“Reservation based on religion is not possible,” :BUDDHADEB

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee ruled out any reservation on the basis of religion, saying such a quota was not possible. “Reservation based on religion is not possible,” Bhattacharjee told a delegation of the National Commission for Minorities, led by its chairman Md Safi Quereshi.

Quereshi earlier said that the state’s minorities demanded reservation during an interaction with the Commission yesterday.The commission chairman was talking to reporters after the delegation met the CM as part of its visit to assess the status of minorities in the state.

Asked about the Commission’s views on reservation for the minorities, Quereshi said, “it’s a policy matter. I can’t say anything without discussing it with the Centre.” Quereshi said that the Chief Minister also told the delegation that Muslims should not feel isolated even if the minorities were not facing any crisis other than some socio-economic problems in the state.

However, the state government was trying hard to solve all their problems and upgrade their social and economic status through various development programmes and opportunities for employment, Bhattacharjee told the delegates.

During its visit, the Commission interacted with minorities, including Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs and Muslims and reviewed the problems faced by them. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Minorities Affairs and Madrasah Education Abdus Sattar said that taking in view of the socio-economic problems of the minorities, the state government has earmarked Rs 400 crore in the budget.

Recruitment in Bengal IT sector may slump due to meltdown

Kolkata, Jan 15: The recruitment in the information technology (IT) sector in West Bengal is likely to be lower than the target set by the government due to the global economic meltdown, state IT minister Debesh Das said here Thursday. "Last year we generated employment for around 15,000 people in the IT sector and this year we had set a target of 20,000. But now it seems recruitment will be lower than last fiscal (2007-08)," Das told reporters on the sidelines of Infocom 08-09 - an IT seminar.

He said new IT projects growth is slumping but the existing projects are going steady. In the last fiscal 33 companies have registered for the software technology park in the city. This fiscal (2008-09), 30 companies have registered so far. "We expect the number to surpass last year's registration," Das said. Regarding the upcoming India Design Centre at the satellite city of Salt Lake, Das said the cost of construction will escalate as it has been decided now to increase the height of the design centre from 18 floors to 24. The hub will house companies that develop high-end software for computer chips.

Tiger attacks in Sundarbans send wake-up call

KOLKATA: Man is not a natural prey for big cats, but tigers in the Sundarbans in West Bengal are increasingly sneaking out of the dense mangrove forests and attacking humans, prompting the government to finally wake up to the warning signals. An expert committee will be set up to monitor the activities of maneaters, as such big cats are called.


It will try to find out why the tigers are attacking villagers - officially, there have been at least six such cases in the past year, but many more are suspected to have gone unrecorded.It will also suggest steps to prevent such crises.According to top sources in the Sundarbans development affairs department, the proposal to form the expert committee was placed before Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee last week during a meeting with the Sundarbans board.


'The committee will comprise senior officials from the state environment and Sundarbans development affairs departments. This apart, several wildlife experts, especially those who deal with tiger-related issues, will be included. The blueprint is ready and it's with the chief minister now,' a top state government source said on condition of anonymity. 'The committee will monitor why the tigers are often coming out of their core forest belt and attacking humans. If there's any dearth in the food chain, the expert team will also try to find that out after a detailed survey. 'We expect the committee to be formed shortly and it'll start functioning this month,' he said, adding the team might be headed by state chief secretary Ashok Mohon Chakraborty.'A few names have already been suggested but those are not yet finalised,' the official added.According to sources, the team may have experts from the Zoological Survey of India, representatives from the Wildlife Institute of India and faculty members of Calcutta University's zoological department.


Admitting that the number of tiger attacks has seen a sharp increase in the past one year, state Sundarbans Affairs Minister Kanti Ganguly said: 'We've not seen such a rise in the past 25 years'.In India alone, the Sundarbans has a vast area covering 4,262 sq km, including a 2,125 sq km maze of mangrove forests, creeks and tidal rivers. A larger portion of the forest is in neighbouring Bangladesh. There are many villages within this area, with the local population largely dependent on the forest to earn a living, thus triggering a conflict with animals.Shrinking habitat due to climate change and cyclone Sidr, which left behind a trail of devastation in 2007, forced many a Royal Bengal tiger to migrate from Bangladesh into the Indian side of the Sundarbans island.


Wildlife experts say a good number of tigers might have come into the Indian forests in search of food.Reports came Saturday that a fisherman, Gouranga Das, went missing at Jharkhali after he went to the Matla river to catch crabs. Das was cooking his meal on a small boat when a tiger jumped upon the boat and dragged him into the forest.A few pug marks were also spotted Friday evening near Gosaba village in the Sundarbans, triggering panic among villagers. District forest department officials were informed and searched the area, to no avail. Three people - including a girl and a forest official - were injured when a tiger entered Deulbari village near Kultali in South 24 Pargans district, about 110 km from here, in the last week of December. The tiger was later captured by forest officials.Another injured tiger that strayed into a village in the Sundarbans Dec 31 was taken to Kolkata for medical treatment.


