Bengal

Re-excavating history

• The Statesman
• 12 Jan 2015

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 11 January
The state archaeology department is all set to conduct re-excavation of the Mogolmari mound in Dantan in West Midnapore which is believed to be the ruins of a ‘Buddhist monastic complex’ resembling the ancient Nalanda University and Karnasubarna.
It is being believed to be the biggest monastic structure discovered so far in West Bengal and it was probably an institution on the lines of Nalanda.
Last year, the state archaeology department had taken charge of its excavation and it had been able to do excavation work for about three months. For further excavation work, it applied to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) this year and the ASI authorities in its meeting held on 7 January has renewed its appeal, a senior government official said.     
The Mogolmari mound was first discovered in 2003 by Indologist BN Mukherjee who visited Dantan to document Bengal’s navigational history. Calcutta University started excavating the site in 2004 and did it in several phases till 2012 to arrive at the conclusion that a Buddhist vihara existed underneath the massive mound of Mogalmari, that developed in two phases from sixth to seventh centuries and then again from ninth to tenth centuries. However, due to lack of funds and several other infrastructural shortcomings, the university could not continue to excavate the mound. The state archaeology department took it over and started re-excavating the site from November last year.
The state archaeology department has gradually excavated a tri-ratha type of structure that is typical of the Buddhist monastic architecture, complete with many cells lined on all four sides.
Several relics of post-Gupta period, dating back to the sixth and seventh century AD, have been unearthed which resemble those found in Nalanda and Karnasubarna. This monastic structure was, however, made in two phases: after the destruction of its original monastic complex another structure was built on its basic foundation. Its early phase structure was made of various decorative bricks and beautiful relics.
Later it was painted in red and the whole complex was decorated with beautiful artwork. But, in the second phase structure, the complex was not made with earlier phase’s arts. The monastic complex was left abandoned after 12th century. A team comprising eight members from Calcutta University's archaeology department, led by the late Ashok Datta, started digging the area in 2003. During the sixth phase excavation, it was believed to be the largest find till date in Bengal, measuring about 3,600 sq mt.
In the latest, six terracotta tablets were found lying inside a container that was kept below a staircase; that too has been unearthed intact. Brahmi inscriptions have also been found on these tablets that read the equivalent of, ‘Ye darma hetu prabhabo...maha shaman’, indicating clearly that the site was a prominent and proliferating vihara (monastery) of the times. A large number of deities have been unearthed during the course of the excavation and historians feel that the monastery was built during the Vajrayana phase of Buddhism.

Page1

Youth slaps Mamata’s nephew, nearly lynched

• The Statesman
• 05 Jan 2015

TMC workers go on rampage after incident at party rally

Biswabrata Goswami
Chandipur, 4 January
A Trinamul Youth Congress rally turned into a battlefield after an unidentified youth slapped Abhishek Banerjee, a party MP and the nephew of chief minister Mamata Banerjee on the stage in front of a bunch of leaders, including a minister and two MLAs, at Chandipur in East Midnapore this afternoon.
The youth was caught by party workers and leaders who started beating him up on the stage;  he was then pulled down on the ground where the crowd joined in. The youth was later rescued by police and admitted to the Chandipur block hospital in critical condition.
Hundreds of workers and supporters pelted stones at police and security officials who rushed to the stage to rescue Mr Banerjee. The irate workers also jumped on the stage and vandalised it. They then went to the Chandipur police station, which they ransacked.
At least 15 police persons including senior police officials were injured in the incident.
The Trinamul workers also targeted mediapersons too. Four mediapersons of two vernacular news channels were beaten up and their cameras were broken.
The youth’s motive in attacking Mamata Banerjee’s nephew is yet to be ascertained. The party claimed that the youth was not a Trinamul member but an outsider.
According to party leaders, the youth was apparently allowed to go on stage after he told party workers that he wanted to take a photo of Mr Banerjee on his cellphone.
Mr Sisir Adhikari, a veteran Trinamul Congress leader said, “I am astounded at this incident. I don’t know the youth, but I believe that it was not a factional feud that led to the incident. There is obviously a conspiracy and it should be properly probed”.
Mr Akhil Giri, who belongs to Mr Adhikari’s rival lobby, said, “The party will conduct a probe into this matter. It is impossible to say anything before the investigation is completed.”
A CPI-M leader said, “Following the Saradha scam Miss Banerjee decided to put aside many senior leaders, perhaps to distance herself from such scam-tainted leaders, and started promoting her nephew. This has aggravated the internal feuds in the party’s district leaderships and this incident may be the resultant of the factional feuds. Though I personally condemn the attack on Mr Banerjee”.
Congress leader Mr Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said, “It is nothing
but a crude manifestation of an internal conflict within the TMC. The Frankenstein syndrome has become very visible in the Trinamul.”

Bengal

‘Pisciculture changed lifestyle of self-help group members’

• The Statesman
• 02 Jan 2015

Biswabrata Goswami
biswabrata@thestatesman.net
Midnapore, 2 January
At a time when the state government is planning to frame a policy to attract investments in the fisheries sector, a research study revealed that pisciculture has changed lifestyle of Self Help Group members in Birbhum.
Mrs Rajyosree Roy, a student of Vidyasagar University, who has conducted a research study on socio-economic development of Self Help Group members involved in fishery activities in Birbhum district, said that her research works would help the government to formulate plans in eradicating poverty among fishing community through pisciculture in rural Bengal.
Government officials said that at present, there is no specific policy to attract investments in this sector. The proposed policy will have a comprehensive outline on what incentives, subsidies and grants the state government could provide to entrepreneurs or private companies.
Self Help Groups (SHG), non-formal cooperatives, are making a silent revolution through micro-credit and various other activities involving women as major change agents to make pisciculture sustainable.
Nearly 30,000 SHGs have been formed so far in Birbhum district who have made a notable success in micro-finance. The study, however, focused on the functioning of 93 SHGs of which 45 run by male, 38 by female and 10 by mixed groups respectively, located in 19 blocks of Birbhum district comprising 644 members mainly belonging to Below Poverty Line (BPL). Also, different social class of this fishing population of these SHGs was assisted under Swarnjaynti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). These SHGs were found to save a portion of their meagre income and pull away that money for inter-lending among them at an interest decided by the SHGs.
Mrs Roy in her survey projected how the credit and project loan were used for better sustainability and enhancement of income in changing the lifestyle of poverty-stricken group members from pisciculture. Empowerment of women was undertaken through training and other assistance provided by local panchayats, NGO’s and government officials. The SHGs members increased their self-confidence, leadership qualities, skill to undertake pisciculture, marketing, knowledge of book keeping, enhanced income, linkage with banks and protest against social injustice.

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.