Pm Modi Inaugurates India’s Longest Bogibeel Bridge # Built over the river Brahmaputra in , Bogibeel bridge is being opened 16 years after its construction work started in 2002. The inauguration comes as a mark of respect to late former PM AB Vajpayee.

Prime Minister inaugurated double-decker rail and road bridge on in Bogibeel near in Assam on Tuesday (25 December). The creation of this bridge between Assam and will be safer and more secure. It is India’s longest and second long rail-road bridge in Asia. It has been prepared in 16 years. The 4.94 km long bridge is built on the Brahmaputra river in Dibrugarh of Assam. Due to being close to the Arunachal Pradesh-Chinese border, it is very important from the strategic point of view. The double-decker bridge, the fourth across the Brahmaputra, has two railway lines on the lower deck and a three-lane road on the upper, strong enough to withstand movement of heavy military tanks. The most significant beneficiary will be the Army, whose convoys will now save an estimated three to four hours in their journey from Assam to their posts ner the 4000-km long border Arunachal-China border. According to Defense sources, the biggest feature is that it has been made with the army’s heavy movement in mind. It can also bear the weight of a heavy tank, and if needed, fighter jet can be loaded on it as well. “The Bogibeel bridge project was a part of the 1985 and was sanctioned in 1997-98. The foundation stone of the project was laid by then prime minister HD Deve Gouda on January 22, 1997, and commencement of work on the project was done by on April 21, 2002. In fact, the inauguration of the bridge coincides with the 94th birth anniversary of Vajpayee, who passed away in August this year,” media reported. According to The Indian Express, the project has missed several deadlines and has been a victim of political unwillingness and red tapes despite being granted a national project status in 2007. Changes to bridge design, revisions in the scope of the work and construction technology has resulted in the project’s cost escalating from the initial estimate of Rs 1,767 crore to Rs 5,800 crore — more than threefold. The challenge of building the bridge over a turbulent Brahmaputra river also added to the delay since most of the crucial work of the bridge could only happen during the November to March period. Regular Practice Leads To Growth Of Talent : Dr. Mohan # DPS STAR CONTEST WINNERS AWARDED IN “SPECIAL ASSEMBLY” AT DPS, BOKARO TODAY

Bokaro: A grand assembly was organised today at DPS Bokaro (Senior School Campus) where names of winners of ‘DPS Star Contest’ 2018 which ended yesterday after several days of tough completion were announced and later given away prizes in individual and group competitions of singing, dancing, visual arts and instrumental music. Hundreds of students present at the assembly cheered repeatedly after prize winners of DPS Star (Senior Wing), ‘Meri Ganga Quiz’ and TREFFPUNKT were declared. While addressing the special assembly, Director & Principal, DPS Bokaro, Dr. Hemlata S Mohan stated that the school is committed in the holistic development of the students for which ‘Star Contest’ is another platform provided by the school to give the chance of participation to every individual child according to their choice of interest. Praising the performance of the participants, she advised that continuous effort is the only way to improve and enhance performance. The winners are as follows: DANCE (SOLO) I Khushi Nandan IX/E II Aditi Agarwal IX/D III Ishika Dutta IX/B SONG (VOCAL- SOLO) I Nairiti Vatsa XI/J II Shambhawi Sawarn XII/K III Anmol Yoga VI/E INSTRUMENTAL (SOLO) I Harsh VII/B II Kumar Shivansh Sinha IX/A III Anjdeepta Maan VII/A INSTRUMENTAL (GROUP) I Anshul Kumar Singh & Group X/E II Rohit Verma & Group IX/A III Shubham Bhattacharjee & Group VII/E VISUAL ART (SOLO) I Hiten Raj Singh VIII/B II Aditya Sinha IX/B III Aditya Pal IX/D VISUAL ART (GROUP) I Abhisri Gyan & Group VIII/A II Rounak Harsh & Group IX/E Pragya Thakur & Group VIII/C III Shaurya Yashu & Group IX/D Avinash Singh & Group XI/A

