Kolkata, 23 June : CPI (Maoist) spokesperson Gaur Chakraborty was picked up for questioning in central Kolkata this evening just after talking with Bengal Newz over telephone."Chakraborty was detained while leaving a 'Channel 10' Tv office at Park Street after giving an interview," Deputy Commissioner (Detective Department) in-charge of Headquarters, Jawed Shamim, said. Asked whether Chakraborty has been arrested, Shamim said "No, at present he has only been detained for interrogation."
A resident of Madanpur in Nadia district, Chakraborty acted as the spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) which was banned by the Centre yesterday.
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Maoists ready for talks, Call for ceasefireKolkata, Lalgarh, 23 June : Facing offensive from security forces at Lalgarh, Maoists on Tuesday said they were ready for talks with the Centre and the state government, but demanded ceasefire as a pre-condition for the negotiations.
"We are ready for talks with the Centre and West Bengal government if the intellectuals, who visited the troubled Lalgarh area last Sunday, arrange for a meeting," CPI(Maoist) leader Sagar said in a press statement.However, this Maoist leader said the meeting could be possible only if the central para-military forces were withdrawn immediately from Lalgarh and a ceasefire is declared by the state police, outfit's spokesman Gour Chakraborty told Bengal Newz over telephone. Gour Babu said they were putting these conditions to create an atmosphere of peace before the talks could take place.
A delegation of Kolkata-based intellectuals, has urged both Maoists and the security forces to exercise restraint and come to the negotiation table.
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Kolkata police to have specialised anti-terrorist unit
Kolkata, 23 June : The West Bengal government will raise a new specialised force to deal with terrorism in Kolkata, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Tuesday.The crack unit, to be trained by instructors from the army and the Border Security Force (BSF), will be attached to the Kolkata police. "We already have three battalions of a specialised unit "Straco" to deal with terrorist strikes in areas under the state police. Today it was decided to recruit one battalion for the Kolkata police to fight terrorists," Bhattacharjee said after a meeting of the state cabinet.
The specialised force, comprising around one thousand men, will be ready within a year, city police sources said.
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Passenger trains to run again through restive Assam
Agartala,Silchar, 23 June : Passenger train services of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) would resume Wednesday - after nearly two and a half months - on the militancy-hit Lumding-Badarpur rail section which connects southern Assam and three other northeastern states to the rest of the country, officials said Tuesday.
“The NFR would run passenger train services in the Lumding-Silchar (294 km) and Lumding-Agartala (413-km) routes through the militancy-ravaged Lumding-Badarpur (200-km) hill section from Wednesday onwards,” a spokesman of the NFR said.
Agartala,Silchar, 23 June : Passenger train services of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) would resume Wednesday - after nearly two and a half months - on the militancy-hit Lumding-Badarpur rail section which connects southern Assam and three other northeastern states to the rest of the country, officials said Tuesday.
“The NFR would run passenger train services in the Lumding-Silchar (294 km) and Lumding-Agartala (413-km) routes through the militancy-ravaged Lumding-Badarpur (200-km) hill section from Wednesday onwards,” a spokesman of the NFR said.
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BCB axed Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza named new Cricket captainDhaka, 23 June : The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday sacked captain Mohammad Ashraful and replaced him with his deputy Mashrafe Bin Mortaza as they announced a 15-strong national cricket team for the upcoming tour of the West Indies and Zimbabwe.
The BCB decided to relieve Ashraful of his captaincy duties to allow him to focus on his batting. He had been saying that he had no plans to quit the captaincy after the disastrous World Twenty20 campaign in England. Shakib Al Hasan, the world's No.1 allrounder in ODIs, has been named the vice-captain, the BCB announced in a press conference.
"The board wants to sincerely thank Mohammad Ashraful for his contribution as captain," Mohammed Jalal Yunus, the BCB's Media and Communications Committee chairman, said.
The BCB decided to relieve Ashraful of his captaincy duties to allow him to focus on his batting. He had been saying that he had no plans to quit the captaincy after the disastrous World Twenty20 campaign in England. Shakib Al Hasan, the world's No.1 allrounder in ODIs, has been named the vice-captain, the BCB announced in a press conference.
"The board wants to sincerely thank Mohammad Ashraful for his contribution as captain," Mohammed Jalal Yunus, the BCB's Media and Communications Committee chairman, said.
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BBC film on famous Darjeeling Toy Train & its impact
Siliguri, 23 June : For long, Darjeeling has been a celebrated holiday destination and with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), making a documentary on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR), there is reason enough to cheer especially after the Queen of the Hills was written-off as politically-unsound. The documentary would not just feature several aspects of the world-acclaimed railway but highlight its direct bearing on the socio-economic landscape of the region.The documentary project would be directed and produced exclusively by Indians. Informing this, the director of the docu-project Tarun Bharatiya said they had undertaken three projects in all, dealing with the Nilgiri and Kalka-Simla toy train services apart from DHR. “Work on the DHR started in March and is expected to be complete by the end of June. It would be shown first in the United Kingdom,” he said.
