Special EFR IG Benoy Chakraborty attacks West Bengal govt

PTI, Midnapore, 20 February : A senior official of Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR), whose 24 personnel were killed by Maoists in West Midnapore district, today accused charged the West Bengal government with "misusing and utterly ignoring" the force. Special EFR IG Benoy Chakraborty accused the district police chief Manoj Verma of being "fully responsible" for the incident which took place on 15 February.
"The Silda camp was most unprofessionally set up at a crowded place making it extremely difficult for the EFR jawans to function," Chakraborty told mediapersons at Salua camp. He charged that "over the years, the basic needs of EFR personnel were overlooked and hey were inhumanly treated by the authorities".
Chakraborty said there was "total lack of security at the EFR camp and the jawans were subjected to negligence by the authorities." There was no visit by the authorities to camps like the one at Silda, he alleged adding "no sympathy was shown to the EFR jawans and rather their role was criticised during the Maoist attack at the camp. န Photo : PTI

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Kolkata Fashion Week postponed after sponsor backs out

PTI, Kolkata, 20 February : Just four days before the extravaganza was to begin, the Kolkata Fashion and Lifestyle Week (KFLW) was postponed after its main sponsor backed out. "Our main sponsor, whose name we are scheduled to announce soon, has backed out of the event.
Due to this we are postponing the event for a later date," Yudhajit Dutta, organiser of the event, told PTI. The five-day KFLW was scheduled to begin from 24 February with big names like Manish Malhotra, Narendra Kumar, J J Valaya, Rocky S, Zubair Kirmania, Satya Paul and others. Fresh dates for the event are yet to be announced.
"We cannot say anything now. But we are in no mood to call off this event as it would be a great loss for the fashion fraternity in the city," Dutta said.

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Amar "Ekushey" tomorrow...
Dhaka, 20 February : The Bengal pays tribute to the language martyrs today from midnight by placing wreaths at Shaheed Minars across the country.

The Central Shaheed Minar has put on a decorative look to mark 21 February, the International Mother Language Day. Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will place wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar soon after the zero hour. The speaker and a representative group of AL leaders will place wreaths after the premier. Social, cultural, academic and professional bodies and individuals will also pay homage to the martyrs at the venue. Different organisations will hold programmes marking the day of 1952 Language Movement.
Multi-layer security arrangements have been made in and around the Shaheed Minar for peaceful observance of the day. About 8000 police and Rapid Action Battalion personnel will be deployed at the main venue of the programme.
Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar, Safiur and other brave sons of the nation sacrificed their lives on this day in 1952 to establish Bangla as the state language of the then Pakistan. Since then the day has been observed as the Language Martyrs' Day. In 2000, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) declared the day as the International Mother Language Day.
A 39-member team of India-Bangladesh-Pakistan People's Forum led by Disaster Management Minister of West Bengal Dr Mortuza Hossain arrived in Bangladesh to pay tribute to the language martyrs. န Photos : Mustafiz Mamun, Nashirul Islam

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Home Minister Chidambaram's offer nothing new : Yechury
Howrah, 20 February : CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury today said there was "nothing new" in Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's latest offer for talks with Maoists if they abjure violence for 72 hours.
"We have been telling the Maoists for several years to give up violence and join the mainstream. Shun violence and go to the people, is what we have told them several times," Yechury told reporters here after delivering a memorial lecture. When asked by reporters whether West Bengal Government was to be blamed for the Maoist attack on the EFR camp at Silda, Yechury evaded by saying "an inquiry is on".

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Local college boys had hand in Silda Maoist attack : CID

Kolkata, 20 February : Nisith and Sishir Hembram, students of a local college, were reportedly involved in Monday’s Maoist attack on the Eastern Frontier Rifles camp that resulted in the death of 25 people.
The West Bengal Police’s Criminal Investigation Department has drawn up a list of 15 Maoists of the Lalgarh area in West Midnapore, for allegedly carrying out the attack. The list includes a woman, Raimoni Soren, who had also allegedly taken part in the Silda attack. “They (the Hembrams) are brothers and are undergraduate students,” claimed a CID official on condition of anonymity. He said one of their classmates had identified them at the spot. The brothers came from Orma, about 25 km away from Silda.
In October 2009, another teenager, Saonta, reportedly took part in the attack on a police station at Sankrail, also in West Midnapore district, and abduction of station chief Atindranath Datta.

