န Relief across Sunderbans, Tide not that hungry

"It seems the worst is over" : DM Dr. Khalil Ahmed
Pakhiralay (WB Sunderbans), 7 June : A sense of relief swept across the Sunderbans after two weeks of living on the edge when the hungry tide that everyone had feared came without its appetite for destruction.

Some embankments were breached, water levels of rivers rose and villages were inundated during the spring tide, but the damage was far less than what the Aila-struck residents had feared. No lives were lost, officials said. “It seems the worst is over,” South 24-Parganas district magistrate Dr Khalil Ahmed told Bengal Newz today. The water level was almost back to normal by evening after rising by five to seven feet in the afternoon. “Fortunately, there was no storm accompanying the spring tide. We had feared that the water level would rise by up to 15 feet at some places, which would have been disastrous,” Ahmed said.
The tide vigil across the Sunderbans, which began last evening, ended this afternoon. န Photos : AP

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Central team visits Aila-hit areas to assess damages

Kolkata, 7 June : An eleven-member Central team led by Ashok Lavasa, has started its assessment of the damage caused by recent Cyclone Aila in West Bengal.

The cyclone and its aftermath claimed 137 lives and affected 67.5 lakh people. Scarcity of drinking water and the spread of diarrhoea are some of the major problems affecting the people. Talking to reporters, State Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta said that three members of the team have left for the landslip-affected areas in Darjeeling. Though the threat of a fresh cyclone has abated, water-levels had risen by nearly a foot at some places," he added.
Reports also said that the team would cover Dhamakhali, Sandeskhali, Gosaba, Hingalgunj and Patharpratima in the two worst-affected districts in North and South 24 Parganas. The team will return to New Delhi on 9 June.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee on Saturday met Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and asked for 1000 crore rupees for relief and restoration work in areas hit by Cyclone Aila. The request was made at a meeting held at Mukherjee’s Kolkata residence.

န Photos : AP and Indrajit Dutta

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Centre to give North East India Rs 1,400cr makeover
New Delhi, 7 June : In what might just put the "neglected" North-East on to the tourist map, the Centre is set to launch a Rs 1,400 crore programme aiming to build and revamp urban infrastructure in the far-flung area with the aim to make its natural wonders more accessible.
The Urban development ministry is making a concerted effort and has taken the initiative to showcase the scenic beauty and diverse culture by making cities modern and more liveable. The North East Urban Development Programme, for which the ministry has managed to get funds from Asian Development Bank, will cover five state capitals— Aizawl, Shillong, Gangtok, Kohima, and Tripura capital Agartala— in the first phase.

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BD Detective Branch nabs another Dawood operative

Dhaka, 7 June : The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained one Arif Hossain, allegedly an associate of Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in Dhaka early on Sunday. Forty-year old Arif was arrested at a house near Mohammadpur Krishi Market, where he has been living since 2001.
Additional deputy police commissioner Mahbub Alam of the DB said Arif had been sheltering in Dhaka since the murder of Bhaskar Shethi, a Mumbai businessman. "We suspect he was connected with several other murders also," Mahbub said.
At noon, Arif was presented before the reporters. He confessed to murdering Bhaskar Shethhi and said as soon as he had got bail in the case in 2001, he escaped to Bangladesh. န File Photo : PTI

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Tripura police investigating Dawood man's passage

Agartala , 7 June : Tripura police have initiated an investigation into how Abdur Rauf Daud Merchant, accused of killing Bollywood music baron Gulshan Kumar, slipped into Bangladesh through Akhaura checkpost here.
Merchant had come to Tripura on 7 April and entered Bangladesh on 27 April with a fake passport, intelligence sources said today. Police are investigating into who helped Merchant, one of the contract-killers of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, arrange for his stay in Agartala between 7 to 27 April, the sources said. Investigations are on to know how he procured the passport.
Merchant was released on 23 March on 14-days parole. During the period, he managed to escape to Bangladesh via Tripura and was arrested along with another Indian Jahid Sheikh on 27 May from South Maurali, a village in Brahmanbaria district of that country, about 30 km from here.
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Dawood Ibrahim network in Bangladesh since 1995 !

