A passenger was killed and at least 50 injured when the Amritsar-Katihar Amarpali Express express train derailed in Bihar, police said Thursday.
The engine and seven bogies of the train derailed late Wednesday between the Pasraha and Gauchari railway stations near Naugachia.
Railway sources said the accident took place because the track had caved in following incessant rain for 24 hours.
The dead passenger was identified as Puran Singh of Purnia district.
Train services on the Barauni-Katihar divison were paralysed due to the accident.
Additional Director General of Police Neelmani said the Government Railway Police escort party rescued the driver and dozens of passengers from the derailed bogies.
Railway officials and a medical relief team have reached the site of the accident.link
Wednesday 7 October 2009
Tuesday 6 October 2009
Human rights violation cases very high in Bihar jails
A prisoner dies almost every second day in Bihar owing to very pathetic living conditions and alarming health facilities prevailing in jails, according to an official report.
According to an official report, a total of 175 prisoners died in various jails of Bihar last year, followed by 180 in 2007 and 164 in 2006 while the number of custodial death cases in 2005 was 205. This year, 56 prisoners have died till April.
“The allegations of tortures to the prisoners are not correct. In fact, the poor health facilities could be largely blamed for this”, said IG (Jails), Bihar, Shiv Kumar.
“The number of prisoners in Bihar jails has gone up alarmingly in recent years but in the same ratio, the number of doctors and para-medical staffs has not increased and this is the problem “, the IG said.
According to the jail officials, a total of about 1400 prisoners in the age-group of 65-70 are currently suffering from serious health ailments.
As per report, a total of about 44,000 prisoners are currently lodged in total 54 jails of Bihar.
Of the total prisoners, over 30,000 are Hindus, 6851 are Muslims, 115 Sikhs and 132 Christians.
Of them, 91 have been sentenced to hanging, 6765 have been awarded life imprisonment while 1828 have given imprisonment for 10 or more than 10 years.link
According to an official report, a total of 175 prisoners died in various jails of Bihar last year, followed by 180 in 2007 and 164 in 2006 while the number of custodial death cases in 2005 was 205. This year, 56 prisoners have died till April.
“The allegations of tortures to the prisoners are not correct. In fact, the poor health facilities could be largely blamed for this”, said IG (Jails), Bihar, Shiv Kumar.
“The number of prisoners in Bihar jails has gone up alarmingly in recent years but in the same ratio, the number of doctors and para-medical staffs has not increased and this is the problem “, the IG said.
According to the jail officials, a total of about 1400 prisoners in the age-group of 65-70 are currently suffering from serious health ailments.
As per report, a total of about 44,000 prisoners are currently lodged in total 54 jails of Bihar.
Of the total prisoners, over 30,000 are Hindus, 6851 are Muslims, 115 Sikhs and 132 Christians.
Of them, 91 have been sentenced to hanging, 6765 have been awarded life imprisonment while 1828 have given imprisonment for 10 or more than 10 years.link
Monday 5 October 2009
Bihar win National Sub-Junior Kabaddi competition
For the first time in the 21-year history of the National Sub-Junior Kabaddi competition, the Bihar team emerged as the winner of the tournament beating out the Delhi team with a score of 40-28 at the Moinul Haque stadium in Patna on Sunday.
Bihar's girl team, however, despite excellent display of skill, strategy, and agility, lost to Delhi 19-8.
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan earned the third place in the boys category while Manipur and Haryana were placed third in the girl's category.
Bhawesh Kumar of Bihar and Delhi's Rakhi were adjudged the best players in the boys and girls categories respectively.
Earlier, Bihar's boys defeated Uttar Pradesh 41-23 in the semi-finals to reach the final where it met with Delhi that defeated Rajasthan 17-15 in the semi.
Bihar's girls team, on the other hand defeated Manipur 16-13 in the semifinals where it met with Delhi that earlier defeated Haryana 39-15 to reach the final round.
Governor Debananda Konwar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Patna Central Shatrughan Sinha gave away the prizes to the first and second place winners.
Bihar's girl team, however, despite excellent display of skill, strategy, and agility, lost to Delhi 19-8.
Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan earned the third place in the boys category while Manipur and Haryana were placed third in the girl's category.
Bhawesh Kumar of Bihar and Delhi's Rakhi were adjudged the best players in the boys and girls categories respectively.
Earlier, Bihar's boys defeated Uttar Pradesh 41-23 in the semi-finals to reach the final where it met with Delhi that defeated Rajasthan 17-15 in the semi.
Bihar's girls team, on the other hand defeated Manipur 16-13 in the semifinals where it met with Delhi that earlier defeated Haryana 39-15 to reach the final round.
