Burdwan, 29 November : CPI(M) will emerge victorious over Trinamool Congress' "politics of violence and murder"as it had fought Congress '"misrule" in the 70s and the Naxalite movement in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today claimed.
"We successfully fought Congress misrule, the violence of the Naxals and now we have taken on the Trinamool and its accomplice - the Maoists. We will surely win,"Bhattacharjee told a rally of CPI(M)'s youth wing DYFI here. Lambasting TMC for blocking the state's industrialisation by resisting Tata's Nano project at Singur, he asked partymen to be vigilant about the sinister design of Mamata Banerjee's party to create unrest through its politics of violence and murder.
"We have in our state a totally irresponsible Opposition party (Trinamool Congress) which has hatched a plot to create total lawlessness and unrest and to foil any development. We have to be prepared to ensure that there is no conspiracy to undo our efforts for industrialisation", he said. န Photo : Dipankar Chattterjee-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zia's BNP enforces countrywide daylong hartal tomorrow
Dhaka, 29 November : Bangladesh opposition BNP is set to enforce countrywide dawn to dusk hartal (general strike) tomorrow protesting the government failures, misrule and repression on political opponents.
Jamaat, IOJ, BJP - partners of BNP led 4-party alliance - and likeminded parties including Khelafat Majlis, JAGPA, NPP, NDP, NAP, NAP (Bhasani) and Labour Party extended total support to the hartal called by BNP.
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Bangladesh Supreme court upholds Khaleda Zia's eviction
Dhaka, 29 November : Bangladesh's opposition leader Khaleda Zia Monday lost her appeal before the country's Supreme Court against her eviction by the government from her Dhaka cantonment house.
The apex court dismissed the leave-to-appeal petition filed by the former prime minister. The petition challenged the Dhaka High Court verdict earlier that had declared valid the government notice asking her to leave the Dhaka cantonment residence. Zia had lived in that house since 1972. The three-member full bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haq also turned down the petitions filed by Zia for staying the higher court verdict and seeking status quo over the house issue.
The court verdict could be a major political setback for her as she plans a dawn-to-dusk strike Tuesday against the Sheikh Hasina government. န Photo : UNB-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gyaneshwari : CBI submits charge sheet to 23 PCAPA men
Kolkata, 29 November : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday submitted its charge sheet to a court in the 28 May Gyaneshwari Express accident, holding the pro-Maoist tribal Peoples' Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) responsible for the crash in which 148 people were killed.
The CBI, which took over the case from the state police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) following repeated demand of Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, submitted a 103-page charge sheet in the West Midnapore district court against 23 senior members of PCAPA.
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Centre denying coal royalty to West Bengal : Dr Dasgupta
Steel Guru, 29 November : Dr Asim Dasgupta finance minister of West Bengal blamed the centre for its partisan behavior and for denial of coal royalty amounting to over INR 4,800 crore.
Dr Dasgupta met the union finance minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee and sought the release of funds.... READ FULL STORY -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geological Survey of India found coal reserves in Tripura
IANS, Agartala, 29 November : The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found huge coal reserves in the northeastern state of Tripura, officials said here Monday.
“We have found coal reserves of sub-bitumen grade (in the third layer of the earth) in five locations of Tripura,” GSI Tripura-Mizoram region director T. Rajakumar told IANS. He said the sample of the coal has been sent to the Coal India laboratory in Kolkata for testing. “We are expecting the laboratory testing report of the collected sample within a month,” the official said.
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Hasina, Kan hold summit talks : Japanese PM assures Hasina of standing by Bangladesh
UNB, Tokyo, 29 November : Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has assured Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of by Bangladesh in its quest for a “Digital Bangladesh” and achieving the position of a middle income country by fulfilling “Vision 2021.”
The assurance came when the two Prime Ministers held summit-level talks at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday evening. “Earlier, we had an excellent meeting where we identified new areas of cooperation, besides ways to expand and strengthen the existing ones. I am convinced Japan and her generous people will stand by our side in our quest for a “Digital Bangladesh,” the Prime Minister said at the official banquet hosted by the Japanese PM that took place at the PMO after the summit talks.