'In the past year, at least six people were killed in tiger attacks in the Sundarbans,' Ganguly said. 'Generally what happens is that many people enter Sundarbans creeks without any permit. 'And when they are attacked, their family members don't lodge any complaint with the police. So naturally, we don't get to know the exact figure of how many people are actually killed in tiger attacks in Sundarbans every year.' 'We've also seen a sea change in the behaviour of the Sundarban tigers.


Now they are fearlessly entering nearby villages and attacking people,' the minister said.He said the state government was planning pig farming in Sundarbans to provide adequate food to the man-eaters and stop growing tiger intrusion in the locality.The Sundarbans forest is the world's largest mangrove reserve, recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site.

West Bengal to revise bus, taxi fares after oil price cut

KOLKATA: West Bengal would review bus and taxi fares when the central government reduces fuel prices, Transport Minister Sunbhas Chakraborty said here Tuesday.'The government of India has not issued any notification so far. But once they issue it, we'll definitely review the bus and taxi fares in our state,' Chakraborty told reporters.

'We'll revise the fares of public transport in West Bengal within just one day from the time the notification will be declared,' he said.Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora last week said the government was working on a price cut and would announce the new rates within 10 or 15 days.

Medical college doctors perform miracle surgery in West Bengal

KOLKATA, Thursday, 15th January, 2009: A team of doctors at the Kolkata government medical college successfully operated on a youth who had been pierced by a six-foot-long iron shaft in a road accident. Sheikh Rezzak Ali, 22, survived a head-on clash with a speeding truck Wednesday morning at Arambag in Kolkata's neighbouring Hooghly district. An iron rod had pierced his right lung in the accident.

The seven-member medical specialist team, headed by surgeon Siddhartha Mukherjee, performed the two-hour long critical surgery at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital Wednesday to remove the shaft. Mukherjee said Ali showed immense courage and stamina. He was not nervous and did not even faint after suffering the fatal accident.'It helped us to save him,' the doctor added.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Thursday congratulated the doctors and said he wanted to meet them.Ali was driving a Tata Sumo to Arambag with his brother Sheikh Rajak and some neighbours when a truck rammed into them at Shirakol. An iron shaft shot out of the truck, smashed through the windscreen and speared Ali. Rajak managed to pull Ali out of the car and first took him to a nursing home nearby.

Later, he was taken to the state-run Kolkata Medical College and Hospital. A similar accident took place in the national capital in July last year when an engineer, Supratim Dutta, was impaled by an iron beam that perforated seven of his organs. Dutta survived as the beam had narrowly missed his heart, but needed a series of complicated surgeries.

Veteran Indian director Tapan Sinha mourned

KOLKATA: Leading Indian filmmaker Tapan Sinha has died in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata at the age of 84. Sinha, who suffered breathlessness and a chest infection late last year, died in a city hospital.

Last year, he was awarded the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award - the highest national cinema honour - for his contribution to Indian cinema.Sinha, who made some 40 films - mostly in Bengali - was a versatile film-maker who straddled a range of themes.

Born in the eastern state of West Bengal - which was home to some of India's most acclaimed directors like the Oscar-winning Satyajit Ray - Tapan Sinha carved out a niche for himself as an intelligent and popular film-maker.

Making films in Bengali and later in Hindi, he took on a wide variety of subjects.Some of his films like Kabuliwalla, Harmonium and Jhinder Bandi became box office hits in Bengal. Ek Doctor Ki Maut (A doctor's death), made in Hindi, gained him nationwide recognition.

"He was an unassuming gentleman who had a strong ear for music and great command over adaptation of famous literary works," film critic Shoma A Chatterji said. Sinha began his career as a sound engineer and shot into the limelight with his 1956 feature Kabuliwalla, based on the story of a relationship between a girl and an Afghan dry fruit-seller by Nobel Prize-winning author Rabindranath Tagore.

He then took up several political and social themes - Adalat O Ekti Meye (The Law and a Lady), for example, dealt with a rape victim ostracised by society.Sinha won more than a dozen film awards in India for his work

2 pilgrims from Bengal killed, 25 injured in mishap

Balasore (Orissa), Jan 13: Two pilgrims from West Bengal were killed and 25 others injured when a bus in which they were traveling collided with a truck near Bahanaga on National Highway 5 in Orissa on Tuesday.

The bus, with 56 pilgrims of Nadia district in West Bengal, was returning from Puri when the driver lost control over the vehicle, police said. While Bharati Biswas (45) and Khokan Saha died on the spot, 25 others were injuries. The injured were admitted to Khantapada and Balasore hospitals and the condition of ten of them was stated to be critical, police said.

Other members of the group remained unhurt or suffered minor injuries. The group hailed from Krishna Nagar village in Nadia district who were on a pilgrimage tour to the seaside temple town on the eve of Makar Sankranti.

