Bangladesh cabinet approved Mango tree as the "National Tree"

Dhaka, 15 November : Mango tree, which bears a mouthwatering fruit acclaimed in Bangladesh’s national anthem and poetry, now becomes national tree of the country.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Monday approved a government resolution recognizing mango tree as the national tree. “The decision was taken in a meeting of the cabinet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presiding,” Abul Kalam Azad, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, told journalists after the meeting. န File Photo

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tripura civic poll on 11 December

UNI, Agartala, 15 November : The Left Front in Tripura today announced to field candidates in all the seats barring three for the polls to Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) and 15 Nagar Panchayats slated for 11 December.
Front sources said the names of three candidates were yet to be decided as there had been no unanimity as to which front constituent would be alloted the seats. The Left Front had decided to extend reservation of 50% seats to women, sources added. Of the 230 seats in AMC and 25 Nagar Panchayats, the CPI(M) would contest in 212 wards, while the CPI, the RSP and the Forward Bloc would field six, five and four candidates respectively.
With regard to the names of candidates that were yet to be declared, the sources hinted that the CPI(M)'s tally might reach 214 with the allotment of candidature for one more ward to Forward Bloc. In 85 out of 230 wards of the AMC, the sitting councilors had been re-nominated and CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar said it was due to reservation of seats for women and the changes that had been brought about.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Explosives seized from Maoist infested area in Midnapore
ANI, Midnapore, 15 November : A team of joint forces along with the State police seized huge amount of explosives and land mines from West Midnapore's Jhargram area.
The security personnel recovered approximately 100 kilograms of explosives and land mines from Chandri forest area in the region. According to locals the combing operation was carried out on a tip off provided by one of the locals. However, police along with the joint forces would continue with the search operation in West Midnapore for the next few days.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tough time for homebound people to share Eid-Azha joys
UNB, Dhaka, 15 November : Scarcity of transport posed a serious problem for the homebound people leaving the capital to share joys of the holy Eid-ul-Azha with kith and kin.
Sunday’s hartal called by opposition BNP has mounted the sufferings of the homebound people on Monday, just two days ahead of the second biggest festival of the Muslims.
People were seen desperate to travel to their homes for celebrating Eid no matter how safe or dangerous the journey is. People frantic to meet their close relatives and friends at village homes during the Eid seemed oblivious of the great risk involved traveling even on rooftop of buses, trains and launches.
Most of the city's inter-district coach terminals, railway station and launch terminal were found overcrowded. န Photo : UNB

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two poachers killed in Assam' "Kaziranaga National Park"
PTI, Kaziranga, 15 November : Two suspected poachers were killed in an encounter with forest guards inside Kaziranga National Park today, KNP authorities said.
The two were killed during an exchange of fire between KNP forest guards and four poachers at Agratoli range at around 5 am, Park director Surajit Kumar Dutta told PTI, adding, the other two managed to escape. KNP officials had launched a combing operation yesterday following information about presence of poachers inside the park, he said, adding there were no casualties among the animals in the park, famous for its one-horned rhinos.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

102 Crore for Darjeeling interim authority, to regularise jobs
Kolkata, 15 November : The interim authority for the Darjeeling hills will be obtaining Rs. 102 crore funds to regularise the jobs of the ad-hoc workers of the DGHC, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha chief Bimal Gurung said in an interview. Earlier Morcha had demanded Rs 105 crore per annum from the Central government for paying salaries to the 6,321 ad-hoc workers of the DGHC after they were regularised. With this the workers of DGHC would be paid salary directly from the centre through the funds. Earlier the salaries to the workers were streamed through the West Bengal government.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Kolkata Film Festival : Three Films from Bangladesh

Shoma Chatterji, Kolkata, 15 November : The Cinema of Bangladesh was till recently, confined to noted names like Tariq Masud, Tanvir Mokammal and some others.
Of late however, more and more young directors are coming forward with courageous ventures that do not cater to the mainstream cinema of Bangladesh. Masud, who has made internationally renowned films like Banglar Gaan, Matir Moyna (The Clay Bird) and Antarjatra, said that he would like to trace the history of the cinema of Bangladesh and focus more on optimism and hope for the cinema of the two Bengals (Bangladesh and West Bengal) rather than paint a depressing picture of the same.

Talking about the fragile situation of cinema in Bangladesh, Tariq Masud once said, "We get blocked by iconisation, which makes us forget the importance of continuity which is integral in artistic expression and social statement, the two integral elements of cinema as an audiovisual language of art and social concern." He added that the two things a few Bangladeshi filmmakers were currently working on were (a) damage control and (b) preparing the groundwork for a sustainable and creatively productive cinema in the country. A few have also sacrificed their creativity to contribute to the preparation of groundwork and damage control.
"Some problems of Bangladeshi and Bengali cinema are similar and some are very dissimilar thus they have to be tackled accordingly. While similar problems have similar solutions, problems that arise due to differences in contextual and culture-specific frameworks of the two countries need to be handled with caution and difference."
Like a ray of hope for film lovers in West Bengal, the 16th Kolkata Film Festival (KFF) has three recent films from Bangladesh scheduled within the section Open Window of Contemporary World Cinema. The films are - Love and Repulsion (2009) directed by Morshedul Islam, The Journey (2009) directed by Syed Ohiduzzaman Diamond and Beyond the Circle (2009) by Golam Rabbany Biplob.

Love and Repulsion weaves an intriguing tale of female bonding exploring how women of different socio-economic strata can come together in times of crisis when men back away to help them, including their husbands. Can women together solve their problems in a predominantly male world? Yes, they can says this film.
The Journey is a story about a beautiful girl named Rupa who is forced into prostitution against her wishes. But she dreams of a different future for her daughter. She fails to attain her goal because the three male customers who she requested help from betray her trust, forcing her to commit suicide with her daughter. But the dome Prakash who is her customer too, refuses to cremate their bodies because the belong to a brothel.
Beyond the Circle is about Haripada who plays the flute purely for personal pleasure. His talent with the flute attracts an entertainment company who want to project and market him for their own profit, networking with other related outfits such as event management, electronic and print media, p.r. companies, audio marketeers and corporate sponsors.
The story weaves its way to explore the contradictions that sprout up and grow when an individual artist who has no professional or financial axe to grind, is converted into a marketable commodity in a cut-throat competition between the individual and the market.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------www.bengalnewz.com-----