After Truce Offer,Maoists Attack Security Camp In Bengal

Midnapore (WB): Within hours of top CPI(Maoist) leader Kishenji offering a 72-day ceasefire to the Centre and the West Bengal government, Maoist-backed PCPA members exchanged fire with security forces at Naxalite stronghold Kantapahari in West Midnapore district late Monday.

Superintendent of Police Manoj Verma said armed men of People’s Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) assembled near the Kantapahari camp of the forces and fired, prompting the jawans to challenge them.

In the ensuing gunbattle, one person, believed to be a PCPA member, was killed and his body recovered while others retreated from the spot, the SP said.

“The PCPA members, with a number of Maoists among them, obviously had plans to attack the Kantapahari camp but the jawans were alert and repulsed them,” Verma said. More forces were despatched.

Unconfirmed reports said the dead person has been identified as Lalmohan Tudu, a PCPA activist. The unofficial reports also did not rule out one or two more casualties on the PCPA side in the gunbattle but no more bodies were found.

Earlier in the evening, responding to Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram’s appeal, Kishenji said, “State governments and the Centre should not indulge in violence between February 25 – May 7 and concentrate on development of tribal areas which will be reciprocated by Maoists.”

Assam Government Expects Written Offer For Talks From ULFA

Kolkata, Jan 8 : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Friday said his government was expecting a written offer for talks from the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

“We are expecting something in writing from ULFA,” Gogoi told mediapersons here, when asked to clarify his statement earlier this month that “positive indirect signals” for talks have been received from the outfit.

The chief minister said many ULFA militants were surrendering in the state, which has seen good economic development. “The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is now at eight percent. Many of the ultras are surrendering because employment opportunities are being generated.”

Asked whether his government wanted absconding ULFA commander-in-chief Paresh Barua to come to the discussion table, Gogoi replied: “We want all sections to be present if any talks take place. But if necessary, the state will talk without Paresh Barua.”

Talking on the sidelines of a seminar by an industry body, Gogoi said no formula has yet been chalked out for the talks. “But a formula will definitely emerge as soon as they (ULFA) come for talks.”

Manmohan Singh To Visit Critically Ill Jyoti Basu

Kolkata, Jan 7 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is expected to visit the AMRI hospital in Salt Lake to see CPM leader and former West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu, whose health condition is still reported to be critical.

Basu”s health condition deteriorated on Wednesday morning following which he has been put on a ventilator for the last 24 hours.

There are reports that despite Basu”s condition critical, his blood pressure has stabilized.

Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is also expected to visit the AMRI hospital to see Basu on Thursday.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Prakash Karat and his party colleague, politburo member Sitaram Yechury, will also meet Basu on Thursday in view of his deteriorating health condition.

Basu is being treated for pneumonia at the AMRI hospital in Salt Lake here.

The 95-year-old former West Bengal Chief Minister was kept under observation for the last three days in the ICU.

The veteran leader was admitted here on Friday following a severe chest infection.

The doctors after conducting a proper check-up had earlier detected that he was suffering from slight pneumonia.

Earlier in July 2009, Basu was admitted to the hospital complaining of discomfort in the abdomen and a disturbed sleep.

21 killed, Several Injured In West Bengal Bus Mishap

Uluberia (West Bengal), Dec 14 : At least twenty people were killed and several others injured in a high-speed collision between a bus and a truckin Uluberia in West Bengal on Sunday.

According to sources, the accident took place when the bus, plying from Howrah to Gadiara, collided head-on with the trailer, which suddenly veered to the wrong side of National Highway Six near Mahisrekha Bridge in theUluberia area.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Minister of State for ShippingMukul Rai rushed to the spot immediately.

” Many injured passengers died due to lack of proper treatment. In this situation, only thing that can be done is setting up of camps outside the hospital. We have informed the authorities to do the needful for injured,” saidMukul Rai.

