PTI, Kolkata, 5 April : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Monday hit back at Union Home Minister P Chidambaram for his comments that the buck stopped at his table on maintaining law and order in the state and asked him to "mind" his language."Buck is the not the language of politicians. It is a slang. I will tell him to mind his language. I had asked him to tell the Opposition to cooperate with the government," Bhattacharjee told reporters in Kolkata. Asked to comment on Chidammbaram's views, the chief minister said, "I do not accept what he said. I know my responsibility. Let me do my job and let him do his," Bhattacharjee said.
Chidambaram had, during a visit to Lalgarh on Sunday, expressed unhappiness over recurring inter-party clashes in the state and said he had told the chief minister "the buck stops with you".
Bhattacharjee said he knows the responsibility lies with him. "I am trying to discharge my responsibilities. I have my own views about the law-and-order situation of the state. He gave me his views and I gave him mine.
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Naxalism is the country's 'first enemy' says P Chidambaram
Would be completely rooted out in another two /three years
PTI, Chennai, 5 April : Describing Naxalism as the country's "first enemy," Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the menace would be completely rooted out in another two or three years.
He said Naxalism has assumed gigantic proportions as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 12 years. "Naxalism is the first enemy of the country," he said addressing a public meeting at suburban Avadi, 45 km from here, late last night.
PTI, Chennai, 5 April : Describing Naxalism as the country's "first enemy," Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the menace would be completely rooted out in another two or three years.
He said Naxalism has assumed gigantic proportions as it had not been dealt with properly in the last 12 years. "Naxalism is the first enemy of the country," he said addressing a public meeting at suburban Avadi, 45 km from here, late last night.
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Speedy Trial Act extended by two yearsDhaka, 5 April : Bangladesh government on Monday decided to extend the term of the Speedy Trial Act by two years for dealing with serious crimes effectively.
The decision came at a regular cabinet meeting at the Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. The cabinet decided to approve the home ministry's proposal for extending the Law and Order Disruption Offence (Speedy Trial) (Amendment) Act 2009, Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said while briefing newsmen after the meeting.
The government would issue an ordinance to extend the duration of the act, as the current session of the parliament is going to end in the day and the next setting will be budget session and there is no schedule session in between to pass the bill, he added.
Earlier on 29 March last year, Home Minister Sahara Khatun placed the speedy trial bill in the parliament, proposing extension of the act's effectiveness. The effectiveness of the act is going to end on 6 April, 2010.
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Gorkha J'mukti Morcha to shut SDO,BDO offices from 7Apr
Darjeeling, Kolkata, 5 April : Gorkha Janamukti Morcha has announced plans to shut down all Sub-Divisional and Block Development offices in Darjeeling hills of West Bengal indefinitely from 7 April in protest against hike in water tax among other issues.
GJM chief Bimal Gurung at a party meeting in Kurseong had said yesterday that movement of vehicles from these offices would also be disrupted. The decision was taken to protest against the hike in water tax and non-payment of dues under Nehru Rojgar Yojana scheme, press and publicity chief of the morcha Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri told Bengal Newz over phone this morning.
Darjeeling, Kolkata, 5 April : Gorkha Janamukti Morcha has announced plans to shut down all Sub-Divisional and Block Development offices in Darjeeling hills of West Bengal indefinitely from 7 April in protest against hike in water tax among other issues.
GJM chief Bimal Gurung at a party meeting in Kurseong had said yesterday that movement of vehicles from these offices would also be disrupted. The decision was taken to protest against the hike in water tax and non-payment of dues under Nehru Rojgar Yojana scheme, press and publicity chief of the morcha Dr Harka Bahadur Chhetri told Bengal Newz over phone this morning.
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Paucity of funds,teachers impacting higher education: CAG
Agartala, 5 April : Allocation of inadequate funds and dearth of teaching staff have impacted higher education in Tripura, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said.In its latest report, the CAG said that an absence of an effective monitoring mechanism also prevented ensuring quality education to students in the northeastern state. 'The University Grants Commission (UGC) has prescribed a norm of 1:20 for teacher-student ratio in general colleges. The number of teachers in position in 15 government colleges in Tripura was only 415 against the sanctioned strength of 661 indicating a teacher-student ratio of 1:63.'
'The combined intake capacity in general and technical education in Tripura was 19,613 in 2008-09 and that was more than the number of students (12,084) passing out at the higher secondary level in that year,' the report said.
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510 Bangladesh Rifles jawans lose job for breaching code
Dhaka, 5 April : Bangladesh Rifles dismissed 510 jawans from service, who were on training in Pilkhana during the February 2009 mutiny, on charge of violating the code of conduct of the paramilitary force.
The authorities were set to publish the names and photographs of the dismissed members at its website on http://www.bdr.gov.bd, Prothom Alo reports.
Dhaka, 5 April : Bangladesh Rifles dismissed 510 jawans from service, who were on training in Pilkhana during the February 2009 mutiny, on charge of violating the code of conduct of the paramilitary force.
