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Masterstroke by Nitish Kumar ahead of Bihar assembly polls, makes THIS BIG announcement for all households, JD(U) chief says...

Masterstroke by Nitish Kumar ahead of Bihar assembly polls, makes THIS BIG announcement for all households, JD(U) chief says...

India.com4 days ago
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
Patna: In a major move ahead of the Bihar Assembly Elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced free power up to 125 units to all domestic consumers in the state. The chief minister made the announcement on the social media, stating that the benefit will reach 1.67 crore households. He also said the free power benefit will be effective from August 1.
'This means that no charges will be levied for 125 units in the bills for July itself,' said Kumar, who also claimed 'we have already been providing cheap electricity to all consumers'. Notably, the longest-serving CM of the state has for long been a votary of 'one nation, one tariff', claiming that under the present circumstances, Bihar was getting electricity from the grid at a high rate. Nitish Kumar Pitches For Promoting Solar Power
In his social media post, the JD(U) supremo also made a strong pitch for promoting solar power in Bihar, stating that an estimated 10,000 MW will be produced in the state through the alternative source of energy in the next three years.
He spoke of 'Kutir Jyoti Yojana', a fully state-funded scheme, which entails the installation of solar panels at public places as well as the rooftops of poor people's houses with their consent.
Kumar's latest move comes in the backdrop of the promise of '200 units of free electricity' by his rival and former deputy Tejashwi Yadav, whose RJD helms the opposition INDIA bloc in the state. Prime Minister Modi to Visit Bihar on July 18:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bihar on Friday when he is scheduled to address a public rally in East Champaran district, besides launching development projects worth over Rs 7,000 crore. The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone, inaugurate and dedicate to the nation development projects catering to Rail, Road, Rural Development, Fisheries, Electronics and Information Technology sectors.
PM Modi will dedicate to the nation multiple rail projects.
He will lay the foundation stone for 4-laning of Ara bypass of NH-319 that connects Ara-Mohania NH-319 and Patna-Buxar NH-922 providing seamless connectivity and reducing travel time.
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the 4-lane Parariya to Mohania section of NH-319, worth over Rs 820 crore, part of NH-319 which connects Ara Town to NH-02 (Golden Quadrilateral) that will improve freight and passenger movement.
PM Modi will inaugurate New Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) facility at Darbhanga
He will inaugurate a series of fisheries development projects sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY). Prime Minister Modi will flag off four new Amrit Bharat trains:
Prime Minister will flag off four new Amrit Bharat trains between Rajendra Nagar Terminal (Patna) to New Delhi, Bapudham Motihari to Delhi (Anand Vihar Terminal), Darbhanga to Lucknow (Gomti Nagar) and Malda Town to Lucknow (Gomti Nagar) via Bhagalpur improving connectivity in the region.
Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for multiple rail projects. Rail projects include development of infrastructure for maintenance of Vande Bharat trains at Patliputra. Automatic signalling on Bhatni-Chhapra Gramin rail line (114 km) to enable streamlined train operations. Upgradation of traction system in Bhatni-Chhapra Gramin section to enable higher train speeds by strengthening the traction system infrastructure and optimising energy efficiency. Darbhanga-Narkatiaganj rail line doubling project worth around Rs 4,080 crore to increase sectional capacity, enable operation of more passenger and freight trains, strengthen connectivity between North Bihar and the rest of the country.
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Twice axed from the CPM Politburo, V S Achuthanandan marched to the beat of his own drum
Twice axed from the CPM Politburo, V S Achuthanandan marched to the beat of his own drum

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Twice axed from the CPM Politburo, V S Achuthanandan marched to the beat of his own drum

