Six feared dead, toll might rise : CP
Kolkata, 23 March : The fire broke out in a multi-stories building called Stephen Court which houses the iconic Flury’s confectionery house and a large music store called Music World and several other offices. Six people are reportedly dead.At least 42 fire tenders have been rushed to the spot with over a 100 firefighters battling the fire. The area has been cordoned off and rescue operations are on. According to reports, the lift of the fifth and sixth floors of the building caught fire. The building is situated close to the Park Hotel.
Commissioner of Kolkata Police Gautam Mohan Chakraborty told reporters at the scene, three leapt to their death from upper floors, three died in hospitals from burns. The toll might rise, WB Fire Services Minister Pratim Chatterjee said. The dead were identified as Sourav Barik and Richa Krishnan who jumped off the building, while Pradip Chokhalia, Vivek Upadhyay and Bikash Agarwala died in hospital, he said.Police and firemen, however, failed to establish contact with the employees of a firm, Microsystems, in the building, Chakraborty said. The blazes on the third and fourth floors were under control, the police chief said. He said three gas cylinders exploded inside the building as the fire raged, while 12 more were recovered. Chatterjee said 22 persons, including a 90-year-old woman, were rescued from the burning building. The cause of the fire has not yet been ascertained. န Photos : AP, Avijit Mondal
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Indian-Indonesian navies carry out patrol in Andaman Sea
New Delhi, 23 March : Indian and Indonesian warships and aircraft have launched joint coordinated patrols in the Andaman Sea to deter piracy, poaching, illegal immigration, armed robberies, smuggling, drug trafficking and the like in the region.
India has deployed INS Guldar, an amphibious warship (medium), INS Trinkat, a fast-attack craft, and a Dornier maritime patrol aircraft for the patrols with Indonesia, with which it shares an International Maritime Boundary of around 300 nautical miles.
New Delhi, 23 March : Indian and Indonesian warships and aircraft have launched joint coordinated patrols in the Andaman Sea to deter piracy, poaching, illegal immigration, armed robberies, smuggling, drug trafficking and the like in the region.
India has deployed INS Guldar, an amphibious warship (medium), INS Trinkat, a fast-attack craft, and a Dornier maritime patrol aircraft for the patrols with Indonesia, with which it shares an International Maritime Boundary of around 300 nautical miles.
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Anti-Charu Majumdar Naxal leader Kanu Sanyal killed self
Siliguri, Kolkata, 23 March : A veteran Naxal leader Kanu Sanyal (78) committed suicide at his home on Tuesday.He was found hanging in his house at Sephtulajote village in Naxalbari on Tuesday. His health was failing since 2009 after he suffered a massive stroke. Sanyal's neighbours fear that the leader killed himself because he was unable to bear with his failing health any longer.
Sanyal believed that peaceful peasant revolution was the axis of change in Indian society, not with the CPI (M-L) founder Charu Majumdar's armed revolutionary way, which were evident of the Naxalbari uprising. So after release from jail in 1977, he founded another so-called Naxalite party and take part in parliamentary electoral system.
His followers are yet come to terms with Sanyal's suicide. They believe that Kanu Sanyal and not Charu Majumdar the architect of the Naxalbari uprising in the late sixties. Sanyal's thesis as he elaborated in his writing 'More on Terai Movement' is that peasants in Naxalbari wanted to establish their right to till on vested lands. It was not a movement to grab state power as Charu Majumdar espoused.
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Myanmar proposes re-drawing sea border with Bangladesh
Dhaka, 23 March : Myanmar has proposed drawing up of a new line to demarcate the maritime boundary with Bangladesh which is currently in talks with its western neighbour India on the sea border issue.
Bangladesh insists on the principle of "equity and equidistance" with its neighbours and has lodged complaints at the UN against both the countries. The new line on the map proposed by Myanmar should be near the "Friendship line" that is an imaginary line down to St Martins Island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal.
Dhaka, 23 March : Myanmar has proposed drawing up of a new line to demarcate the maritime boundary with Bangladesh which is currently in talks with its western neighbour India on the sea border issue.
Bangladesh insists on the principle of "equity and equidistance" with its neighbours and has lodged complaints at the UN against both the countries. The new line on the map proposed by Myanmar should be near the "Friendship line" that is an imaginary line down to St Martins Island in the northeast part of the Bay of Bengal.
