Kolkata, 8 February : On a day when the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down job reservation for Muslims, the West Bengal government on Monday announced 10 percent quota in employment for the community under the OBC category.
The state government declared the quota for the Muslims who were educationally, socially and economically backward in the state. "We have decided to accept the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission and will take steps to implement it," chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told newsmen at the state secretariat without waiting for the Centre's decision on the report.He said like other states there was reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in the state. The government, he said, had begun the process of identifying Muslims who were educationally, socially and economically backward. There was 7 per cent reservation for OBCs in the state. "After identification, we will provide reservation to them under the OBC category," the chief minister said.
Earlier in the day, a Constitution bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down a state law providing 4 per cent reservation in educational institutions and jobs to 15 groups belonging to the Muslim community. န File Photos
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Multi-nation exercise Milan ends successfully in Andaman
ANI, Port Blair, 8 February : The multination naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy at Andaman and Nicobar islands with an aim to build mutual confidence between the navies of the Asia Pacific region successfully concluded with a passage exercise at sea.
The seventh edition of exercise Milan was held within the context of the Indian Navy’s “Look East” policy and naval interactions to this effect. The 2010 edition of the exercise took place from 4-8 February at Port Blair.
ANI, Port Blair, 8 February : The multination naval exercise hosted by the Indian Navy at Andaman and Nicobar islands with an aim to build mutual confidence between the navies of the Asia Pacific region successfully concluded with a passage exercise at sea.
The seventh edition of exercise Milan was held within the context of the Indian Navy’s “Look East” policy and naval interactions to this effect. The 2010 edition of the exercise took place from 4-8 February at Port Blair.
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India to upgrade 2 fighter bases in Andaman Islands
Port Blair, 8 February : With China steadily increasing its foot print in the Indian Ocean Region, India has decided to upgrade two fighter bases in Andaman and Nicobar Islands that will increase its reach in South Asia by more than 1,200 km.Two airstrips at Shibpur in the Andamans and at Campbell Bay in Nicobar Islands will be turned into all weather bases that can support fighter operations. “Two airstrips in the Andaman Nicobar Command are being upgraded from the existing 3,200 feet to12,000 feet to allow all types of aircraft, including fighters,to operate,” Commander-in-Chief of Andaman Nicobar Command Vice-Admiral D K Joshi said.
Since fighter aircraft already operate from Port Blair Naval base and Car Nicobar Air Force base, the upgraded air bases will significantly increase India’s reach in the region and give the tri-services command at Andaman Nicobar more options to deploy aircraft.
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Conjoined twins successfully separated in Bangladesh
Xinhua, Dhaka, 8 February : A team of 24 surgeons and nurses successfully separated a pair of conjoined female infants in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka who were joined at their lower chest.
Head of Surgery of Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, AR Khan, led more than a two-hour long surgery from 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. local time to separate the twins. READ FULL STORY
Xinhua, Dhaka, 8 February : A team of 24 surgeons and nurses successfully separated a pair of conjoined female infants in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka who were joined at their lower chest.
Head of Surgery of Dhaka Shishu (Children) Hospital, AR Khan, led more than a two-hour long surgery from 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. local time to separate the twins. READ FULL STORY
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Pranab Mukherjee comes in defence of Shah Rukh Khan
Kolkata, 8 February : Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today came in defence of actor Shah Rukh Khan, in the news for his comments on Pakistani players' participation in IPL matches, saying freedom of speech and expression is a fundamental right and nobody can deny it."Freedom of speech and expression in any form is a fundamental right. India is a country where fundamental right is guaranteed by the Constitution. Nobody can tamper with it," Mukherjee told reporters when asked about Shiv Sena's threat to the film actor. The controversy began when Shah Rukh, who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders team in the IPL, questioned the absence of Pakistani players in the third season the hugely popular T20 cricket version.
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SRK's Kolkata Knight Riders jerseys become purple
PTI, Mumbai, Kolkata, 8 February : Shah Rukh Khan’s business is not just about acting. He can change colours when he chooses to. Just as he did with the jerseys of Kolkata Knight Riders.All to shore up merchandise sales. That act might have ruffled a few feathers. Some team sponsors who had started work on team merchandise and posters had to rework the sales pitch. But no one’s acting up.
