LINC PEN: manufacturing capacity strengthened half million

KOLKATA, 22ND NOV: Amidst the recessionary markets where the writing instrument industry is growing at about 8% to 9%, Kolkata-based Linc Pen and Plastics, foresees 15% sales growth for the current financial year.

The manufacturing capacity of the company had also strengthened from 1.5 million pens a day to 2 million pens a day with an additional export oriented unit (EOU) at Falta in West Bengal.The company has three manufacturing facilities in India with a production capacity of two million pens per day. Two of the units are in West Bengal and the other is in Delhi. Linc currently exports pens to South America, the UK, the US and the West Asia.

Deepak Jalan, managing director, Linc pointed out that the writing instrument industry was roughly pegged at Rs 21 billion of which the branded segment was worth about Rs 16 billion and project a more than 5% growth in the market share by 2010 from its current share of 10%.

He added that Linc was also focused on overseas markets such as US, UK, South America, West Asia and neighboring countries such as Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh and its export earnings had increased from Rs 260 million in 2007 to Rs 380 million in 2008.

The manufacturing capacity of the company had also strengthened from 1.5 million pens a day to 2 million pens a day with an additional export oriented unit (EOU) at Falta in West Bengal.

Shares of the company gained Rs 1.25 or 6.93%, to trade at Rs 19.30. The total volume of shares traded was 5,865 at the BSE (10:14. a.m., Wednesday).

One CPI(M) supporter killed by Trinamool

Bheramari (Birbhum), 21 November,2008: A Communist Party of India-Marxists (CPI-M) supporter was killed at Bheramari village in Birbhum district of West Bengal on Friday in a feud over a plot of a cultivable land.

The plot is said to be belonging to a Trinamool Congress (TMC) supporter, who was originally a CPI (M) supporter and recently joined the TMC. This led to a confrontation between CPI (M) and TMC supporters. Later, around 500-armed TMC supporters chased the CPI (M) activists, which triggered a violent clash between the two groups, in which one Mukhter Seikh (38), a CPI (M) supporter, was killed and several others were injured.

A large contingent of police force rushed to the spot to control the situation. But the tension is simmering in the village and local people are apprehending violent political backlash.

Bengal to focus on developing small, medium towns

KOLKATA, 21th November, 2008: The West Bengal Government has decided to accord top priority to the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to benefit more people with urban li festyle.

Announcing this after a review meeting of JNNURM, convened by the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the State's Urban Development Minister Mr Asok Bhattacharya said that the Chief Minister would soon urge the Union Urban Development Minister, M r S. Jaipal Reddy, to divert at least Rs 500 crore for UIDSSMT from allocation for upgrading small and medium towns.

While Rs 200 crore had already been allocated for developing slums, the Centre has been urged to divert another Rs 200 crore from JNNURM. Mr Bhattacharya said that under JNNURM Rs 5,700 crore had already been spent since its launch in 2005 through 197 pr ojects sanctioned, of which Centre contributed Rs 2,782 crore and the rest was contributed by the State Government.
Price hike resulted in cost overrun of the projects forcing the State Government to spend Rs 871 crore so far and this would shoot up to Rs 1,200 crore by 2012 when the JNNURM programme would end.

The Chief Minister underscored areas like providing urban home for the poor, development of slums, besides developing drainage and sewerage system, while a decision has been taken for securing Rs 1.900 crore loan from the Asian Development Bank.

Of this 35 per cent would be provided by the State Government as matching grant. In next four years of the tenure of JNNURM, the State Government would set off projects worth Rs 4,500 crore, the Minister said adding that Rs 500 crore of it would be spent for developing small and medium towns. (PTI)

China seeks reopening of trade route to India

Kolkata:19 November-China is keen on reopening the Steelwell Road that runs from Lydo in Assam to Yunnan province of China via Myanmar. “The Chinese government will send a formal proposal to its Indian counterpart,” said Li Jiashou, chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Yunnan Sub-council.

He was speaking during a ceremony to mark the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indian Chamber of Commerce and CCPIT, Yunnan province on Wednesday. The MoU was signed to promote economic cooperation between Yunnan and the eastern regions of India within the framework of the bilateral agreements between the two countries. The MoU also stipulates provisions for exchange of economic data and information between eastern India and Yunnan.

“The reopening of the road will facilitate more trade between these regions of the two countries. The Indian government has already widened the road on the Indian side and our government has built an expressway on our side. We have already talked to Myanmar through which 400 km of the road runs,” the Chinese official said.

Land a stumbling block on way to industrialisation, says Industries Secy.

Kolkata: November 19- Even as West Bengal is receiving a lot of investment proposals, procurement of land is proving to be a big hurdle in implementing these projects. Sabyasachi Sen, Principal Secretary, Department of Commerce and Industries, on Wednesday said responding to questions at Biz Bridge, a workshop organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to showcase the eastern region.

“Land procurement is becoming a major hurdle in the industrialisation process. States like Gujarat do not face this kind of problem because in the ‘50s and ‘60s the Gujarat government bought lots of land near the highways. But this did not happen here,” Sen said.

He said the state government is trying to simplify the procedure for facilitating faster sanction of business proposals. “At present there are 20 to 25 windows and we want to cut down the number to six to seven so that investment proposals are processed faster,” Sen added.

He also said the government wants to set up a project to store water. “We will take the help of the Jadavpur University to conduct a feasibility study of this project,” he said.

Sen said the state government was working on a new incentive scheme for industries that will focus on employment generation. “For instance, If a person gets incentive to the tune of Rs 100, 50 per cent will be for the volume of investment he is making and 50 per cent for the number of employments it will generate. We are going to take the help of the regional providend fund commissioner in this regard,” Sen added.

Biotechnology park on anvil in Bengal

Kolkata: November 19 (UNI)- West Bengal Principal Secretary for Commerce and Industry Sabyasachi Sen today said a bio-technology park would come up in the state in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur.

Speaking on the sidelines of ''Biz Bridge'', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII), Dr Sen said the project would come up on a land area of 100 acre at Kharagpur, which had already been acquired. However, he declined to quote any timeframe for its completion, saying it would be finalised only after the bidding process would be over.

According to him, the state would attract an investment to the tune of Rs 1,00,000 crore in the next five-six years in the iron and steel sector. Earlier, delivering the inaugural address, the principal secretary also said efforts were on to bring the automobile sector into the focus of the state.

''We want West Bengal to be an automobile-hub in line with Gurgaon and Pune. We are ready to extend our support. Foreign tie-ups are also welcome,'' Dr Sen said.

Ess Dee & Vedanta Group will infuse Rs 261 crore in ailing India Foils

Kolkata: 20 November, 2008-Ess Dee Aluminium Ltd, a leading manufacturer and supplier of Aluminium foil-based flexible packaging laminate products, has acquired nearly 90 per cent stake, valued at around Rs130 crore, in Kolkata-based aluminium foils company, India Foils, which is part of the Vedanta group.

"Ess Dee Aluminium and Vedanta group entity Madras Aluminium Company (Malco) have joined hands to revive India Foils. As a part of the rehabilitation plan, we both partners will infuse about Rs261 crore in India Foils in the form of equity and preferential shares, to repay all existing lenders of IFL, thus making it debt-free," Ess Dee chairman and managing director Sudip Dutta said at a media briefing.

Ess Dee and Vedanta will jointly revive the sick company, India Foils in a rehabilitation scheme approved by the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR).

Ess Dee will hold around 90 per cent stake and the remaining will be owned by Vedanta's Madras Aluminium Co. The two will plan to make IFL debt free by repaying all its debts with a joint infusion of Rs261 crore, in the form of equity and preference shares.

Dutta, said that for 2008-09, the company will keep growth levels to the same as in the last quarter, and the IFL acquisition will boost the company's rolling capacity from the existing 18,000 tonnes to 37,000 tonnes within a year. An addition 12,000 tonnes capacity will be created by March 2009 and the rest by December next.

Dutta said the additional capacity will also help Ess Dee as it was planning to launch innovative and new anti-counterfeit packaging products, especially aimed at the pharma industry.These new products could not be launched earlier due to lack of capacity, although many pharma companies had shown keen interest in buying the anti-counterfeit packaging.

IFL which was manufacturing, processing and selling aluminium foil and foil-based products has three manufacturing plants in West Bengal and has a foil rolling capacity of 19,000 tonnes, out of which two are shut. The company has a good front-end conversion capacity that enables it to offer value-added products to its customers. With the funds, Ess Dee will now restart two units in the next five months and the third unit some time later.