Governor Debananda Konwar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Patna Central Shatrughan Sinha gave away the prizes to the first and second place winners.
Saturday 3 October 2009
Chief minister Nitish Kumar to open NREGA call centre on Oct 14
Bihar is set to become probably the first state in India to have a call centre for entertaining queries regarding National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) schemes and complaints regarding denial of benefits under the Act.
The Act guarantees 100 days of assured employment to people willing to work in the countryside.
Once operational, the call centre can be approached on the toll-free number, 1800-345-22-44. "The call centre would become operational from October 14 when chief minister Nitish Kumar would dedicate it to public," rural development department principal secretary Vijay Prakash told.
The call centre is being set up by the same agency which has been roped in by the state government for making biometric cards for NREGA beneficiaries under its ambitious e-Shakti project.
Prakash said anyone willing to get general information like making of a job card, work, wages etc could make a call to the call centre. Complaints pertaining to the problems facing the NREGA beneficiaries would also be received and forwarded to the official concerned for quick action.
"The complainant would be given a complaint number using which s/he can seek information about the follow-up action," Prakash said.
With the ultimate goal being providing biometric cards to all the NREGA beneficiaries, the call centre would be equipped with more features once these cards are distributed among the beneficiaries.
"In the next phase, the call centre could also be used by those looking for jobs under NREGA and the caller would have to give details of the job card number to get information about the jobs available under ongoing NREGA schemes," Prakash said.
Incidentally, details of six lakh NREGA beneficiaries have already been collected which would be used for making the biometric cards. "We expect to deliver the cards to many of these beneficiaries by next month," Prakash said.
He said efforts are also being made to ensure wage payment through these biometric cards. The new system entails payment to NREGA beneficiaries at the work site itself. The payment would be made by `bank correspondents' after verifying the beneficiary's biometric card. link
The Act guarantees 100 days of assured employment to people willing to work in the countryside.
Once operational, the call centre can be approached on the toll-free number, 1800-345-22-44. "The call centre would become operational from October 14 when chief minister Nitish Kumar would dedicate it to public," rural development department principal secretary Vijay Prakash told.
The call centre is being set up by the same agency which has been roped in by the state government for making biometric cards for NREGA beneficiaries under its ambitious e-Shakti project.
Prakash said anyone willing to get general information like making of a job card, work, wages etc could make a call to the call centre. Complaints pertaining to the problems facing the NREGA beneficiaries would also be received and forwarded to the official concerned for quick action.
"The complainant would be given a complaint number using which s/he can seek information about the follow-up action," Prakash said.
With the ultimate goal being providing biometric cards to all the NREGA beneficiaries, the call centre would be equipped with more features once these cards are distributed among the beneficiaries.
"In the next phase, the call centre could also be used by those looking for jobs under NREGA and the caller would have to give details of the job card number to get information about the jobs available under ongoing NREGA schemes," Prakash said.
Incidentally, details of six lakh NREGA beneficiaries have already been collected which would be used for making the biometric cards. "We expect to deliver the cards to many of these beneficiaries by next month," Prakash said.
He said efforts are also being made to ensure wage payment through these biometric cards. The new system entails payment to NREGA beneficiaries at the work site itself. The payment would be made by `bank correspondents' after verifying the beneficiary's biometric card. link
Friday 2 October 2009
Maoists threaten to kill Bihar Chief Minister
The banned CPI (Maoist) has threatened to kill Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar if two of their top leaders were not released from jail, official sources said today.
'Dabloo', a naxalite leader, in an sms from the mobile phone number -- 09308670993 -- to a reporter of a private TV channel, claimed that there was a plan to kill the chief minister, State Home Department Principal Secretary Amir Subhani said.
The message demanded the release of naxalite leaders 'Raviji' and Diren Singh.
"Director General of Police Anand Shankar and IGP (Operations) S K Bhardwaj are probing the issue," Subhani said.
"We have tightened the security for the CM," he said.link
'Dabloo', a naxalite leader, in an sms from the mobile phone number -- 09308670993 -- to a reporter of a private TV channel, claimed that there was a plan to kill the chief minister, State Home Department Principal Secretary Amir Subhani said.
The message demanded the release of naxalite leaders 'Raviji' and Diren Singh.
"Director General of Police Anand Shankar and IGP (Operations) S K Bhardwaj are probing the issue," Subhani said.
"We have tightened the security for the CM," he said.link
59% of Bihar school students consume tobacco
Around 59 per cent of the school students and approximately 60 per cent of the population consume tobacco in various forms in Bihar, this was revealed at a workshop organised here to mark the first anniversary of law coming to prohibit smoking at public places.
