Jharkhand teacher tells kids about benefits of hooch

 

 

Ranchi, May 7 They learn the three Rs of course, but students in a Jharkhand school are also being taught the benefits of drinking 'hadia', the local intoxicant made of rice and the mahua fruit.

According to media reports, children at the Torpa middle school, 70 km from here, were asked Friday by a teacher in the morning assembly what the best beverage was.

When they replied water and milk, Sheela Kumari Horo retorted: 'You do not know anything. The best beverage is hadia.'

The other teachers were stunned and one of them protested. To which Horo reportedly said: 'You do not know anything as you come from Bihar.'

To justify her statement, she told the students that hadia had 'scores of benefits. It keeps the stomach cool and clear and protects during the summer season.'

'We will investigate if such incident has taken place in the school. I cannot comment as I was on leave,' school principal Gurudayal Singh Munda was quoted as saying.

Hadia is offered to the tribal gods during festivals.

 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/60036.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Electrosteel to make steel, plans to invest in Rs 4,900-crore Jharkhand plant

KOLKATA: Electrosteel Castings (ECL), the country's largest manufacturer and exporter of ductile iron pipes, is venturing into steel-making. The company has just floated a special purpose vehicle (SPV) —Electrosteel Integrated — to set up a 1.3 million tonne integrated steel plant in Jharkhand. The total outlay on the proposed venture is estimated at Rs 4,900 crore.

Of the total project cost, Electrosteel Castings intends to infuse about Rs 500 crore as equity into the SPV. The investment will be taken up in a phased manner over a period of 30 months. "An SPV has been floated to undertake the new steel project in Jharkhand. The total cost involved in it would be around Rs 4,900 crore," Umang Kejriwal, managing director, ECL, told ET.

The plant will produce long products like structurals, bars and rods. This backward integration initiative is expected to reduce ECL's operating costs. A senior company source said that Electrosteel Castings will have a "significant" stake in the SPV. "The balance equity will, in all likelihood be taken up by a consortium of banks," the source added.

 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Indl_Goods__Svs/Steel/Electrosteel_to_make

_steel_plans_to_invest_in_Rs_4900-crore_Jharkhand_plant/articleshow/2015878.cms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sinosteel plan spurs Chiria debate

 

KOLKATA: Chinese steel maker Sinosteel's plans for an Indian footprint with a 5 million tonne (MT) steel project in Jharkhand will intensify the race for a piece of the prized Chiria iron ore mines.

 

The Madhu Koda-led Jharkhand government will once again be pitched in the midst of rival steel companies, all gunning for Chiria.

Of course, Sinosteel has made all the right noises about setting up the Rs 16,000 crore steel plant, linked to iron ore sourced from the open market. Jharkhand government officials said that the Chinese steel major has already sounded out the state government for a captive mine of its own.

 

Arcelor Mittal, which has also committed an investment of Rs 20,000 crore for a 10 MT plant, is also eyeing Chiria to source iron ore, and the Jharkhand government's failure so far to offer any commitment has prompted Mittal to issue veiled threats of according priority to its Orissa project.

 

At the same time, the public sector Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), India's largest steel producer, has further queered the pitch for the race for Chiria by staking claim for the entire 2 billion tonnes of estimated and proven ore reserves.  SAIL has communicated to the steel ministry that the entire reserves of Chiria mines would be required to feed the expanded capacities of its brownfield and greenfield projects under the company's Corporate Plan 2010 that will augment its steel capacity to 27 MT.

 

The Jharkhand government and SAIL have locked horns over the former's plans to develop Chiria mines. The original mining lease for Chiria was vested with the erstwhile Indian Iron and Steel Company Ltd (IISCO) and SAIL inherited the lease following the merger of IISCO with SAIL.

 

"Chiria has some of the best ore deposits in the world. It is natural for every steel company proposing investments in this state to look at it as source of raw materials. But it is virtually impossible for the state government to allow all steel projects — Arcelor Mittal, SAIL, Tata Steel or Sinosteel — to mine Chiria deposits," Jharkhand officials said.

 

"There are other reserves in Jharkhand. But each investor demands large contiguous deposits, which is difficult for the state government to meet," the officials said. 

 

In a communication to the Centre and Jharkhand, SAIL informed that its total requirement of iron ore over the next 50 years would exceed its previous estimate of 2 billion tonnes, and this, in effect, meant that the public sector company wanted the entire 2 billion reserves of Chiria for itself.

 

Indicating fresh round of squabbles between Jharkhand  and SAIL, government officials said the state government was agreeable to the plan to source ore only for its expansion plans of the Bokaro plant, to ramp up production to 7 million tonnes and IISCO to 3 million tonnes, and not for the expansion of other SAIL plants.

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1095390&pageid=2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

107-year-old Jharkhand man loves to lie in his own grave

 

Hundreds of people are flocking to a remote village in Jharkhand to catch a glimpse of an old man who has built his own grave alongside that of his wife, and tending to it for the last six years.

Basanta Rai Guruji claims that he is 107-years-old and spends his day clearing weeds from the grave and derives comfort from lying in it.

A Hindu by faith, he belongs to a caste that buries its dead, Rai's wife died in 2001 of cancer. Soon after burying her, he started digging his own grave, and now unfailingly goes there to pay obeisance to his wife. A photograph of his wife is placed near the grave, and Basanta prays for her soul's welbeing with the help of burning incense sticks.

"I have made this grave for myself and my handicapped daughter, so that we could be interred here alongside my wife. I have done this because my wife was a very nice human being who would always go out of her way to help people at any hour of the day.

She was a do-gooder and would always be mobbed wherever she went, people knew her in twenty or so adjacent villages. She once accosted the local doctor in the dead of night and exhorted him to look after a patient who was in need of care," Guruji said.

Guruji could give today's younger generation a lesson or two on how to nuture and maintain matrimonial ties. His dictum has always been committment to one's spouse. His advice is to do something that will leave a mark in the times to come like his wife did.

 

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/139036.php/107-year-old-Jharkhand-man-loves-to-lie-in-his-own-grave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PMO, Plan panel want power policy fine-tuned

 

 

The revised accelerated power development reforms programme (APDRP), aimed at checking high technical and commercial losses of state utilities, is likely to be delayed by a few months.  

 

The reason: The Planning Commission and the Prime Minister's Office have sought changes in the policy to make it more result-oriented.  

 

The revised programme, which was to be implemented from April 1, 2007, is now likely to come into effect in July-August.  

 

At present, the national average of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses is 34 per cent, with some states, like Jharkhand and Bihar, reporting losses of over 50 per cent. The revised APDRP is aimed at bringing down these to less than 15 per cent. 

 

A senior government official said the power ministry was preparing a Cabinet note by including the revised guidelines.  

 

The original APDRP -- under which Rs 6,500 crore has already been released -- did not succeed in cutting down the losses significantly. Experts blamed "too many pre-conditions" for the failure of the programme, under which states were supposed to unbundle their utilities, set up state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) and ensure 100 per cent metering.  

 

The revised programme, on the other hand, lays stress on only one parameter -- that states have to improve their collection efficiency, irrespective of whether they have unbundled their boards or have set up a regulator or not.  

 

Earlier, 25 per cent of the loan component of states was converted into grants if the target was achieved. In the revised programme, if a state exceeds certain percentage (yet to be decided) of collection efficiency, the entire loan amount would be converted into a grant, said a senior government official associated with the programme.  

 

But power ministry officials said funding was a big problem and hence only 50 per cent of the loan amount of states would be converted into grants.  

 

Though no funds have been earmarked for the revised APDRP yet, last year (2006-07) the states got around Rs 1,000 crore.  

 

About 160 towns have achieved AT&C losses of less than 15 per cent. These include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. 

 

In comparison, losses in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh range between 25 per cent and 70 per cent. For Bihar and Jharkhand, the figure is over 50 per cent. Uttar Pradesh has been reporting losses of 43-44 per cent. 

 

During 2007-08, 50 more towns are expected to achieve AT&C losses of less than 20 per cent.  

 

http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=3&subLeft=1&chklogin=N&autono=283791&tab=r

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adivasi girls falling prey to touts

 GUWAHATI, May 6 – A well-oiled network of touts and agents has lately taken a sizeable section of the State's Adivasi community for a ride by enticing young girls and engaging them as domestic help in several parts of the country. Not surprisingly, these agents, who bring the girls to the so-called placement agencies and subsequently supply them as per demand, reap handsome 'profits' while the gullible girls often fall victim to lecherous masters.

Informing The Assam Tribune about the alarming rise in such cases, Stephen Ekka, director, Promotion and Advancement of Justice, Harmony and Rights of Adivasis (PAJRA), said that the number of dubious placement agents in the State is rising in multiple proportions, especially in the Adivasi-dominated areas, as every year more than a thousand young girls are being taken away from the State to engage them as domestic help in Delhi and other metros of the country.

"The most affected areas of the State are places like Tongla, Sonitpur and Dekhiajuli, where almost every second house has one of their wards working in metro cities," Ekka said.

"The agents are mostly educated ones, who after realising the market potential of domestic helpers in certain metro cities, start acting like a broker in their native places," he said.

"According to a survey conducted by Domestic Workers' Forum till 2005, in New Delhi itself, more than 50,000 girls from Assam, predominantly from Adivasi community, were engaged as domestic help," he informed.

The figure has shot up considerably since then and currently it is roughly estimated to be somewhere around the 65,000 mark.

PAJRA is a Tezpur-based NGO, which works for the welfare of the Adivasi community in the State.

"Every year thousands of Adivasi girls from Assam are being engaged as domestic help in metros, which has become a cause of concern for the community as after a particular point of time they are subjected to various forms of atrocities," Ekka said.

"Using them as domestic help is just the beginning and more often than not they end up finding themselves in brothels or are trafficked to different places," he pointed out.

Wary of the menace, PAJRA is now conducting a survey to find out the exact number of Adivasi population, who are presently engaged in various parts of the country, especially in metros.

"The Adivasis, for their innocence and honesty, enjoy huge demand in the domestic-help market, for which the placement agencies are consistently on look out for young girls from Assam and also Jharkhand, which is a Adivasi dominated State," he said.

It may be mentioned that present population of Adivasi population in the State is estimated to be around 60 lakh.

There are more than 500 such agencies spread all over New Delhi today and there are tribal girls from Assam and Jharkhand in almost every middle and upper-middle class home in Delhi.

