NewsWing

Ranchi: Addressing a packed Chamber auditorium in Ranchi under the aegis of Police and Chamber Together (PACT), SSR Praveen Singh urged the members of the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) to consider police as their friend. He said the police was at their service round the clock 24 x 365 days.
The formation of PACT was done two years ago and the police – Chamber face to face becoming a regular affair. The SSP told the members that the crime in the State has taken a modern shape and it could be controlled only with the co-operation of businessmen as well as common man. 100 is functional all the 24 hours.
He coaxed the members to shed away the fear of meeting the police. He urged them to break the mental barrier and consider the police as their friend and the police will prove to be a friend indeed! He emphasized on the point that any crime should be reported immediately and even the tiniest of details provided to the investigating officers. He added that if the junior police officers’ response was unsatisfactory then a senior police officer should be informed immediately so that prompt action is taken.
The SSP said that even from the business community many serious crimes were committed and the Chamber should try to sincerely control them else the police intervention will become unavoidable. He urged the members to solve all petty disputes related to business rivalry and other small matters without involving the police and the police would intervene only when the matter gets out of hand.
He advised the members to immediately provide the police with full details of new tenants as this would help the police to identify notorious criminals and save harassment for the landlord. He urged the Hotel sector to keep proper records of all the visitors including copies of their valid proof of identity. There should be no exception in this regarded added Praveen Singh.
City SP Shambu Prasad told the members not to be cowed down by threats and during the identification parade they should fearlessly point the finger at the culprit. The criminals mostly rely on the fear factor and take undue advantage. Most of the criminals get exonerated from the court for want of witness and incriminating evidence.
FJCCI President Pradeep Sharma said that the Chamber had always been friendly with the police and PACT was formed couple of years ago only to strengthen this friendship. He agreed there were instances of negligence from both sides but it is being seriously rectified by both sides after formation of PACT. The members realize their responsibility towards the society and would extend full co-operation to the police to maintain law & order in the State.
Many senior police officers and all the office bearers of the FJCCI were present along with a large number of Chamber members. These include Praful Shahdeo, Poonam Anand, Kunal Ajmani, Bikash Singh and former Chamber presidents.

Ranchi: The DVC Jharkhand Mazdoor Union held a meeting in Ranchi and unanimously passed the resolution to work positively to strengthen the management’s hand in all the developmental work.
Mazdoor Union General Secretary Binod Prasad said that there were some unscrupulous officers within the Corporation who trying to create misunderstanding between the workers and the management for their selfish gains. He cautioned the workers to beware of such persons.
The Union lauded the efforts of the Secretary, DVC for his positive approach. Under his guidance the Mezia Thermal Power Station is generating power with increased capacity and even the coal stocks are improving every passing day.
Prasad said that under the current management things were looking up and the union has resolved to do away with confrontation and work for the development of the corporation.

Ranchi: Former Chairman of the JPSC Dalip Prasad’s services was terminated by the Cabinet of Advisors to the Governor at a Cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat today. Governor M O H Farook headed the chair. The services of former District Ayush Health officer and Principal of Godda Homeopathic College, Amreshwar Singh’s services were also terminated by the Cabinet. Both the persons were suspended and removed from their posts in the appointment scam of JPSC. Dalip Prasad is the prime accused in the scandal and criminal cases registered against him along with many others by the Vigilance Department.
The Cabinet made several other important decisions at today’s meeting. The age limit of lecturers in three medical colleges MGM, Jamshedpur, RINPAS, Kanke, Ranchi and Pataliputra Medical College, Dhanbad was increased to 62 from the existing 60. The Cabinet also considered raising the limit of other doctors from
1-5 years according to provisions.
The Cabinet put its stamp on appointment of Civil surgeon in Ramgarh and Khunti Districts, CMO, Malaria Officer, Leprosy eradication officer, and Eye surgeons would also be appointed in these districts endorsed the Cabinet.
BIT, Sindri teachers will get promotions under the Career Advancement Plan.
The Cabinet decided to provide 100 cr. towards resource gap. The Cabinet settled the jurisdiction of the 61 new PS set up in 2009.
The drainage program of the Urban development department would now be implemented and budgeted according to government of India directives.
The Cabinet also made provision of rs.8cr 66 lakhs towards the subsidy of Rs.11 on LPG cylinders.