Dhaka, 7 June : International mafia don Dawood Ibrahim established his terror network in Bangladesh back in 1995 and started expanding the nexus since 2000, a top police officer has said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner A.K.M. Shahidul Haq told reporters that Ibrahim’s accomplice Abdur Rauf Daud Merchant, caught here while in hiding in a village near Brahmanbaria in eastern Bangladesh, came to the country with a “mission” to form a terror group loyal to the underworld don. Bangladesh authorities have received several clues since the arrest of Merchant, a fugitive from Indian law convicted for the murder of Bollywood music baron Gulshan Kumar.
Analysts say what has come to light so far in investigations confirms New Delhi’s allegations about the reach of Ibrahim’s underworld network across South Asia. Ibrahim and his second-in command Chhota Shakil operate from Pakistan and Dubai, Indian authorities say.

န ICC world Twenty 20 cricket match : India Vs Bangladesh

န Trent Bridge, Nottingham, 6 June :
(L) Naeem Islam of Bangladesh (3rdL) celebrates after taking the wicket of India's captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (not pictured).
(R) Bangladesh's Zunaed Siddique, left, plays a shot as India's wicketkeeper captain MS Dhoni looks on during their Twenty20 World Cup cricket match at Trent Bridge cricket ground Nottingham, England.

န Photos : AP
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Congress to attend acyclone relief all-party meeting
Kolkata, 6 June : The Congress will attend the all-party meeting convened by West Bengal's Left Front (LF) government on Sunday to chart out a course of action for relief and rescue operations in the cyclone-hit districts including the Sundarbans.

"We'll participate in the all-party meeting and provide constructive suggestions to the government. We are for an effective plan of action to carry out the relief operations," Congress state unit working president Pradip Bhattacharya told Journalists in Kolkata. Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Manas Bhuniya and the other state working president Subrata Mukherjee will represent the party at the deliberations.
However, Bhattacharya said they did not understand why the state government has called this all-party meeting now, more than one week after the devastation. "They should have called this meeting much earlier," he said.

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Bangladesh Clocks go ahead from 19 June midnight

Dhaka, 1 June : Bangladesh will introduce Daylight Saving Time from midnight on 19 June, in a bid to save power, the cabinet decided on last Monday. Clocks will be set one hour ahead at midnight to 1.00am(BDST), said the prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad.

The government is introducing DST, as practiced in many parts of the world, as the country faces acute energy shortages, especially in summer. Azad cited the example of 70 countries which advance clocks as necessary. "Energy consumption is increasing in our country day by day due to socio-economic development," he said.
The power demand peaks to 5000-5500MW in the evenings, with the deficit standing at 800MW from 1000MW during the peak hours. Days are longest between March to September, with more hours of sunlight. The power deficit can be overcome by extending the hours of sunlight even further, he said.
The state minister for power said earlier this month that the new timing may continue until the end of September.

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"UNICEF" provides relief facilities in West Bengal
Kolkota, 6 June : The United Nations Children's Fund along with its partners Ramakrishna Mission Lokshiksha Parishad, a local NGO is providing relief facilities for the cyclone-affected victims in South 24 Paraganas district in cyclone-hit West Bengal. Millions of people in India and Bangladesh who have been temporarily displaced are in desperate need of water, food and adequate shelter after the cyclone Aila hit the region.
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Tripura seeks review of Union HRD Ministry’s decision
Agartala, 6 June : The Tripura government has requested the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to review the decision regarding increasing the level of points to be scored in the AIEEE for state students for admission to the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Agartala.

Official sources said the state higher education authorities urged the HRD Ministry in a letter today to revert last year’s eligibility criteria for Tripura students for admission to NIT Agartala. The number of total points to be scored had been increased to 100 this time from 31 for Tripura students. "Agartala NIT has altogether 500 seats where 250 were exclusively meant for Tripura students and the eligibility criteria was securing points from total 31 in the AIEEE but now this has been increased to 100 at par with national level, which has become a problem for the state’s students," the officials pointed out. They argued that since Tripura’s education standards could not match upto the national level, the state government had been fighting for the NIT to facilitate admission of local students and till last year it was maintained, but now suddenly the criteria was enhanced.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition Ratan Lal Nath also opposed the Ministry’s decision and sent fax message to Indian HRD Minister Kapil Sibal seeking his intervention on the issue.

