Howrah News Service - Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World

State Irrigation minister's kin dies, more BSF personnel deployed in south 24 pargana

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:58:00 -0400

Kolkata, May 16 (IANS) A woman relative of a West Bengal minister injured in a bomb blast at his residence in the Basanti area died in a hospital here Friday even as additional security forces were deployed to check further political violence there during the panchayat polls in the state.

Gauri Naskar, the wife of Irrigation Minister Subhash Naskar's nephew, had suffered 80 percent burns in the explosion and succumbed to her wounds at around 12.30 a.m., hospital sources said. The minister's Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) has accused ally Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) cadres of exploding the bomb Thursday at his Kumrokhali village in the South 24 Parganas district.

Additional Border Security Force (BSF) personnel have been deployed at Basanti and the state forensic department summoned to determine the nature of the crude bomb explosion at Naskar's residence.

"The state forensic department will go to Basanti Friday as per home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti's orders to collect samples and if possible give a preliminary report on how the explosion took place," state inspector-general of police (law and order) Raj Kanojia told IANS.

"Besides, we have increased police patrolling there to restore peace. The situation is under control. No violence has been reported so far today," he said.

The CPI-M and RSP are busy blaming each other for the incident.

RSP activists at Basanti allege that CPI-M supporters threw the bomb at Naskar's house.

However, CPI-M activists at Basanti have brushed off the charge saying RSP workers had stocked crude bombs in the house to use them in case of political violence.

"One of the bombs exploded even as the woman was throwing them into a nearby pond," a CPI-M activist at Basanti said.

Commenting on the incident, Naskar said: "The CPI-M says its wants to discuss peace with us and at the same time stabs us in the back."

Frequent political clashes have been reported between the CPI-M and RSP at Basanti as three-phased panchayat polls are in progress in the state. Three workers of the RSP and one of the CPI-M had died in political clashes there Wednesday.

Inflation rises to 44-month high

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:56:00 -0400

New Delhi: Inflation rose to near 44-month high of 7.83 per cent for the week ended on May 3, against 7.61 per cent in the previous week, mainly on account of rising prices of essential food items and some manufactured products. Inflation was last above this level at 7.87 per cent on September 11, 2004 as per provisional figures and 7.86 per cent for the week ended September 18, 2004, according to final figures.

During the week, prices of food articles like fruits and vegetables, spices, coffee, masoor rose, compounding worries of the government and RBI amid a slowdown in industrial growth.

Among food articles, fruits and vegetables went up by 3 per cent, coffee 6 per cent, maize 4 per cent, spices and masoor by 1 per cent each. Even in manufactured category, prices of food articles like atta, coconut oil and khandsari went up.

However, prices of cement, iron and steel declined, giving some respite to the government. Prices of some industrial fuels like naphtha, furnace oil and light diesel oil also shot up.

Consumers receive some respite as food prices stop rising

Reeling under high inflation for quite some time, the consumers in four metros received some respite with retail food prices generally remaining steady in early part of May. Barring groundnut oil, prices of 13 essential commodities in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai retail markets remained steady during the week ended May 9, according the government statement.

Prices of pulses and edible oils that have risen in the last few weeks due to short supply of the commodity in the country have remained unchanged in all four metros.

In Delhi, prices of gram dal and tur remained steady at Rs 36 per kg and Rs 42 per kg respectively over a week in the retail market. Wheat and atta stood at Rs 13 per kg and Rs 14 per kg respectively. Meanwhile, groundnut oil rose by Rs 1 to Rs 121 per kg over one week, the data showed.

According to economists, prices of some commodities have calmed down to some extent after the government has taken a slew of measures to ease the inflation which has shot up to 7.61 per cent for the week ended April 26 and has further risen to 7.83 per cent for the week ended May 3. "Retail prices of pulses, wheat and dal have come down in the last few weeks. It has eased our food expenses a bit," said a housewife in Delhi, Suchitra Singh..

Cost of living in metros is normally high and a steady price movement in food items is a breather to consumers. It also helps to keep inflation under control, experts said.