Ranchi: A handful of so called religious fanatics held the city to ransom. They brandished swords, used their sticks and canes to shatter window panes of cars, burnt tyres on the road and everything they were capable of, to disrupt normal life. All in the name of Goddess.
This was the fourth bandh call this week and the worst. Innocent citizens became soft targets. The crowd of hooligans in garb of devotees vented their ire on the common unsuspecting public. Terror reigned supreme as groups of 40-50 motor cycle riders with religious flags and open swords roamed the nook and corner of the city and shouting high pitched screams of ‘Jai Sri Ram’.
Ironically the bandh was meant as a protest for the theft at Goddess Chinnamastika’s temple at Rajarappa but not a single slogan was raised in her praise. The sound of Jai Sri Ram echoed throughout the city. Just having a glimpse of these unruly protestors was reason enough for the people to remain confined to the security of the four walls of their house. The unfortunate few, who braved to venture out met with the inevitable.
Normal life was paralyzed to say the least. People were witnessed trudging to their place of work as no public transport was available. Even cycle rickshaw remained off the road. All the shops, including those within the colony opted to pull down their shutters.
It is strange that the government (SDO) clamped section 144 in the city but the police remained mute spectators to the blatant show of strength of the hooligans. Some token arrests were however made and the arrested people released later.
The State has already been reeling under the various frequent bandh calls given by different organizations. Monday was ABVP bandh and Wednesday/Thursday the naxal bandh. Revenue worth hundreds of crores was lost during the four day bandh this week. Studies were disrupted as the schools were forced to close. The fear of vandalism forced the banks to pull down their shutters of the ATMs and the Banks.
Due to the non-availability of any form of local transport, many patients could not reach the hospitals/Nursing Home. The Inter-State bus services too remained disrupted and people were stranded at the two bus depots.
Today’s bandh call was given by the Mahavir Mandal to protest the Rajarappa Temple robbery and demanded CBI enquiry. Mahavir Mandal’s Uday Shankar Ojha said that the bandh was a super success and the people supporting it whole heartedly. He claimed that a robbery in such a ancient and revered temple was a direct onslaught on the Hindu sentiments and the resentment had to be expressed. Bandh was the only genuine way to convey our feelings. He said that a memorandum for CBI enquiry has been given to the Governor.

- P.Vijay Raghavan

|| Parimal Nathwani ||
Dhirubhai Ambani became the real time hero with his incessant efforts, hard work, tremendous struggle and focused accomplishments. Though he created inexhaustible national wealth and assets, he also created values in abundance. He taught the world what it has to be the 'trustworthy' in the eyes of shareholders and common public as an industrialist. Mahatma Gandhi once said about himself that his life was his message.

                                           – Dhirubhai Ambani -

Dhirubhai Ambani's life also is a message to many. His is a torch-bearing life before us. Though he become a role model for many he himself never advocated, propagated or professed any 'ism' in his name. He went on creating niche after niche in the area of his business and industry. He, as Robert Frost told, continued to choose the untreaded path, made a safe road for a long journey and showed the way to others. Like a true Karmayogi, he never retired from work. He never stopped thinking. Ideas were nobody's monopoly, he often would say. He was never afraid of failure. He would overcome any obstacle in his pursuit with courage and conviction but would never give up. We often say: 'If there is a will, there is a way.' Dhirubhai in fact practiced it. He always willed it and found ways. He would not accept 'no' for anything. Rather he would tend to know how best a particular thing could be done.
Dhirubhai was never complacent in life. Contrary to the meaning of his name Dhirubhai (a man of patience) he was in haste. He was perhaps unhappy that why India was not in a race of progress with the rest of the world. He had all the faith in the potential of Indian people. He wanted to put India in the league of top nations of the world. He did it in several areas of his working and certain products, created records and earned name for him and for the country. In the process, he made the country self-sufficient in several sectors of our industrial economy.
Synthetic fabric, Japanese '80-20' cloth (80 per cent polyester, 20 per cent cotton) etc were the reach of very few at one point of time. It used to enter the country in a smuggled way. Dhirubhai Ambani, within the framework of the then regime, created capacities to become
self-sufficient in polyester. He did ditto in case of petrochemicals. His untiring zest and quest for vertical backward integration of his business and industry brought about a great deal of transformation in the areas of energy security. Creation of Jamnagar refinery by Mr. Mukesh Ambani under stewardship of Dhirubhai Ambani over night made India a 'net exporter' of fuels; from a country of 'net importer' of fuels. Those who experienced and witnessed the fuel crisis of 70s and 80s during gulf wars only could realize the contribution of Dhirubhai and Jamnagar refinery in the overall energy scenario of the country.
Bidding for oil and gas fields under NELP and acquiring fields in India and abroad during his life time by Dhirubhai is testimony of his vision that we talk today of providing east-coast gas to our industries and households throughout India. Dhirubhai, who himself hailed from a modest middle class background, always aspired to create ways and means, products and markets as well as industries and economy that would transform living standards of our lot.