WB Govt to speed up phase out of old vehicles

KOLKATA: West Bengal Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty on Tuesday said the government is committed to introduce pollution-free transport in two years, and accordingly bus and taxi owners would be offered schemes to phase out their old vehicles. "The process has begun with auto rickshaws. Exact schemes for phasing out buses and taxis will be announced later to ensure pollution-free transport in the state," the minister said.

Two stroke autos would no longer be found on city roads and the Calcutta High Court order would be implemented in this regard. Unauthorised autos would also be out of city roads, he said. Chakraborty, earlier, said the state government was planning to procure 400 new generation buses this year and the proposal was discussed with three manufacturers Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors and Eicher Motors.

The minister, however, did not specify when and in how many phases the new buses would be procured and what would be the quantum of investment for the purpose. The Calcutta High Court had in July last year directed that all 15-years-old buses must be phased out by March 31 this year. As such, a large number of old private buses would go off the roads by that time.

Kolkata gets cord blood bank

KOLKATA: A cord blood bank - a source of stem cells for transplantation to cure a range of diseases - was opened here Tuesday.This is the first Indian facility launched by Cordlife Ltd, a Singapore-based cord blood banking group.

'The first Cordlife facility in India, with a storage capacity of up to 1,50,000 cord blood units, has been set up at Bishnupur area on the outskirts of Kolkata. There are two additional centres - at Siliguri town in West Bengal's Darjeeling district and Durgapur in Burdwan district - for blood collection,' group CEO Steven Fang told reporters here.Fang said stem cell therapies will also be developed at the Kolkata centre.'Cord blood has become a very common source of stem cells for transplantations. Permanent cures are possible for some diseases using stem cell therapies,' he said.'

At present, the Rs.100 million facility will be used only for storing and preserving cord blood. But within 18 months we will develop stem cell therapies for treating various diseases like heart ailments, diabetes, skin trauma, certain cancers like leukaemia and breast cancer, and blood disorders like thalassemia major,' Fang said.

Cordlife will invest Rs.300 million in 18-24 months to set up similar facilities across India.'First, we are targeting the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore followed by tier-two cities,' said Meghnath Roy Chowdhury, managing director (MD), Cordlife Sciences India Pvt Ltd.Cord blood, which is also called 'placental blood', is the blood remaining in the umbilical cord and placenta following birth and after the cord is cut. Cord blood is routinely discarded with the placenta and umbilical cord.However, the cord blood, with its rich sources of blood stem cells, can be used to treat over 80 diseases.

COMRADE SAILESH CHAUDHURI (1925-2009) PASSES AWAY

KOLKATA: Another link has been snapped between the pre-independence Bengal Left-led revolutionary movement against colonialism and the Communist struggle, with the passing away of comrade Sailesh Chaudhuri, a member, until recently and until a fell disease rendered him physically challenged, on the board of editors of the weekly organ of the Bengal CPI (M) Deshahitaishee. State secretary of the Bengal CPI (M) Biman Basu presently in Purulia, and Ashok Bandyopadhyay, present editor of the weekly among others have condoled the departed comrade’s passing away.

Born in the former East Pakistan on November 25 1925, comrade Sailesh became a Party member at a tender young age in the year 1941. He developed himself theoretically and in the fields of struggle, bit by tiny bit, until he was a soldier of the then CPI, and the CPI (M)) -- after the united Party split in 1964.

A comrade who hated the word ‘journalist’ to be appended to his name and reputation (which was considerable), comrade Sailesh remained a ‘reporter,’ until he was rendered incapacitated. We recall the fiery decade of the 1970s when comrade Sailesh was found by us reporting on the jute strike from the now-sick Gondolpara jute mill in the heart of bustling Chandernagore in Hooghly, living his life amongst the chatkal mazdoors, mingling with them, sharing the considerable burden of their lives as lay-offs increased by quantum leaps – and the mazdoors under the Chatkal Mazdoor Union would not give up. This trend of comrade Sailesh’s style of reportage continued until the recent Panchayat polls when he would roam the districts and watch the rural bodies in action.

No wonder, his reportage had the stamp of field-level authenticity-- something that the corporate media has always lacked, sitting as they do in the comfort of their cubicles and weaving anti-Communist stories to their hearts contents-- and facts be darned. Comrade Sailesh wrote in simple language divested of linguistic callisthenics, and was never a show off although he was by any standard a ‘star’ reporter, an asset to any media, Communist or otherwise, if only for the hard factual reporting he would exult in.

We consider it to have been our privilege to work with comrade Sailesh for three decades or more, especially during the period I wrote in the decade of the 1980s, a foreign affairs column in the Deshahitaishee. A soothing but consistent critic of my contributions especially to PD, comrade Sailesh never had a harsh word for me except to say that I needed to tone my ‘revolutionary’ zeal down to the softness of the earth where harsh battles are fought and where such conflicts shall continued to be fought until the farther goals are achieved. Comrade Sailesh was a man filled with expectations for such social changes and remained a Communist to the core until his death.

