Bengal

 Narrating success story

   The Statesman

• 30 Dec 2014

mamata banerjee inaugurates jangalmahal utsav
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 29 December
Chief Minister Miss Mamata Banerjee today claimed that her government’s initiative in restoring peace in Junglemahal, erstwhile Maoist hotbed, has become a model in the entire country. “It is a success story. Our government has been able to restore peace in Junglemahal with not a single death reported so far this year. What has not happened in any other part of the country has happened in West Bengal. Peace has returned to Junglemahal”, Miss Banerjee said while inaugurating the three-day Junglemahal Utsab from a programme held at Midnapore College Ground today.
Claiming that hundreds of people were killed every year during the former Left Front regime, she said “Now there is no death. People want development and peace and not violence.”
“I thank the people of Junglemahal for their support in bringing peace,” she said.
Before inaugurating the Utsab, Miss Banerjee distributed prizes to the winners of the Junglemahal Cup football tournament and kabaddi competition winners. Amidst the presence of several renowned players like Soma Biswas, Goutam Sarkar, Subrata Bhattacherjee and Biswajit Palit, Miss Banerjee gave motorcycles and scootys for best players to the boys and the girls respectively from the three districts (West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia) for five different games.
A total of 34711 players from five police districts of Junglemahal took part in the Junglemahal Sports and all players were awarded.
Speaking to the gathering, Miss Banerjee announced that her government would give Rs 1 lakh each to 600 police stations across the state for the development of sports and games. Claiming her positive effort to excel the local talents in sports and games, Miss Banerjee said, “We have already given Rs 2 lakh each to 4000 clubs across the state and I will also sanction the same amount as a grant each to more 2000 clubs in the coming year. Each clubs will receive Rs 1 lakh for the next three consecutive years”.
To encourage the tribal folk culture, Miss Banerjee awarded 440 musical troops with a set of musical instruments.
Referring to her promise to absorb youths from Junglemahal in the police, the chief minister said 30,000 youths have been given employment in the Police, National Volunteer Force and Home-guard posts.

Bengal

Salboni land owners not happy on land return

• The Statesman
• 17 Dec 2014

JSW Group has agreed to give back  294 acres it purchased from  farmer s
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 December:
The proposal of giving back 294 acres of Salboni land at free of cost that the Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group had purchased from the farmers has evoked mixed reaction among the landlosers and local residents.
A section of agitators who mainly belong to the Trinamul Congress are hopeful that Salboni might show the way to the Tatas. “At least the farmers will get back their land at free of cost. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has kept her promise to return unutilized lands to the farmer by making pressure on the company which was apparently not kin to implement its mega project on due time. This happens at a time when a similar effort is caught in legal tangle in the Singur case”, said Biswajit Mondol, a Trinamul Congress leader.
Another section of farmers, who are conducting protest agitation in front of the main gate of the proposed plant site under the banner of Salboni JSW Bengal Steel Ltd Landlosers' Welfare Association for the last couple of weeks, are not in a mood to wind up the agitation.
“We want our own land back, not the ones that the company wants to give us from one corner of the project area. WBIDC had also acquired 189.62 acres from the farmers for this project and we also want the government to return this land” said association secretary Parishkar Mahato.
The JSW Group on Monday agreed to return 294 acres it purchased from about 485 farmer families at Salboni, two weeks after it suspended plans to build a steel and power plant on the acquired land.
The company had actually acquired 4334 acres of land. Among these lands, 3035 acres were vested lands which were purchased from the government. The state animal husbandry department had 799.97 acres of land. “But, in the proposal, the company is agreed to give back only 294 acres of land to the farmers who had given their lands for the company’s Rs 35000 crore project”, said Mr Mahato.
Sushanta Mahato, who works as a temporary electrician at the JSW Salboni site is also upset with the company’s proposal. “My brother and I gave one acre for the project. I don't want the land back. Instead, I want the project to come up so that I get a job,” said Sushanta.
Arup Bagchi, a local resident also expressed his sorrow saying, “We thought that this project would help us by various ways. But, the abundant of this project has snatched our all hopes and dreams”.
A CPI-M leader said, “The chief minister has no credit on this move. The JSW group had purchased the land on its own, and it is free to return it. The Tata Motors had received the entire plot in Singur on lease from the state government. But land acquired by the state government cannot be returned because of the controversial 2011 law passed by the Trinamul Congress government.”
BJP state president  Mr Rahul Sinha said I would sent wrong signals to the investors throughout the country. “ The Jindals will finally back out from the state. Mamata Banerjee made the biggest mistake by creating trouble at Singur which had forced the Tata Motors to go away and now the inve3stors in the country will think that West bengal is not the right place to invest.”

SALBONI FARMERS UP IN ARMS

BISWABRATA GOSWAMI
biswabrata@ thestatesman. net
Midnapore, 4 December Hundreds of farmers, who gave up their land for the Jindal Steel Plant ( JSP) in West Midnapore’s Salboni, are planning to launch an indefinite agitation in front of the plant’s main gate from tomorrow until their demands are fulfilled.
Around 500 land- losers, who had given their lands seven years ago for the huge project in hopes of getting jobs and compensation, are now worried following an ‘ official’announcement from JSW chairman Sajjan Jindal saying that the project has been put on hold because it does not make “ financial sense” to pursue it in the current circumstances. The group had proposed to pump in up to Rs 35,000 crore in fresh investments, but some recent events have forced them to put the project on hold.
Making the announcement on 30 November, Mr.
Jindal said the proposed Rs 35,000- crore project, which was to be implemented in phases, would need to be re- examined as it did not have either coal or iron ore supply tie- ups. He said as JSW Bengal had already invested Rs. 700 crore in the project, JSW was keen about it. However, given the raw material uncertainties, it was not practical to go ahead with the project, Mr Jindal pointed out.
The three coal mines allocated to JSW have been cancelled in the wake of a directive of the Supreme Court, and the company said that it would bid for these when they were put on auction.
Most of the land was acquired before former Chief Minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee laid the foundation stone for the plant on 2 November, 2008.
Hundreds of famers under the banner of Salboni JSW Bengal Steel Plant Project Land Losers; Welfare Association, today met the company officials at the project site, but all the discussions with them were fruitless.
Pariskar Mahato, who led the protesters, said,“ We will start an indefinite protest agitation in front of the plant’s main gate from tomorrow until our demands are met. We have demanded a monthly honorarium to each family if it can’t provide us jobs and to allow us to cultivate our lands until the project is started again.
The company should also provide us share certificates immediately.” BJP block president Muktinath Patra said they will submit a memorandum to the JSW chairman for starting operations in Salboni.
Though the company had promised on 2 November 2008 that production would begin at the plant by 2014, work at the site has fallen way behind schedule. So far, only staff quarters and some office rooms have come up at the site beside a boundary wall around it.
It isn’t, however, immediately known if the state government will take the same stand on the JSW group’s projects as it did on Tata Motors Ltd’s mothballed Singur plant, a senior administrative official said.
We have demanded a monthly honorarium to each family if the firm can’t provide us jobs, and to allow us to cultivate our lands until the project is started again.

Bengal

NAAC report reveals VU’s poor record

• The Statesman
• 13 Dec 2014

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 12 December
The performance of Vidyasagar University was extremely poor as revealed through a recent report of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) which placed the varsity in the last position among seven Indian universities accredited by its peer teams in their third cycle of assessment in 2014.
The seven member NAAC peer team which visited the varsity during 11-14 November 2014 under the chairmanship of Professor Bharat Chattoo, founder Vice Chancellor of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Jammu.Vidyasagar University has been awarded a cumulative grade point average (CPGA) of 2.86 and was placed under ‘B Grade’ at the fourth meeting of the Standing Committee of NAAC held on 10 December 2014 at Bangalore and published the grade point averages of the universities in the official website of the council.
Interestingly, all the other six universities have secured ‘A Grade’ with CPGA varying between 3.51-3.08 and belonged to  Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu.
The highest CPGA was secured by Guru Nanak Dev University of Amritsar followed by Guru Jambheswar University of Science and Technology, Hisar (CPGA 3.28) and Shivaji University of Maharashtra(CPGA 3.16).Incidentally, Guru Jambheswar University of Science and Technology which secured the second position was established in the year 1990 while Vidyasagar University was founded in 1985.
It may be mentioned in this connection that in the second cycle of NAAC report which came out after the NAAC peer team visit in 2009, Vidyasagar University was in the B Grade and secured a CPGA 2.81 and was in the 13th  position among the 18 universities which were ranked by NAAC.