(Mr. Parimal Nathwani is Group President of Reliance Industries Limited; and is also the rajya sabha member).

Ranchi: The dawn to dusk Bharat Bandh called by all the opposition parties country wide to protest the steep rise of petroleum products and other commodities was partially successful in Jharkhand.
All the shops remain closed though the vehicular traffic was more or less normal. The banks functioned normally but many ATMs were seen with their shutters down.
BJP was the front runner in the State capital Ranchi with the former CM and BJP General Secretary Arjun Munda leading the procession on motor cycles. He himself was driving a ‘Bullet’. The Party was mainly protesting the increase in price of the petroleum products but ironically Munda kept the engine running for nearly fifteen minutes while speaking to the media persons at Albert Ekka Chowk.
Many senior Party leaders led by former Pradesh President Yedhunath Pandey squatted on the road, blocking vehicular traffic for nearly an hour during the bandh at the Albert Ekka Chowk.
Schools remained closed but all the offices both government and private, functioned as usual.
The inter-state bus services were also seen on the highway though the service was limited. There were no incidents of blockade of rail traffic. The private air- services remained grounded but the Air India flight from Delhi was reportedly on time.
CPI(M) and Janta Dal (U) also joined in the bandh and took out processions shouting anti centre slogans. Members of SUCI staged a dharna at the Albert Ekka Chowk.
The business establishments were expected to open their shops in the evening.
It may be recalled that the State was already reeling under the Bandh for three days last week and again this week, the people will have to bear the brunt of bandhs on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
People were heard grumbling that if the bandh scenario continues unabated like this then the ’bandh’ of Jharkhand itself is not far away. The State is yet to see any noteworthy development since its inception.

Ranchi: Jharkhand Governor M O H Farook inaugurated the facilities ceter of the first ever International level cricklet stadium at the HEC premises in Dhurva, Ranchi on Sunday.
BCCI President Sashank Manohar and Secretary Srinivasdan had specially flown in to attend the historic function.

Governor of Jharkhand state Momunapillai Othuman Hasankuthoos Farrok (L) along with President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Shashank Manohar (C) and Secretery of BCCI N Srinivasan (R) during the innuguration of the first indoor Cricket Stadium for 2010 Cricket World Cup to be held in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand State on Sunday, July 4, 2010.

In his address the Governor said that it was a proud moment for Ranchi to launch its own cricket stadium. He wished the best of sporting events in the State capital’s new stadium and appealed to the two BCCI top[executives present to adopt a fatherly and not a step motherly treatment to the JCA.
BCCI President Sashank Manohar was full of praise for the ultra modern stadia and assured the JCA that the day the new stadium is ready for play, the BCCI would ensure that a international one day match is conducted in the very first series at that time.
BCCI Secretary Srinivasan was more nostalgic as he confessed that his roots were in Jharkhand from 1980 when he came for his marriage. His wife is from Jamshedpur. He said that Jharkhand is proud to have M S Dhoni as Team India’s skipper and he is dedicating himself to promote cricket in the State on the national & international level. Quote un quote he said that Dhoni was also the skipper of his Chennai Super Kings team and under his able leadership the team lifted this year’s trophy. He expressed his happiness on Dhoni’s marriage today and said that the State has given him an ideal gift in form of the stadium. It has always been Dhoni’s dream to build an international standard stadium in his home town but also to nurture more talent from his State.
The State has been lucky to get one more budding player in the form of Saurabh Tewary and both these youngsters would take Jharkhand to great heights.
JCA President Amitabh Chaudhary welcomed the honourable guests and expressed his gratitude to the BCCI President & Secretary for sparing their busy time. He too wished Dhoni all the best in his new venture of marriage and resented that he could not be personally present to bless the newly weds.
JVM Supremo Babulal Marandi and BJP General Secretary Arjun Munda were also present and expressed their happiness over the progress of the new stadia and wished Dhoni the best in his married life.
Many top officials of the Jharkhand Government and distinguished guests were also present.