Ekka added that PAJRA, in its efforts to check the exodus of Adivasi girls has already started awareness programmes (street plays) and is also trying to penetrate income-generating skills among the people.

"Certainly, income is an issue and we are trying to find out some alternative earning opportunities and also spread education to create a certain level of awareness," Ekka added.

 

 

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=may0707/at02

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jharkhand has twenty-year-old handwritten newspaper

 

 

Dumka (Jharkhand), May 1: Sexagenarian Gowrishankar Rajak of Jharkhand's Dumka town has been bringing out a handwritten newspaper for last 20 years.

Despite being a matriculate, Rajak has chosen to serve society through paper and pen. His personal mission is to raise the public's daily problems and search for solutions in his newspaper

Everyday, Rajak "publishes" at least 50 copies of his Hindi newspaper named "Deen Dalit".

He doesn't require any type-setting machine or printing press facilities like most newspaper organisations. He writes each word by hand.

These copies are pasted at vantage points across the town for people to read. It addresses issues and events related to the day-to-day life of the common man.

Rajak's newspaper is also registered with the Registrar for Newspapers in India (RNI No.1274/1987).

Rajak, who actually earns his livelihood as a washerman, is passionate about bringing people's problems to the fore and serve society.

"I am not into journalism for money or personal gains. It's my service for the society and the country at large. It gives me gratification to serve the country in this form. I feel the need to discuss people's problems with the intellectuals and reach a solution", said Gowrishankar Rajak, the Editor and Publisher of "Deen Dalit".

Gowrishankar Rajak has taken it upon himself to publish a newspaper and bring people's woes into the limelight.

His efforts for a social cause have won him several admirers and supporters in his town.

Rajak says that he believes in remaining close to his grassroots.

"Deen Dalit newspaper is connected to the common man. There may be things that major papers miss out, but Rajak does not. For, his goal is to highlight and solve people's problems.

He is connected to the people. We wish that his newspaper touches new heights and his mission be accomplished," said Saurabh Kumar Singh, a Deen Dalit's reader.

Although Rajak has received many honours and certificates, he regrets that the Government has not been of much help to him.

"I try to save money and then get fifty copies published which takes away quite a major part of my earnings. I encourage others to indulge in such acts which would benefit society," Rajak candidly admits.

His family--a wife and four children-takes pride in Rajak's crusade through paper and pen but they do point out the hard times that they have been through in the cause of society.

 

http://www.dailyindia.com/show/138050.php/Jharkhand-has-twenty-year-old-handwritten-newspaper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free power trip hits a roadblock

 

NEW DELHI : Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh will have to give up their dreams for free power. These states have demanded that they receive a portion of the power generated in the state free of cost, much like the hydro-resource rich states do.

The ministry of power has categorically told these states that they can't come in the way of the nation's progress by asking for compensation. The issue was discussed at the recent secretaries conference organised by the ministry of power.

The chief ministers of these three states met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December to discuss their strategy for capacity addition. They have argued that like the hydro-potential states, they should receive a portion of the power produced in their state free of cost to offset environmental costs on power projects. They argue that power produced by projects in their states is utilised by other states hence the need for compensation.

The ministry of power accepts that the issue of environmental impact is a legitimate concern, and is being addressed through environmental policy governing coal mines and power plants. There is a case for strengthening the regulations in this context.
However, the ministry feels that claim for free power on the grounds that hydro-rich states are given 12% free power is not appropriate. The reason being that the distress and dislocation in the case of hydro power projects is much more severe compared to thermal power projects.

More importantly, the hydro-rich states do not receive any royalty for fuel whereas coal-rich states benefit from royalty on coal. Besides, any initiative to give free power or power at variable cost from new thermal power plants would give rise to a similar demand from existing plants.

This would mean a claim that covers as much as 70,000 MW of generating capacities. Any allocation of free power will adversely impact the cost of bulk power. Raising cost of power is against the stated aims of the government. It will also affect the development of a competitive market in the long-run.

 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Energy/Power/Free_power_trip_hits_a_roadblock/articles

how/2009310.cms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's simply unstoppable

 

JSW Steel's prospects appear good. A good financial performance in FY07, planned capacity expansion and an optimistic outlook for the steel sector are the key positives for the company. The stock has been outperforming the market since January, but it still looks reasonably priced. At current valuation levels, there is scope for some more appreciation.

FINANCIALS:

The company posted a 39% increase in net sales to Rs 8,594 crore for FY07, which was generated by higher volumes and price realisations. Saleable steel volumes grew 26%, with most of the growth coming from sales of hot-rolled (HR) plates, which saw an increase of 103%.

Sales of galvanised plates and coil (GP/GC) were lower, but realisations were higher, which contributed positively to the bottomline. Operating margins touched 26% in FY07, compared to 20% in FY06. The company has curbed rising input costs by reducing power costs. This led to 51% growth in profit to Rs 1,292 crore in FY07.

For the quarter ended March '07, sales grew 58% to Rs 2,498 crore, while profit was 0.6% higher at Rs 413 crore, compared to the corresponding period last year. Operating margins touched 27%, compared to 20% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of FY06.

If the impact of other income is not taken into account, Q4 profits would have been 1.5 times higher than the corresponding period last year. The company is aiming at a volume growth of 30-35% in FY08. Given the positive outlook on steel prices, this can implies strong growth ahead.

FUTURE PLANS:

JSW Steel completed several capacity expansions during the year. The capacity of the pellet plant grew to 5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 4.2 mtpa earlier. Hot strip mill capacity increased to 2.5 mtpa from 2 mtpa, while crude steel production capacity rose by 1.3 mtpa.

Recently, the company purchased UK-based Argent Independent Steel at an enterprise value of about $7.5 million (Rs 31 crore). The 0.15 mtpa processing plant caters to the automotive and construction sectors. The company has also taken over on an operating basis, the cold rolling facility of 230,000 tonnes from Jindal Steel and Alloys for Rs 63.3 crore. Most of the price paid is in terms of debt acquired. JSW Steel was allotted a coal block in Jharkhand, along with two other companies, that will help it to attain self-sufficiency in coking coal.

 

The company is in advance stages of setting up a cold rolling mill of 1 mtpa capacity. The mill is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of FY08. Further expansion of the hot strip mill to 3.2 mtpa from the current 2.5 mtpa will be completed by the end of this financial year. The company is implementing a 2.8 mtpa expansion, which will take its total capacity to 6.8 mtpa.

In addition to this expansion, the company is targeting cost reduction by various means such as setting up a coal drying plant, increasing power generation by 40 mw from the second captive power plant to 130 mw and setting up an additional 30-mw captive power plant.

Further expansion plans to take the capacity to 10 mtpa by '10 are also likely to be taken up towards the end of the year. These plans will result in an outlay of about Rs 7,000 crore. The company proposes to raise around Rs 1,000 crore in the current year through a qualified institutional placement (QIP) and it has taken an enabling approval to raise another $500 via ADR/GDRs and foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs).

VALUATIONS:

JSW Steel's last one-year stock returns stand at 68%. The Sensex has appreciated by 15% over the same period. Nine-month growth is 144%, compared to 29% for the Sensex. Despite the rally in the company's price, we believe it is still trading at affordable levels.

At current price levels, the stock is trading at 7-8 times FY07 earnings. This is similar to Tata Steel's valuation of 8 times and Steel Authority of India (SAIL)'s valuation of 10 times for trailing 12-month earnings. Given the strong growth scenario, a further appreciation in the stock is possible in the short term.

  

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Magazines/Big_Bucks_Inv_Guide/Its_simply_unstoppable/articleshow/msid-2009087,curpg-2.cms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elephants checkmate Jharkhand's tribal hunters  

 

Ranchi, May 1 This year, Jharkhand elephants did what the forest officials could not do in the past - chase away tribals who came to hunt and kill wild animals in Dalma sanctuary.

To celebrate the ongoing 'Visu shikar' festival, 400 tribal people of the Dalma Buru Sendra Sammittee (DBSS) had gathered at the wildlife sanctuary for a spot of hunting and killing when a herd of elephants saw them and chased them away.

The hunters, however, claimed to have killed a few boars and deer to mark the festival, local reports said. 'We killed three boars and two deer for our festival,' said a tribal.

Despite laws against hunting in India and a media appeal on wildlife protection by Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahto, who is also in charge of the forest and environment ministry, the tribals went ahead with their scheduled plan to celebrate the hunting festival this month.

The state government appeal had said: 'There is a tradition to hunt and kill wild animals on the occasion of Visu Shikar, but there is need to change the conservative method to celebrate the festival.

'Come, we should take an oath to protect wild animals and celebrate our festival by not killing them.'

During the hunting festival, celebrated for a week from Monday, tribals wake up early, bathe and worship their god, ancestors and weapons.

Anthropologists say the festival originated to check the number of wild animals so that they do not pose a threat.

 

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/57743.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Villagers bring laurels for cleanliness

 

Jamshedpur, May 7: People of East Singhbhum can hold their head high. Seven panchayats of the district have won the President's Nirmal Gram award, given to rural areas free of open defecation.

 

Apart from the East Singhbhum districts, three from Lohardaga and one each from Latehar and Dumka also won the annual award.

 

The East Singhbhum panchayats that were bestowed the honour are Lailam, Kasmar (Patamda), Dorkasai, Kala Pathar (Potka), Pipla (Jamshedpur), Kakrisole (Ghatshila) and Mauda (Bahragora). All these panchayats have more than 5,000 households. The other panchayats that won the award are Aludia (Latehar), Saraiya (Dumka), Torar, Arkosa, and Merle in Lohardaga.

 

The representatives of the East Singhbhum panchayats were today given a warm welcome in the district collectorate after they returned on Saturday from New Delhi, where they received the award from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on May 4.

 

The award was institutionalised by the Union rural development ministry in 2005. The award is given to the panchayats that have become completely free from open defecation, including households and schools. The performance of the panchayats in maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene is also taken into account while selecting them for the award, which was institutionalised by the Union rural development ministry in 2005.

 

"The cleanliness drive is undertaken by the district administration in collaboration with Unicef, which acts as a facilitator," said Unicef district coordinator Nirmal Singh. About 5,000 panchayats were chosen for the award. This is the first time Jharkhand panchayats were selected, he said.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070508/asp/jamshedpur/story_7748158.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upgrade plans on cards

 

Jamshedpur, May 4: The Tata Steel centenary project is set to be a Rs 100 crore development project in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa.