The Prime Minister said they had an excellent meeting where they identified new areas of cooperation, besides ways to expand and strengthen the existing ones. Hasina also said an Economic Partnership Agreement between Bangladesh and Japan now could help reap mutual benefits by exploiting much of the two countries’ untapped potentials.
“I take this opportunity to request you to encourage Japanese investors to invest in investment friendly Bangladesh,” the Prime Minister said. They could relocate their not-so-profitable industries to Bangladesh, which is now being considered the second most profitable economy among South Asian countries, she said. န Photo : Reuters -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trinamool Congress demands CM Buddhadeb’s resignation
Kolkata, 29 November : Trinamool Congress Monday demanded the resignation of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee after he asked his party cadres to shun arrogance and admitted that the ruling Left Front was getting alienated due to the ‘arrogance’ of some cadres.
‘When Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee himself has admitted that the tendency of leaders and cadres to boss over the common people has alienated them from the masses, then he should resign as chief minister taking moral responsibility,’ said Trinamool heavyweight and opposition leader Partha Chatterjee.
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Villagers complain of police torture in West Midnapore dist
Rik Sundar Sasmal, Jhargram, 29 November : Villagers in West Midnapore district have complained that police are subjecting them to torture on the suspicion that they are Maoists.
Villagers complained that they are not allowed to go to the nearby forests to collect leaves and other forest produce. Most of the villagers earn their livelihood by collecting leaves for making plates, bowls and hand-rolled cheroots.
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BRU militants in uniform traced to Tripura 'refugee camps'
PTI, Aizawl, 29 November : Suspected Bru militants who had looted cash and valuables from two trucks at Kanhmun village along Mizoram-Tripura border came from the relief camps of the Bru refugees in Tripura, police said today.
The militants in army uniform, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, intercepted the trucks carrying cinnamon and decamped after forcibly taking Rs 3,000, vehicle documents and mobile phones from the truckers on Saturday, Superintendent of Police of Mamit district, Dingluaia said. He said Bru militants had planned to attack an India Reserve Police outpost at Kolalian last week, but the attempt was foiled after the arrest of three rebels who were sent to recee the outpost.
Security has been beefed up along the Mizoram border with Tripura and Assam after the two incidents and police parties were sent to patrol the border areas.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kolkata based Bengali filmmakers eye 'Bangladeshi market'
Indo-Bangla production 'Moner Manush' releasing on 3 Dec
IANS, Panaji, 29 November : It may seem overpopulated, poor and conflict ridden to some, but Bangladesh is a new beacon of light for Bengali filmmakers from India seeking to expand their market.
Noted Bengali filmmaker Gautam Ghose, whose films like "Paar" and "Yatra" have been critically hailed, says his team has managed to crack the Bangladesh distribution market barrier for the first time since 1952, with his film "Moner Manush", an India-Bangladesh production.
We are glad to have broken the barrier. Earlier, both the Kolkata film industry and the Bangladesh (film) industry were frogs in their wells. A strange communal feeling works here, Ghose told reporters in Panaji on the sidelines of the 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
In the past, the industry could not generate a market. Young distributors, however, are now looking beyond the borders in places like Bangladesh and other parts of the world, Ghose said, adding the Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were scattered in large numbers across the world.
Nearly 110 prints of 'Moner Manush' have been released worldwide. It will have a big release even in Bangladesh, Ghose said, adding that being an Indo-Bangladesh co-production helped a big deal to distribute and market the film in the other country.
The partition was a great tragedy and a terrible part of history for both countries. But the younger generations do not have a sense of partition. We must use films and the arts to bridge the gap (between the people of the two nations), Ghose said.