Ranchi: The Governor M O H Farook initiated the Green Jharkhand campaign of FJCCI’s Women wing by planting a tree at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday.
He lauded the efforts of the Women wing in creating ecological awareness. Speaking on the occasion the governor urged the citizens of the State to plant one tree each. The president of the women’s wing said that they had set a target of planting 500000 trees. Many organizations are joining hands to make the campaign a success.
There were 2500 trees planted on the first day. FJCCI President Pradeep Sharma and his office bearers Vikas Singh, Ranjit Tibrewal,former president Anchal Kinger, Srimati Anjana, Soni Mehta, Monica and hundreds of members were present.

Ranchi: There is absolutely no respite for the people of the State. Most of the last week witnessed bandh by the Naxals and the ABVP, paralyzing normal life. Again, the coming week starts off with a Bharat Bandh call given by all the opposition parties and are going to extremes to ensure its success. Ironically the bandh is a protest against the escalating prices, whereas invariably the prices of all commodities are available at premium on these days. Schools and colleges remain closed for umpteen number of times, hampering the children’s studies to an alarming extent.
The Sunday evening witnessed torch light processions of all the opposition parties (one by one) and every party is crowding up at the busy Albert Ekka Chowk to garner public support. The exuberant workers were seen burning effigies of the PM. Even after being a Sunday there were huge traffic jams at various points of the main road due to the rallies and processions of these political parties.
The Maoists have again given a 48 hour bandh call from Wednesday to protest the killing of their comrade Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad in Hyderabad recently. The Maoist leader Kishanji announcing the bandh said that the Centre was not serious on a mutual dialogue and instead were resorting to killing of their cadre in the name of encounter. He alleged that Azad and Sukhdev were arrested from Nagpur and shot at point blank range 150Kms away at Adilabad in Hyderabad.
The Mahavir Mandal has called for a Jharkhand Bandh on Friday to protest the robbery at the Rajarappa Temple and demanding arrests of the culprits immediately. The announcement to the effect was made by the Mandal’s president Uday Shankar Ojha.
In general, the public are in a confused state of mind as they are not sure how secure it would be to venture out on these days. The rhythm of the school children is sure to be upset as by the end of the month the first term examinations are to be held and hardly any course has been completed. Even the school management is finding it difficult to cope up with the frequent bandhs.
In all it is a no win situation for all. There is only the aura of helplessness and hopelessness!

Ranchi: Puri Shankaracharya Adyokhshanand Devtirth was livid the political parties for using religious places as a platform for politics. He was stern in stating that it would not be tolerated. They will not be allowed to use the names of Lord Ram and Sri Krishna for their selfish motives and creating unrest. The priests and other religious heads were capable enough to run these religious places without any political interference, he added.
The Shankaracharya was speaking to media persons at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi after meeting the Governor M O H Farook. He told the people to not feel sad as Goddess Chinnamastika would be back with us soon. She would be reinstated at the Rajarappa temple with full rituals and ‘re-enforcing life’ yagna. The temple would be open for worship of the goddess in the next 15-20 days said the Jagadguru. He added that he had a long discussion with various religious heads for the proper restoration of the Sanctum-sanctorum and the damaged deity would be re-installed in its original form. Experts and priests from all over the country would come to Rajarappa soon.He advised the devotees to be alert hereafter.
Earlier the Shankaracharya met the governor and had a long discussion with him on the Rajarappa matter. He asked the governor to take stern steps to nab the culprits and punish them accordingly. He told the governor that no body had the right to hurt the religious sentiments of any community. He further added that for the past decade, unsocial elements were disturbing the harmony of the religious places and stern action needs to be taken against such people. The governor assured him that all necessary steps were being taken to nab the culprits and the investigations were progressing satisfactorily.
The Chief priest of the Rajarappa temple was also present along with the Shankaracharya at the Raj Bhavan and expressed his happiness at the steps being taken by the Governor.

