Gargi Verma

Ram is in our culture. We use his name as greetings. We have Kabirpanthis in the state.... Today in Chhattisgarh, every house, every village has their Ramayana recital and reading sessions, says Bhupesh Baghel.

Work on the temple, which Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wants to be as beautiful as "cities in mythological tales", will begin later in August. The bhoomi poojan took place on December 22.

There are no teachers in front of them. They listen to a couple of voices on the loudspeaker teaching English through Halbi, the tribal language.

The incident, which comes days after the state government launched the Godhan Nyaya Yojana, has triggered strong reactions from the BJP.

Rishu Istam and Ramsingh Alami a.k.a Maata were killed on May 21, following an “encounter” near their village, Pidiyakot.

Her husband – Harish Yalam – complained the stillbirth was the result of hospital staff waiting for the duty doctor to arrive for hours to look at his wife – Lakshmi Yalam. The incident took place on July 13.

Amid rising Covid-19 cases, cabinet ministers and district representatives inaugurated the scheme at various Godhan collection centres in the state. Total collection of cow dung on the first day was 1,994 quintals.

The first part of the list was released on Wednesday night and the remaining appointments were announced on Thursday.

With the Congress having criticised the practice while in opposition in the state, the BJP said the party was trying to quell any chance of dissidence in the ranks, given the developments in Rajasthan.

Godhan Nyay Yojana, under which the state government will purchase cow dung at the rate of Rs 1.50 per kg, is to be launched on July 21.

With a large number of migrants coming back to the state, we are ramping up our tests and testing facility, says TS Singh Deo.

The two senior citizens returned home on Tuesday evening after more than 14 hours in captivity, police said.

Hardev Sinha is a resident of Telinsatti village in Dhamtari district, around 60 km from Raipur. After he suffered an accident last year, his wife Basanti has been the main earning member of the family.

While barricades were set up on different parts of the road, the villagers pushed past them and policemen to reach the collector’s office, where a small delegation was allowed to meet the collector, DFO and other officials.

The poster, with slightly blurry and mostly outdated images, carries all known aliases of 34 senior Maoist leaders and carries the message: “complete secrecy would be maintained for people coming forward with information.”

While in Chhattisgarh the pandemic has forced a shift to virtual classrooms, like elsewhere in the country, the lack of access to data and devices that has hobbled these sessions is particularly acute in a state with the lowest percentage of households with internet facility.

The initiative is part of the 'Godhan Nyay Yojana', announced by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at an online press conference on Thursday. It will commence from 20 July, when 'Hareli', a local festival, is celebrated.

The state environment minister has written to Prakash Javadekar, the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, that the jungles around the coal blocks have been reserved for the Lemru elephant reserve and hence, the coal blocks should be taken off the auction list.

Bastar IG P Sundarraj said Sumitra Chepa (32) will be taken into custody after a quarantine period in her village under Modakpal police station limits. “She has a cough and fever. We have taken her samples and are taking care of her medical needs,” he said.

For the tribal family of paddy farmers from Gidhali village in Charama block in Kanker, there was no hesitation in sending their eldest son for a career in Army.

In Chhattisgarh, more than 2 lakh people have so far returned from cities after lockdown severed their livelihood, and officials expect at least 70,000 more.

In Raigarh district, an adult elephant was electrocuted while in Dhamtari a calf died after being stuck in the mud.

The body of the elephant who died on June 6 was found on June 10 after villagers noticed a foul smell in the forest in Balrampur district. On Saturday, four forest officials in Balrampur were suspended for not being able to monitor the region properly.

"By 5:00 am, the herd started to thin out and we retrieved the body. Post mortem is going on, but the cause of death is not natural, as the animal was healthy. Prima facie, it looks to be a case of poisoning," APCCF Arun Pandey said.