FB warns of parting company, CPI to stay in improved Left Front

PTI, Kolkata, 6 June : Two Left Front partners today blamed major partner CPI(M) for the Assembly elections rout, with the All India Forward Bloc bluntly asking it for a change in leadership while the CPI stated that it would continue in the coalition but it has to improve.
Referring to the CPI(M) leadership, All India Forward Bloc General Secretary Debabrata Biswas told newsmen here, "Will this leadership which gives diktats and does not listen to dissenting voice be able to give a new approach? Their know-all ego will not do."
"They will have to bring about change in leadership and in the ways of functioning and if they don't we will have to think of charting our own way," Biswas warned. He said a new approach was required to recover from the huge loss suffered in the recent elections.
"A new orientation is required, change of approach, leadership and attitude has to be brought for a turnaround from this huge loss in West Bengal," Biswas said after a three-day meeting of the party's central committee and central secretariat to discuss the the Assembly election debacle.
Speaking in a similar vein, CPI state secretary Manju Kumar Majumder told a separate press conference, "This debacle was not the result of a day's lapse. There was gradual resentment among the masses. Our party projected the diversion, flaws, weaknesses and loss of ground before the CPI(M), which was not given any importance."

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Bangladesh-India Foreign Sec level consultations tomorrow
UNI, Dhaka, 6 June : Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao arrived here this (Monday) afternoon to lead the Indian side at the Foreign Secretary level consultations with Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes who will lead the Bangladesh side. The consultations will focus on entire range of bilateral relations as well as sub-regional issues. The two Foreign Secretaries will take stock of the progress of implementation of decisions taken during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January last year and chart out the way forward.

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Alignment of Agartala-Akhaura via Bangladesh Rly line to be

Agartala, 6 June : The alignment of the railway line between Agartala with Akhaura via Gangasagar in Bangladesh would be finalised by an inter ministerial group during a visit here on 9 June.
The 8-member delegation would be headed by B N Rajsekhar, member Indian Railway Board, Tripura minister for Industries and Commerce, Jitendra Chowdhury told reporters here today.
The Railway Ministry has approved Rs 251 crore for laying 14 km of railway track to connect Agartala with Akhaura via Gangasagar in Bangladesh, he said. The Department of North Eastern region (DoNER) ministry would pay Rs 105 crore for construction the rail link on the Indian side and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Rs 146 crore for the project on the Bangladesh side, Chowdhury said. He said that another joint survey would be made next month to officially notify the proposed alignment.
Earlier, a joint team comprising representatives from both sides had made a joint survey in November last year. The Northeastern Frontier Railway (NFR) is likely to take up work for laying the tracks by October next year.
Sources in the NFR said, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was almost ready and would be submitted to the Rail Ministry and the Railway Board for final approval. The railway extension from Agartala to Udaipur in South Tripura district was expected to be completed by December 2012.
The conversion of the broad gauge line from Lumding to Badarpur in Assam has started after which it would be extended from Badarpur to Agartala. The NF railway was also conducting a survey to extend the railway up to Sabroom, the southern border town of Tripura for connectivity with the Chittagong Port in Bangladesh.

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Missing TMC worker's son lodges FIR against CPIM leaders

Midnapore, 6 June : The son of a missing Trinamool Congress worker today lodged an FIR against CPI(M) leader Sushanta Ghosh and two others alleging that they were responsible for his father's death.

The son of Ajay Acharya tonight lodged an FIR at Keshpur police station in West Midnapore district against Sushanta Ghosh, a former West Bengal minister and CPI(M) leaders Imtiaz Ali and Tarun Roy alleging that they were responsible for the death of Acharya, police said. Sushanta Ghosh is the CPI(M) MLA from Garbeta.
Ajay Acharya was missing since 22 September, 2002 after he was abducted allegedly by CPI(M) cadres following a clash between the CPI(M) and TMC. Yesterday Ajay Acharya''s son claimed one of the skeletons dug out from near the ancestral residence of Sushanta Ghosh''s, as that of his father''s. Skeletons, skulls and bones dug up on 4 June from near Sushanta's residence could be that of five to six persons.
A CID team led by SP Ashok Prasad Jain earlier in the day visited Piasala village to inquire about the persons missing since a clash on 22 September, 2002.
Trinamool Congress leader and MLA Mrigen Maity alleged that a number of his party supporters were attacked allegedly by CPI(M) men after a meeting in the village on that date. They were missing since then. န Photos : Mitul Das

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BJP dharna in Kolkata over crackdown on Ramdev's rally
Kolkata, 6 June : Protesting against the police crackdown on yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters at the Ramlila maidan in Delhi, BJP supporters today went on a day-long dharna here.
West Bengal party chief Rahul Sinha, secretary Ritesh Tiwari and others were present at the dharna at the Vidyasagar statue in College Square. Speakers condemned the Centre''s ''undemocratic action'' and said "the police crackdown reminds us of the dark days of Emergency in 1975 when people''s democratic and fundamental rights were drastically curbed.

