Manna Dey awarded DLit by Jadavpur university

KOLKATA, Thursday, December 25, 2008 : Singing legend Manna Dey, known as much in Bollywood as in the Bengali film industry for his versatile voice, was awarded an onorary doctorate of literature (DLit) by Jadavpur University.

West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi presented the DLit degree to Dey, 88, for his contribution to the Indian music industry at the 53rd annual convocation of the varsity here."All I do is a little bit of singing and don't think I deserve such an honour. It feels great and I am elated," Dey told reporters after receiving the award in the afternoon.

Dey is regarded as one of the veteran playback singers of Hindi and vernacular films. Some of the noted films he sang for are Padosan, Waqt, Shree 420, Teesri Kasam, Upkaar, Mere Huzoor and Zanjeer.

CPI(M) leader killed by Cong supported anti-socials

RAIGANJ, Dec. 24, 2008: Md Arsad Ali (43), the secretary of North Dinajpur unit of Citu-affiliated Federation of West Bengal Bidi Tobacco workers union and CPI(M) Dalkhola zonal committe member was killed by congress anti-socials last night.

He was a resident of Kamartore village under Karandighi police station of North Dinajpur. At around 10.30 p.m. he was returning home riding a bike when anti-socials attacked him near Vurri village. They hit him on the head with an iron rod and he died on the spot. The CPI(M) and CITU leaders of North Dinajpur district alleged that Congress supporters killed him.

In protest against the killing, both the CPI(M) and CITU called a 12-hour bandh in Katandighi police station areas on 26 December. The secretary of North Dinajpur CITU committee and one of the district secretariat members of North Dinajpur CPI(M), Mr Subir Biswas, said: "Two anti-socials who were Congress members of Karandighi, were arrested and we have a report that a group of Congress members killed him with sharp weapons. Demanding the immediate arrest of all the accused Congress members, we will organise a 12-hour bandh in Karandighi police station areas on 26 December. If they are not arrested, will start a vigorous agitation against both the police and the Congress.

The Police Super of North Dinajpur district, Mr Shankar Singha said: "One Mangal Mahanta and Budhia Singh of Karandighi who were allegedly Congress members have been arrested for this killing and investigation into the incident has started."

Buddhadeb rules out Gorkhaland

Jalpaiguri (WB), Dec 24, 2008: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said his government will not bow down to Gorkha Janmukti Morcha's (GJM) pressure for separate Gorkhaland."The GJM leadership in Darjeeling hills wants to divide the state. But, we do not want it and it will not happen. We have asked its leadership for talks and they will sit in a tripartite talks on December 29," Bhattacharjee told a rally here.

He invited the GJM leadership to take part in elections and said "those who would come to power by election will rule the Hills." Citing the example of Kamtapuri rebels of north Bengal, Bhattacharjee said, "The local Rajbanshi youths took up arms and went to the jungle. We have initiated talks with them and most of them have returned to the mainstream. A few are based in Bangladesh only."

WB govt to implement HC order for use of LPG in autos

KOLKATA, 23 December, 2008 : The West Bengal Government said it was determined to implement the High Court order for use of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) in all the autos. All the autos will have to get converted to LPG mode by December 31.

The state Government shall implement the court order by the deadline, Transport Minister Subhash Chakraborty said.He said about 3,000 auto owners had already applied for using LPG in their vehicles.Calcutta High Court had recently passed the order to check the high level of air pollution caused by the three wheelers.

INDIASOFT 2009, to be held in Kolkata

Kolkata, December 23, 2008: The ninth edition of the largest IT global networking event in India, INDIASOFT 2009, to be held in Kolkata, is targeting the new emerging markets of South Africa, Spain, France and Germany for software exports and services.

Last fiscal, the country exported software worth $45 billion and the target this fiscal is around $58 billion. Out of this, $3.6 billion has been earmarked for electronics hardware and $55 billion for software and services.

“The software market in South Africa is estimated to be around $12 billion and we want to tap this potential market. At present, we export 0.7% of it only and want to increase it,” said DK Sareen, executive director of Electronics & Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC).
INDIASOFT 2009 will have around 120 buyers from these focus regions and also from Latin America, he said. The event will be held in Kolkata on February 26 and 27, 2009.

Around 80 domestic exhibitors will participate in the event. When asked about the last fiscal figures of the IT industry, Sareen said the industry did a business of $25 billion from April to September, involving $2 billion in the electronics hardware and $23.65 billion in software services segment.