"This acquisition will also place Ess Dee on track towards achieving self sufficiency in raw material requirements once the foil stock plant at Hoera is restarted. Additions to IFL's manufacturing facilities in West Bengal would raise strength to Ess Dee's successful hub-and-spoke model of manufacturing and printing foil-based products with plants spread across the country," Dutta said.

One of the main reasons for IFL declaring sick in 2006 was its location, as it did not have manufacturing facilities outside West Bengal, which hampered fast delivery as also it made a substantial investment in latest technology when the industry was not prepared to absorb it.
''IFL lost out by location. Now Ess Dee will provide the spoke and IFL the hub, as together our facilities are located at strategic places, this is a primary synergy through the acquisition,'' Debdeep Bhattacharya, director of Ess Dee, said.Vedanta director Tarun Jain said his company was exiting IFL because it wanted to focus on its core business of mining.

With 37,000 tonnes manufacturing capacity in 8 sophisticated plants spread across India and with the addition of 3 plants of IFL, Ess Dee will be India's largest pharmaceutical foil manufacturing company.

Three CPI(M) leaders injured in JKP backed armed miscreants attack

BANKURA (WB), 20 November,2008: Three CPI(M) leaders were injured when Jharkhand party-Trinamool-Maoist backed armed miscreants attacked them with bows and arrows in West Bengal's Bankura district, police sources said today.

The three CPI(M) leaders - Ranjit Hembran, a former pachayat samiti sabhapati and Ramu Duley and Tulu Hembran, zonal committee leaders were on their way back home to Sarulia when they were struck by arrows at Sarenga area last evening, Superintendent of Police Vishal Garg said.

The three have been admitted to hospital, sources added. Tribal organisations in Bankura district had yesterday obstructed Bankura-Midnapore state highway by placing tree trunks on the road to protest alleged police excesses meted out to tribal in Lalgarh area of neighbouring West Midnapore district.

The three CPI(M) leaders were passing through the area where the tribal had but up road blockade when they were attacked, sources added.

DPT, Hepatitis-B shots in short supply

KOLKATA, 19 November, 2008: Bengal has been severely hit by a shortage of DPT and Hepatitis-B vaccines. The countrywide shortage for the past six months has upset Universal Immunisation Programmes (UIP) in various states, including West Bengal.

In Kolkata, more than 6,00,000 children, from newborns to the age of five, are under risk. These children, a section of whom are slum-dwellers , cannot afford to buy these vaccines in the open market as these are costly. DPT and Hepatitis-B are priced between Rs 600 and Rs 1,000 but are not readily available for bulk supply.

Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss banned the manufacture of these vaccines six months ago on grounds of 'poor quality control' . There are only three state-run units that manufacture them - Pasteur Institute in Coonoor, the BCG Laboratory in Chennai and Central Research Institute in Kasauli. Since then, the state health department and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation authorities have been urging the Union health minister to resume supply of these vital vaccines.

Even CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat took up the matter with Rajyasabha so that West Bengal could again receive its normal supply of vaccines. KMC doctors expressed apprehension that for want of these vaccines , the entire immunisation programme would get marred. "If we fail to supply these vaccines, particularly the hepatitis vaccine, enteric diseases will spread fast and could assume epidemic proportions ," a KMC health official said on Tuesday.

However, so far, there has been a lukewarm response from the Centre . According to a senior KMC health department official, the Centre had failed to keep its promise. "The Centre had assured us that the supply of DPT and Hepatitis-B vaccines would be normalised from October this year. However, we have received a very negligible quantity of these vaccines till date," the chief municipal health officer Debdwaipayan Chattopadhyay said on Tuesday.

Till October 27, West Bengal alone reported a shortage of a whopping 88.49 % in DPT vaccines and 63.64 % in Hepatitis B vaccines . Though DPT doses were sent to the state earlier this month, the shortage, continued to be severe, said a KMC doctor associated with the immunisation programme. "It would also appear that the DPT and DT programmes are virtually scrapped, at least in these states." he said.

Dunlop workers seek government intervention

SAHAGANJ(Hooghly), 19th November, 2008: Agitated workers of the Dunlop factory at Sahaganj in West Bengal protested at the gates of the unit on Tuesday and demanded its reopening.

On Monday, the Pawan Ruia Group that owns Dunlop cited the global economic meltdown; a lack of demand and a funds crunch and suspended production, offering workers Rs 2000 per month till the factory reopens. But the workers don't believe any of it - neither the reason for suspending work nor the offer of allowance. They want the factory back on stream and all their long-pending dues. Mrityunjay Pandey a worker at Dunlop, said, “The management is talking about the economy. But the economy has been down only for the last two months. They are just pretending, saying they will get money from here or there. But no one will give them any.

Harish Singh another worker said, “We have no faith in this management. Whatever agreement is to be made must be made in front of the Chief Minister or the Industry Minister. We will accept only those commitments.”

The leaders of the CITU and INTUC unions who had been talking to the management were incommunicado and demanding government intervention. Meanwhile there is evident gloom among the labourers. Since the Ruia group took over Dunlop two years ago, they had received some respite from the instability. But now the uncertainties seem to be back. Shakli Devi, wife of a Dunlop employee, said, “How will I run my family. There’s no work and no salary. How will I manage? As it is, we suffered for ten years. Now the trouble is back.”

It is certain that for the moment at least, the story of the revival of Dunlop India is truly over.With it industrialization in West Bengal has received another blow. Also a very, very uncertain future faces the 1202 workers who depended on Dunlop India for a livelihood.

NMDC to invest Rs. 1,000 cr. in Birbhum coal project

MINING TOGETHER: Ram Vilas Paswan (left), Union Minister of Chemicals, Fertilizer and Steel, and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal Chief Minister, exchange documents after signing an MoU between NMDC and WBMDTC in Kolkata on Tuesday.

KOLKATA,19th November: Navratna public sector National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) will initially invest Rs. 1,000 crore to develop a coal mining project in Birbhum district in West Bengal, Chairman and Managing Director Rana Som said.

Mr. Som was here on the occasion of signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation (WBMDTC) for starting coal mining activities and supplying iron ore and bauxite.

He said the Deocha-Pachami coal block in West Bengal was one of the largest coal blocks in India and NMDC proposed to make its second foray in coal mining with this virgin block. The initial investment would go mainly towards land acquisition and purchase of heavy earth moving machinery. NMDC already had two coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh. The Birbhum block was yet to be allotted. He indicated that this mine would need technology and NMDC might rope in a foreign partner if it so wanted. Spread over a 9.7-sq. kilometre, the mine had a 2-billion tonne reserve of thermal coal and was deep mine. The West Bengal Power Development Corporation would have a 10-per cent stake in this venture, while the WBMDTC would hold 40 per cent of the equity with NMDC holding 50 per cent and having the right to divest 15 per cent to bring in another partner.

West Bengal Power Minister Mrinal Banerjee said that with a proposed capacity of 10,000 MW, the state utilities would need one lakh tonnes of coal a day soon. The project would help the power sector.

The MoU paves the way for the geological exploration of the deposit to establish the project’s commercial viability, after which the joint venture would be incorporated to carry forward the project. Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilisers and Steel Ram Vilas Paswan, who was present while the MoU was signed, said the project will have an initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore. Other dignitaries present included Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Minister for Commerce and Industries Nirupam Sen.

The NDMC, India’s single largest iron ore producer, has also signed another agreement with the state government by which it will make a certain amount of iron ore available to the steel manufacturing sector of the state.

During the function, the chief minister thanked Paswan for his role in getting a number of the state’s projects cleared. “He has helped in the revival of IISCO factory at Burnpur with Central funding of Rs 13,000 crore. He is also getting Rs 5,500 crore for the Durgapur Steel factory and trying to clear the PCPIR project as early as possible. We are all thankful to him,” Bhattacharjee said.

According to Paswan, PCPIR project will receive the Central nod by this year. “The proposal will be placed in the high-powered committee comprising secretaries of different Union ministries. Then it will directly come to the Cabinet for clearance,” he added.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said industrial progress was difficult without mineral supplies and a national policy was needed for dispersing resources evenly throughout the country.

West Bengal seeks greater tax pie from Centre

Kolkata, November 18: The West Bengal government has requested the Centre to increase its share in the taxes collected from the states from 30.5 per cent to 50 per cent.

In a meeting with the chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission, Vijay Kelkar, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee demanded hat the scope of Centrally- sponsored schemes be redefined and states be given larger scope to implement such schemes. Kelkar is in Kolkata to hold meetings with representatives of the state government.