BENGAL CONDEMNS ISRAELI ACTION IN PALESTINE

KOLKATA: Meetings, rallies, and marches marked 10 January when lakhs upon lakhs of people from all strata of the society came out onto the streets and the roads, the lanes and the by-lanes, the rural areas and the urban stretches to condemn Israeli barbarism in the name of ‘defence’ on the Gaza strip in particular and in Palestine in general.

The photo of a young boy swinging a sling-shot containing a small fragment of brick as the Israeli-flown US-made Apache helicopters rained down death on men, women, and children was carried by the marchers as a symbol of the acts of inhuman dimensions taking place in west Asia. The attack of the Gaza strip was preceded some months back by the deathly assault on the sovereignty of Lebanon in the name of Hezbollah just as Hamas is uttered again, and yet again, to ‘justify’ slaughter of the innocent in Palestine.

Marches were taken out by all the Left Front-affiliated units of mass organisation, the workers, the kisans, the youth, the women, the students, and the intellectuals and artistes. Kolkata with its great anti-imperialist tradition witnessed some of the largest rallies in recent times in front of the US information centre in the heart of the metropolis.

42ND FOUNDATION DAY OF GANASHAKTI CELEBRATED

KOLKATA: It was all a case of whisper and run. G-a-n-a-sh-a-k-ti, we would utter at an undertone, low pitch and lower volume, when we saw a working class or a lower-income urban person hurrying by the College Street-Harrison Road crossing near the Presidency College, and slip him or her a copy of the evening Ganashakti and the person would without looking us in the face, equally covertly slip us an eight-anna or a rupee piece would not wait for any return of ‘change.’ Then we would disappear-- mingling seamlessly into the office-and-factory crowd retuning from work, and hurrying to the Sealdah railway station nearby. There was no flyover here, then. It was the anarchic decade of the 1970s.

Nevertheless, mostly, it was a case of, as we said, whisper and run, and for our lives. In most instances, Congress mastans from the nearby Amherst Street den of the local MLA would roam around waiting for a hawker of Ganashakti to show himself and then pounce on him in their wolfing dozens, and then, beat him until he would fall unconscious-- and who cared whether the fallen comrade was dying from massive internal bleeding?

Alternatively, or sometimes in tandem, it would be the Congress-backed ‘Naxalites,’ of a new generation of violent neo-fascists, emerging from the gully of a ‘road’ called Bhabani Dutta Street who hurled bombs and ran at us, flourishing daggers. The law-keepers would simply look the other way – too frightened to do anything. The corporate newspapers were demonstratively casual in reporting or keeping silent on the death of a CPI (M) sales-person even as everybody in the media knew that we were braving every frighteningly adversarial circumstance determinedly and every evening to sell Ganashakti, the evening newspaper of the Bengal unit of the CPI (M).

Since then, comrades, we have come a long, long way. However, it must be put on record that while there was a qualitative change in the daily lives of people, and in the process of democratisation at the grass-roots level when the CPI (M) and the Left Front came roaring out of the elections of 1977 at the crest of a mighty popular wave, the Ganashakti was never a de novo phenomenon in 1977 and onwards, alone. Through the roughest of times, it has maintained its role unbroken, back held straight, as a Party organ, as an agitator, and as an organiser, as per the Leninist dictum that continues to govern it today.

Changes, yes, have certainly taken place. It is a big broadsheet of a newspaper now, from the two-page tabloid it was, sometimes carrying sixteen pages, and eight pages are the norm. More additional pages are planned in the days to come. Colour and graphics of a superior order have touched the contents. The hand composition, the linotype, and the photo-offset have given way to computer composition, very often than not ‘online.’ The number of subscribers has increased, what, perhaps several thousand folds so that the newspaper, a morninger for decades now, is able to commandeer a niche amongst the cut-throat-everything-sells-including-lies-served-up-with-attractrive-supplements media world of the 21st century.

Prakash Karat, CPI (M) general secretary was the principal speaker at the celebrations held at the Calcutta university centenary hall on 3 January 2009, and he roamed over a large range of subjects. Prakash Karat’s overwhelming and overarching arguments were in the realm of India’s present set of foreign policy imperatives that made it kow-tow in a lowly humbled fashion before the violent tents of US imperialism.

Linking up terrorism with imperialism, the CPI (M) leader said that when one spoke of fighting terrorism and its discontents, one must not at the same time be a running mate of the violence-in-action that was the US military might. The speaker also came down heavily on the linkages now clearly seen between religious fundamentalism of both kinds and terrorism. He also explained the causes of the no-longer-sub-prime financial crises overwhelming the capitalist world, and affecting the developing countries in the process.

Biman Basu, state secretary of the CPI (M) saw the burgeoning of semi-fascist terror of the 1970s in the way the Trinamulis and the lackeys tried their best or worst to disrupt the social fabric through inchoate violence, chaos, and anarchic manoeuvres, and had the corporate media to give them the publicity of the ‘right’ kind.