‘एक शाम मो. रफी के नाम’ बोकारो। िफल्म संगीत के प्रख्यात पार्श्वगायक मो. रफी की जयंती पर सोमवार की शाम सेक्टर 12 बी में ‘एक शाम मो. रफी के नाम’ कार्यक्रम का आयोजन िकया गया। कार्यक्रम की शुरुआत गायक अरुण पाठक, रंजू िसंह, रमण कुमार, डॉ राकेश रंजन, अशोक कुमार िसंह, राम शंकर िसंह, अरिवंद, मनन, पूर्णेन्दु कुमार िसंह, दीपक राय, लता िसन्हा, िबट्टुजी द्वारा मो. रफी साहब की तस्वीर पर माल्यार्पण व पुष्पार्चन से हुई। इस मौके पर कलाकारों ने िफल्म संगीत में मो. रफी के अवदान की चर्चा करते हुए उन्हें एक महान पार्श्वगायक व नेकिदल इंसान के रुप में याद िकया। संगीतज्ञ डॉ राकेश रंजन ने कहा िक रफी साहब की गायकी ने िफल्म संगीत को नया आयाम िदया। उनकी गायकी ने िफल्म संगीत को जन-जन में लोकप्िरय बनाया। इस कार्यक्रम में बोकारो के कलाकारों ने रफी साहब के गाए कुछ यादगार गीतों को गाकर उन्हें संगीतमय श्रद्धांजिल दी। अरुण पाठक ने ‘जाने बहार हुस्न तेरा बेिमसाल है…’, ‘ िदल का सूना साज तराना ढूंढे़गा, मुझको मेरे बाद ज़माना ढूंढ़ेगा…’, ‘कैसे कटेगी िजंदगी तेरे बगैर…’, ‘मुझे भूल जाना अगर हो सके…’ व रंजू िसंह के साथ युगलगीत ‘याद में तेरी जाग जाग के हम…’, ‘छुप गए सारे नजारे…’ व ‘वादा करले साजना तेरे िबना मैं न…’ की सुमधुर प्रस्तुित से सबका मन जीत िलया। रमण कुमार ने ‘गुलों के रंग…’ व रंजू िसंह के साथ युगलगीत ‘तेरी िबंिदया रे…’, ‘अजहु न आए बालमा…’ व ‘यूं ही तुम मुझसे बात करती हो…, अशोक कुमार िसंह ने ‘ये रेशमी जुल्फें…’ व ‘तू इस तरह से मेरी िजंदगी में शािमल है…’, राम शंकर िसंह ने ‘अकेले हैं चले आओ…’ व ‘आजकल में ढल गया…’ तथा मनन ने ‘छू लेने दो नाजुक होठों को…’ की सुमधुर प्रस्तुित से रफी साहब को श्रद्धांजिल दी।

Bokaro Girl Wins Second Prize In National Painting Competition # Delhi Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan gives 50 thousand cash award in a glittering function at Delhi

JNS: Bokaro girl Khushi Bharti won the second prize in the National Painting Competition conducted by the Ministry of Power, held at New Delhi on Friday evening. At a grand function at Vigyan Bhavan New Delhi, the Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan gave 50 thousand Rupees cheque to Khushi for being the Runners-up besides felicitating eleven other winners of the competition. Out of 108 participants across the country, 12 paintings were selected and Khushi bagged the second position. She is a student of Class 8 at DPS Bokaro Steel City said, “My Painting depicted Bharat Mata with her hands engaged on harnessing solar energy, wind energy and other sources of renewable energy and also handling the future generation with motherhood and sustainable development.” The competition was held under the national campaign on energy conservation, on 12 December at NTPC, Power Management Institute, Noida where the cadets from all over the nation put in their best to steal attention on their canvas where Khushi excelled and caught the attention of the judges with her exemplary vibrant colours scripted on her canvas thus emerging as Runners-up. The top six winners of the country are Anshika Bhimsariya student of DPS Gavier Surat, Gujrat, Jumon Jhakuria and Aryan Manash Hazarika students of Sanjeebani Kalaniketan, Guwahati, Assam, Avish Ashok Naik, Sarvodya Educational Societies High School, Quepem, Goa, Shubhayush Debnath, Holy Cross School, Tripura, she informed. Earlier Khushi was declared first in Jharkhand state-level competition to qualify for the nationals. With the objective of sensitizing school children towards energy efficiency along with energy conservation in the domestic sector, the topic for the National Level Painting Competition was ‘Let us Rise and have Passion and Save Energy for Self and Nation’ which was organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India. Expressing her joy Dr. Hemlata S Mohan, Director and Principal of DPS, Bokaro remarked, “This is indeed a proud moment for the DPS Family and this success is the result of the holistic education imparted in our school.” She congratulated Khushi on her achievement and wished her best for the future.

