Jharkhand

Jharkhand paddy procurement starts on Monday, targets 6 mn quintals

The Jharkhand government has set a target to procure around 60 lakh quintals of paddy and will begin the exercise from December 15, an official said on Sunday. Altogether 783 procurement centres have been set up across the state to carry out the exercise, he said. State Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs Minister appealed to his cabinet colleagues, MPs and MLAs to visit the procurement centres in their respective areas and inaugurate the initiative. He said the government will purchase paddy at Rs 2,450 per quintal from farmers. The authorities have set a target to procure around 60 lakh quintals of paddy, according to the state's e-uparjan portal. The Jharkhand Cabinet had on December 8 decided that farmers of the state will get a bonus of Rs 81 per quintal of paddy in addition to the Centre's minimum support price (MSP) for the crop in the 2025-26 fiscal. The state council of ministers also approved Rs 48.60 crore as a bonus against paddy procurement from the ...

NIA raids house of suspect linked to ISIS in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) team raided a man's house in Jharkhand's Hazaribag district in connection with his alleged link with the ISIS terror network, officials said here on Friday. The NIA team raided the house of Shahnawaj Alam in the Ansar Nagar area on Thursday and seized a laptop, a printer, and other gadgets that might have been used for the terror link, they said. The NIA officials remained tight-lipped about the content of the laptop and other documents seized from the residence of the suspect. Sources in the district police confirmed that the raids were carried out by a team of the NIA. The action was taken based on information provided by a doctor who was previously arrested by the NIA, they said. This operation is being conducted as part of an investigation into the network linked to suspected terrorist Shahnawaz Alam, who was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in October 2023. Shahnawaz Alam, originally hailing from Hazaribagh, was arrested by the

Hemant Soren appears before court for ''non-compliance'' of ED summons

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday appeared before an MP-MLA court here in connection with a case related to alleged non-compliance of ED summons, a lawyer said. The CM also filed two bail bonds each for Rs 7,000, and the next hearing in the case will be on December 12, he said. On the direction of the Jharkhand High Court, the chief minister appeared before the MP-MLA court today. Henceforth, the CM does not need to appear in person," Soren's counsel Pradip Chandra said. The CM's advocate will represent him during the next hearing on December 12, he said. The ED had moved the court after Soren "did not turn up for questioning" on the basis of earlier notices issued to him in connection with an alleged land scam.

Over 1,000 people to be evacuated after gas leak from mines in J'khand

Over 1,000 residents in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district will be shifted to safer locations, following the incident of a "poisonous gas leak" from underground mines, officials said on Thursday. A woman allegedly died on Wednesday, while 12 people fell sick after carbon monoxide leaked from such mines in different places of Kenduadih Basti in the district, they said. The exact cause of the woman's death, however, is yet to be ascertained and it could only be confirmed after receiving the postmortem report, the officials said. Soon after the incident, the Bharat Coking Coal Ltd (BCCL) started eviction of people from the danger zones, they said. The company also pasted notices on walls of houses in the locality, asking people to vacate at the earliest, an official said. BCCL's Putki-Balihati Colliery Area GM G C Saha told reporters that three ambulances have been kept on standy in the basti to deal with any emergency situation. The company is making arrangments to shift the residents to

ED seizes over Rs 14 cr in cash, gold after raids in Jharkhand, West Bengal

The Enforcement Directorate has seized cash and gold worth more than Rs 14 crore during searches against an alleged coal mafia network operating across Jharkhand and West Bengal, the agency said on Saturday. The raids were launched on Friday at 44 premises in the two states, in connection with "large-scale" illegal mining, theft, transportation, storage and sale of coal, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said in a statement. Cash, jewellery and gold amounting to more than Rs 14 crore, various property deeds linked to the coal syndicate and agreements related to sale and purchase of land, several digital devices, account ledgers of entities controlled by the network, etc, have been seized, the statement added. The agency took cognisance of multiple FIRs filed by the police in both states to lodge a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The FIRs indicate that a vast illegal coal supply network is operating across Jharkhand and West Bengal, the agency said in the ..

ED raids 40 locations in Jharkhand, West Bengal against coal mafia

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted searches in a coordinated money laundering case action against the coal mafia in Jharkhand and West Bengal, official sources said. More than 40 premises in the two states are being covered as part of the action under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. In Jharkhand, the agency is covering about 18 locations as part of the investigation related to coal theft and smuggling. According to the sources, locations of entities named Anil Goyal, Sanjay Udhyog, L B Singh, and Amar Mandal are being covered. The collective scale of the case involves significant coal pilferage and theft, resulting in a massive financial loss to the government worth hundreds of crores of rupees, the sources said. In West Bengal, about 24 premises in Durgapur, Purulia, Howrah and Kolkata districts are being covered as part of an investigation into alleged illegal mining, transportation and storage of coal, they said.

