'Claimants are given a 12-digit number linked to their data, and if something goes wrong they can be refused food... Motka Manjhi had been back and forth to the ration shop four or five times, his wife said, but on each occasion he returned empty-handed. His thumbprint, needed to prove his identity, wasn’t registering on the new system.
'The induction of murder accused JMM leader Shashi Bhushan Mehta into the BJP launched high-voltage drama at the BJP headquarters in Ranchi on October 4. Mehta is facing trial in connection with the murder of Suchitra Mehta who was a warden at the school where the now former JMM leader was the director. He is currently out on bail...'
'Three months after the Tabrez Ansari lynching case, which shook the conscience of the nation, Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Jharkhand once again witnessed a case of mob lynching on Sunday, September 22. A differently-abled tribal man was killed and two others were seriously injured when a mob allegedly thrashed them on suspicion of slaughtering a cow, in Khunti district of Jharkhand, police confirmed on Monday.
'The Jharkhand police has dropped murder charges against the 11 people accused of lynching 22-year-old Tabrez Ansari. Ansari was beaten by a mob who apparently thought he was a thief, and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Jai Hanuman’ on June 18 this year. He died days later, in police custody. Reports say that the police have used the final post-mortem report, which says Ansari died of “cardiac arrest”, to drop the murder charge. The chargesheet again the 11 now only includes culpable homicide not amounting to murder...'
'The Jharkhand high court on Friday declined to quash an FIR against four tribals for allegedly ‘seditious’ Facebook posts supporting the Pathalgadi movement of Munda tribal community, according to a report in LiveLaw... The prosecution, arguing that the petitioners had incited hatred and violence, cited Facebook posts by the petitioners which said, “I don’t want your Aaadhar card; My identity is ‘Pathargari'” and “All constitutional steps should be taken so that England, USA and UNs feel compelled to act for the freedom of tribals”.
'The Jharkhand Police have charged 30,000 unnamed people (mostly Adivasis) under several serious sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including sedition, for resorting to ‘Pathalgarhi’ – a tribal tradition of erecting stone slabs to demarcate the area of their villages’ jurisdiction, declaring their autonomy and self-rule in areas under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution.
'India has seen an estimated 56 deaths between 2015-18 of which at least 15 have been in Jharkhand, according to data compiled by the Right to Food Campaign... While Digital India, bullet trains and space missions make news in Delhi, Jharkhand has a different problem — hunger. Starvation, an unfortunate reality of the 21st century, has emerged as a silent killer in the state. But, for the government, there is nothing called starvation deaths...
'A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)- led Jharkhand government approved 16.35 acres of land to Adani Thermal Power Limited for setting up a 1,600 MW power plant in Godda district, local residents and opposition questioned the decision to serve the interests of the Adani Group and vowed to continue their protest against land acquisition. The State Cabinet Coordination department Principal Secretary SKG Rahate said the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Raghuvar Das on Wednesday cleared 16 acres of land to Adani Power at a cost of Rs 58 lakh for a period of 30 years...'
'Aadhaar-based biometric authentication failures continue to deprive the poor ration card holders of their grain entitlements under the public distribution system (PDS). They have to face hassles (often leading to denial of ration) due to the mandatory procedure. Under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), every household below the poverty line is entitled to 5 kgs of grain for each member registered on the card every month at nominal prices (35 kgs per household for Antyodaya cardholders). However, ration has not been distributed in some villages for several months.
'Negligence in maintaining the security of a Jharkhand government web system has resulted in the leaking of personal information and Aadhaar numbers of nearly 1,66,000 government employees in India, TechCrunch reported on Friday. A web system that was used to record employee attendance was left without a password since 2014, exposing Aadhaar numbers, names, job titles and phone numbers of Jharkhand government workers on the Internet, claimed the report.
