New logo for Dooars and Terai tea

JALPAIGURI:16 December, 2008- Dooars and Terai tea, which account to about 30 per cent of the total tea produced in India, can now be distinguished by its new brand mark - an elephant standing against the backdrop of tea bushes.

This is the fourth tea logo in the country. Tea produced in Assam, Darjeeling and the Nilgiris already have their own logos in place. All types of tea produced in the gardens in Dooars and Terai would carry the Dooars logo. The Tea Board of India will start using the logo shortly after its registration.

The Tea Board of India unveiled the logo on Sunday. It chose a jumbo to be a part of the logo as the two regions - Dooars and Terai - are as famous for their elephants and tea. Interestingly, this logo is similar to that of Assam Tea but Dooars and Terai tea has an elephant, while Assam Tea has a rhino.

Jairam Ramesh, union minister of state for commerce and industries inaugurated the logo at the Indian Tea Planters' Association office. Ramesh also inaugurated an office of the Tea Board of India in Jalpaiguri on Sunday. Owing to the emergence of the small tea growers as a major tea contributor in the region, the Tea Board India decided to open its office here. There are more than 15, 000 small tea growers and 87 bought leaf factories in the region. The Tea Board office will also monitor the other 172 set gardens in the district.

The Tea Board has also decided to upgrade the tea research sub-station of Tea Research Association at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri into a full fledged tea research station. A sum of Rs20 crore has been made available to Doklai tea institute in Assam to turn it into a full-fledged tea research institute, of which Rs3crore has been earmarked for having R&D facility the smaller tea research centre at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district of neighbouring West Bengal.

Along with all these developments, India's first 'tea park' is set to be launched in early-January on a 50-acre plot in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal and is expected to give a special impetus to exports of tea from the Dooars and Terai regions in North Bengal.

Ramesh said that the park would have a warehouse-hub and also facilities for cleaning, grading, blending and packaging tea. While land for the project has been acquired from the Railways by the West Bengal Government, the Centre would spend Rs16 crore to set up this infrastructure as part of the ASIDE scheme (Assistance to States for Infrastructure Development for Exports).

The introduction of logos to identify tea from specific regions such as Jalpaiguri-Dooars, Darjeeling, Terai would help to denote the brand and help maintain a minimum standard besides checking imitation. The world famous Darjeeling tea, known for its legendary flavour, has been a victim of imitation following reports that tea produced in the neighbouring hills of Nepal were being marketed as Darjeeling tea.

Congress leader in West Bengal to join Trinamool

Kolkata, Dec 15: Senior Congress leader in West Bengal Sudip Bandhopadhyay Sunday said he was quitting his party to join the Trinamool Congress. ‘I took the initiative on my own to talk to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and expressed my keenness to join her party. I will again talk to her Monday in New Delhi on this issue,’ Bandhopadhyay told a Bengali television channel here.

Sitting legislator from Bowbazar assembly constituency and a former member of parliament from Kolkata’s north-west constituency, Bandhopadhyay alleged that the Congress was not giving him ‘due importance’ and he had already informed party president Sonia Gandhi about his decision to quit. ‘It was getting more and more difficult for me to continue as a Congress party member. I was not getting the importance I used to enjoy during the time of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi,’ he said.

He said his decision to join the Trinamool Congress was to enable him combat the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the state. ‘I think if we can strategically draw a plan to contest the CPI(M) in West Bengal under Banerjee’s leadership, it would help both the political parties to defeat the communists in the coming general and other state-level elections,’ he said.

CM shares Vision-2010 with industry honchos

KOLKATA:15 Dec 2008, 0321 hrs IST, TNN

It was a Friday evening with that dash of difference. Kolkata's corporate czars converged at a city five-star hotel to participate in a unique interaction with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, organised by The Economic Times. It was the denouement of ET's month-long campaign, Kolkata 2010: The Business Blueprint', in which most of them had shared thoughts on ways to galvanise industry in West Bengal. True to his promise, the CM walked in sharp at 6 pm.