NBCC bags ₹498 crore contract to build integrated township in Jharkhand

State-owned NBCC Ltd has bagged a nearly Rs 500 crore contract from Damodar Valley Corporation to construct a township in Jharkhand. In a regulatory filing on Monday, the company informed that it has secured a Rs 498.30-crore order from Damodar Valley Corporation. The order pertains to the construction of an integrated township at Chandrapura Thermal Power Station, Chandrapura, Jharkhand. Recently, NBCC Ltd has reported a 25 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 156.68 crore for the September quarter on higher income. Its net profit stood at Rs 125.13 crore in the year-ago period. The total income rose to Rs 3,017.15 crore in the July-September period of the current fiscal year from Rs 2,512.95 crore in the year-ago period. NBCC is into engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), project management consultancy (PMC) and real estate businesses.

Jharkhand at 25: Unfulfilled potential of tribal heartland remains

Twenty-five years after its creation, Jharkhand continues to struggle with slow economic growth, high multidimensional poverty and persistent tribal welfare gaps despite fiscal improvements

J'khand BJP leaders pay tributes to Birsa Munda on 150th birth anniversary

Leaders of BJP's Jharkhand unit on Saturday paid rich tributes to tribal icon Birsa Munda on his 150th birth anniversary on Saturday, taking out rallies and holding programmes in his honour across the state. Saffron party leaders, led by Union ministers Jual Oram, Sanjay Seth and former minister Arjun Munda paid floral tributes at the birthplace of Birsa Munda in Ulihatu in Khunti district, and held a programme to mark the occasion at Khunti town later in the day. Former chief minister Raghubar Das, accompanied by Leader of Opposition and state BJP president Babulal Marandi and Rajya Sabha MP Aditya Sahu, paid homage to the tribal icon at a museum in Ranchi named after him. A rally was also taken out by BJP leaders and supporters from the Birsa Munda Museum to his Samadhi Sthal' in Ranchi. Speaking to reporters, Das termed the historic win of the NDA in neighbouring Bihar as victory of good governance and performance-based politics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I would like to

IPC, Jharkhand Pharmacy Council sign MoU to boost pharmacovigilance, safety

The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Ghaziabad, on Saturday inked an MoU with the Jharkhand State Pharmacy Council (JSPC) to promote safe and rational medicine use and strengthen pharmacovigilance in Jharkhand. The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC), Ghaziabad, is an autonomous institution under the Union Health Ministry. Through this collaboration, IPC and JSPC will work together to build the capacity of registered pharmacists in areas related to adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting, pharmacovigilance and materiovigilance practices, and the safe use of medicines, a health ministry statement said. The partnership envisions strengthening the utilisation of the National Formulary of India (NFI) as a standard reference document across healthcare facilities in Jharkhand and promoting its systematic use by pharmacists to support rational dispensing and safe medication practices. It further includes coordinated efforts to organise awareness programmes for hospital and community

Coal India, DVC form ₹21,000 cr JV for thermal power project in Jharkhand

Coal India and Damodar Valley Corporation have signed a joint venture to set up a Rs 21,000-crore, 1,600 MW thermal power plant at Chandrapura in Jharkhand, expected to start operations by FY32

CRPF inspector dies 20 days after getting injured in IED blast in Jharkhand

A 58-year-old CRPF inspector succumbed to injuries at the AIIMS hospital here on Thursday, 20 days after he was critically injured in a Maoist triggered IED blast in Jharkhand. Inspector Koushal Kumar Mishra suffered severe injuries on his left leg in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast that took place during an anti-Naxal operation in the West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand on October 10, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officer said. Mishra, who hails from Bihar, was under treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) since October 11 after he was airlifted from Jharkhand. He breathed his last in the early hours of October 30, the officer said. The Inspector, belonging to the 60th battalion of the CRPF, was leading a patrol of troops in the North Saranda forests of the said district when the blast took place. Two other personnel, including Constable Mahendra Laskar (45), were also injured in this blast. Laskar, hailing from Assam, had succumbed to

JPSC JET registration 2024: Last date to apply extended till October 30

JPSC JET registration Last Date: The Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) will close the online application window at jpsc.gov.in by Oct 30. The deadline to pay the fee is Oct 31, 2025

Centre clears plan for four new medical colleges in Jharkhand under PPP

The Jharkhand government has received the Centre's nod to a proposal for setting up four medical colleges under the public-private partnership (PPP) in the state, according to an official statement. The new medical colleges will come up in Khunti with a capacity of 50 MBBS seats, Jamtara, Dhanbad and Giridih, with 100 seats each, it said. The approval has been granted under the Centre's 'Scheme for Establishment of Medical Colleges in PPP Mode', which aims to expand medical education across the country and strengthen healthcare services. During a meeting with officials of the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) in New Delhi on Tuesday, Jharkhand's Health and Medical Education Department Additional Chief Secretary Ajoy Kumar Singh made a presentation, the release said. "After the presentation, the Centre gave its nod to the state's proposal," it added. Singh said, "The opening of medical colleges under the PPP mode will improve medical education and healthcare services in the stat