|| Police forms six teams– four suspects detained for questioning ||
Ranchi/Rajarappa: Even after lapse of more than 40 hours since the robbery at the Goddess Chinnamastika temple at Rajarappa, the police have not been able to make any headway. According to Ramgarh SP Hemant Toppo, six teams have been formed for the investigations and four people have been detained for questioning. He said that the involvement of ancient treasure smugglers’ gang’s cannot be ruled out and the police are conducting raids at all the probable places. The police even seem to be confident on the issue.
The police of the entire State have been put on high alert and advised to conduct raids at all the suspected places of their areas. However, nothing positive has been achieved in the direction as yet though the investigation has been beefed up.
Meanwhile, the news of the robbery in the revered temple has sent shok waves throughout the State and an abnormal crowd from different parts of the State made a bee-line to the holy shrine. They were content with offering their prayers to the Goddess from outside.
Meanwhile Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Puri Adhikshanand arrived at the Rajarappa temple and held meeting with the trustees of the temple to restore the sanctity of the sanctum. The priests of Varanasi were also being consulted for proper directions.
The team of artisans and sculptors led by Manish Murtikar of Jaipur arrived at Rajarappa and were assessing the damage to the main shrine of the Goddess prior to commencing the work of restoration.
The routine prayers were conducted at the place of ‘sacrifice’ outside the main shrine. Being an auspicious day for marriage, many couples arrived for solemnising the marriage ritual. All the shops remained open in the temple campus today. Heavy security was deployed.
There was a stream of political leaders at the temple on the second day. Former CM Babulal Marandi, former Dy.CM Sudesh Mahto, former minister Sudhir Mahto, Samresh Singh, Legislator Yogendra Sav were amongst those who came to enquire about the dastardly act.
Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay termed the robbery as a ‘devilish’ act and said that the culprits should be nabbed at the earliest.
The State unit of VHP staged a dharna outside the DC office in Ramgarh and handed over a memorandum addressed to the governor to the DC. The Hindu Jagran Manch said that the culprits would not be spared.
In a stunning disclosure it was revealed that the CID had informed the police about the lack of security in the temple premises and warned that untoward incident could happen any time. The warning and the advice was not heeded to and resulted in yesterday’s robbery. DGP Niyaz Ahmad however said that security has now been beefed up and a team led by a DSP would be present at all times in the temple area.
Apart from SP Hemant Toppo, DSP Dhananjay Kumar, SDO Sunil Kumar,BDO Sandhya Gupta, CO Meena and other officials have camped at Rajarappa after the incident.

|| Nava Thakuria ||
Burning Rhino Horns: Creating Controversy Nava Thakuria It was a historic decision of Assam State Forest Department to burn down the stored rhino horns in its custody as the department wanted to spread the message that horns of endangered rhinoceros do not have any aphrodisiac value. The proper awareness is expected to help the mission to save the one horn rhinos from the clutches of notorious poachers. But it simply did not went smooth, rather opened a Pandora's Box as the environment activists demanded more transparency in the process.

The issue came alive in a recent public consultation in Guwahati, where the Indian Union minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh was also present. Raising the issue of rhino horns in the meeting, environment activist Soumyadeep Datta demanded that the horns, readied for disposing off, should be probed with a transparent forensic test. The Nature's Beckon director pointed out that without the precaution, some corrupt officials might take the opportunity to replace few real horns with fake items and then smuggle those in to the illegal international market.

Mentionable that the State forest department decided to destroy all stored rhino horns and it came out in the media. The department informed the media that it has 1,571 rhino horns lying in the lockers of various treasury offices in Assam. It argued that those horns can not be sold in the market as India adopted the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972. The State chief wildlife conservator S. Chand confirmed the news adding that they have taken all precautions regarding the process in respect of wildlife laws of India and also international guidelines.

Called black ivory, the rhino horn is prized as an aphrodisiac, selling for thousands of dollars per kilogram. A single horn can fetch as much as $40,000. The heavy animal enjoys great sexual power, as its mating time is not less than 45 minutes (quite higher than any other animal). Many people believe that one can achieve the sexual power with the help of rhino horns. They consider the rhino horns as another kind of traditional Viagra.

The horns are also believed to have medicinal values. The traditional Chinese medicine demands rhino horns, which is believed to cure fever and stomach ailments fast. China, Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea and the Middle East are known to be huge markets for illegal trading of rhino horns. Rising incomes across Asia mean that demand for powdered rhino horn is on the increase.

But Ranjan Talukder, a Guwahati-based veterinarian, says that's nonsense. "It is nothing but superstition," he said in an interview. "The horns are nothing but compact masses of agglutinated hair and rhinos use them for defense against other animals. There is no scientific analysis that the rhino horn powder could stimulate human sex."