Supreme Court Dismisses Petitions On Rafale Deal JNS: An investigation is not needed into the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, the Supreme Court said today,T he Supreme Court on Friday, Dec 14 threw out all petitions seeking a probe into alleged irregularities in the Rafale aircraft deal between the Indian government and France’s Dassault Aviation.

The deal relates to the purchase of 36 fighter aircraft for an estimated Rs 580 billion. “There is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in Rafale deal,” the Court said. Further, the court said the country needs fighter aircraft and that dealing with the pricing details of Rafale fighter jets was not its job. The court said there won’t be any probe into the pricing or the decision-making process. Noting that there was a need for induction of fourth- and fifth-generation fighter aircraft like Rafale in the Indian Air Force fleet, the court questioned why nobody protested the procurement of the jets when the deal was finalised in September 2016. Practically giving a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government in the Rafale deal, the court said: “We find no reasons to interfere in the procurement process for 36 Rafale fighter jets from France.” The court also said that it could not “compel the government to procure 126 or 36 fighter jets” and that it totally depended on the government’s decision. The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph said, “Our country can’t afford to be unprepared in matters of fighter aircrafts… We can’t go into the into the wisdom of purchasing 36 aircraft in place of over 126 aircraft under the last deal.” “We find no reason to intervene in the defence deal”, the CJI said while dismissing the petitions. On the issue of the offset partner, the Supreme Court said there was no substantial evidence of commercial favouritism done to any private entity. The apex court bench said, “We do not find any substantial material on record to show that this is a case of commercial favouritism to any party by the Indian Govt as the option to choose the IOP (Indian Offset Partner) does not vest with the Indian Government.” The court, in its 29-page judgment, said: “Perception of individuals cannot be the basis of a fishing and roving enquiry by this Court, especially in such matters.” The unanimous verdict said the court had also “closely” examined the price details including that of basic aircraft along with escalation costs. It said the government had claimed there was a commercial advantage in the deal for 36 jets and some better terms in deal qua weapons package and maintenance. The bench added: “It is certainly not the job of this court to carry out a comparison of the pricing details in matters like the present”. The court said it was not saying anything more on the question of pricing as the details had to be kept confidential. The bench also said, “It will not be correct for the court to sit as an appellate authority to scrutinise each aspect of the process of acquisition.” On offsets, the court said it was “neither appropriate nor within the experience” of the court “to step into an arena of what is technically feasible”. At the last hearing, the SC had even summoned senior Indian Air Force officials for the hearing that went on for nearly six hours. The government had submitted details of how it decided to buy 36 fighter jets from French defence manufacturer Dassault at Rs. 59,000 crores, to the top court and petitioners who have asked for an investigation into the deal. The pricing details, which the centre said were classified, were also submitted in a sealed cover to the court. During the hearing, the government through its top law officer Attorney General KK Venugopal even questioned the court’s competence to judicially review the aircraft deal and said it was for experts to deal with it. After the bench asked for assistance, senior IAF officials were brought in to answer questions. They told the court that Sukhoi 30s were the latest to be inducted which is a third generation aircraft and added that they do not have fourth or fifth generation aircraft in its fleet. The top court asked if there has been no induction of aircraft since 1985, the officers said “no” At that point, the AG told the court that if “Rafale had been during the Kargil war, we could have avoided huge casualties as the fighter jet is capable of hitting targets from 60 km. The opposition Congress has been accusing massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against Rs 526 crore finalised by the UPA government. The main contention of the petitioners was that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the deal in April 2015, without following the Defence Procurement Procedure. It was argued that the negotiations for the deal started after the PM announced the deal and approval of the Cabinet Committee was obtained almost a year after the announcement. The prices of aircraft were highly inflated in the new deal, and offset guidelines were manipulated to accommodate Anil Ambani firm Reliance Defence, which had no experience in the sector. Four petitions challenging the deal were filed in the apex court – two by lawyers M L Sharma and Vineet Dhanda, one by Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh and the fourth by former union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan. The court had reserved its verdict in the matter on November 14 after hearing extensive arguments. Reliance Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court order on the multi- billion dollar Rafale jet deal, saying it established the falsity of politically motivated allegations against his firm. “I welcome the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court today summarily dismissing all PILs filed on the Rafale contracts, and conclusively establishing the complete falsity of the wild, baseless and politically motivated allegations leveled against Reliance Group and me personally,” Ambani said in a statement. An elated BJP launched an attack on the Congress, especially Rahul Gandhi, for making “false allegations” against PM Narendra Modi. BJP President Amit Shah tweeted: “Truth always triumphs! Court’s judgment on the Rafale deal exposes the campaign of misinformation spearheaded by Congress President for political gains. The court didn’t find anything wrong with the process nor did it find any commercial favouritism in the deal.” He also questioned the “motive” behind the allegations: “… SC held that govt had no role in selecting offset partners & found no merit in the demand for a probe based on the mere perception of individuals. It, therefore, raises obvious questions on the motive of those working to discredit the deal, which is important for India.” Villagers Residing In The Shadow Of Tusker Fear JNS: Amidst naxal fear, rampaging tuskers have become a stern threat to the rural masses residing in the Lugu and Jhumra hillocks in Gomia block of Bokaro district.