“Under the Indian constitution, most of the developmental works have to be carried out by the state. But we have limited resources. We have demanded that the entire financial relations between the Centre and the states should be restructured. We also demanded that states should be given the right to impose service tax,” said state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta.

Kelkar urged the state government to go in for better fiscal management and mobilise resources. He pointed out that the growth rate of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of West Bengal was 10.5 per cent, while the national average was 11.29 per cent.

W.B Khadi & Village Industries Board bags first prize

Kolkata,November 18, 2008 : West Bengal Khadi & Village Industries Board (KVI) has recently won the national award for securing the first position from amongst state level KVI boards under the rural employment generation programme. This was due to the exceptional performance delivered by the Bengal KVI.From 1998-99 till 2006-07, the state KVI had taken up 9,584 projects and thereby providing employment to 94,419 people, but in 2007 alone 5,917 projects were undertaken providing work to 75,344 people. In 2007 the board not only completed its targets but set off on the course to achieving targets for the current year.

The West Bengal Khadi & Village Industries Board was set up by the Government of West Bengal under W.B.Act. XIV of 1959 and took over the activities from erstwhile Advisory Board in April, 1960. Bengal has established its status under Khadi Programme for its unique art and craftsmanship. The climatic condition and abundant local resources have widened the scope for the development of Khadi Programme in the State.

The districts of Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia, Birbhum, Bankura, Hooghly, Purulia have the extensive coverage of the Khadi Programme, especially for Silk & Muslin Khadi. The Bengal KVI unit is trying to promote and popularize muslin and silk khadi, but also a need has been felt in improving the marketing strategies to boost sales. The state produces 36.37 per cent of silk khadi and 55.25 per cent of muslin khadi of all produced by different KVIs in the country.

Separatist groups stoking violence, says Buddhadeb

KOLKATA,18th November,2008: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Monday that the various separatist groups were aiming to disturb “peace and harmony” in the State by stoking violence and terror.

Pointing out to the agitations at Paschim Medinipur, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, Mr. Bhattacharjee said: “If every other ethnic group starts demanding a State of their own, democracy in West Bengal be in peril.”He addressed an election rally in Howrah organised by the district’s Left Front committee in support of its candidates for the forthcoming polls to the Howrah Municipal Corporation.

“The tribal people in Paschim Medinipur district are being misled by the Maoists. But I thank a large section of them for having understood the reality and for detaching themselves from the movement,” he said. Mr. Bhattacharjee, however, added: “The Maoists will not sit idle.”

Agitation continue

Leaders of various tribal groups – some of which are suspected to have the support of Maoists – protesting against alleged police excesses announced on Monday that their agitation, which has virtually cut off Lalgarh area of West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur from the rest of the district, will be intensified and will continue till their demands are met.

They met in the Lalgarh area and reiterated their demands that include the release of tribals arrested in connection with the blast that narrowly missed Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy on November 2, a public apology from the district’s police superintendent for the excesses committed on the local people during raids in the villages and the withdrawal of police camps from the region.

Govt.’s claim

The State government, however, claimed that five tribal groups that were part of the agitation have decided to withdraw from the protests. “They withdrew their agitation after a meeting with the local administration,” Raj Kanojia, the State’s Inspector-General of Police (Law and Order) said here.

Questions, however, remain on the impact the decision of these five groups will have on the overall agitation. Lalgarh has remained largely inaccessible for more than a week. Roads to the area have been dug up and trees felled to set up roadblocks at different places in the Jhargram sub-division, according to reports reaching here.

The State administration is treading a cautious line, avoiding any confrontation with the agitators. It is hoping that the situation can be resolved through discussions that are being initiated by the district authorities. The situation was reviewed at a meeting of senior State officials convened by the Chief Minister here.

In a significant development, an Additional Superintendent of Police of North 24 Parganas district, who was assigned to Lalgarh on special duty, has left the town, refusing to serve in an area where Maoists are active. He has threatened to resign if not relieved of his duties there.

CPI(M) accuses centre for trouble in West Midnapore

Kolkata,17th November (PTI): Accusing the Centre of working against the interest of West Bengal, the state CPI(M) on Monday blamed the UPA government and Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren-led JMM for the tribal agitation in West Midnapur district.

"The Centre has been acting against the interest of West Bengal since the withdrawal of support by Left parties to the UPA government," CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu told reporters here.

He alleged that Soren had pledged support to the UPA government on July 22 in the trust vote on a condition that the Centre would back the JMM's move of a separate territory 'Greater Jharkhand' carved out of West Bengal.

"This was the reason behind the Centre not acceding to the request of the West Bengal government to send CRPF to West Midnapur district as requested," he charged.

On the ongoing stir by the tribals against the alleged police excesses, Basu said, "it is not a fight of the tribals against the administration."

‘CONSPIRACY’ - AND THE SINGUR COURT CASE

By B PRASANT

An INN subscriber from Delhi writes to say – perhaps with a minute but obvious tinge of cynicism – as to what is the nature of the ‘conspiracy’ that the Bengal CPI (M) in its statement speaks about, to have been involved in the case filed against and subsequently, after nearly a year, judgment and verdict delivered on, CPI (M) leader Suhrid Dutta on the Singur resident Tapasi Malik’s ‘unnatural death.’

The case had been lodged by the CBI, which also led the inquiry as well as the investigation, and the state LF government was not made a party to the case other than having an AOR (‘advocate-on-record’).

At the outset, let us clarify that Suhrid Dutta was accused of ‘criminal conspiracy’ to murder u/s 120B, plus u/s 302 of the IPC, read inter alia with section 164 of the CrPc and its sub-sections. What do the sections mean, signify, and with what fall-outs, sans the legalese involved?

Section 120B reads that whoever is a person involved with a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death can be served with a sentence that involves either the death penalty or imprisonment for life.

Section 302 is whoever commits murder shall be punished with death, imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to [a] fine.

CrPc 164 stands for signed record of any confession or statement made to the magistrate of law in the course of an investigation.

Thus far, everything is simple, straightforward and in keeping with the spirit and law of justice as conceived by our former British colonial masters, and followed since, by- and-large, by the Indian ruling classes.

Let the complexities, comrades and friends, especially our friend up in Delhi, commence from and at this point of time.

Surprise, surprise, the nature, and progression of the conspiracy and the great big fault lines therein, too, appears quite as simple and straightforward as perhaps not expected.

The entire case against Suhrid Dutta is based on the ‘secret confession’ u/s 164 of ‘one Debu Malik.’ Debu later stood in court to say that he has not made the statement, which, by the interesting way, allegedly does not bear his signature.

Subsequently, Debu also formally retracted the confession in the court of law. There thus remained no direct evidence of any kind. This should have been the end of the matter. However, complexities are lovably clung to always with an end in view and a game plan at hand.

After a test of narcolepsy up in Delhi (was he administered the dreaded and mind-bending ‘truth serum’, sodium pentothal, we have no way of knowing), where Debu who does not speak / understand either English or Hindi, was allegedly not even explained the significance of the long and lugubrious section and several subsections thereof, of 164, allegedly neither agreed nor disagreed to whatsoever was read out to him but the fact is that he did not sign the ‘statement’ which the inquiring magistrate then signed. Shall we quote from the law, then, friends, to bolster our case?

Sec 164 (1) states: ‘the Magistrate shall, before recording any such confession, explain to the person making it that he is not bound to make a confession and that, if he does so, it may be used as evidence against him; and the Magistrate shall not record any such confession unless, upon questioning the person making it, he has reason to believe that it is bear, made voluntarily.’

Permit me readers to quote for once the chapter-and-verse of what is written in sub-section 4 of section 164 of Cr Pc for it will help clear up any fog of indecision yet hovering over the case.

Any such confession shall be recorded … of an accused person and shall be signed by the person making the confession; and the Magistrate shall make a memorandum at the foot of such record to the following effect.

"I have explained to (name) that he is not bound to make a confession and that, if he does so, any confession he may make may be used as evidence against him and I believe that this confession was voluntarily made. It was taken in my presence and hearing, and was read over to the person making it and admitted by him to be correct, and it contains a full and true account of the statement made by him. [Our emphasis]

(Signed)

Magistrate"


Here the linguistic issue we talked of before comes to play a crucial rôle. A somnambulant and befuzzled Debu recovering from the narcolepsy test nodded a ‘yes’ or did not, is not the question involved here.

