Page 38 - Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh gets $300 mn loan to improve quality of school education

The World Bank on Tuesday said the board of executive directors has approved a USD 300 million loan to help expand and improve the quality of education in government-run schools in Chhattisgarh. The project aims to benefit about 4 million students, mostly from poor and vulnerable communities in the state. Almost 86 per cent of schools in the state are run by the government. While enrolment at the elementary school level is 95 per cent, it is only 57.6 per cent at the senior secondary level and the enrolment for boys is 10.8 per cent lower than that for girls, it said. This is due to the non-availability of science and commerce education across many senior secondary schools, a shortage of trained science and mathematics teachers, and the lack of necessary infrastructure like laboratories and facilities, it said. The Chhattisgarh Accelerated Learning for a Knowledge Economy Operation (CHALK) aims to improve access to education across all grades, and also address the growing demand f

Isolated rainfall in East Central, parts of NW India in next 5 days: IMD

It also said that the Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of the Central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra, remaining parts of Karnataka, Telangana and Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh government's high-tech millet push to double productivity

The state has now set a target to increase the area under millet cultivation from 96,000 hectares to 160,000 hectares during the current kharif year

Monsoon arrives in Chhattisgarh; heavy rainfall forecast at isolated places

The southwest monsoon arrived in Chhattisgarh on Friday, and the meteorological department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in the next 48 hours. The southwest monsoon entered southern part of Chhattisgarh on Friday, after a delay of about 10 days, meteorologist H P Chanda of Meteorological Centre Raipur told PTI. Monsoon usually arrives in the state by June 13, he said, adding that conditions are favourable for further advance of monsoon over the entire state in the next two to three days. The Met department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall along with thunderstorm in isolated places in Sukma, Bastar, Bijapur and Dantewada districts (in south Chhattisgarh) in the next 48 hours. The department has issued a red alert for Sukma district, while heavy rainfall is forecast at isolated places in Bilaspur, Raigarh, Korba, Gariaband, Dhamtari, Kondagaon, Kanker and Narayanpur districts in the next 48 hours, it said.

Scindia inaugurates SAIL's Rs 149-cr beneficiation plant in Chhattisgarh

Union Steel Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Friday inaugurated a Rs 149-crore beneficiation project of Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) at Kanker in Chhattisgarh. The minister virtually inaugurated the SAIL's Silica Reduction Plant set up at the company's Dalli iron ore mines. In his address, Scindia said the new plant is an important milestone as it will help the steel maker utilise the low-grade ore from the Dalli mines through the beneficiation process. Around 80 per cent of the reserves of the iron ore mine has been utilized, he said adding certain issues were coming in the utilisation of the remaining 20 per cent reserve like the Fe or iron content was below 60 per cent and silica content was as high as 10 per cent. The plant will improve the Fe content to 62-64 per cent and bring down the silica content to 2-3 per cent. SAIL Chairman Amarendu Prakash there was a need to refine iron ore of size less than 1 mm to achieve the desired grade for effective usage in the blast

BJP official murdered by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur

A local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionary has been killed by suspected Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Bijapur district, police said on Thursday. The body of Kaka Arjun (52) was found on Wednesday evening on Kongupalli-Ilmidi road in Bijapur, located more than 400 km from state capital Raipur, they said. Arjun was the secretary of BJP Bijapur district unit's Scheduled Tribe wing, as per the party. The opposition BJP in the state termed it as a "targeted" killing and demanded a high-level probe into it while claiming Maoists had protection of the ruling Congress. However, the Congress condemned the incident and said the BJP should not politicise it. Arjun, who served as the sarpanch (head) of Ilmidi village panchayat between 2016-2020, had gone to Semaldodi village with his wife on his motorcycle after being called by someone at around 10 am on Wednesday, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Chandrakant Gavarna. After reaching there, he dropped his wife and went inside a f

Two states breach NITI Aayog's e3W target seven years ahead of plan

4 others remain close on the heels of target

CM Baghel facing high anti-incumbency in Chhattisgarh: BJYM chief Tejasvi

Bharatiya Janata Party MP and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Tejasvi Surya on Monday claimed that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel is facing high anti-incumbency in the state

26 people injured as bus rams into bridge in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh

At least 26 people were injured after a bus they were travelling in rammed into a bridge near Gharghoda Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district on Monday morning, the police said

Govt to invite bids for privatising NMDC after commissioning blast furnace

The government is likely to invite financial bids for privatising NMDC Steel only after the commissioning of the blast furnace at the company's steel plant in Chhattisgarh, according to officials. Officials expect the value of the company to go up once the blast furnace of the steel plant becomes operational. NSL is expected to have a production capacity of 3 million tonnes per annum. The government holds a 60.79 per cent stake in NMDC Steel Ltd (NSL) after it got demerged from NMDC, which is India's largest iron ore producer. The facility is located in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh. The remaining 39.21 per cent stake is with the public. NSL is up for privatisation with the government looking to sell 50.79 per cent of its shareholding, along with management control. The government had received multiple preliminary bids or expressions of interest for the company. Officials said the government will get to know the fair value of NSL once the blast furnace, which is the heart of a steel plan

