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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

New wing of PCPA behind Rajdhani hijack drama ?

PTI, Kolkata, 28 October : A newly-raised armed wing of tribal agitators, aided by Maoists in West Midnapore district, were responsible for the seven-and-a-half half hour hijack drama of the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in a jungle area of West Midnapore district.
"The way the incident took place yesterday doesn't suggest that it was planned and executed entirely by Maoists. They were definitely present during the incident, but they didn't participate," a source in the joint forces engaged in anti-Maoist operations in the district told PTI on condition of anonymity. "The Maoists also provided covering fire when the joint forces were trying to go from Jhargram to the trouble spot, Banstala. Their intention was to resist us so that the tribal agitators could leave the spot safely," the source said.
The name of the PCPA's armed wing, according to the district police, was 'Sidhu-Kanu Gana Militia'.

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B'desh's 10 mln poor families to get food assistance
Xinhua, Dhaka, 28 October : The Bangladesh government will distribute 10 kilograms of rice each among 10 million poor families of the country under its Vulnerable Group Feeding program within next month, a senior official said Wednesday.
Senior Spokesman of Bangladesh's Food Ministry SM Golam Kibria told Xinhua Wednesday, "The government has already allocated 100,000 tons of rice for distribution among poor families ahead of Eid-ul-Azha." He said district administrations have been asked to collect rice by 15 November for distribution among Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) card holders ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. READ FULL STORY
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Central forces to be deployed during WB by-elections
Kolkata, 28 October : Central forces will be deployed in West Bengal on 7 November when by-elections to 10 assembly seats take place. These para-military jawans will man all the booths of the 10 assembly segments where elections will take place.
West Bengal chief electoral officer (CEO) Debasish Sen said altogether 19.56 lakh voters will exercise their franchise during the by-elections. Some 49 candidates are in the fray for the 10 assembly seats. Results of the by-elections will be announced on 10 November, he added. Already 17 companies of central forces have arrived in West Bengal. But these, many would be deployed in Maoist-infested Lalgarh and Jangalmahal and they have nothing to do with electioneering.
Of the 10 assembly seats, Rajgunj and Belgachia East belonged to the CPI(M). Sujapur and Goalpokhor were won by the Congress. Kalchini was the seat where RSP had defeated the Congress during 2006 assembly elections. Contai (South), Egra, Serampore, Alipore and Bongaon were won by the Trinamool Congress candidates in 2006.

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Keep politics out of BPL listing : CM Buddha to panchayats
Kolkata, 28 October : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today asked panchayat functionaries to ensure that inclusion in the state's BPL list was made on the basis of a person's economic condition and not on his political affiliation.
"The list must be prepared on the basis of poverty and not political affiliation," Bhattacharjee said, inaugurating a workshop organised by the Department of Panchayats and Rural Development.

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PM Hasina eyes German market for drugs, ceramics
Dhaka, 28 October : Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina invited German businessmen and entrepreneurs on Wednesday to import medicine and ceramic products from Bangladesh and invest in the country.
The businessmen expressed keen interest in energy and telecoms sectors, the prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said after she met with a German delegation. Peter Clasen, member of the OAV-German Asia Pacific Business Association Board and chairman of OAV's Bangladesh committee, led an eight-member delegation. German ambassador Holger Michael was also present during the meeting.
The prime minister said the government was undertaking measures to encourage foreign investment. She pointed out, "Bangladesh now exports ships to Europe." Photo : Mustafiz Mamun

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Security forces begin hunt for Rajdhani Exp attackers
Jhargram, 28 October : Security forces Wednesday began combing the jungles near Jhargram in West Midnapore district to hunt down the Maoist-backed tribals who held the Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani Express and its 667 passengers hostage Tuesday.
Apart from the Antapani jungles near Jhargram town, paramilitary forces and the police conducted door-to-door searches in several adjoining villages to look for Maoists and members of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities (PCAPA) responsible for the daring attack on the express train. 'We are carrying out search operations to nab the culprits,' said a district police officer. Meanwhile, PCAPA leader Asit Mahato alleged that people were fleeing from 15 villages in the area between Banstala and Manikpara 'as they are unable to bear the torture by the security forces'. Photo : PTI
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6 Jamaatul Mujahideen suspects arrested in Naogaon
Naogaon, 28 October : Bangladesh Police arrested six suspected members of banned Islamist outfit 'Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh' early on Wedneasday at Banshbarhia of Raninagar upazila in Naogaon district.
Raninagar police chief Abbas Uddin told UNB, tipped off that some JMB members in a bid to carry out sabotage activities were holding a meeting at Khabiruddin Sheikh's house at Banshbarhia, police surrounded the place at 4:30am(BDST) and arrested six persons.
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Trains face regular threat in West Midnapore district
Kolkata, 28 October : Yesterday’s audacious attack on the Bhubaneswar-Delhi Rajdhani express was yet another glaring instance of the supreme vulnerability of railway passengers in what has now emerged as a troubled route in West Midnapore district.
If anything, it had also exposed the huge threat faced by superfast trains recently announced by railway minister Mamata Banerjee like the newly-launched non-stop Sealdah-Delhi Duranto Express or the soon-to-be-launched Delhi-Kolkata Yuva train. Moreover, with tracks supposedly replete with landmines, most trains even running at average speeds are in danger. In case of a superfast or non-stop trains, the looming threat can be much more severe. Small wonder, as many as 13 long-distance trains had to be detained on the Kharagpur-Tatanagar section purely for security reasons.

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Afriqiyah launches Dhaka-Tripoli-Dhaka direct flights
Dhaka, 28 October : Afriqiyah Airways - the national airlines of Libya on Tuesday introduced Dhaka-Tripoli-Dhaka direct flights acting as the gateway to Africa and East Europe.
A 300 seater Airbus 330 aircraft of the Afriqiyah Airways landed at Zia International Airport as the first ever African based airlines. It was scheduled to take-off for Tripoli at mid-night on the same day. With Airbus 320-200, 319-11 and 330-200 category aircraft, the national flag carrier of the North African oil-rich state would initially operate one direct flight per week, catching-up Bangladeshi travellers on their way to Africa and East Europe, official said.
A modest inauguration ceremony was organized at the Zia International Airport in presence of high officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) and Afriqiyah Airways' delegation from Libya.

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