The decision to go purple onveyed to sponsors a month ago will ultimately lead to higher merchandise sale as most fans will want to sport the new colours of their team. King Khan’s Riders remains the most popular IPL team despite its early exits from the tournament. It has the most number of sponsors as well. The list so far include Nokia, Coca-Cola’s Sprite, energy drink Triple X, Reebok & chewing gum maker Wrigley.
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PM Sheikh Hasina asks Kuwait to import from Bangladesh
BSS, Kuwait City, 8 February : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged Kuwaiti business leaders and entrepreneurs to import world-class products from Bangladesh and make investment in the country’s promising sectors under an attractive package of incentives.
"In fact, there is ample scope for diversifying and increasing our two-way trade. We only need to work together to identify areas of cooperation to harness the existing potential," she told her audience at a luncheon meeting hosted by Kuwait Chamber of Commerce in her honour. The prime minister arrived in Kuwait on Sunday on a three-day state visit to the oil-rich Gulf state with a wide range of matters of bilateral cooperation on her agenda, especially development assistance, investment and labour issues.
BSS, Kuwait City, 8 February : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged Kuwaiti business leaders and entrepreneurs to import world-class products from Bangladesh and make investment in the country’s promising sectors under an attractive package of incentives.
"In fact, there is ample scope for diversifying and increasing our two-way trade. We only need to work together to identify areas of cooperation to harness the existing potential," she told her audience at a luncheon meeting hosted by Kuwait Chamber of Commerce in her honour. The prime minister arrived in Kuwait on Sunday on a three-day state visit to the oil-rich Gulf state with a wide range of matters of bilateral cooperation on her agenda, especially development assistance, investment and labour issues.
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Rs 40 lakh looted from post office in Sonarpur
Sonarpur, 8 February : Six armed miscreants today looted Rs 40 lakh and critically injured two persons during a daring robbery incident at a local post office in South 24-Parganas district.
The incident took place when money was being transferred from the Sonarpur post office to the nearby police station in the morning, police said. When the post master and a policeman tried to put up a resistance, the armed group fired at them and critically injured the duo at the doorstep of the post office. The miscreants, then, decamped with the booty, police said, adding the injured were rushed to a nearby nursing home.
Sonarpur, 8 February : Six armed miscreants today looted Rs 40 lakh and critically injured two persons during a daring robbery incident at a local post office in South 24-Parganas district.
The incident took place when money was being transferred from the Sonarpur post office to the nearby police station in the morning, police said. When the post master and a policeman tried to put up a resistance, the armed group fired at them and critically injured the duo at the doorstep of the post office. The miscreants, then, decamped with the booty, police said, adding the injured were rushed to a nearby nursing home.
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GJM threatens to drive out DM,SP from Darjeeling hill
Kalimpong, Darjeeling, 8 February : After the Centre did not announce the date on political-level talks on Gorkhaland, which it was suppose to announce in the first week of February, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) on Sunday said that it would go for "home rule" by driving out the district magistrate and superintendent of police from the Hills if the Centre fails to respond positively to its demands.The announcement was made by GJM president Bimal Gurung at a rally at Kalimpong. Four other rallies were organised at other places in the Darjeeling district where similar announcements were made by other leaders of the outfit. "We received feelers that by 9 February or 10 February, the Centre will inform us about the next date. I will expect that Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will be present in the meeting. And I will also be in that meeting where I will offer a formula which should be acceptable to all," Gurung told the rally.
"But if no positive response comes, we will start home rule in the Hills and as a first step we will drive out both the DM and SP from here," the Morcha chief added. န Photo : Sanjit Mitra
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Elite Santiniketan stays away from rural "Sriniketan Fair"
Santiniketan, 8 February : The Sriniketan Magh Mela near Santiniketan, which had come up on Tagore's concept of an ideal village fair, hardly pulls in any crowd these days.
Santiniketan, 8 February : The Sriniketan Magh Mela near Santiniketan, which had come up on Tagore's concept of an ideal village fair, hardly pulls in any crowd these days. 
