န River traffic halts as hill collapses into Sangu river

Bandarban, 8 May : River traffic has ground to a halt for three days after a 700-feet high hill collapsed into the Sangu river at Galenga on Wednesday, the Ruma Upazila chairman said. The hill slide near an army camp in Ruma Upazila cut off river links between Bandarban Sadar and Ruma and Thanchi, Aungthoaiching said on Friday.
The slide, believed to have been caused by hill cutting, has created a barrage in the river, he added. The slide filled up at least 10 feet of the 25-feet wide length river. As the depth of the river was less in the other part, vessels could not move through. River transport operators were without work and traders in Thanchi and Ruma counting losses, Ruma Upazila chairman also said.
The hill might have collapsed because of a loss of geographical balance due to cultivation by hill cutting, a local forest department officer, Monirul Islam, said. ။ Photo : STAR

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Security beefed up over bombing threat to embassy
Dhaka, 8 May : Threats from Islamist militants on Thursday night to blow up the US embassy and three other missions in Dhaka have prompted the government to shore up security in diplomatic zone, police said. Dhaka city police chief AKM Shahidul Haque said on Friday the US embassy and UK, Australia and Canada high commissions had received the threats from Malaysia, purported to be the act of Jemaah Islamiyah al-Qaeda. It is believed to be a pan-Asian radical Islamic group linked to Al-Qaeda responsible for several bomb attacks across Southeast Asia, including the Bali bombings in which 202 people were killed.
In the message, Jemaah Islamiyah, believed to have links with the Al Qaeda core group led by Osama bin Laden, asked them "to shut their activities within seven days and leave the country". ။ Photo : Firoz Ahmed

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Left’s strength will remain intact in Bengal : Sarkar

< Bishnupur, 26 April : Manik Sarkar speaking in an election rally for CPI(M) candidate Susmita Bauri in the Bishnupur. Photo : Arpan Mukherjee

Agartala, 8 May : Tripura Chief Minister and CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar is confident that the party’s strength in its citadel West Bengal would remain intact despite the Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance.

‘The entire country has been looking into the result of West Bengal as the left parties’ result would boost the formation of a solid third front government at the Centre,’ Sarkar was quoted by the party mouthpiece. Sarkar said that the Congress can be an alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or vice versa but there was no alternative to the left parties. ‘Only a third front government at the Centre minus Congress and BJP can solve the miseries of the people and prevailing problems of the nation,’ he maintained.
Manik Sarkar was busy campaigning for the past two weeks in southern India and West Bengal, Friday left again for Kolkata to take part in a series of public meetings in WB before the last phase of elections on 13 May. During his stay in Bengal, where elections would be held 13 May in the remaining 11 parliamentary constituencies, Sarkar would address seven public meetings and take part in a road show. Of West Bengal’s 42 seats.

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Revenue intelligence officers seized 3,300 kg ganja
Behrampore, 8 May : Officers of the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) seized 3,300 kg ganja from Kandi Dak-bungalow crossing and arrested one person on Thursday night. DRI sources said they got a tip-off a few days ago that some drug smugglers of Assam were planning to smuggle a huge consignment of ganja to Kolkata. Accordingly, DRI officers started patrolling the highways of Murshidabad.
On Thursday night, they came to know that an oil tanker filled with ganja was standing near the Kandi Dak-bungalow crossing. When the DRI officers challenged the driver, he tried to flee. But the officers nabbed him and seized the ganja. DRI sources said the cost of the ganja is over Rs 1.5 crore in the domestic market.

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Kailash Kher to record Bengali songs
Dhaka, 8 May : Indian singer Kailash Kher is moved by Baul and other Sufi music of Bangladesh and says his next album will be of songs in Bengali.
"Music flows through borders," Kher told New Age newspaper here. "Both Sufi music and Sufism convey the messages of true love. It is not only about the love between a man and woman, but something beyond that. "Wherever you live you will be delighted by these type of songs. I believe music flows beyond borders," he said in an interview published today. "I know about the Bauls who sing Sufi music and have heard about Lalon Shaw. Bangladesh has a long tradition of Sufi or mystic songs," Kher said.
His third album titled "Kailash Chandrima" will be released next month by Sony Music. "I am glad to say that I will also release an album of Bangla songs next year," Kher said.