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Chartered accountants recommend more Dir Tax in budget

BSS, Dhaka, 6 June : Chartered accountants have recommended imposing more direct tax in the upcoming national budget to eliminate economic disparity as they think it has been rising despite the recent economic growth and development.
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB), the main platform of the country's professional accountants, made this suggestion today in their 47-point recommendations for the national budget of 2011-12 fiscal, to be placed in the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday.
ICAB President Parveen Mahmud read out the recommendations at a press conference held at her office in the city's Karwan Bazar area. The government, she said, had initiated different programmes for poverty alleviation, but the economic disparity is still rising, which needs to be addressed in the upcoming national budget.
"To eliminate this economic inequality, the amount of the direct tax should be emphasized and increased instead of heavily depending on indirect tax," she said.
ICAB, however, observed that the tax process should be simplified with improving efficiency of tax administration to increase the collection of direct tax. The organisation suggested introducing a fee of Taka 2,500 for renewal of TIN (Tax Identification Number) for the person who does not declare any taxable income.

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Khaleda's 'Bangladesh Nationalist Party' calls for 2-day protests

Dhaka, 5 June : The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced a two-day protest on Sunday after police arrested 80 opposition activists during a countrywide general strike against the government attempts to change the voting system.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said they will stage a rally in the capital on Monday and countrywide demonstrations the next day to protest "the attacks and mass arrests" of their men during the strike. The opposition party and its key ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami began the strike since 6:00 am (BDST) to demand the caretaker system must stay in place for holding parliamentary elections.
During Sunday's strike, three small bombs were exploded near the offices of the BNP. Police dispersed the protesters around 11:05 am (BDST) after two cocktails were exploded. Another bomb was exploded in front of a shopping complex, leaving a rickshaw-puller seriously injured. Police shot 15 rounds of bullets to bring the situation under control when activists ransacked five trucks in the town of Begumganj, while 10 people were injured when police hit protesters with batons in Dattarhat village. Almost 60 people were also injured in four other towns when police clashed with activists.
The announcement of the two-day protest comes as the government is planning to scrap the provision for caretaker government system in the constitution. Opposition leader Khaleda Zia told reporters Saturday her party would not contest future polls if the government scrapped the caretaker system, which has covered four successive elections. န Photo : AP

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One Crore sapplings to be planted across the West Bengal

Kolkata, 5 June : In a joint initiative with the state government for a greener West Bengal, the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) Sunday announced that it will plant over 45,000 sapplings along river banks in the state. The government will also plant more than one crore sapplings across the state.
Speaking at a function marking the World Environment Day Sunday, KoPT chairman M.L. Meena said that over 45,000 mangrove and salt-tolerant sapplings will be planted along the river banks in the state.

"Under our green initiative, we have also started making paperless transactions which, by our estimates, will result in saving 30 trees annually," said Meena. The KoPT has also undertaken programmes on conservation.
"We have adopted several measures to reduce consumption of diesel by 10 percent annually. We are also developing our infrastructure for controlling oil spills which can be a major threat to environment and marine life," said Meena. He added that KoPT will spend about Rs.2 crore annually towards its green initiatives.
Public Works Department Minister Firhad Hakim said collaboration with KoPT was essential for implementing the government's plan to make the city green.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation will plant over one lakh sapplings in the city, while the state government will plant more than one crore sapplings across the state. Hakim, Meena and Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee also planted sapplings on the occasion. န Photos : AP

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Pop maestro and freedom fighter Azam Khan passes away
Dhaka, 5 June : Bangladesh's pop maestro and freedom fighter Azam Khan passed away at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Sunday morning.
The 62 year old Pop legend was declared dead at 10:20am (BDST). Azam Khan who had been suffering from oral cancer was on life support at the city's Square Hospital since March 27 and shifted to CMH on Wednesday...... READ MORE @ BBC Bangla

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Diarrhoea claims one, affects seventy in Howrah district
Howrah, 5 June : One person died today while seventy others, including six children, were hospitalised after diarrhoea broke out at Bagnan in the district.
While one died this evening, 32 more patients were admitted to different hospitals today, block medical officer Dr Binoy Roy told Bengal Newz. Those afflicted by the outbreak were drinking contaminated water for the past two days, he said, adding that 38 persons were yesterday admitted to various hospitals. Two medical teams have been formed to check the outbreak and water samples sent for tests, Dr Roy also said.

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CPI(M) to go back to the masses : Gen Sec Prakash Karat

Kolkata, 5 June : CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat today said that the party in West Bengal would have to re-establish connect with the people and to reorganise itself after the drubbing in the state Assembly elections at the hands of Trinamool Congress-Congress combine.
The CPI(M), which had evidently lost touch with the general masses and failed to assess what they wanted, today decided to "go back to the masses and to work among the people in a correct manner".
Karat, who attended a two-day West Bengal state committee meeting of CPI(M) as a special invitee to discuss the reasons of the dismal results of the CPI(M)-led Left Front, said, "We have to delve deeper to scrutinise the reasons for which people voted for a change."
CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose voiced similar sentiments.
The party is likely to discuss the issue threadbare in the Central Committee meeting at Hyderabad next week.

