Rajesh Kumar Singh is Assistant Editor, Hindustan Times at the political bureau in Lucknow. Along with covering politics, he covers government departments. He also travels to write human interest and investigative stories.
Articles by Rajesh Kumar Singh
Ancient glory under Naxal shadow
THE REMAINS of thousand-years-old civilization located in Sonebhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli districts might be lost for ever as Naxalite groups have taken control of the mountains and valleys in which the ancient archaeological treasures are buried. In Sonebhadra district alone the team of the State Archaeological Department have carried out exploration in an area of about 1122 revenue villages extended over 2782 square km between 1976 and 1997.
Published on Oct 12, 2006 01:42 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Nepalese women face caste reality
THEY COME from a casteless society. But, now Nepalese women with Indian husbands living in the border districts are having to encounter the vagaries of caste. Why? Because they wish to contest the urban local bodies? election.
Updated on Oct 10, 2006 01:48 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
BSP hopes to ride sympathy wave
WILL KANSHI Ram?s death affect the Bahujan Samaj Party?s fortunes in UP? It will, feel BSP leaders. With Mayawati firmly in the saddle, they hope the party would certainly see a huge upward swing in its popularity graph in the coming election.
Published on Oct 10, 2006 01:40 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
ENGINEERING GFAFT
ENGINEERS POSTED in various departments, corporations and public enterprises in Uttar Pradesh were supposed to use their creativity, technology and scientific knowledge to put the State on the path of development. But these days, engineers are on the run. About 550 engineers posted in various government departments have been suspended. First information reports are being lodged against several of them. This is happening at a time when the Central and the State Governments are pumping thousands of crore of rupees into development of infrastructure facilities, canals, dams and roads.
Published on Oct 08, 2006 12:11 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh
?Lage Raho? parents till polio peters out
WITH POLIOVIRUS crippling altogether 312 children all over the state the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department has planned to modify its communication strategy.
Published on Oct 05, 2006 01:19 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Mosquito turns serial killer
IT SEEMS mosquitoes have declared a war on human beings in Uttar Pradesh? You just name the mosquito-borne disease -- be it Japanese Encephalitis, dengue, chikungunya, kalazar, coxsackie, malaria or filaria -- one or another district is in its grip.
Updated on Oct 07, 2006 05:26 PM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
More BSP leaders may be shown the door
WHILE POLITICAL parties have started gearing up for the Vidhan Sabha election, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati has gone on an expulsion spree.
Published on Sep 24, 2006 01:35 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Quacks outnumber docs in UP
QUACKS ARE the lifeline of health services in Uttar Pradesh. If this has shocked you, here?s why. The Health Department record states that the number of unqualified and unregistered medical practitioners in the State is 32,245 as against 12,383 Provincial Medical Services doctors.
Published on Sep 24, 2006 01:24 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
At last some soul searching
RESISTANCE BY members of the Muslim Community, tired vaccinators fudging immunization data, ineffective vaccines, poor hygienic conditions in several localities and missed children in each immunization round will be on the agenda when the State Health and Family Welfare Department officials meet Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Thursday to discuss why a large number of polio cases have been reported in Uttar Pradesh.
Published on Sep 21, 2006 01:40 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Ample water in canals, but crops dying
AFTER THE monsoon ditched the farmers, now it?s the ?gull? (channel) and ?kolaba? (conduit) of the canals that are adding to their misery. According to Irrigation Department officials, though the State has recorded deficient rainfall, they have sufficient water in the rivers to divert it into the canals for irrigation. Then why are the farmers not utilising the canal water to save their crop? The engineers in the Irrigation Department blame the ?gull? and the ?kolaba? for the piquant situation. ?It?s the duty of the Land Development and Water Resources Department to set up ?gull? and ?kolabas? in the tributaries of the main canal so that the farmers may draw water to their field for irrigation ?, the engineers said.
Published on Sep 16, 2006 11:48 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Agri dept on mission impossible
WITH THE kharif crop virtually gone in the State due to scanty rainfall in August and September, the Agriculture Department officers are now looking for ways to ?make up? for the losses. What they have in mind is an increased rabi output. It is simply another matter that the targets they have set may look far too unreachable.
Published on Sep 15, 2006 01:36 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Honest engineers easy meat for the mafia
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS entrusted to engineers have only made the latter soft targets for the mafia.
Published on Sep 04, 2006 01:20 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Virus alert: Kids in danger zone
DEADLY VIRUSES are making children their victims in a big way this year. One virus is crippling kids in West Uttar Pradesh while another is striking their brain in East Uttar Pradesh.
Published on Sep 03, 2006 01:41 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Caught between two extremes
NATURE HAS served a double blow to Uttar Pradesh ? flood here and drought there. Due to scanty rainfall in August the spectre of drought looms large over two-dozen districts, while half a dozen districts are already reeling under flood.
Published on Sep 02, 2006 01:49 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Drought conditions in UP areas
THE SPECTRE of drought looms large over several districts which have recorded scanty rainfall in August. Already, 10 percent of the crop has been lost in these districts. In view of the situation, the Agriculture Department has sounded an alert.
Published on Aug 25, 2006 01:46 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
JE killer run on in east UP
JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS (JE) continues to wreck havoc with lives in eastern UP. The body count crossed the 100 mark with the death of 14 patients in various districts on Thursday.
