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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Two Kolkata Metro coaches derail, Services disrupted for hours

Kolkata, 20 October : Two coaches of a metro train derailed near Central station during rush hour here this morning, triggering panic among hundreds of office-goers and disrupting services.
The cause of the derailment, which occurred at around 9.30am, is yet to be ascertained, Metro Railway sources here said. A departmental inquiry has been ordered into the derailment. Though no passenger was injured, some people complained of uneasiness as lights went off inside the compartments immediately after the derailment, police sources said.
A passenger was taken ill and was treated at the Medical College Hospital, they said. Panic-stricken passengers, who were evacuated through the driver's cabin door by the police and fire brigade personnel, protested over frequent snags in the metro rail services in the city.
Metro Railway sources said railway staff and RPF personnel also lent a helping hand in evacuating the passengers. Photos : TV grab and File
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Buddhadeb express grave concern over Metro derailment
Kolkata, 20 October : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today expressed 'grave concern' over the derailment of two coaches of a Metro train here and said measures need to be taken to ensure passengers' safety.
He said he had received a report on the derailment from Kolkata police commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty and had directed Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh to call a meeting on its basis.

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Bangladesh's population now 16.44 crore : UNFPA report
BSS, Dhaka, 20 October : The country's present population is 16.44 crore with a 1.4 percent growth rate and 2.25 total fertility rate, according to the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) annual report - state of world population 2010.
This year report styled 'From Conflict and Crisis to Renewal: Generations of Change' said presently average life expectancy of the country's male is 65.4 years while 68.1 years for the female. Only 18 percent of pregnant mothers of the country get skilled birth attendant while giving birth to a child, the report said. Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzak spok as the chief guest while UNFPA's Bangladesh country representative Arthur Erken formally release the report at a cityhotel here. UNFPA simultaneously published the report at all capital cities around the globe today.

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Party used for personal gain : CPM Tripura Sec. Bijan Dhar
Agartala, 20 October : Tripura CPI(M) secretary Bijan Dhar has asked the party leaders to take stringent actions against workers who are using the party for their personal business and benefits.
Referring to Dhar's speech on the 90th anniversary of the Left-backed vernacular daily Aaj Kal, Agartala edition, the paper today published that Dhar accused a section of party leaders of moral tarpituation and asked them to leave. While expressing concern over slow growth of the Left parties in India Bijan Babu said, ''The Left parties are guests in three states like Tripura, West Bengal and Kerala and most of the states are ruling by capitalist political parties.'' He mentioned that a section of people joined in CPI(M) only to use their membership as their capital and engaged them in several businesses and as a result, expansion of the party in India was not satisfactory.
''A section of public representatives have developed the concept that they will work for the people and satisfy them through their administrative power avoiding mass public movement, which is very dangerous for the party,'' Dhar added. File Photo
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WB govt considers proposed merger of Burdwan dist Dairy
Kolkata, 20 October : Following its failure to privatise the state-owned dairies which are running at huge losses, West Bengal state animal resources development department is considering a proposal to merge the near defunct Burdwan Dairy with Mother Dairy.
The state-owned dairies along with transport corporations draw huge subsidy from the state government. Initially, the state government had decided to privatise its two dairies at Durgapur and Burdwan while the Central Dairy at Belgachia and the one at Haringhata would be merged together to form a company. Advertisements for joint venture partners for Burdwan Dairy was also issued.
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W Bengal not to prepone Assembly poll: Mohammed Salim
UNI, Kozhikode, 20 October : The Assembly election in CPI (M)-led Left Front ruled West Bengal would be held as per schedule next year, State Transport Minister and party Central Committee member Mohammed Salim today said.
Talking to newspersons here, he said the government had no intention of preponing the poll as speculated. Holding Trinamool Congress and a section of media responsible for the sepculation, he said it appeared that TMC Chief and Union Railway Minister Mamata Bannerjee favoured an early poll in the state.
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Indo-Nepal & W Bengal border sealed in view of Bihar polls
UNI, Purnia, 20 October : The Indo-Nepal international border in Bihar and the state's border with West Bengal in Purnia division have been sealed in view of the assembly polls in 24 segments across this division.
Purnia Range DIG Amit Kumar said here today that the borders with Nepal and West Bengal were sealed to check intrusion of unwanted elements who might wreak the peaceful polls. He said necessary preparations were in place to hold free and fair elections in all the 24 constituencies in the four districts of Purnia, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria. The first of the six phases of the month-long elections to the Bihar state Assembly is to be held on Thursday.
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Victorious Bangladesh players bowled over by raining gifts
Anbarasan Ethirajan, BBC News, Dhaka, 20 October : First came Sunday's landmark one-day series victory over New Zealand; now it's raining gifts for Bangladesh's cricketers.
The team's first clean sweep (4-0) over a major cricketing nation has seen them showered with accolades and presents. Such adulation is a pleasant change for the Bangladeshis, normally viewed as international cricket's whipping boys. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has gifted a housing plot in Dhaka and a car to every player in the 20-member team.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced more incentives for the triumphant team. "Each player will get around $5,000 (£3,180) from the board. This is for winning the one-day series against New Zealand," board spokesman Jalal Yunus told the BBC.... READ FULL STORY Photo : AP
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