On Sunday midnight, a herd of 14 elephants ransacked a hotel running in a cottage at Tillaya village. The rowdy tuskers destroyed roof and later demolished the walls of the hotel, said Raj Kapoor Thakur the owner of the hotel. According to the villagers, the herd of elephant created mayhem since past few months in several villages situated in the in the base areas area of Lugu and Jhumra hills; on time of intervals their attacks continued since from July this year, said Santosh Mahato a local resident. “Fearing with the rowdy elephants, rural people mostly in the hilly and forestry areas are compelled to spend sleepless night whenever we heard about the herd of elephants crossing from our areas including farmland,” he added. In the month of July this year the herd ransacked community centre at Luguburu, The rowdy tuskers also attacked a nearby temple later they demolished the boundary wall of the guest house belongs to Tenughat Thermal Power Station (TTPS), informed Suresh Mahato another villager. “In August, again that herd attacked in Chorgawa and ransacked three houses belong to Parvati Devi, Malti Devi and Ganesh Prasad; destroyed paddy and maize crops,” added Lobin Murmu a villager. The rampaging elephants first ransacked the houses and later they engulfed about 10 quintals of Rice, Mustered, Maize and Kurthi stored in those houses, said another villager. “We are on move to curb the menace of elephants across the region,” said S Bhagat Forest Officer. These are hillocks regions and herd of elephants usually enters into these areas, though we are trying our best,” he added. Notably, about 70 to 100 people are trampled to death every year in Jharkhand by elephants. Every year a herd of rowdy tuskers entered into Jharkhand from Purulia district of West Bengal. “The herd of wild elephants moves in search of country liquor (like Mari or Handia) after getting the scent of it, besides damaging standing crops, vegetables and even huts of poor villagers living near the jungle area,” said a forest official. Though the regions of Kasmar, Jaridih, Peterwar, Gola and Ramghar which also known as the ‘elephant corridor’— the migration root of the elephants in Bokaro district. Regularly elephants enter into these regions of Jharkhand from the Roriya forest the border area of Purulia district of WB and Jharkhand; while in Dhanbad district the elephant herds frequently moved to Dhanbad via Jamtara from the Purulia district of WB too and claimed several lives in the past and destroyed crops, he said. “A shrinking habitat has forced elephants to raid farmlands and villagers have been encroaching upon forest land to build homes, increasing the man-animal conflict in the State, which has also been hit by Maoist militancy,” a forest official said.