“We have already achieved 45% of the total target of $58 billion in the first six months and let us see how we fare in the coming months,” Sareen said. The first six months recorded a growth rate of 30%.

West Bengal IT minister Debesh Das, who was present in the curtain raiser of the event, made it clear that INDIASOFT 2009 is a big opportunity for the city’s small and medium scale enterprises in the IT sector. “IT SMEs in the city are surpassing the SMEs of Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai in quality,” Das told reporters.

SMEs are the key to industrial development, feels state government

kolkata, 23 December, 2008: The Left Front government seems to have focussed on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for carrying out the industrialisation plan in the state. After Tata Motors pulled out of the state and several major industrial projects — Indonesia’s Salim group and Jindal’s steel plant — were put on hold, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is banking on SMEs.

This year, the theme of the Industrial India Trade Fair (IITF) has accordingly been kept: “Resurgent Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises”. “The trade fair is to promote the SME sector of the state since this sector is thriving here. It can promote industrialisation in the state as a whole and promote export-import business abroad as well,” said Bhattacharjee while speaking at the inauguration of the 22nd Industrial India Trade Fair (IITF) organised jointly by the Bharat National Chamber of Commerce and Industries (BNCCI) and India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).

Bhattacharjee also said the global downturn is a severe crisis which has not only affected the financial sector but also the industrial sector. “We are facing a serious economic crisis worldwide and nobody knows when it will get over. Even though the Prime Minister has taken several measures to prevent the economic crisis from affecting the country, at present, business houses and stakeholders should come forward and join hands to overcome these difficult times,” added Bhattacharjee.

He said that he has also been discussing measures to face the slowdown with Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. “At a time when the world is affected by the global recession, West Bengal is not an exception,” Bhattacharjee said.

This time the trade fair has been organised under the shadow of the Mumbai terror attack and global recession. The fair has already seen a reduction in the number of stalls. While there were 800 exhibitors last year, this year the number stood at 700.

Hunt on for killers

KOLKATA, 23rd December: The West Bengal police and their counterparts in Jharkhand are on the hunt for the suspected Maoists responsible for the gunning down of two policemen in the Barabazar area of the State’s Purulia district on Monday.

Director-General of Police A.B. Vohra has gone to the spot and will submit a report on his return, a senior State government official said here on Tuesday.

The assailants are suspected to belong to a Maoist squad based in adjoining Jharkhand to where they fled with weapons seized from the victims. They had mingled with the crowd in the Barabazar area before carrying out the attacks.

Buddhadeb for joint effort to tackle economic slowdown

KOLKATA, 23rd December, 2008: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said on Tuesday that the Centre, the State governments and business entrepreneurs should come together to find a way out of the economic slowdown the country was facing in the wake of the global meltdown.

“The Government of India is trying to face the situation in its own way. I do not know if that is enough,” he said at the inauguration of the 22nd Industrial India Trade Fair here on Tuesday.

Pointing out that India’s growth rate had fallen to 7 per cent in 2008-09 from 8 per cent in 2007-08, he said that the 9 to 10 per cent growth rate by 2012 envisaged by the 11th Five-Year Plan appeared unlikely. Mr. Bhattacharjee said that the drop in the inflation figure was due to the falling crude oil price in the international market. It was not a sign of a strong Indian economy.

“The situation is serious in West Bengal too. But I am an optimist.” He said he had discussed the issue with Nobel laureate Amartya Sen during his recent visit to the city.

Insurance sector staff strike work in West Bengal

Kolkata, Dec 23 : Around 99 percent of Kolkata-based National Insurance Corp and 76 percent of General Insurance Corp non-management staff stayed away from work Tuesday in support of a nationwide insurance sector strike.

Employees unions claimed 98 percent of Life Insurance Corp’s non-management staff in the eastern region also participated in the strike. ‘Apart from gate meetings, two insurance unions, General Insurance Employees Association and All India Insurance Employees Association will be conducting a rally at Dalhousie,’ Gautam Moitra, general secretary, West Bengal General Insurance Employees Association said.

Till noon, chairman of National Insurance Corp did not attend office. The attendance at the Kolkata-headquartered insurance company was skeletal. The strike was called by the All India Insurance Employees Association to protest against the government’s move to raise the cap on foreign investment in the sector from 26 percent to 49 percent.