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Maoists blow up rail tracks, disrupted Howrah-Mumbai route
UNI, Rourkela, 23 March : Protesting the Centre's plan to launch Operation Green Hunt, Maoists blew up railway tracks in between Birsa and Kukudagate, about 20 kms from here during the wee hours today, disrupting the train services on the Howrah-Mumbai route.Police said the armed Maoists targetted the railway tracks near Asiana colony close to Bisra station and blasted the tracks using landmine at around 0130 hours. Railway sources said three engines of a goods train derailed and at least five bogies were destroyed in the explosion causing major damage to the railway tracks and affecting the movement of trains in the Chhakradharpur division on the Howrah-Mumbai route.
Senior railway officials have rushed to the explosion site along with the Government Railway Protection (GRP) Force to restore both the up and down lines. Restoration work was going on a war footing and the lines are likely to be restored in another six hours, a senior railway official said from the incident site.
Sources said several long distance trains were either controlled or detained at various stations following the explosion on the railway tracks by the Maoists. န Photo : PTI
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Jamaat's ameer Nizami summoned to Chandpur court
UNB, Chandpur, 23 March : Jamaat's Matiur Rahman Nizami and his four party colleagues have been summoned to appear before the chief judicial magistrate court here by 6 May.
Nazir Ahmed Patwari, senior vice-chairman of Bangladesh Islami Front of Chandpur, filed the case accusing them of undermining the holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM) by comparing him with the Jamaat chief as reported in a section of the press. This has hurt the religious sentiment of the Muslims across the country, said the petitioner.
UNB, Chandpur, 23 March : Jamaat's Matiur Rahman Nizami and his four party colleagues have been summoned to appear before the chief judicial magistrate court here by 6 May.
Nazir Ahmed Patwari, senior vice-chairman of Bangladesh Islami Front of Chandpur, filed the case accusing them of undermining the holy Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (SM) by comparing him with the Jamaat chief as reported in a section of the press. This has hurt the religious sentiment of the Muslims across the country, said the petitioner.
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High-rise complexes in Chittagong lack fire safety system
UNB, Chittagong, 23 March : Most high- rise residential and commercial buildings in port city Chittagong are extremely vulnerable to fire hazards, mainly in the absence of fire protection and extinguishing systems apart from emergency escapes, according to officials of the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) department.Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) had allegedly been approving the design and plan of the high-rise apartment buildings and commercial complexes without confirming independent fire fighting systems and emergency exits, a senior engineer of the CDA told the news agency. Regarding the fire safety arrangements of the multi-storied buildings, he lamented that no public agency had ever physically inspected the fire fighting facilities of the tall buildings of both residential and commercial status.
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Bhutan government to start direct flight to NorthEast region
PTI, Guwahati, 23 March : The Bhutan government has cleared the proposal for introducing direct flight between the Himalayan Kingdom and the north eastern region in India.
"The flight services will start very soon after the formalities are completed," Chen Chen Dorji, Vice-president of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI), told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive seminar on "Enhancing Trade Relation between Bhutan and North East India" here today. The country's official airlines, Druk, will soon start the service which will provide direct connection to Guwahati and other NE states, he said.
PTI, Guwahati, 23 March : The Bhutan government has cleared the proposal for introducing direct flight between the Himalayan Kingdom and the north eastern region in India.
"The flight services will start very soon after the formalities are completed," Chen Chen Dorji, Vice-president of the Bhutan Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BCCI), told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive seminar on "Enhancing Trade Relation between Bhutan and North East India" here today. The country's official airlines, Druk, will soon start the service which will provide direct connection to Guwahati and other NE states, he said.
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CPI(M)'s LC secretary shot dead by Maoists in Jhargram
Jhargram, 23 March : A CPI(M) leader was shot dead by Maoists here in West Midnapore district, police said today.
Hemanta Pradhan (45) secretary of the CPI(M)'s local committee at Dhanghori, was forcibly taken out of his house last night by a group of 20-25 armed Maoists and shot dead. His bullet-riddled body was spotted by the police and local villagers this morning near Kuldiha area.
Jhargram, 23 March : A CPI(M) leader was shot dead by Maoists here in West Midnapore district, police said today.
Hemanta Pradhan (45) secretary of the CPI(M)'s local committee at Dhanghori, was forcibly taken out of his house last night by a group of 20-25 armed Maoists and shot dead. His bullet-riddled body was spotted by the police and local villagers this morning near Kuldiha area.
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