Village Reconstruction Centre Director Amit Hazra said, ''Over the years the crowd has dwindled with only village people visiting the fair. People of Santiniketan hardly visit it. It lost its popularity to the Poush Mela in Santiniketan which now attracts a global audience.'' Barely 3 km away from Santiniketan, people of the area, including staff of Viswa-Bharati, which was founded by Gurudev, preferred to stay away due to its non-elite character, he added.The three-day fair concluding today displays a wide range of indigenous items, including tribal artefacts and things of daily use.
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India-Bangladesh CE level meet at Sabroom in S Tripura
Agartala, 8 February : A high level delegation from Bangladesh is scheduled to meet Indian officials at Sabroom in South district of Tripura today.
Officials here said about 6.5 lakh gallon capacity water treatment plant, which was mulled seven years back, could not be implemented due to opposition from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). However, in a recent meeting the Indo-Bangla joint river commission in Delhi agreed to allow Tripura to use the water of river Feni. Despite the decision at diplomatic level, BDR authorities were allegedly obstructing engineers to initiate the work near river Feni, leading to stalling of the project, which compelled Indian authorities to take up the matter with Bangladesh.
Agartala, 8 February : A high level delegation from Bangladesh is scheduled to meet Indian officials at Sabroom in South district of Tripura today.
Officials here said about 6.5 lakh gallon capacity water treatment plant, which was mulled seven years back, could not be implemented due to opposition from the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR). However, in a recent meeting the Indo-Bangla joint river commission in Delhi agreed to allow Tripura to use the water of river Feni. Despite the decision at diplomatic level, BDR authorities were allegedly obstructing engineers to initiate the work near river Feni, leading to stalling of the project, which compelled Indian authorities to take up the matter with Bangladesh.
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Five held in Guwahati, A large cache of explosives seized
Guwahati, 8 February : Five people were arrested and a large cache of explosives, including 500 detonators and gelatin sticks, were seized here.
A police spokesperson said the seizures were made from a private vehicle during a routine road check on the outskirts of Assam's main city Guwahati. "The vehicle was stacked with explosives neatly wrapped in jute sacks with the consignment coming from somewhere in Meghalaya and was marked to someone in Guwahati which we cannot divulge right now as investigations are on," a senior police officer said. The explosives include around 500 detonators, 50 kg of ammonium nitrate, 103 pieces of gelatin rods, over 30 metres of wires and a few packets of pins.
Guwahati, 8 February : Five people were arrested and a large cache of explosives, including 500 detonators and gelatin sticks, were seized here.
A police spokesperson said the seizures were made from a private vehicle during a routine road check on the outskirts of Assam's main city Guwahati. "The vehicle was stacked with explosives neatly wrapped in jute sacks with the consignment coming from somewhere in Meghalaya and was marked to someone in Guwahati which we cannot divulge right now as investigations are on," a senior police officer said. The explosives include around 500 detonators, 50 kg of ammonium nitrate, 103 pieces of gelatin rods, over 30 metres of wires and a few packets of pins.
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SSB organises confidence-building camp in West Bengal
ANI, Siliguri, 8 February : The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) which guards country's border with Nepal, conducted a confidence-building camp here in a bid to increase the interaction with the people and win their confidence.
The four-day camp beginning on Sunday was organised in Thakurgaunge near Nepal border. "We check crime on the border, smuggling, criminal activities and with that we also want to sensitise people about the force. We want to tell them that we are for their security. We want to tell them that we need to work together to fight criminal activities in the state," said A. K Thakur, deputy commandant, 36 battalion of SSB.
ANI, Siliguri, 8 February : The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) which guards country's border with Nepal, conducted a confidence-building camp here in a bid to increase the interaction with the people and win their confidence.
The four-day camp beginning on Sunday was organised in Thakurgaunge near Nepal border. "We check crime on the border, smuggling, criminal activities and with that we also want to sensitise people about the force. We want to tell them that we are for their security. We want to tell them that we need to work together to fight criminal activities in the state," said A. K Thakur, deputy commandant, 36 battalion of SSB.
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