For the next one hour, he took on with aplomb a range of queries from CEOs. Minutes after industries minister Nirupam Sen finished speaking, Bhattacharjee addressed the gathering. He thanked the editorial board and management of ET for organising a "unique event". The evening's moderator, Professor Anup Sinha of IIM, Calcutta, had structured the interaction whereby initially there were two pre-set questions on the all important issues land and infrastructure.

This was followed by an open house Q&A round. The session got under way with Umesh Chowdhary, vice-chairman & MD Titagarh Wagons asking the CM whether the government was considering any proposal to set up a land bank to accommodate industry. The CM said: "The question is whether we will acquire land and create a land bank. We have finally decided to mobilise funds and acquire land in four to five districts. We will then be in a position to offer land for various industries."

The second question to the CM on infrastructure came from Hemant Kanoria, chairman and MD of Srei Infrastructure Finance. "The RBI governor, whom I met a couple of days back, had said infrastructure is the one sector that is unlikely to be touched by the crisis. Power, roads, irrigation for instance," the chief minister noted in his response. The CM also said his government had been internally discussing whether it should invite public-private partnership in the power and road sectors. "We have agreed in principle. But it is at a preliminary stage. We need to experiment with it and work out the modalities. Any PPP for infrastructure is welcome."

Bhattacharjee said the global meltdown and its impact on the state, particularly in the auto and steel sectors, was uppermost on his mind. Around seven steel projects are expected to come up in the state. "I do not know whether they will go ahead or take some more time, given the global crisis," a somewhat anxious CM said.

Earlier, Nirupam Sen had set the proceedings rolling by urging "enlightened sections of society" and people of the state to carry forward the torch of industrialisation. "In Europe, it was the Renaissance that heralded industrialisation. New ideas, new thinking, new philosophy, rationality, reasoning and understanding all these are key conditions of an industrial revolution,"

he said. Bengal, he said, carries such a heritage. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray and his Bengal Chemicals or companies like National Tanneries and Duckback were set up by intellectuals, not industrialists. "Finally, building a consensus among people could overcome the chasm created by political ideologies. The government will play its role in spurring the process."

CRPF with the help of local people breaks open lock to return to camp

KOLKATA, 14 December, 2008: Local police and jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had to break open the lock to return to a police camp at Ramgarh in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district on Sunday after leaders of the recent agitation against alleged police excesses in the region in possession of the key failed to hand it back despite repeated requests.

The police vacated the camp late last month when the month-long agitation by a section of the local tribal population was at its peak. The return of the security forces is part of the process of restoration of normality in the region, N.S. Nigam, District Magistrate, told Hindu The over telephone from Medinipur.

Leaders of the agitation said they had not been given prior intimation of the return of the police and jawans and the key to the lock was with one of their colleagues who could not be contacted on time. The key was given to them when the police had vacated the camp. The lock was broken after the security forces were kept waiting for nearly four hours.

The stir was called off on December 7 following an assurance by the local authorities that the demands of the protestors, which included action against those policemen guilty of committing excesses local villagers, will be considered. Its leaders will be meeting in Lalgarh on Monday to decide their next course of action.

Officials of the administration as well as the police are now regularly visiting Lalgarh that had remained inaccessible during the agitation due to roads there being dug up and roadblocks set up by the protestors. “We are now in touch with them [the agitators] and discussing matters with them,” Mr. Nigam said.

The agitation was launched by some tribal groups protesting against “police atrocities” on local people during raids to track down those responsible for the blast that narrowly missed the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on November 2.

Mr. Bhattacharjee, who subsequently told the West Bengal Assembly that Maoists were behind the attack, had regretted the assault on villagers including women in the course of raids by the police in the Lalgarh area following the incident.

Knowledge-based education only weapon to recession, terrorism: Chief Minister

Kolkata, Dec 14, 2008: Economic recession and terrorism are the two major challenges before the world now and creative knowldge-based education is the only weapon to fight the two devils with, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said in Kolkata on Sunday. Saying death and destruction do not win the day, Bhattacharjee felt what wins is man's creative spirit and for that education and quality teaching are the two imperatives a healthy society must have.