 

In this light Ratan Tata Trust signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Steel on April 17, 2007, at Bombay House, Mumbai, for providing technical support to the Tata Steel Centenary Project (TSCP). Conceived as a part of their centenary celebrations, Tata Steel has decided to take up land and water management initiatives in backward tribal blocks of the three states.

 

"Through this project, the company aims to positively impact the livelihood of 40,000 poor tribal households. The project will cover a total of 400 villages through natural resources-based interventions," said a spokesperson.

 

Benefits provided to tribals would include creation of assured irrigation facilities, setting up of water user co-operatives, development of waste land, promotion of horticulture and agro-forestry and encouragement for improvement of agricultural output through technological upgrade.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070505/asp/jamshedpur/story_7735045.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health camp on gender bias

 

Ranchi, May 4: As part of an age-old tradition, whenever a male child is born in the villages of Godda district the midwife is awarded with 50 kgs of wheat. But if it is a baby girl, the award value reduces by 50 per cent. Probably, this is the first sign of gender discrimination in the villages.

 

Sebastian, one of the 10 community organisers, drew attention to this problem at the Capacity Building Programme for Community Organisers held by the Human Potential Development Centre (HPDC) today.

 

Manoj Khalkho, project coordinator of Catholic Health Association of Bihar (Chabi), an NGO, said the community organisers work for the upliftment of a particular community and tries to educate them.

 

"We are an NGO working for the betterment of the overall health of the rural folklore in Jharkhand and Bihar. Our effort is to make these villagers aware of the boy and girl ratio," he said.

 

The two-day workshop witnessed community organisers presenting their reports on the various problems and issues, mostly related to the health.

 

Rather than going to a doctor the villagers still turn to a midwife for delivery of their babies, revealed Khalkho.

 

"Therefore, the community organisers try to spread awareness amongst these midwives for the safe delivery of babies. We try and solve health problems in the village there itself, taking assistance from the village elders and creating an awareness for them," he added.

 

Village health committees are formed of the village midwife, a vaidh, the village headman and a village head worker.

 

Other than the report presentation, the community organisers also attended lectures on implementations and strategies of government policies applicable in villages.

 

Another lecture on creation of self-employment at the village level by the Indian Lac Research Institute was also held.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070505/asp/jamshedpur/story_7736902.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where tribals walk on fire for better life

 

As Khiru Munda closes his eyes and walks on fire, with many others who do it every year during a tribal fire festival in Jharkhand, he is sure that divine powers will grant him his wish.

It is to appease god and to get wishes fulfilled that tribal people walk on fire during the Manda festival, celebrated for a month beginning in the Hindu month of Chaitya.

'Every year scores of men and women walk on fire to appease Lord Shiva. There is a strong belief in the tribal society that Shiva fulfils the desires of worshippers,' said Khiru Munda.

Devotee Lakshman Oraon said: 'Many people pray for good crops, good health or money. Lord Shiva fulfils the desire of the people participating in the festival when they walk on fire.'

The festival, in existence for hundreds of years, is said to have originated over farming fears.

'After Holi, the harvesting takes place and then the sowing season begins. Farmers worship Shiva, who is known to bless worshippers,' said V.S. Uppadhaya, a retired anthropology professor of Ranchi University .

He added: 'With the passage of time, the forms of worship have changed and now people celebrate the festival for more than a good harvest.'

After participants have fasted, a fire is ignited by burning coal in preparation for the nightly walk ritual.

'There is this belief that those who are real followers of Lord Shiva do not sustain burns on their legs or feet despite walking on fire,' explained Sukhdeo Soren, a priest.

 

http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/Where-tribals-walk-on-fire-for-better-life_26415.shtml

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a ripe path? 

 

A river of fruits is what the National Horticulture Mission promises, report Rudra Biswas and Amit Gupta. There is nothing to show on the ground though

 

Summer months in Ranchi were once marked by the generous availability of fruits at throw-away prices. The day would start with a glass of nourishing drink of bel juice mixed with milk and chilled water.

 

As the day progressed, one had a glass of a tangy drink made of local, unripe mangoes. Watermelons, litchies and succulent mangoes, most of them brought in from outside, were reserved for later in the afternoon.

 

The adventurous feasted on black berries, peaches and jackfruit. Those who have not had boiled jackfruit seeds, vegetable made of jackfruit or the drink made of ripe jackfruit, are clearly not aware of what they have missed.

 

But although Chianki in Palamau has had a citrus research station for the last five decades and the central horticulture institute itself at Namkom on the outskirts of Ranchi is not quite new, the region has traditionally imported both flowers and fruits from neighbouring states.

 

The Birsa Agriculture University (BAU), the Rose Society and the Netarhat school's orchard that grew pears held out hopes every year of a horticulture revolution that never came.

 

And now the central government aided Horticulture Mission once again aims to increase the area under fruits and flowers from the current 1.02 lakh hectares to over 4 lakh hectares by the end of 2010. Only time will tell if this campaign, too, will bely its promise and flatter to deceive.

 

Mission director, Shashi Shekhar Prasad Singh, is naturally optimistic though. The mission, he spells out, will not only buy three refrigerated vans but will also provide 50 per cent subsidy to the growers' cooperatives to buy these vans. Cold storages, he claims, are being set up and the Mission has already tied up with a Bangalore-based firm, which has offered to buy back all the exotic flowers that Jharkhand can grow.

 

Currently, he says, vegetable growers in the state lose out on 40 per cent of the vegetables they send out of the state because they get stale on the way. Cold storages and refrigerated vans will address the problem, he hopes.

 

Birsa Agriculture University, he informs, will be setting up as many as 10 mother nurseries in as many districts. Although the state continues to receive litchies from Muzaffarpur (Bihar) and mangoes from Malda (Bengal) and oranges from Nagpur, in five years, Jharkhand will give all of them a run for their money, Singh asserts confidently.

 

Others are not quite as hopeful. Forty lakh saplings will be required every year, claims an expert, to implement the National Horticulture Mission in the state. But the state continues to depend on neighbouring states and their nurseries, he points out. The progress so far is far from satisfactory, admits the agriculture department official.

 

The project got off to a bad start with 80 per cent of the cashew plantation, with saplings procured from orissa and Bengal , "dying" in Bahragora and Chakulia. The NGOs involved in the operation were show-caused, sparking off a blame-game.

 

 

With three more years to go, the state is yet to show a single cold-storage or a new food processing unit. Concerted effort by the government, NGOs and farmers will be required to reap the benefits of the centrally sponsored scheme, concedes a BAU scientist, P. Kumar.

 

Md Naushad, a commission agent at the Daily Market in Ranchi, says that not a single variety of fruit or flower is purchased by the traders from within the state. Vegetables, however, are bought in different parts of the state, for both local consumption and for sale outside. Horticulturists maintain that the state is ideally suited to produce carnations and gladiolus besides other flowers. Its soil is also ideal for orchards and vegetable cultivation.

 

Indeed, districts of Seraikela, East Singhbhum and Santhal Parganas, with moist and humid climate, have been earmarked for large scale cultivation of mangoes and guavas.

 

Gumla and Simdega districts have been asked to specialise in the production of litchies. Coconuts have been assigned to East Singhbhum whilst Ranchi, Lohardaga, East Singhbum, Seraikela and Hazaribagh districts have been designated as most suitable for large scale cultivation of spices like green chillies, ginger and turmeric.

 

The action plan further states that in the more dry districts of Palamau, Chatra and Latehar, which falls in the rain shadow area of the state, farmers would be encouraged to take up large production of amla and citrus fruits. Central assistance ranges from Rs 22,500 per hectare for cultivation of fruits whilst in case of spices, the grant is Rs 11,500 per hectare to be spread over the next three years.

 

For vegetables, the state horticulture mission is identifying local collection centres to be designated as "apni mandis" along with facilities of a cold chain that includes refrigeration vans to bring the produce from the collection centres, quick transportation facilities and a tie ups with wholesale buyers outside the state. A tie-up is also in place with a Bangalore-based firm, Florence and Flora for a complete buy back of all exotic flowers grown in Jharkhand.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070508/asp/jamshedpur/story_7748613.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journey of a langur untold

 

He is a langur but he has miles to go. So he chose Indian Railways as the best mode of transport and, naturally, travelled ticketless.

 

On Wednesday, a langur - a large long-tailed monkey - created quite a flutter as he got down on platform No.1 of Ranchi railway station from a Bokaro-Allepe train, said an eyewitnesses.

 

After getting down from the train, he started playing soccer with a 10-year-old boy and even had a hearty meal of chocolates and chips provided by a station shop owner.

 

He also played with toys put on display in the shops. The passengers gathered to watch his activities. The langur stayed for around six hours on the platform.

 

Before leaving, the langur checked into a restaurant on the platform. There he was offered food and he sat on a table and finished the meal merrily.

 

He then boarded a Hatia-Patna train, where fellow passengers even offered him a berth.

 

'The langur stayed on the platform for six hours. He didn't hurt anyone and even played with children and entertained the commuters. The shopkeepers offered him chocolates, chips and other things, which he accepted happily,' said Mohan Kumar, a shop owner at the Ranchi platform.

 

'I've never seen a langur who travels by train and enjoys the ride without creating any trouble to passengers,' said Rakesh Mishra, a fellow passenger.

 

The animal's final destination was not known!

 

http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/Journey-of-a-langur-untold_26300.shtml

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web window to public records 

 

Jamshedpur, May 7: From June, residents here will be able to collect certificates from a single website, thanks to a pilot project that is being undertaken by National Informatics Centre (NIC). The Common Service Centre, which is supposed to provide all government services at the village level, has developed a website which has the formatted software. "Through a trained operator, we will issue certificates of birth, death, caste, domicile and residence from the website jhr.nic.in/csc," said Sunil Verma, district information officer, NIC.

 

Even the application for certificates can be downloaded from the Internet.

 

A number will be provided to all applicants who seek the certificates. By logging on to the website and typing in the unique identity number, applicants can trace the progress of their certificate.

 

The project in Jamshedpur will be second of its kind in the state.

 

A similar project has just been started on experimental basis at Dhanbad.

 

"We are waiting for Internet connectivity as this is completely a web-based application. We should be able to start by the end of May," said Verma.

 

"We are merely making use of the computerised process and allowing people of the city to take advantage of it," he added.

 

As soon as Internet connectivity is made available to all blocks, the facility can be extended in block offices in East Singhbhum , said officials.