The issue is that the magistrate making the inquiry signed the ‘statement’ without Debu signing it. The statement ‘said’ that according to Debu, Suhrid Dutta, a much respected leader of the Hooghly CPI (M) and well into his 70s, had allegedly asked him [Debu] to hire goons to kill the late Tapasi as ‘she was the leader of the anti-small motor car movement at Singur.’ [Any takers on this score, please, anyone?]

This, we hold, is patently a ridiculous statement had Debu even made it under the circumstances (which, we repeat, he did not.)

The crux of the matter is that in the absence of any specific charge or witnesses, the verdict was given based on ‘circumstantial evidence,’ i.e., Debu’s statement one (a statement that he later formally denied and withdrew).

The CBI called the case the ‘rarest of the rare cases.’

We understand the reason why.

The Bengal CPI (M) has decided to move to High Court with its appeal and quite rightly, too.

The CPI (M) is a patient lot. We recall the absolving of all charges nearly a decade later of what had been slapped on hundreds of CPI (M) workers in the courts of law over the past decades following sentencing that involved the death penalty. We shall wait. We shall win. By now, we are used to it.

(INN)

Mamata demands return of land at Singur by Dec 2

SINGUR,15 November, 2008: If the West Bengal government will not return the land acquired from farmers "not willing" to part with it for the now abandoned Tata Motors Nano project here by December 2, cultivation would be started on it, the Trinamool Congress threatened on Saturday.

"If the government does not return the land to unwilling farmers by December 2, potato, cucumber and vegetables cultivation will begin as the farmers will have to survive," TC chief Mamata Banerjee told at a party rally here. Banerjee said she along with other party leaders would begin token cultivation of vegetables on December two and thereafter farmers on a mass scale if the land was not returned by then.

She opposed the state government's efforts for Faw automobile company of China to start an industry on the plot and demanded that a global tender be floated for new industry there. "There should be transparency and accountability in the tender to be floated for selecting industry in Singur," she said.

Denying that she and her party were anti-industry, Banerjee, who had demanded return 400 acres of the nearly 1000 acres acquired for the Tatas, said she was sticking to her point that 600 acres was sufficient for an industry.

Deadlock continues in Lalgarh (Paschim Medinipur)

Agitators-officials talks inconclusive, will continue
Tribals arrested for blast cannot be freed: government

KOLKATA, 14th November, 2008: Parts of West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur continued to remain cut off from the rest of the district on Friday, following protests by tribal villagers against alleged police excesses. Maoists are known to have a presence in the region.

Representatives of the agitators met local authorities to break the deadlock. The talks, held in the affected Lalgarh area, were inconclusive and would continue, Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakravarty said here. For more than a week, ever since roads were dug up and trees felled to set up roadblocks, access to Lalgarh has remained restricted. Supply of water, power and food has been severely disrupted.

The agitators are protesting against alleged police excesses during raids to track down those responsible for the November 2 IED blast in the region. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had a narrow escape that day as a powerful IED went off moments after his convoy passed through Kalaichandi.

Roadblocks have also been put up in the adjoining sub-divisional town of Jhargram and only a few were removed following Sunday’s meeting between leaders of tribal groups and the local administration. The district authorities assured the agitators that allegations of police excesses would be looked into and action taken against anyone found guilty.

But they were told that the demand for release of all tribals arrested in connection with the blast could not be met. Those in whose possession arms were found and against whom specific charges were framed would not be released, Mr Chakravarty said. Nor would the three camps of the Central Reserve Police Force, set up earlier in the region, be withdrawn. In Kolkata, senior officials and those from the police administration attended a review meeting held by the Chief Minister.

The government, which is keen on avoiding a Nandigram-like situation, has advised authorities in Lalgarh not to take any action that might precipitate a confrontation with the protesters. Asked about the situation at Lalgarh, Biman Bose, secretary, State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said the move to apprehend those behind the blast was guided by the administration’s anxieties over the law and order situation and was not aimed at the tribals.The Congress has sought Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s intervention to facilitate restoration of normality in the area, said its legislature party leader, Manas Bhunia.

Ban on Maoists up to the Centre: Yechury

KOLKATA, Nov. 13 : CPI(M) Polit buro member Mr Sitaram Yechury said today both political campaign and administrative action were needed to tackle Maoist attacks in West Bengal. Asked whether the West Bengal government should ban the Maoists as the Trianmul Congress chief Miss Mamata Banerjee had dared it to do so, Mr Yechury said it was for the Centre to take a policy decision on the issue.

He said Maoist activities were causing concern in different parts of the country and the Prime Minister had initiated steps to deal with the problem. The Left Front-government had asked for additional battalions of para-military forces from the Centre, but the latter pleaded its inability to deploy them on the ground that they were needed for election duties, he said.

Speaking at a party programme Mr Yechury charged that the bailout package being offered by different nationalised banks in the country would benefit only private players of the share market and not the common man. The current global financial crisis, he said, was the result of the neo-liberal policy of the capitalist world. He questioned why Prime Minister Mr Manmohan Singh was now calling for insulating the country's economy against international finance capital, while he had once been a strong advocate of integrating the country's economy with the globalisation process.

Astonfield sticks to Rs 2000cr green energy plan

Kolkata, November 14, 2008: Astonfield Renewable Resources Limited (ARRL) plans to invest close to Rs 2,000 crore over the next two years on renewable energy projects in India.This is part of the money raised by the company earlier when it had decided to foray into India.

According to Sourabh Sen, co-chairman, ARRL, “Raising fresh funds is an issue now but we have more banks in US and Japan part financing all our projects. A few of the projects are self-funded. We hope to break even in six to seven years from now.”

Sen said ARRL has seen a steady growth of business in 2007 and first quarter of 2008, where the first official renewable energy allotments were received in Bengal, including 10 megawatt of biomass, 5 megawatt of solar PV, and 1 megawatt of manure-to-power, to be executed in Gangarampur, Bankura, and Kalyani, respectively.

Since then, last year, ARRL bought its first plot of land in Bankura, a total of 26 acres for a 5 megawatt solar PV plant, which ARRL will start constructing later this year. According to Sen, ARRL is also in final stage to bid on the allotment for a 54 megawatt municipal solid waste-to-energy plant in Dhapa, a project the company has been working on since October 2007. The specific projects in West Bengal will cost approximately Rs 60 crore for the 10 megawatt biomass project, Rs 100 crore for the 5 megawatt solar, and Rs 8 crore for a 1 megawatt of manure-to-power project.

Sen said that the Haryana Renewable Energy Development Agency (HAREDA) has issued a letter of intent to ARRL for setting up solar power projects of 3 megawatt in the state with the option of two more in future.

The tariff for generation of solar energy has been fixed at Rs 15.96 per unit by the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission (HERC) for projects to be commenced up to December 31, 2009, and Rs 15.16 per unit for projects commencing between December 31, 2009 and March 31, 2010. Astonfield has also set up an office in Mumbai to focus on projects in South and West India.

‘Tata’s exit will not be complicated’

Kolkata, November 13, 2008: The exit route for Tata Motors from Singur will not be a complicated one, Principal Secretary of state for commerce and industry, Sab-yasachi Sen, has assured.

“As and when the Tata Motors takes out all the equipment from the site, they can terminate the lease with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) — but not before that. The same applies for the 290 acres of land that is with the vendors,” said Sen.

He said the factory site has many types of equipment that had been assembled with the help of engineers from Japan and Germany. “Assembling the unit took about two years. The state government has to give them legitimate time to bring out all the equipment. Even if not two years, we are expecting them to take anything between six months to a year,” said Sen.

He said the commerce and industry department will keep a layout ready for possible future projects. “We will conduct a survey of the land and prepare a blueprint with roads, drainage, sewerage and the overall layout. The area might be taken by a single company or two companies or we may even have an industrial park. Layout for all options will be prepared,” the minister said. He, however, added that only when the existing lease agreement is terminated, concrete progress can be made with other companies. The land lease is renewed every year and the present lease will lapse in March.

WBIDC Managing Director Subrata Gupta, meanwhile, confirmed that vendor companies have already started approaching WBIDC for terminating the lease. “Recently we received a letter from one vendor company stating that they would like to terminate the lease and take the money back,” said Gupta.

Sen also said the proposal for Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR) at Nayachar has been sent to the 14-member high-power committee chaired by the cabinet secretary. The proposal was approved by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers two days ago. “We hope the high-power committee will clear it soon. Then the proposal will go to the Cabinet,” he said.

Regarding Salim group’s investments in Gujarat, he said: “We have no apprehensions of the group pulling out its projects from West Bengal. Both Mahabharat Motors and New Kolkata International Development Pvt Ltd (NKID) are on track. It is a big group which can invest anywhere it wants,” added Sen.

