Author: Vividh Bharathi

Patna, Dec 11 (IANS) Two people died after consuming suspected hooch in Bihar’s Begusarai district.

The deceased were identified as Chunchun Prasad Singh, a rural medical practitioner, a resident of Ward-8, Maida Shahpur in Cheria Bariyarpur police station area and a 50-year-old compounder Hareram Tanti.

Both reportedly consumed liquor on Tuesday night, which their families said caused their deaths.

The incident has triggered a panic in the district.

While Singh’s autopsy was yet to be done, the district administration conducted the post-mortem of Tanti under the supervision of a special team of the District Health Department.

Begusarai Civil Surgeon Pramod Kumar Singh claimed: “Earlier too, Tanti had undergone treatment at Sadar Hospital and partially lost his eyesight. But this time, Tanti died.”

“The family members confirmed Tanti had a habit of alcohol consumption. It seems that he died due to consuming liquor. However, his post-mortem report has not come yet,” the civil surgeon said.

Begusarai SP Manish stated that both individuals fell ill under suspicious circumstances.

“We are questioning the family members to gather more information. The case remains under active investigation to determine the exact cause of the deaths,” Manish said.

The district administration has heightened vigilance to address potential issues related to illicit liquor, particularly in the affected areas of Cheriya Bariyarpur block.

Earlier in the second week of October this year, 62 persons reportedly lost their lives in Siwan and Gopalganj districts. However, the state police had confirmed 37 deaths.

In Siwan, the incident occurred in Maghar Kodia Panchayat under the jurisdiction of Bhagwanpur Haat police station.

Similarly, in Saran, an FIR was registered at the Mashrakh police station after the incident in Brahimpur village. Investigations in both districts were conducted and state police admitted that the deaths had happened due to spurious liquor.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by its National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met the Election Commission and presented a 3,000-page document as evidence on the alleged deletion of voters’ names from the electoral rolls ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections in the national Capital. He raised concerns over a “conspiracy” to forcibly delete voters’ names in Delhi Assembly constituencies and was assured of due diligence by the poll panel.

“We have presented documents of 3,000 pages before the Election Commission and raised our concerns on voters’ name deletion from the electoral rolls. These voters are mostly poor people, Dalits and slum dwellers whose names are being deleted. We have presented the complete data before the Election Commission,” Kejriwal said.

He also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar, alleging large-scale irregularities in applications for voter deletion.

Citing an example from the Shahdara Assembly constituency, Kejriwal stated, “It has come to our knowledge that in the past six weeks, the BJP submitted applications to delete 11,018 voters on the grounds of relocation or death. However, these lists are being modified without being uploaded on the Election Commission’s website.”

According to Kejriwal, as of December 5, only 487 deletion applications from Shahdara were displayed on the Commission’s website. This discrepancy raises questions about the remaining applications and the transparency of the process.

Kejriwal further alleged that the AAP conducted its own verification by visiting 500 randomly-selected addresses from the BJP’s list. The investigation revealed that 372 of these voters were still residing at their registered addresses.

Kejriwal urged the Election Commission to reject the BJP’s applications for deleting the 11,000 voter names and called for an FIR against the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) involved.

He also demanded disciplinary action against election officials in Shahdara who allegedly processed these applications without due diligence process or public disclosure.

Kejriwal expressed concerns that similar actions might be taking place in other constituencies. He called for an investigation into all voter deletion lists submitted by BLAs, insisting they be made public and FIRs lodged against those violating election rules.

He mentioned some of the alleged malpractices across Delhi in the letter and shared data from other Assembly segments.

Kejriwal said that in Janakpuri, 24 BJP workers applied to delete 4,874 votes; in Tughlakabad 15 BJP workers filed applications to remove 2,435 voters; in Palam 9 BJP workers sought to delete 1,641 voters; in Rajouri Garden 6 BJP workers filed to remove 571 voters; in Hari Nagar 4 BJP workers sought deletion of 637 votes; in Karawal Nagar 2 BJP workers applied for the removal of 3,260 votes; in Mustafabad a BJP official applied for 534 voter deletions.

Kejriwal called the alleged activities a systematic attempt to disenfranchise voters and undermine the democratic process.

He said that the ECI assured him that there would be no mass deletion before the elections. Their officers will go and look into the issue and if someone has applied to delete votes of more than five people, the SDM will visit the spot and inspect.

Kejriwal said the ECI also assured him that an FIR will be registered against those who are deleting voters’ names fraudulently.

–IANS

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Shimla, Dec 11 (IANS) A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) delegation led by former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday submitted a memorandum to Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla and exposed the “misdeeds” of the Congress-led state government on completing two years in the state.