Quoting from Charles Dickens' 'Tale of Two Cities', the Chief Minister said, ''It is the best of times and it is the worst of times'' to describe the world situation now. Man can utilise it to his good or bad. Speaking at the Golden Jubille celebration of Dinabandhu Andrews College at Garia in the southern part of the city, he cited the example of China saying, "It is a country of 132 crore people - many more than ours - but it has presented itself as an example before the world because of its will to do good for the people.''He said that globalisation has divided the world into two halves - rich and poor - and economic meltdown has aggravated the situation. ''It is hard to guess where we are heading to.''

The Chief Minister also stressed on the need for vocational training so that all students can get a job and contribute towards the development of society. The college's Golden Jubille celebration committee has contributed has contributed Rs one lakh to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Rs 50,000 to the Minority development Fund and Rs 50,000 to the Vidyasagar fund for construction of a hostel for women in Purulia.

Buddhadeb on quality of education

KOLKATA, Dec. 14, 2008: Chief Minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee while addressing the opening session of the annual conference of the All Bengal Teachers’ Association (ABTA) at Kamalgaji in Sonarpur today stressed on the importance of vocational training .

Although West Bengal has made rapid stride in the rate of literacy, the chief minister admitted that the academic standard of some of the schools of the state was not satisfactory. He drew the attention of the teachers to this drawback prevailing. He asked the teaching community to come forward in an endeavour of raising the academic standard of schools.

The students coming from economically challenged families should be helped as well, Mr Bhattacharjee said.“There are some good schools as well as schools where the teachers are found to be negligent. I cannot ask the teachers not to undertake private tuition, but the time has come when they must think about how to uplift the economically backward children,” he added

Calcutta HC directs WB govt to close down tanneries in Kolkata

Kolkata, Dec 12: The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the West Bengal government to close down all tanneries in the metropolis by Wednesday in accordance with a Supreme Court order of 1997. A division bench comprising Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice S Banerjee directed the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police, South 24 Parganas, to assist the administration in closing down nearly 70 tanneries still operating in Tiljala and Tangra areas in east Kolkata.

The court-appointed special officer and senior counsel Jaideep Kar submitted his report after inspecting the localities. A leather complex was set up at Bantala in South 24 Parganas district to house all tanneries in the city some years ago to prevent pollution in residential areas. Petitioner Maqbool Ahmed, a resident of Tiljala, had claimed on December five that the 1997 order of Supreme Court to shift the tanneries to the leather complex had not been carried out. The petitioner had also annexed a letter by the chairman of the state Pollution Control Board of June 19 this year to the West Bengal chief secretary that the apex court order was being violated and several tanneries were yet to shift to the complex.

Advocate General Balai Roy submitted that despite the Supreme Court order to shift the tanneries to the leather complex at Bantala, around 70 of them were still operating by using domestic water and power connections illegally. After raids, they simply shifted to some other place in the locality and continued to function, he said.

JSW Steel gets coal reserves for West Bengal project

KOLKATA, 13 December, 2008: Steel manufacturer JSW Bengal Steel has been allotted three reserves in West Bengal to source coal for its 10-million-tonne steel plant project at Salboni in the state, a top official said here on Saturday.

"Hard coking coal has to be imported from Australia and China, and we will get soft coking coal from Kulti and Sitarampur reserves. From Ichhapur, we will be getting thermal coking coal," the company's joint managing director and chief executive Biswadeep Gupta said on the sidelines of a panel discussion organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce.

At present, prospecting work is being carried out by the Geological Survey of India for these reserves. He said coal in these reserves contains high methane gas and water, making continuous mining a problem due to geological disturbances. Kulti and Sitarampur together have a reserve of 300 million tonnes of soft coking coal and Ichhapur has 110 million tonnes of thermal coking coal.