 

A printer will also be provided to make available the certificates from the block office. When the larger project of CSC is implemented through the public-private-partnership model, the controls will be handed over to them, said officials.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070508/asp/jamshedpur/story_7748172.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lack of cyber laws nurture lovers' nest

 

Jamshedpur, May 4: Cybercafes in the city have turned out to be a safe haven for lovers as they provide a private space and cost less than restaurants.

 

In a random survey carried out by The Telegraph at five cyber cafes in Bistupur, Adityapur, Sakchi, Kadma and Sonari, about 25 youths said frequent police raids at Jubilee Park and Tata Steel Zoological Park have forced them to visit cafes with their partners.

 

"Earlier, we used to meet either at Jubilee Park or at the zoo. The way police started raiding these two places frequently forced us to meet at cybercafes as they have a decent crowd and no one is bothered about what is going on in the adjacent cabin," said a girl in an Adityapur cafe. Her boyfriend Vijay Prasad, a final-year student of Jamshedpur Co-operative College, said: "All the cafe owners in the city take special care of couples. Some even keep water bottles in the cabins so that we don't have to move out of the enclosure."

 

At a cost of Rs 15 per hour for browsing, another reason that has made the cafes a safe haven is that it is less expensive. "We meet at least five days a week. If we meet in a restaurant, minimum expenses per day would be not less than Rs 100," said Md Kasim, a student of KMPM Inter College.

 

A Plus Two student of Rajendra Vidyalaya said: "We use the time both for dating and also surfing through websites to collect information about career options and even work on social science projects for school. At times we even download photographs required for projects."

 

However, love birds have reason for concern. Following yesterday's incident, deputy superintendent of police Madhusudan Bari said he has instructed all police stations to conduct surprise checks at cafes so that these places do not encourage indecent acts.

 

In the past one year, many states in the country have implemented rules to help curb cyber crime, but no such rule exists here.

 

According to a national rule model recommendation, state governments are advised to make it mandatory for all customers to provide a photo identity proof. Cafe owners are expected to keep a log timing of customers and terminals used, to prevent cyber crimes such as pornography, money laundering through Internet or anti-national activities. But state authorities do not seem aware of such rules.

 

"The Centre can't impose the rule on states since cafes come under the shops and establishments strictly controlled by the state," said Rohas Nagpal, president of Asian School of Cyber Laws, Pune.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070505/asp/jamshedpur/story_7736841.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Jharkhand News & Video - Jharkhand.org.in 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jharkhand may offer equity to displaced

 

The Jharkhand rehabilitation and resettlement policy, expected any day now, is likely to include a proposal to offer equity to the displaced villagers as an option for compensating them for the loss of land.  

 

According to the draft policy, the displaced villagers would either have to be given one job per family or a lumpsum, half of which could be in the form of equity in the projects.  

 

The policy is also likely to make the approval of gram sabhas a must for identifying land for the projects.  

 

"The collector will determine the market rate and the compensation advisory committee will consider the collector's recommendation," the draft policy says. A rehabilitation advisory committee would suggest relief packages for the displaced.  

 

The policy will make various MoUs between the state government and industries a reality. Many companies, sources said, could not acquire land due to the absence of such a policy.  

 

Jharkhand government sources indicated that many projects—Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power, Hindalco—were at the land acquisition stage.  

 

However, this is not the first time a state government is considering grant of equity in projects as compensation. Orissa's rehabilitation policy has a provision for issuance of convertible preference shares to the displaced.  

 

The value of the shares can be up to 50 per cent of the one- time cash assistance. The West Bengal government is also considering the option for its future projects.  

 

However, industry executives say the displaced are unlikely to opt for equity as they will not know what to do the shares.  

 

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=284530&leftnm=3&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ensure peace, Jharkhand told after Reliance Fresh protests (LEAD)

 

Ranchi, May 13 (IANS) The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Sunday asked the law and order agencies in Jharkhand to ensure peace and calm a day after the protests by vegetable vendors over the opening of Reliance Fresh shops here turned violent.

 

Thirteen people were arrested for violence Saturday and two policemen suspended for dereliction of duty following the attack on three shops of Reliance Fresh - a project promoted by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries.

 

 

According to official sources, the PMO contacted officials in Chief Minister Madhu Koda's office to immediately look into the matter and issue necessary directions to ensure peace and calm in the state.

 

 

The union home ministry has also contacted Jharkhand police chief J.B. Mahapatra over the violence, for which five reports were lodged in two police stations - three in Lalpur and two in Bariatu, the sources added.

 

 

Among the 13 arrested is Uday Shankar Ojha, leader of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), who was reportedly taken into custody on the directions of the chief minister. At least two-dozen protesters were injured in a police baton charge, following which security at the outlets was enhanced, officials said.

 

 

According to a Reliance official, the protesting vendors damaged property worth Rs.5 million. One Reliance Fresh shop in Morabadi was badly ransacked and the protesters looted dry fruits and damaged vegetables and other commodities.

 

 

The vendors were unhappy with the arrival of Reliance to retail vegetables. 'We have been selling vegetables for generations. Reliance Fresh is a threat to our very survival and causing employment problems,' said Phulmani Devi, a vendor.

 

 

'We will starve to death if Reliance is not stopped from selling vegetables.'

 

 

This was the second time in a week that vegetable sellers took out processions to protest the opening of Reliance stores.

 

 

 

The group buys the produce directly from farmers at comparatively higher prices and since middlemen are eliminated, it retails it at much lower rates compared with roadside vendors.

 

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1303880.php/Ensure_peace_Jharkhand_told_after_Reliance_Fresh

_protests%0A_LEAD_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Five Maoist rebels killed in Jharkhand

 

Five Maoist rebels have been killed by police and paramilitary forces in Jharkhand's Garwah district, police said on Sunday.

A gunfight took place on Saturday night between the rebels and the forces in a jungle area of Garwah, around 130 km from ranchi. Five guerrillas, including two women rebels, were killed in the gun battle that lasted for over four hours.

"We got a tip off and raided a Maoist hideout, where around 35 rebels were camping. While five were killed, the rest managed to escape," said a police official.

Four self-loading rifles (SLR), one AK-47 and more than 500 cartridges were recovered from the guerrillas, the official said.

Maoist rebels are active in 16 of Jharkhand's 22 districts. Nearly 600 people, including 290 security personnel, have lost their lives in Maoist violence in the last six years.

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=de72ace7-a957-456e-80d0-ab3e570a9bfe&&Head

line=Five+Maoist+rebels+killed+in+Jharkhand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reliance ready to roll on

 

Ranchi, May 13: Vandalism by local vegetable vendors at four newly-opened Reliance Fresh outlets yesterday has not deterred the company's plans for Jharkhand.

 

"So far, customers are only buying fruits and vegetables. They would soon get the opportunity to pick up clothes and dress material from our Reliance Digital and Reliance Hyper Market — the new entrants in the state capital," announced top officials over phone from Mumbai.

 

"Our plan is to open one outlet for every 3,000 household in the country and Ranchi will be a part of it," they added. Giving details about its expansion, the Reliance officials said a new outlet would be coming up at Bahu Bazaar for non-vegetarian items.

 

Reliance Fresh today carried out its business as usual in three of its four outlets in the city —SPG Mart in Bahu Bazaar, Laxmi Narayan Market at Tharpakhna and Rathore Tower on Circular Road.

 

The Morabadi outlet could not function because the vendors yesterday had damaged it badly during their protest against venture of big companies in the vegetable and fruit retailing.

 

Company officials at this outlet were seen busy assessing the damage with insurance surveyors throughout the day.

 

The police, who had failed to act promptly yesterday, too, were seen on vigil. Despite being Sunday and courts being closed, the city police produced the miscreants before the chief judicial magistrate at his residence and later forwarded them to Birsa Munda Central Jail.

 

Those arrested included a peace committee member and JVM leader Uday Shanker Ojha, who had led the vendors in the protest. Ojha said supporting the vendors was his personal decision and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha had nothing to do with it. "I was invited to lead the vendors in my personal capacity," he added.

 

Meanwhile, in response to a bandh called in the city today, few vendors were seen at Lalpur, Bahu Bazaar, Kutchery and Naga Baba Khatal market. Daily Market remained normal.

 

Senior police superintendent M.S. Bhatia said more arrests are possible.

 

Chhatarpur MLA and JD(U) leader Radha Krishna Kishore visited the Reliance Fresh outlet on Circular Road and H.B. Road to express his solidarity with the company and build a public opinion against the Koda government.

 

"What can we expect from the government, which failed to provide security to vegetable outlets in the city," he said, demanding proper compensation for the businessmen who were targeted during Reliance Fresh outlet attacks. Kishore said his party leader George Fernandes would be coming tomorrow to express his solidarity with the company and highlight the administrative failure of the state government. Jharkhand Pradesh Mahila Congress president Prat-ibha Pandey also visited the outlets.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070514/asp/jamshedpur/story_7774250.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malaria cases rises in Jharkhand

 

With plasmodium falciparum malarial cases registering a definite rise in Jharkhand, the State's health authorities are finding it hard to cap the steadily increasing spread of malaria through most of the State's 22 districts.

 

Not too long ago, the Government of India had sounded an alarm after seven Jharkhand districts were found in its list of 100 'highly endemic' districts countrywide.

 

The State Health department, hampered by resource and staff crunch, is up against a Herculean task trying to cap the spread of the dreaded epidemic.

 

What complicates the issue further is the fact of detection of an inordinately large number of drug resistance cases being reported from the endemic zones as also by the fact the disease is being detected the whole year through. Normally, malarial instances are at their 'highest' during the post-monsoon period.  

 

Despite the Centre pumping in several crore rupees every year there seems to be no check on the vectors. Over 75 per cent of the cases in the highly endemic zones are said to be of the 'Plasmodium Falciparum' strain, which, as is known, often leads to the worst kind of cerebral malaria.

 

Nearly 100 per cent of the malaria cases in Simdega have been found to be of the Falciparum variety while 90.24 per cent cases in Jamtara too are from the same dreaded category. Falciparum cases were recorded to over 75 per cent of the total cases in Gumla, West Singhbhum and East Singbhum.

 

Moreover, certain primary health centers in the affected districts have reported resistance to drugs leading to a second line of treatment in these areas.