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WB election result clear verdict in favour of TMC : Somnath
Bolpur, 5 June : Former Indian Lok Sabha Speaker from CPI(M), Somnath Chatterjee described the recent Assembly election result in West Bengal as a "clear verdict" in favour of the Trinamool Congress.
"In Kerala, it is not so clear but in West Bengal the people have very clearly given the verdict. Now it is time for Mamata Banerjee to act for the welfare of the common people and the state as a whole," Somnath Chatterejee said last night at a get-together attended by Trinamool Congress MLAs of Birbhum district, including state panchayat and Rural Development minister Chandranath Sinha.

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Tripurs lad Manik tops HS examination in Commerce stream
Agartala, 5 June : Manik Chakraborty, student of Umakanta Academy of Agartala, has scripted history in 35-years-old Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE).
Manik secured the top position from Commerce stream in this year's higher secondary examination, the results of which was announced yesterday. Manik belongs to a BPL family and he did not have a single private tutor. According to the record, Manik is the first student from Commerce in the state who secured the first position in the exam.

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President urges developed countries to build peaceful world

BSS, Dhaka, 5 June : Bangladesh President Zillur Rahman today urged the wealthy and developed countries to come forward with a cooperative mindset for building a peaceful and prosperous world.
"There is no alternative to resolving international disputes peacefully through discussions," he said while addressing the closing ceremony of two-day Asia Pacific Peace Conference at a city hotel. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the conference Yesterday organized by the Bangladesh Peace council.

President of Bangladesh Peace Council Abdur Razzak, MP, presided over the closing ceremony while former prime minister of Nepal Madhav Kumar Nepal, Indian CPM Politburo member Sitaram Yechury, MP, executive secretary of World Peace Forum Iraklis Tasavdarids and General Secretary of Bangladesh Peace Council Dr M A Quassem also spoke.
Apart from host Bangladesh, representatives from different countries, including Palestine, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bhutan, India, Australia, Nepal, Brazil and Greece attended the conference.
In the present global perspective, President Rahman said, struggle is very important for establishing peace, and sustainable peace is a prerequisite for stability and development of a country. Now it is a demand of the time to continue advancement of peace movement through democratizing the society instead of arms race including developing nuclear weapons, the President said. "The movement and struggle for establishing peace will be meaningless if we fail to free the world from hunger and poverty," he said.
World's developing countries including Bangladesh are fighting against hunger, diseases and social disparity, he said, adding that achieving economic independence of least developed countries is a must along with stopping war and conflict to establish world peace.

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Ahead of BNP's 24-hours "Hartal", 100 arrested, 10 buses burnt

Dhaka, 4 June : Former Bangladesh Home Secretary and BNP chairperson’s advisor Zahurul Huq and 49 Ward Commissioner Abul Khayer Bablu were among 150 people arrested from the capital and elsewhere of the country ahead of tomorrow’s dawn-to-dusk hartal.
At least 10 passenger buses were burnt in pre-hartal violence in different parts of the capital.
Opposition BNP and its allies Jamaat-e-Islami, BJP and Khelafat Majlis called the shutdown to protest the government move to scarp the provision of the non-party caretaker government. IOJ, JAGPA and others extended their support to the hartal.
BNP alleged that Zahurul Huq from Elephant Road and Bablu from Dhanmondi were arrested in the evening.
BNP office secretary Rizvi Ahmed claimed that Khulna City JCD general secretary Kamal Ahmed was arrested from Khulna city in the evening. He also claimed that at least 250 BNP activists were injured in police action on the hartal campaigners across the country.

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India to hosts this year's World Environment Day tomorrow

New Delhi, Kolkata, 4 June : India will host this year's World Environment Day tomorrow and the government has announced that the country will continue to play a very important role in defining the terms of environmental debate at the global level.
Each year a different country is chosen as the principal venue for the global celebration of World Environment Day which falls on 5 June and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has selected India as the global host of this year's programme.
The theme of this years celebration is "Forests: Nature at Your Service", which highlights the crucial environmental and economic roles played by the forests, particularly in India.
"The message is largely to the international community that India is willing and determined to play and is playing a very important role in defining the terms of environmental debate," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh in his message to the world on the occasion.

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BNP to go non-stop movement to thwart annulment of CG
Dhaka, 4 June : Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Saturday said her party might be compelled to go for tough non-stop movement if the government does not refrain from annulling the system of caretaker government embodied in the Constitution.
She said authority of amending the Constitution lay with parliament, and not any court. Nor it is not mandatory for parliament to implement verdict of the court on amending the Constitution. Khaleda told a crowded press conference at her Gulshan office this evening that BNP would thwart the ill motive of government.

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GS Prakash Karat to review CPI(M) debacle in West Bengal

Kolkata, 4 June : CPI(M)'s West Bengal state committee met here today with party general secretary Prakash Karat as special invitee to finalise its review report on the end of the uninterrupted 34-year rule of the Left Front in the state.
Party sources said during the two-day session Karat is likely to discuss the factors responsible for the drubbing in the Assembly elections with the state leadership which took up district and block-level reports on the poll reverses.
The meeting is also expected to analyse the wrong estimate of the party's prospects in the election when the leadership forecast 199 seats for the Left Front to be able to form the eighth Front government in the state.
Former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present at the meeting, which will also take up the issue of post-poll violence by TMC.