Kolkata Film Fest begins

KOLKATA, 13 th November,2008 - Shorn of glamour, the 14th Kolkata Film Festival got off to a drab and colourless start here this week. Veteran filmmaker Mrinal sen inaugurated the eight-day event, during which 276 films from 62 countries will be screened at 11 auditoria in the city, besides at one each in Siliguri, Barasat and Burdwan.

Actor-filmmaker Nandita Das was the only Bollywood presence, with the state government failing to rope in any other megastars of the country's tinsel capital despite sounding out megastars like Shahrukh Khan and Shabana Azmi. Nandita is attending the festival with her directorial debut Firaq. Among others present were actor Soumitra Chatterjee and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Bhattacharjee quoted the opening lines of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, saying it was "the best of times and the worst of times". The chief minister said the ongoing financial crisis in the U.S., which has implications for Europe and even India, made the present "perhaps the worst of times". "On the other hand, the best of times perhaps is that a black president along with his black family members will be entering the White House," he said, referring to Barack Obama's election as the U.S. president.

The centenary tribute to French director Jacques Tati will be the highlight of the annual event that ends Nov. 17. Tati's masterpieces, including Play Time, My Uncle and The Big Day, will be showcased here. Under a special segment Remembering Ray, filmmaker Satyajit Ray's favourite Hollywood films as well as his restored creations, including Teen Kanya, Parash Pathar, Joy Baba Felunath and the short film Two, will be screened. Besides, Aparajito, the second film in Ray's legendary Apu Trilogy will also be shown.

For veteran actress Shabana Azmi, filmmaker-turned-actor Farhan Akhtar's performance, was pitch-perfect- a title that she would otherwise give only to actors Balraj Sahni and Paresh Rawal.
"Farhan took me by surprise with his performance in Rock On. He was pitch-perfect," said veteran actress Shabana, who is married to Farhan's father, writer-poet Javed Akhtar.

Tapasi Malik murder case verdict a conspiracy: CPI(M)

Kolkata,13th November,2008: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which leads West Bengal's ruling Left Front, on Wednesday termed as a "conspiracy" the life sentence awarded to its Hooghly district leader Suhrid Dutta in the Tapasi Malik murder case.

Alleging that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the death of the 18-year-old Tapasi in 2006, had been "used" in the "conspiracy" against Dutta and the party, the CPI(M) state committee appealed to its cadres to sensitise the people about the "canards" being spread by the "enemies" of the Left Front government.

"In the past, our party has moved ahead after defeating the conspiracies hatched against us. The latest example is the conspiracy against Dutta and the entire party," the state committee said in a release.

"The party can't accept this verdict. We will see to it that an appeal is made in a higher court," the release said.

Additional Sessions Judge Amar Kanti Acharya of the fast-track court at Chandannagar in Hooghly district Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to Dutta, secretary of the party's Singur zonal committee, and another activist Debu Malik for the murder.

The court had convicted the two on Tuesday. The Singur girl's charred body was found inside the fenced area of Tata Motors' Nano factory on December 18, 2006. Dutta was found guilty of masterminding the murder and criminal conspiracy. Malik was convicted on the charges of murder, criminal conspiracy and manipulating evidence.

Tapasi from Bajemelia village in Singur, about 40 km from Kolkata, was an member of the opposition Trinamool Congress-led Save Farmland Committee that was protesting land acquisition for the Nano project.

Sunderbans, Ganges in 7 Natural Wonders list

KOLKATA,13th November, 2008: Sunderbans, world’s largest mangrove forest located between Bangladesh and West Bengal, and the Ganges River are competing with some gorgeous natural heritage sites across the globe for the seven Wonders of Nature list.

Famous for its breathtaking beauty and the Royal Bengal Tiger, Sunderbans forest has carved a niche for itself when the mangrove was selected by New Seven Wonders Foundation after the selection of seven new wonders of the world last year, which included Taj Mahal.

Lying in the mouth of the holy Ganges, the Sunderban delta is composed of mangrove forests, swamps and forest island all interwoven in a network of small rivers and streams. It covers an area of approximately 10,000 square kilometers.

Altogether 400 places from different continents have been nominated primarily in the seven wonders nomination process which include 51 places (highest number of places) from South America, 31 Europe, 30 Asia, 27 North America, 19 Africa and 10 Oceania.

Voting is continuing through internet. “It is so exciting that out of 400 places which have been nominated primarily in the seven wonders nomination process, Sundarban and Ganges are on leading positions at this moment for Asia region,” an expert on Sunderbans afair reacted.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cast his vote here at the Writers’ Buildings recently on the website www.new7wonders.com to nominate the Sunderbans and the holy Ganges as two of the seven ‘Global Wonders of Nature’.

Tushar Kanjilal, secretary of Tagore society for Rural Development, was also present at the state secretariat along with Sunderbans Development Minister Kanti Ganguly and Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar.

“The Chief Minister took the first step and we request people from both West Bengal and across the country to vote for the Sunderbans and the Ganges to enlist them in the seven new natural wonders’ list. These are multinational nominees and it needs both India and Bangladesh to officially support it,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly said, “We have already formed a supporting committee to champion the cause and we are trying to promote it in a manner to appeal to people in India and Bangladesh to vote for these two heritage sites. In fact three because Cox’s Bazar beach, the largest sea beach of the world, has also found place in the nominated site out of 158 natural places of the world so far.”

The global voting platform, which is conducting the poll, is promoted by the New Seven Wonders Foundation that included the Taj Mahal in its list of seven man-made wonders last year. The foundation was set up by Swiss-born Canadian film maker-explorer Bernard Weber. The platform selects the wonders on the basis of nomination committees in each country and only one nomination from each country is finalised in the last lap of the race.

The Ganges was at the seventh position, while the Sunderbans was tenth, as per current voting on the website. The voting will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011 when the results will be declared. Ganguly further said a nomination committee from Bangladesh had approached the state government to support the Sunderbans, as the forest cover vast areas of both India and Bangladesh.

“I know the process and we have yet to see many ups and downs in the position so far but if we all keep on voting for Sundarbans, Ganges and Cox’s Bazar, we should be in good standing till the end. Voting in the internet is fun and it should be more fun doing it for our heritage sites,” said student of Calcutta University Divya Malik.

“Everyone must log on to the following link and cast their valuable votes to earn the title for natural wonders. That way we will be able to boast of another Wonders of the Modern World, the first one was the Taj Mahal,” said an elated college student.

The Sundarbans features a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. The area is known for its wide range of fauna, with the Royal Bengal tiger being the most famous, but also including many species of birds, spotted deer, crocodiles and snakes.

It is already a UNESCO World Heritage site and was designated a Ramsar site on May 21, 1992. It was also nominated as one of the New seven Wonders of the world, along Taj though didn't make to the final 14.Some other prominent natural heritage sites in the race include Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park in Phillipines, Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Chocolate Hills in Phillipines, Al-Ahsa Oasis in Saudi Arabia, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National park in Vietnam and Fansipan Mountain in Vietnam.

Kolkata Trams offer a nostalgic journey to commuters

Kolkata (IANS),13 November, 2008: The charm and nostalgia of the old Kolkata streets, the coffee house sessions and landmarks like the Victoria Memorial, would now come alive through line drawings on the body of the trams - the “heritage wheels” of the metropolis.

Master illustrator Samir Biswas has given an all-new look to the colonial transport mode through the dexterity of his line drawings skills that capture the changing facade of Kolkata since the time when it was the British India capital.

Telecom service provider Aircel launched the innovative programme celebrating the rich heritage of the city. The cultural initiative would initially be introduced in 27 trams across the city.

"The drawings will give a complete feel so that people could easily visualise both old and the new features of Kolkata. All the paintings, mostly based on line drawings and watercolours, will showcase the lifestyle of people belonging to different social strata," Biswas told IANS on the sidelines of the programme here Wednesday.

He said the drawings would cover diverse subjects from the Raj era, high-rise buildings, major landmarks like Howrah Bridge, College Street, Park Street and the Hogg Market. "The portraits will describe a tale of the metropolis which has undergone a change in the time of globalisation. The sky-scrapers, glitzy malls and IT township - which are entering into the history of the metropolis and its colonial soul - will also get a place in my artistic depiction," he said.

Biswas, who once worked as a graphic artist with a Kolkata-based leading newspaper group, is a Government Art College graduate. His line drawings skills on Kolkata buildings and life in the metropolis graced many a newspaper and magazine for three decades between the 1970s and 1990s.