Paddy Yield Takes A Dip Due To Deficit Rainfall JMS: The farming community in Bokaro district is in doldrums following the prevailing drought conditions due to rain deficit. During the early monsoon (in June) this year

Farmers rekindled a new hope about the good rainfall during this kharif season and we started paddy cultivation, expecting good rainfall, said Santosh Mahato a farmer of Kasmar village. “But due to shortfall of rain seeds that had germinated got withered after a few days and thus the area of cultivation came down drastically in the district,” he added. The groundwater also came down drastically because of the poor rainfall, which also hit cultivation. Official sources said that the groundwater levels had reduced by more than five meters in the district. “Now our condition is pathetic. Though we are covered under Agriculture Insurance scheme, it could not compensate our loss,” said Anand Rajawar another farmer of Chandaha village of Chandankiyari block. According to an estimate, about 35,000 hectares of land across the district was covered to yield paddy this season expecting copious rainfall. The improved verity of paddy was (sown in) on about 25,000 hectares of land while 10,000 hectares were sown hybrid verity (with Systematic Rice Intensification) system, an official informed. Recently the yield of paddy crop was assessed at Kasmar village under the Prime Minister’s Crop Insurance Scheme; the team found that almost 90 percent of the yields were destroyed due to low rainfall. Survey of loss of paddy cultivation is still on in the villages. The team who surveyed in Kasmar village includes District Cooperative Officer Rakesh Kumar Singh, Assistant Statistical Officer Arun Kumar Kanable, Aditya Kumar, the representative of Bharti AXA Insurance Company, Regional Instructor Jitendra Kumar, Gomti Kumari, Vishnu Charan Mahato, Avadh Kishor, Dharnnath Mahato, Akshay Kumar Mahato including others. Aditya Kumar, the representative of Bharti AXA Insurance Company said, more than 75 percent of the paddy crop was wasted in the absence of rain. “The compensation amount of insurance would be decided on the basis of the yield of paddy crop,” he added. Proposed Iskcon Temple Shifted Over Land Issue In Jharkhand RNS: Owing to some land-related issues, the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has shifted its proposed grand temple of Lord Krishna from Chandankiyari to Pindrajora in Bokaro district of Jharkhand. ISKCON was struggling hard to get land for its proposed temple at Chandankiyari since past couple of years. The alienated attitude of government forced us to shift the temple construction site at Pindrajora, said Jagannath Das in-charge of ISKCON Bokaro. “Here we have acquired land on donations from the local landlords for the temple; construction of boundary wall has been started here,” he added. “Earlier, we have demanded 100 acres of land at Chandankiyari for the purposes but the government has given nod for only11 acres of land in the first phase, on which a temple and a shed for 300 cows,” he said. Despite getting a nod to allot land to us from the Land and Revenue Department in April 2017, we ran from pillar to post to get the land but all went in vain. So, lastly we have decided to shift the construction site, said Das. The land, which was identified for the temple earlier at Chandankiyari was later allotted for the graveyard (kabristan) by the government, sources said. Das informed, with an estimated cost of Rs 35 crore a grand temple of Lord Krishna is very soon to come-up at Pindrajora; “It will be a gateway for pilgrims across the world,” he added. This temple will be commissioned by ISKCON and would be the 27 ISKCON temples; the society will also establish a hospital, school, community hall, marriage hall, small-scale industries and training centres here, he said. “This will give a strong boost to tourism in the state too,” Das added.

