Home Minister P Chidambaram today said a detailed response is being prepared which will be released very soon. "I have been told that a detailed response is being prepared to be issued on behalf of the Government. May be it will be issued later today or tomorrow. Detailed response is under preparation, that is what I have been told..... READ FULL STORY
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladeshi workers in Jordan in trouble, Sparks backlash
Porimol Palma, Dhaka, 29 April : Around 1,000 Bangladeshi garment workers in Jordan have joined their several thousand Asian colleagues in a strike demanding higher wages.Sri Lankan workers first went on strike early this month and their fellows from India, Bangladesh and China followed suit, migrants in Amman said.
Workers are demanding an increase in minimum wage from Jordanian Dinar (JD) 110 to 150. (JD 1 = Tk 103)
The Jordan government, however, said it is not in a position to increase the salary abruptly, noted Toufiq Islam Shatil, first secretary of Bangladesh embassy in Jordan.
The company owners have stopped supplying food, water and electricity to the labour hostels for the last two weeks, Altaf Hossain, a worker of Starling Apparel Manufacturing at Al Tajamouat Industrial City in Amman, told The Daily Star today evening.
"We are buying bottled water, candles and food on our own," he added. As per his five-year-old job contract, his wage is JD 110, but a year ago the Jordan government announced to increase it to JD 150, which the company owners are not complying with, complained Altaf.
The workers went to the labour court last Sunday, but it asked them to resume work at present wage. န Photo Courtesy : Jordon Times
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Purulia case : No evidence against any politician, says CBIPTI, New Delhi, 29 April : The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday said there was no evidence linking any Indian politician or government agency with the Purulia arms drop case of 1995, dismissing claims of accused Kim Davy that the clandestine work was carried out by "political forces" at the Centre to destabilise the Left front Government of West Bengal.
The agency said it has "clinching" evidence against mastermind Kim Davy's alleged "act of terror" and is making all efforts to bring him to India to face trial in the case.
"CBI has clinching evidence against Kim Davy and has elaborate details about the manner in which he carried out the Purulia arms drop. There is no evidence that any government agency or Indian politician helped him," CBI spokesperson Dharini Mishra said...... READ FULL STORY @ www.westbengalelections2011.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andaman Chamber demands additional flights for Port Blair
UNI, Port Blair, 29 April : Pinched by the drastic rise in the airfare, the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has requested the Air India Authorities to introduce at least two additional flights per week from Kolkata and Chennai to Port Blair."As the fares of airline tickets are sky rocketing and the general public traveling from Port Blair to mainland and vice versa are being put to undue hardships due to drastic rise in the ticket fares which are required to be reduced for the benefit of the common man," G Bhasker, president of Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industry told UNI.
He said general public of remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands and visiting tourists, have been complaining that flight tickets are not available frpm last week of April to last week of May 2011 due to heavy traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, the ACCI President had sent a letter to General Manager, Air India, Kolkata, the Chief Secretary of A and N Administration and Station Manager, Air India, Port Blair, requesting them to introduce two additional flights for the period from last week of April to last week of May 2011 to ease the present air ticket crisis and to bring down the fares to an economical level so that common man can afford to avail the flights.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands are at present connected with Air India, Kingfishers and Jet lite aircrafts but airfare are soaring sky high.
Every year during vacation and peak tourist seasons, one way fares for Port Blair often reach upto more than Rs 17,000.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eight Air India flights cancelled from Kolkata NSCB Airport
Kolkata, 29 April : Eight Air India flights were cancelled till 03 pm today from NSC Bose airport here on the third day of the pilots' strike.
The destinations of the cancelled flights were Guwahati, Gaya, Imphal, Port Blair, Mumbai and Delhi. Air India sources here said that six flights for various destinations took off as scheduled.
The destinations of the cancelled flights were Guwahati, Gaya, Imphal, Port Blair, Mumbai and Delhi. Air India sources here said that six flights for various destinations took off as scheduled.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation' earns Rs.4,000 croreKolkata, 29 April : The gross revenue of power utility Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation (CESC) Limited has crossed Rs.4,000 crore ($9 million) during FY11, its vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka said Friday.
"CESCs gross revenue for the first time has crossed the Rs.4,000 crore mark. Profit Before Tax (PBT) for the fourth quarter of the last financial year increased by 17 percent to Rs.142 crore from Rs.121 crore during the corresponding period in the previous year," Goenka told reporters here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Poll campaign goes 'green' in West Bengal, Courtesy PCB
Kolkata, 29 April : With the state pollution control board tightening the noose, political parties have adopted eco-friendly measures during campaign for the Assembly polls in West Bengal this time.
As party workers went round soliciting votes, they kept in mind people''s sensitivity about environment by obeying restrictions on the use of loudspeakers, avoiding use of plastics in making party flags and using only diesel generator sets during power cuts, PCB officials said.Days ahead of the fourth round of the six-phase poll, the pollution watchdog has not received any complaint against violation of its green guidelines issued to all 24 political parties after the campaigning began early last month.
"There have been no complaints because the High Court and the Election Commission supported us when some political parties threatened to go against our guidelines in using loudspeakers," WBPCB''s chief law officer Biswajit Mukherjee told reporters.
Also because none of the candidates wanted to attract voter''s ire by polluting the environment, Mukherjee observed.
During election campaign, rampant use of loudspeakers by all parties result in noise pollution while a huge quantity of waste materials are generated from the preparation of flags, festoons, banners, etc. which cause environmental hazards.
But with an increased awareness on environmental issues this election season, politicians adopted the ''Go Green'' mantra.
Besides following the 55-65 decibel limit while using loudspeakers, the main opposition party Trinamool Congress even introduced banners made from biodegradable jute.
"Ours is a complete eco-friendly campaign as we avoided the use of plastics as much as we could. We are the first political party in West Bengal to have adopted jute for roadside banners.
"Even while using paper for making posters, we didn''t cross the limits advised," said Madan Mitra, a party candidate from Kamarhati constituency in North 24-Parganas district. န File Photos : Irshad Khan, Sanjit Mitra
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guwahati H Court stays imposition of service tax on lawyersGuwahati, 29 April : The Guwahati High Court today stayed the imposition of service tax on lawyers till further hearing on 25 May.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A K Goswami passed an interim order on the petition filed by Guwahati High Court Bar Association challenging the imposition of service tax on lawyers as per the Finance Act 2011 effective from May One, 2011.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A K Goswami passed an interim order on the petition filed by Guwahati High Court Bar Association challenging the imposition of service tax on lawyers as per the Finance Act 2011 effective from May One, 2011.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archeologists track down Tagore’ ancestral home in Khulna
BSS, Khulna, 29 April : Archeologists tracked down the ancestral home of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore in Khulna on Thursday as the nation is to review early next month his rich contributions to the literature and the development of Bengali nationhood marking his 150th birth anniversary.
An archeology department team carried out a daylong initial experimental excavation on the ancestral house of the great poet in Pithabhog village of Rupsha upazila as an earlier archeological survey found clues of his ancestral links.“Today we found the outline of the ground layout of the house and now we are preparing a proposal for complete excavation of the structure and its preservation as an archeological heritage,” regional director of the department Shihab Uddin Mohammad Akbar told the news agency at the scene.
He said after excavating only three to four feet soil, his team found the layout of an estimated 30 feet by 20 feet building that once accommodated the poet’s forefathers while officials including the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Rupsha Mohammad Monirul Islam witnessed the exploration campaign.
Akbar said he would also send a proposal to set up a Rabindra Smrity Sangrahashala at the sight.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------www.bengalnewz.com-----