"We got one more reserve at Gourandih. Fifty percent of the total reserve there will be shared with Himachal-Emta," Gupta said, adding: "This reserve has approximately 100-120 million tonnes of thermal coal". Himachal-Emta is a joint venture between the Himachal Pradesh government and the Kolkata-based Eastern Mineral and Trading Agency (Emta).

‘Opposition in West Bengal irresponsible’

Improve infrastructure to attract FDI: Buddhadeb

KOLKATA, 13 December, 2008: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said an “irresponsible Opposition was opposing everything for the sake of opposition and ultimately the people of the State will suffer.”

Presiding over the 69th annual session of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC), he said: “I am facing problems in land acquisition, as an irresponsible Opposition is opposing everything. But I assure you that we are in dialogue with the Opposition.”

Mr. Bhattacharjee said this in response to a comment by Union Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways K.H. Muniyappa, while inaugurating the session.

The Union Minister said land acquisition was proving to be a problem in the State. Projects started in 2001 could not be completed due to problem over land acquisition over a four or five km stretch. “I seek the support of the West Bengal government and people to complete roads for the country’s development.”

The Chief Minister said that in the current financial meltdown, infrastructure would perhaps be the only sector that would not be hit and he had been advised by the Reserve Bank of India Governor “not to miss this chance.”

“It is high time we improved infrastructure,” Mr. Bhattacharjee said, adding that unless India improved infrastructure, it would fail to attract foreign direct investments.

“It is through infrastructure that China has attracted FDI.” He exhorted the 2,000-strong gathering of delegates to discuss ways to improve road connectivity in India, in the backdrop of the global financial crisis to compete with China.

Noting that the United Progressive Alliance government was trying to complete the golden quadrilateral project started by the National Democratic Alliance government, he said it was important to connect sea and airports. Otherwise, international trade would suffer.

Mr. Muniyappa said the IRC was set up in 1934 as the premier body of highway engineers. To enable rural people, cyclists, pedestrians and tractor drivers to use the network, the Centre had approved the creation of service roads alongside the six and four-lane highways, especially where there was a concentration of rural people.

West Bengal’s first private airport in Bardhaman district to be operational by 2011

DURGAPUR: Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd's. (BAPL) first private airport in Bardhaman district in West Bengal is likely to be operational by end of 2011. According to a report in Projects Today, the project, which is a part of the USD 2.5 billion (approximately Rs 12,500 crore) Durgapur Aerotropolis, has got an approval from the West Bengal government and has also overcome the objections raised by Coal India Ltd. (CIL).

Besides the airport, the project also includes an industrial park, logistics hub, IT Park and a township. BAPL is the promoter of the Aerotropolis in association with Singapore's Changi International Airport. An agreement was signed in February this year for technical services and as operator of the proposed airport.

BAPL is likely to complete the acquisition of 2,362.84 acre for phase I by June 2009. The state government will be completing the land notification shortly. The phase I of the project involves an investment outlay of Rs 2,200 crore. The company has achieved financial closure for Rs 600 crore comprising part of phase I -the airport and land acquisition cost.

ADAIVASI YOUTH CLEAR ALL ROADBLOCKS PUT UP BY MAOISTS IN PURULIA-BANKURA

BHULABHEDA (WEST MIDNAPORE), 12 December, 2008(INN):The entire network of what are non-arterial links between the main roadways is now free of felled trees, ditches, and boulders. Traffic of all sorts’ moves freely. As we return from the red earth of Purulia via Bankura and onto Midnapore west, we see militant processions of adivasi youth, men and women, occasionally children in tow, the Red Flag fluttering in the chill of the first and late wintry breeze from the north-west, as they stride along boldly, arms swinging gaily, slogans emanating from the chapped lips, conviction of courage written all over their faces, along both sides of the roads. ‘We do not want the Jharkhandis and the Maobadis to ruin life for us anymore,’ is the general refrain. The awesomely large and cavernous kettledrums thudded out a thunderous resonance, and the horns sounded the timbre of the forest.