Bypolls, Congress Bags All Three Assembly Seats In Kerala

NEW DELHI: Continuing its impressive performance in the Lok Sabha elections, the UDF-led Congress on Tuesday held all three seats of the Assembly

where bypolls were conducted, the issue of the CPM-led LDF decision.

The LDF suffered a blow in politically sensitive Kannur, where the Congress candidate and former CPM MP AP Abdullakutty emerged victorious by a margin of 12,000 votes over CPM MV Jayaraj.

Abdullakutty, who represented Kannur in parliament twice in a CPM ticket, was expelled from the party earlier this year after serious differences with the CPM leaders, after which he joined in Congress.

Presentation of candidates for Congress defeated PN CPM Sinulal Sunday in Ernakulam by over 8000 votes, while his colleague AA Shukur Alappuzha seat held by defeating G Krishaparasad CPI of 4000 votes.

On 7 November polls were necessitated by the resignation of the sitting Congress MLAs K Sudhakaran (Kannur), KV Thomas (Ernakulam) and KC Venugopal (Alappuzha) to be elected to the Lok Sabha.

The results showed that the UDF has been able to consolidate its Lok Sabha performance of lifting 16 of the 20 seats in the state. The current round of elections were seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2011 Assembly elections to be preceded by the civic elections next year.

Despite their best efforts and high-voltage campaign, managed to reverse the LDF faced defeat in parliamentary elections.

BJP won a seat in the Assembly and Congress Jawali Rohroo bags in Himachal Pradesh, as the results of two surveys by said Tuesday. Rohroo while the seat was held by Congress, Jawali was represented by the BJP.

In Khushiram Balnatah seat Rohroo defeated congressional candidate Manjit Singh Thakur by 8473 votes, while in Jawali former state minister and Congress candidate Sujan Singh Pathania Chaudhary Baldev Raj BJP humiliated by 5249 votes.

Byelections in Rohroo in Shimla district and Jawali in Kangra district were necessary due to the resignation of Union Minister Virbhadra Singh and BJP Rajan Sushant, respectively, after they became members.

Trinamool Congress and an independent won a seat in the Assembly each in West Bengal, whose results were declared after the vote count was taken for ten constituencies bypolls last week.

Election office sources said the Trinamool Congress retained Alipur seat as its candidate defeated Bobby Hakim Kaustav Chatterjee of the CPM by 27,555 votes.

The independent candidate PSR Wilson Champamari Beat Binoy Bhusan Karket for 6035 seats in the constituency Kalchini in the district of Jalpaiguri. The seat was held by RSP.

The trends in other groups was demonstrated that Trinamool leader at six sites, while its ally, the Congress was ahead in two seats. The Congress candidate Abu Hassem Khan Choudhury has established a convincing margin of 29,037 votes against his rival in the PRC in Sujapur seat in the district of Malda.

With the left lose control of the state under the assault of the opposition led by Trinamool, the elections are considered a trailer for the 2011 assembly elections.

In Rajasthan, BJP and the ruling Congress won one seat each, respectively. Ramesh Chand BJP was declared elected from Basanti Meena Todabhim while Congress headquarters Salumbo bags. With these victories, the account of Congress in the State Assembly has increased to 102 and the strength of the BJP is now 79.

Congress is leading in two Assam districts for Assembly elections were held last week.

In Chhattisgarh, BJP has established an early lead over Congress in the sea of Vaishali Nagar Assembly t.

In bypoll Firozdabad Lok Sabha, the daughter of SP leader Mulayam Singh-in-law Dimple Yadav, is tailing Cong’s Raj Babbar by 6870 votes after the fourth round, while the ruling BSP was ahead in eight of the 11 seats in the assembly where bypolls were held last week.

BSP candidate had eight assembly seats – Poway, Isauli, Hains Bazar, Padrauna, Rari, Etawah, Bharthana and Lalitpur – after the initial six of seven rounds of balloting, election department sources.