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FM hopes Singapore would import more B'deshi Products
Dhaka, 4 June : Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni expressed hope that Singapore would import more Bangladeshi Products to reduce the trade gap between the two countries.
She told this during her meeting with new Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam at the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, said a press release.

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WB BJP state president Rahul Sinha offers party to resign

PTI, Lucknow, 4 June : BJP's review of its performance in the recently-held Assembly elections to five states saw its West Bengal unit chief Rahul Sinha offering to resign owning "moral responsibility" for the party's defeat, but it was shot down by the top leadership.
During the discussions on BJP's dismal poll performance in all the five states - West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry, senior party leaders made efforts to know why their calculations went wrong.
Rahul Sinha, BJP state unit president of West Bengal, told party President Nitin Gadkari that he was owning responsibility for the party's poor showing in the state.

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CPI(M) leaders paraded, assaulted for alleged corruption
PTI, Burdwan, 4 June : Eight local CPI(M) leaders were today paraded by being pulled with the ropes tied around their waists before being beaten up by villagers at Saraighar in Burdwan district over alleged corruption.
The eight CPI(M) leaders - Achinta Mondal and Srikanta Ghosh, both local CPI(M) committee members, former secretary of the gram panchayat Jahar Ghosh, besides Ashwini Mondal, Sukumar Pramanik and Kartik Mondal, three gram panchayat members and Sunil Mullick, the secretary -- had called a meeting of the villagers in a field, local Trinamool Congress leader S K Jamal said.
The villagers had demanded an explanation on how Rs six lakh in development funds was spent about a fortnight ago and the CPI(M) leaders had said that an explanation would be given today, he said.

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Total and darkest "Lunar Eclipse" on the night of 15 June

PTI, Mumbai, 4 June : With the sun, earth and moon falling in a straight line on the night of 15 June, a celestial drama, showing the darkest lunar eclipse in the 21st century, will occur, an official spokesperson said here today.
The moon will pass through the shadow, cast by the earth, producing a beautiful spectacle in the sky. As the moon slips into the earth's umbra (dark shadow), it will slowly turn coppery red, Programme Coordinator (Scientific) at the Nehru Planetarium Suhas B Naik-Satam said.
This will be the darkest lunar eclipse visible over the skies of India in the 21st Century, after the last darkest lunar eclipse 40 years back on 6 August, 1971, he said.
The lunar eclipse will be visible throughout India and it will start at 23:53 pm(IST) and it will end at 03:32 am on 16 June, Satam said.

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WB Govt orders judicial probe into Mostafa Quasem's death
Kolkata, 4 June : The West Bengal government today ordered a judicial inquiry into the death of CPI(M) MLA Mostafa Bin Quasem at the MLA Hostel here in deference to the request of his son Masum.
"The Chief Secretary will decide the terms of reference of the one-member judicial commission," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here.

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Asian Development Bank assures fund for big solar system

UNB, Dhaka, 4 June : Asian Development Bank (ADB) has in principal agreed to provide financial support to Bangladesh for implementing a solar system project for generation of 500 MW power.
The assurance came from the top executives of the multilateral lending agency at its 3-day Asia Solar Energy Forum’s Conference in Bangkok that ended on 1 June. A delegation led by PM’s Energy Adviser Dr. Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury attended the conference.

“Responding to our call, ADB has in principal agreed to provide the financial support to a 500 MW capacity solar energy project. Now, other things will be worked out to implement the proposed project and the amount of fund will be determined on that basis,” Tapos Kumar Roy, Additional Secretary of the Power Division, who attended the conference told UNB.
The ADB arranged the conference as part of its policy to promote renewable energy, particularly the solar-based power system in the Asian countries. The lending agency has planned to introduce 3,000 MW solar-based power system in the region by 2013.
Delegations from most of the Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Maldives participated in the conference.
Bangladesh delegation included Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Additional Secretary Tapos Kumar Roy, IDCOL chief executive office Islam Sharif and Rahimafrooz Renewable’s managing director Munawar Moin.
Officials attended the conference said Bangladesh proposed a plan for introducing 500 MW solar panel-based system that includes solar irrigation pump; solar roof top in urban areas; and mini grids solar plants in rural area.

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“We’re not rigid” on caretaker Government : PM Sheikh Hasina

UNB, Dhaka, 3 June : Holding an olive branch for her opponents, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday urged the BNP to return to parliament and place their formula, if any, on caretaker government.
“We are not on a rigid position. Come to parliament and if you have any formula spell it out,” she said in her opening remarks at the Awami League central working committee meeting at Ganobhaban in the afternoon. Questioning the Sunday’s hartal called by the opposition, Hasina said why have you called hartal? For what, in whose interest and depending upon whom?”
Referring to the BNP’s call of boycotting next elections under party government, she again questioned: “Depending upon whom have you called for boycotting the elections? Most people in your party are champion turncoats.” Reiterating her commitment to run the country through constitutional means, the Prime Minister said the election commission will function independently and her government will not interfere in it.
“We want introduction of the electronic voting machine (EVM). We don’t know why BNP opposes it and what they want?”
Referring to those who defend the system of caretaker government, she said there is no guarantee that those who had not suffered during the past caretaker regime would not be the victims in the future. “We can’t allow the tiger to guard the goats time and again,” Hasina said, adding that many are taking preparations to stay in power for a long time by staging another 1/11.