A census in 1984 showed that Kaziranga National Park had 1,080 rhinos. The number was found increasing up to 1069 in another census during 1991. The census in 1999 provided more optimistic result as the number of rhinos soared to 1,552. The last census in 2006 revealed the number of rhinos as high as 1,855 in the park.

It may be mentioned that many pressure groups in Assam have been demanding a high level enquiry on rhino poaching and also the originality of horns which are under the possession of the forest department. All Assam Students Union, an active and influential students' body took out various protest programmes on the issue during the last few years. The AASU was followed by Nature's Beckon and Journalists' Forum, Assam to raise voices against the corrupt forest officials.

The activists of both the organizations insisted that the Assam government led by Tarun Gogoi should go for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe on the stock of wildlife parts in the custody of the forest department as well as about the poaching of rhinos, elephants, tigers and leopards in Assam. They argue that some wildlife organs (like rhino horn, ivory, skin of tiger and leopard) had already made way to the illegal international market from the custody of forest authority itself.

Meanwhile, following the sustained hue and cry among the wild life lovers inside and outside Assam, where the media has also consistently supported the move for the preservation of the rhinos and remained critical against the government agencies, the State authority admitted that they had no objection against any high level probe into the mater.
"We have no reservation against a CBI enquiry into the matter of increasing cases of rhino poaching in Kaziranga National Park," Rockybul Hussain, Assam forest and environment minister stated three years back.

Talking to this writer Soumyadeep Datta also claimed that the State forest department was itself involved with the illegal trade of rhino horns till eighties. "We have authentic information that Assam forest department had sold more than 300 rhino horns even after India adopted the wildlife protection act in 1972. We can give the relevant statistics of the sold rhino horns in details as 29 (during 1971-72), 13 (1972-73), 19 (1973-74), 40 (1974-75), 18 (1975-76), 27 (1976-78), 42 (1977-78), 63 (1978-79), 63 (1978-79), 61 (1979-80)," Datta disclosed.

He added, "We suspect that a large share of the wildlife parts, which are being sold in the international markets, made way from the forest department's stock due to the manipulation and corrupt practices of some dishonest forest officials. So we demanded the CBI probe on the stock of animal parts in the custody of Assam forest department, as it is assumed that some precious parts of rhinos, elephants, tigers and leopards had gone for international markets from the official stock of the department."

The demand for a CBI probe into the killings of rhinos was also highlighted during a Nagorik Sobha (citizens' meet) on February 13, 2008, which was organized by Journalists' Forum, Assam. Even concern for the rhinos was also expressed by a group of non-resident Assamese (Indian), who joined the chorus to save the rhinos. The Friends of Assam & Seven Sisters (FASS) supported the demand for a credible and high level enquiry into the ongoing killings of the precious animals. But even after the escalating public resentments, the state government remained silent on the issue till date. The chief minister Gogoi, who is otherwise outspoken, continued to avoid the issue of CBI enquiry while talking to media. The state forest minister has also covered up his face. The Journalists' Forum once again raised the issue in the public consultation meeting on June 11 in front of the central minister Jairam Ramesh.

The Forum president Rupam Barua expressed his resentment that the government was not serious about the probe and subsequently supported the demand for a transparent forensic test of the rhino horns before burning or disposing off.

Ranchi: The two day naxal bandh on Wednesday and Thursday though successful had no effect on the daily life of the Ranchiites. The markets however were affected.
The ABVP bandh on Friday was a different scene altogether. The unruly and over enthusiastic mob of the students forcibly enforced the bandh. Nearly all the schools had to declare a holiday and every shop and business establishment was forced to down their shutters, at some places even resorting to violence.
The roads wore a curfew like look as none dared to venture out of their house. The tempo/autorickshaw too stayed off the road. The students broke the windshields of a selected few braved to come out.
Many leaders of ABVP were taken into custody by the police at the Albert Ekka Chowk and later released.
The ABVP had called for a bandh to protest the Lathi-charge by the police in front of Raj Bhavan on 29th June and were demanding action against the police officials on duty and the Magistrate for giving the order. Apart from this the ABVP had several other demands including suspension of tainted VCs, commencement of the academic session, withdraw cases against the arrested students and demanding the appointment of a VC from Jharkhand only.
The people can hardly heave a sigh of relief as all the opposition parties have called for a Bharat Bandh on 5th instant to protest the rise in petroleum products.

