Kolkata, 5 May : The high-voltage campaign for the 7 May fifth phase election to 38 constituencies in the Maoist-hit districts of West Midnapur, Bankura, Purulia and parts of Burdwan district ended today.An electorate of 74,17,723 will chose their representatives to the West Bengal Assembly from among 193 candidates in fray.
The notable among the constituencies is Keshpur in West Midnapur district where a bitter turf war between two arch political rivals CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress made news for several years.When the Left Front suffered a rout in south Bengal in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls at the hands of the Trinamool Congress, these four districts, together known as the red fort, stemmed the wind of change blowing hard across West Bengal.
The 7 May election in these districts appears to be a test for the Left Front''s ability to block the threatend inroads by the Trinamool Congress.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee played the development card during her hectic campaign, promising industry, educational institutes and hospitals.
Alleging that the Maoist problem was created by the CPI(M), Mamata had said the Marxist party branded as a Maoist whoever protested against the CPI(M)''s ''reign of terror''.
The Left leaders on the other hand had accused Mamata of making ''false promises'' to woo tribals in the region..... READ FULL STORY @ www.westbengalelections2011.com န Photos : A Basu, Uttam Ghosh
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Murder of thousands in 1971 was genocide, Nizami admits
Dhaka, 5 May : Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami admitted that the murder of thousands of Bangladeshis in 1971 was genocide and crime against humanity, interrogators said on Thursday.Nizami made the statement during daylong interrogation by the members of the investigating agency probing the 1971 war crimes at a ‘safe home’ in the city’s Dhanmondi.
“When we showed him a video clip of brutal killing during the Liberation War and inquired about it, he (Nizami) said it was genocide,” Sanaul Haque, one of the four-member investigating team, told reporters during the lunch break. “I am now 70 and therefore I can hardly remember the incidents took place 40 years back,” the investigator quoted Nizami as saying. But Nizami said he is trying to recall those incidents, he added.
The investigators inquired Nizami of his role during the Liberation War, Sanaul added, but did not disclose what Nizami said in reply. Nizami was also asked about his entering the politics.
He was handed over to the authorities of Dhaka Central Jail after completion of the day’s interrogation at about 5:20pm (BDST). န File Photo
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Khandu's body brought to ItanagarPTI, Itanagar, 5 May : The body of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, who died in a chopper crash at Keyla near Tawang, was today brought here in an IAF helicopter.
The body will be kept at his official bungalow till Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi arrives tomorrow to pay homage to the departed soul.The MI-17 helicopter carrying Khandu's body was accompanied by another MI-17 chopper and a helicopter from Guwahati carrying minister of state in PMO V Narayanswamy, union ministers Mukul Wasnik and Salman Khursheed, and Khandu's elder brother Goleng Khandu.
A chopper carrying the Chief Minister and four others on board crashed on Saturday last. After a five day search, their bodies and the wreckage were located at Keyla yesterday. Keyla is located at an altitude of 4,500 meters, about six-hour trek on foot from Luguthang Gompa in Tawang district. န File Photos : PTI
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Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus loses last legal battle
Dhaka, 5 May : Bangladesh Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of Dr Muhammad Yunus for reversing an earlier verdict on his sacking from Grameen Bank.
The full court of the Appellate Division also threw out another petition filed by nine bank directors against the High Court order that backed the Nobel laureate's removal as managing director.
Dhaka, 5 May : Bangladesh Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of Dr Muhammad Yunus for reversing an earlier verdict on his sacking from Grameen Bank.
The full court of the Appellate Division also threw out another petition filed by nine bank directors against the High Court order that backed the Nobel laureate's removal as managing director.
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EC doing well in taking action on use of black money : CEC
Kolkata, 5 May : The Election Commission was doing well in taking action on use of black money in the poll process, former chief election commissioner Navin Chawla said today.
"May be the use of black money is not fully eliminated, but wherever the EC gets information about black money, it is taking action. This is a very good deterrent," Chawla said.
Kolkata, 5 May : The Election Commission was doing well in taking action on use of black money in the poll process, former chief election commissioner Navin Chawla said today.
"May be the use of black money is not fully eliminated, but wherever the EC gets information about black money, it is taking action. This is a very good deterrent," Chawla said.