"It's a great feeling for me that people now would get to see my creativity," he said. Ever since the first horse-drawn tram of the city rolled out on meter gauge tracks way back on Feb 24, 1873, this medium of transport has virtually become a logo of Kolkata, and has withstood criticism of its utility in the present era of fast-moving vehicles.

The Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) was formed in 1880 and registered in London on Dec 22 that year. The electrification of the tram routes was done in the early 20th century. The CTC was taken over by the West Bengal government in the 1970s.

Plans for solar power plant on anvil

Kolkata,Thursday, Nov 13, 2008: West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation (WBGEDC) has invited “expression of interest"" from various developers for setting up a roof-top solar energy harvesting mechanism.

The corporate houses or commercial buildings with roof top area more than 50,000 sq ft would be eligible for submitting an application, said Mr SP Gon Chowdhury, MD, WBGEDC. He said that corporate houses with 50,000 sq ft or more roof top area can set up “high efficient"" solar power plant capable of generating 250 KW of power. He said Wipro has already expressed interest for setting up the proposed solar power plant. This corporate houses would be able to sell power to different state power utilities at Rs 11 per unit as per the state electricity regulatory commission.

He said the WBGEDC has already spoken to different power utilities like CESC, West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Corporation (WBSEDC), and DPL. All these power utilities have agreed to buy solar power from the corporate houses. They would be providing the solar power generated to the grid with the help of a transformer. A metre would be fitted to record the total amount of transmission and accordingly the corporate houses would receive the ‘preferential’ tariff.

He described this as “win-win"" situation for the corporate houses as they would be entitled to tax benefits and can also ask the United Nation Framework on Climate Change for carbon credit. But prior to the application, the corporate houses would have to take post country clearance from ministry of environment and forest.

Mr Gon Chowdhury said that the power utilities would be benefited as it is mandatory for them to buy 10 per cent renewable energy by 2012 as per Renewable Energy Port Folio (RPF) standard.

Yunnan Tourism signs MoU on tourism exchange with West Bengal

To offer Lifestyle, Leisure, Sports, Experiential and MICE as tourism products

Kolkata, November 13, 2008: In a bid to strengthen the industrial and tourism cooperation with India, Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration (Yunnan Tourism) is focusing on tourism exchange with West Bengal. Yunnan Tourism signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with West Bengal Tourism Directorate, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) and the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Eastern Chapter on the 10th of this month in order to build a mutual bond on tourism practices, exchange and understanding.

Having approached the West Bengal Tourism Directorate, WBTDC and the TAAI Eastern Chapter, Yunnan Tourism plans to cash in on tourism opportunities in Kolkata and East India considering the short distance, newly launched air link and the similarities in culture and ethnicity. As part of the MoU, West Bengal Tourism Directorate and WBTDC have also planned to make the state more available for Chinese tourists.

Manabendra Mukherjee, Tourism Minister of West Bengal said, “Apart from developing destinations and other tourism products, we will be developing the China Town area of Kolkata and include it under the Destination Development Scheme.” Talking about plans to focus mainly on Eastern India, Yu Dingcheng, Director General, Yunnan Provincial Tourism Administration, told TravelBiz Monitor, “Yunnan and West Bengal have many similarities in tastes and traditions and both enjoy large ethnic diversities. Also, Kolkata is at a distance of about two hour’s flight from Kunming, a region we are projecting as Yunnan’s USP. Apart from the newly-launched air link, Kolkata has a large harbour in coastal Eastern India. All these features have prompted us to start our promotional activities in India from Kolkata.”

China Eastern Airways, which re-started its operation from Kolkata last month, currently operates with four flights a week to Kunming. According to a China Eastern Airways official, depending on the growth in traffic, the airline may increase the flights to seven per week. Speaking about the tourism products offered by Yunnan Tourism, Dingcheng said, “Yunnan has the largest ethnic diversities in China and that will be one of our highest selling points. With large golf courses and natural hot springs, we will focus on tourism products like Lifestyle Tourism, Leisure Tourism, Sports Tourism and Experiential Tourism.”

Targeting these products at leisure tourists, Yunnan Tourism also sees potential of MICE segment when it comes to tourism exchange with India, especially Eastern India. “Eastern India still lacks exposure to good international destinations as MICE destinations. We are on a constant lookout to find more international MICE destinations which are lesser known but strong in terms of infrastructure when it comes to supporting MICE travellers. Yunnan has great potentials to host MICE segments,” said Devendra Parikh, Chairman, TAAI Eastern Chapter.Commenting on the stiff competition from Thailand Tourism, Dingcheng said, “Although Thailand is an old player when it comes to tourism exchange with India, we have come up tourism products that are different from those offered by Thailand.

Besides, we have geographical proximity with India and have better climate to offer. While most of the popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia cannot provide year-long tourism services due to extreme climate conditions, Yunnan has pleasant weather condition throughout the year and can play host at any time of the year.”

Seige enters fifth day, Lalgarh remains cut off

Kolkata, November 11: Meetings fail to reach consensus, prices of essential commodities go up Lalgarh remained cut off from the rest of West Bengal for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, as all-party meetings called by the district administration to resolve the crisis failed to reach a consensus. The state government has alleged that outsiders are instigating the locals of the area.“The type of slogans being raised in Lalgarh show the presence of outsiders who are instigating violence,” said Home Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti.

“The trouble at Lalgarh is also hampering the investigations in the Salboni blast, as the officers involved in the probe are now busy with controlling the law and order situation in Lalgarh. Moreover, the snapping of roads has affected the supply of kerosene oil, which is widely used in the area that has no electricity,” he added. Political parties and the administration have failed to arrive at an agreement to allow repair of roads dug upin the Lalgarh area of West Midnapore. Two separate meetings were called by the administration on Tuesday.

The first meeting — called by the block development officer (BDO) of Lalgarh — was held at his office and was attended by gram panchayat pradhans and panchayat samity members of the area. Another meeting was called by District Magistrate Narayan Swarup Nigam in Jhargram with all the political parties. Both the meetings failed to serve the purpose. “We do not intend to use force to repair the roads that have been dug up. We want to resolve the issue through dialogue,” said Nigam. Another meeting has been called on Wednesday.

In both the meetings, the Opposition demanded an end to the 'atrocities' by the police and that the police should release all those arrested or detained for their alleged involvement in the Salboni blast. The Opposition also sought a public apology from the police. District police sources, however, said since the case was linked with the attack on the chief minister’s convoy, it would not be possible for them to allow release of those arrested. “This will give a signal that the administration is compromising even in such a sensitive case,” said a senior police officer of the district police.

Panic was evident among the residents of Lalgarh, with most of the roads remaining deserted on Tuesday. The three police station areas of Lalgarh, Binpur and Belpahari remained cut off, which has resulted in the rise in prices of essential commodities — with potato and candle being the worst hit. A source in the Lalgarh BDO office, however, claimed there was no shortage of dry food. The administration is arranging for supply of kerosene in the area.

Lalgarh comprises 10 gram panchayats. Of these seven are run by the Jharkhand Party and three by the CPI(M). The panchayat and samity members have been requested by the state administration to go back to the villages and try to convince the villagers to allow repair of roads.

Bayern Munich to set up football academy in Kolkata

Kolkata,November 12, 2008:German giants Bayern Munich will set up their first football academy outside Germany, and West Bengal will have the honour of being their partner. Bayern president and former German soccer star, Karl Heinz Rummenigge was in Kolkata on Wednesday to announce the plan of a football academy that would be set up in Burdwan with technical support from the giants of club football in Europe.

The Burdwan District Sports Association would enter into an agreement with Bayern and Techno India (a knowledge management group) for the proposed academy.Rummenigge said that Bayern chose India and West Bengal as a partner for such a venture as they were looking into long-term relationships and were not in Kolkata only to make money.

"Our philosophy is different from other clubs of Europe who go into Asia for making money. Our slogan is to create friends and have long-lasting commitments. The way we saw Oliver Kahn being felicitated here when he played in farewell match in Kolkata also showed us how people of West Bengal loved football," he said.

While Rummenigge will fly back on Wednesday night, his colleague from Bayern, Martin Hegele, will travel to Burdwan on Thursday to see the proposed site. Hegele told India Today: "We are here as we wanted to work with serious people and your minister Nirupam Sen is one such man." Burdwan is Sen's home town and he, along with sports minister, Subhas Chakraborty, pledged support for the academy.