From the divisive moves of the GJM at Darjeeling, to the vicious plan to snatch away three western districts of Bengal for a ‘merger’ with Jharkhand, to the everyday violence unleashed on the daily lives of the working people – the Trinamulis and their running mates were out to create an atmosphere of instability in Bengal, as the Lok Sabha elections approached fast, and as their desperation grew by leaps and bounds.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Bengal chief minister noted that in every issue touching daily lives from the grievance of the PTTI studentship to the sub judice issue of auto-rickshaw illegality to developmental and urbanisation schemes was being poisoned by the Trinamul Congress with its attitude of innate violence against all pro-people, civil, and civilised manners of existence itself. Buddhadeb narrated the successes of the Left front government over the years and said that every aspect of the lives of people was considered whenever land was acquired for developmental purposes.

Prakash Karat set the tone of the meeting that had become more of a rally held indoors, when he said that the struggle of the Bengal CPI (M) was never of its own alone—the whole party stood by it with the revolutionary earnestness the struggle deserved. The evening also saw a cultural programme. The Party units selling the highest number of the daily were felicitated. Ganashakti editor Narayan Dutta presided.

FIDEL CASTRO in KOLKATA

by SUHRID SANKAR CHATTOPADHYAY
Kolkatans celebrate with a photo exhibition the legendary leader’s visit to their city in 1973.

PHOTOGRAPHS: BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT From the "FIDEL in Kolkata" photo exhibition in December 2008. The historic moments were captured by the late Satya Sen, a leading photgrapher of the time. Here, Castro alighting from his aircraft.


FIDEL CASTRO was in Hanoi when the news of Chilean President Salvador Allende’s assassination reached him. It was September 1973 and Vietnam was locked in a deadly struggle for independence against American imperialism. Castro cut short his stay in Vietnam immediately and headed straight back for Cuba. En route, his flight halted for less than an hour at the Calcutta International Airport in Dum Dum on September 17. The simple stopover turned out to be a historic touchdown. Even after 35 years, it excites the imagination of the people of the city, as the huge turnout at the photo exhibition of the occasion recently in Kolkata proved.


None of the Union Ministers was present at the airport to receive Castro as it was an unofficial visit. The then West Bengal Chief Minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the Congress, was in New Delhi, and it was senior Cabinet Minister Tarun Kanti Ghosh who welcomed Castro on the State government’s behalf. Left leaders of the State including Communist Party of India (Marxist) stalwarts Jyoti Basu and Promod Dasgupta, State president of the Forward Bloc Ashok Ghosh, State president of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Makhan Pal, local Congress leaders, members of the then Soviet embassy, representatives of various women’s organisations, government officials, journalists and photographers, all flocked to meet the legendary “Comandante en Jefe”.

The waiting crowd.

Outside, thousands of Kolkatans gathered to catch a glimpse of Castro. With the help of an interpreter, he chatted with everyone, posed for photographs, nibbled at the snacks laid out for him in the VIP lounge of the airport, and finally boarded the airplane after extending a revolutionary salute to the crowd.

The historic moments were captured for posterity by the late Satya Sen – one of the leading photographers of his time. The five-day “Fidel in Kolkata” photograph exhibition (from December 26 to 30) was organised by the Prabha Khaitan Foundation in collaboration with the Embassy of Cuba and the Nandan West Bengal Film Centre. Thirty of the surviving black-and-white photographs capture him alighting from the aircraft, shaking hands with Jyoti Basu, embracing veteran Marxist leader Gopal Banerjee, conversing with other Left leaders, posing with admirers, partaking of the refreshments, waving to the crowd, and finally boarding the flight to Cuba. The exhibition served to celebrate not just the 35th year of Castro’s visit but, more importantly, the 50th year of the Cuban Revolution.

CPI(M) stalwarts Jyoti Basu and Promod Dasgupta greeting Castro.

Castro left no one disappointed. Clad in his military fatigues and holding his customary cigar elegantly poised between his fingers or lips, he seemed completely at ease and every inch the stuff that myths are made of. Addressing the crowd from the airport portico, Castro recalled in his speech India’s freedom struggle and Kolkata’s tradition of people’s movements against imperialism.

Amid cries of “India-Cuba Solidarity”, “Long live Fidel” and “Long live Allende” from the crowd, he said: “I am well aware of the long cultural history and tradition of India, dating back thousands of years, and the way the country was laid waste by the imperialist powers…. This is where India and Cuba share the same fate in their impediment to development. To combat this requires more sacrifice and long-drawn struggle.” He ended his 15-minute speech with a call for the “workers of the world to unite to fight the forces of imperialism”.

In the crowd that had gathered to see Castro was film director Gautam Ghosh. Recalling his experience of the day, Ghosh said: “I was in my early twenties. Somehow the news had leaked out that Fidel Castro would be in the airport, though he wouldn’t be staying back. It was a chance I felt I could not miss and so I rushed to the airport just to catch a glimpse of him. Going through the pictures in the exhibition, was, in fact, a very nostalgic moment for me. I even tried to find myself in the pictures of the crowds outside the airport, but I couldn’t. I did spot Ruma Guha Thakurta [renowned Bengali artiste] though, but she was already quite famous by then, and I was still unknown, having just started making short documentary films.”