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PCAPA leader Chhatradhar Mahato' election agent arrested
Jhargram, 5 May : A member of the pro-Maoist tribal group - Peoples' Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) - and the election agent of its jailed chief Chhatradhar Mahato was arrested Thursday in West Midnapore district, police said.
Bhagua Hansda was arrested for his involvement in a murder case filed with the Binpur police station near Jhargram in 2008 when he went to the police station Thursday for seeking permission for holding a campaign rally, said West Midnapore Additional Police Superintendent (operation) Mukesh Kumar. 'A non-bailable arrest warrant was pending against him,' Mukesh Kumar said.
Jhargram, 5 May : A member of the pro-Maoist tribal group - Peoples' Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) - and the election agent of its jailed chief Chhatradhar Mahato was arrested Thursday in West Midnapore district, police said.
Bhagua Hansda was arrested for his involvement in a murder case filed with the Binpur police station near Jhargram in 2008 when he went to the police station Thursday for seeking permission for holding a campaign rally, said West Midnapore Additional Police Superintendent (operation) Mukesh Kumar. 'A non-bailable arrest warrant was pending against him,' Mukesh Kumar said.
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Cultural events lined up for Tagore's 150 birth anniversary
New Delhi, 5 May : The year-long celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore will kick-off here on Saturday that will see a series of cultural and literary events and release of commemorative postal stamps and coins in honour of the Nobel Laureate.Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will launch the celebrations here on Saturday in the presence of NAC chairperson Sonia Gandhi and release a slew of commemorative items like a pack of 6 DVDs of films based on Tagore's stories.
Singh himself headed the National Committee for the 150th Anniversary Commemorations of Rabindranath Tagore and the panel has drawn out year-long celebrations to mark the event.
India and Bangladesh had in 2010 decided to jointly celebrate the 150th anniversary of Tagore and Saturday's function will be held a day after Bangladesh kicks off the celebrations in Dhaka where India will be represented by Vice President Hamid Ansari. န File Photo
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Tagore Literature Awards presented to 8 writers in Mumbai
PTI, Mumbai, 5 May : To celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the best literary contributions by writers in eight Indian languages were awarded today.
''Tagore Literature Awards'', instituted by Sahitya Akademi and Samsung India in 2009, seeks to recognise the best literary contributions in eight languages every year. The event, organised at the Rabindra Natya Mandir here, saw literary works in Assamese, Dogri, Marathi, Oriya, Rajasthani, Santhali, Tamil and Urdu being honoured.
PTI, Mumbai, 5 May : To celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, the best literary contributions by writers in eight Indian languages were awarded today.
''Tagore Literature Awards'', instituted by Sahitya Akademi and Samsung India in 2009, seeks to recognise the best literary contributions in eight languages every year. The event, organised at the Rabindra Natya Mandir here, saw literary works in Assamese, Dogri, Marathi, Oriya, Rajasthani, Santhali, Tamil and Urdu being honoured.
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State funeral for Dorjee Khandu, Tricolour will fly half mast
PTI, New Delhi, 5 May : As a mark of respect to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu who died in a chopper crash near Tawang, all Central government offices in the state will remain closed tomorrow.
The national flag will fly at half mast today and tomorrow in Arunachal Pradesh and in all states and UT capitals, including Delhi, a Home Ministry statement said. State funeral will be accorded to the late Chief Minister, whose last rites will be performed tomorrow, it said.
PTI, New Delhi, 5 May : As a mark of respect to Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu who died in a chopper crash near Tawang, all Central government offices in the state will remain closed tomorrow.
The national flag will fly at half mast today and tomorrow in Arunachal Pradesh and in all states and UT capitals, including Delhi, a Home Ministry statement said. State funeral will be accorded to the late Chief Minister, whose last rites will be performed tomorrow, it said.
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Environmental activists distribute "free saplings" in Kolkata
ANI, Kolkata, 5 May : Environment activists of a non-governmental organisation (NGO) here today distributed free saplings to spread awareness and encourage locals to know about global warming.Setting up their stall in a park, the activists gave information on the medicinal plants they were distributing. They distributed plants such as Bhringraj, commonly known as false daisy (Eclipta prostrata) Tulsi, commonly known as holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum), aloe vera, etc.
