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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Jay K. Nair elected chairman of Port Blair Municipal Council

Port Blair, 24 September : Jay Kumaran Nair, hailing from ward number two here, has been elected as the Chairman of the Port Blair Municipal Council for the fifth term today.
Nair, led by the BJP and supported by the RJD, won by a margin of four votes, getting 11 votes, whereas his rival K Krishnan, led by DMK and supported by Congress, managed to bag only seven votes. The election was held through voting under the watchful eyes of the Secretary PBMC, C Uday Kumar. Interacting with the mediapersons, Nair after taking over as the chairperson of the Port Blair Municipal Council (PBMC), the lone civic body of the Andaman and Nicobar administration, said he will work for the betterment of the city-dwellers so that they are not deprived of basic facilities in their respective wards.

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Durga Puja festival magic grips all over West Bengal
Kolkata, Howrah, 24 September : Dressed in their best, people from all walks of life hit the streets to visit picturesque pandals (marquees) and pray to Goddess Durga as West Bengali’s biggest festival began across the state Thursday.
The worship of the goddess began with ‘Akal Bodhon’ the time for invoking the goddess, in keeping with the traditions. According to mythology, Lord Rama invoked the goddess in autumn to seek her blessings for killing demon king Ravana. There was all round merriment in the city and suburbs and people stood in long queues in front of the marquees for their turn for darshan of the goddess. “It’s always fun hopping different pandals with family members,” said Rudrendu Banerjee of Howrah. “On Mahashasti, the traffic congestion is generally not much. So we face less hassle when we visit puja pandals on this day,” he said. Politicians, film celebrities and sportspersons had a busy evening as they had to hop from one place to the other inaugurating the pujas. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee seemed in great demand as the star inaugurator.
During the Durga Puja, a large number of puja committees design pandals on various innovative themes. They also illuminate the premises with attractive lighting to woo more people. Photos : PTI and Indrajit Dutta

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Kolkata Metro to run 520 trains on Durga puja days
Eastern Rail to run 11 EMU suburban Puja Specials
Kolkata, 24 September : The Kolkata Metro will run 520 trains during the four-day Durga puja beginning tomorrow to cope with the rush.
The special trains would be run depending on requirement. As many as 43 additional booking counters will be opened for the benefit of the commuters during the festive period, Metro officials said.
Meanwhile, Eastern rail said it will operate a total of 11 EMU suburban puja special trains in the Sealdah division from midnight tonight, while four pairs of such trains will operate on Howrah division during the festival days. The train movement over Circular railway would remain suspended after 4 pm on 28, 29, 30 September and 4, 18, 19 and 20 October due to immersion of Durga, Lakshmi and Kali idols.

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Over 21,900 Durga Puja marquees come up across the Bangladesh
Dhaka, 24 September : Over 21,900 `mandops’ (marquees) have come up across Bangladesh as Thursday began Durga Puja celebrations. The number of marquees was higher than last year, a media report said.
President Zillur Rahman of the Muslim majority nation described Bangladesh as “a bright example of communal harmony” and in a message on the occasion urged that all must work together to “uphold the tradition”. Separated from India in 1947 and from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has had a chequered history of harmony between the majority Muslims and the Hindus, who form roughly 11.2 percent of the population.
“With the ascent of the Mughals, Durga Puja became more of a status symbol those days,” The Daily Star newspaper said Thursday.

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Obama accepts Hasina’s invitation to visit Bangladesh
Dhaka, 24 September : US President Barack Obama has accepted an invitation by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Bangladesh, media reports said Thursday.
Seated next to Obama at a working dinner hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Hasina spoke on Bangladesh’s woes in an era of climate change. The interaction was described as ‘most cordial’ by foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni, The Daily Star said. The dinner was a major event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency reported.
The Obama administration has approved in principle the Hasina government’s initiative for a South Asian forum against terrorism and Dhaka’s bid to hold trial of ‘war criminals’ who killed unarmed civilians during its freedom movement in 1971.
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Textile park planned at Howrah cotton mill premises
Howrah, 24 September : The management of Siddheswari Cotton Mills in Howrah has plans to set up a textile park on its premises. A proposal will be submitted to the Union ministry of textiles within a month. This was announced by Navneet Kumar Dujari, director of the Dujari Group, on Thursday.
The mill is one of the oldest in the state. It was set up in 1942 on 25 acres provided by former chief minister Dr B C Roy. The mill shut its operations in 2000. Five years later, it was taken over by the Dujari Group. Today, the mill employs 200 workers and has five small- and medium-scale units. On Thursday, a programme was organized at the mill where clothes were donated to 150 poor people. Nearly 50 people also donated blood during the day. Among those present was Sultan Ahmed, Union minister of state for tourism.
"We plan to manufacture yarn and dye at the textile park. The park will generate 500 new jobs. We have requested the minister to help us by developing infrastructure. Movement of goods may be possible along the nearby Rupnarayan river. There is also a need to develop road infrastructure around the mill," Dujari said.