In order to arrest rising food prices, the government on March 31 had cut the import duty on all edible oils. It extended the ban on export of pulses for one more year. Last week, it also suspended chana, potato, soya oil and rubber from futures trading. (PTI)

Huge blast in Colombo, suicide bomber suspected

Fri, 16 May 2008 10:01:00 -0400

Colombo, May 16 (IANS) A powerful bomb, apparently triggered by a suicide bomber, exploded in the heart of Colombo during rush hour Friday morning, killing and wounding an unspecified number of people.

Military officials and witnesses said the deafening blast took place near Hotel Hilton, in the commercial district of the Sri Lankan capital.

The attack was apparently targeted at a police bus that was passing by. Ambulances quickly evacuated the wounded to hospitals.

Is Britney Spears pregnant again?

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:38:00 -0400

London, May 16 (IANS) Troubled pop star Britney Spears has fuelled speculation she is pregnant again, after sneaking into a clinic for a health check up.

She went to the clinic before actor Mel Gibson, 52, took her on holiday to Costa Rica, reports thesun.co.uk.

"The 26-year-old was spotted with an apparent bump recently and spent two hours at LA's Kerlan-Jobe Clinic," a source said.

But the centre specialises in sports injuries, not pregnant women.

"Despite daily workouts, she has put on a lot of weight in recent weeks. She isn't saying if she is pregnant, but she is taking medication, which has affected her weight. Living with her dad - a chef - means she has piled on pounds. She is extremely paranoid about her body at the moment," argued the source.

Spears is also believed to be struggling with her weight after she stopped taking Adderol, a stimulant prescribed for attention deficit disorder and used by women to keep hunger under control.

Marty Brenner, an addiction specialist, said: "Weight gain is a common side effect."

Britney flew to the "Braveheart" star's 13 million pound ranch with his wife Robyn and her dad. The unlikely pals were neighbours in Malibu, California.

They are set to return next week.

E-mailed video clips misleading: Vasundhara Raje

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:30:00 -0400

Jaipur: Contending the video clips of bicycles in the e-mail in which a terror group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's serial bombings here were "misleading", Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today said the explosives were arranged in such a way so as to ensure maximum loss of lives.

Speaking to media, she said, "After reviewing the details of the live bomb found after the serial blasts, it was seen the bomb bag was uniquely designed to fit two detonators and two batteries and aimed at causing maximum loss to human lives."

Raje said, "Ball bearings like bullet pallets were mixed in the bombs," she said. The video details of the exploded cycle might be true and similar to the earlier blasts that took place in Malegaon or Uttar Pradesh, she added. "In the e-mail footage, the bag is shown tagged on the back side of the cycle and its front is mingled. Whereas the cycle found by the police shows a reverse picture," she said. Clarifying the issue further she said, "Our special investigating team supported by NSG and IB personnel are evolving their own theory. But we are not rejecting the e-mail theory."

Rajasthan to have anti-terror force

Against the backdrop of serial blasts in the city, the Rajasthan government on Thursday said that it would set up its anti-terror force and asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to convene a meeting of all Chief Ministers on internal security.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje also proposed a task force on intelligence gathering, investigation, coordination to acquire probe component and dissemination of information to the states.

Exchange of information among the states and with the Centre was absolutely vital on such crucial issue to reach to a conclusion, she said. Though every agency at the Centre was functioning in its own style there should be an inter-connectivity between every agency whether IB, NSG or the state crime branch, Raje said.

Recalling the Girish Chandra Commission recommendations on tackling terror, she said that its recommendations were yet to be implemented as there was a shortage of sleuths in the IB. The Commission had suggested the setting up of a data bank but it was hanging fire, Raje said.

Reiterating a need for re-induction of POTA, Raje said that Rajasthan would set up its own anti-terroist force and prepare a roadmap to deal with such exigency.