Entering Bhulabeda, I was quite thrilled to see another sight – a sight long, long overdue. Thousands upon thousands of adivasis -- and this time the vast crowd is a happy mix of tribals and non-tribals, of the villages and the townships – all united under the Red Banner. What the self-proclaimed Maoists and their in-closet friends and associates, and patrons in the corporate world should note is the chilling fact, for them and for persons of their ilk, here and abroad, the scorn and hatred the tribal-non-tribal rally-- I would not call it a joint rally, it was a peoples’ rally, vast and moving – exuded for the criminals and the assassins-- all the way. Somehow a feint sense emanating of a feeling of guilt and a sense of having been betrayed earlier all those decades could be felt in these old bones from the otherwise militant ambience around all the time as I alighted from the vehicle I have been travelling in and, in a second, mingled fadelessly yet seamlessly into the power and glory of the people’s march.

The rally culminated in a vast assemblage held under the aegis of the two very organisations that had been in the past bitterly misled and alienated from the mainstream of the struggles of the forest people by the Maoists and the Jharkhandis – the all-India Jakat Majhi-Marhwa association and the Bhumija Munda Kalyan Samity. The rally iterated in strong language and firm tone what has been going around the villages and the hamlets, the gunjes and the townships the last few weeks and months.

The likes of Jharkhandis and Maoists must not find any toehold in the red clay zones. They are not to cross over from the neighbouring districts to where they may continue if the people there so allow, doing the misdeeds of their uniquely anti-people sort. They must not try to communicate to the people this side of the state border in any way. They should not expect any safe haven awaiting them – rather the contrary. They should also come out with a public explanation why they killed so many people-- tribal or non-tribal is not of importance as a point of distinction, the ‘reason why’ is. Every speaker strongly emphasised the public confessional aspect, I did not fail to note despite the slight inadequate fluency in Bengali of the comrade who translated the Santhali for me.

The speakers also dwelt at length on the sensitive topic of destruction of the forest resources including the cutting down of boughs as this meant finis to the process of growth of tussar and resham varieties of silkworms. The speakers also appeared quite sheepishly apologetic in their own way about the felling of trees, some of which worth lakhs of rupees, for the purpose of blocking the roadways.

All of them were also in unison on two other issues: the western area of Bengal must undergo faster development, and the police must not enter the villages without the accompaniment of the Jakat leadership. They iterated that the myth that the Maoists had spread around about the Jakat being unwilling to have the authorities arrest and take into custody criminals was just that—a myth. The rally ended in a befitting way as torches were lit and the assemblage burst into a song with a touching refrain that sent a stab to the softest part of the human heart – kam, khai, emaa lem – roughly translated as ‘give us work please, so that we are able to go to sleep on full stomachs....’ .

by B. PRASANT

West Bengal tribal development unparalleled: Biman Basu

Kolkata, Dec 12 (IANS): The West Bengal government implemented the maximum number of developmental projects for the tribal communities in its backward districts, Left Front chairman Biman Basu said Friday while reacting to Trinamool Congress allegation that the state did not implement the centrally funded projects.”The way we’ve implemented central government funded projects for the betterment of tribals in West Bengal is unparalleled,” Bose told reporters here.

On Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that the state did not implement the centrally funded projects for the backward classes, he said: “If the centre had any problem with the functioning, they would have consulted the state government directly.” “You cannot even see that much of development for the backward communities in our neighbouring state Jharkhand, which is considered as a tribal-dominated region in our country,” Biman Basu said.

“About 60 percent of the total land reforms, which was distributed among the tribal communities in India, took place in our state,” added Basu. Terming Trinamool supremo’s comment as baseless, Basu said: “One needs to be very careful before passing such comment. If she (Banerjee) has to point a figure at the role of West Bengal government, she must gather proper information on the issue.”

Buddha writes to PM on PTTI deadlock

KOLKATA, Dec. 11,2008: Chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has written to the Prime Minister urging the Centre to allow provisional recruitment of primary teachers from among the pass-outs of Primary Teachers’ Training Institutes (PTTI) which were declared illegal by Calcutta High Court.