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Python rescued from fishing net in Purulia districts
Purulia, 24 September : A 13-feet long python was found trapped in the fishing net in the pond of Panbazar village in Purulia district.
The python weighing around 10 to 12 kilograms was spotted by Alok, a local fisherman who went to the pond to collect the catch for the day. To his horror he saw that an adult python was trapped in the net and somehow he managed to free the snake at the cost of the fishing net. Alok has now demanded a compensation from the forest department as his net was torn and damaged while freeing the reptile. 'We went to pick up our fishing nets and found a snake stuck in it along with other fishes. With a lot of difficulty we managed to remove it and our nets also got damaged. Now we need to be compensated for the loss of our nets,' said Alok.Biswanath Dutta, Divisional Forest Officer, Kagsdabati Range said that plans are afoot to release the python in the jungles, its natural habitat.
Pythons are among the largest snakes in the world. They reach a length of eight to nine metres and have enough muscle power to overcome and swallow an animal as large as a grown up fawn or calf.

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Maoists kill two more CPI(M) leaders near Lalgarh
Midnapore, 24 September : The bodies of two CPI(M) leaders, abducted by suspected Maoists, were recovered on Thursday in a jungle near Lalgarh in West Midnapore district.
The police said Maoists had abducted Nemai Bishayi (60) and Samir Singha Mahapatra (50), CPI(M) local leaders of Harimara village, from a party meeting in the village late Wednesday night. They were missing since then and their bodies were recovered from Harimara jungle this morning, they said. The bodies have been brought to Goaltore police station and later sent for post-mortem.
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Snake boat race held at Rudrasagar Lake in Tripura
Melaghar (Tripura), 24 September : Thousands of men and women participated in a spectacular event of snake boat race held annually at Melaghar village of Tripura on Wednesday.
The event was organised at Rudrasagar Lake by the state Information Affairs and Tourism Department and the fishermen community. Over 50 boats of small and big sizes, including snake boats, participated in the race, which is annually organised during August or September. Thousands of people thronged the watersides of Rudrasagar Lake to witness the spectacle. Organisers say that the tradition of boat race has been followed by their ancestors.
“We wait for this day through out the year because we enjoy on this day a lot. Forgetting about our income for four to five days, we enthusiastically prepare for this event. We start some of the preparation a month before the event,” said Ratan Das, a participant Tourists enjoy the snake boats, whipped by the wind. Photo : Reuters
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One killed, Two hurt in Natore Halti beel boat mishap
Natore, 24 September : One person was killed and two others were injured in a boat accident in Halti beel under Natore Sadar upazila on Wednesday night.
The deceased is Saheb Ali son of Malek Sardar of village Baragacha in Natore town. Some people of Natore town hired a boat from Patul ghat for a recreation journey in the beel area after the Eid festival, witnesses and firefighters said. Suddenly the boat hit an electric pole between Patul and Kholabaria village as the boatman could not see the pole in dark. Struck and hurt, three people on board fell into the beel. Later firefighters and local people rescued and sent them to Natore hospital where the attending doctor declared Saheb Ali dead.
Nine people were killed and 61 others injured in separate road accidents in Sylhet, Tangail, Manikganj, Chittagong and Magura today.
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Malancha Niwas, the residence of Rabindra N Tagore
Agartala, 24 September : Malancha Niwas is the bungalow, near the Kunjaban Palace, where Rabindra Nath Tagore stayed in the year 1919. But now, it is a double storied building.
Earlier it was not a well built place. But then it has been converted into a nice one. This place is situated in Agartala itself. Today this place is a tourist attraction. Like Jorasanko, Darjeeling, Shantiniketan, it is an experience to visit the place where one of the greatest personality of the century lived. The experience of living a moment in the past should not be missed. Rabindra Nath Tagore is one of the greatest poets the worlds has ever produced. He brought honour to the country by winning India’s first Nobel prize for litrature. He is the only person in the world who has composed National anthem for two countries (India and Bangaladesh).
A visit to Malancha Niwas is a good option, there are good city hotels and resorts to stay in Agartala. The city also have an airport hence accessibility will not be a matter of concern. Photo : Tripura Tourism
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