Castro embracing veteran Marxist leader Gopal Banerjee.

Ghosh said Castro and Che Guevara were the icons of his generation. “It was a very romantic era. The whole world was going through changes and we could not but be affected by it. In fact, many of my friends became naxalites, not so much inspired by the ideology as by the romanticism involved in the movement.”

Ghosh narrated how he discovered that Che himself had come to Kolkata in 1959. “Just recently I went across to the Indian Statistical Institute and chanced upon a picture of Che visiting the Kolkata ISI campus. I was thrilled by this discovery, and I don’t think that many people are aware of this fact,” he said.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee inaugurated the photo exhibition. Present on the occasion were Cuban Ambassador to India Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos, CPI(M) State secretary and Left Front chairman Biman Bose, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader Manjukumar Majumdar, Forward Bloc leader Naren De, RSP leader Manoj Bhattacharya, artist Wasim Kapoor and writer Sunil Gangopadhyay.

The Cuban Ambassador said, “He [Castro] came and won the hearts of the Bengali people, leaving behind pictures and memories of his visit…. The message behind it is more profound. It is a message of friendship, of solidarity and of mutually shared values in a better world where social justice can prevail. On this occasion, when we do not only celebrate the 35th anniversary of Fidel’s visit to Kolkata but also start celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, there is no better audience or public space to do that.”

Nibbling at the snacks laid out for him in the VIP lounge of the airport.
Film director Mrinal Sen, who visited the exhibition on the inaugural day, said he particularly liked the way the exhibition served to keep alive something that took place so long ago. “Though I have never met Fidel Castro, I have had a close relationship with his dear friend Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who was the president of the Film School in Cuba when I had been there for a stint. Those pictures serve to recall the glorious days of the past and remind us what we are missing now,” he said.

The sentiment expressed by him is representative of the general feeling of the masses, especially the younger generation, towards the Cuban Revolution and its heroes, though the world has changed a great deal since then. Gautam Ghosh summed it up aptly: “Such exhibitions are very important. We live in the present, but the present is just a hyphen between the past and the future.

“It is important for the youngsters of today to know about the past, to try and understand why so many people flocked to the airport in 1973 just to catch a glimpse of Castro.”

SOURCE:FRONTLINE

Buddhadeb blames activists for delaying development projects

Kolkata, 13th January: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee on Tuesday accused environmental activists of putting obstacles to implementation of various development projects through litigations.

"A lot of NGOs have mushroomed now and their job is to delay the projects by raising environmental concerns," Bhattacharjee said after laying the foundation stone of a water treatment plant near East Kolkata Wetlands, which is an ecologically fragile area included in the Ramsar list of wetlands. This particular project, spread over 20.15 acres, would start two years behind schedule after environmental activists moved Calcutta High Court for its being so near the east Kolkata wetlands, he said.

However, the HC allowed the project on December 24 and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation decided to complete the project of providing drinking water by treating water from the Hooghly river, the Chief Minister said. The water treatment plant with a capacity to treat 30 million gallons of water daily would be completed in three years and would provide drinking water to 10 lakh people living on the eastern fringes of the city.

Kolkata may get monorail running on LPG in two years

Kolkata: A monorail service running on cooking gas? With an eye on the record books, that is exactly what a Kolkata-based company has planned for the city two years on. "No monorail system in the world runs on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). We want to be the first to do so. We have spoken to Indian Oil (Corporation) for providing us with adequate support for such a service," Biplab Bhattacharya, director of Andromeda Technologies, told mediapersons.

Andromeda has got the contract for constructing the first stretch of 20 km of monorail from Budge Budge to Taratala on a build-own-and-operate basis for an approximate cost of Rs.600 million (Rs.60 crore) per km. The train will use hybrid technology that will enable it to run on both electricity and LPG. It will have four coaches, each with its own electric generator, which would accommodate 150 passengers.

"We expect to start the project in March 2009. It will take a little more than two years to complete the work. Indian Oil officials have said they can ready proper infrastructure for LPG support within the time frame when the monorail work is scheduled to be completed," Bhattacharya said. The company plans to run the train with hydrogen gas in future, he added. "We are also planning a feeder service with around 40 LPG buses, which will help the commuters travel to their destinations from the monorail stations," Bhattacharya said.

As of now the city has no LPG or compressed natural gas (CNG) buses. Asked whether the city was equipped to supply fuel for the LPG bus service, an Indian Oil official said: "Now there are 12 LPG pumps in the city. We have five pumps. If there is market requirement, I am sure we will be able to meet it. There is no shortage of LPG. We have a refinery at Haldia."

