30 September 2026
A Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad dismissed a husband's appeal against a Family Court order refusing him a divorce.
He sought divorce on the ground of cruelty under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, saying his wife wanted him to live with her parents in Patna as a gharjamai.
The Court held: "Mere wish of respondent-wife that the appellant-husband should live as Gharjamai will not constitute cruelty."
It upheld the Family Court's finding that he was never compelled to live that way, and held that the wife's visits to her parental home were not a ground for divorce on these facts.
Cruelty, the Court said, must be grave and weighty, more than the ordinary wear and tear of married life.
Bench:
Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Sanjay Prasad
Law:
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Section 13(1)(ia)
Outcome:
Appeal dismissed, divorce refused
Why it matters for exams: Shows how courts read 'cruelty' under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, a frequent law and polity topic.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Gharjamai Gharjamai — A son-in-law who lives with his wife's family.
Cruelty Cruelty (Hindu Marriage Act) — A ground for divorce under Section 13(1)(ia) of the Act.
23 September 2026
Manoj Prasad, Akhil Kumar and Ram Sharma, all judicial officers, were sworn in as judges of the Jharkhand High Court on 23 September 2026.
Chief Justice M.S. Sonak administered the oath of office.
The Supreme Court Collegium had approved their names at its meeting on 10 September, and the Centre then cleared the appointments.
New judges:
Manoj Prasad, Akhil Kumar, Ram Sharma
Oath administered by:
Chief Justice M.S. Sonak
Collegium meeting:
10 September 2026
Why it matters for exams: Appointment of High Court judges (Articles 217 and 219, Collegium system) is a standing polity topic.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Collegium Supreme Court Collegium — The forum of senior judges that recommends names for appointment to the higher judiciary.
18 September 2026
A bench headed by Justice Ananda Sen directed the Ranchi district administration to pause its anti-encroachment drive in the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) area until 31 December.
The Court barred the Deputy Commissioner and the Senior Superintendent of Police from taking coercive action against the settlers until that date.
The settlers were directed to remove the structures themselves within the period.
The Court noted the coming festive season and said administrative action should be deferred.
The land along HEC Bypass Road belongs to HEC and the Railways; the drive had begun the previous Tuesday and was suspended after the order.
Bench headed by:
Justice Ananda Sen
Pause until:
31 December
Land owners:
HEC and the Railways
Why it matters for exams: Shows the High Court's writ power under Article 226 being used to balance eviction with notice and time for residents.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
HEC Heavy Engineering Corporation — A public sector engineering company based in Ranchi.
Background
The e-Committee page for the High Court of Jharkhand states that Ranchi is the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand.
The Jharkhand State Portal's geography section says most of the state lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, which is the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha rivers, whose upper watersheds lie within Jharkhand.
The portal's fact sheet, marked "Data As Per 2011 Census", gives No. of Divisions : 5, No. of Districts : 24, No. of Sub divisions : 38, No. of Blocks : 264 and No. of Villages : 32620.
The same fact sheet gives Population : 32,988,134 and Density of Population : 414 persons / Sq. KM.
It lists the Elephant as State Animal, the Koel as State Bird, Palash as State Flower and Saal as State Tree.
The portal records that forests and woodlands occupy more than 29% of the state, which it says is amongst the highest in India.
Its soil note places red soil mostly in the Damodar valley and the Rajmahal area, and laterite soil in the western part of Ranchi, Palamu, and parts of Santhal Parganas and Singhbhum.
Capital:
Ranchi
Divisions:
5
Districts:
24
Sub divisions:
38
Blocks:
264
Population (fact sheet):
32,988,134
Density of population:
414 persons / Sq. KM
Why it matters for exams: District and division counts, the plateau and the rivers rising on it are the standing geography questions on Jharkhand, and the state portal is the citable source for all of them.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Chota Nagpur Plateau — The plateau on which most of Jharkhand lies and from which the Damodar, Koel, Subarnarekha, Brahmani and Kharkai rise.
Palash Butea Monosperma — The flame-of-the-forest tree, recorded by the state portal as Jharkhand's State Flower.
Background
The Department of Forest, Environment & Climate Change of Jharkhand states that Betla National Park falls in Latehar district of Jharkhand and that it is the only National Park of the State.
The department records that it spreads in 226.33 sq.km. and was notified in 1986, and that Betla National Park is part of core area of Palamau Tiger Reserve.
On the same page the department writes that the total area of the tiger reserve is 1129.93 sq.km and that it is one of the first 9 tiger reserves created in the country at the inception of Project Tiger, and the only one in the state of Jharkhand.