Bengal

Labour protest halts highway expansion

• The Statesman
• 09 Nov 2014

biswabrata goswami
Midnapore, 8 NoV: The expansion work of National Highway – 6 from four lanes to six lanes is likely to be delayed as labour unrest is taking on a militant mode owing to the reluctant attitude of the construction company authorities.
Around 150 workers who were engaged by the Ashoka Buildcon Ltd (ABL) and ATR Infraprojects Pvt.Ltd (ATR) at different times have started a movement against the project implementing agencies over some issues which include the issuance of identity cards, appointment letters, increments and some statutory benefits. They have already stalled work at few places along the stretch between Dankuni and Kharagpur for the past few days as the authorities have failed to address their demands even after several bipartite talks held since the last few years.
Mr Sk Abdul Hai, general secretary of the labour union alleged that the company had not issued any appointment letters to the workers till date, while they had assured to issue the appointment letters when the workers were inducted. “The company is not even following the Minimum Wages Act. Workers are being deprived from getting statutory benefits like provident fund, medical facilities and others. The company does not have any increment policy even though it is mandatory under the provision of Labour Act,” alleged Mr Hai.
Ashoka Buildcon started work in 2012 after emerging as the preferred bidder in a tender for six-laning on the 111.4-km Dankuni-Kharagpur section of NH-6. The expansion has to be completed in 30 months but if the agitation continues unabated, it would obviously miss the deadline.
A labour union leader (who did not wish to be named) alleged the company authorities prefer to keep happy the syndicate leaders who often extort money from them rather resolving the labour issues on hopes that the syndicate leaders (most are Trinamul Congress leaders) will defuse the labour unrest with their able capacity or political influence.
The company’s people also influenced the police administration who often threatened the labourers asking them not to launch any agitation while they are reluctant to recognize their workers, alleged Mr Hai. The workers however are adamant about continuing with the stir.

Bengal

Impasse over elephants’ route ends

• The Statesman
• 07 Nov 2014

Conflict between Bengal and Odisha govts resolved

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 6 November
An unwanted conflict over the blocking of elephant passage route between West Bengal and Odisha governments has apparently come to a happy ending today, as a herd of 80 elephants were allowed to enter into Odisha from the state’s Junglemahal districts.
The trouble erupted after the locals in Odisha dug trenches along its border with West Midnapore to thwart the jumbos from crossing over to their side. As it was the time for the jumbos to take Odisha route from Bengal during their way back to Jharkhand’s Dalma sanctuary, a sudden blockade along their transit route in Odisha led them to stay in Bengal’s district triggering conflict with the human habitats for the last few days.
To address the situation, forest officials from Bengal met their counterparts in Odisha and urged them to withdraw their blockades so that the migratory elephants can take their normal transit routes. Earlier, in August, the forest officials of Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh had met in Jamshedpur and pledged working together to ensure free passage for the elephants.
“After a series of talks with the divisional forest officers of Balasore and Baripada in Odisha, they finally lifted the blockades and all the elephants wandering in the Nayagram, Gopiballavpur areas in West Midnapore reached the Odisha today”, said Mr Anjan Guha, Divisional Forest Officer, Kharagpur.
Historically, elephants were present in West Bengal in the 19th century, mostly in the dense ‘Sal’ forests of Midnapore. But their population dwindled with the gradual loss of forest cover. With the JFM (joint forest management) scripting a success story during the mid-80s by bringing the green cover back, the Jharkhand elephants - already under severe threat from habitat loss - started moving towards Chhattisgarh, Bengal and Odisha using their age-old corridors.
As if the habitat loss in Jharkhand and Odisha - the elephants’ original abode - were not enough, a study by Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) reveals that more than 2,000 and 5,000 hectares of prime elephant habitat in Jharkhand and Odisha respectively are being extensively mined. WPSI undertook the study almost a decade ago and found that elephants from Jharkhand’s Dalma sanctuary had started moving towards locations not suited for them. The study found dissection of the jumbos’ traditional transit paths through West Singhbhum in Jharkhand and Keonjhar in Odisha. While the mining activities in Jharkhand and Odisha are on the rise, the ripples are being felt in West Bengal. Foresters claim that the jumbo herd from Dalma couldn’t return to Jharkhand in 2012 and had to stay here. The fallout: ever-increasing conflict in Bengal.
Mr Subrata Purohit, a Wild Life activist in Midnapore alleged, “The elephant doesn’t belong to a single state, it’s a heritage animal. Blocking their traditional migration route is a crime.”

India

IIT-Kgp set to make a global mark

• The Statesman
• 06 Nov 2014

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Kharagpur, 5 November
In a unique academic leadership programme, IIT Kharagpur will now invite professors and scholars from foreign universities besides offering joint PhDs with top international institutes to support students and scholars for international exposure.
This will not only boost exchange programs and research activities but will also help the institute to make its presence felt strongly across international academia.
Under the Shri Gopal Rajagarhia International Programme, which was launched today, at least ten professors from some of the world’s leading universities would come to the Kharagpur campus each year for few months.
Similarly, around 30 talented international scholars would be invited every year to conduct research activities at IIT, said the institute’s Director Partha Pratim Chakrabarti.
He said they are already in talks with leading universities from the US, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Under the joint PhD programme, students would be awarded with the doctorate by IIT-Kgp and an international university.
The institute’s distinguished alumnus Gopal Rajagarhia of the 1968 batch has donated Rs. 10 crore for funding the initiative.
“I was always keen to give it back to IIT. Its international ratings are poor because of low international exposure. With this program, we want the IIT to make its presence felt in the international arena so that its ranking improves as per our Vision 2020,” Mr Rajagarhia said.
At present around 200 PhDs are awarded by the IIT each year and hope to take it to 400. “We want around 25 per cent of PhDs to be joint PhDs. We will also be getting foreign students to study here for such joint PhDs,” said Mr Chakrabarti.
Recently, IIT, KGP has launched the unique International Summer and Winter Semester programmes wherein students and faculties from India and abroad are participating.
Besides student and faculty exchange, the institute has launched the M N Faruqui Innovation Centre (MNFIC) today in the presence of Shri Arjun Malhotra who made the seed funding for this centre. Several other alumni were present during this program.
Among several objectives, the Center will focus on supporting the creation and operation of an academic organisation within IIT Kharagpur in which students would be able to work in  interdisciplinary groups to work towards novel and efficient solutions for well-known, substantial and contemporary technical challenges.

VU students yet to follow JU footsteps

• The Statesman
• 02 Nov 2014

Unions haven’t raised voices over campus surveillance

biswabrata goswami
Midnapore, 1 NoV: At a time when JU students are holding referendum on issues ranging from the Vice-Chancellor’s continuation to campus surveillance, not a single protest, even by the students’ unions like SFI or DSO, against the introduction of campus surveillance by checking identity cards at Vidyasagar University has been organised yet.
Interestingly, hundreds of VU students have, however, extended their moral support to the students’ movement at JU either on Facebook or other media.
Under the direction of the present vice-chancellor, Profe-
ssor Ranjan Chakrabarti, himself a professor of History at Jadavpur University, a notice was issued by the acting registrar of VU on 26 May, 2014 (Memo No.VU/R/Noti./656/2014), which stated that ‘the bona fide students of Vidyasagar University are advised to enter into the university premises showing their identity proof issued by the university authority.’
 In the notice it was further mentioned that ‘if any unauthorised person(s) are found moving in the different sections of the university, necessary disciplinary/legal action will be taken against them as per the university rules.’
  The lone voice of protest was heard from Dr Abhijit Guha, a teacher of the Anthropology department of Vidyasagar University, who wrote a letter to the registrar on 27 May pointing out the fact that the ‘university campus is a public space owned, maintained and funded by the public authorities of the country and it was not declared as a restricted area by any authority.’
  Dr Guha also pointed out that there is a nationalised bank, a post office and other public utility facilities within the campus of Vidyasagar University and the aforesaid notice may prohibit the public who do not officially belong to the university. He requested the registrar to revise the notice in the interest of the public.
  The reply of the registrar of VU to Dr Guha foreshadowed the attitude of the present authorities of Jadavpur University who had recently issued orders by which entry of any person in the campus would be under strict surveillance.        On 30 May, Dr JK Nandi the acting registrar of VU, categorically replied to Dr Guha that ‘a university campus is not a “public place” as it is used to define national highways, roads/streets, railway or bus stations, parks or any other open space used by the public at large.’
 The registrar of Vidyasagar University also stated that ‘most universities of India are enclosed spaces’ and the persons using the bank or the post office of the university campus are ‘visitors’(read ‘outsiders’) and there should be  certain restrictions in the entry of those persons for the protection of the valuable properties of the university.
An SFI student (who is not wished to be named) said, “We have no organisational strength to arrange a protest against the decision here, so we have supported the JU students who are fighting for the same issue in their varsity.”