Independent candidates are leading in two seats – and Kolasala Jhansi seats, while Congress is nominated leader in Lucknow, said.

The Congress is lagging behind in both Padrauna Jhansi and held seats in 2007 assembly elections.

Both Padrauna Jhansi and seats became vacant after the elected representatives and RPN Pradeep Jain Aditya Singh won the Lok Sabha elections.

In Jhansi, Kailash Sahu BSP candidate is leading over his nearest rival, independent candidate Vijendra Vyas by over 1000 votes, while in Padrauna, BSP candidate and state president Swami Prasad Maurya is leading over his nearest rival, Congress Mohni Devi.

In 2007 assembly elections - Samajwadi Party had won five assembly seats – Poway, Isauli Sonu Singh, Hains Bazar, Etawah and Bharthana while BJP won two – Lucknow (West) and Kolasala seats.

18 Kg RDX, Firearms Recovered From West Bengal Forest

Kolkata: West Bengal Police have recovered a large weapons cache in Bankura state forests. The discovery of the weapons was made before bypolls to 10 seats in the assembly on Saturday.

Police sources said 18 kilos of RDX, three rocket launchers, pistols, and one of the landmines were recovered from the forest area.

The State has been on high alert after the discovery. So far, police have not made any arrests.

Police did not specify whether the arms were for Naxals.

West Bengal Officials Seize Antiques Worth Millions

Dinajpur (WB): Customs officials here have seized antiques of Hindu Gods and Goddesses worth million of rupees. 

The idols date back to the fourth and fifth centuries AD. They were seized during a raid on Jabragachi village in South Dinajpur district.

No arrests have been made so far, an official said.

“This is a part of a big racket. We are investigating it further. These things are coming into India from Bangladesh and Nepal,” said R. Mungababu, Additional Commissioner of Customs, North Bengal and Sikkim.

The demand for Indian antiques in international markets is huge. (ANI)

Centre Grants Rs 478.27 To Rehabilitate Cyclone Aila Victims in West Bengal

New Delhi: Centre has approved a package of 478.27 crore rupees from the National Calamity Contingency Fund for rehabilitation of Aila cyclone victims in West Bengal. 

Referring to the West Bengal’s demand of 520 crore rupees for the development of housing and road sectors, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that a high level committee has considered the matter and decided to defer a decision for want of area-wise details from the state.

BJP leader Sushma Swaraj assailed the government by saying that it sought return of funds sent for calamity relief in Bihar and Orissa.

Chidambram denied the charge by saying, “this is not the practice of UPA government.”

On this, JD(U) and BJD members stood up from their seats, saying that the Centre had written letters to these states seeking return of the money.

Repeated attempts by Speaker Meira Kumar failed to pacify the members, and the House had to be adjourned for 15 minutes.

On the issue of strengthening of embankments along Sundarbans in West Bengal as a permanent solution, the Minister said this is a massive and long term project which would be looked into only after talking to the state government. (ANI)

Water-Borne Disease Caused By Cyclone Aila, A Major Threat For West Bengal: UNICEF

Kolkata: UNICEF has warned that water-borne diseases continue to be a major threat to the people affected by “Cyclone Aila” that hit West Bengal last month.

It said “Cyclone Aila” was accompanied by heavy rainfall, flooding and landslides, and added that with large areas of the state still submerged, the availability of clean drinking water remains a serious challenge.

To date, 138 people have died and an estimated 6.8 million people have been affected by the cyclone in the state. Twenty-eight diarrhoeal deaths have been registered and over 85,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported.

About thirty percent of health sub-centres are non-functional in the affected areas. However, primary and community health centres are functional.

While 18 out of the 19 districts in West Bengal have been affected, the situation continues to be particularly precarious in South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas districts of the Sunderbans area. Approximately 945,000 houses have been damaged, the majority of them in Sunderbans.

West Bengal state is still under threat of regular floods. However, with monsoons delayed, the threat of flooding has somewhat receded.