Animesh Biswas, head of the project, said: "Nobody in the country is bothered about the threat of global warming to the world. People are more concerned about other things but nobody cares about this green mission. Keeping these things in our minds, we have taken up this campaign of distributing free plants and spreading awareness among people about environment and greenery."
Subir Biswas, a local, said he was grateful to the activists for spreading awareness. Increasing industrial growth, which is directly proportional to increasing pollution, and massive deforestation leads to a rise in global warming.
However, environment activists believe that planting trees help in reducing the carbon levels in the atmosphere.
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CM Gogoi for setting up food processing centres in Assam
Guwahati, 5 May : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today discussed with captains of the industry in Bangkok ways to set up food processing units in the state.
Interacting with officials of the industry at Asia's biggest fruit juice and beverage processing centre at Ayuthaya, the chief minister, who is currently on a visit to Thailand, said there was much scope for setting up of units in the state.
Guwahati, 5 May : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today discussed with captains of the industry in Bangkok ways to set up food processing units in the state.
Interacting with officials of the industry at Asia's biggest fruit juice and beverage processing centre at Ayuthaya, the chief minister, who is currently on a visit to Thailand, said there was much scope for setting up of units in the state.
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2 elephant reserves being set up by Forest dept in Tripura
Agartala, 5 May : In an effort to check the number of elephants straying into human habitats in search of food, the Forest department in Tripura has started work to establish two elephant reserves in the state."The aim of the project is to restore existing natural habitats and migratory routes of elephants, promotion of measures for mitigation of man-elephant conflict and strengthening of measures for protection of wild pachyderms from poachers," Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) R P Tangwan said yesterday.
"The jumbos here mainly live on bamboo, which has been severely destroyed over the past few years. So they are coming to residential localities in search of food and ravaging hamlets," he said.
Since Gumati Wildlife Sanctuary in South Tripura district is inadequate as an elephant reserve with its present size the department of forest has decided to set up these two reserves, said Tangwan.
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3 ULFA militants surrender to police in Meghalaya with arms
PTI, Shillong, 5 May : Three ULFA militants, including a senior leader, surrendered to police in Meghalaya along with some sophisticated arms and ammunition.
Self-styled 'second lieutenant' Basanta Goswami alias Pallav Barua, 'sergeant' Sarbajeet Konwar alias Anik and another cadre Niranjan Roy surrendered before a joint team of Assam and Meghalaya police at Rongrenggri near Williamnagar in East Garo Hills district, police sources said. They gave up two AK 81 rifles, two M20 pistols and 294 rounds of AK and 12 rounds of M20 ammunition.
PTI, Shillong, 5 May : Three ULFA militants, including a senior leader, surrendered to police in Meghalaya along with some sophisticated arms and ammunition.
Self-styled 'second lieutenant' Basanta Goswami alias Pallav Barua, 'sergeant' Sarbajeet Konwar alias Anik and another cadre Niranjan Roy surrendered before a joint team of Assam and Meghalaya police at Rongrenggri near Williamnagar in East Garo Hills district, police sources said. They gave up two AK 81 rifles, two M20 pistols and 294 rounds of AK and 12 rounds of M20 ammunition.
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Over 50% Green Card holders plan to return home: Survey
PTI, New York, 5 May : The United States may experience reverse brain drain as thousands of Indian IT professionals contemplate returning to India, according to a survey conducted by Corp-Corp.com , a US-based technology job portal.
The finding was based on a survey of more than 1,000 survey respondents of Indian origin, nearly half of which were IT professionals that plan to return to India.About 50 per cent of the respondents have plans to return soon, while 6.4 per cent of them have already returned to their homeland.
Survey participants included permanent residents, US citizens and work visa holders. Fifty-one per cent said their decision was based on wanting to rejoin family and 26 per cent cited better opportunities as the reason to return to their homeland.
Around 10 per cent are planning to return for they believe their kids will get a better education in India. "The results are very important for American businesses because they may face challenges in filling the gap of these resources," said Prabakaran Murugaiah, CEO of Corp-Corp.com.
"Businesses cannot replace an experienced workforce overnight," he said. The survey results show 69 per cent of visa holders and 57 per cent permanent residents or citizens intend to return.
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