Bengal

Giving due respect

• The Statesman
• 30 Oct 2014

Vidyasagar University mulling plans to open statistics department

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 29 October
The authorities of Vidyasagar University are mulling plans to open statistics department to pay due honour to the man behind the creation of the university.
While remembering the glorious activities of Professor Anil Kumar Gayen, who had made significant contributions in Mathematics and Statistics and dedicated the later years of his life towards the establishment of Vidyasagar University as a non-traditional institution of higher education in a programme held yesterday, the varsity authorities disclosed their future plans about the opening of statistics department before the academics.
It was an irony that the contributions of Mr Gayen towards the establishment of Vidyasagar University was not given due recognition by the former Left Front Government during its 34 years of rule. It was only under the active leadership of the present Vice-Chancellor Professor Ranjan Chakrabarti, based on a proposal submitted by Dr Abhijit Guha a teacher of the Anthropology department, that the executive council of Vidyasagar University in its meeting held on 4 May 2012, decided to form a committee to commemorate the contributions of the founder of the varsity in a befitting manner. Accordingly, Gayen’s short biography was placed in the VU website, (http://vidyasagar.ac.in/About/AKGayen.aspx), and the Central Library building was named as Anil Gayen Bhavan.
The first Anil Kumar Gayen memorial lecture was held yesterday at the Birendranath Sasmal Hall at Vidyasagar University in presence of more than hundred members of the varsity community including many students and teachers of the various departments. The lecture was delivered by Professor Syed Samsul Alam the first Vice-Chancellor of Aliah University and a student of Professor Gayen.
Professor Gayen first mooted a proposal for the establishment of Vidyasagar University as a non-traditional rural university to cater to the developmental needs of the local tribal and underprivileged communities with the aid of interdisciplinary teaching and research to the Central Government in the early 1970s and was finally accepted through the recommendations of the Ghani Committee by the University Grants Commission.
Anil Kumar Gayen (1919-1978) hailed from a poor family of a remote village named Lakkhi, in the Khejuri block of present East Midnapore district and became a renowned scholar in the fields of Mathematics and Statistics. He was awarded Ph.D degree in 1950 in Statistics from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Professor Henry Ellis Daniels, F R S, then President of the Royal Statistical Society, UK.
Gayen held the chair of the Head of Mathematics Department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, during 1954-1978. Professor Anil Gayen was a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, England and Cambridge Philosophical Society and was President, Statistics Section of the Indian Science Congress in 1971 and also a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy.

Bengal

App for visually impaired

• The Statesman
• 29 Oct 2014

App identifies denomination of currency notes from photograph

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 28 October
Students from IIT, Kharagpur and International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad have developed a smartphone
application that can recognise the denomination of a currency note from its picture.
The app will be helpful for visually impaired persons, who often have difficulty identifying denomination of currency notes. After taking a photograph of a bank note, the app will inform the holder via voice intimation. A visually impaired person could have significant trouble differentiating the value of one piece of currency from the next.
Though the RBI has added embossing of different shapes unique to each denomination on the left side of the note, it is quite hard to make out.
Particularly, when the note is worn out with time, it appears more difficult to recognise a currency note for a visually impaired person.
The size of notes of different denominations, are also very similar, which makes it harder. Other than the images printed upon them, there may be no way to tell the difference between a hundred rupees note and a thousand rupees note. That is where this application comes into play.
The app has been developed by Suriya Singh, Kumar Vishal and C.V. Jawahar from IIIT Hyderabad and Shushman Choudhury from IIT Kharagpur. The application can detect the denominations with an accuracy of 96.7 per cent, claim one of the researchers.
While demonstrating the application in Kharagpur recently, Shushman said the smart phone needs a 1.3 MP camera with auto focus. He said, “Several similar systems have been developed around the world, but most need an internet connection on the smart phone. This app, however, doesn’t require internet.”
This application is not only the sole one that has created ways to help people who are blind and low vision deal with money. In the USA, LookTel Money Reader, iPhone users with vision disabilities can simply point the device’s camera at any bill, and wait for the app to recognise it. Once it does, the Money Reader will speak the value of the bill out loud.
But, in our country, most visually impaired persons are still facing the difficulty in recognising the denomination of currency notes. But, from now, it will be easier for them to deal with the currency notes, said an IIT, KGP student.

Bengal

CM’s London dreams take a beating

• The Statesman
• 09 Sep 2014

KOPT turns down proposal for Giant Ferris Wheel at Millennium Park

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 8 September
The Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has turned down the chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s ambitious proposal of setting up of London Eye Wheel on the port land near Millennium Park.
Citing legal provisions, the trustee board members of KoPT, in their board meeting held on 5 September, refused to enter into a joint venture with the state government for the construction and operation of a Giant Ferris Wheel at Millennium Park at Kolkata similar to that of the London Eye.
According to the proposal tabled by Mr RPS Kahlon, chairman of KoPT, the port would not only have to provide its prime land for the said purpose almost free of cost, but would also have to provide funds and other administrative help to execute the work on behalf of the state government.
But during the meeting, the chief legal officer of KoPT said that there was no provision in the MPT Act, 1963 empowering the Board to enter into any joint venture with any state government to award concessions by inviting tender. The officer also opined that the proposal would have to require sanction of the Central Government under Section 42(3A) of MPT Act, 1963.
After hearing the legal restrictions, seven board members, who were present in the meeting, asked the KoPT chairman to first bring Centre’s approval before discussing the project in the board meeting, a senior port official said.
“Out of the seven board members present, four were from KoPT itself. This clearly showed that the chairman has lost the board's confidence. Mr CB Singh and Mr I Jeykumar, who were instrumental in stalling the tender for shore handling of cargo, were conspicuously absent from this meeting”, a source placed in KoPT board told The Statesman. Mr Kahlon was not available for comment. A few months ago, chief-minister Mamata Banerjee announced that Kolkata would soon have its ‘Kolkata Eye’, modelled on the ‘London Eye’, a giant ferris wheel, providing a magnificent view of the metropolis from a height of 120 metres. It was to be constructed at Millennium Park, on the bank of the River Hooghly.
In her Facebook post, Miss Banerjee had written, “This project, the first of its kind in size and magnitude in India, is already underway and is expected to be ready in a year's time.”
She had said that it would be a tourist attraction. The proposal was to have a giant wheel with 36 air-conditioned capsules that. would rotate slowly, allowing tourists to have a view of the city from a height of roughly 100 metres.

Page1

IIT-Kharagpur fetes ‘conman’, later files FIR

• The Statesman
• 24 Aug 2014

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 23 AUG: In a queer case, IIT Kharagpur felicitated a person, who claimed to be an alumnus and Director, Corporate Finance at Deutsche Bank, but soon came to know from various sources that he was a conman. He was felicitated during the IIT’s 63rd foundation day celebrations on 18 August.
The man - Vijay Kumar, who also claimed to be an ex-Vice President of Microsoft, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur (2003 batch) from E&ECE Department and IIM, Ahmedabad (2005 batch) even proposed to donate Rs 1.56 crore towards some Institute initiatives which were announced by the Institute at the foundation day function.
Later, the IIT authorities received information from various sources alleging that the credentials of this person appear to be questionable and false. Accordingly, IIT Kharagpur filed an FIR with local police authorities urging them to investigate the identity and credentials of this person.
The incident comes at a time when the IIT, KGP authorities are planning to set up a sophisticated digitalised ‘Hall of Fame’ to document the evolution of the IIT system and record contributions of everyone associated with it.To make the people and IITians  aware of the fraudster, the institute’s registrar Mr T K Ghosal put up the fact in the notice board urging “all concerned not to be influenced by any projected details or any presentation on the association of this individual with IIT Kharagpur”. When asked Mr Ghosal said, “The man first approached us claiming to be an alumnus. As we always give special treatment to our alumni, we announced his name in the function where he proposed to donate a huge sum of money towards some Institute initiatives. Later, we were alerted about his credentials from our sources and then we filed a complaint against him with the local police authorities”.
Ms Bharati Ghosh, SP, West Midnapore said, “We have received a complaint from IIT authorities and have started a probe into the matter. We are trying to establish his real identity and locate his whereabouts. But, it is also surprising how the IIT authorities even felicitated a man without checking his credentials and identity.”
As soon as news spread in the IIT faculties, numerous mails were circulated among the IITians who later found that the man pulled off a similar scam some years ago. According to reports, the accused man, who allegedly posed as Microsoft Vice President and cheated several students by promising them admissions in IITs, was arrested in New Delhi in 2010.
He was apprehended from Najafgarh following investigations into a complaint filed by a victim Rajiv Ranjan Kumar from Bihar that he was cheated of Rs Rs. 3.11 lakh by the accused who promised admission to his son in IIT-Kharagpur.
During interrogation, it was revealed, Vijay Kumar used to target IIT aspirants and influence them by showing fake degrees and projecting him as an engineer and an IIT-Kg topper.

