International Women's Day : Real Celebration Of Womanhood

Jhulan Goswami : Speeding up to the top
Bengal's Jhulan is the fastest woman bowler in the world
Kolkata, 8 March : Hurling the cricket ball at 115 to 120 kmph, Jhulan Goswami is the fastest woman bowler in the world. Her speed certainly does not compare with the Lees and Akhtars. But her endeavour to make it to the top of Indian and world cricket has meant that at 25 she is captain of the Indian women’s team.

For Goswami, the struggle has been not so much about breaking into the Indian team; her problems began when she decided to play cricket. In the small village called Chakdah, about 60 km from Kolkata, all that was expected from Goswami was that she cook, do household chores and study. But in 1997, when, on a school outing, the 14-year-old schoolgirl watched a cricket match, she knew this was what she wanted to do all her life. She tried learning to bowl by playing tennis ball cricket with the neighbourhood boys. “But I used to bowl too slow for their comfort and soon they stopped playing with me,” Goswami recalls. “So I decided to be a fast bowler.”
Today, she stands 5’11” tall and looks every bit a fast bowler. And on the eve of the team’s departure for Australia for the ICC World Cup, she declares, “I really want to win this World Cup.” And yesterday Indian bowlers displayed brilliant performance to beat an over-powered Pakistan in the first match of the Women's World Cup at Oval in Australia on Saturday. India beat archrivals Pakistan by 10 wickets.

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Rang De Basanti to be screened at SAARC film fest

PTI,Dubai, 8 March : Bollywood director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's "Rang De Basanti" and Pakistani movie "Khuda Ke Liye" directed by Shoaib Mansoor will be the star attractions at the ongoing SAARC Film Festival in Abu Dhabi.
The festival will also feature a film from Bangladesh "AHA", "Caravan" from Nepal and Sri Lankan movie "Nisalgira" and "Samanala Thatu". All the movies to be screened during the fest will be subtitled in English and Arabic.
The five-day-event, which started on Saturday has been organised by the embassies of the SAARC nations : India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in UAE.
Being organised in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH), this is going to be the first South Asian regional film festival to be hosted in the country. It will culminate on 11 March.
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Mysterious disease affects potato cultivation in WB

Singur, 8 March : Potato cultivators in Hooghly district of West Bengal are facing a crisis with the outbreak of a mysterious disease. Farmers in Singur, which had caught the global limelight over agricultural land acquisition for the Tata's proposed Nano factory, are worrying about their uncertain future.
The farmers are very nervous. If the crops are good, they find surplus production on hand with no avenues for marketing. If the crops are poor, they do not have any other alternative to sustain their livelihoods. The farmers have already lost a major part of their crop due to the unknown disease. Many farmers are contemplating suicide as they find it difficult to go through this.
Sukumar Samanta, President of Singur Ratanpur Aalu Baybsai Samity told Bengal Newz, about 13-14 lakh tons of potato was expected in comparison to last year's potato cultivation of over 21 lakh tons.
"This year compared to the usual potato cultivation in Hooghly district, 5000 hectares less have been planted with potato. This year's winter was not favourable for the crop. Last year, the yield was about 21 lakh tons. This year it will be only about 13-14.5 lakh tons," Samanta said.
The disease has affected 35 percent of the crops. Production would only be about 65 percent in comparison to last year.

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FBI team arrives today: Dipu Moni

Dhaka, 8 March : An FBI team will arrive in Bangladesh on Sunday, to assist in the BDR mutiny probe, said Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni. She said a team from UK's Scotland Yard was also expected "soon".
"Responding to our requests for assistance, an advance team of the FBI will arrive today," Dipu Moni told journalists at her office. They will assist the investigation into the incidents that took place in Peelkhana on 25-26 February.
She said the 'advance team' would arrive from Delhi. Dipu Moni said the US agency would set its terms of reference working with the local investigation team. The length of their stay will depend upon their work, said the minister.
The Bangladesh government sought help from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the UK's Scotland Yard in the immediate aftermath of the Peelkhana mutiny.