With a deeply ingrained habit of taking principled stands and sticking to his guns, V S Achuthanandan remained a rebel throughout his political life, twice getting removed from the CPI(M) Politburo for going against the party line. Achuthanandan died here on Monday at the age of 101. For VS, as the former Kerala Chief Minister was popularly known, the first major defiance of party line came as early as 1962 during the India-China war that divided the Indian Communists. VS was among the Communists jailed in the Thiruvananthapuram Central Prison. His plan to donate blood as well as money earned from the sale of rations from jail to Indian soldiers did not have the party's consent and was construed as helping the government. The party found Achuthanandan's approach anti-Communist, and he was demoted from the central committee to the district secretariat, where he spent a year. In 1988, when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by E K Nayanar explored establishing a nuclear power plant in Kasaragod, the pro-Left Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad stood against the move. VS, despite being the party's state secretary, stood with the Parishad, inviting party censure. Two years later, when CPI(M activists abducted two party councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, the then party general secretary, E M S Namboodiripad, asked Achuthanandan to settle the issue. But for five days, Achuthanandan, then the state secretary, did not move. After consulting Nayanar, the CM, a judicial probe was ordered. Following this, the CPI(M)'s central leadership summoned the entire state secretariat to Delhi, where Achuthanandan was censured. In the last two decades of his active political life, VS faced the party's ire mainly due to intra-party feuds in which he found himself at the opposite end of the leadership. After the CPI(M) state conference in 1998, he was censured for orchestrating the removal of rivals, mainly CITU leaders, from the state committee. For several years, one of his bitter rivals in the party was Pinarayi Vijayan, the current CM. The intense factionalism got so bad in 2007 that the CPI(M) removed VS, the CM at the time, from the Politburo in what is one of the rarest punishments in the party. The leadership also suspended Vijayan. Six months later, both were reinstated, but rebelliousness continued to be irresistible for VS, then in his eighties. In 2009, when the SNC Lavalin corruption scandal hit the CPI(M), VS questioned the party's stand that the case against then state secretary Vijayan was fabricated and politically motivated, and wanted his younger colleague to step down. This again put him on a collision course with the party leadership, and VS was again removed from the Politburo. A member of the party's supreme body since 1980, the veteran leader never managed to get back to it after that. This, however, did not stop Achuthanandan's run-ins with the CPI(M) leadership. In 2012, the party publicly censured him for criticising it following the murder of rebel T P Chandrasekharan by a CPI(M)-backed gang. VS, the Opposition leader at the time, had alleged that the party was involved in the conspiracy behind the murder in May 2012. In October that year, the Central Committee publicly censured VS for attempting to visit Koodankulam to express solidarity with the anti-nuclear plant agitators. The next censure came in 2013 on the eve of his 90th birthday, again for raking up the SNC Lavalin case. In a TV interview, the former CM criticised the party's stand on the issue and for favouring Vijayan. The last time the party cracked the whip on Achuthanandan was in 2017, two years before he retired from active life following a stroke. At the time, the Central Committee pulled him up for repeated violations of party discipline and organisational principles. On several occasions, Achuthanandan's rebellious nature eclipsed the party at crucial moments. When a bypoll to the Neyyattinkara Assembly seat was held on June 1, 2012, VS left the party red-faced by visiting Chandrasekharan's wife. In February 2015, when the party's state conference was in progress in Alappuzha, Achuthanadan walked out in protest against an attack from rival delegates and the party secretariat passing a resolution against him for an anti-party stand.

The Attack On a Bureaucrat in Odisha is a Blow to Sardar Patel's Vision on Civil Service
The Attack On a Bureaucrat in Odisha is a Blow to Sardar Patel's Vision on Civil Service

The Wire

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The Attack On a Bureaucrat in Odisha is a Blow to Sardar Patel's Vision on Civil Service

