Kolkata, 20 January : West Bengal government today announced compensation to the kin of victims of firing from an alleged CPI(M) armed camp at Netai village in West Midnapore district, a move that came following a Calcutta High Court direction.
Rs two lakh would be given to the next of kin of each of the dead, Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh said. A list of the injured, based on the nature of wounds, will be drawn up and the quantum of compensation will be determined after the West Midnapore district administration sets up a medical board on 22 January, Ghosh said, adding, the board will submit its report on 24 January to the district magistrate who will finalise the compensation amount to the injured.The high court had yesterday directed the government to pay compensation to the next of kin of the dead and the injured within seven days. န File Photos : AFP
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PM flags off nationwide roll-out of mobile number portability
PTI, New Delhi, 20 January : Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday launched nationwide mobile number portability (MNP), a move that will allow users to switch operators without losing their phone numbers.Customers will have to pay a maximum of Rs 19 to an operator to change their network and the new operator has the option to either waive the fee or reduce it. However, a consumer would be required to continue with an operator for a minimum period of three months in order to avail the MNP service. Mobile number portability will compel the operators to improve the quality of their mobile services, as they would not like to lose their customers to rivals.
MNP services were first launched in Haryana in November last year. Nevertheless, companies like Idea Cellular and Vodafone started marketing the service to subscribers in other parts of the country even before the nationwide roll-out took place.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meghalaya govt decided to create another elephant reserveShillong, 20 January : Faced with increasing man-elephant conflicts, the Meghalaya government has decided to create another reserve for the animal.
"On an average, four to five people are killed in the state by elephants every year apart from their attacks on humans, their property and crop land. The man-elephant conflict in the state is quite intense," Principal Chief Conservator of Forests V K Nautiyal said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SQChowdhury associate of war criminals: IWCT prosecutor
UNB, Chittagong, 20 January : BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury MP had not directly participated against the liberation war in 1971 but he acted as a close associate of the Pakistani occupation forces, said prosecutor Rana Das Gupta of the International Crimes Tribunal here today.
A team of prosecutors that came to Chittagong on 15 January to collect information and evidences about involvement in the war crimes of Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Mir Abul Kashem was talking to newsmen at the Circuit House in the evening. “Although Chowdhury did not directly take part in the war against the independence he had acted as close associate of the Pakistan army. On that count, he comes under the mischief of same offence of war crimes in accordance with law of the International Tribunal,” said Rana Das Gupta.
He said they visited different places of Chittagong for collecting information and evidences of Chowdhury’s involvement in war crimes. They have talked to the witnesses. “We have now all evidences against Chowdhury. Information and evidences procured will shortly be submitted to the Tribunal for initiating the trial.”
UNB, Chittagong, 20 January : BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury MP had not directly participated against the liberation war in 1971 but he acted as a close associate of the Pakistani occupation forces, said prosecutor Rana Das Gupta of the International Crimes Tribunal here today.A team of prosecutors that came to Chittagong on 15 January to collect information and evidences about involvement in the war crimes of Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Mir Abul Kashem was talking to newsmen at the Circuit House in the evening. “Although Chowdhury did not directly take part in the war against the independence he had acted as close associate of the Pakistan army. On that count, he comes under the mischief of same offence of war crimes in accordance with law of the International Tribunal,” said Rana Das Gupta.
He said they visited different places of Chittagong for collecting information and evidences of Chowdhury’s involvement in war crimes. They have talked to the witnesses. “We have now all evidences against Chowdhury. Information and evidences procured will shortly be submitted to the Tribunal for initiating the trial.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WestBengal Govt to recover surplus land from industrialistsKolkata, 20 January : The West Bengal government has undertaken a drive to identify and vest excess land acquired by industrialists flouting the fixed ceiling.
The government took the step after it did not get a proper response from industrialists to fill up the 14Y form, Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh told reporters today. Thirteen industrialists have been identified till now who together possessed 875 acre, beyond the land ceiling of 24 acre, Ghosh said. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Industries to regularise such land today.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladesh' SEC suspends Sunday’s trading in DSE, CSE
Dhaka, 20 January : Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the watchdog of the capital market, has ordered the country’s two bourses - DSE and CSE - to suspend their trading on Sunday.SEC member Yasin Ali informed this at a press conference this (Thursday) evening at the SEC conference room.