The department's own table gives Palamau wildlife sanctuary area 979.27 sq.km. and the total area of Palamau Tiger Project, Daltonganj as 1306.79 sq.km.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority's profile of tiger reserves lists Palamau in Jharkhand against a protected-area notification year of 1973-74 and a tiger reserve notification year of 2012, with a total area of 1,129.93 sq km, the same total the state department gives.
The department names tigers, leopards, wolves, wild dogs and jungle cats among the predators of the area.
Betla National Park district:
Latehar
Betla National Park area:
226.33 sq.km.
Year notified:
1986
Palamau Tiger Reserve total area:
1129.93 sq.km
Palamau wildlife sanctuary area:
979.27 sq.km.
Place in Project Tiger:
One of the first 9 tiger reserves
Why it matters for exams: The list of the original Project Tiger reserves is asked almost every year, and Palamau is the one from Jharkhand; the examiner's follow-up is usually the district Betla lies in.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Project Tiger — The central programme under which India's tiger reserves were created, Palamau being among the first nine.
NTCA National Tiger Conservation Authority — The statutory body that maintains the official profile of India's tiger reserves.
Background
The institute's own history states that the Indian School of Mines was formally opened on 9th December 1926, by Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India, to address the need for trained manpower related to mining activities in the country, with disciplines of Mining and Applied Geology.
The same account traces the demand back to a resolution of the Indian National Congress in December 1901 calling for a Government College of Mining Engineering in India on the model of the Royal School of Mines in England.
The McPherson Committee formed by the Government of British India submitted its report recommending the establishment of an institution for imparting education in the fields of mining and geology, and the institute records Dr. David Penman as its first founder-principal.
In 1967 it was granted the status of a deemed to be university under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.
The institute records that the long run of Indian School of Mines came to an end when it was awarded the tag of an Indian Institute of Technology on 6th September 2016.
The institute sits at Dhanbad, in the coalfield belt of Jharkhand, and the same history notes that its name had earlier changed to Indian School of Mines when Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics courses began.
Location:
Dhanbad, Jharkhand
Formally opened:
9th December 1926
Opened by:
Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India
Founding disciplines:
Mining and Applied Geology
Deemed university:
1967, under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956
Awarded IIT status:
6th September 2016
Why it matters for exams: Questions on India's older technical institutions turn on three things: where they are, who opened them and when they became IITs; Dhanbad supplies all three from its own record.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Deemed to be university — A status conferred under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, which Dhanbad held from 1967 until it became an IIT.
Background
The institute's own history states that the British established this hospital on 17th May 1918 and that it was initially named the Ranchi European Lunatic Asylum.
It stands at Kanke, on the outskirts of Ranchi, where the institute says two of the major mental hospitals in the country were built in the vicinity of each other a hundred years ago.
The institute describes itself as a premier institution for mental health-related conditions in India and records that it is spread across 211 acres in the city of Ranchi.
It states that there are a total of 17 wards, with seven for male patients, six for female patients, one for children and adolescents, one for addiction psychiatry, a Family Unit and an Emergency Ward.
The institute writes that, unlike other mental hospitals, CIP Ranchi has never been a custodial care facility and has always been an open hospital.
Its history states that the Institute currently functions under the administrative control of the Directorate General of Health Services and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi.
Established:
17th May 1918
Original name:
Ranchi European Lunatic Asylum
Location:
Kanke, Ranchi
Campus:
211 acres
Wards:
17
Administrative control:
Directorate General of Health Services and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Why it matters for exams: Questions on India's mental health institutions ask which of the two Ranchi hospitals is the central institute, and the colonial name is the detail that distinguishes them.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
DGHS Directorate General of Health Services — The technical arm of the Union health ministry under whose administrative control the institute says it functions.
Background
A circuit bench of the Patna High Court was established at Ranchi with effect from 6th March, 1972, under clause 36 of the Patna High Court's Letter Patent. The bench was created to meet the needs of the Adivasi Population of the Chota Nagpur area in the then State of Bihar. The circuit bench was made a Permanent Bench of Patna High Court by Act no. 57 of 1976, with effect from 8th April 1976. The Jharkhand High Court came into existence after reorganization of state of Bihar into Bihar and Jharkhand, on 15th November 2000. The court's mailing address is High Court of Jharkhand, Doranda, Ranchi.
Circuit bench at Ranchi:
With effect from 6th March, 1972
Permanent Bench:
Act no. 57 of 1976, with effect from 8th April 1976
High Court came into existence:
15th November 2000
Seat:
Doranda, Ranchi
Why it matters for exams: The chronology of a High Court — circuit bench, permanent bench, then a separate court — is a standard objective question, and Jharkhand's is one of the clearest three-stage examples.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Circuit bench — A bench that a High Court holds away from its principal seat for part of the year.