Central team to assess cyclone damage tomorrow
Kolkata, 5 June : An eleven-member Central team will arrive here on Saturday to assess the damage caused by recent cyclone Aila in West Bengal. During their visit, the officials will visit the areas hit by the cyclone in West Bengal's South and North 24 Parganas districts and the Darjeeling hills. Besides, they will also hold meetings with the local administration and the State Government.
The Prime Minister has announced ex-gratia relief of 200,000 rupees for each of those killed in the cyclone in the state and other affected areas. Indian Rural Development Minister C P Joshi has ordered a grant of 100 million rupees for relief work for cyclone-hit people in West Bengal. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence has dispatched 20 medical teams of armed forces personnel to the Aila affected areas of North and South 24 Parganas district of the State.
The State Government has sought technical advice from the army for its reconstruction. Cyclone "Aila" hit the coast of West Bengal on 25 May.

န Mamata plays good Samaritan at Delhi's Vijay Chowk

New Delhi, 4 June : Help came from an unexpected quarter for a motorcyclist who fell from his vehicle and got injured after being hit by a speeding car at the busy Vijay Chowk here.
It was none other than Indian Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was also going on the same route, stepped out of her car to help the 'surprised' motorcyclist. "Didi" as she is known among her followers was true to her spirits when she saw the accident and instructed her staff to arrange water for the injured. After taking the motorcyclist aside, she asked him about his well being. Clad in her traditional cotton sari, Banerjee played a good Samaritan as she took out first aid box from her car and put 'band-aid' on the scratches of the motorcyclist herself.
But when media-personnel started hounding her, she was quick to leave the place saying her car was parked in a 'No Parking Zone' and that policemen may challan her for the same.

န Suspected Maoists gun down 3 Cops in Bankura

Panic spread after attack. Shops shut, Road deserted
Sarenga(Bankura), 3 June : Maoists ambushed a police patrol when they were having lunch at Simlipal’s Piralgiri More on Wednesday, killing three in cold blood. Two constables are critically injured.

Police suspect the Maoists had kept a watch on the police team’s movements for some time. A 15-member attack squad came out of Jangalkhand on Wednesday, followed the patrol party to the hotel on Jhargram-Bankura Road and riddled them with bullets. “Eight to nine gunmen opened fire from behind, without uttering a word,” said Lakshmirani Mandi, who works at the hotel.
ASI Biswanath Bera and constables Bishnupada Saha and Gopal Dey died on the spot. The Maoists then moved to the parked van, where constable Nripendranath Das and NVF’s Balaram Maity sat petrified. The duo tried to put up a fight but were outnumbered and shot in the head. They are at Bankura Hospital. The attackers fled with an SLR, three .303 rifles and a revolver. “They had some motorcycles hidden among the trees, said hotel owner Kalachand Das. Police suspect the motive for the attack was to loot weapons. Another reason could be that the Sarenga police have repeatedly raided nearby villages in search of Maoists in the past few months.
Panic spread after the attack. Shops shut and the road was deserted for the rest of the day. Bankura SP Vishal Garg is leading the hunt for the attackers, who fled to the jungles in Simlipal or Belpahari or towards Khatra. န Photos : Niraj Modi

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PDS leader Saifuddin Chowdhury meets Buddhadeb

Kolkata, 3 June : Saifuddin Chowdhury, leader of the Party for Democratic Socialism (PDS), met chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers' Buildings on Wednesday. The meeting taking place nine years after his expulsion from CPI(M) has fuelled speculation about Chowdhury's return to the party.
During the polls, Bhattacharjee had said he was trying to bring Chowdhury and Somnath Chatterjee back. "I told him (Bhattacharjee) that West Bengal is facing a crisis. He agreed and told me to think what I have done and added that life is short," said Chowdhury. "He said relief distribution in the Sunderbans was a problem because of transportation and people's weakness," Chowdhury said.
Taking a dig at his former ally, Trinamool Congress, he said: "Which big party is with the Centre, who is running the state are not the issues to be raised now. The Centre should accept whatever demands the state has placed."