Ranchi Gets New Flights To Three Cities # Bokaro to get air connectivity in next 6-8 months

RNS/Ranchi: In a major relief to the people of the State, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry along with the State Government facilitated new flight services to three State Capitals –Raipur, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata on Friday. Alliance Air service flight from Ranchi to Raipur was flagged off by Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha, Chief Minister Raghubar Das, Urban Development Minister CP Singh and Ranchi MP Ram Tahal Choudhary on Friday under the regional connectivity scheme of Central Government, from Birsa Munda International Airport, Ranchi. Alliance Air will commence flight operations between Ranchi and Bhubaneshwar on Saturday, while the flight services between Ranchi and Kolkata began from today itself. The flight will be operated daily and will take off from Ranchi at 03:45 pm and will land at Raipur at 05: 20 pm. In its return journey, it will take off at Raipur at 05:50 pm and will land at Ranch at 07:15 pm. For Ranchi-Kolkata route the flight will take off from Kolkata at 05:50 am and will land at Ranchi at 07:25 am. In its return it will take off at Ranchi 07:45 pm and will land at Kolkata at 09:00 pm. For the Ranchi – Bhubaneswar service the flight will take off from Ranchi at 07:50 am and will land at Bhubaneswar at 08:50 am. In its return journey it will take off from Bhubaneshwar at 02:00 pm and will land at Ranchi at 03:15 pm. Addressing a press conference after the flag off, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha said, “Since 2014, the passenger traffic growth at Ranchi Airport has been grown more than fourfold. The number of passengers has grown from six lakh in 2014 to 27.2 lakh in 2018. The numbers of scheduled flight have increased from 11 per day in 2014 to 27 per day in 2018. New destinations such as Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, and Raipur have been added to Ranchi since 2014. New Airlines such as Alliance Air, Air Asia and Air Vistara have started operations during the last four years.” “In near future, Bokaro Airport will be operational and Bokaro to Kolkata flight will be started in six to eight months,” he added. “The State Government has entered into an agreement with Airport Authority of India (AAI) and DRDO for construction of Deoghar Airport for which foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 25 of this year. The State Government has identified the cities for development of the airport at Dalbhumgarh, Hazaribagh, Daltonganj, Dhanbad, Bokaro and Dumka. It is proposed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the State Government and AAI for establishing a joint venture for construction and operation for these airports. The proposed venture is to be formed with the equity ratio of 51 each to 49 between AAI and the State Government. The obligations and responsibility of the parties will be clearly stipulated under the MoU,” he further said. Informing about future plans, Sinha said, “Under UDAN-1, the route Jamshedpur to Kolkata was offered for bidding and was awarded to Deccan Charters Private Limited. Under UDAAN-2, the route Bokaro to Kolkata was offered for bidding and awarded to Spicejet and Airline Allied Services Limited and the route Bokaro to , Dumka to Kolkata, Dumka to Ranchi were also offered for bidding and awarded to Airline Allied Services Limited.” Dps Bokaro Girl Presents Paper At Oxford University JNS: Shatakshi Sinha of Bokaro brought laurels not only to the State but also the country as she was the only speaker from India to present her papers at the Oxford Symposium at Oxford University UK. She presented her paper on education, law and economics on the topic ‘A critical evaluation of Right to Education Act 2009 and the extent of its success in India’. Shatakshi read her papers on 4 December where besides her 15 other global scholars across the world including Ken Mayhew, Professor Emeritus of education and economics Pembroke College, Oxford University, Walter Mcmohan professor from University of Illinois (USA), Jonathon Glater, University of California, Michael Klein (US), David Alexander Professor at Virginia Tech US, Kai Cui and others read their papers. She is a final year student of National Law University Raipur and specializing in Corporate and Criminal law. She passed out from DPS Bokaro in 2013. Her specific area of interest is corporate finance. She was also a part of the Cartel conference in association with Baker and Mckenzie. Her father CS Sinha is presently working as Executive Director at SAIL in Burnpur.