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Paramilitary personnel to remain in West Bengal for now

PTI, New Delhi, 3 June : Nearly 15,000 central paramilitary personnel currently deployed in West Bengal are unlikely to be withdrawn soon as they are being engaged in the recovery of illegal arms and to check post-poll violence.
A large caches of illegal arms have been recovered from different parts of West Bengal by the state police with the help of the central forces and the new Mamata Banerjee-led government wants the exercise to continue, government officials said.
"Unless some major emergency occurs, the forces will remain in West Bengal as long as the state government desires.
They are engaged in maintaining law and order and recovering illegal arms," an official said.
Altogether 701 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (one companies comprises roughly 100 personnel) were deployed for the peaceful conduct of elections in West Bengal.

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'Rapid Action Battalion' again shoot a mother of Six in head

Dhaka, 3 June : Bangladesh's (RAB) have shot a mother of six point-blank in the head at a house in Bhairab.
Rahima Begum (40) took bullets during a RAB-11 drive against drugs in Panchabati of Bhairab municipality on Friday afternoon. She was taken to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital and later transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in critical condition. RAB-11 camp commander Col Ahsan admitted to the incident which he termed as an 'accident'.

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Islam be scrapped as state religion : BD' religious minorities

Anisur Rahman, Dhaka, 3 June : Bangladesh's religious minorities, including Hindus, today demanded the scrapping of the provision that declares Islam as a state religion so as to restore the secular character of the 1972 constitution.
Rana Dasgupta, General Secretary of Hindu Boudhha Christian Oikya Parishad, a key organisation of religious minorities in Bangladesh, said the entire nation wanted the restoration of the spirit of secularism.
Rana Dasgupta said the country's nearly 2.5 crore minorities were "deeply concerned" as a parliamentary constitution amendment committee reportedly decided not to touch the provision that declared Islam as the state religion.
The Parisad warned of tough actions against plans to retain Islam as the state religion. It said Islam was incorporated as the state religion in 1988 when an autocratic regime was in power that wanted to divide the nation on religious lines.

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More Congress ministers join Mamata Banerjee's cabinet
Kolkata, 3 June : Five Congress MLAs were sworn-in today as ministers of state, taking the strength of the Mamata ministry in West Bengal to 43, one short of the sanctioned strength of 44.
The five, sworn-in by Governor M K Narayanan, were Pramathanath Roy, Manoj Chakraborti, Abu Naser Khan Chowdhury, Sunil Chandra Tirkey and Sabina Yasmin.

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Huge cache of arms seized from CPI(M) leader TG's house

Midnapore, 3 June : Huge cache of arms and ammunition were seized today by security forces from different places, including one from a CPI(M) leader's house in West Midnapore district, police said.
In Garbeta area, villagers attacked CPI(M) leader Tapan Ghosh's house and informed police, who found a small assembling unit for guns, they said.
1000 round of bullets, twelve .99 mm pistols, 2 rifles and a handmade pistol were among the recoveries, police said .
Four guns were found in Kotwali's Angua area, eight from a feild in Jhargram's Boita while another two guns were found in Keshpur's Charka area, they added.

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Teachers' recruitment to be streamlined : Mamata Banerjee
Kolkata, 3 June : The West Bengal government has decided to streamline recruitment of teachers and PTTI students by bringing them all under the school education department.
Selection of students for Primary Teachers Training Institutes, para-teachers, teachers working under the Madhyamik Siksha Kendra and Sarba Siksha Kendra will all be brought under the ambit of the school education department, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told reporters here today.

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At least eight people killed in a road crash in Sylhet district

UNB, Sylhet, 3 June : At least eight people, including seven of a family, were killed when a bus and a private car collided head on at Fakirabad in Balaganj upazila on Friday.
The identity of the deceased, however, could not be known immediately. Police and local sources said the accident occurred at about 3:15pm when a Moulvibazar bound private car collided with a Sylhet bound passenger bus.

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Tourism key to development of North Bengal : Gautam Deb

Kolkata, 3 June : Tourism could be a key factor for the development of North Bengal, for which Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a fund of Rs 200 crore.
"Tourism is a key factor for development of North Bengal and all steps will be taken for betterment of infrastructure," North Bengal Development minister Gautam Deb told newsmen at the state secretariat here today.
"Initially education, health and agriculture will be given priority, but we will ensure all around development of North Bengal with tourism being given due importance," he said.
Stating that the allocation for North Bengal has been increased from a mere Rs 60 crore granted by the previous government to Rs 200 crores, he said the Left Front government had given Rs 291 crores to it in the last ten years.
"I have briefed the chief minister about the problems in North Bengal. She knows what is affecting it," Gautam Deb said.

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Yechury to attend Dhaka conference on peace and security
PTI, New Delhi, 3 June : CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury today left for Dhaka to attend a crucial conference on peace and security in the region.
The conference will be inaugurated tomorrow by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Yechury would be addressing the inaugural session of the two-day Asian Peace Conference, being organised by the World Peace Council and the Bangladesh Peace Council, party sources said here.