The chief minister has assured that the pass-outs would be confirmed only after they had completed a year-long bridge course since the National Council of Teachers’ Education recognises only two-year-long training courses for primary teachers. The Court's directive had also rendered the certificates of those who passed out of theses illegal PTTIs, invalid.

Mr Bhattacharjee has also appealed to the Prime Minister for an early resolution of the PTTI problem which has affected nearly 75, 000 people and snowballed into a major controversy. “Unless this is done, apart from the future of 75,000 students who have already completed the course, the entire structure of primary education in the state will face a serious crisis since 40,000 vacancies in schools already exists and many schools will be without teachers. I seek your personal intervention in the matter,” reads the letter.

The state government had approached the MHRD to make a legislative provision to validate the one year long training course for primary teachers till the academic year, 2005-06. The CM also met the representatives of West Bengal Primary Teachers’ Training Students’ Union today at Writers’ Buildings and discussed the problem.

"We are committed to West Bengal": Premji

KOLKATA, 11 December, 2008: Software major Wipro Technologies Chairman and CEO Azim Premji on Thursday denied that land was a problem for the company's existing facility at Salt Lake, and reiterated his commitment to West Bengal.

"We are committed to West Bengal, committed to growth and committed to your government," Premji told reporters after a 50-minute meeting with Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee at Writers' Buildings here. Asked if the issue of land figured in his discussion with the Chief Minister, the Premji said "there is enough land in our existing facility at Salt Lake. There is no emergency on that front." The chief minster was not available for comment.

At present, Wipro runs an IT-SEZ facility in Salt Lake where it employs around 4,000 people. The company had earlier announced setting up its second campus in Kolkata near Vedic village off Rajarhat in North 24 Parganas.

WB to set up six coastal police stations

Kolkata, Dec 11 (PTI): The West Bengal government is setting up six coastal police stations and 17 coastal outposts, following a central directive for strengthening coastal security after the Mumbai terror attacks."Six coastal police stations will be set up. Of these, five would be set up by Sunderbans Infrastructure Development Corporation and another by PWD. Besides, 17 coastal outposts and check posts would also be set up," Home Secretary Asok Mohun Chakraborty told newsmen after a high-level meeting to review coastal security.

The police stations would come up at Frasergunj, Haldibari, Digha-Demohana, Moipeeth-Krisnamohanpur, Hemnagar and Khejuri-Talpatti.According to Chakraborty, the police stations would operate from available premises till 'appropriate' premises were found and private vessels would be hired for coastal patrolling till the Centre sent launches and hi-speed boats for the purpose.The meeting was attended by DGP A B Vohra, SPs of three coastal districts and other officers. PTI

Terrorism a new threat to human rights: Buddhadeb

Kolkata, Dec 10: Calling terrorism a new threat to human rights, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee here Wednesday said that information has to gathered about how terrorists operate in order to find a full-proof mechanism to tackle the menace.”What has happened in Mumbai is shocking. How can a handful of terrorists carry out such a huge massacre at random? This is the worst example of human rights violation,” Bhattacharjee said at the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by West Bengal Human Rights Commission here.

Bhattacharjee said: “We have to get all the details about them - who they are and how they are operating. Only then we will be able to think and find a full-proof mechanism to deal with them and protect the basic rights of our people.” Commenting on increasing violence in the country, the chief minister said terrorism has emerged as a new and recurring occurrence. “Terrorism has become a phenomenon today. Not only in Mumbai, terrorists are operating in West Bengal, too, in the name of Maoists.” Speaking about Maoists, Bhattacharjee said they are not West Bengal citizens, but infiltrators from the neighbouring Jharkhand.

“It’s high time we combat terrorism and terrorists with effect, or else our human rights will become a farce and the base of our democracy will be destroyed,” added Bhattacharjee.