Jharkhand to celebrate Diwali with fervour amid JSPCB's restrictions

Jharkhand is geared up to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, with fervour and gaiety on Monday, amid some "restrictions" imposed by the state pollution control board, officials said. People are permitted to burst firecrackers within a two-hour window from 8 PM to 10 PM on Diwali night, as per an order issued by the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB). Air quality in the urban areas of all the districts ranges from "good to satisfactory this year", an official said, citing the order. The Central Pollution Control Board categorises air quality index levels in the 0-50 range as 'good', 51-100 as 'satisfactory', 101-200 as 'moderate', 201-300 as 'poor' and 301-400 as 'very poor'. The sale of firecrackers with less than a 125-decibel limit has been permitted in all the districts, he said. The JSPCB, in its order, said that violation of its guidelines would invite legal action under sections of the penal code and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, ...

JMM to contest Bihar polls independently, review alliance in Jharkhand

The JMM on Saturday announced that it will contest the Bihar assembly polls independently, and said the party would review its alliance with the Congress and RJD in Jharkhand after the elections in the neighbouring state. Addressing a press conference, JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said the party will field candidates in six seats in Bihar. Elections to 243 seats of the Bihar assembly will be held on November 6 and November 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14. The party has decided to contest the Bihar polls on its own. It will contest six assembly seats Chakai, Dhamdaha, Katoria (ST), Manihari (ST), Jamui and Pirpainti (SC), Bhattacharya said. These seats will go to polls in the second phase on November 11. The JMM had on October 11 communicated to INDIA bloc leaders that the party would take its own decision on contesting the Bihar polls, if a respectful number of seats was not allocated to it by October 14. The JMM had demanded 12 seats for the polls

J'khand sets up checkpoints to curb illegal flow of cash, liquor to Bihar

As neighbouring Bihar gears up for assembly elections, Jharkhand has made operational 43 checkpoints, including nine new, in its 10 border-sharing districts to curb the illegal movement of cash, liquor, narcotics and other contraband items. The move comes in response to a formal request from Bihar, which is preparing for two-phase elections scheduled next month. Acting on a request from Bihar to set up checkpoints at strategic locations in bordering districts, altogether 43 checkpoints have become operational in 10 districts that share borders with the neighbouring state, Jharkhand Police spokesperson and Inspector General Operations (IG Operations) Michael Raj told PTI. The checkpoints are operational round the clock. "We have established nine new checkpoints in addition to the existing 34. Currently, there are 43 active checkpoints spread across all 10 districts bordering Bihar," Raj said. The districts are Garhwa, Palamu, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Koderma, Giridih, Deoghar, Dumka, Go

CRPF jawan killed in IED blast during anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand

A CRPF jawan died after he was injured in an IED blast during an anti-Naxal operation in Jharkhand, officials said on Saturday. The operation was undertaken by the paramilitary force in the Naxal violence-affected area of Babudera-Samta axis under Jaraikela police station limits in West Singhbhum district on Friday, they said. Head Constable Mahendra Laskar (45) was injured due to a pressure improvised explosive device (IED) during the operation, they said. The officials said Laskar was evacuated to a hospital in Rourkela, where he succumbed to injuries in the early hours of Saturday. Laskar hailed from Assam and belonged to the 60th battalion of the CRPF.

Jharkhand boosts security ahead of Maoist outfit's 'resistance week', bandh

The Jharkhand Police strengthened security across the state with deployment of armed forces at sensitive locations and transport corridors as the proscribed CPI (Maoist) announced resistance week' from Wednesday and called for a bandh on October 15, a senior officer said. Inspector General (Operations) Michael Raj told PTI that 12 battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force and 20 groups of the Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP) and India Reserve Battalion (IRB) have been pressed into service to ensure security and safety during the week-long protest and bandh called by the banned Maoists' organisation. Maintaining peace and safety across the state is the police's top priority. We have deployed additional forces at sensitive locations, government offices, and transport corridors, including rail and road networks, to ensure that normal movement is not disrupted, the senior police officer said. The police are also geared up to address potential impacts in districts bordering Bihar, ...

Bihar elections 2025: How the 2000 Jharkhand split reshaped Bihar's economy

Bihar polls 2025: 25 years after the 2000 split, Bihar is still coping with the loss of Jharkhand's mineral base, relying on agriculture, central funds, and migration