Permanent Bench — A bench of a High Court that sits at a fixed place other than the principal seat throughout the year.
Background
The Udhwa lake Bird Sanctuary lies in the Rajmahal Sub-Division of Sahebganj district in the state of Jharkhand. The sanctuary is made up mainly of two large water bodies: Pataura Jheel having an area of 155 ha, and Brahma Jamalpur Jheel, commonly known as Berhale Jheel, having an area of 410 Ha. A total area of 5.65 sq. Km comprising these water bodies was notified as Udhwa Lake Bird Sanctuary by the Government of Bihar in 1991. The Jharkhand forest department's own page on the sanctuary describes it as the only bird sanctuary in eastern India. As per Asian water bird census 2015, the sanctuary supports 1% bio-geographic population of the Black-headed ibis, Purple swamp-hen and Bar-headed goose, and it is also home to vulnerable species of birds like Wooly-necked stork and Lesser adjutant. In the lake 42 different forms of algae and 36 species of aquatic macrophytes have been recorded.
District:
Sahebganj (Rajmahal Sub-Division)
Pataura Jheel:
155 ha
Brahma Jamalpur Jheel:
410 Ha (also called Berhale Jheel)
Notified area:
5.65 sq. Km
Notified by:
Government of Bihar in 1991
Aquatic plants recorded:
36 species of aquatic macrophytes
Why it matters for exams: Jharkhand's protected areas are usually revised only through Betla and Palamau; a wetland sanctuary with named lakes, a notified area and a waterbird census figure is exactly the kind of second-order protected area an examiner picks.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Jheel — A shallow lake or seasonal wetland in the plains of northern and eastern India.
Aquatic macrophyte — A water plant large enough to be seen without a microscope, such as a reed or a floating leaf plant.
Background
The official state portal of the Government of Jharkhand lists four state symbols. The state animal is the Elephant (Elephas Maximus Indicus) and the state bird is the Koel (Eudynamys Scolopaceus). The state flower is Palash (Butea Monosperma) and the state tree is Saal (Shorea Robusta). The same portal records that forests and woodlands occupy more than 29% of the state, which it describes as amongst the highest in India. The name of the state bird is also carried by a river: the portal lists the Chota Nagpur Plateau as the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai, and Subarnarekha rivers, whose upper watersheds lie within Jharkhand.
State animal:
Elephant (Elephas Maximus Indicus)
State bird:
Koel (Eudynamys Scolopaceus)
State flower:
Palash (Butea Monosperma)
State tree:
Saal (Shorea Robusta)
Forests and woodlands:
more than 29% of the state
Why it matters for exams: State symbols are among the most frequently asked single-mark questions, and Jharkhand's set is unusual because the state bird's name is also the name of one of the rivers rising on the Chota Nagpur Plateau.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Palash — A dry-forest tree with scarlet flowers, also called the flame of the forest.
Saal — A hardwood tree that dominates the dry deciduous forests of the Chota Nagpur Plateau.
Background
The Jharkhand government portal says the 28th state of the Indian Union was brought into existence by the Bihar Reorganisation Act on 15 November 2000.
The date is the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda.
Most of the state lies on the Chota Nagpur Plateau, the source of the Koel, Damodar, Brahmani, Kharkai and Subarnarekha rivers.
Forests and woodlands cover more than 29% of the state.
The portal says coal accounts for 32% and copper for 25% of India's total.
Formed:
15 November 2000
Order among states:
28th
Coal share of India:
32%
Copper share of India:
25%
Why it matters for exams: Formation date, parent state and the Act are standard state-profile questions; the Birsa Munda link is a favourite.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Chota Nagpur Plateau Chota Nagpur Plateau — The plateau covering most of Jharkhand, source of several rivers.
Background
The Jharkhand Forest Department calls Parasnath Hill the highest peak in Jharkhand, at 4431 feet above mean sea level.
The Giridih district website gives the highest peak of the range as 1350 metres and places it in Giridih district.
It is a significant pilgrimage site for Jains, who call the hill Sammed Sikhar.
Twenty of the Jain Tirthankaras attained salvation on this hill, and each has a shrine there.
The forest department lists the Parasnath Forest Range as 7035.59 ha in the Giridih East division.
Height (forest department):
4431 feet
Highest point (district site):
1350 metres
Tirthankaras who attained salvation:
Twenty
District:
Giridih
Why it matters for exams: Highest peaks of states and Jain pilgrimage sites are staple geography and culture questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Tirthankara Tirthankara — A teacher who shows the path to liberation in Jainism.