The authorities were set to publish the names and photographs of the dismissed members at its website on http://www.bdr.gov.bd, Prothom Alo reports.
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No consensus on women's bill, discussions to continue...
IANS, New Delhi, 5 April : The Indian government on Monday said it would continue discussions on the women's reservation bill, after its meeting with leaders of parties in the Lok Sabha failed to reach a consensus as most opponents stuck to their stated positions.
"Further discussion will continue," the government said in a statement after the nearly two-and-half hour meeting on the contentious bill that provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The statement said leaders of various political parties expressed their views on the Constitution (108th Amendment Bill) 2008 at the meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also leader of the house.
IANS, New Delhi, 5 April : The Indian government on Monday said it would continue discussions on the women's reservation bill, after its meeting with leaders of parties in the Lok Sabha failed to reach a consensus as most opponents stuck to their stated positions.
"Further discussion will continue," the government said in a statement after the nearly two-and-half hour meeting on the contentious bill that provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The statement said leaders of various political parties expressed their views on the Constitution (108th Amendment Bill) 2008 at the meeting chaired by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is also leader of the house.
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Militant camps still exist in Bangladesh : CM Manik Sarkar
Agartala, 5 April : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has said more than 20 militant camps still exist in Bangladesh.
Addressing a public rally here on Sunday, Sarkar said: "Around four years back we noticed a change in the situation; they (militants) have become and have been cornered, but not uprooted. Still today around 20 to 25 camps of Tripura militants exist in Bangladesh and they are trying to increase their strength eyeing the Autonomous District Council poll. On the other side of the border they are waiting for the green signal from their allies on this side.".
Sarkar travelled to Dhaka last week to attend Bangladesh''s Independence and National Day celebrations.
Agartala, 5 April : Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has said more than 20 militant camps still exist in Bangladesh.Addressing a public rally here on Sunday, Sarkar said: "Around four years back we noticed a change in the situation; they (militants) have become and have been cornered, but not uprooted. Still today around 20 to 25 camps of Tripura militants exist in Bangladesh and they are trying to increase their strength eyeing the Autonomous District Council poll. On the other side of the border they are waiting for the green signal from their allies on this side.".
Sarkar travelled to Dhaka last week to attend Bangladesh''s Independence and National Day celebrations.
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India lags in health sector than many countries : Pranab
Kolkata, 5 April : India lags behind in health sector than many developed and underdeveloped nations, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Sunday.
Nearly one million Indians die every year because of inadequate health services, especially in rural areas. The country with a population nearly 1.2 billion, has the highest number of HIV cases along with South Africa and Nigeria.
Kolkata, 5 April : India lags behind in health sector than many developed and underdeveloped nations, Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Sunday.
Nearly one million Indians die every year because of inadequate health services, especially in rural areas. The country with a population nearly 1.2 billion, has the highest number of HIV cases along with South Africa and Nigeria.
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Bangladesh’s climate suitable for Strawberry productions
BSS, Dhaka, 5 April : Bangladesh’s weather proved suitable for strawberry farming although this delicious fruit is normally produced in countries having cold weather, particularly in the West.
But initiative by a young university graduate in Sherpur district in Bangladesh proved its farming here is also possible, said a news release. The story detailed how Alhajuddin Sarkar who studied economics was initially encouraged by his friend Hafizur Rahman, a student of zoology of Rajshahi University to take up the project. Alhajuddin took to farming of strawberry over a plot of three bigha land in Khujura village in 2009 and to his surprise the plants grew steadily to bear fruits and then brought him a big commercial success. He is now selling it between Taka 800 and 1000 per kg.But it is a very soft and vulnerable fruit to roots that demands utmost care in handling and conservation. He said the country's soil at some places appear quite suitable for its production but any move for commercial farming with export outlook requires huge funding and marketing cover. To achieve this goal, he said an office has already been opened at the Dhaka's Bashundhara Mall to produce juice and carry out other processing to give the product a publicity outlet. They are bottling this juice and putting it to market.
Alhajuddin said strawberry is a popular fruit and used to produce at least 40 food items having high vitamin levels. Especially it is most useful to diabetic patients if it is processed accordingly. But the country is not having such technology in place at the moment, he said.
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No Chinese threat on Sino-India border in A'chal : ITBP DG
PTI, Tezpur (Assam), 5 April : There has been no threat from the Chinese along the Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Ranjit Kumar Bhatia said.
"There is no indication of threat by Chinese soldiers on Arunachal Pradesh territory. The morale of the people on the border are high," Bhatia, who accompanied Union Home Minister P Chidambaram during a recent visit, told PTI at Chariduar sector headquarters of ITBP here.
PTI, Tezpur (Assam), 5 April : There has been no threat from the Chinese along the Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Director General Ranjit Kumar Bhatia said.
"There is no indication of threat by Chinese soldiers on Arunachal Pradesh territory. The morale of the people on the border are high," Bhatia, who accompanied Union Home Minister P Chidambaram during a recent visit, told PTI at Chariduar sector headquarters of ITBP here.
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