SECOND COPY:

Stop sending NHRC teams to Bengal: Buddha
11 Dec 2008, 0441 hrs IST, TNN
KOLKATA: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee would like the national human rights commission to stay away from West Bengal. Recommendations made by the national rights body on the Nandigram issue did not please the government and are yet to be implemented. "The national human rights commission keeps on sending recommendations. States have their own human rights commissions. Where is the need for the national human rights commission to send its team? The NHRC team can go to states where the state bodies are not present. Both the bodies overlap at times," Bhattacharjee said in his address to a meet on the 60th World Human Rights Day. Well aware that his statement was likely to kick a storm, Bhattacharjee asked the state human rights commission chairman Justice Shyamal Sen to take up the matter with the national body. While the chief minister was speaking, Justice Sen stood up to express his views on the matter. "When the state human rights commission takes cognizance of a case, the national human rights commission doesn't have the jurisdiction to intervene. This goes against the statute," Justice Sen said. Resuming his address, the chief minister said that the government had accepted most of the recommendations made by the NHRC. "They had given 62 recommendations, out of which 52 were accepted. Five are still under consideration and five were rejected," Bhattacharjee said. Bhattacharjee also spoke about the terror attacks in Mumbai and the threat from Maoists. "The Mumbai incident has shocked the entire country. How could a handful of terrorists do this? We will have to find out a mechanism to kill terrorists," Bhattacharjee said. He also described Maoists as terrorists. Elsewhere, West Bengal Federation of United Nations Association celebrated World Human Rights Day at a programme. Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee was the chief guest.

Private Bus and Minibus strike total

Kolkata, Dec 11: All private and mini-buses kept off the roads Wednesday in support of a 24-hour shutdown called by the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) trade union arm across West Bengal. The strike was called by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU)-suppiorted West Bengal Road Transport Workers Federation (WBRTWF) to protest the government’s decision to charge bus-drivers under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in case of fatal accidents.

Since morning hundreds of people were seen lining up for hours at autorickshaw and taxi stands in various parts of the city. Exploiting the situation, autorickshaw and taxi drivers charged higher fares from passengers. Long queues were also seen at all railways and Metro railway ticket counters.

Though only private and mini-buses were covered by the strike call, very few state-run buses were seen plying on the city roads, and they too were overcrowded. Not only the state buses, but trams, local trains and Metros were also jam-packed.A few city schools declared a holiday to avoid harassment to students. Examinations in some colleges were postponed.

Subhas Mukherjee, spokesperson of the WBRTWF, told reporters: “We are aware that people are being harassed because of our strike and our heart-felt apologies go out to them. But they should understand that our demand is justified. It’s not that the driver is always responsible for an accident. It’s unfair to put all the blame on one person and put him behind bars.” About 10,000 private buses and 2,500 mini-buses ply across the city everyday.

Bus strike in Kolkata today

10 Dec 2008, 1142 hrs IST, TNN

KOLKATA: Buses will stay off the road, crippling the transport system in Kolkata and the rest of the state on Wednesday to protest the imposition of section 304 A on drivers involved in fatal accidents. More than 22,000 buses, including 12,000 in Kolkata, will join the Citu-sponsored bus strike. Citu has also demanded a further reduction in petroleum prices. "It is unfair to charge drivers under section 304 A which is non-bailable. Accidents occur due to several reasons, the driver is rarely the only culprit. Road conditions, traffic rules and pedestrians are also responsible but under this rule, only the driver is being charged," said Subhas Mukherjee, joint secretary of the Citu-backed West Bengal Road Transport Workers' Union.

Previously, drivers were booked under section 304 and could get bail if involved in a fatal accident. While 10,000 private buses and 2,500 mini buses ply in Kolkata, the respective figures for the state were 18,000 and 5,000. "The demands are perfectly justified. Drivers are being harassed and punished for no fault of theirs. But the decision to call the strike was taken by Citu. We were looking forward to a meeting with them but that did not happen," said Swarnakamal Saha, president of the Bengal Bus Syndicate.

