Former Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren critical, on ventilator: Sources

Former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren is currently on ventilator support and in critical condition, sources said on Saturday.

He has been admitted to the Sri Ganga Ram Hospital in the national capital for over a month, having been hospitalised in the last week of June with a kidney-related issue.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Education Minister Ramdas Soren was airlifted to the Apollo Hospital in Delhi after suffering a brain stroke, sources said.

He is currently at the airport and is expected to arrive shortly.

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Shibu (81) has been receiving regular treatment at the hospital for an extended period. “He was admitted here recently, so we came to see him. His health issues are currently being examined,” Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said on June 24 when his father was admitted.

Shibu Soren has been the leader of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for the past 38 years and is recognised as the party’s founding patron.

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Illegal construction surges on Yamuna floodplains despite court orders

Despite multiple court orders banning any form of construction or dumping, illegal activities continue unabated across the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi. Permanent structures are being erected, demolition and construction waste is being dumped indiscriminately, and heaps of silt and garbage are accumulating — all under the gaze of an administration that environmentalists describe as wilfully apathetic.

The South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP), a water advocacy group and think tank, has written to Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, and other concerned officials, seeking immediate intervention to stop these activities, which it says pose a serious ecological threat.