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Indian American teen Sukanya wins US Spelling Bee crown

PTI, Washington, 3 June : Indian-origin students have made it four times in a row with teenager Sukanya Roy being crowned the new Spelling Bee champion of the US after she correctly spelled 'cymotrichous', which means wavy hair.
"My heart started pounding, I guess," Sukanya (14) said, after winning the championship, considered as a coveted prize for students in the US.
"I couldn't believe it...It's just amazing. It's hard to put into words," the Class 8 student of Pennsylvania's Abington Heights Middle School said. She was declared winner following the finals between 13 candidates last evening.
The teenager earlier participated in the 2009 and 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bees, tying for 12th place in 2009 and 20th place in 2010. န Photo : Reuters

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Govt to sign credit agreement with ADB for Padma Bridge
Dhaka, 3 June : Bangladesh government will sign a credit assistance agreement on Monday (6 June) under which the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$ 615 million for the construction of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge to help accelerate growth and reduce poverty in the country.
ADB is providing over 21 percent of the total investment cost of nearly US$ 2.92 billion for the bridge across the Padma River linking the country’s southwest to the northern and eastern regions.

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Ulfa' Paresh Baruah faction asks oil company to quit Assam
Guwahati, 3 June : The proscribed ULFA Paresh Baruah faction on Friday served a 'quit notice' to a private oil and gas company in Assam alleging that it was exploiting the state's natural resources against the local people's interest.
"We are giving them the notice to stop all their operations in the state and leave within one and half months from today," said an ULFA statement. The 'quit notice' was sent to Shiv-Vani Oil and Gas Exploration Services Ltd in Upper Assam.

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State-owned ONGC to commission 'power project' in Tripura

IANS, Agartala, 3 June : Despite transportation hiccups, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will by year-end partially commission its first 726-MW gas-based thermal power project in Tripura, the largest in the northeast, a top official said.
"The generation of electricity would start from the (363 MW) first unit of the power project in December. The project would be fully operational by March next year," Sudhindra Kumar Dube, managing director of the ONGC Tripura Power Co Ltd (OTPC), told IANS.
ONGC, a Fortune 500 company, has formed OTPC to set up the Rs.9,000-crore project in Palatana, 60 km south of this Tripura capital, for which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had laid the foundation stone in 2005.
The oversized heavy turbines and other heavy machines for the project, carried on massive 132-wheeled trucks, had reached the site in April from Haldia port in West Bengal after being trans-shipped through Bangladesh. Some more turbines and big machines are on their way to Tripura.

The ONGC official said transporting the heavy equipment to Tripura over a few thousand kilometers of surface routes within India - through the mountainous northeastern states - was extremely difficult, and the Indian authorities were forced to carry the power plant's equipment through Bangladesh.
India developed a jetty at the Ashuganj river port, 45 km from Agartala, widened the roads in Bangladesh and developed around 25 bypasses across the border and inside Tripura to ferry the heavy equipment for the power project. The Bangladesh government had earlier agreed to allow India the use of its waterways to transport the equipment for the project.
Due to incessant rains and heavy showers in the past one week, some bypasses, built over Tripura's rivers, have either been washed away or badly damaged, putting the authorities in a tizzy for transporting the heavy machinery in the mountainous state. "We are talking to the BRO (Border Roads Organisation) and associated organisations to build alternate bypasses to carry the turbines and other machinery," Dube said.
On 19 April, one of the 280-tonne turbines was damaged when it fell off its transporter. After 41 days of frantic efforts, the engineers and workers again placed it on the transporter earlier this week. "Work on commissioning the power project is in full swing despite the transportation difficulties," Dube said. A consortium comprising US-based General Electric and India's state-run BHEL has been contracted to supply the all-important gas turbines for the thermal power project," ONGC officials added.
ONGC owns significant natural gas reserves in Tripura. However, these reserves are yet to be commercially exploited due to the low industrial demand in the northeastern region. The complexities of logistics and costs limit the economic viability of transporting gas to other deficit parts of the country. It is to optimally utilise the gas available in Tripura that ONGC proposes developing the 726- MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) thermal power plant close to its gas fields in the state to supply power to deficit areas of northeastern India.

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Rail connectivity between Agartala & Akhaura to be reality soon

Agartala, 2 June : The construction works for railway connectivity between Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh would begin in the current financial year.
Officials sources said, to finalize the track routes and other ground feasibilities for this ambitious railway project, a delegation of eight members of Inter-Ministerial Group led by B N Rajshekar, Additional Member of Planning wing of Indian Railway Board, will arrive in the state on 9 June next.
The delegation will review the possible track of Agartala-Akhaura rail link on a stretch of 10 kilometers.
Sources added that after final report of the Inter-Ministerial team, the construction works would begin.
It may be recalled here that, earlier Union Railway Ministry had already sanctioned Rs 251 crore for construction of the project.
As per the survey of Agartala-Akhaura rail link, about 5 kilometers of tracks would be constructed into the Indian side and 5 kilometers more of tracks would also be set up in the Bangladesh side. The tracks would first reach Ganga Sagar railway station in Bangladesh and then it will connect the Akhaura station.