States like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh would be soon invited to take part in a course study and prepare a model plan, she said, adding, former supercop K P S Gill would also be involved in a big way.(PTI)

China, Russia back India's UN "aspirations"

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:26:00 -0400

Yekaterinburg (Russia): China along with Russia on Thursday expressed support for India's 'aspirations'to play a greater role in the United Nations, signalling its readiness to back New Delhi's quest for a permanent berth in the Security Council. "The Ministers of Russia and China reiterated that their countries attach importance to the status of India in international affairs and understand and support India's aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations," according to a joint communique of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) who held a meeting in Yekaterinburg.

Russia and China also expressed their readiness to provide additional opportunities to India within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation of which it is an observer.

In the volatile energy-rich Central Asia bordering Afghanistan, Beijing and Moscow vowed to partner and back India's developmental efforts and cooperation with the countries of the region, emerging as a chessboard for Grand Game between the West, China and Russia. India, which has historical ties with the Central Asia, regards it as an "extended neighbourhood."(PTI)

Jute manager lynched by union members inside office

Fri, 16 May 2008 07:46:00 -0400

In an orgy of violence that can tarnish the image of West Bengal's image and prospect of industrial rejuvenation, suspected members of a Naxalite-affiliated union barged into the office of the personnel manager of a jute mill and battered him to death after a meeting they were holding was disrupted. A bleeding Apurba Roychowdhury, 55, of Titagarh Jute Mill on the city’s northern fringes, was declared dead on being taken to hospital. His wife and daughter live in Behala.

Around 6.30pm, about 100 members of the Naxalite-affiliated Sangrami Mazdoor Union had been holding a gate meeting at the factory to press for better wages and work conditions. The mill has nearly 2,000 workers on its rolls.

According to members of the union, about a dozen men, their faces covered with black cloth, suddenly turned up, broke the mike and tore the wires before fleeing. The union saw this as a “plot” by the management to disrupt their meeting with the help of Citu, the main union.

Furious, they marched to the personnel manager’s office, armed with sticks and iron rods, and stormed in, taking Roychowdhury by surprise.

“Union members accused Roychowdhury of disrupting their meeting. An argument followed and some of the workers started beating him up with the sticks and iron rods. As Roychowdhury slumped on the floor bleeding, others smashed the furniture and snapped telephone wires. The mayhem continued for about half an hour,” an official of Khardah police station said.

“We resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the union members. Then some of us took Roychowdhury, who lay unconscious in a pool of blood, to the nearby B.N. Bose Hospital.”

P.K. Tripathi, the additional superintendent of police, Barrackpore, said a murder case registered and 15 union members arrested.

Mill spokesperson Anjan Majumdar said he had informed the police earlier that the Naxalite union might create trouble over its demand for a wage hike. “Despite this, the police gave the union permission to hold today’s gate meeting,” he said.

The union denied a role in the killing, blaming “outsiders”. But spokesperson Sarmistha Roychowdhury admitted that some union members were angry after “Citu members” broke up their meeting.

“But our members did not enter the personnel manager’s room. Neither did they assault him,” she said.

Citu demanded “exemplary punishment” for the murders, saying it was “the handiwork of the Naxalites”.

In January 2001, Citu members had beaten to death two senior officials of Baranagar Jute Factory.

Explosion of violence: West Bengal minister's kin battles for life, house gutted

Fri, 16 May 2008 07:41:00 -0400

A relative of Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) leader and West Bengal Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar was seriously injured on Thursday in a crude bomb explosion at his village house at Basanti in South 24 Parganas district of Bengal.

"The incident took place around 2.30 p.m. on Thursday at Kumrokhali village in Basanti. The wife of Naskar's nephew suffered serious burns. We are investigating the cause of the blast," West Bengal police inspector general (law and order) Raj Kanojia said. The RSP activists at Basanti alleged that Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) supporters threw the bomb at Naskar's house.

However, CPI-M activists at Basanti have brushed off the allegation saying RSP had stocked crude bombs to use them in political clashes during the second phase of the three-phased panchayat polls held on Wednesday. "One of the bombs exploded even as the lady was throwing them in a nearby pond," a CPI-M activist at Basanti said.

"We have sent teams from Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and forensic department to find out the actual reason behind the blast," state home secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti told reporters at Writers' Building - the seat of West Bengal government -here.