Hegele explained that apart from providing technical support to build up the academy, which will include the construction of artificial and natural football pitches, training of coaches and players, there will be exchange programmes and age-group tournaments to enhance the talents available in West Bengal and also across India.

The academy will have a stadium and five football fields, two of which will have artificial turf. Four fields will be floodlit, so that the students can practise at any hour.Rummenigge expressed hope that one day a player from the Burdwan academy will play in the professional football circuit in Europe and added that he did not think it was impossible for a passionate country like India to finally play in the FIFA World Cup.

WB govt to support ailing steel and sponge iron units

KOLKATA,12 November,2008: The West Bengal government said on Wednesday that it would support, within its ability, ailing steel and sponge iron units facing closure in the state. “I have proposed to meet the sector to understand the situation collectively and not individually. If in some way, the government can help within its abilities, it will do so,” said the Principal Secretary of Commerce and Industries, Mr Sabyasachi Sen, said here.

Mr Sen, was speaking to reporters while announcing a B2B (business to business) exhibition cum conference, 'Biz Bridge - Resurgence East', to be held here. Admitting that the government was aware of the recent developments in the steel sector, Mr Sen, h owever, said that it would consult with industry bodies - CII and FICCI - to ascertain the number of such units facing closure.

Industry players said that units facing problems were not integrated players and mainly small ones. Following the global meltdown and subsequent lull, the steel industry is in the dock which has prompted production cuts even by majors like JSW Steel, Ess ar Steel and Ispat Industries.
Steel Secretary Mr P K Rastogi had said yesterday that public sector major SAIL may also cut production as the demand for the commodity dipped. Admitting that the steel industry was in the grip of a crisis, Mr Ramswarup Group Chairman and Managing Direct or Mr Ashish Jhunjhunwala said that CII has already urged the state government to support the industry. “However, this is a temporary blip and the steel industry is not going to die,” Mr Jhunjhunwala said. - PTI

State Bank to lend Rs.40 bn for JSW’s West Bengal project

Kolkata, Nov 12 (IANS): JSW Bengal Steel will take a loan of Rs.40 billion from the State Bank of India (SBI) to part finance the first phase of its steel project in West Bengal, a senior company official said here Wednesday.”SBI has agreed in principle to fund the first phase of the West Bengal project,” JSW Bengal managing director Biswadip Gupta said on the sidelines of a press conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Talks are on now with SBI for re-negotiating the interest rate, Gupta said. The first phase that involves setting up a three million tonne plant will cost Rs.100 billion, and the debt component of Rs.40 billion would be funded by SBI. JSW, however, wants the bank to bring down the interest rate.

“SBI had earlier demanded 13.75 percent interest. Considering the current lower interest regime, we have asked it to lower the rate,” Gupta said. JSW Bengal is promoted by JSW Steel, which holds an 89 percent stake in the company, with the state government owning the balance.
The company is constructing a 10-million-tonne steel plant in three phases on a total investment of Rs.350-billion (over $7 billion) in Salboni in West Midnapore district of the state.

The first phase of the project will have a pelletisation plant, iron ore beneficiary and coal mine development units by 2012. The second phase, a six million tonne plant, is scheduled for completion by 2015. The entire project will be ready by 2020.

CIL, DVC and BEML to invest INR 1000 crore for MAMC revival

Kolkata, 12 November, 2008: BS reported that CIL, DVC and BEML will be investing around INR 1000 crore in phases to revive the West Bengal based Mining and Allied Machineries Corporation, a BIFR company since 2003.While BEML will be the major share holder with 48%, CIL and DVC will be picking up by 26% stake each in the company.

A revived MAMC is expected to commence operation from the middle of 2010.Mr PS Bhattacharya chairman of CIL said that "I have approached the Mr HC Gupta coal secretary to take up the matter with the ministry for a cabinet clearance on the takeover. Prior to that the clearance for the joint take over will have to come from the Calcutta High Court as it is a BIFR company and the court is sole custodian to determine the company’s future."

Mr Bhattacharya said that MAMC has dues of INR 1200 crore with the Centre and about INR 100 crore with the West Bengal government. He said that “I approached the West Bengal government for a waiver and they have readily agreed. The green signal for the central waiver is still awaited and for this cabinet clearance is mandatory."He said that a silver lining recently emerged on the future revival of the company with the State Bank of India deciding to prune the debt component of the company from INR 430 crore to INR 120 crore.

He added that SBI ends have been tied up and things are moving in the right direction.Revival of MAMC is essential for CIL as it is moving ahead in augmenting underground mining production in the next couple of years. The coal giant is also seeking overseas tie ups in Australia, China, Indonesia and USA for developing UG mining in the country.

West Bengal seeks more Central forces from Home Ministry

New Delhi (PTI),11th Nov: West Bengal on Tuesday sought additional para-military forces from the Union Home Ministry to tackle the Maoist problem in the state.

The demand was made at a meeting of State Chief Secretary Amit Kiran Deb with Union Home Secretary Mahdukar Gupta here on Tuesday.Deb later told reporters that he asked for more security personnel for the state, but declined to specify the quantum of the requirement.

The meeting came in the backdrop of the Home Ministry asking for a detailed report from the State Government on the landmine attack on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan in Maoist-infested Midnapore district on November two. The powerful landmine blast triggered by suspected Maoists had damaged the security vehicle of Paswan and injured six policemen.

The Home Ministry has already said that there were "callousness" and "lapse" as the security drill was not ensured by West Bengal Police ahead of the visit of the two dignitaries to Midnapore.

Sources in the Home Ministry said the police did not carry out the basic road opening exercise, a mandatory security drill, ahead of the VIP arrival or departure from the foundation-laying ceremony of a steel project.

The remote-controlled mine was exploded at Salboni shortly after Bhattacharjee had passed through that area and Paswan was approaching the point in Jhargram district, adjacent to Midnapore.

Maradona to arrive in Kolkata on December 5

Kolkata,10 Nov,2008:

Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona will lay the foundation stone of the Indian Football School (IFS) besides participating at a charity dinner during his visit to the city December 5-7.

Announcing Maradona's itinerary in the city, Lok Sabha MP Samik Lahiri said the present Argentine coach would arrive at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in the city on the night December 5.

After laying the foundation stone of the IFS in Maheshtala , about 13 km south of the city December 6, Maradona would meet the press - his first ever media interaction after becoming the Argentina coach.

The West Bengal government and the soccer fraternity would felicitate the superstar in the evening at the Salt lake Stadium, where all former soccer internationals of India would be invited. Maradona's programme for the day ends with a charity dinner, where some of his football gears would come under the hammer.

The hero of Argentina's 1986 World Cup victory is scheduled to visit Mother House, the global headquarters of Missionaries of Charity the next day, before attending a football clinic with youngsters, Lahiri told reporters on Monday. Maradona would leave for home the same night. To a query, he said Maradona could not play now, as he was a FIFA-registered coach. Lahiri also refused to disclose the remuneration Maradona has asked for his appearance.

The soccer genius is likely to be accompanied by his estranged wife Claudia, who played a big role in arranging the meeting between him and the organisers which made the visit possible. Asked what benefit would accrue to the country from the visit, Lahiri said: "The presence of the soccer master will definitely inspire and motivate the youngsters, who have grown up watching his exploits on the soccer field through video".

Lahiri said the ambitious IFS project would start by choosing 20 talented youngsters below the age of 10 from various clinics. The cadets would be coached by a former national level player, who would undergo a coaches' training in a reputed Latin American soccer academy.

After three years of training, the total number of youngsters would be pruned down to 40 (three batches combined). Once the shortlisted charges become 18, efforts would be made to place them in the leagues of various Latin American and European countries.

"Initially, we can't find slots for them in the premier divisions, but I think placing them in lower divisions should be possible," he said. He exuded confidence that if the project succeeded, the country would get 100 players with the experience of playing at the international level. West Bengal Sports Minister Subhas Chakraborty said the state government would play the role of facilitator for Maradona's visit.

Metro Cash & Carry to open outlet on Dec 4

KOLKATA,10 Nov: Metro Cash & Carry will be thrown open to the public on December 4. This German supply major outlet off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass will be inaugurated the day before, possibly by chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Metro officials met ministers Naren De and Mortaza Hossain among others on Monday.

The outlet will be the company’s fifth outlet in the country after Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Metro’s special focus would be hotels, restaurants, traders and kirana stores. The opening of the outlet is a major development as the Forward Bloc-controlled agricultural marketing board had refused to issue a fresh licence to the wholesale outlet a few months ago. Later, it agreed to give the nod after placing certain conditions. CPI(M) and Forward Bloc were locked in a major tussle over the issue. Finally, the marketing board and the Bloc agreed to issue a fresh licence and a memorandum of understanding was signed between the company and the state government on October 10.

