. In February this year the growth rate was 7.4 per cent as per the RBI which slipped to 5 per cent and even less in less than 10 months. This economic fallout will adversely affect poor states like Jharkhand because another incompetent is heading the government in Jharkhand,” he said.

He said that the growth rate of Jharkhand is 2 per cent below the national average and the per capita income of the state is the third lowest in the country.

“The Prime Minister always talks about the double engine government in Jharkhand. Double engine is good if both engines pull in the same direction which is not the case in Jharkhand. In 2014-15 Jharkhand was burdened with Rs 43,000 crore debt which is Rs 85,000 crore now; 44 per cent of the industries have stopped production as per the data of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy,” the former Union finance minister said.

He pointed out how a few months ago the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce & Industries had put up billboards across Ranchi about the poor situation of trade, commerce and industry.

“The unit of Tata Motors remained closed for few days and so did other sectors like coal and steel in Jharkhand. That shows how pathetic is the condition. Jharkhand is the fourth state in terms of higher unemployment,” he said.

Chidambaram, who was released on bail on Thursday in an alleged corruption case, said in Jharkhand the Congress would form the government along with its alliance partners the JMM and the RJD.

“In Haryana the BJP was expecting 50 seats where we dented them. In Maharashtra we denied them power, and finally we will defeat the BJP in Jharkhand,” he said.

He called the Raghubar Das government the epitome of misrule.

“This government doesn’t know even if 20,000 people have died due to starvation. We had brought right of food and were giving 35 kg (of rice) per family which the Das government reduced to 5 kg. The Raghubar Das government has become synonymous with backwardness and incompetence,” said Chidambaram.

Nitish Kumar To Begin Bihar Tour Against Climate Change From December 3.

Source – ndtv.com

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will begin his statewide ”Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra” against climate change from December 3, officials said on Monday. Emphasising the importance of water conservation and afforestation, the chief minister will undertake the four-day first phase of the tour in the northwestern districts of the state, they said.

“Nitish Kumar will commence the ”yatra” from Bagha in West Champaran district and after traversing East Champaran and Siwan districts, he will conclude the first phase of the tour at Gopalganj district,” a senior official said.

The chief minister will speak in public meetings on climate change, launch projects under his ”Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali  Abhiyan”, inspect ponds and waste management units and hold talks with officials concerned, he said.

The entire ”yatra”, during which the chief minister will traverse the length and breadth of the state, is expected to conclude by January 19, following which a human chain would be formed, the official said.

The human chain will showcase state government initiatives such as a ban on sale and consumption of liquor and drives against dowry and child marriage. The Bihar chief minister has won accolades from American business magnate Bill Gates for the initiative.

The tour comes less than a year ahead of the state Assembly elections, success in which will enable Nitish Kumar to return to power for the fourth consecutive time and ultimately make him the longest-serving chief minister of Bihar.

The JD(U) national president is known for conducting statewide tours to review progress made in the remote corners of Bihar.

The ”Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra” shares a name with the chief minister’s drive launched a few months back against climate change.

The drive was conceptualised after an all-party meeting in July this year in which members of both the Houses of the state Assembly had unanimously agreed to make efforts in combating climate change.