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Famous newscaster Debdulal Bandyopadhyay passes away
Kolkata, 2 June : All India Radio and Doordarshan newscaster Debdulal Bandyopadhyay passed away at his south Kolkata residence today after a prolonged illness, family members said.
He was 76 and is survived by his son and daughter. Locals gathered at his Southern Avenue residence as a pall of gloom descended over media fraternity following the death of Bandyopadhyay, a gifted elocutionist known for his clear diction.
His news commentary during the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971 on radio made him immensely popular on both sides of the border.

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BNP-Jamaat day-long "hartal" on Sunday to protest govt's move

Dhaka, 1 June : Bangladesh's main opposition BNP and its ally Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami have called a daylong countrywide general strike on Sunday to protest the government move to discard the caretaker government provision for the next general elections in line with a court order.
BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced the dawn-to-dusk shutdown at a press conference at party's Naya Paltan-based headquarters on Wednesday.

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Govt signs accord with UN country team for US $ 1.8 billion
UNB, Dhaka, 1 June : Bangladesh government on Wednesday signed an agreement with the United Nations country team under which Bangladesh will receive US$ 1.8 billion grant assistance (around Tk 13,500 crore) over a period of five years under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2012-2016.
The assistance will help Bangladesh in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by focusing on seven priority areas. Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and UN resident coordinator Neal Walker signed the agreement in presence of Finance Minister AMA Muhith at the Finance Division conference room. Senior officials from the government and the UN agencies were present.
The seven areas, each led by one UN agency, as outlined in the UNDAF are: Democratic Governance and Human Rights (UNDP); Pro-poor Growth with Equity (UNDP); Social Services for Human Development (UNICEF); Food Security and Nutrition (WFP); Climate Change, Environment, Disaster Risk Reduction and Response (UNDP); Pro-poor Urban Development (UNDP); Gender Equality and Women's Advancement (UNFPA).
All UN system agencies will work together to achieve the goals and results set forth in the UNDAF 2012-2016.

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Panel formed to probe yesterday's Kamrup bus accident

Guwahati, 1 June : Assam government today constituted a one-man committee to probe into the causes and circumstances leading to the bus accident in Kamrup (Rural) district yesterday.
A notification issued by the Political (A) Department said the probe would be conducted by Lower Assam Division Commissioner Hemanga Kumar Sharma. The terms of reference shall be the circumstances leading to the deaths and injury of passengers in the accident and to find out lapses, if any, on the part of any authority, person causing the accident on Monday night.
The measures to be taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future and any other matter which in the opinion of the enquiry authority is required to be looked into will be other area of reference, the notification added.

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Success brings melancholy for a meritorious Malda student

Malda, 1 June : The proverb ‘nothing succeeds like success’ is not applicable for him as success has brought a huge melancholy for Soubhagya Karmakar of Malda town. After cracking the IIT entrance examination perhaps as the only candidate from the district this year, Soubhagya has lost his slumber as he does not know if he would be able to pursue higher studies from any premier IITs of the country. His family is now entirely dependent of humanitarian approach of the society which can alone substantiate the name of this youngster.

Soubhagya Karmakar, a higher secondary examinee, has been indulged in an uneven battle against formidable poverty since his nursery days. With no private tuition ever, he kept on earning academic successes which drew the public attention when he stood second in the Madhyamik examination in 2009 in Malda securing 92% marks. A student of Malda Zilla School, Soubhagya secured 93% marks in class XI and 90% in the test examinations.
Soubhagya, understanding his financial cripples, did not dare to fill in the form of the IIT entrance examinations but, the alumni association of Malda Zilla School extended its cooperation including the requisite fees for the all India examinations. The 17 year old substantiated the faith of his sponsors by securing 1867th rank in all India IIT entrance examinations. With the dream of becoming a civil or a mechanical engineer Soubhagya is now cherishing the aspiration to get admitted to the IIT, Bhubaneswar or the IIT, Chennai. But it is a fierce battle again against the poverty that is grinning to crush his dreams.
Sitting in a dilapidated one-roomed house his parents Sukumar and Subhra said in chocked voices: “It is perhaps our offence to give birth to Soubhagya to our poverty stricken family. Being parents we could neither provide him neither a filling meal nor books.” “It was the god’s grace and our son’s determination that worked together to pave ways for his success,” the Karmakar couple said while trying to veil their tears. Their younger son Shubham is a student of class V and imitating the academic performance of this elder.
The local MLA said that he would look into the matter later, the minister has advised him to apply for education loan but all these are mere dry promises. What Soubhagya depends upon is the aid of the civil society. Already some former students of Malda Zilla School and few benefactors extended financial aid within their reach and what Soubhagya does not know if there would be a sustainable source to support him in his uneven battle between merit and poverty. “I can study only. I want your support,” urged Soubhagya yet unsure if the society would bring about true ‘Soubhagya’ (Good Luck) for him. န Photos : Suryya Dwipta Acharjee

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BNP to go for simultaneous movement, Hartal, called next week

Dhaka, 31 May : BNP and its allies will launch simultaneous movement against Hasina government’s move to cancel the constitutional provision of non-party caretaker government to hold general elections.
Opposition sources said the opposition’s agitation may include countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal likely to be called next week.