Ranchi/Rajarappa: The ancient and most revered temple of Goddess Chinnamastika at Rajarappa, 80Kms from Ranchi, was robbed during the wee hours on Friday. The robbers mauled the holy idol by brutally piercing out the golden eyes and other jewels embedded in the holy shrine, damaging it badly. The blasphemous act sent shock waves throughout the State.
Former CM Arjun Munda and Assembly Speaker C. P. Singh rushed to the temple on hearing about the dacoity. They were accompanied by a large number of BJP leaders from the State including former MP Ajay Maroo and Mahanagar president Gama Singh.

The Chief convenor of the temple Ajay Kumar Panda, could not believe his eyes when he opened the temple doors at 3 in the morning for the prayers. The shrine was badly mauled with all the valuables of the goddess missing, including the silver umbrella covering the shrine. He immediately reported the matter to the local police, who arrived with full investigative team including the Dog Squad and experts of forensic team.

The ancient and most revered temple of Goddess Chinnamastika at Rajarappa in Ramgarh District of Jharkhand and about 80 Kms from Ranchi on Friday, was looted by unidentified robbers and the main Idol of the Goddess was badly damaged as the robbers brutally pierced out the embedded golden and jewelled fixtures on the body and decamped with the Goddess' precious jewellery.Pic: Mahadeo Sen Former CM and BJP General Secretary Arjun Munda (L) along with Jharkhand Assembly Speaker C. P. Singh (R) rushed to Rajarappa after hearing about the dacoity in the ancient and most revered temple of Goddess Chinnamastika at Rajarappa in Ramgarh District of Jharkhand and about 80 Kms from Ranchi on Friday. The unidentified robbers badly damaged the main Idol of the Goddess as they brutally pierced out the embedded golden and jewelled fixtures on the body and decamped with the Goddess' precious jewellery. Pic: Mahadeo Sen

The State DGP Niyaz Ahmad and Home Secretary Rajbala Varma too arrived at the temple and inspected the damage. The DGP gave instructions to the police personnel for nabbing the culprits at the earliest.
Ramgarh SP Hemant Toppo said that the forensic team had taken many finger prints from the site of crime and was confident that they belonged to the culprits and would be matched to nail the culprit/s.
The Governor M O H Farook expressed his shock over the dastardly crime. The Governor returned from Delhi and immediately sent Chief Secretary A K Singh to Rajarappa for assessing the damage.
Meanwhile, two specialist artisans, Manish and Umang from Jaipur have been summoned to Ranchi for restoring the shrine of the goddess to its original form. Both the artisans are considered to be the best in the trade.
Puri Shankaracharya is also slated to visit Rajarappa in the next few days.

- by P. Vijay Raghavan

Ranchi: Senior BJP leader MUrli Manohar Joshi blamed the Congress led UPA government for the escalating prices and said that the government apathy towards the poor was visible to all. The government was robbing the people of the country in broad daylight.

India's main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi (L) and other party leaders during a protest against the hike in fuel prices in front of the Governor House in Ranchi on Thursday, July 1, 2010. Picture : Mahadeo Sen (Ranchi).

Joshi was addressing his Party workers in front of the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Thursday at a dharna organized by the Party against the rise in price of the petroleum products.
He added that the Centre was giving a lame excuse that the oil companies were suffering great losses due to the subsidy, whereas the irony was that all the oil companies were registering thousands of crore of Rupees as profit.
He blamed the Congress for its anti-people policies and alleged that every time the congress came to power the prices have escalated. He blamed the policies of the UPA government for the inflation. He also alleged that the Congress was only following the dictates of the USA.
Former CM and Lok sabha MP Arjun Munda said that the people have now learnt the importance of proper governance. The Centre has conveniently forgotten all the promises made to the common man. The inflation will have a telling effect on the new generation. The government had conspired to alienate the poor children from right to education.
Former State president of the Party and MP P N Singh said that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar exported all the food grains to initiate the inflation and now was importing the same at higher prices.
Murli Manohar Joshi appealed to the public to participate in the Bharat Bandh on 5th instant as it was for the benefit of the common man.
The program was conducted by Ganesh Mishra and presided over by Madhuram Sahu. Many senior leaders of the Party from the State were present, including Ram Tehal Choudhary, Ajay Maroo, Yedhunath Pandey and others. State president Ragubar Das could not attend as he was unwell.