Bengal

Contai woman’s death: Autopsy report suggests suicide

• The Statesman

• 20 Aug 2014

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Contai, 19 August
Amidst the controversy over the death of a CPI-M leader’s wife at Sunia village in Contai where the family members alleged that the woman was tortured, gang-raped and murdered by the Trinamul Congress backed goons, the post-mortem report, however, suggests that the woman had committed suicide.
“There was no wound in the body, no injury marks in her secret parts and her death was due to hanging. This was the report of the post-mortem report which we have received this afternoon,” said Mr Sukesh Kumar Jain, SP, East Midnapore.
Mr Jain also said: “Though prima facie evidence suggested the victim was not sexually assaulted and committed suicide, we arrested three people and booked them on charges of abetment to suicide last night. They were produced before the additional chief judicial magistrate court in Contai today where the magistrate remanded them in police custody for five days.”
But local CPI-M leaders and family members alleged that the post-mortem report has been slanted at the behest of Trinamul Congress leaders. As some TMC workers and leaders are directly involved with this case, there was an effort to show it as merely a suicide case. The doctor who was to conduct the post-mortem was changed all of a sudden and another doctor conducted the post-mortem, alleged the CPI-M leaders.
The body of a CPI-M leader’s wife was found hanging from the ceiling of the verandah of her two-storied mud-house yesterday. The family alleged that the woman was dragged out of her house, paraded naked, gang-raped and then murdered, allegedly by TMC workers, on Sunday night. In the written complaint, a CPI-M local committee member, who is staying outside the village along with his son and brothers since 2011 after the change of guard in the state as TMC supporters allegedly threatened him with dire consequences, charged that the victim had been raped and killed.

Bengal

Flood causes loss of 100 crore

• The Statesman
• 15 Aug 2014

District administration report says around 2 lakh people have been affected in the floods
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Tamluk, 14 August
The flood situation in eight blocks of East Midnapore is grim, with agriculture and property worth as much as Rs 100 crores damaged.
The situation has particularly worsened due to incessant rains, triggered by a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, during the last seven days. The local Met office sources said the rains will continue for another 24 hours before the weather improves.
As a result, millions of people living in Contai-I, II and III, Khejuri-I and II, Egra-II, Ramnagar-II and Bhagwanpur-II blocks in the district have been affected with swelling river water overflowing the banks and entering the villages. Besides, there was severe waterlogging in many coastal areas due to continuous rains, affecting thousands of residents.
The district administration has already alerted the concerned government officials of these eight blocks to meet all exigencies.
“The BDOs of these blocks have been asked to evacuate the people from low lying areas and make arrangements for free kitchens for the affected people.  A total of 200 rescue-center has been set up where more than 10000 people are staying,” said a senior administrative officer.
The Chief Minister has asked the concerned departments to keep watch on the weak river embankments by deploying mobile teams in these areas, adequate stocks of fodder and make arrangements for supply of drinking water and health services, the official said.
The farmers are facing severe difficulties as paddy seedlings have been damaged by the floods. Left with no other option, they have now turned to the government for assistance. The farmers have threatened to launch a massive agitation, if the state government denies them compensation.
“Last year also during the floods, many hectares of paddy fields perished. But, we are yet to receive any compensation. This year, we are facing similar losses due to floods, but we are not sure whether the state government will compensate us or not. If the situation continues, we will launch agitation,” said Mr Prasun Bera, a farmer from Khejuri.
According to the assessment report prepared by the district agriculture and horticulture departments, the total loss has been estimated at around Rs 100 crores, of which major losses have been incurred from the damage to crops, seedlings, flowers and ornamental leaves.
The district agriculture department, however, has not mentioned the losses in monetary terms, but officials said the loss would be around Rs 50 crore.
Similarly, the district horticulture department has assessed the damages caused to flower plants, betel vines and vegetables. They have estimated the loss at around Rs 35 crore.
According to its reports, the heavy downpours have damaged 50,000 hectares of agricultural land, 1,200 hectares of flowers and 800 hectares of betel vines worth of Rs 3.67 crore. Meanwhile, people involved with fisheries are facing worst as most of the ponds and water bodies have been washed away by the flood waters.
According to the district administration report, around 2 lakh people have been affected in the floods so far. A total of 10,000 houses have either collapsed or partially damaged.
In view of the scale of devastation, the district administration has appealed to the state government for funds and to extend help in relief assistance and support for the eventual reconstruction effort in the affected areas.

Bengal

VU prof’s e-mail account hacked

• The Statesman
• 07 Aug 2014

Police unable to trace the hacker as yet
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 6 August
The e-mail account of a professor at Vidyasagar University, who had lodged a complaint with the police and vigilance commissioner against the former Vice-Chancellor for his misappropriation of public fund, was hacked by an unknown person.
The Kotwali police in West Midnapore have initiated a case based on the complaint lodged by Dr.Abhijit Guha, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology at Vidyasagar University regarding the hacking of his two e-mail IDs on the same day as early as 5 February, 2014, when he was attending a conference at the Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, but the investigating police officials were unable to detect the hacker till today. The case was lodged under sections 65/ 66/66C of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008. Dr. Guha alleged that he could not access his two e-mails acconts abhijitguhavu@rediffmail.com and abhijitguhavu@yahoo.com which he was using since 2002.
In his complaints to Ms Bharati Ghosh, SP, West Midnapur Dr. Guha also alleged that the hacking took place after he lodged successive complaints from his e-mail ID abhijitguhavu@rediffmail.com to the State Vigilance Commissioner  and the Inspector General of Police, West Bengal regarding the misappropriation of public funds and impersonation perpetrated by Mr. Swapan Kumar Pramanick, the former Vice-Chancellor of Vidyasagar University under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act.
It may be recalled that in a recent period the Vidyasagar University authorities have realised Rs 1,14,685 from the arrear  salary of the former Vice-Chancellor in connection with a misappropriation done by Mr.Pramanick only after Dr.Guha had lodged a complaint against the former VC with the IG and SP of West Midnapore on 5 November 2013.
Mr Pramanick, who was close to the former CPI-M state leadership, had enjoyed two successive terms from 2003-2011.The delay in conducting investigation and consequent detection of the criminals related with the cyber crimes only proves the lacks of infrastructure at the district police level, a senior police officer said.

Bengal

17 firms turn up for pre-bid meeting

• The Statesman
• 06 Aug 2014

Move to break a few companies' monopoly at Haldia port
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 5 August
Despite all the confusion created by M/s. Ripley & Co and its sister concerns regarding the tender for shore handling of cargo at Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), as many as 24 representatives from 17 companies from all over the country participated in the pre-bid meeting held at Haldia today :
During the meeting, written queries seeking clarification with respect to eligibility criteria and other terms and conditions of the tender were submitted by two of the intending bidders. The rest of the intending bidders was told to submit their written queries within 5 p.m. today so that Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) could post the clarifications on its website.
Soon after the KoPT floated the tender, some clearing and forwarding agents of the port trust  filed a case at Calcutta High Court challenging the decision taken by the board of trustees to hire on-shore dry bulk cargo handlers at its Haldia dock complex through a public auction.
Writ petitions filed by four companies ~ M/s. Ripley & Co, A M Enterprises, Lee & Murehead and J M Baxi were heard by Justice Mr Nadira Patheria who is said to have directed KoPT to submit necessary documents including the resolution of the board of trustees meeting held on 18 July 2014.The court has fixed 11 August 2014, as the next date of hearing of the matter. The Board meeting was held on an order of the Ministry of Shipping dated 8 July, 2014.
The Port Chairmen's Committee has already exposed the monopoly of a few handling agents.It has also stated that only four companies handle 98 per cent and 93 per cent of the total cargo handling operations at Kolkata port and Haldia port respectively.