Metro will do business with only those who have APMC licences. Though it can purchase from private markets or regulatory marketing committees, it has to pay one per cent market fee while selling the produce. Other conditions include a bar on contract farming with farmers and only following the business-to-business model with traders. Also, in case of a legal dispute, it must be sorted out in a court of law within the state.

The German wholesale major has already trained 350 persons to work in its outlet. According to its officials, the wholesale centres are open exclusively for business customers, all of them duly registered and provided with customer identification cards.

Hyundai to launch small car by 2011

CHENNAI,10 Nov.,2008: The country's second largest auto maker Hyundai Motor India Ltd said it is working on a new 'mini car' in the entry level segment which should hit the roads by 2011."We are developing a small car in the entry level range and it should hit the market by 2011," HMIL Managing Director H S Lheem told reporters here, refusing to divulge the details including the cost of the proposed car.

Interestingly, the timing of announcement of the car comes a month after the announcement shifting of Tata Motors' small car Nano's plant from Singur, West Bengal, after violent protests over the issue of land acquisition.The Tatas have since decided to relocate the unit to Gujarat.A query on whether the HMIL's small car was being planned to compete with the Tatas' Nano, failed to elicit any response from the company officials, though sources said the target group for this product would be the same as Nano's-- two-wheeler users aspiring for a car.

Lheem further said the car would be manufactured from the company's existing plant at Sriperumbudur, about 40 km from here."We have adequate capacity to manufacture (the new car) in the plant.Its capacity is about 650,000 cars per annum and we are sure that it will be accommodated," Lheem, who was here to flag off the company's 'i20' range of cars, produced at the Sriperumbudur plant to the European market, said.

On the current global financial crisis, Lheem said, "25 per cent of the total sales has been affected and most of our distributors present in various countries have also asked us to postpone the shipments"."Distributors especially from France and Ireland have asked the shipments to be postponed" he said, adding even quite a few (distributors) have also cancelled their orders for the 'i20' range of cars due to the crisis. -PTI

Cine Central to screen world cinema at Kolkata film fest

Kolkata, Nov 8: Cine Central, one of the largest film societies in India, will screen 70 films from 30 countries as part of the 14th Kolkata Film Festival to be held here Nov 10-17. "Besides some remarkable Indian films, we will be showcasing some of the best films from Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Iran, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Pakistan, Sweden, South Korea, Slovakia and Uruguay," general secretary of Cine Central, Sadhan Chakraborty told reporters here Thursday.

"We will also present a package of contemporary films to focus on Turkish, Norwegian and Dutch Cinema," said Chakraborty.Under the "Homage" category, tributes will be paid to Cuban film director Humberto Solas and Egyptian director Youssef Chahine. "A retrospective of Manoel de Oliveira will also be organised to pay centenary tribute to the Portuguese film director," Chakraborty added.There will also be a "Documedia" section where documentaries from Afghanistan, Lebanon and France will be shown, along with a package of documentaries on Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara to commemorate his 80th birthday.

The inaugural film "Gulabi Talkies" will be presented by Kannada director Girish Kasaravalli at Basusree Cinemas in south Kolkata.Cine Central was formed in September 1965 and organised India's first independent international film festival in 1986 under the name Calcutta International Film Festival. This film fest was renamed as International Forum of New Cinema in 1998 and is held every year as part of Kolkata Film Festival.

Nobel testimony to be heard in town

Kolkata, November 7 , 2008: Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, Nobel Laureate and one of the first people Nelson Mandela wanted to meet after he emerged from prison, will arrive in the city on November 10 to deliver a lecture. Gordimer, a strong voice against apartheid, has titled her talk “The Inward Testimony”, which she will deliver at Town Hall, at 6pm.

She is visiting the country on an invitation from the public diplomacy division of the ministry of external affairs. She arrives in Mumbai on November 7 and will be in Calcutta till November 13, when she leaves for New Delhi.

The 85-year-old writer of stories and novels, whose books were banned several times by the white South African government, will be given the honour of “state guest” in West Bengal, said Amit Dasgupta, the joint secretary of the public diplomacy division.

Gordimer’s lecture is part of the Nobel Laureate Lecture series organised by the division. Last year, American mathematician John Nash, on whose life the film A Beautiful Mind was made, had been invited for the lecture. But last year, Calcutta was given the miss, as Nash only visited New Delhi and Mumbai. This year, the ministry is making up for it and more, for Gordimer’s talk is reserved for the city, while in the other two, she will be reading from her books.

The writer, who won the Booker for her novel The Conservationist, wrote powerfully and movingly about the lives of ordinary people, many of them black, in the violence-ridden apartheid era, earning the wrath of the authorities repeatedly.

Her latest book of stories is Beethoven Was One-Sixteenth Black (2007). She has outlived that cause. But an activist forever, in a post-apartheid world, she works on AIDS and HIV prevention, a severe problem in South Africa. “Gordimer will interact with Calcuttans, including writers,” added Dasgupta. She will attend a dinner at Raj Bhavan. Dasgupta is also planning to take her to Victoria Memorial and St Paul’s Cathedral and city bookstores. But he complained that his early inquiries have revealed that not many city bookstores have any of her books.

THE TELEGRAPH

Maoists own responsibility for Nov 2 blast

Kolkata, Nov 7 (IANS): The Communist Party of India-Maoist Friday night owned up responsibility for the Nov 2 landmine blast in West Midnapore district and said that West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was the target.

In a press release signed by its general secretary Kanchan, the guerrilla outfit said it had triggered the blast 'with the active cooperation of the people'.The release said the People's Liberation Guerilla Army organised the explosion and threatened that 'the future will see more of such acts'.'The government cannot prevent such attacks by providing Z plus category security to anybody,' Kanchan claimed.

Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada and Bhattacharjee had a close shave as the blast hit their convoy when they were returning after the groundbreaking ceremony of the JSW Bengal steel project at Salboni. Bhattacharjee was the only leader with Z plus security among the VVIPs in the programme.

The Maosits claimed they were opposed to the policies of the 'fascist' state government, which was 'causing great harm' to the farmers by the way it was going for big industries like the JSW project.'Our fight will be on,' Kanchan added.

WB govt to set up new industries at Singur : Buddhadev

7 Nov 2008, 1842 hrs IST, PTI

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government will announce in a few days plans to set up new industries at Singur after the exit of the Tatas Motors from there and has several proposals in hand, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has said. "We have several proposals in hand. We will announce these in a few days. Land was acquired at Singur for industrialisation and we will set up industries there and nothing else," he said in an interview to CPI(M) daily 'Ganashakti' published today.

Claiming the exit of the Tatas from Singur would not impact the investment scenario in the state, Bhattacharjee pointed out that none of the Indian and foreign investors had gone back on their plans for West Bengal. "The Singur episode is an isolated one arising out of the destructive movement of Trinamool Congress ... and none of the Indian and foreign investors has left because of the post- Singur situation," the chief minister said. Bhattacharjee said "people will not forgive opposition parties if they continue to pursue policies which harm the state's interests. Industrialists have identified these parties which have tarnished West Bengal's image ... but I feel that this will not last long."

Claiming that investment in West Bengal had gone up in the last three years, Bhattacharjee said "I hope this trend will be maintained in the near future." There were investment queries from China, Japan, the US, Germany, besides fresh investments were coming from companies like Reliance, Birla and even the Tatas, he said.

West Bengal universities tie up with Italian institutions

Kolkata, Nov 7 (IANS): A high-level delegation from Italy Friday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with several leading West Bengal universities here to launch an educational exchange programme.The academic delegation from the University and Polytechnic of Turin signed the agreement with four premier West Bengal universities - Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Rabindra Bharati University and Burdwan University.

“West Bengal and Turin have a cultural similarity in their origins. I am very hopeful of this academic cooperation, as it’ll serve several issues of mutual interest with reference to scientific collaboration as well as studies in art, literature, culture and political science,” city mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya told reporters at the MoU signing programme. “The MoU was signed between four leading educational institutions and top 11 Italian universities,” he said.

“There’s always a malicious campaigning about Kolkata, outside India, that it’s a city of traffic congestion and filth. I think this type of wrong ideas are common because it’s a communist ruled state in the country,” Bhattacharyya added. “This educational cooperation programme will open up a new era for the students in West Bengal to come in contact with the rich culture heritage of Italy,” he said.