 

State Malaria Officer In-charge Dr P. Baskey told HT that, "1.91 lakh people were reported positive in the State during the last year from the 20.56 lakh blood smears examined. The total slides collected during the year were 20.74 lakh".

 

Dr Baskey pointed out that there had been only four confirmed deaths, while some 18 patients were put under the 'suspect' category. However, the number of deaths, as per unofficial figures, is said to be fairly high.

 

The Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Apollo Hospital, Seva Sadan and Gurunanak Hospital officials admitted to a rise in malaria cases.

 

What makes the scenario worse is that the State lacks the proper infrastructure and manpower to tackle the disease. This, despite the Centre for Tropical Medicine & Parasitoloy (CENTROMAP), Kolkata Advisor Dr A. Nandy warning the State that recent findings had indicated biological modifications in the plasmodium vivax parasite making it life threatening on the pattern of the falciparum cases.

 

State Malaria Officer Dr AK Upadhyay said proper measures had been initiated. "There are sufficient stocks of drugs supplied by the Centre," he said.

 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=b346e040-8acf-47ba-88ee-e94a09568029&&Headline

=Malaria+cases+rises+in+Jharkhand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress path for reform & growth

 

- IIPA in charge of training talks about development plan 

Interview 

 

In an attempt to provide trained manpower for the management of PSUs, the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, set up the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) in 1958.

 

IIPA, now headed by Vice-president of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, provides training to IAS, IPS and top government officials. The institute is all set for its first regional office in Ranchi. Vice-president and in-charge of training at IIPA, N.P. Singh talks to Rudra Biswas on the institute's future plan for Jharkhand.

 

IIPA has regional offices in every state. Are you planning to set up one in Ranchi?

 

We have plans to set up a regional office in Ranchi. State industries secretary Santosh Kumar Satpathy as returning officer has been given the responsibility to set up our office in Ranchi at the earliest.

 

What plans do you have for Jharkhand?

 

IIPA has already proposed to conduct a weeklong intensive training programme for its cabinet ministers. The training programme would cover administration, poverty, development plans and disaster management. A second course has been outlined for all IAS officials in the state.

 

Why has IIPA chosen to train Jharkhand ministers in the first instance?

 

Over the past four years, the state government has signed more than four dozen MoUs with national and international entrepreneurs. However, procedural problems continue to stand in the way of implementation. Our initiatives would help the state transform all its MoUs into reality.

 

What other plans does IIPA have for the state?

 

IIPA, at the national level, is promoting the concept of a Special Agriculture Zone for the states, which needs to take precedence over Special Economic Zones. We intend to pass on IIPA's studies on special agriculture zones to Jharkhand so that the state can harness its farm potentials.

 

You have recently headed an IIPA delegation to China. Haw can your China experience help Jharkhand?

 

IIPA intends to share its China experience with the state government. IIPA's study on an east China province called Guizhou would be most relevant to the state. This eastern China province resembles Jharkhand to some extent in terms of mineral deposits, industrial base and its dependence on agriculture. An opening up policy, freedom of investment, reforms, development and cultivation of talents pursued by the Chinese government has worked wonders for Guizhou. The state government can imitate the similar experience to suit its requirements.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070514/asp/jamshedpur/story_7774021.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

East new hotspot for state students

 

Ranchi, May 13: With the examination season drawing to an end, students are bracing for admission into colleges. And a paradigm shift has been witnessed over the past few years in the academic preferences of Jharkhand students.

 

Keeping in mind the changed scenario, Association of Professional Academic Institutes, Calcutta, along with Educatif Heritage, Ranchi, has organised a two-day career fair for the first time at Capitol Hill today.

 

"The fair aims to bring the best colleges of eastern India on one platform for easy choice of the students," said S.S. Singh, chairman, Educatif Heritage.

 

Bypassing old favourites Maharashtra and Karnataka, eastern India has once again emerged as a much sought-after destination for Jharkhand students.

 

Priyanka Raj of DAV Jahanabad, who aspires to pursue BBA, said: "I would prefer an institute in Jharkhand or Bengal since the cost of living is affordable."

 

Colleges in the south and west used to be the traditional preference of students from Jharkhand, but performance in joint entrance examinations has ceased to be the yardstick for admission there. Now, only candidates capable of paying huge donations are taken in, acting as a turn-off for students from other states.

 

Abhishek Kumar of Hatia, said: "Though I qualified in the Maharashtra joint entrance examinations, I was asked to pay a hefty amount as donation for admission. This generally does not happen in colleges in Orissa and Bengal."

 

"The number of companies coming for campus placement to colleges of Bengal and Orissa, too, is greater as compared to those coming to institutes in other states," said another student.

 

"This encourages me to select colleges belonging to this part of the country," she added. "If we can get quality education in or around our hometown, why do we need to go to other states?" said Payal Mazumdar.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070514/asp/jamshedpur/story_7774024.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pied pipers' of Deogarh rid town of monkeys

 

KALAMATI: They are being hailed as 'pied pipers' of Deogarh, their subjects being monkeys. If locals are to be believed, the simians simply dread their presence.

 

They not only exercise absolute control over the animal species but also relish their meat. They have the extraordinary capability to trap monkeys by nets and have a feast.

 

Residing in hutments a stone's throw away from the busy Howrah-Mumbai National Highway 6, they behave and look savage, as if cut off from the civilised world.

 

Neither do they understand Oriya nor Hindi and communicate in language that is incomprehensible to the locals. They are now being identified with Munda tribals of Jharkhand.

 

Forest dwellers by nature, it has been barely a decade that they have settled here after moving around in dense forests of Jharkhand and Bonai in Sundargarh.

 

Since then, their small hamlet comprising 42 families has been referred to as 'Mankadia Sahi' in acknowledgement of the special relation they share with monkeys.

 

This apart, 10 families also stay in Shantinagar within Deogarh block. When Deogarh was hit by monkey menace and even forest officials failed to tame them, these Mankadias were called in.

 

Their words of 'Dalo, Dalo, Halo, Halo…' still reverberate in the ears of the residents who recall the event with gusto. Latika Tripathy recalled how monkeys had invaded the town destroying crop, injuring people, breaking virtually everything they could lay their hands on.

 

It was such tough a time that people refused to come out of their homes in fear of the simians. And the moment the Mankadias landed and shouted the words, monkeys lined up like the rats akin to the 'Pied Piper story' and vanished from the scene.

 

The community still maintains a primitive lifestyle depending on the jungles for food and sustenance.

 

They make ropes and nets out of the leaves and bark of Siali plants to use them for trapping monkeys. The members of the tribe wear minimal clothes with children wearing nothing.

 

The administration, however, has started efforts to integrate them with the mainstream.

 

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEQ20070514013759&Page=Q&Title=ORISSA&Topic=0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breaking away from the confines of her  small town helped realise her Bollywood dreams

 

Two films in two weeks - now that's what being in business means. And Tanushree Dutta is lapping up every moment of her days now, touring the country to promote her films.

 

"I have a different look and role in each of my three forthcoming films. From a tomboy in Good Boy Bad Boy to the girl-next-door in Dhol and the negative character in Raqeeb, I have been given the opportunity to try out such diverse roles. I am really thankful to my directors and producers for that," says Tanushree.

 

The former Miss India also claims that she is now consciously moving away from her ultra-glamourous look and looking for meaningful roles.

 

"Age is on my side and I feel this is the right time to experiment with different roles. That is why I did not hesitate to accept the negative character I play in Raqeeb.

 

With age, artistes develop set images which are sometimes difficult to break. So I am trying out a wide variety of roles at the moment," she says.

 

Tanushree has also decided to abstain from any more intimate scenes in her films. "It's a strict no-no as far as on-screen kissing or lovemaking scenes are concerned.

 

During the kissing scene in Chocolate, I was very unwilling to do it and even wanted to quit the film because of it. But I was convinced by the director that the scene was integral to the film's plot and so I agreed. And later, it was just chopped off.

 

So what was the need for me to enact that scene? That incident was my first learning experience in Bollywood. Although Aashiq Banaya Aapne also had a kissing scene, it was necessary to the film's plot, so I don't regret doing it.

 

But I felt really bad when I was watching the film with my family. I come from a very conservative background, no one in my family is a filmstar and for them to accept those bold scenes was tough. So I have now decided that I will not do any scene which will offend the sensibilities of my family," says Tanushree.

 

 Hailing from the small town of Jamshedpur, Tanushree believes that she has taken a quantum leap in achieving what she has today.

 

"I did my schooling there, but shifted to Pune for my senior school and college, though I did not finish my college education. In hindsight, moving out of Jharkhand was the best move of my life.

 

I always had such high expectations from life and people in that protective environment just thought that I was dreaming beyond possible horizons.

 

But I had a lot of faith in myself and that has helped me a lot," reminisces Tanushree. She also takes the criticism that her acting and personal styling have faced in her stride.

 

"I am learning, give me time. When I first came here, I did not even know how to put on lipstick properly. But I have progressed and try to improve my way of dressing and make-up all the time.

 

I have not been blessed with a makeover the way, say, Manish Malhotra did for Karisma Kapur. I know my personal wardrobe has ample scope for improvement, but I have learned a lot more about styles and the latest trends than when I first joined this industry," says Tanushree.

 

Though she is open to having a personal stylist, Tanushree says no one has approached her yet! She is also confident that she will find her niche in Bollywood without the help of any godfather.

 

"I will not deny that it is great if you have a godfather in this industry in that it makes the path a little smooth. But there is no sweat if there is no one. Talent and hard work ultimately pat handsome dividends in this line.

 

And I am confident that I will be able to make it. Initially my parents were not happy with my decision to join films. We had frictions and debates on this issue.

 

 "Very few people from Jharkhand and certainly no one from my family are in Bollywood and my parents had other dreams for me. My dad wanted me to be an MBA and my mom wanted me to be an IAS officer.

 

But when they saw how hard I tried to excel in Bollywood, how I did not let failures bog me down, they gave in and realised that this is what I am destined to be. Today my parents are my biggest critics and drive me to excel," says the happy daughter.

 

Apart from Bollywood, Tanushree is open to working in regional films as well, and says that she is willing to give Bengali films a try, if she gets a good script and good banner to promote the film.

 

"See, I am a director's actor. I am dependent on the director to extract the best performance out of me. And a good banner is a must because a film needs to be promoted. So, I have no qualms about working in regional films.

 

"But at the moment, I am keeping my fingers crossed that my forthcoming Hindi films do well and people appreciate all the hard work I, and my whole team, have put into the making," says Tanushree, as she rushes off to catch a flight to another city to promote her films.