Bengal

KoPT agents file case challenging board of trustees’ decision

• The Statesman
• 03 Aug 2014

biswabrata goswami
Haldia, 2 August: Some clearing and forwarding agents attached with the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) have filed a case at the Calcutta High Court challenging the decision taken by the board of trustees of KoPT to hire on-shore dry bulk cargo handlers at its Haldia dock complex through a public auction, fixation of ceiling rates for the cargo handlers and the consequent tender issued by the port authorities.
The KoPT Board approved tendering for shore handling work at Haldia Port on 18 July despite unexplained opposition by the majority of trustee board members who, however, had given their consent to the same proposal in the Board meeting held in 13 December, 2012.
Surprisingly, the opposition to the scheme came from government nominees on the board of trustees including Mr C B Singh , Adviser, Ministry of Shipping and Mr I Jeykumar , Deputy Chairman, Kolkata Dock System while there was a directive of shipping ministry to clear the proposal.
“The scheme was opposed by most of the trustees who said there were legal and financial infirmities in the plan and wanted the port to rework the proposal,” sources placed in the Board said. The KoPT chairman Mr R P S Kahlon, however, informed the board that the directive to clear the scheme had come from the shipping ministry and he had no choice but to comply. “So, he overruled the objections raised by the trustees and used his casting vote to clear the plan,” a port official said. But, the decision was technically not passed as there was no unanimous or majority members’ decision. Even, there was no tie before taking such decision. It appears that the board meeting was held in such a manner as to make it challengeable in the High Court”, a senior port official alleged.
Taking advantage of the feasibility of the board’s decision, the petitioners have evidently used the minutes of the BOT meeting held on 18 July, 2014.
Interestingly and most surprisingly, Ministry of Shipping has not been made a party in the Writ Petition even though Tender was floated on the Order of Ministry of Shipping dated 8 July, 2014, just to avoid an aggressive action by the Ministry, a senior port official alleged. A section of port officers feel that the issue of protecting the monopoly business of a handling agent started when KoPT Board discharged the tender for comprehensive equipping of berth nos. 2 & 8 of HDC in May, 2013 despite receiving a competitive rate of about Rs 170/- per ton from the consortium of M/s OSL and M/s. Avian. This consortium filed a writ application before the High Court praying for awarding them the contract at their quoted rate of Rs 170/-, which is still pending for disposal.
According to the port officers, the handling agent enjoying monopoly at Haldia is dictating terms so that their business interests continue. They are also thinking of stopping down port operations in case the port goes ahead with their shore handling tender.

Port chairmen committee exposes agents’ monopoly

• The Statesman
• 01 Aug 2014

at a time when CBI is probing into shore-handling operations scam
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 31 July
At a time when the CBI is probing into the scam related to alleged irregularities in the shore-handling operations of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) which has caused an estimated loss of thousands of crores to the exchequer, the Port Chairmen Committee has exposed a clear monopoly of a few handling agents who enjoy major bids of cargo handling.
In the report of the Port Chairmen Committee constituted by the Ministry of Shipping in June, 2014, the KoPT has stated (Page-23 of the report ) that there were 146 handling agents at Haldia Port alone. It has also stated that only four companies have shared 98 per cent and 93 per cent of the total cargo handling operations at Kolkata port and Haldia port respectively. Hence it establishes the monopoly of a few players at the Haldia and the Kolkata ports.
Interestingly, in previously, the  KoPT authorities and the former Union Shipping Minister had tabled different figures about the number of handling agents involved with the KoPT either before the court or before the government, to allegedly prevent the government from taking any action against the monopoly.
Mr Ashim Kumar Mukhopadhyay, Secretary (I/C), KoPT, in the Affidavit-in-Opposition to the PIL No.24799 (W) of 2012  sworn before the Calcutta High Court on the 13th of February 2013, stated that there were 27 handling agents that were operating at both the Haldia and the Kolkata Ports.
In reply to Unstirred Question No 596 dated 8 August 2013 (Pages 13 & 14), Thiru G K Vasan, the former Union Minister of Shipping had stated on the floor of the Rajya Sabha that there were 25 handling agents at the Kolkata Dock System of KoPT and 15 handling agents at the Haldia Dock Complex of KoPT.
This time, the Port Chairmen Committee in response to the query of the Shipping ministry revealed that just few players are being awarded the major bids of the total cargo handling.
The Port Chairmen Committee has already endorsed KoPT’s action on fixation of ceiling rates for the cargo handlers.
According to reports, Ripley & Company and its sister concerns owned by the Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha member Srinjoy Bose and his father Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) Bose, a former MP, have duped the government of an estimated Rs 24,500 crore over the past 35 years.
The scam pertaining to shore handling of cargo has allegedly took place with the help of muscle men and under the nose of the top port authorities, sources said. They said these companies have been realising an
estimated Rs 500-Rs 700 crore per year from the exporters and importers without
paying a farthing to the Kolkata Port Trust, the parent body of the Haldia Dock Complex.
“I have been consistently vouching for regulation of monopolies in cargo handling at the Major Ports
of India well within the framework on MPT Act,1963 (Sections 42(1), 42(4) and 48) and Regulation 7 of TAMP Guidelines 2005 with a view to make the Major Ports cost competitive with
respect to Non-Major Ports (where the cost of cargo handling is much lower compared to Major Ports). In 2006-07, the market share of Major Ports in total traffic was 71.49 per cent. This has come down to 57 per cent during 2013-14,” a senior port official said.

Bengal

WIPRO chairman honoured by IIT Kharagpur

• The Statesman
• 27 Jul 2014

biswabrata goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net

KHARAGPUR, 26 JULY: Wipro Chairman Azim Premji was today honoured with a doctorate degree by IIT Kharagpur.
The 69-year-old businessman and philanthropist who is guiding the company through four decades of diversification and growth to emerge as one of the Indian leaders in the software industry was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Science “for being one of the pioneers of entrepreneurship in modern India through the establishment of Wipro, an organisation deeply committed to values” at the 60th convocation of the institution.
Mr Premji received the D Sc (Honaris Causa) from ‘Bharat Ratna’ scientist Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao FRS, also known as C.N.R. Rao, who was the chief guest at the convocation.
Professor Rao, who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural chemistry, currently serves as the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India.
Besides Mr Premji, ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, Professor Rao, Mr Faqir Chand Kohli, often referred to as the father of the Indian software industry, Prof Roddam Narasimha and Mr Pradeep K Khosla also received the prestigious award.
While addressing the convocation, Professor Rao praised the talent of young IIT students and said some IIT undergraduates were even smarter than their professors.
“It is very challenging to teach in IIT. Some undergraduate students are smarter than the professors,” Professor Rao, who had earlier taught at the IIT, said.
He urged students to always think about what they can contribute to the country.  “You also have to keep in mind that today’s technology will not be tomorrow’s technology. Science keeps changing and we must keep abreast of the changing scenario. The younger generation must get used to this,” Professor Rao said.
The Bharat Ratna recipient scientist also discouraged the comparison of the IIT director’s role with the act of a corporate company’s CEO. “For a company, CEO deals with the profit while IIT itself has a specific role.”
Describing IITs as a wonderful garden, he said all kinds of trees, fruits and flowers could be found in the multi-faceted atmosphere of the institute.
Referring to the service for the sake of Nation, Professor Rao said, “Unless we understand the spirit of science, we can never create an atmosphere of science in a country like India.
India’s future is closely tied up with science and if it has to do well in any sector, it has to do well in science. Unfortunately, we are not doing well at all.”
Professor Partha Pratim Chakraborty, Director of IIT, KGP said it has received Rs 100 crore from the Union government for setting up a National Digital Library.