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Bangladesh 'Parliament TV' may be on air soon

Dhaka, 3 June : A proposed new TV channel to air all parliamentary proceedings live has been approved for launch, said Bangladesh speaker Abdul Hamid on Wednesday. "The proposal has been approved by the parliament commission," Hamid told reporters after the commission met. "Anyone, including private TV channels, will be able to record parliamentary footage from the channel," said Hamid.
The Bangladesh parliament secretariat made the proposal as private TV stations are not allowed in to the building to film. The speaker said the new channel would have terrestrial facilities so that all people across the country could view parliament live. He said the state-run BTV would provide technical support to launch the new channel. "We will start the process as soon as possible," he said.
Hamid presided over the commission meeting attended by prime minister Sheikh Hasina, ministers and a representative from the main opposition BNP. The parliament commission approves all spending by parliament.

န The West Bengal CM Tries To Pacify Angry Villagers

Aila survivors jeer Buddha, call him inefficient CM
Hingalganj, 2 June : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was heckled and jeered by inmates of a relief camp for the second time in three days on Tuesday when he visited the cyclone-hit North 24-Parganas district while a local CPI(M) MLA was smeared with mud.
"You are an inefficient chief minister. You deserve a garland of shoes. What have you done for the development of the Sunderbans in the last five years?" the hungry cyclone victims shouted at Bhattacharjee at the end of his visit to a relief camp set up at AVS Madan Mohan Vidyapith in Hingalganj.
The inmates kept complaining in raised voice that inadequate relief had been sent by the state government and staged a demonstration before the chief minister. A visibly peeved Bhattacharjee was heard saying, "I will furnish all details of (what the government has done for the Sunderbans people)."
As the crowd kept shouting at the chief minister, securitymen threw a cordon around him and escorted him safely. Bhattacharjee had faced a similar ordeal last Sunday when he visited Gosaba in worst-hit South 24-Parganas district. Hundreds of cyclone victims had then booed, staged demonstrations and even at one point threatened to surround him over allegations of inadequate relief supply. Hours before the chief minister arrived, a crowd of cyclone victims heckled a CPI(M) MLA of the area for allegedly appearing on the scene only 10 days after the tragedy.
Gopal Gayen, MLA (Hingalganj), was abused, made to walk through mud and slush and some even smeared him with mud as he arrived at Sandalerbil village to meet the cyclone victims at a relief camp.
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Top AGP CC leader Nilotpal Choudhury resigns
Silchar, 2 June : AGP central committee member Nilotpal Choudhury resigned from the party today while addressing a press meet. Choudhury said, the recent general election had proved that regional politics had lost its relevance. Choudhury, who is also an executive director of a local newspaper group however maintained that he would engage himself with popular issues.
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Ham radio team tunes into relief work
Kolkata, 2 June : A team from India's National Institute of Amateur Radio have been asked by the state government to help with relief work. A three-member team of the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Amateur Radio (NIAR) reached Monday night with Ham Radio equipment to help the state government in relief work. The team has been requested by the state government to set up makeshift radio stations in the flood-affected areas of South and North 24-Parganas.
NIAR director Ram Mohan said they had received a letter from the North 24-Parganas district magistrate's office, asking them to send HAM radio equipment to the flood-affected areas of the district to help them in conducting relief and rescue work.
"We received a letter from the additional DM of North 24-Parganas to assist them in the flood-affected areas of the district. We are immediately sending a team to Kolkata with satellite radio equipment," said Ram Mohan.
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Tripura gives Rs.5 mn to cyclone-hit West Bengal
Agartala, 2 June : Tripura Tuesday decided to give Rs.5 million to cyclone-hit West Bengal to help in the relief relief efforts.
“The people of Tripura are confident that with the resilience of the people and the adequate support of the central government, the West Bengal government would come out of this situation,” Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said in a letter to his West Bengal counterpart Bhudhadeb Bhattacharjee.
The Tripura unit of the CPI(M) has decided to collect money from the public in support of West Bengal’s cyclone victims. “Our party men will fan out across the state from 5 June to collect donation from the people for the aid of those affected by the cyclone,” Bijon Dhar, secretary of the CPI(M) Tripura committee, told Bengal Newz today.

န Khulna, 1 June :

န A villager sells ducks at Khulna on Monday. Hundreds of thousands of people who were flooded out of their homes by deadly Cyclone Aila crowded government shelters in West Bengal and Bangladesh on Friday, with officials saying the risk of disease outbreaks was growing.

န Photo : Reuters