At present, 375 government medical teams are operational in the field. Seven thousand tube-wells have been disinfected and water purification mobile units are providing 15,000 litres of safe drinking water pouches in affected areas every day.

The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) department has restored water supply and disinfected most of the affected hand pumps in North 24 Parganas district. The department has distributed more than 12 million Halazone tablets, 100,000 Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) sachets and 2,000 sacks (25 kg each) of bleaching powder.

Five Panchayats and the Rural Development Department have deployed NGOs to provide toilets in the schools, health and relief centres.

To control the potential large scale outbreak of diarroheal diseases in the most affected areas UNICEF, along with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and National Institute of Cholera Disease and Enteric Diseases (NICED), is partnering with Calcutta Medical College and Nilratan Sarkar (NRS) Medical College, Kolkata. Junior doctors are being mobilised for demonstration of protocol guidelines on Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases (ADD) control and disinfection in health facilities.

Chemicals for water testing and for disinfecting tube wells have been provided to the PHED for the affected districts. To strengthen inundated tube well disinfection, over 100 PHED staff members have been trained in North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts.

So far, UNICEF has delivered 50 metric tonnes (MT) of bleaching powder and 50,000 Halazone tablets to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), one million additional Halazone tablets to the Rama Krishna Mission and six NGO partners.

An additional 10,000 tarpaulins, 15 MT of bleaching powder and 25,000 water jerry cans to the affected blocks. have been delivered by UNICEF It is also providing ten motor boats and life jackets to local NGO partners, authorities and volunteers.

UNICEF is continuing its key interventions among the most vulnerable populations in the most affected blocks of Sandeshkali 1, Sandeshkali 2, Hingalgunj Block (North 24 Parganas), Gosaba and Patharpratima Block (South 24 Parganas). The focus is on essential life-saving interventions for approximately 50,000 families.

Working with the government, district and block officials UNICEF is initiating micro-planning for a measles vaccination campaign and Vitamin A for the affected population.

On the nutrition education front, UNICEF has partnered with six local NGO partners for the protection and promotion of breast-feeding, complementary feeding and monitoring the nutritional status of young children.

It”s efforts to advocate for the reopening of schools as early as possible have been appreciated by the government directorates, Sarva Shiksha Mission (SSM) and Shishu Shiksha Kendra (SSK) Mission. In some areas, the education system completely collapsed as a result of flooding in the wake of cyclone.

However the systems are now showing signs of revival. UNICEF will supply 700 “school-in-a-box” kits for approximately 56,000 of the most affected children in the focus districts. (ANI)

Culling for Bird Flu in West Bengal

Siliguri: Days after bird flu outbreak at Siliguri plains and south Dinajpur district in north Bengal, the presence of H5N1 virus in Kurseong region of Darjeeling Hills was on Wednesday confirmed with the administration ordering the culling of about 5,000 birds.

“The blood sample report of a fowl found dead in Pendong village in Kurseong sub-division, tested at Bhopal laboratory, confirmed the presence of bird flu,” senior district official Kasturi Sengupta said.

The official, now looking after the SDO’s office, said culling of birds in the three-km radius of Pendong village, including Sukna-I, Sukna-II blocks under Kurseong and Champasari gram panchayats, would begin this evening.

Ten culling teams, each having a security person and an animal resource development staff, were formed to exterminate around 5,000 birds by tomorrow which would be followed by a two-day mopping.

The control room was set up Pintal Village, about six km from the town.

In the first week of January 2009 the avian influenza was detected in Siliguri municipal corporation area and adjoining areas and more that 30,000 birds were culled and huge poultry products were destroyed.

On February 17, avian influenza was officially confirmed in some villages in South Dinajpur’s Hariram block and 32,000 birds were culled in the next seven days.

However, poultry products and chicken meat were seen openly being sold in markets of Siliguri and nearby areas despite the three-month government ban from January.