Bengal

3,000 CPM workers quit party

• The Statesman
• 27 Jul 2014

Lakshman seth’s wife leads mass desertion from left party in east midnapore
biswabrata goswami
Tamluk, 26 July: In the backdrop of CPI-M’s dismal show in Lok Sabha election, the party faced a mass desertion today as around 3000 party workers and leaders including six district secretariat and 26 district committee members of East Midnapre have resigned from the party today.
The resignation letters were sent to the district secretary hours before the district committee meeting held at the party’s district headquarter in presence of the party’s state secretariat member Mr Rabin Deb and the politburo leader Mr Surya Kanta Mishra.
Mrs Tamalika Panda Seth, wife of expelled leader Lakshman Seth and former chairperson of Haldia municipality said, “We have decided to quit the party as the present leaderships are paying no heed to their comments while taking any decision on certain issues inside the party. The party has become autocratic and only a few people are running the party.”
Besides Mrs Seth, Ashok Guria, Amiya Sahoo, Pranab Das, Prasanta Patra and Saktipada Bera, all the district secretariat members and known as Lokshman Seth loyalists sent their resignation letters highlighting the same allegation against the party’s top brasses.
Mr Ded who convened the district committee meeting where barely 39 out of 69 district committee members attended later said, “As per the rules and guidelines, the party would take necessary steps against the deserted members.”
The East Midnapore unit of the CPI-M is in disarray since Mr Seth was expelled before the Lok Sabha polls.
A day after CPI-M's controversial leader and Haldia strongman Mr Seth sent his “resignation” letter to Alimuddin Street, hundreds of his followers had savagely beat up about 20 party leaders and manhandled two state secretariat members ~ Rabin Deb and Mridul Dey ~ to vent their ire against the party's top leadership for giving a “raw deal” to Mr Seth.
The protesters accused the leaders of making Mr Seth a scapegoat for various incidents, starting from Nandigram to his NGO organisation ~ ICARE ~ and demanded immediate withdrawal of the investigation being carried out by the party against Mr Seth.
“The party leadership was well aware of what Mr Seth did during his tenure,” an angry protester had then said.
Later the party had expelled him and since then the party’s district unit started losing its mass base as hundreds of Seth’s loyalists across the district started campaigning against the party leaders.
When asked, Mr Seth today criticised the leadership alleging “autocracy and individualism are replacing democracy” in the party.
He called for restructuring the organisation, saying the present middle-class leaders would not be able to cause a turnaround
in the party's fortunes by taking on the ruling Trinamul Congress.
Venting his ire against the former Chief Minister Mr Buddhadev Bhattacherjee, Mr Seth said, “Nandan was virtually turned as a amusing spot of
the party leaders from where the party leadership used to run the party. There is an imme
diate need to change the party’s leadership”.

Bengal

PMO asks port trust for scam details

• The Statesman
• 03 Jul 2014

On the heels of a cbi enquiry into the multi crore scam
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 2 July
In the wake of the massive financial irregularities facing Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office has sought details of cargo handling, tendering, the licensing process, contractors, revenue earned, etc, from the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT).
Details have also been sought on the nominees of the Union Shipping Ministry selected in the Board of Trustees of Kolkata Port Trust   for the last five years.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has already started a probe on 19 June in connection with the investigation into the alleged issue of multi-crore corruption at Haldia port which has been on the Shipping Ministry’s list of top problems facing the KoPT.
The multi-crore scam involving shore-handling of cargo at Haldia port could just be the proverbial tip of the iceberg of what has been going on in all the 12 ports across the country.
Complaints to authorities and related documents suggest that the scam could touch astronomical levels, putting to shame the much talked about CWG, 2G or 3G scams.
As per the complaint lodged with the Union government, the total financial losses suffered by the government over the past 40 years on account of the alleged illegal shore-handling of cargo could be more than Rs 8 lakh crores.
The Statesman had earlier reported on the Haldia port scam on the basis of the Rajya Sabha secretariat memorandum, CAG and parliamentary panel reports, which highlighted major discrepancies in appointment of cargo-handling agents and disposing waste oil from the ports.
The CAG had also pointed out appointment of unauthorised agents or handling agents for onshore operation violating the provisions of the Major Port Trust Act.
Besides, based on the complaint lodged by Bharatiya Janta Party MP from Bharuch in Gujarat, Mr Mansukh Bhai D Vasava, the Union Shipping Ministry has also swung into action against other 11 major ports on the same financial scam issues.
In the latest, the Prime Minister’s Office  has sought detailed information on Kolkata Dock System (KDS) and HDC for the last five financial years lasting up to March 2014.
A set of 16 questions have been put up to KoPT to answer, encompassing details of cargo operations in HDC and KDS.
The Prime Minister’s Office  wants to know details of the total number of berths and the break-up of where cargo is handled mechanically and non-mechanically; berths where cargo handling is done partially mechanically on-board with Mobile Harbour Cranes and ship cranes by engaging contractors and shore handling done manually by private cargo handling agents.
It has sought details of the private handling agents engaged in the port with date of issuance of licenses and the basis for their selection, amount paid by them, year-wise both as license fee and revenue.
The Prime Minister’s Office also wants to know if efforts were made by the port for auctioning of onshore handling activities, and the status of such efforts.
The Prime Minister’s Office  has asked if any proposal was approved by Board of Trustees of the Kolkata Port Trust  for revenue earning from on-shore handling agents and its status.

Bengal

WOMEN OF NADIA FEEL INSECURE

• The Statesman
• 02 Jul 2014

MP TAPAS PAUL’S  REMARKS ROUNDLY CONDEMNED
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabratagoswami@gmail.com
Choumaha, 1 July
Hundreds of women living in Choumaha and its surrounding villages in Nakashipara in Nadia have started feeling insecure soon after the Trinamul Congrees MP Mr Tapas Paul’s startling and derogatory remarks towards women broadcast.
The actor-turned politician had threatened to “liquidate” CPI-M activists and have their women “raped” if any of his Trinamul workers were attacked.
Mr Paul had made his controversial remarks at Choumaha village on 14 June while paying his visit to commemorate the family of a slain party worker who was killed a fortnight ago allegedly by the CPI-M goons. But the video footage of his high decibel threats and ranting was telecast by some private channels yesterday.
“We are feeling insecure here because when a MP himself can unleash such type of threats, then the lower-rung party workers or any criminal in the name of Trinamul party can easily attack us. So, we demand to the state administration to provide security in our villages,” said an aged woman who was not willing to be named.
Slamming the MP for making nastiest remarks on women, the BJP  leader Ms Jaya Sarkar has lodged a FIR against Mr Paul demanding his immediate arrest.
“How can an MP make such type of remarks while venting his anger to others. He has made purported hate remarks to women which is unforgiving. He has no right to be a member of the Parliament and he should be dismissed,” said Ms Sarkar.
The condemnation also came from the CPI-M’s youth and women wing which organised a protest rally in Krishnagar and burnt his effigy.
They denounced Mr Pal for making such irresponsible statements and said that the Chief Minister and Trinamul Congress Chief Miss Mamata Banerjee must take strict disciplinary action against him.
“In a country and in a state where the security of women has become a matter of such grave concern, for an MP to make such threats is completely unwarranted. Trinamul Congress must and should take stern action against him,” said Mrs Minati Biswas, a house-wife living at Nakashipara, which falls under the Krishnagar parliamentary constituency from where Mr Paul had won the Lok Sabha elections for the second time.
While talking with the villagers at Choumaha, some youths  criticised Mr Paul saying that he had done nothing new on 14 June. On that day, after visiting Choumaha, Mr Paul had gone to nearby Gopinathpur where also he  made derogatory remarks against  CPI-M women which are not printable.
The youths opened their mobile phones and showed the video footage of his remarks.
“The way Mr Paul had unleashed his verbal attacks to the Opposition and their women, only reveals his low level of culture,” said a youth  who too was unwilling to be named.