During Naveen Patnaik's tenure as Chief Minister of Odisha for 25 years, the state administration got streamlined to govern and deliver services to people. Welfare policies got implemented without delay. The best example of such implementation is the scheme called KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation). The scheme provided Rs. 6,000 to each eligible farmer, including agricultural labourers. It was a novel project in India which included in its scope not just the farmers but agricultural labourers as well. Thousands of beneficiaries across the state were receiving the amount and the credit for that was given to the civil servants who worked day and night to deliver the services. A probationary IAS officer used to crack jokes that those going to Odisha were free to handle the projects assigned to them as a tall regional leader knew what to do with the civil service, including officers of the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS). In sharp contrast to the tenure of Patnaik as the CM, Ratnakar Sahoo, an OAS officer was dragged from his office in broad daylight and kicked and punched by some local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of Bhubaneswar. This shocking and murderous treatment of a senior officer of Odisha bureaucracy outraged the state and indeed India as whole. A foundation laid by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel It is well known that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel laid the foundation of the civil service in independent India. Once, when members of the Constituent Assembly/Provisional Parliament made sharp attacks on civil service, Patel famously said, "Do not quarrel with the instruments with which you want to work. It is a bad workman who quarrels with the instrument. Nobody wants to put in work when he is criticised and ridiculed in public." BJP leaders who try to appropriate Patel must be mindful of his vision. Liberal democracy demands public bureaucracy to negotiate between public and the elected political leaders. They are supposed to be neutral and non-partisan in its approach. It is also expected that they will protect constitutional rights of citizens and bring benefits of development to people. Civil servants are professionals. They are recruited through written examination conducted by independent entities, be it UPSC or State Public Service Commissions. These civil servants are trained and aware of rules and regulations of the state. By following the rules, they try to implement the developmental programmes. In the end they are accountable to people for thedelivery of services to them. A bureaucrat is a person who holds to his bureau or chair in his or her official room, but if he or she gets attacked by the goondas of the political leaders controlling the state apparatus then it would strike a death blow to professional bureaucracy. On August 23, 1949, when the Constituent Assembly was discussing Article 320 (corresponding Article 286 in the draft Constitution) dealing with the functions of the Public Service Commissions, Laxminarayan Sahu, a distinguished Member of the Assembly representing Orissa (now Odisha), said, '...we are providing for the formation of a Public Service Commission solely with a view to ensure the smooth and efficient running of our Republican Government'. However, he cautioned by saying that, 'But when a democratic form of Government is established, many political parties dominate the field and they adopt undesirable methods for appointments in the services'. 'We are going to form the Public Service Commission' he said, 'solely with a view that political parties may not be in a position to adopt such methods' and '...no one may be able to suggest that the Services are working under the influence.' That vision articulated by an Odia in 1949 got trampled in Odisha in 2025 when an officer of the state civil service was brutally assaulted in full public view by those belonging to the ruling party, BJP. It is widely reported that Odisha government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi does not allow the civil servants to attend the cabinet meetings. It is standard practice that those heading various departments are supposed to attend those meetings but tragically that practice has been dispensed with. Trust between politicians of the BJP and civil servants is at the lowest level in the state It seems that trust between politicians of the BJP and civil servants is at the lowest level in the state. This can harm the development of the state immeasurably. It is reflected in the behaviour of the politicians vis-à-vis the civil servants. The question is that whether the BJP hooligans could have mustered the courage to beat an incumbent BMC Additional Commissioner belonging to IAS? It deserves a cogent answer. J.P. Das who left the IAS after serving for a few years recalled that till Nandini Satpathy became the chief Minister of Odisha, leaders of political parties in the State used to call IAS officers of Odisha as Sirs or Madams. She tried to change that pattern of treating civil servants as superior to their political bosses. IAS officers used to live in eight roomed quarter with dozens of servants paid by the government and ministers would live in much smaller dwelling units. Such power relationship changed but not to the desired extent. The real work in administration in Odisha is done by the OAS officers who work as subordinate officials of the IAS incumbents. Ajit Triparthy, the former chief Secretary of Odisha once told this author that IAS officials behave like wise old owls in the state by handing over the works to OAS officers who behave like fish in a handful of water. The tragedy inflicted on Sahoo, who belonging to OAS, is a lesson for the entire civil service cadre of the state that BJP leaders acting in partisan manner would not hesitate to unleash violence against them in case their work is not done. Those operating the state machinery must rescue the civil service from such heinous assaults It is heartening that the IAS and OAS Officers' Associations came together to deal with the attack on Sahoo. In addition to the existing provisions, they should demand a special law to protect them in their work places from the assault by intruders affiliated to the ruling party. It is also a welcome sign that in wake of the stand of the OAS officers association that it would go hartal chief minister Majhi called a meeting which resulted in the compromise that the main BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan would be arrested to face legal consequences. This is indicative of the ecosystem of fear and anxiety within which civil servants of Odisha are now working. When the country was embroiled in partition-related violence after independence, Sardar Patel, as stated earlier, had said that no civil servant would give his/her best when mocked at in the public. It is indeed tragic that when we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, the civil service in Odisha is facing attacks and the life and limbs of civil servants are placed in grave peril. Those operating the state machinery must rescue the civil service from such heinous assaults and salvage the state and its people.

Government agrees to 16-hour discussion on Operation Sindoor, Pahalgam terror attack in Lok Sabha next week
Government agrees to 16-hour discussion on Operation Sindoor, Pahalgam terror attack in Lok Sabha next week

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Government agrees to 16-hour discussion on Operation Sindoor, Pahalgam terror attack in Lok Sabha next week

Government on Monday (July 21, 2025) agreed to a 16-hour discussion on Operation Sindoor and Pahalgam terror attack in the Lok Sabha, and it is likely to be taken up next week, even as the opposition insisted that it should start this week itself and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must reply. At the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee, sources said government representatives noted that PM Modi is leaving on a foreign visit this week, and a debate when he is present in the House can be possible only next week. Parliament Monsoon Session Day 1 LIVE updates Opposition members protested that the government's agenda for this week did not mention their demand for a debate on the issue. They said the home minister and the defence minister should also be present. Some Opposition members also called for a debate on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and the situation in Manipur. The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on Monday (July 21, 2025).

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