န Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Offered To Quit As Chief Minister

Kolata, 17 May : Even as a factionalised Left attempts to come to terms with the drubbing in the LS polls, Bengal Newz has learnt that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had indeed offered to resign when the Left leaders met during the state secretariat meeting in Kolkata on Sunday.
Sources confirm that Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee offered to quit as Chief minister of the state and member of the Politburo after the worst showing of the Left in the state in twenty five years. But, soon after Buddhadeb made the offer, senior Left leaders called him to dissuade him from resigning. General Secretary of the CPI (M), Prakash Karat, was one of them.
In fact, many in the Left leaders believe that allowing Buddha to step down will increase the pressure on Prakash Karat also to follow suit.
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Another 374 BDR mutineers arrested
Dhaka, 17 May : Bangladesh Police arrested 374 border guards on Monday from Rajshahi, Chanpainawabganj, Sunamganj, Khagrhachharhi, Cox's Bazaar and Jamalpur on charges of sedition pressed after the BDR mutiny.
Among them, 93 were detained in Rajshahi, 78 from Khagrachharhi, 106 at Cox's Bazaar, 30 from Chapainawabganj, 23 from Sunamganj and 44 from Jamalpur. Earlier, about 1000 BDR troopers were arrested from different sectors and battalions posted in greater Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rangamati, Bandarban, Cox's Bazaar, Feni, Jessore, Kushtia, Khulna, Khagrhachharhi, Satkhira and Bandarban.
The Pilkhana headquarters in Dhaka witnessed a revolt and massacre committed by the rebel BDR men on 25-26 February, which was followed by a number of revolts in other districts outside Dhaka.
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TMC willing to be on board at next UPA government
Trinamool won't bargain for portfolios : D. Trivedi
Kolkata, 17 May : After the electoral drubbing to the ruling Left front in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress Sunday reiterated that it wants early assembly elections held in the state. It also said it was confident that the Congress would have the party ‘on board’ in the new United Progressive Alliance government.

Trinamool Congress leader Dinesh Trivedi told a news channel that the 26 Lok Sabha seats bagged by the Trinamool-Congress-Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) combine, against the Left Front’s poor 15, was a ‘verdict against the Left’. ‘The verdict is against the Left and there is low confidence in the West Bengal government. We will see that assembly elections are conducted earliest in West Bengal as the people have spoken loudly in the general elections about what they want.’
"It is not a game of having power or this ministry or that ministry," he also said. ။ Photo : Reuters

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'71 atrocities : Pakistan rejects BD’s apology demand

Islamabad, 16 May : Pakistan has rejected a demand for an apology for the atrocities committed by its military in the buildup to the 1971 war of liberation that saw the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation, saying bygones should be bygones.
“As far as Pakistan is concerned, this matter stands resolved under the 9 April, 1974, tripartite agreement,” Dawn news paper quoted Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit as saying. Under the 1974 agreement, Pakistan had expressed its regret for the incidents but stopped short of offering a formal apology. In 2002, during a visit to Bangladesh, then president Pervez Musharraf had also expressed Pakistan’s regrets over the 1971 incidents.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, during a meeting with Pakistan High Commissioner Alamgir Bashar Khan Babar in Dhaka earlier this week had said that Pakistan should formally apologise for all the Bangladeshis killed in 1971, share assets and repatriate those Pakistanis who were stranded in Bangladesh. ။ Photo : AP

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Tripura Railway service in trouble
Agartala, 17 May : The railway service in Tripura, inaugurated in October last year, is in trouble. Apart from the disruption of freight train service between Lumding and Agartala by Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) militants, the passenger train service in the state has developed serious snags.
The people of Tripura had responded overwhelmingly to the introduction of railway service last year and adhering to their demand, the NF Railway had introduced a passenger train between Agartala and Dharmanagar. But irregular service has failed to serve the people’s purpose. ။ Photo : Reuters

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Islamist militancy under control

RAB chief said on ATN Bangla
Dhaka, 17 May : Islamist militancy in Bangladesh is under control, RAB director general Khandaker Hassan Mahmud has said in a private TV channel. "We can say very well that the religious militancy is under control. No major occurrence happened in recent times though we heard of many activities of the militant groups," the chief of the elite force said in a programme on ATN Bangla.
His comments came hours after the recovery of huge cache of explosives and grenades after the JMB explosives kingpin Boma Mizan and his wife were quizzed after arrest on Thursday and Friday.
Mahmud believed militancy can be curbed if public became more aware of the threat and more involved. He also hoped that the recently formed national committee on curbing and militancy and terrorism would also play a crucial role. ။ Photo : Nashirul Islam

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PM’s sister calls on Mamata at her Kalighat home Preetam Kaur says, 'Mamata should be minister'
Kolkata, 17 May : A day after her alliance’s spectacular showing in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee had an unexpected visitor Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s sister Preetam Kaur. Preetam Kaur and her husband called on Banerjee at her Kalighat residence and congratulated her on the victory of the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance over the ruling Left Front in West Bengal.
‘It feels great,’ Preetam Kaur said on the victory of the Congress at the centre and the Trinamool-led alliance in the state. ‘I am very happy for my brother. He is doing a lot for the country and he will do a lot for the country in future also,’ she said.
The prime minister’s sister, who is a voter in Banerjee’s Kolkata South constituency, also endorsed the Trinamool Congress chief as minister. ‘I came to meet Mamata and congratulate her. It would be great if she becomes a minister,’ she said. န File Photo