 

http://www.indiafm.com/features/2007/05/14/2639/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi-tech landmines baffle Jharkhand Police

 

Ranchi, May 10 : When some Jharkhand cops succeeded in tracing a radio signal-based landmine this week, they considered themselves lucky. For, Maoists in the state are increasingly going high-tech with their landmines, resulting in heavy casualties in the police force.

 

In Tuesday's incident in Bokaro district, the landmine was recovered when a police party was on long range patrolling. The rebels had fitted an antenna in the landmine so as to blast it by activating a wireless set.

 

Landmine blasts have claimed the lives of more than 170 security personnel in Jharkhand in the last six years - and the high number of deaths is partly attributed to the different types of landmines used by the rebels on tarred as well as non-tarred roads.

 

"So far Maoist rebels have used wires to blast landmines, claymore landmines, camera flash landmines, mobile landmines and radio signal landmines," a senior police involved in anti-Maoist operations told IANS.

 

"Maoist rebels change the technique of landmines to ensure a high casualty."

 

In mobile landmines, for instance, cell phones are fitted in the landmine and an explosion is triggered if a call is made to the phone. In the camera flash landmine, a flash can cause the blast.

 

Even Jharkhand Director General of Police (DGP) J.B. Mahapatra admitted that the Maoists were equipped with the latest technology to detonate landmines.

 

"Maoist rebels use different methods to detonate landmines. The latest is radio signal technology which is detonated with the activation of wireless sets," he said.

 

In Jharkhand, the guerrillas of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) have planted landmines on both tarred and non-tarred roads. Landmines on tarred roads are usually planted by alluring workers and contractors or threatening them.

 

Police have stopped long range patrolling during night due to the threat of landmine blasts. Security personnel have also been directed to get down from their vehicle on non-tarred roads.

 

Police officials involved in operations against Maoists say they do not have the latest technology to detect landmines.

 

http://www.newkerala.com/news5.php?action=fullnews&id=27602

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jharkhand officials irked by tribal language decree

 

Ranchi, May 10 - The Jharkhand government's move to make knowledge of at least one tribal language mandatory for government officials has triggered anger among the mass of employees.

 

The promotion, increment and salary of government officials in Jharkhand will henceforth depend on their knowledge of one of four tribal languages - Ho, Mundari, Kurukh and Santhali.

 

Officials have been directed to learn one of them within 18 months and take a test to prove their proficiency. The results would determine promotions.

 

In Jharkhand, tribals constitute 27 percent of the state's 27 million population. No tribal language has been given second language status in the state. But books exist in all tribal languages.

 

A senior officer says there is nothing new in the order.

 

'The government has just implemented the undivided Bihar government order formulated in 1953. The order had directed gazetted employees posted in the then southern Bihar to learn a tribal language,' said P.C. Hembrom, joint secretary in the personnel department and a tribal.

 

The language rule will affect all employees.

 

The officials argued that such orders were strictly implemented in states like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

 

'In Tamil Nadu, only those IAS - officers who have a knowledge of Tamil are posted in districts. In West Bengal, knowing Bengali is a must,' said another government official.

 

Government business in Jharkhand is now conducted in Hindi. Officials say the move is aimed at creating better understanding between the officials and tribals so that development work can be expedited.

 

Most officials are not happy with the directive.

 

'The move is just a way to appease the tribals. The order is motivated by vote bank politics. The ministers should first learn the tribal language as they are public representatives,' said a furious deputy secretary who is originally from Bihar.

 

The officials also pointed out that any one tribal language is not spoken all over the state.

 

'Santhali is spoken and written only in the four districts of Santhal Parganas. Ho, Kurukh and Mundari are spoken at different places. Employees are transferred from one district to another on a regular basis. How will learning one language help?' asked the official.

 

http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/Jharkhand-officials-irked-by-tribal-language-decree_27264.shtml

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Burnpur Cement plans 1mt plant in Jharkhand

 

KOLKATA, MAY 9 :  Burnpur Cement Ltd (BCL), a West Bengal-based cement manufacturer, has tied up with ThyssenKrupp Industries India for setting up a million tonne plant at Patratu in Jharkhand with an eye on the 8-9% demand growth.

While the country's installed capacity for manufacturing cement is around 165 million tonne per annum, demand is going up by 16-17m tonne every year.

 

ThyssenKrupp India is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp AG of Germany, manufacturing boilers, sugar, cement and other plant machinery.

 

Ashok Gutgutia, vice-chairman and managing director of BCL, said the plant, to be set up in two phases, will involve a total investment of Rs 500 crore, of which Rs 120 crore will be invested in the first phase expected to be complete by 2008.

 

Gutgutia said BCL has already entered into an agreement with a consortium of eight banks led by the State Bank of India for term loan. It has also submitted the draft prospectus to the Securities & Exchange Board of India for an initial public offering to raise around Rs 25 crore.

 

BCL, which already has a 0.3m tonne grinding plant in Asansol, will also set up a clinker plant along with ordinary portland, portland puzzolana and portland slag cement units in Patratu, said Gutgutia.

 

The Patratu project is aimed at catering the cement-starved eastern, north-eastern and Nepal markets. Setting up a clinker plant in the eastern part would enable supplying quality cement to these markets at a lower cost, as it would save 15% on transportation.

 

At present, BCL as well as other cement manufacturing plants in eastern India bring clinker from Chhattisgarh that adds up to the cost.

 

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=163744

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

100 cops held hostage

 

Dumka, May 13: Nearly 100 police personnel, including an inspector and officers-in charge of police stations, were being held hostage by angry villagers in this Jharkhand district and were yet to be freed when reports last came in.

 

Along with the police personnel, the block development officer and circle officer of Ramghar block under Dumka district have been held captive for over 11 hours today.

 

The trigger for the hostage drama occurred around 8 am yesterday, when a police team led by Rakesh Mohon Sinha, inspector of police of Jarmundi circle, went to Kuam village to clear a blockade on the Dumka-Ramghar road.

 

The village is located under Ramghar police station, some 40 km from the district headquarters.

 

The villagers had organised a road blockade since midnight in protest against a step by Ramghar police, which they felt was a blatantly unjustifiable move. Ramghar police had reportedly set free one Sonoti Besra, a 20-year-old woman, from the police station. The villagers accused Sonoti of being involved in the murder of a 24-year-old villager, Lobin Hembrom, on Wednesday night.

 

On Thursday, the villagers apprehended Sonoti and handed her over to Ramghar police. But the police set her free, without any clear or cogent reason. The villagers claimed that the murderers were close friends of Sonoti and had come to the village to kill Hembrom. The villagers are also holding Soni Murmu, mother of Sonoti, hostage along with the police and administrative officials.

 

Dumka deputy superintendent of police Charu Lakra rushed to the spot this evening.

 

Similar other allegations have been levelled against the local police earlier as well.

 

Jarmundi police on Thursday also set free another youth, Raju Kumar Khatic, who had been accused of raping a woman inside Basukinath Temple on Wednesday.

 

The woman, along with her husband and a sibling, came to the temple from Saraiyahat block for a special ritual. According to the norms of the ritual, the devotee was supposed to stay in the temple complex for a few weeks.

 

In the dead of the night, when the couple was sleeping in the temple premises, Khatic and two others allegedly sneaked into the temple precincts and raped the woman.

 

Other devotees present at the temple that night woke up on hearing the victim's screams and nabbed Khatic. The two other youths involved in the incident, however, managed to escape. Khatic was handed over to police personnel on duty at the temple.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070514/asp/frontpage/story_7773708.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vehicle check woes

 

Ranchi, May 13: The owner of a commercial vehicle could consider himself extremely fortunate if he can manage to get hold of a motor vehicles' inspector (MVI) to get the mandatory fitness certificate.

 

With MVIs hopping from one district to another — as more than a district has been assigned to them — there is no check on the fitness of vehicles. Sample this: contrary to the provisions that each district should have at least one MVI, the state has five MVIs at present to furnish fitness certificates to commercial vehicles.

 

Under the motor vehicles rules, each commercial vehicle should undergo a mandatory fitness test every year to ensure that everything within the vehicle is in order.

 

Two decades ago, Ranchi had two MVIs as there was a huge demand for such tests. But over the years, though the number of public vehicles has increased, the strength of MVIs have reduced from two to one.

 

The Jharkhand Bus Owners' Association had shot off two letters to the transport department demanding appointment of more MVIs in the state. But there has been no response from the government.

 

There are some apprehensive commercial vehicle owners who fear that the scarcity of MVIs is a deliberate move as a lot of money can be collected illegally from vehicles plying without the certificates. And the fitness certificate cannot be got unless one meets the MVI.

 

The joint transport commissioner, Mathius Burh, said the scarcity of MVIs is posing problems for the smooth functioning. But denied that there are ulterior motives in not filling up the vacant posts of the MVIs. The department, he said, had authorised private parties to carry out fitness tests of commercial vehicles in 11 districts. This helps in providing fitness certificates.

 

But bus owners' association general secretary Kishore Mantri said: "The fitness verification centres are of little help. Even the certificates issued by the centres have to be countersigned by the MVIs."

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070514/asp/jamshedpur/story_7774251.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jharkhand cops play matchmaker

 

Ranchi, May 8 - Police stations are turning into cupid's corners in Jharkhand, with cops solemnising marriages of couples whose matches are not acceptable to their parents or to society.

 

Take Shankar Munda, a resident of Sikidiri block in Ranchi. His wife deserted him three months after their marriage and eloped with her lover.

 

Munda recently got married to his wife's younger sister. The police station turned into a wedding pandal where the marriage was solemnised with all rituals.

 

'We managed everything with the consent of the villagers and family members of the bride,' said Ashok Kumar, an officer at the Sikidari police station. The marriage took place on May Day.

 

Another much-in-love couple was united by the Namkom police station here. The parents were against the marriage till the cops came to the couple's rescue.

 

'The marriage was arranged by the police after looking into the legal aspects. If the law permits, then the police step in to facilitate such marriages,' said M.S. Bhatia, the senior superintendent of police, Ranchi.

 

In recent times, 10 such marriages were organised by the police in Jharkhand.

 

According to police, before arranging the marriage, they verify the couple's age, job and other things.

 

'We also try to get the girl's statement recorded in court on whether she had come away with her lover with her own consent or not. If an adult girl runs away and wants to marry against the wishes of the family, then the police play the role of facilitator,' said a police official.