Ranchi/Bundu: Ranchi SSP Praveen Singh and the CRPF Commandant gave a befitting reply to the Naxalites by holding a public gathering in Bundu, considered to be strong hold of the naxals and distributed pamphlets to the thousands of villagers present at the meeting, detailing the ills of naxalism.
The SSP addressing the gathering said that the present Naxalite movement was totally anti-poor as the poor were the main victims. The naxals were proving to be a great hindrance in the State’s development.
He appealed to the people to be fearless and shun naxalism.
It may be recalled that today was the second day of the two day naxal bandh and ignoring the bandh thousands of people had gathered at the meeting to voice their annoyance and anger against the naxals.

Ranchi: The people of the State were yet to recover from the two day naxal bandh on Wednesday and Thursday, the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) have called for a Statewide bandh on Friday.
The members of the ABVP took out a torch light procession on the busy streets of Ranchi on Thursday evening causing traffic snarls and were seen speeding through the city with blaring loud speakers demanding public co-operation.
The banh call has been given to protest the lathi charge on ABVP members outside the Raj Bhavan on Monday.

Ranchi: Business suffered heavily during the two day naxal bandh. The Pandra market remained closed for the second day in succession. All the inter-state buses remained grounded even today and the bus depots wore a melancholy look. Even the passengers at the railway stations wore anxious look on their faces as they were not sure when their train would arrive to take them to their destination.
The worst affected was the wholesale market as people from the neighbouring places were unable to reach Ranchi. The wholesale cloth market wore a deserted look.
According to the business class nearly Rs.450cr worth of business was lost. The transport industry has lost nearly Rs.70 lakhs on these two days. The businessmen were a worried lot as the markets will be forcibly closed on Friday too by the ABVP and on 5th by the Bharat bandh. They grumbled that as it is the consistent inflation was having a adverse effect on the business and the frequent bandhs were only rubbing salt on their injuries.

Ranchi: The first day of the two day Naxal bandh paralyzed normal life in the State as all the Inter- state bus services were grounded. Railways, as a precautionary measure diverted the routes of many trains. These include Jharkhand Swarna Jayanti express, Varanasi Inter-city and Hatia-Jammu Tawi Express. These trains went via the Gomoh route.The Hatia- Howrah Express is already running on the diverted route via Asansol and would continue till 3rd of July.

According to information available from the Jamshedpur Railway officials, the trains ploughing on the Kharagpur-Rourkela and Kharagpur- Adra would not run during the night till 5th of July. Initially it was stopped till the 30th of June but has been extended in wake of the Naxal bandh. Apart from this, the Tata-Kharagpur-Tata-Memu passenger train will remain suspended till further notice. The Tata-Bilaspur-Tata passenger train remains cancelled till 5th July.

Most of the trains would be operated with a pilot train preceding it. Railways have taken extra precautionary measure to avert any untoward incident during the bandh as invariably the Railways has been the soft target for the naxals.

Jharkhand DGP Niyaz Ahmed said that the police were put on high alert throughout the State and police patrolling intensified at all the sensitive spots. He said that special attention was focused on the rail sector and he sought the co-operation of the Railway authorities in the matter.

No untoward incident was reported till the filing of this report. Passengers were seen stranded at the railway stations and the bus depot wore a deserted look. Due to the bandh, the business also suffered as the truck operators preferred to play safe and kept off the roads.

The Naxals had however stated that the essential services would be exempted from the bandh but the vehicles stayed off the highways as a precautionary measure.

Ranchi: The Prince of Ratu and Congress MLA from Hatia, Gopal Nath Shahdeo was given a befitting farewell by hundreds of thousands of his followers, well wishers and political leaders.
His bdy was taken in procession to the Vidhan Sabha campus, where all the political leaders paid their last respect and homage to the departed leader.
Gopal Nath Shahdeo breathed his last in Varanasi on Monday afternoon and his body has been taken back to Varanasi for cremation.
Those who paid their homage included Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, Speaker C. P. Singh. Rajendra Singh, Annapoorna Devi, Ravindra Rai, banna Gupta, C.S.Dubey, Geetashri Oraon, Sanjay Yadav, Sudesh Mahto, Umakant Razak, Chamra Linda, Ramchander Singh, Anant Pratap Dev, Pradeep Balmuchu, Governor’s Principal Secretary Sudhir Tripathi, DC K K Sone, SSP Praveen Singh and many district officials.
The departed leader’s body was also taken to the Congress head quarters at Shraddanand Marg before leaving for Varanasi. Many Congress leaders including Subodh Kant Sahay are accompanying the body for the last rites.