“The two-year term of the Congress government will be known as a black chapter in the state’s history as the government is neck deep in corruption, brought the state to the brink of bankruptcy by unethically benefitting its friends, promoting wasteful expenditure and economic mismanagement, besides flouting the law and order,” Leader of Opposition Thakur told the media.

In its two-year stint, the Congress government has proved to be one of scams, he said.

“First, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has become a den of corruption. As soon as Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu took over as the Chief Minister, an employee of the CMO wrote an anonymous letter to the Prime Minister’s Office, alleging that an officer working in the CMO was committing corruption in connivance with a senior officer of the state electricity board,” LoP Thakur added.

“Now this allegation seems to be true because the government is providing benefits to the said company through Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. (HPPCL) as it has extended its completion timeline for the second time at its board meeting. Instead of imposing a penalty of Rs 162 crore for not completing the project on time, the period was extended by 1,765 days,” he said.

Secondly, the loss-making company has been given a work of Rs 150 crore, which was increased to Rs 288 crore, he added.

“Not only this, the rate of debris removal was also increased from Rs 67 per cubic metre to Rs 88 per cubic metre and the quantity of debris has also increased from 1,74,000 cubic metres to 3,74,000 cubic metres, which is clear evidence of corruption.”

Pointing towards a liquor scam, LoP Thakur said the State Excise and Taxation Department has auctioned liquor contracts for February-March 2024 in which a scam took place.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken major action in the state and temporarily seized the immovable property worth Rs 9.31 crore of a liquor company based in Nalagarh.

“The ED has seized property worth Rs 5.31 crore, including an industrial plot with factory, of Kala Amb Distillery and Brewery Private Ltd. Nalagarh… It has taken this action under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in a case of illegal supply of liquor in Bihar. Liquor is also being brought illegally from outside states and sold in Himachal Pradesh, causing a huge loss to the government treasury,” the former Chief Minister said.

The Congress government is also accused of changing the liquor policy, he added.

“Now instead of writing the maximum retail price on the liquor bottle, the minimum sale price is being written. Taking advantage of this, liquor contractors are selling liquor at their desired prices,” he said, adding that due to this favoured contractors are getting benefits but the government treasury is being defrauded.

State BJP President Rajeev Bindal, Himachal BJP co-incharge Sanjay Tandon, Shimla Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kashyap, former Minister Suresh Bhardwaj and other party leaders accompanied Jai Ram Thakur while submitting the memorandum to the Governor.

–IANS

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Jammu, Dec 11 (IANS) J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday assured civil society members in Jammu that the annual ‘Darbar Move’ will be restored to preserve the uniqueness of Jammu.

Speaking to a cross-section of civil society including businessmen, industrialists, lawyers and people connected with other professions, Omar Abdullah said, “Jammu’s uniqueness will not be allowed to diminish. The government will restore Darbar move.”

The six-monthly sojourn of all the top offices of the J&K government between Srinagar and Jammu, a practice started by the Dogra Maharajas of the erstwhile state, was called the ‘Darbar Move’.

In order to save on the huge costs involved in shifting the offices lock, stock and barrel between the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu, the Lt Governor-led administration had dispensed with the practice in 2021.

“Darbar Move is an issue that I fail to understand as to why it was not projected during campaigning for Assembly polls. The issue gained momentum only after the election result, although we mentioned it in our manifesto and meetings,” the CM said.

“We assure you that the Darbar Move will be restored. Jammu has its own importance and we will not allow its uniqueness to diminish,” Omar told reporters after chairing over three-hour long meeting with representatives of civil society at his official residence.

Omar, alluding to the decision to cancel the Darbar Move, said the government takes its own decision which does impact the public.

“After a decision, whether its impact is right or wrong, there is a need to get feedback. Sometimes it becomes difficult to get the right feedback within the government system because you are mostly surrounded by people who only praise you. So when a meeting of civil society takes place like this, mostly the participants come without any agenda and they put forth their feedback and suggestions which turns out to be beneficial,” he added.

“The purpose of this meeting was to get feedback and suggestions as well so that those are implemented,” he said adding that such meetings will be convened twice a year both in Jammu and Srinagar.

–IANS

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Jaipur, Dec 11 (IANS) An accident involving the convoy of Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma occurred at the Akshaya Patra crossing in Jagatpura, Jaipur, which left seven people, including five police officers injured.

The incident took place when a car travelling on the opposite side collided with two vehicles in the Chief Minister’s convoy.

