The “Ranchiwallas” are on the warpath in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.These tribals from Jharkhand’s Chhotanagpur region, 400 of whom were first shipped to the islands by the British way back in 1918 to build roads, are demanding scheduled tribe status with job and education benefits under the C and D categories.They have made it clear they are not seeking full reservation under the A and B categories — free...

Chief minister Arjun Munda has urged bankers and financial institutions to join hands with the state administration to launch a water conservation campaign to prevent a third consecutive drought in Jharkhand next year.Addressing officials of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) today at a meet on the bank’s credit plan for 2011-12, Munda said recurrent droughts had upset the state’s economy. He admitted the farmers were going through...

The new CBI director has promised to speed up investigations into corruption cases being handled by the agency in Jharkhand, including the ones faced by former chief minister Madhu Koda and pending fodder scam cases against RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Soon after assuming charge, the Jharkhand cadre 1974-batch IPS officer Amar Pratap Singh said he would ensure that these corruption cases got more attention. “We will see that investigations and trials...

Studying law can go a long way in helping them fight for their rights, but tribals who make 26 per cent of the state’s population barely seem interested in pursuing the subject. If admission figures at the newly opened National University of Studies and Research in Law are anything to go by, only one tribal student has enrolled for the five-year integrated course on BA (Honours)-LLB (Honours), which offers as many...

Jharkhand embarked on its first panchayat polls in three decades on an encouraging note today, recording an impressive turnout in defiance of a few determined efforts by Maoist groups to disrupt the process at various places. Voters queued up from early morning, helping the state to notch up a poll percentage of 64.7 per cent with chief minister Arjun Munda’s home district of Seraikela-Kharsawan recording the highest turnout of 79 per...