The monorail will be the latest addition to the various rail transport networks in the city. Apart from the general railway service, the city already has the metro railway, the circular rail and the tram. Once the first phase is complete, the government will take a call on awarding the contract for the second phase stretching 52 km till Rajarhat in the city's northeastern fringes.

"Based on how the first phase goes, we will consider how to award the contract for the remaining work. The main constraint for such a project within the city is space," said West Bengal Transport Secretary Sumantra Chowdhury. The total expense for the first phase will be to the tune of Rs.12 billion, with a debt-equity ratio of 4:1. Now Andromeda is looking for overseas financial partners and hopes to clinch a deal soon.

The company will initially rope in coaches from Germany. But in due course, it will get coaches manufactured in India. It will partner German companies Fernmeldewerk Munchen Aubing GmbH for signalling and Derap AG & Helbling Technik for technological know-how.

West Bengal Government promoting river tourism in a big way

Kolkata, Jan.13 : Ganga Kutir lies along the banks of the Ganga in the pastoral hamlet of Raichak-on-Ganges, about an hour and halfs drive from Kolkata, West Bengal. This 12-crore property sprawling over two acres symbolizes the potential of River Tourism in the state.It’’s no wonder then, that the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation is foreseeing an investment of Rs 150 crore in the next couple of years just for promoting river tourism.

The investment would go towards renovating heritage ghats along the Ganges as well as developing a Marina with speed boats, para-sailing and cruise boats facilities.There is no doubt that river tourism targets the high-end tourists. For example, Ganga Kutir caters to an exclusive set who can drive down from Kolkata to enjoy a couple of days of total relaxation in the lap of luxury.The resort has 16 rooms priced at Rs 12000 onwards, a library, a bar, a Spa, a swimming pool which seems to merge into the river, river cruise facilities and an excellent restaurant.

According to Mr Harshvardhan Neotia, even though Kolkata was lacking is such weekend tourist spots, this segment is now really catching up.Neotias Ambuja Realty first set up the five-star hotel Fort Raichak with conference facilities on the river side at Raichak. The property continues to have over 60% occupancy through the year with 100% occupancy in the four months of Oct, Nov, Dec, January as well as during the holiday season. Neotia says that Fort Raichaks success propelled him to set up Ganga Kutir a more exclusive retreat on the river side.

In just two months from its launch in November, Ganga Kutir has been such a success that Ambuja Realty is planning to add another 12 rooms to the property. The total project area now extends to about 70 acres and the projected investment is Rs 100 crore.The superb Spa facility with Swedish, Thai, Javanese, Ayurvedic treatments and reflexology and stone therapy is common to both Fort Raichak and Ganga Kutir and is a compelling reason for the clients to take the trip. The very fact that Sri Lankan architectect Channa Daswatte was called in to design Ganga Kutir in traditional Bengal Ashram style indicates that promoters are sparing no efforts to provide world class resorts which re-define luxury.

West Bengal has the right specifications to become the river tourism destination in India with the magnificent delta Sunderbans with its mangrove forests and the pilgrimage point Sagar Islands where the Ganga Sagar Mela is held every year, points out Manabendra Mukherjee, West Bengal Minister for Tourism. The government has already announced a new tourism policy with a positive approach towards river tourism. The policy offers several incentives, grants and subsidies to investors wanting to invest in this segment.Though the budgetary support to tourism is only Rs 35 crores, the minister makes it clear that the government was actively seeking private investment in this sector.

The government is expecting about Rs 4000 crore private investment, including FDI, in tourism and infrastructure.Private promoters like Ambuja Realty, who offer private ferry rides to Sunderbans Delta and Sagar Islands from its project at Raichak say that development in river and road infrastructure would go a long way in attracting tourists.According to Mr T V N Rao, Managing Director, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation, there was great scope for investment in river tourism in the state starting from hotels along the banks of the Ganges, river entertainment, infrastructural development of the Sunderbans Delta area, which is still very undeveloped etc. There is also tremendous potential for investment in Tea Tourism in the Dooars in North Bengal which has over 350 Tea Gardens and Hill Tourism in Darjeeling.Growth in West Bengal Tourism is on the positive side despite the recent recession, according to Mukherjee.

Both inflow of tourists into the state and outflow is higher than the national average and West Bengal figures in the top five states of the country in tourism.From 1,14,064 foreign tourists in 1991, West Bengal saw an inflow of 6,38, 256 foreign tourists by June alone in 2008. The total tourist inflow into the state in the first six months of 2008 touched 12076102 from a mere 3225502 in the whole of 1991. Total tourist inflow into Kolkata alone stood at 48,59,961 in 2007.Considering that the state has rivers, hills, tea gardens and a delta only thing missing being a desert it can be safely assumed that the state will go a long way as a tourist hub with support from the private sector.