If Ghose already made inroads into the Bangladeshi film market, other filmmakers and production houses have already picked up cue, and are looking at ways to breach the Bangladesh barrier. Somnath Gupta, whose film "Ami Aadu" was also screened at IFFI, said the Bangladesh film market was in his sight. That is the way forward. It is such obvious Bengali speaking market. We are making efforts to release the film simultaneously there, said Gupta. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------www.bengalnewz.com-----
Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC News, Dhaka, 30 November : Bangladesh police have clashed with protesters in the capital Dhaka as a nationwide strike brought much of the country to a halt. The 24-hour industrial action shut schools and businesses, including crucial garment export shipments. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called the walkout in protest at "misrule" by the Awami-League led government. BNP leader Khaleda Zia, the former PM, was evicted from her home this month. Tuesday's was the second opposition-led strike in the last fortnight.
'Political vengeance' Police used batons to disperse a group of opposition supporters near the BNP headquarters in the capital. Thousands of policemen were deployed across the country to prevent violence, said the authorities. The BNP said more than 1,000 party members and activists had been taken into custody in the days leading up to the latest walkout. It comes a day after the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Khaleda Zia against her eviction from her military-owned home. The house was leased to Ms Zia, a year after the assassination of her husband, former president General Zia-ur-Rahman, in a military coup in 1981. The government said the lease was illegal, a finding upheld by the high court. Zia's supporters argue that the government's decision is political vengeance. The strike halted garment exports, which account for over 80% of Bangladesh's total exports. န Photos : UNB 
Kolkata, 30 November : Reacting to the recent call for a two-day bandh in the Darjeeling hills by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) from 21 December if the agreement for setting up an interim regional authority is not signed by then, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Tuesday that no interim council will be set up unless the people vote on it. “The GJM, merely by demanding the setting up of a committee (an interim council) does not mean that one will be set up. Not a single election has been held, not a single vote cast. Such things do not happen in a democracy. Whether the people want the GJM at all needs to be proved through elections,” he said. Bhattacharjee who was speaking at a Left Front rally in the city to highlight the issues of separatist movements in north Bengal, the Maoist affected Jangalmahal region and the ecologically fragile Sunderbans also criticised the Trinamool Congress for “joining hands with those who were trying to break up the State.”
Joy Roy Choudhury, Kolkata, 30 November : Taking a cue from states like Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and the Incredible India campaign of the Union Tourism Ministry, the West Bengal Tourism Department has now decided to appoint an advertising agency for its brand-building exercise. West Bengal Tourism has decided to spend over '20 crore to upgrade tourism destinations and create new tourism circuits in the state and would invest another '10 crore in publicity and promotional campaigns.
Manabendra Mukherjee, the state tourism minister, held a preliminary discussion with Madhukar Sabnavis, country head (Discovery & Planning), Ogilvy & Mather. Sabnavis was in Kolkata recently to speak at the CII organised seminar titled 'Towards Tourism Excellence-Creating, Branding and Marketing Destinations'. Mukherjee said, “This is the initiation process. We are looking forward to a brand-building exercise for tourism with the help of a consultant. Today we had preliminary discussions with one such agency”.
O&M has been associated with famous advertising campaigns, like 'Incredible India' campaign of the Union Tourism Ministry and Madhya Pradesh Tourism’s 'Hindustan Ka Dil Dekho' campaign. O&M was also responsible for successfully promoting Gujarat with Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador. Mukherjee pointed out that O&M and other potential consultants would be first asked to draw up a roadmap around which his department would build a brand strategy. “Piyush Pandey, the India head of O&M, would be visiting Kolkata soon to take things forward. Both parties are quite interested in seeing this through,” said Manab Pal, chairman of CII’s subcommittee on tourism. “The government has started making the investment to develop various tourism destinations,” said TVN Rao, MD, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation. He pointed out that the number of accredited tour operators in the state is only three, as compared to Delhi's 285 and Maharashtra's 14. Speaking at the seminar, Rajeev Kholi, vice chairman, India Convention Promotion Bureau and Jt MD, Creative Travel, New Delhi said, “Places like the Sunderbans and Darjeeling in Bengal have huge growth potential, if marketed properly." Nakul Anand, divisional chief executive (Hotels), ITC stressed upon different issues like sustainability, environmental issues, etc. န Photos : Files, Avijit Mondal