“As per the WHO report 58.9 per cent students of class 8 to 10 standard consume tobacco in various forms in Bihar schools...Around 60 per cent of the population of Bihar consume tobacco,” Mr Mahavir Das, Ex-Director-in-Chief Health Services, Bihar said a t a function organised by Bihar Voluntary Health Association (BVHA).
About 5.4 million people die every year from tobacco related disease worldwide and this figure could touch 10 million by the end of 2030 and seven million will fall prey to such diseases in south Asia alone, Mr Das said and added that 10 lakh people die in India from tobacco related disease.
If serious and concerted efforts like awareness campaign and other measures were not taken the number of deaths caused from tobacco consumption could rise phenomenally and may touch 160 million by 2050.link
“As per the WHO report 58.9 per cent students of class 8 to 10 standard consume tobacco in various forms in Bihar schools...Around 60 per cent of the population of Bihar consume tobacco,” Mr Mahavir Das, Ex-Director-in-Chief Health Services, Bihar said a t a function organised by Bihar Voluntary Health Association (BVHA).
About 5.4 million people die every year from tobacco related disease worldwide and this figure could touch 10 million by the end of 2030 and seven million will fall prey to such diseases in south Asia alone, Mr Das said and added that 10 lakh people die in India from tobacco related disease.
If serious and concerted efforts like awareness campaign and other measures were not taken the number of deaths caused from tobacco consumption could rise phenomenally and may touch 160 million by 2050.link
Maoists gun down 16 villagers including five children
At least 50 Maoist guerrillas attacked a Bihar village and brutally gunned down 16 people, including five children, after tying their hands and legs, police said Friday as the issue gained political overtones with demands for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's resignation.
The incident, which appeared to be a dispute over land, took place late Thursday in Amausi village in Khagaria district, about 200 km north of Patna.
Villagers told police that the guerrillas had tied the hands and legs of the victims before shooting them dead.
Eleven people have been detained and are being interrogated.
'During raids, we have detained 11 people suspected to be involved in the incident,' Bhagalpur Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.R. Kinni told.
Bihar police chief Anand Shankar added that the priority was to arrest those involved in the incident.
'Over 50 armed Maoist rebels attacked Amausi village and shot dead 16 villagers, including five children,' Deputy Superintendent of Police Ajay Pandey said, adding that the killing appeared to be over a land dispute but that the police were still investigating.
'All senior district officials are camping in the village and security forces have been deployed. The Special Task Force along with district police have launched combing operations against Maoists in Khagaria,' Pandey added.
Nitish Kumar condemned the incident and asked top officials of the state administration to investigate.
'It is a shocking incident and should be condemned by one and all,' the chief minister said, while announcing compensation of Rs.150,000 to the families of each victim.
He said Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Director General of Police Anand Shankar would visit the village later Friday.
The incident prompted opposition Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan to demand Nitish Kumar's resignation.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad also targeted Nitish Kumar by saying the state government had failed to curb the spread of Maoists.
Lalu Prasad said it was not a caste massacre but a killing by Maoists.
He added that his party leaders had rushed to the village and so should Nitish Kumar.link
The incident, which appeared to be a dispute over land, took place late Thursday in Amausi village in Khagaria district, about 200 km north of Patna.
Villagers told police that the guerrillas had tied the hands and legs of the victims before shooting them dead.
Eleven people have been detained and are being interrogated.
'During raids, we have detained 11 people suspected to be involved in the incident,' Bhagalpur Inspector General of Police (IGP) A.R. Kinni told.
Bihar police chief Anand Shankar added that the priority was to arrest those involved in the incident.
'Over 50 armed Maoist rebels attacked Amausi village and shot dead 16 villagers, including five children,' Deputy Superintendent of Police Ajay Pandey said, adding that the killing appeared to be over a land dispute but that the police were still investigating.
'All senior district officials are camping in the village and security forces have been deployed. The Special Task Force along with district police have launched combing operations against Maoists in Khagaria,' Pandey added.
Nitish Kumar condemned the incident and asked top officials of the state administration to investigate.
'It is a shocking incident and should be condemned by one and all,' the chief minister said, while announcing compensation of Rs.150,000 to the families of each victim.
He said Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Director General of Police Anand Shankar would visit the village later Friday.
The incident prompted opposition Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan to demand Nitish Kumar's resignation.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad also targeted Nitish Kumar by saying the state government had failed to curb the spread of Maoists.
Lalu Prasad said it was not a caste massacre but a killing by Maoists.
He added that his party leaders had rushed to the village and so should Nitish Kumar.link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