The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) officials told IANS that the rashly driven car coming from the opposite side collided into a Bolero which was part of the Chief Minister’s convoy.

It slightly hit another vehicle too, they added.

The accident has left five police officers injured while those in other private cars were also injured, they said.

The convoy left from the Chief Minister’s residence at 3 p.m., heading to the inauguration of the Sohan Singh Smriti Skill Development Centre, organised by Laghu Udyog Bharati.

At the Akshaya Patra crossing, a car from the opposite direction struck the lead vehicle in the convoy, causing a collision.

Following the accident, CM Sharma immediately moved out of his vehicle to assist the injured.

The Chief Minister personally ensured that the injured persons were taken to nearby hospitals.

Two of the injured are receiving treatment at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, while three others, including police officer Surendra Singh, are admitted to the Jeevan Rekha Hospital.

Surendra Singh remains in critical condition with a head injury and is currently on a ventilator.

The driver of the car, Pawan, is also hospitalised at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, while his companion is admitted to the Sawai Mansingh Hospital, sources said.

The collision caused significant damage to three vehicles, including two government cars and one taxi.

The injured police personnel have been identified as Balwan Singh, Devendra Singh, Assistant Commissioner of Police Amir Hasan, Rajendra, and Surendra.

Eyewitnesses reported that the car from the opposite side first hit the lead vehicle in the convoy with such force that both vehicles veered off the road. The sudden incident caused other vehicles in the convoy to apply brakes abruptly, leading one of the cars to mount the divider.

In light of the incident, CM Sharma cancelled his scheduled programme and stayed with the injured at the hospital to ensure they received proper care.

–IANS

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Bilaspur, Dec 11 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Wednesday launched six schemes, mainly to strengthen the rural economy, and distributed financial assistance at a public meeting here to mark the completion of two years of the Congress government.

To promote natural farming, the Chief Minister introduced ‘Him Bhog Atta’ prepared from maize grown using natural farming practices.

The government procured 398 metric tonnes of maize from 1,506 farmers in 10 districts and transferred Rs 1.20 crore directly to their bank accounts.

With the state offering the highest support price for wheat at Rs 40 per kg and maize at Rs 30 per kg, over 1.98 lakh farmers across 35,000 hectares have been engaged in natural farming.

CM Sukhu launched a scheme to purchase organic compost and vermin compost at Rs 300 per quintal to benefit small farmers and livestock owners.

Payments of Rs 1 lakh were distributed among 100 farmers via direct benefit transfer (DBT). This initiative aims to boost farmers’ incomes, strengthening the rural economy.

The Chief Minister also handed over keys to 16 electric taxi owners under the Rajiv Gandhi Self-Employment Start-up Scheme — 2023. Beneficiaries received a 50 per cent subsidy for purchasing e-taxis with the vehicles leased to government offices for five years.

This scheme ensures a stable monthly income for taxi owners. The government aims to provide around 150 permits to e-taxi owners in the first phase, an official statement said.

CM Sukhu also launched the Indira Gandhi Sukh Shiksha Yojana by disbursing Rs 1.38 crore to the eligible 5,145 beneficiaries and providing them with eligibility certificates. The scheme aims to cover 23,000 children’s education and wellbeing of widows, destitute women, divorced women and disabled parents, offering them financial assistance for their higher education and wellbeing.

Eligible beneficiaries receive Rs 1,000 monthly for children under the age of 18 years and financial aid for higher education expenses.

With an annual budget of Rs 53.21 crore, the scheme aims to prevent child exploitation and provide a supportive environment for vulnerable families.

The Chief Minister also launched the Rs 1,292 crore Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition Project (HP Shiva) to expand horticulture development in seven districts.

The initiative would cover 6,000 hectares, promoting the cultivation of fruits like oranges, guavas, litchi and plums, benefiting over 15,000 farming families directly.

It was expected to produce 1.3 lakh metric tonnes of fruit annually with a market value of Rs 400 crore.

CM Sukhu also flagged off five mobile Ayush healthcare units to serve remote regions, comprising Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti and Chamba districts and the Shillai block of Sirmaur district. Each unit would have an experienced medical team offering Ayurveda, Unani, or homoeopathy treatments based on local needs. This initiative aims to improve healthcare access in underserved areas.

The Chief Minister also extended financial aid of Rs 1.90 crore under the Mukhyamantri Sukh-Ashray Yojana (MMSAY) to 197 beneficiaries in Bilaspur district.

This scheme included a pension for 153 children, housing grants for 17 beneficiaries, marriage and higher education aid for 10 each and vocational training and start-up assistance for three beneficiaries each.

–IANS

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