Page1

Lawmaker postures as lawbreaker

• The Statesman
• 01 Jul 2014

Top gangster’ Tapas Paul threatens to kill CPM activists, get women raped

 
UDAY BASU (With inputs from Soma Mookherjee and Biswabrata Goswami)
uday@thestatesman.net 
Kolkata, 30 June 
Here's one more addition to the list of Trinamul Congress lawmakers posturing as lawbreakers. 
And this time around it's film star-turned-politician Tapas Paul who openly declared he “carries a revolver” which he would use to “liquidate” CPI-M activists and claimed he was a top “gangster”.
Mr Paul made these startling and controversial remarks at the height of electioneering during the last Lok Sabha polls. The video footage of his high decibel threats and ranting was telecast by some private channels during the day triggering protests from politicians and civil society groups.
Mr Paul was addressing a gathering at Choumaha village at Nakashipara in Nadia, which is a part of his parliamentary constituency ~ Krishnagar. He began his torrent of threats in the style and language of gangsters.
“I'm a chap from Chandernagar and not from Kolkata. I know very well what gangsterism is, I tried my hand in it as well. I also carry that thing, you know what it is (he puts his fingers in the shape of a revolver trigger) and with it I'll liquidate our opponents if they touch any of our party supporters,” he thundered.
Then came the nastiest and horrifying one : “I'll send them (party supporters) to rape (women belonging to the opposite camp).”
When contacted, Mr Paul flatly denied he had used the word ~ “rape” and claimed :"I actually said I would send the police and party supporters to raid (the village) and not rape.” 
Explaining the circumstances that “forced” him to make the remarks, Mr Paul said at that time CPI-M-backed goons had unleashed a reign of terror in the area and he had to rush to the village in order to “boost the morale of party supporters.”
“I admit I had to use a very aggressive language to match the terror campaign by the CPI-M. Otherwise, our party supporters would have been demoralised and terrorised,” he said.
However, Trinamul national spokesman and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said : “The statements made by Mr Tapas Pal are utterly insensitive. The party does not in any way endorse what he said many weeks ago, which is being played out on TV channels today.”
On the other hand, Trinamul secretary-general Partha Chatterjee said in the first place it has to be examined in what context Mr Paul had made those remarks and what the CPI-M had done to provoke him to behave in such a manner. 
“Of course, it's highly improper for even ordinary persons to speak in such a language and in the case of Mr Paul this is unthinkable,” Mr Chatterjee added.
In a way Mr Paul followed in the footsteps of Manirul Haque, MLA and party’s Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal. The latter had exhorted his party activists to throw bombs at the police and set fire to the houses of CPI-M cadres. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even went to the length of saying that Mr Mondal was being wrongly targeted. “He is a patient and less oxygen flows to his brains. Whatever he said should be seen in that light,” she stated.
(With inputs from Soma Mookherjee     and Biswabrata Goswami)

Bengal

Anthrax scare in West Midnapore

The Statesman 

28 Jun 2014

Nine persons, including children, have been affected
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 27 June
In a fresh case after a gap of many years, Anthrax scare has once again gripped the tribal-dominated Boxakura village under Panchkhuri gram-panchayat in West Midnapore as nine persons, including children, have been affected by the deadly disease.
As the matter reached the ears of Chief-Minister Mamata Banerjee, the district health department took war-footing steps to contain the outbreak and sent a medical team to the affected village.
The Animal Resource department also sent its team to curb the disease as most cases of Anthrax occur in livestock, such as cattle, horses, sheep, and goats.
Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr Girish Bera said the disease broke out in the tribal village due to consumption of rotten beef. Dr Bera said: “As per the statements of the affected persons, the villagers brought a dead cow from the field of a nearby village and ate its meat.
“Those who came in contact with the dead cow have been affected by the disease, while those who ate the meat have not been affected yet. But, we have already given prophylactic therapy to 47 persons who ate the meat”, said Dr Bera.
The disease was first detected yesterday when a tribal man – Birsa Tudu had gone to the outpatient department of Midnapore Medical College and Hospital to be treated for his ailment.
Dr Arun Achar, a skin specialist first suspected the disease after observing the symptoms and he immediately informed the matter to the health administration. The health department rushed to the village and found others, including children, affected by the same symptoms. 
A medical camp was immediately set up and swabs of these patients have been sent to MMCH and School of Tropical Medicine, in Kolkata, for tests. Doctors have also collected skin smear and blood samples from the affected people for examination.
The disease has created panic in the locality but steps have been taken to check further proliferation, Dr Bera said, adding that a health team has rushed to the village and undertaken the necessary preventive measures. All homes were disinfected with DDT and bleaching powder. The villagers were also advised not to take any type of beef and pork and keep away from the patients.

Haldia port scam: CVO asked to hand over important documents to CBI

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 24 June
The anti-corruption branch of CBI, probing the multi-crore scam in Haldia port under Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT), has asked the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) to hand over around 35 to 40 important documents related with the cargo handling, shore operation, tendering action and some other issues to them within a month failing which it would take action against some port officials who are reluctant to cooperate with them during the investigation.
The CBI has started the probe on 19 June in connection with the investigation into the alleged issue of multi-crore corruption at Haldia port which had been on the Shipping Ministry’s list of top problems facing the KoPT.
Though, the CBI had lodged complaint against former and present chairman, deputy chairman of KoPT and directors of private handling agents in 2013 (SIR/ACB case no. 19), but had not got the required approval to conduct the probe from the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government. Soon after the BJP took charge at the Center, the CBI got the required approval and started the probe, a senior port official said.
Besides, based on the complaint lodged by BJP MP from Bharuch in Gujarat, Mr Mansukh Bhai D Vasava, the Union Shipping Ministry has also swung into action against other 11 major ports on the same financial scam issues. 
In the meantime, a PIL filed at the Calcutta High Court related with the financial scam at Haldia port has regularly been heard by the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Arun Kumar Mishra.
In his letter to former Prime Minister Manmohon Singh, Mr Vasava highlighted the financial malpractice and theft of national resources and revenue at 12 major Indian ports amounting to over Rs 8 lakh crore.
The Statesman had earlier reported on the Haldia port scam on the basis of the Rajya Sabha secretariat memorandum, CAG and parliamentary panel reports, which highlighted major discrepancies in appointment of cargo-handling agents and disposing waste oil from the ports.
The CAG had also pointed out appointment of unauthorised agents or handling agents for onshore operation violating the provisions of the Major Port Trust Act.
In his complaint, Mr Vasava has alleged: “These handling agents freely enter into contracts with the exporters/importers and charge them as per their contracted terms rates not approved by TAMP/Central government which is a statutory requirement under Section 48 of MPT Act, 1963. These private handling agents, in order to expand and maintain their monopoly, have been ensuring that most of the members of the other interest groups comprising the Board of Trustees of the Major Ports of India are those who owe allegiance to these private handling agents.”
These persons should be disqualified under Section 6 of the MPT Act,1963 and their membership should be withdrawn by the Central government forthwith as every trustee is authorised to hold office for a period as may be considered by the Central government under Section 4(2) of the MPT Act,1963, Mr Vasava said.
A document which was forwarded to the PSC also indicated a scam of Rs 24,500 crore in the past 35 years at Haldia port only mentioning that the private parties are paying just an annual license fee of a mere Rs 5,400, and they are handling the cargo, shore operations and are taking crores as profit from the port.

CBI raids Haldia Dock Complex Offices

• The Statesman
• 21 Jun 2014

Raids part of probe into multi-crore corruption scam
Biswabrata Goswami 
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Haldia, 20 June
A CBI team has started conducting raids at the offices in the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) area since yesterday in connection with the investigation into alleged corruption at Haldia port, amounting to hundreds of crores, which has reached the Shipping Ministry’s list of top problems facing the Kolkata Port Trust.
The agency officials headed by the additional SP Mr D Sahoo have already grilled a few port officials and          collected some documents with regards to the matter of shore handling and ‘forced exit’ of Haldia Bulk Terminals, a joint venture between homegrown ABG Infralogistics and French company Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA).
For the past few years, Haldia Dock Banchao Committee and Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum had raised the corruption issue and demanded a CBI inquiry, but the erstwhile Congress-led Union government did not pay any heed on the matter.
Mr Ramakant Burman, secretary of Haldia Dock Officers’ Forum who had raised the corruption issue was later dismissed from service by the port authority, but the issue went to the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Transport, Tourism and Culture which had replaced the ministry’s secretary, reportedly on charges of misleading the Committee over some issues related with the port.
“Soon after taking charge at the Centre, the BJP government has taken up the issue and asked the CBI to probe the matter.
“I am very happy to hear that the CBI has started investigation and it would soon divulge the facts in front of the people,” said Mr Chandan Mitra, a BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
Two years ago, when HBT left the Haldia port, it had blamed “vested               interests” for causing a great loss to the national exchequer. HBT had been contracted to operate two mechanised berths, but, it alleged, cargo was diverted to the expensive manual berths.
While Haldia Bulk Terminals charged the Kolkata Port Trust Rs 75 per tonne of cargo, the manual berths charged Rs 150 and above.
That was the loss to the exchequer the company was referring to.
The vested interests the company was alluding to is Ripley & Co promoted by Mr Swapan Sadhan Bose, aka Tutu Bose or Tutuda, a familiar face in Kolkata's business circuit.
A document which was forwarded to the Parliamentary Standing Committee indicated a scam of Rs 24,500 crore in the past 35 years at Haldia port.
The document has pointed a finger at a private operator Ripley, a company run by the family of former and current Trinamul Rajya Sabha MPs, Mr Swapan Sadhan (Tutu) and Mr Srinjaoy Bose.
The document has also said that the aforesaid       company and its various sister concerns have been working at the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) since 1977.
The KoPT had issued them a Handling Agent License in 2006 in violation of Section 42(3) or 42(3A) of Major Port Trust Act 1963. In the document, it has been categorically mentioned that the private parties are paying just an annual    license fee of a mere Rs 5,400, and they are handling the cargo, shore operations and are taking crores as profit from the port, thereby depriving the port             authority of its financial
benefits.