Published on Aug 25, 2006 01:32 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
BATTLING POLIO
IN DECEMBER, 2005, the then principal secretary, Family Welfare, had said a mere 29 polio cases were reported in Uttar Pradesh. ?By the end of 2006, we will eliminate the polio virus from Uttar Pradesh,? he said. In the seven months since then, the poliovirus has already crippled 138 children in 19 districts. Officers of the National Polio Surveillance Programme are updating statistics and the number of cases is expected to go up.
Published on Aug 13, 2006 12:10 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh
In poll mode: CPM to roll out ?rath?
THE COMMUNIST Party of India (Marxist) has also joined the ?rath? race. Soon, Left leaders will move out on ?raths? to reach out to the people in various parts of the State.
Published on Aug 10, 2006 01:48 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Needed docs, drugs & dough to fight JE
IT?S BACK to square one on the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) front. Even as 59 children have fallen prey to the disease and another 50 are battling for life in the wards of BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, BRD MC principal OP Singh has shot off a letter to the Secretary Medical Education that there is scarcity of doctors, para-medical staff and fund to purchase life-saving drugs.
Published on Aug 09, 2006 01:44 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
POLL PLOT
THE ISSUE of holding Urban Local Bodies? polls has put the State Government in a Catch?22 situation. While the Samajwadi Party cadre wants the election to be held after the Vidhan Sabha polls, the Allahabad High Court had directed the State Government to complete the process by May. After the deadline set by the court expired, a contempt petition seeking action against the government was filed.
Published on Jul 30, 2006 12:02 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh
POLL PLOT
THE ISSUE of holding Urban Local Bodies? polls has put the State Government in a Catch?22 situation. While the Samajwadi Party cadre wants the election to be held after the Vidhan Sabha polls, the Allahabad High Court had directed the State Government to complete the process by May. After the deadline set by the court expired, a contempt petition seeking action against the government was filed.
Published on Jul 30, 2006 12:02 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh
JE cases: Health Dept sounds alarm
AS THE report of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) cases trickled in from Gorakhpur and its adjoining districts, the Health Department has sounded the alarm. Director-general (Medical Health) Dr B Nath said that the Department was all set to tackle the disease and treat the patients. ?The BRD Medical College officials have been directed to arrange extra beds. We will despatch doctors and drugs to Gorakhpur if there is a demand from the local officials,? she said.
Published on Jul 29, 2006 11:16 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
JE cases: Health Dept sounds alarm
AS THE report of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) cases trickled in from Gorakhpur and its adjoining districts, the Health Department has sounded the alarm. Director-general (Medical Health) Dr B Nath said that the Department was all set to tackle the disease and treat the patients. ?The BRD Medical College officials have been directed to arrange extra beds. We will despatch doctors and drugs to Gorakhpur if there is a demand from the local officials,? she said.
Published on Jul 29, 2006 11:16 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
The Lucknow link to 7/11
DOES LUCKNOW have anything to do with 7/11? Of course not, but then it?s getting linked to the serial blasts through one of the suspects. The Gaya police picked up Javed Akram on Thursday and came to know of the role Lucknow played in grooming the suspect.
Published on Jul 23, 2006 01:43 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Gaya
The Lucknow link to 7/11
DOES LUCKNOW have anything to do with 7/11? Of course not, but then it?s getting linked to the serial blasts through one of the suspects. The Gaya police picked up Javed Akram on Thursday and came to know of the role Lucknow played in grooming the suspect.
Published on Jul 23, 2006 01:43 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Gaya
Fathers plan perfect son rise
LIKE FATHER like son, but not in this case. It?s a story of fathers wanting to propel their sons into the political orbit but from a different launch pad. Congress leaders Ammar Rizvi, KN Singh, BJP MLC Surendra Nath Awasthi and former MLA Mahendra Singh might not have much in common but the love for their sons is the unifying trait of these party loyalists.
Published on Jul 16, 2006 01:18 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
LMC poisoning Lucknow, say IIM-L ?sleuths?
ON JUNE 30, when an Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Lucknow team visited various hospitals to check how they were disposing away bio-medical waste, to their amazement the team found that hazardous waste was being dumped into the Gomti. On Saturday, the team that went out to check how the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) was disposing away domestic & bio-medical waste and garbage, it came back shocked again.
Published on Jul 16, 2006 12:13 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh
Plan to rush medical aid in 1 hr
THE UP Disaster Management Authority (UPDMA) says, ?If a person gets medical aid within one hour of a road accident or terrorist attack, his life and limbs will be saved.?
Published on Jul 14, 2006 01:23 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Imposters rule the roost, Health Dept in the red
IMPOSTERS ARE having gala time in the Health Department these days. After grabbing various posts on the basis of forged appointment letters, they are enjoying all facilities including salary and perks as drawn by genuine employees.
Published on Jul 08, 2006 01:26 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow
Drug scam: Many heads likely to roll
MORE HEADS will roll in the Medical Health Department that has been rocked by the drug purchase scam. Economic Offence Wing (EOW) has already started investigation into the irregularities committed in the purchase of drug in 11 districts.
Published on Jul 04, 2006 01:38 AM IST
None | Rajesh Kumar Singh, Lucknow