1.5 lakh pilgrims at Ganga Sagar

Sagar Island (WB), Jan 12 : In the backdrop of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, security at the Ganga Sagar mela was beefed up with Kapil Muni's temple cordoned off and 5000 policemen deployed at the fair which began today, official sources said. About 1.5 lakh pilgrims, including a large number of sadhus from across the country and Nepal have congregated for the mela, the largest religious congregation in this part of the country, for the holy dip on Makar Sankranti on Wednesday, the sources said.

There were 24 watch towers, 22 of them with close circuit TVs, while metal detectors and sniffer dogs were being used to check pilgrims, the sources said. A Fokker aircraft and helicopters of the Coast Guard were keeping watch from the air and a hovercraft on the waters, the sources said. A total 14 additional superintendents of police, besides the South 24 Parganas police superintendent were keeping round-the-clock vigil. Over 100 NGOs were at work to provide services to the pilgrims. The West Bengal government has withdrawn all taxes except pilgrim tax of Rs 5 this time.

Cong divided over Trinamool alliance

KOLKATA, 12th January: The Congress in West Bengal is divided over an alliance with Trinamool Congress for the coming Lok Sabha election. While a section of Congress leaders left for Delhi on Monday to advise AICC leaders to exercise caution against such an alliance, others did not go. Those who left for Delhi were led by Congress Legislature Party chief Manas Bhunia. Among the group were a few legislators, too, it was learnt from party sources. On the other, the two working presidents of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Subrata Mukherjee and Pradip Bhattacharya, did not go. Bhunia had of late been critical of Congress leaders leaving the party and joining Trinamool. Accusing Trinamool of engineering defections in the Congress, he said that would not pave the way for an alliance between the two. It was believed he was leading the group, which did not want an alliance while both Mukherjee and Bhattacharya had advocated in favour of an alliance at a recent meeting with external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. During their stay in Delhi, Bhunia and his colleagues were likely to meet Pranab and Mohsina Kidwai, AICC general secretary in charge of West Bengal, too, it was learnt. "They are not against any alliance. But they want it to be forged on honourable terms for the Congress," Bhattacharya said. Mukherjee said other PCC leaders would also give their opinions about such an alliance to the AICC, but only when asked to do so. "First, let us assess what Delhi is thinking about the alliance," he pointed out. Although Trinamool chairperson Mamata Banerjee has not commented on her plans for an alliance with Congress, she had lately been in touch with Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Pranab Mukherjee. Going by the indications, she would rather firm up the question of an alliance with the Congress high command rather than depend on state-level PCC leaders. Mamata's move on Monday of not sharing a platform with BJP leader Rahul Sinha at a public meeting at Nandaram Market was indication enough that she was serious about not having any relation with BJP, observers said. For the Congress to ally with the Trinamool, the latter must snap all ties with NDA. But state level PCC leaders wanted to ensure that Trinamool left some seats for Congress with a winning chance in south Bengal, too. They would not agree to a scheme of things under which Trinamool would have all the seats in south Bengal, leaving Congress to contest only those in North Bengal.

West Bengal announces compensation for tribal women in Lalgarh

Kolkata, January 12: The West Bengal government Monday announced compensation for the tribal women in West Midnapore’s Lalgarh who had been victims of police excesses during raids November last year, officials said.The compensation would be given to 14 tribal women who received injuries during the police action.

“We’ve decided to give Rs.50,000 to a tribal woman, Sitamoni Murmu, who suffered a serious injury during the police operation. The state government will also grant Rs.25,000 to Palmoni Murmu and 12 other tribal women will get Rs.15,000 each,” Ardhendu Sen, the state home secretary, told reporters here.

Trouble erupted at Lalgarh after the police arrested some school students and allegedly heckled tribal women after the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and central ministers Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitin Prasada was ambushed with a landmine blast near Bhadutala Nov 2 while they were returning after a steel plant inauguration.

On Dec 8, almost a month after the tribal agitation was launched in Lalgarh, a committee against police atrocities, headed by tribal leader Chhatradhar Mahato, kicked off an agitation. They demanded a public apology from the district police for the alleged excesses committed against them during the course of investigation into the landmine blast.

A state government-appointed panel, headed by backward classes welfare department secretary R.D. Meena, earlier submitted its report to West Bengal Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti. After examining the report, Chakraborty placed it before Bhattacharjee.“Though there was no specific report against the police officers involved in the operation, we’ve decided to take action against the inspector-in-charge (IC) of Lalgarh Sandip Singha and officer-in-charge Sushanta Rajbangshi for their role in the police operation,” Sen said. He said the state government would take action against the police officers later.

Gee Pee plans expansion beyond West Bengal

KOLKATA, 11th January: Gee Pee is aiming to bank on the pricing differentiation in its attempt to take on popular manufacturers in the touch screen mobile handset segment. The company has now come up with mobile handsets priced at Rs 7,500.

The phones are currently being manufactured at Shenzhen China and the company aims to come up with an R&D centre in Bengal employing about 100 professionals. The company plans to expand its footprint beyond Bengal this year and go for a pan-India expansion as well as foray into the Bangladesh, Kenya and Gulf markets.