 

http://www.rxpgnews.com/india/Jharkhand-cops-play-matchmaker_26970.shtml

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Taj is waiting

 

The bamboo here is solid and strong, but the Assam product sells more in Dhanbad, Resham Mukherjee wonders why   Bamboo that's found in the forests of Parasnath-Giridih ranges bordering the Dhanbad district is special. It's strong and solid and far more difficult to carve and chisel than the hollow and flexible bamboo which the artists of Assam use.

 

And its products cheaper, since the price does not add up because of transportation cost and VAT charges. But in Dhanbad it's the costlier Assam product which sells better. Simply because the local market has not been built up. Not just that, a lot of this bamboo is even smuggled out of the state by the bamboo mafia, which exploits the poverty of the local people to get its work done.

 

Bamboo thieves 

It's been almost a decade since the gangs started operating, and continue to stalk the Dhanbad-Giridih borders. According to the divisional forest officer Sanjeev Kumar, over half a dozen cases are registered every year. The gang hand over the contract of bamboo felling to the poor, who are ready to take it on for a paltry sum of Rs 30-50 per day. The trekkers are armed and outnumber the forest guards. Bamboo is tied in bundles of 20-30 and brought down. Treated with fumes, they take off for the mandis (markets)of Kanpur, Varanasi, Rajasthan and Delhi. The Giridih-Parasnath hills and hills of Tundi, Topchanchi and Beriomorh bordering Dhanbad are abodes of a special quality of bamboo, not easily found elsewhere. Earlier, it was auctioned by contractors but that discontinued from 1980. Later, forest officials took over. As production fell, contract business was stopped. And bamboo fellers raised their heads.  

 

The quality of the bamboo apart, the artisans have been innovative in their designs as well. The replica of the Taj Mahal at the department of industries and commerce (DIC) in Dhanbad district is proof of that. Completed in eight days, it costs Rs 2,200. Anywhere else it might have found buyers. Not here. For not many even know it's waiting to be bought. This, in spite of an ambitious government of India funded bamboo development project chalked for Jharkhand, which is worth Rs 1825.16 lakh, for the years 2000-2001 to 2010-2011. It was a project that hoped to generate employment among the poor tribals of the forest areas of Dhanbad and Giridih borders, easy victims of the mafia gang, who hire them to cut the bamboo from the forests for meagre payments. Its good quality has taken it places, with vendors sitting along the Grand Trunk Road, leading to Varanasi, not going without business. DIC officials admit that it has also been drawing a good number of buyers in fairs outside Dhanbad, including Delhi haat and the Udyog mela in the state capital.

 

But as Mithun Choudhary, an artisan at the DIC's training and resource centre, rues, locally the skill goes unrecognised.

 

Sujit Mukherjee, owner of the only Assam cane products showroom in Dhanbad, says he has never heard about bamboo products made at the DIC resource centre in Dhanbad. He admitted that the cane products from Assam were costlier, especially after implementation of the value added tax (VAT) of 12.5 per cent.

 

"We hardly get to save. Already, there is a lot of expenditure on the transport. When the product is placed in the market, the price automatically shoots, and customers are not always ready to pay the hefty amount. If the local products are given to us, we can sell them and give them the returns proportionately. It would be profit both ways," Mukherjee pointed out.

 

 

It's a project that could well take off, but as of now, even the general manager of DIC, Samrom Barla, admits: "There are no state sanctioned projects as yet. DIC has hired only three craftsmen who make the products. They sell them from the centre itself or make them on order."

 

As of now, the Taj here has few admirers...

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070514/asp/jamshedpur/story_7774653.asp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'ST girls top enrolment among marginal groups'

 

Scheduled Tribe girls have far better enrolment in schools than their SC, OBC and Muslim counterparts.

 

The first national evaluation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in 12 states has revealed that at 31.43%, ST enrolment is ahead of SCs ( 26.36%), OBCs (26.45%), Muslims (4.31%) and below poverty line families (8.75%).

 

Though Muslim girls have poor enrolment, sources pointed out that a large number of them have been included as OBCs. Further fine-tuning would give the real percentage of Muslim girls' enrolment but there is unlikely to be major change.

 

The evaluation of KGBV schools — 1,100 out of 1,180 are operational in the country mainly dominated by marginal sections — has also revealed that states in the Hindi heartland like Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are making innovations to attract girls to schools.

 

The study, carried out by independent experts for HRD ministry and conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat , Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh also revealed that the scheme has received "high priority and political attention".

 

KGBVs have now become a sub-component of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. In fact, Andhra Pradesh has 7.4% more girls enrolled than the capacity since the state has introduced classes 9 and 10 with its own resources.

 

Bihar has shown some good results and the state is showcasing the success of how five physically challenged 'Musahar' girls going to KGBV in Bochacha block, Muzaffarpur, have become role models for other girls.

 

The evaluation shows it has other achievements too. With the capacity of 5,500 girls, enrolment is 3,972 out of which 1,948 are SCs, 797 OBCs, 170 BPL and 771 minority girls. Interestingly, SC girls outnumber daughters of politically powerful OBCs.

 

Bihar lays special emphasis on taking girls of single parents and orphans. Another highlight from Bihar is that girls who had never enrolled have also been welcomed in the KGBVs.

 

Other best practices have come from AP where detailed micro-planning is done to ensure that all girls are enrolled and child-wise data is available at the mandal level. In UP, MP, Jharkhand and Karnataka, household survey data is used for identification of the children.

 

Arunachal Pradesh is another success story where KGBVs are running as residential primary schools and a move to convert them into middle schools has already started.

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/ST_girls_top_enrolment_among_marginal_groups/articleshow/2030543.cms

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark side of mining

 

The reality of Orissa's iron ore mines, where the promise of prosperity is just empty rhetoric.  

 

Hundreds of hectares of forests have been lost to mining over the years in a situation where encroachments are impossible to monitor. The most common illegality is to continue mining long after the lease has ended.

 

AS the shadows lengthen on Keonjhar's main street, the tube-lit sign above Hotel Arjun flickers to life, illuminating both the entrance to the hotel and the cigarette seller next to it. A traffic policeman walks up to the crossing right outside the hotel and assumes his position at what is the most significant crossing in town.

 

Fifteen kilometres down the road, the ground shivers as a queue of trucks, over a kilometre long, shudders to life. Engine after engine revs up as several hundred trucks begin the next stage of their 325-km journey from the iron-rich Keonjhar district in north Orissa to Paradip port on the east coast. This has been the practice ever since the District Magistrate issued orders prohibiting truck movement between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Further up, the highway narrows into the first of many bottlenecks, and branches off, capillary-like, into un-metalled paths that lead into the heart of the district's iron ore mines.

 

Across the Baitarani river, in Joda, Barbil, Deojhar and Thakurani, the low mountains are illuminated by high-powered halogens, as work continues at a relentless pace in the mines - visible as raw, red gashes on the otherwise thickly forested mountainside.

 

The source of an estimated 35 per cent of India's total reserves of haematite, Orissa produced more than 46 million tonnes of iron ore in 2004-05, of which three quarters came from Keonjhar. Almost all of it was, and still is, carted away in nearly 30,000 trucks from the 119 mines that dot the district.

 

The trucks move north from Joda, to the Jharkhand border where they supply ore to Jharkhand's rapidly expanding steel industry, and northwest to Haldia port. But the majority move south through Keonjhar town towards Cuttack and cut through to Paradip port, from where the ore is shipped in containers to one of the few countries that have a bigger appetite for steel than India - China.

 

Initially seen as the engine of an independent India - the first "swadeshi" steel mill was completed in 1920 by the Tata Iron and Steel Company at Jamshedpur in present-day Jharkhand just across the border with Orissa - it was cast into the shadows by the shining "new economy" of the 1990s.

 

A five-year rally in international prices has seen the iron and steel sector make a strong return on the business pages of newspapers.

 

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pointed out in his keynote address at the India Steel Summit 2007: "In the last five years, the production and consumption of steel has grown at rates exceeding 9 per cent per annum. The pace of growth has further accelerated in the current year to over 10 per cent."

 

The recently formulated national steel policy has set the production target for 2020 at 110 million tonnes of steel, and a doubling of the present capacity from around 40 million tonnes to 80 million tonnes by 2012.

 

A buoyant national economy and a booming construction sector are expected to add to the optimism in the steel sector, and nowhere is this felt more than in the office of Padmanabha Behera, Orissa's Minister of Steel and Mines and Planning and Coordination. "We have signed 45 MoUs [Memoranda of Understanding] till date," he told this correspondent, "and production has already started in 23."

 

The Minister foresees a resurgent Orissa, propelled forward by his party's mantra of "progress through industrialisation". Behera believes that Orissa's future lies in using its vast mineral wealth to generate employment and, of course, create wealth. However, not everyone in the State shares this vision.

 

Privilege and corruption

 

To understand Orissa's trucks is to understand how privilege and corruption operate along dense, intricate networks where the legal and the illegal often overlap, making it impossible to make a concrete accusation. After all, what is an illegal mine? How can it be identified?

 

"It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that the Union should take under its control the regulation of mines and the development of minerals to the extent hereinafter provided," states the preamble to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, one of a raft of laws and bylaws passed to govern the mining sector.

 

First enacted in 1957, and amended almost every four years up to 1999, the MMDR Act serves as the central axis on which mining law is framed. The Act classifies minerals into "minor" and "major" lists, lays down procedures for the granting of reconnaissance permits, prospecting licences and mining leases, and classifies violations and encroachments. While States have complete control over all minor minerals such as clay, gravel, sand and building stones, major minerals such as iron ore come under the purview of the Central government. For such minerals, Central permission is required prior to the granting of licence.

 

Apart from the MMDR Act, mining is subject to The Mines Act of 1952, the National Mineral Policy (amended in 1994), and a slew of laws concerning land acquisition and environmental assessment.

 

Acquiring a mining lease for a major mineral like iron ore or coal for a particular area is relatively easy now. The process has been simplified over the last 10 years, a development that has coincided with the liberalisation of the mining sector. Mining leases are granted on a `first-come, first-serve' basis, and the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy of 1999 allows for "up to 100 per cent foreign direct investment" in the mining and processing of minerals other than diamond, precious stones and atomic minerals. Thus, mining occupies a unique governmental space that is simultaneously highly legislated yet remarkably free of constraints for mine operators.