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Maoists torched CPI(M) offices, bandh hinders life
Kolkata, 23 June : Suspected Maoists torched offices of West Bengal's ruling CPI(M) as normal life in rebel strongholds continued to be disrupted on Tuesday on the second day of the shutdown against security operations in Lalgarh.
Kolkata, 23 June : Suspected Maoists torched offices of West Bengal's ruling CPI(M) as normal life in rebel strongholds continued to be disrupted on Tuesday on the second day of the shutdown against security operations in Lalgarh. 
Vehicular traffic kept off the streets, shops and markets were closed and people remained indoors in large parts of the three western districts - Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore - where the Maoists have a strong base. In West Midnapore's Jhargram area and Purulia's Burrabazar, suspected guerrillas set afire and ransacked CPI(M) party offices on Monday night.Police and central forces were seen patrolling the roads with mine-protected vehicles in West Midnapore and Bankura districts. The CPI(Maoist) has called for a 48-hour shutdown in West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand demanding that the clampdown by joint forces of the centre and state government in Lalgarh be withdrawn. န Photos : PTI
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Review of B'desh's 8th draft coal policy starts tomorrow amid criticism
Phulbari News, 23 June : The Bangladesh government tomorrow begins the four-day brainstorming workshop at Jamuna Resort in Tangail to review the eighth draft coal policy with the participation of a number of local and expatriate.
Bangladeshi ‘experts’ some of whom have campaigned in favour of open-pit mining. The coal policy was first drafted in 2005 but successive governments failed to finalise it after making changes for seven times in a debate over fixing the mining method and royalty rate. READ MORE
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Phulbari News, 23 June : The Bangladesh government tomorrow begins the four-day brainstorming workshop at Jamuna Resort in Tangail to review the eighth draft coal policy with the participation of a number of local and expatriate.
Bangladeshi ‘experts’ some of whom have campaigned in favour of open-pit mining. The coal policy was first drafted in 2005 but successive governments failed to finalise it after making changes for seven times in a debate over fixing the mining method and royalty rate. READ MORE
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Northeast India witnesses deficit rain, Mercury soars
PTI, Shillong, 23 June : The North-East India is staring at a probable drought this year as temperatures remain high with a severe deficit of rainfall.
Known to experience early and flash floods, the region this time has got scanty rainfall compared to other states of the country, with Meghalaya recording the highest deficit of 75% in the period between 25 May and 19 June. During the first 25 days of the current monsoon season, Nagaland received 60% less than the normal rainfall. Assam recorded 31% deficit rainfall, Arunachal Pradesh 35%, Manipur 38%, Mizoram 36% and Tripura 21%, Meteorological department records said.The Met dept is pinning hopes on the break-monsoon period of July and August when monsoon activity increases in the North-East and decreases in other parts of the country. Last time, the worst deficiency of rain was recorded in 2001 between June and August when several parts of the region reeled under a drought-like situation.
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Pineapple crop hit by scanty rainfall in West Bengal
Jalpaiguri, 23 June : Absence of ample rainfall and in certain places no rains at all has affected the pineapple crop in Jalpaiguri region of WB. Bidhannagar, located around 45 kilometres from Siliguri, which is famous for pineapples is the worst hit. Due to the paucity of rainfall, almost all the pineapples are either deformed or smaller in size.
“The production of the pineapple is badly affected as there is acute scarcity of rains. There has been no rainfall for the past six to seven months. Because of that the size of the pineapple is not as good as compared to last year. Now there is no demand from outside. We used to export fruits from our farms to Nepal and Bhutan,” said Arun Mondal, Secretary, North Bengal Pineapple Farmers Association, Bidhannagar. “The overall production has gone down by 25 percent,” he added.
Consequently, Nepal and Bhutan, the prominent countries importing pineapples from Bidhannagar are reluctant to purchase the inferior produce.
Jalpaiguri, 23 June : Absence of ample rainfall and in certain places no rains at all has affected the pineapple crop in Jalpaiguri region of WB. Bidhannagar, located around 45 kilometres from Siliguri, which is famous for pineapples is the worst hit. Due to the paucity of rainfall, almost all the pineapples are either deformed or smaller in size.
“The production of the pineapple is badly affected as there is acute scarcity of rains. There has been no rainfall for the past six to seven months. Because of that the size of the pineapple is not as good as compared to last year. Now there is no demand from outside. We used to export fruits from our farms to Nepal and Bhutan,” said Arun Mondal, Secretary, North Bengal Pineapple Farmers Association, Bidhannagar. “The overall production has gone down by 25 percent,” he added.Consequently, Nepal and Bhutan, the prominent countries importing pineapples from Bidhannagar are reluctant to purchase the inferior produce.
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