According to the SEC official, the trading will remain suspended on Sunday. He said they would sit the same day to discuss the present volatile market and decide the date and time of resumption of the trading.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DSE sees 587.04points fall within 5minutes of trading todayDhaka, 20 January : The circuit breaker that was introduced to control abnormal rise and decline of index apparently failed to impact as the DSE General Index (DGEN Index) fell 587.04 points in just five minutes of trading on Thursday.
Trading at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) began at 1pm(BDST) but halted at 1:06pm(BDST) following the drastic fall in the DGEN Index, sparking street protests again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dip in food inflation not much consolation: Pranab MukherjeNew Delhi, 20 January : Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said dip in food inflation for the week ended 8 January, was not "much consolation" and the government would continue to take steps to tame rising prices.
"Some of the vegetable prices are still high... I do not know what would be the impact of the recent increase (in petrol price) because these figures are two weeks old", he told reporters here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Govt popularity can’t b judged by local body polls: AshrafulUNB, Chittagong, 20 January : Bangladesh LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said here Thursday the government wanted to give the nation free, fair and credible local government elections and the government accomplished it successfully.
Apparently dismissing BNP’s claim that people showed ‘yellow card’ to the government through the municipal elections, he said the government is not worried about its popularity. “We’re not worried about the government’s popularity. We wanted to hold the elections in free and fair manner. We did it. And, local government election can’t be a scale to determine government’s popularity,” he said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bhaichung Bhutia to play in 'Laureus Sports charity' matchPTI, New Delhi, 20 January : Adding shine to his illustrious career, Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia has been invited to play in the Laureus Sports charity game along with the likes of Lionel Messi, Andre Iniesta, Rafael Nadal and Sebastian Vettel next month in Abu Dhabi.
Top sportspersons in the world, who have been nominated for the Laureus Sports Awards 2011 to be held in Abu Dhabi on 7 February, will play in a charity football game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poll panel team tours Lalgarh and various "hotbeds" in WB
IANS, Kolkata, 20 January : A high-level team of Election Commission observers Thursday interacted with locals and officials in various politically troubled areas in West Bengal, including the Maoist-infested Lalgarh area which saw a flare up in violence earlier this month.On the fourth day of their trip to the state, the six observers divided themselves into four groups and visited Tarakeshwar and Goghat in Hoogly district, Basanti and Netra in South 24 Parganas district and Maoists hotbed Jhargram and Lalgarh in West Midnapore district.
National Crime Record Bureau's (NCRB) deputy director Zaki Ahmad went to South 24 Parganas and held discussions with District Magistrate N.S. Nigam and Superintendent of Police L.N. Meena. Ahmad went to interior places in Basanti and Netra villages, asking people whether they could vote in the previous elections and if they were victims of political atrocities.
The group comprising NCRB's Joint Director P.R.K. Naidu and Andhra Pradesh's Deputy Inspector General of Police (Intelligence Bureau) B. Shivadhar Reddy went to West Midnapore district and held parleys with the district Magistrate and senior police officer and then rushed to Jhargram.In Jhargram, known to be a Maoist hotbed, the duo held meeting with the sub-divisional officer and district top police officers for over two hours. Delegations from the Trinamool Congress and the Congress met the observers and submitted suggestions.
Later, the team members went to Lalgarh accompanied by police officers. When last reports came in, the duo were holding a meeting at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp there. Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer Sudhir Kumar Rakesh rushed to Lalgarh and joined Naidu and Reddy to visit Netai Village, where nine people were killed and at least 17 others were injured.
Another visiting group comprising Jharkhand Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) D.K. Pandey and Orissa Deputy Inspector General (Special Auxiliary Police) P.S. Ranpise went to Tarakeshwar, Goghat and Pursura in Hooghly, which has witnessed recurring clashes between activists of the ruling CPI(M) and the main opposition TMC. In Hooghly, the observers witnessed clashes in several places between the Trinamool Congress and CPI(M) leaders and supporters, over submitting representations to them.
The group has started for Nandigram in East Midnapore district, which saw prolonged blood-letting between the state's ruling CPI(M and the opposition over land acquisition for a proposed chemical engineering hub. The project has been aborted. န Photos : Sanjay Bhaduri, Raghunandan Mallick
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------www.bengalnewz.com-----