Vidyasagar HOD quits prof. association post over appointment tussle

• The Statesman
• 16 Jun 2014

biswabrata goswami
Statesman News Service
Midnapore, 15 June
Mrs Indrani Datta (Chaudhuri), assistant professor, department of English of Vidyasagar University has resigned from the post of general secretary of West Bengal College and University Professors’ Association (WEBCUPA), VU unit.
She has already sent her resignation letter to the WEBCUPA president Prof. Krishnakoli Basu, who has dissolved the VU unit a few days ago.
Mrs Datta (Chaudhuri), who had led a deputation on 11 June to protest against the illegal appointment of Mr.Jayanta Kishore Nandi, in the post of the Dean of Students’ Welfare at Vidyasagar University by the authorities of the varsity in 2012 which was done by ignoring candidates having better academic career and experience records than Mr Nandi, was later criticised by a section of Trinamul Congress leaders and WEBCUPA authorities.
The matter came to light when Mr Rama Prasad Giri, president of the Paschim Medinipur district Trinamul Chhatra Parishad in a memorandum submitted to Professor Ranjan Chakrabarti, vice-chancellor, on 23 May, alleged that “the recommendation of the name of Mr J K Nandi to the post of the Dean of Students’ Welfare at Vidyasagar University was not placed in the executive council for approval and it was just reported after giving the appointment, which is a gross irregularity.” Mr Giri added in his letter that “they did not witness this kind of irregularity during the CPI-M regime” (Memorandum in possession of The Statesman).
Meanwhile, Mr S K Ghosh, Joint Secretary and the A.O. & E.O. of the Audit (PAC) Branch of the Higher Education Department in his letter no.21-HE/Audit (PAC)/1A-33/2013 dated 25 February 2014 to the senior Audit Officer to the Principal Accountant General of the Govt. of West Bengal categorically noted under para no.2 of page 3  the “non-adherence of basic essential qualifications and experiences for initial appointment in the case of Shri Jayanta Kishore Nandi, Dean of Students’ Welfare” in his audit inspection report on Vidyasagar University and a copy of this letter was forwarded to the Finance Officer and the Registrar of Vidyasagar University for information and necessary action.(Letter in possession of The Statesman).
As a mark of protest, Mrs Datta (Choudhuri) along with some students and non-teaching staff members led a movement and felicitated the present acting registrar with garland which infuriated the Trinamul Congress leadership.
“Later, our committee was dissolved and I was particularly feeling helpless when I saw my colleagues being heckled for inappropriate reasons let alone the kind of mental torture and harassment that I had to endure over the last two years, experiences that were not dissimilar to those that I faced during the Left regime. Fighting the battle within and without became difficult for me. It seemed like we had become mere puppets in the hands of a wanton king”, said Mrs Datta (Choudhuri).
In her letter to Mr Basu, Mrs Datta (Choudhuri) said, “This entire episode of our symbolic protest against nepotism and corruption, against inequality and injustice, against the authority's attempt to throttle our Fundamental Rights, was wrongly reported to the dignitaries who matter. It is also unfortunate that we, the members of our unit, have never been given an opportunity to explain our view-point. And, hence, you have been directed to dissolve the committee of our unit.”
“For this reason, in order to safe-guard my ideology and my dignity as a free citizen of an independent country I have no other option but to resign from the post of General Secretary of WBCUPA, VU Unit”, she mentioned in the letter.

Bengal

Junglemahal shows Mamata its gratitude

• The Statesman
• 17 May 2014

biswabrata goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 May
The tribal-dominated Jhargram parliamentary constituency which was once the hotbed of Maoist insurgency, voted the most for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s candidate, Ms Uma Soren, expressing their ‘love'  for her for maintaining peace in the forested land.
As a result, Ms Soren defeated her close contender, Dr Pulin Bihari Baske, a CPI-M candidate with a huge margin of more than 3 lakh votes.
A no-industry zone, this constituency has witnessed years of violence triggered by Maoists. In 2008, Junglemahal attracted nation-wide attention because of the killings and encounters between Maoists and security force personnel. For nearly three years since then, the region has been on the boil. But the turning point came with the death of Maoist leader Kishenji in November 2011. Junglemahal has seen no incidents of murder or abduction by Maoists in the last two years.
Restoration of peace in Junglemahal had raised expectations of Trinamul Congress that the party might be able to improve upon its tally of the Junglemahal seats in this election.
After the change of power in the state, Miss Banerjee had taken numerous steps for the development of the tribal lands and uplift of the tribal populace. She brought all people living in Junglemahal under the BPL category and introduced the scheme through which all communities in Junglemahal will get rice at Rs 2 per kg every week. Today, with peace restored, life is back to normal in this region. There is no fear of violence or of police raids or bandhs.
As per the promises made by Miss Banerjee, colleges, schools and community halls are coming up. Ponds are being dug under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA).
A Rs 60 crore bridge is being built from Lalgarh to Aamkola.
The state government has also employed more than 10,000 youths from the region in the police department. This has obviously made an impact among the tribal people who came out in large numbers during the polling day and voted for Mamata Banerjee’s candidate.

Bengal

TMC stars pocket ghatal, midnapore

• The Statesman
• 17 May 2014

dev wins with a whooping margin against santosh rana
Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 16 May
As the electoral battle in both the Midnapore and Ghatal parliamentary constituencies were tilted towards stardom, the Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's, star candidates,-  Dipak Adhikari (Dev) and Sandhya Roy won with whopping margins against their Left front candidates.
The contest in both the constituencies, though, was of truly fabled proportions, between novices and politically matured communist leaders.
Mrs Sandhya Roy, one of the leading ladies of Bengali cinema in the 1960s and a first-time candidate defeated the CPI candidate Mr Prabodh Panda with a margin of more than 1.8 lakhs votes. The CPI candidate's fate has been viewed particularly as tragic as the seat was represented by legendary parliamentarian and Marxist ideologue Indrajit Gupta for seven terms between 1980 and 1999.
Dev, a Tollywood star, on the other hand, managed an entry into political arena by defeating the CPI candidate Santosh Rana from Ghatal which is known as the stronghold of the Left for the past few decades.
Many political observers felt that fielding star candidates in the Left-dominated constituencies would stopped the winning run of the Left and this came true for these two constituencies where Ms Banerjee used the two celebrities as her trump cards.
In East Midnapore, the Adhikari dynasty continued its winning ways in the electoral battle where the veteran Trinamul Congress leader Sisir Adhikari from Kanthi constituency has defeated his close contestant Mr Tapas Sinha, a CPI-M candidate with a huge margin. Mr Sinha, a young candidate of the Left Front failed to make any crack in the Adhikari dynasty as he could not earn the faiths of the common people.
Like Mr Sinha, another young CPI-M candidate Sheikh Ibrahim Ali also failed to make any meaningful inroad on Mr Adhikari's son Subhendu's vote bank. Subhendu underscored his clear sweep in the constituency with a margin of more than 1.3 lakhs votes.
The victory of Subhendu Adhikari, a prime architect of the anti-land acquisition movement in Nandigram in 2007, came to a certain point on 27 March - the day former CPI-M MP and Haldia strongman Lakshman Seth was expelled from the party.
The main Opposition - the Left Front - had been in disarray in the district for the past few years, which got compounded since the expulsion of Mr Seth.