Dumka, April 29: Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh today frowned upon the state government and demanded greater reliability on the question of funds use after enduring a bumpy ride to a Dumka village, which to his surprise lacked road connectivity. Ramesh, who arrived in Dumka from Calcutta this morning, met self-help groups (SHGs) engaged in tussar silk production at Dhaka village, 30km from the district headquarters, in rebel-hit Shikaripara block.

Ministry of Railways and the Government of Jharkhand on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the pending Railway projects in the State. According to the agreement, the State will provide 50 per cent funds for balance cost of the project. There are 31 railway projects which are being executed on cost sharing basis in various States like Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan.

Ranchi, Jan. 29: Get prepared to pay an extra buck for quenching your thirst with running tap water.. The drinking water and sanitation department has asked the urban development department to revise water supply taxes — recommending a 40 per cent hike — to recover cost of maintenance of pipelines and other operations. Sources said that the water taxes were last revised in 2006.

A report on hunger and malnutrition in 112 districts across nine states of the country has revealed that 42.3 per cent children under the age of five years are underweight, 58.8 per cent are stunted and 11.4 per cent are “wasted”. Releasing the report prepared by Hyderabad-based Naandi Foundation here today, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed malnutrition a “national shame”.

The HUNGaMA (Hunger and Malnutrition) report covered 106 worst-performing districts as per the UNICEF child development index and six best-performing districts across three states.

Organic silk drapes for the classes, affordable and eco-friendly bamboo homes for the masses.
Jharcraft and IIT-Delhi team up to design low-cost bamboo homes for the underprivileged, an initiative that will begin within a week.

IIT-Delhi associate professor (chemical engineering) Dr Sanat Mohanty had an elaborate discussion on this with Jharcraft managing director Dhirendra Kumar in Ranchi on Monday.

Ranchi, Sept. 15: Tata Steel has threatened to abandon a Rs 40,000-crore plan to set up a 12MTPA steel plant in Jharkhand if the state government did not act on its application of a fresh iron ore lease.

Tata Steel vice-president (corporate services) Sanjiv Paul articulated the company’s stand in no uncertain terms today to chief secretary S.K. Choudhury, who was chairing a high-powered committee meeting to review progress of industrial projects for which MoUs had been signed.

Ranchi, Aug. 29: A Comptroller & Auditor General’s report, tabled in the Assembly today, has pulled up the state for poor implementation of a central government scheme for rural roads, pointing to substandard work, fraudulent payments to unscrupulous contractors and serious financial irregularities.

Ranchi, July 31: A reservoir project, which was proposed to provide water to National Thermal Power Corporation’s (NTPC) thermal power plant in Chatra district, has been lying abandoned for two years.

The Garhi reservoir scheme at Uttararhi village in Chatra’s Kamdara block was primarily aimed at providing water to NTPC’s 1,980MW plant. Besides, a hydel power plant had been proposed at the project site to boost power supply for people in the region.

Dumka, Feb.

Dumka, Feb.