 

Under the laws governing mining, mines could be declared "illegal" on a number of grounds, the most obvious being that of mining in an area without applying for a lease. However, the pressure of rapid industrialisation has forced State governments to curb such practices.

 

Illegal mines

 

 

"No illegal mining is possible without political patronage," says a senior officer in the Directorate of Mines, "and local politicians have realised that the land occupied by illegal miners can just as easily be handed over to giant corporations for similar favours." This is not to say that outright capture of areas for mining has stopped entirely in the iron belt. The most common examples of illegal mining occur on the boundary of legality, where the violator can claim a degree of innocence on the basis of ignorance of the law.

 

The most common form of illegality is to continue mining long after the lease has expired. A document obtained from the Directorate of Mines under the Right to Information Act provides a complete list of mining leases in Keonjhar. According to the Directorate's own figures, dated December 31, 2005, as many as 52 out of 119 mines, or more than 40 per cent of all mines in Keonjhar district covering 52 per cent of leased area, operate illegally on expired licences. Of these 52 mines, 10 belong to the Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), a government-owned enterprise, and operate on 7,051 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) or a fifth of the total area under mining in the district.

 

Many in the industry argue that the issue of expired licences is not an indication of corruption per se as the government has been dragging its feet for years over their renewal. The failure to renew leases, particularly those held by a State-owned corporation, seems inexplicable until one unpacks the terms of the mining lease.

 

As pointed out by Ritwick Dutta in a compilation titled "Undermining India", the renewal of mining leases in forested areas has been the subject of much litigation since the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. Given that most mines, including those in Keonjhar, fall within the purview of this Act, the key question was whether the renewal of a mining lease required fresh permission of the Central government. The Supreme Court, in successive judgments, particularly in State of Tamil Nadu vs Hind Stones in 1981 and Samatha vs State of Andhra Pradesh in 1997, has ruled that the renewal of a mining lease is actually the grant of a fresh lease. Thus, a good reason for mining companies and associated State officials to go slow on the renewal of leases could be that, theoretically, the company shall have to reapply at the time of renewal and would be subject to monitoring by the Central Pollution Control Board, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and a host of other agencies.

 

Forest Act and mining

 

 

The Forest Conservation Act mandates that the Central government shall after careful examination of the proposal denotify forest land earmarked for mining and the mining company shall be subject to a series of restrictions to minimise the ecological footprint of the mine. It is also a useful tool to ensure that the mining companies stay within the areas allotted to them. Of course, the Forest Act, like any other Act, is only as good as its implementation.

 

Another document from the Directorate of Mines lists 40 mines in Keonjhar that are operating without clearance from the Forest Department; the OMC, once more, is one of the worst violators. District Forest Officer P.N. Karat says that as of February 2006 all such cases have been dealt with. However, this assessment is impossible to verify independently. In the absence of firm leases, many companies have been granted temporary licences, most of which are issued without guidelines or monitoring.

 

The absence of adequate monitoring is probably the most disturbing feature of the industry in Orissa. The highly technical language adopted by both the mining companies and the state effectively silences any local articulation of opposition by people directly affected by the projects. Thus, people's testimonies of a change in the colour of groundwater, an increase in the cases of asthma and respiratory conditions and a drop in the fertility of their fields are discounted in favour of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) readings collected by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and the findings of groundwater studies conducted by the State Groundwater Board that pollution is present but is within the mandated safety limit.

 

Barbil, to cite just one example, is a small town in the heart of the mining belt where it is difficult to breathe freely even during the day when the trucks do not run. But a study obtained from the SPCB states that the SPM readings in Barbil are "only" 456 micrograms per cubic metre against a reference value of 500 micrograms per cubic metre for mining areas, and so is acceptable. However, the Central Pollution Control Board reference value for "residential and rural areas" - which villages outside the mines are - is 200 micrograms per cubic metre and for a reserve forest, which could be classified as a "sensitive area" under the SPCB guidelines, it is 100 micrograms per cubic metre. Thus, the same arbitrarily fixed "standards" used to declare mining areas "pollution free" can just as easily be used to declare them unfit for human habitation.

 

Similarly, the only way to verify if a mining area corresponds to the area mentioned in the mining lease is to either refer to detailed contour maps in the possession of the government (and hence unavailable to the general public) or physically plot the coordinates of the mine using a global positioning system (GPS), which no one in Orissa has access to. Such opacity on the part of all privilege-holders in the system makes its impossible to level definite accusations against any party. But, as in all camouflaged sites, in Orissa, too, the veil slips occasionally to offer a glimpse of the arrogance of mining corporations vis-à-vis the law.

 

Road to nowhere

 

The road to Deojhar, as with most roads to hell, is paved with the best of intentions. Ostensibly built to connect Deojhar village to the highway under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Scheme, it has turned out to be a useful way to connect the mines to the national highway.

 

Few villagers use this road; there are too many trucks. Of late, the trucks plying on the Deojhar-NH 215 route have had to contend with more than just crater-size potholes - a fleet of bright orange earthmovers engaged in digging deep trenches along the road. These vehicles have been employed by the Jindal company, a consortium of companies with interests primarily in iron, steel and power, to supply water to their 2,000-hectare iron ore mine in the hills above Deojhar village.

 

"Jindal is laying a nine-kilometre pipeline to draw water from the Baitarani river," says Arjun Saraswat, deputy general manager of Sarda Mines Private Ltd., the company that possesses the lease for the Jindal land. "This water will be made available through the soon-to-be-completed Kanpur dam project." At the time of this article going to print, the digging was almost complete and pipes two feet (0.61 metre) in diameter had been laid along a stretch of 4.5 km.

 

But has Jindal acquired the necessary permissions for this pipeline?

 

"The Jindal company's demand for water has been approved `in principle'," says Harish Behera, Engineer-in-Chief (Water Resources) for Orissa. "But the technical parameters are to be worked out. No permission has been granted for any pipeline and, as of now, no project work has begun." Behera is responsible for the allocation of water resources for the entire State, but seems to be unaware that the pipeline work has not only begun but is nearing completion. When confronted with photographs on the project work taken by this correspondent, he said "the matter is currently under litigation".

 

What sort of litigation? For answers, one is directed to C.V. Prasad, Chief Engineer, Project Planning and Formulation, of the Orissa Water Department (Irrigation). Prasad is more forthcoming. "Jindal has been allotted 1,500 cubic metres of water an hour, drawn in a phased manner, from the Baitarani river project, but the project is still awaiting technical clearance. As of now, the construction is in violation of the law," he says. Prasad adds that his office has written to the company several times asking it to stop construction, most recently on January 16. "We were under the impression that construction had stopped."

 

Granting a project approval "in principle" is no indication of its merits or demerits; those are only evaluated in the technical approval stage when a detailed project report (DPR) is submitted. "In principle" approval only indicates that the company may go ahead and prepare a DPR. If Jindal's pipeline does not pass muster the company will be forced to remove it. In going ahead with the project, it believes, perhaps, that government approval is a foregone conclusion or that such approval is of little importance.

 

The Baitarani pipeline also begs another question. At present, where is Jindal drawing its water from? Deputy general manager Arjun Saraswat admits that Jindal is currently drawing water from borewells in their area, but is unwilling to quantify the volume of water drawn every day. "It is only used for domestic purposes," he says. However, officials at the SPCB office in Keonjhar reveal that Jindal uses a 10-kilolitre truck to carry out water sprinkling three times a day in the mining area, that is, 30,000 litres of water a day just for sprinkling.

 

Apart from this, the scale of the mining operation, with most of the permanent workers living in the mining area, suggests a reasonably high rate of water consumption even for domestic purposes. Even Jindal probably does not know how much water it uses because none of its tubewells is metered. However, one group of people has a fair idea.

 

Deojhar's sorrow

 

 

Down the road from the mines, the residents of Deojhar have seen their streams dry up, the water table fall and the soil lose its fertility in the six years since Jindal began operations. "The very basis of village life has fallen apart since the project began," says Sridhar Nayak, a leader in Deojhar. The crops have died, there is no place to graze cattle, people cannot collect firewood in the project area and the handpumps yield foul, yellowish water. Nayak says the inevitable dust that any project breeds has severely affected the health of the residents, particularly the young, among whom the number of cases of lung congestion has increased.

 

When the project first began, protests were quelled by a combination of cajoling and coercion. A significant police presence was backed by promises of jobs, economic regeneration, security and "progress". Needless to say, none of it has materialised except, of course, the police, who regularly show up in impressive numbers to threaten `errant' residents.

 

The promise of prosperity - schools, hospitals, jobs - is usually the classic argument used to justify the well-documented horrors of mining. Minerals are a country's natural wealth, a gift from Mother Nature, a precious resource crucial to a nation's progress. The booming international market for metals has also cast mines and minerals as earners of valuable foreign exchange. It is hard to unpack the cold, hard logic of capital and corporations without sounding like a hopeless rural idealist. However, the people of Orissa are now asking who the beneficiaries of the mining sector really are. What if mining did not benefit the people it affected the worst?

 

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20070518001604200.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Firms show power interest

 

 After 60 years of Independence, villages at remote corners of East Singhbhum district can look forward to electrification.

 

The Jharkhand State Electricity Board's (JSEB) Jamshedpur circle is implementing the ambitious Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, a central government scheme, which will ensure cent per cent electrification of the rural areas in different phases.

 

About 170 villages under Ghatshila, Patamda and Jamshedpur divisions of the JSEB will be electrified by October 2008 under the programme which has to be completed within a period of 18 months from the time of commencement.

 

According to M.P. Chowdhary, the superintending engineer of Jamshedpur circle, the notification for commencement of the scheme here was made in February, but the real work towards its implementation has gaining momentum now.

 

Chowdhary, who is monitoring its progress, said the project had to be done in turnkey basis and for this three companies have shown their interest.

 

He pointed out that the companies have conducted a survey of the villages and would shortly meet the authorities concerned of the state power board for going ahead with the rural electrification project.

 

"According to the scheme, the interested companies have to provide the materials as well as the manpower for carrying out the project. And despite the fact that the project has to be completed within a time-frame of 18 months, the companies have to maintain the standards of rural electrification," he said.

 

He added that the three companies which have shown interest in the programme are Nagarjuna, Neon and ABL.

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070515/asp/jamshedpur/story_7779040.asp

 

 

 

 

 Jharkhand News - www.jharkhand.org.in