Rice available in Chhattisgarh but transportation cost higher: K'taka CM

Talking to reporters here, the Chief Minister said that he had talked to the Telangana Chief Minister (K. Chandrashekar Rao), but there is no availability of rice there

Indsil Hydro Power sells 12 MW power plant in Raipur for Rs 11.40 cr

Indsil Hydro Power and Manganese on Friday announced the sale of its 12 MW power plant at Raipur in Chhattisgarh for Rs 11.40 crore. "The company has entered into a transaction with a buyer for the sale of the 12 MW power plant of the company situated at Raipur, Chhattisgarh for an aggregate consideration of Rs 11.40 crore (exclusive of GST and applicable charges)," according to a BSE filing. The buyer is not related to the promoters/ promoter group of the company and is not a related party transaction, it stated. The power plant was not operational and hence, the said sale will not affect the operations of the company, it added.

At least 55 temporary shops gutted as fire broke out at market in Bilaspur

At least 55 temporary vegetable shops were gutted after a fire broke out at a market in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur city early Wednesday morning, police said. The incident took place at Budhwari Bazar located near the railway station but nobody was injured, said Sunil Tirkey, Station House Officer of Torwa police station. The fire was noticed in the wee hours following which fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames, he said. Budwari Bazar has 15 big concrete platforms on which some 100 temporary big and small vegetable shops stand. Most of the shops consist of only a piece of tarpaulin or fibre sheet held up by bamboo poles, the official said. The cause of the fire was not immediately known and police have launched an investigation, Tirkey said.

Heat wave: Chhattisgarh extends school summer vacation till June 26

The Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday decided to extend the summer vacation of schools till June 26 in view of the scorching heat, an official said. Schools were scheduled to reopen on June 16. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has directed officials concerned to extend the summer vacation to ensure the safety of children in view of high temperatures and the heat wave, the official said. The school education department will issue a directive in this regard, he added. The Met department in Raipur on Tuesday predicted the occurrence of a heat wave at isolated pockets in central Chhattisgarh for the next four days. It had also forecast thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty wind at 30-40 kmph at isolated places in the state over the next four days.

Chhattisgarh web journo held for spreading baseless news against officials

A news portal journalist has been arrested for allegedly circulating baseless and misleading news against judicial and government officers in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur, police said on Monday. Raipur-based Nilesh Sharma, editor of the India Writers portal, was apprehended by a team of the Bilaspur district police in Raipur on Sunday and brought here, a senior police official said. Shama was arrested in a case lodged last month under sections 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505(1)(b) (Whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumour or report with intent to cause fear or alarm in the public) of the IPC based on a complaint of a lawyer, he said. The lawyer had complained over a news article published in a news portal - NewsTodayCG.com - against judicial, government and administration officials claiming it to be "baseless and misleading", he said. Acting on the complaint, the Bilaspur police along with their Raipur counterparts .

Tendu leaves worth Rs 515 crore disbursed to collectors in Chhattisgarh

The target is to collect 1.67 million standard bags of tendu leaves by the end of this year

Encounter between BSF, Naxals in Chhattisgarh; Naxalite woman killed

An encounter broke out between security forces and Naxals in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh on Monday

Shifting discourse on Lord Ram: A matter of concern for BJP in Chhattisgarh

'Bhagwan Ram sabke hai. Nishadraj ke hai aur Shabri ke hai'

BJP shameless in calling Nathuram Godse 'saput' of India: Chhattisgarh CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for being "shameless" in calling Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a "saput" (worthy son) of India. If the BJP leaders hail Godse, how can they embrace Mahatma Gandhi, he asked. His statements come days after Union minister Giriraj Singh, who while speaking in Dantewada city of Chhattisgarh on Friday, termed Godse a saput' of the country and said the assassin of the Mahatma was not an invader like Mughal rulers Babar and Aurangzeb as he was born in India. Baghel, while addressing a convention of the ruling Congress workers from the Raipur division held as part of preparations of the state Assembly elections due by the year-end, recalled that he had once asked BJP MLAs during a session of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly to raise "Godse Murdabad" slogan, but they failed to do it. "They call Godse a 'saput' of India...How shameless! You and I can feel bad about it, but Godse is .

Under Modi, farm income halved, agri cost doubled: Chhattisgarh CM

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said the Narendra Modi government halved farmers' income and doubled agricultural cost in its nine-year rule. He was reacting to the Central government announcing a hike in in MSP (minimum support price) on Thursday. During the Congress-led UPA regime (between 2004 and 2014) MSP on paddy was increased by 131 percent, while the Modi government has increased it by just 61-62 per cent, Baghel told reporters at Civil Lines Helipad. "The income of farmers in India has not doubled but the cost of agriculture has doubled. Rates of diesel, fertilizer and agriculture equipment have gone up. Production cost has increased and income (of farmers) has been halved," he alleged. Hitting back at former CM Minister Raman Singh's charge that development work has happened only in his home turf Patan and Durg, Baghel said corruption took place even in ration card and slipper distribution during the Bharatiya Janata Party's tenure. "Raman Singh was