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Thirty-six people killed in two road mishaps in Assam state
PTI, Guwahati, Golaghat, 31 May : Thirty-six people were killed and 17 others injured in two road mishaps in Assam where a bus carrying a marriage party fell into a pond and an oil tanker caught fire this morning. 31 passengers, including 12 women, were killed and six persons critically injured when a bus carrying a marriage party fell into a pond in Kamrup (Rural) district last night.

The bus travelling from Guwahati to Dihu in Rangia sub-division of the district, fell into the 40 ft deep pond at Rajabari when a wooden bridge it was crossing gave in.
Six passengers were rescued and admitted to Mukundo Kakoti Civil hospital in neighbouring Nalbari district, the police said. The condition of the patients was critical. The bus was taken out of the pond by the police with the help of locals and Army personnel.
In the second accident, five persons were charred to death and 12 others injured when an overturned oil tanker they were collecting oil from burst into flames in Badulipara in Golaghat district early this morning. The tanker going to Jorhat overturned at Badulipura and soon some nearby locals gathered at the spot to collect fuel. When they were taking out the oil, an overhead wire fell on the tanker which burst into flames, police said.
The locals collecting the fuel were trapped in the blaze, police said, adding five persons were charred to death. 12 of the injured have been admitted to separate hospitals in the district. န Photos : AFP

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Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee visits "disputed" Singur
Kolkata, 31 May : West Bengal Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee Tuesday visited the "disputed" Singur site and said he will submit a note to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about the present condition of the land there.
"Apart from identifying the land, we are also preparing a note sheet about the condition of land right now. We will submit that note sheet to the chief minister," Chatterjee told reporters after the visit.

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Rare Jamini Roy painting put up for sale by great grandson

PTI, New Delhi, 31 May : A rare unpublished painting done 70 years ago by Jamini Roy, one of the celebrated modern Indian artist, is now put up for sale his great grandson.

The 2.5 ft x 3.5 ft water colour on paper done in the traditional West Bengal folk art style Patua and depicting Lord Krishna and gopis was gifted by Roy to his cousin around 1908, according to his great grandson. "Jamini Roy was very fond of my great grandfather Provash Chandra Roy (my great grandfather) and considered him a venerable personality of his family. Roy gifted the painting to him on one of his birthdays," Subhra Ray,an additional private secretary to the Minister for Railways told PTI
Ray says due to certain compulsions and his inability to protect the artwork from the vagaries of nature he wants to sell the painting and is scouting for suitable buyers. "The work has been lying with our family in our ancestral home for many years in Beliatore, Bankura in West Bengal where the great painter was born," says Ray.
Born in 1887 Jamini Roy who received a Padma Bhushan in 1955, began his formal training in art at the Government School of Art in Kolkata in 1903. Roy began his career by painting in the Post- Impressionist genre of landscapes and portraits. However, by 1925, Roy abandoned the canvas and began experimenting on indigenous materials - lime coated surfaces made of cloth, wood and mats and also began using earth and vegetable hues.
The 1930s witnessed an upsurge in the artist''s career that spanned well into the 60s. Roy held several one-man exhibitions and numerous group shows. His works can be found in several private and public collections, institutions and museums all over the world, including the Lalit Kala Academy in Delhi and museums in Germany and the US.

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UN to provide $ 2 billion to Bangladesh under UNDAF '12-16

Dhaka, 31 May : The United Nations (UN) agencies will provide around US$ 1.8 billion as grants for Bangladesh over a period of five years under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2012-2016.
In this regard, an agreement will be signed between Bangladesh government and the UN country team at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday in presence of Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan and UN resident coordinator Neal Walker are expected to sign the agreement, said an ERD high official.
The agreement envisaged that the UN to work in seven interrelated and complementary areas and is based upon the MDGs Bangladesh Progress Report 2009, jointly prepared by the Government and the UN.

The ERD official said that the UNDAF 2012-2016 for Bangladesh has been prepared in line with the draft Sixth Five-year Plan (SFYP), Vision 2021, MDG Bangladesh Progress Report and Perspective Plan through consultations with the UN agencies, civil society members and think tanks.
The agreement, known as UNDAF 2012-2016 is the guiding development plan for the UN system in Bangladesh.
UNDAF 2012-16 aims to raise US$ 1.8 billion for Bangladesh in seven priority areas which are led by individual UN agencies.
These areas are Democratic Governance and Human Rights (UNDP); Pro-poor Growth with Equity (UNDP); Social Services for Human Development (UNICEF); Food Security and Nutrition (WFP); Climate Change, Environment, Disaster Risk Reduction and Response (UNDP); Pro-poor Urban Development (UNDP); Gender Equality and Women's Advancement (UNFPA).
The official said that the projects to be taken under this assistance would be executed following the rules and regulations of the government and the UN agencies.
A meeting on the (UNDAF) 2012-2016 will be held on 5 June at the ERD to advance the process.
Earlier UNDAF 2006-2010 was undertaken, which was later extended to till end of 2011 under close coordination and collaboration with the government.
Six national priorities identified jointly by the GoB and UN are being addressed under the Bangladesh UNDAF 2006-2010.
The UNDAF 2006-2010 was formally signed by the then government on 30 March, 2005.

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