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Build Bangladesh as knowledge-based, non-communal BD

UNB, Dhaka, 20 February : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday urged people of all strata to build Bangladesh as a knowledge-based, liberal and non-communal country free from prejudice imbibed with the spirit of the language movement.
She also called upon the country’s artists, poets, writers and other intellectuals to further advance Bangla language and literatures in the world arena by working unitedly. The prime minister made the call while addressing the award giving ceremony of Ekushey Padak ’2010 at the city’s Osmani Auditorium Saturday morning. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her address paid rich tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all language martyrs including Barkat, Jabbar, Rafique and Salam. She expressed the hope that the non-communal spirit of the Bengali nation will continue to defeat the evil activities like militancy and extremism.
Hasina said that 21st February is no longer an auspicious occasion only for the Bengali nation. Now people of all languages observe the day as the International Mother Language Day.

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Following distinguished personalities received the prestigious 'Ekushey Padak'
Dr Golam Moula (language movement-posthumous), poet Mohammad Rafique (literature), Sayeed Ahmad (literature-playwright, posthumous), Helena Khan (literature), Dr Muntasir Mamun (research), ASHK Sadek (social personality, posthumous), Sangharaj Jyotipal Mahathero (social personality, posthumous), AKM Hanif alias Hanif Sangket (social personality), Partha Pratim Majumder (mime artist), Nasir Uddin Yusuf Bacchu (theatre), AKM Abdur Rauf (fine arts-posthumous), Imdad Hossan (fine arts), Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul (lyricist-music), Laila Hasan (artist- dance) and Mohammad Alam (photojournalist-posthumous).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over a medal, a certificate and cheque of Tk 100,000 to each award winner at the function.

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Tribal leaders name 5 dead, Bangladesh army opened fire

Khagrachhari, Dhaka, Kolkata, 20 February : Local leaders say at least five tribal men were killed as army opened fire on indigenous people during clashes at Baghaichhari, Rangamati, on Saturday.

A senior local council leader named the five killed in the reported army gunfire, while a regional rights group also said the army had gunned down at least three tribals. Bangladesh army would not officially confirm or deny the reports. A local army officer, wishing not to be named, confirmed the death of one person "in clashes", while an army spokesman in Dhaka said he had no knowledge of the incidents in the hill tracts.
The director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights, Suhas Chakma, could name two of the alleged victims in a statement released from New Delhi on Saturday. The Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) sought the intervention of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and called for "taking appropriate actions". Suhas Chakma, the director the Centre, gave more details in his statement emailed to Bengal Newz.
Baghaichhari Upazila chairman Sudarshan Chakma named the dead: Shantashil Chakma (27), Natun Joy Chakma (32), Lakkhi Bijoy Chakma (40), Litan Chakma (25) and Bhuddhapati Chakma (36).

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Food supply badly affected as truckers fear Maoists attack
Midnapore, 20 February : The recent incident of Maoists’ atrocities has created a fear factor not just among the local residents but the ordinary lorry drivers too.
Transport services have been badly affected due to Maoist activities in West Midnapore District. Fully loaded trucks, from Bihar, Orissa, Jharkhand have stopped their service due to Maoists’ terror in the border zone of the states, it is linked to Midnapore District roads.

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Endangered Bison population on the rise at TWS in Tripura

Agartala, 20 February : The population of the endangered bison is increasing in the Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary, the only national park for conservation of the animal in the northeast. Even though no census of bison has been undertaken in the sanctuary since 2005, the number of the animals is increasing as evident from many young calves being spotted by forest department officials.
"The calves were found ambling in the deep forests in the Chipathar area, considered to be the core area of the sanctuary for rearing bison," Wildlife Warden of the sanctuary, Manoj Kumar Majumder, said. The forest department now plans to conduct a fresh census of the animal in the sanctuary to find out the exact number of bisons, cobras and other animals like the precious spectacle monkey and hornbills.
Majumder said recently six lightning conductors had been installed in the sanctuary to save the bisons from being electrocuted. Last June, five gaurs (bisons), locally known as gaba, had died when lightning struck them.

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