In a bid to repair the cracks between the CPI-M and RSP - the two constituents of the ruling Left Front - over the panchayat polls, CPI-M patriarch and ex-chief minister Jyoti Basu described the incident as "unfortunate" and called for building up the Left Front afresh.

Frequent political clashes were reported at Basanti since Wednesday. Four people - three RSP activists and one CPI-M supporter - died in the clashes. According to police sources, about 35 political activists were arrested from the area Wednesday.

Kirsten expects no issues from duo

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:16:01 -0400

By Our Correspondent

New Delhi, May 15: India coach Gary Kirsten is hopeful that S. Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh will put the recent "slap-gate" incident behind them when they line up for the country and felt he and his coaching staff have enough experience to keep things in check.

"The idea that it will be a problem having the two of them together in the squad is crazy. I would like to think me and Paddy (Upton) have enough management experience to cope with anything like that, if it ever did become a problem," Kirsten told a cricket website.

Harbhajan Singh, leading the Mumbai Indians, slapped Sreesanth after an IPL match last month, allegedly after being provoked by the Kings XI Punjab pacer. he was banned for the next 11 matches and was handed a further five-match ODI ban by the cricket control board on Wednesday.

Kirsten said both Sreesanth and Harbhajan were very passionate, and therefore volatile. "They are both very passionate cricketers who, ironically, are as similar off the field as on it. On the friendly side of the boundary rope," he said. "But when they cross the line, literally, they become very passionate and their blood boils quickly in the heat of battle."

He was also sure that the duo would mend their ways. "They have both made mistakes and they know that. Harbhajan has paid an enormous price for his latest indiscretion and I honestly have no doubt that he has learnt his lesson," he said.

Kirsten said he was in touch with Harbhajan, who he said was deeply apologetic over his actions.

"I had a long telephone chat to him recently and he knows he made a big mistake. I think he wanted to know where he stood with me and I was able to reassure him that I wanted him in my team. He’s a passionate cricketer and I want passion in the team.

"India need passion to win. Of course, it has to be controlled and ill-discipline is not acceptable. There is a difference between sporting aggression and plain loss of temper, and he knows that," Kirsten said.

Bhajji advised to see a shrink

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:16:32 -0400

By BIPIN DANI

Mumbai, May 15: Harbhajan Singh, who has been banned for five ODIs for slapping S. Sreesanth needs to see a psychologist. The suggestion comes from two different mental experts,-Sandy Gordon and Dr. Rudi Webster, both of whom worked separately with Team India in the past.

Says Gordon: "While neither is likely to have psychological problems I believe both would benefit from understanding how emotional intelligence can be applied. Each player, however, first has to want to learn and that means acknowledge their own shortcomings i.e. inability to cope with the emotional demands of competitive cricket.

"Banning Singh from playing cricket is punishment and he’ll say sorry to everyone, but what has he really learned? Both he and Sreesanth are wonderful players who play with great emotion, but who is really interested in helping them channel those emotions in helpful ways?"

"Decent cricket fans who expect more from their idols are left wondering," Gordon adds.

"Harbhajan must now learn to control his thinking and emotions and to keep his concentration focused and locked into the task at hand, particularly when he is under pressure," says Dr Webster.

"All the great players do that well and they use their own techniques to handle the enormous pressures of the game. I am sure that there are many professionals in India who can help Harbhajan in the those areas."

"Harbijan is now in the latter part of his career and must decide how good a bowler he wants to become and how he wants to be remembered as a player.To move to the next level of development he must do a thorough and honest self-examination, identify the pressure situations that cause him problems and learn how to handle those situations by improving and controlling his thinking and concentration."

"Patience and cunning are two of the greatest assets of good spin bowlers. Uncontrolled or misdirected anger is their biggest enemy," Dr. Webster feels.

"There are many talented sportsmen like Harbhajan who fail to take that last step to excellence and mastery of their game. He must now heal some of his negative attitudes and give himself the best chance possible to become a good role model and the great slow bowler he is capable of becoming. I wish him the best of luck."