The Joint Council of Bus Syndicates (JCBS) has also supported the strike. "The strike will derail the transport system but it can't be helped. Drivers are being given a raw deal and everybody is scared. The rule needs to be altered," said Tapan Banerjee, secretary of JCBS. Home secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti said the matter was in the jurisdiction of the state. "It is a union-sponsored strike and we have little to do. If they come to us with their demands, we can consider them," said Chakrabarti.

Tribals protest Maoist activities in West Bengal

Midnapore, 10 December : Thousands of people Tuesday gathered at tribal-dominated Belpahari area of West Bengal to protest the activities of Maoist rebels in the region. The disgruntled villagers also decided to put up a united front against the Maoist guerrillas and vowed not to cooperate with the separatist forces, which were active in the violence-hit West Midnapore district.

"Nearly 10,000 people, mostly tribals, gathered at Bhulabheda area of Belpahari to protest against the growing Maoist terror in the district. They held a public meeting where many tribal representatives said they would not give any food and shelter to the Maoist rebels," West Midnapore police superintendent R.K. Singh told newspersons.

"The villagers openly made it clear that they will chase the Maoists and also help the police arrest them. They said they would not hesitate to kill these extremist elements, if needed," he said. The public meeting at Belpahari was jointly called by tribal organisations Bharat-Jakat-Majhi-Marwa organisation and Jowan-Gaonwa organisation. Villagers from various parts of the district participated in the rally with improvised weapons and drums and demonstrated in front of the makeshift podium as part of their token protest against the Maoist atrocities.

"The tribals have admitted that they're misled by the Maoist leaders into standing up against the district administration and the police," said Singh. Belpahari, a forest area under the Dama Hills, is about 45 km from Jhargram town.

Trouble erupted in West Midnapore district after the district police allegedly arrested some school students and heckled tribal women after an attempted landmine ambush of the convoy of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Bhadutala near Salboni last month. Union ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada were also in the convoy. Four policemen were injured in the blast.

Participating in a violent protest, the tribals dug up metalled roads and placed large tree trunks across them, virtually cutting off the region from the rest of the district. The region witnessed a series of protests, as the villagers had demanded a public apology from the district police for the alleged excesses committed against them during the course of investigation into the landmine blast.

Shyam Group to begin commissioning of integrated steel plant by 2009

KOLKATA, 10 December: Shyam Group of Industries announced on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of 450 acres required for its proposed integrated steel and captive power project in Jamuria in West Bengal and will begin commissioning activities in 2009.Rs. 9,900 cr. project

“We have already capitalised an expenditure of Rs. 200 crore for the project from our internal resources and have acquired 450 acres privately out of our total requirement of 1,500 acres,” Deepakk Goyal, Executive Director of the group, said at a press meet.

He said orders had been released for more than 80 per cent of plant and machinery for the first phase of the project. Funding sanction for the Rs. 9,900-crore integrated steel and power plant project had been sanctioned in-principle. However, he said plans to tap the market for raising some equity had been put off in view of the volatility. While 65 per cent of the project cost would be debt, the remaining would be equity.

Captive power

Shyam Sel, which is implementing the project, signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the project in February this year with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation and the West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Corporation (WBMTDC). The project envisages the setting up of a 1.1 million tonne per annum finished steel and a 1,000 MW captive power project. “We hope to make this the fastest MoA to be implemented in West Bengal,” B. Bhusan Agarwal, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, said.

Coal allocation

He said in the first phase, a capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes of steel and 250 MW of power would be created. However, he also shared his apprehension about the coal blocks, allocation of which has not been received till now.

The group met West Bengal Chief Minister in this regard on November 14 and had been assured of an allocation from the Jagannathpur block and later the Kunr block when WBMTDC gets the allotment.

Mr. Goyal claimed that the group was the single largest private sector employer in West Bengal with 10,000 people on its rolls across 24 locations. It has operations in Howrah, Burdwan, Durgapur, Ranigunj, Silguri, Orissa and Meghalaya.