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Cuttack, Friday, December 26, 2014
Bihar has procured only Probe ordered
750 tonne paddy: Paswan into ceremony for
Says while Punjab bought 116 LT paddy
PBD BUREAU/PTI
PATNA , DEC 25
UNION Food, Public
Distribution
and
Consumer
Affairs
Minister
Ram
Vilas
Paswan today claimed
that Bihar was lagging far
behind in the purchase of
paddy in comparison to
other states.
"Paddy purchase is
going on extensively in the
country. Punjab has purchased 116 lakh tonnes of
paddy till December 23.
On the other hand, Bihar is
far behind and has managed to purchase only 750
tonnes of paddy till now,
though it started buying
paddy from November
25," Paswan said.
He said the central government has fixed the
minimum support price
(MSP) at `1,400 per quintal for grade A quality of
paddy and `1,360 per
‘Bengal to
help tribals
from Assam’
PBD BUREAU/PTI
KOLKATA, DEC 25
THE government in West
Bengal is making necessary
arrangements to render
help to adivasis coming to
the state from Assam for
shelter, Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee said
expressing deep sadness
over their mass killing.
"The killing of Adivasis
in Assam by armed
extremists has deeply saddened me. I strongly condemn the heinous mass
killing," Banerjee said in a
post on Facebook.
"Many Adivasi families
have started coming to our
state for shelter. We have
made arrangements to
help them and we will continue to do so," she said.
"Today on the day of
Christmas
symbolising
peace and love, I appeal
that ghastly acts of violence
be stopped everywhere,"
the chief minister said.
quintal for normal paddy.
The aim was to ensure
that farmers get adequate
price for their crop and
were not forced to sell it at
cheaper prices to middlemen, he said.
The minister pointed
out that the paddy purchase period is fixed on
the basis of advice from
the state government and
for Bihar it was fixed till
January 31, 2015.
"We can increase the
paddy purchase period for
Bihar, but for that the state
government will have to
tell clearly till when paddy
will be harvested and how
much more time they
need. We do not want the
farmers of Bihar to sell
their produce to middlemen at very less rates,"
Paswan said.
Paswan, Lok Sabha
member from Hajipur in
Bihar, said the state government demanded Rs
1158 crore from the Centre
as subsidy for transporting rice from depots to
PDS outlets.
"Bihar government has
sent the bill for January to
September 2014 to Centre
in November. The rule is
to send bills every three
months. Still, we have
approved the bills worth
`437 crore for January to
June 2014 and the money
will be released in January
2015," he said.
Paswan said bills for
July to September 2014
worth `721 crore were not
cleared as discrepancies
have been found.
Once the state government
rectifies
them,
money will be immediately released.
Road blocked to protest
against Assam massacre
PBD BUREAU/PTI
JHARGRAM, DEC 25
AN apex national body of
the adivasis today put up
road blockade in West
Midnapore district in
protest against the massacre of 65 adivasis in
Assam by the militants of
the anti-talks NDFB(S)
yesterday.
The Bharat Jakat Majhi
Pargana Mahal blockaded
a key highway at Silda
under Binpur police station for about five hours,
throwing traffic out of
gear.
Bharat Jakat Majhi
Pargana Mahal chief
Nityanand
Hembram
demanded that the victims
of attack by NDFB(S)
insurgents be given a compensation of `25 lakh.
Other demands of the
organisation
included
steps by the government
to stop attacks on adivasis,
Hembram said.
He claimed that he has
Bharat Jakat Majhi
Pargana Mahal chief
Nityanand Hembram
demanded that the
victims of attack by
NDFB(S) insurgents
be given a compensation of `25 lakh
already wrote to Prime
Minister
Narendra Modi, Union
Home Minister Rajnath
Singh and West Bengal
Chief Secretary Sanjay
Mitra about the demands.
Adivasis
would
demonstrate in each block
of West Bengal, Odisha,
Bihar and Jharkhand in
protest against the massacre in Assam on
December 31, Hembram
said.
Over 70 adivasi people
were
massacred
by
NDFB(S) insurgents in
Kokrajhar, Sonitpur and
Chirang districts of Assam
yesterday.
Minister Babul Supriyo targets
TMC, Mamata over Saradha scam
PBD BUREAU/PTI
Today, saying that
TMC is the most
corrupt party won't
be wrong. It has
exceeded the ceiling
as far as corruption
is concerned
— Union Minister
MUMBAI, DEC 25
TARGETING Trinamool
Congress (TMC) and West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee over the
multi-crore Saradha chit
fund scam, Union Minister
of
State
for
Urban
Development
Babul
Supriyo said here today
that the TMC was the "most
corrupt" party.
"Today, saying that TMC
is the most corrupt party
won't be wrong. It has
exceeded the ceiling as far
as corruption is concerned," the minister told
reporters here.
Asked if Mamata was
the direct beneficiary of the
chit fund scam money,
Minister Babul Supriyo
Supriyo declined to comment. "If I say anything,
you (media) will get breaking news," he said.
A probe by the National
Investigation
Agency
(NIA) and the Central
Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) would reveal everything about the chit fund
scam, the singer-turned
politician said.
"Earlier, Mamata used to
demand CBI probes into
everything. Now, the same
Mamata levels allegations
against CBI," he said.
"There is no logic or sense
in her allegations (against
the CBI)," Supriyo said.
'Godse's temple'
PBD BUREAU/PTI
MEERUT, DEC 25
ACTIVISTS of Akhil
Bharatiya
Hindu
Mahasabha have allegedly
performed a ceremony
here for construction of a
"temple" dedicated to
Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, following which the administration has ordered a
probe into the matter.
The "bhumi pujan"
(prayers) was performed
at a temple on Shaarda
Road here yesterday.
During the event, the
national general secretary
of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu
Mahasabha
Acharya
Madan allegedly praised
Godse, calling him a true
patriot and criticised
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi over the issues of
Ram Temple and revocation of Article 370 from
Jammu and Kashmir.
Mahasabha members
also allegedly spoke of
launching a campaign for
conversion.
Acting
District
Magistrate Navneet Singh
Chahal said today that the
district administration has
taken the incident seriously and ordered the police
officer in charge of the
area to probe it.
Case will be registered
and strict action will be
taken against whoever is
found guilty, he said.
SSP Onkar Singh said
the matter is serious.
The Local Intelligence
Unit has been asked to
submit a report on the
incident, he said, adding
that strict action will be
taken
against
those
involved after the report is
received.
No one will be allowed
to disturb the law and
order of the city and police
will deal with such people
strictly, he said.
AYODHYA, DEC 25
THE oldest litigant in the
Babri
Masjid
case,
Mohammad Farooq, died
at the age of 100 here.
Farooq, a resident of
Ayodhya, was one of the
seven main litigants from
Muslim side in the 1949
Babri Masjid case regarding placing of Lord Ram
idols in the premises.
Farooq's eldest son
Mohammad Saleem may
inherit the case and
become litigant in his
father's place, UP’s Additional Advocate General
and convenor of Babri
Masjid Action Committee, Zafaryab Jilani said.
Farooq's
father,
Mohammad Zahur, was
one of the original complainants in the case, he
said.
The remaining six litigants in the case are
Ashhad Rashidi, Hashim
Ansari, Maulana Mahfuzurur Rahman, Hasbullah,
Mahmud and Sunni
Central Waqf Board.
..
5
JD(U), RJD leaders
favour merger to
take on BJP in Bihar
PBD BUREAU/PTI
PBD BUREAU/PTI
MEDININAGAR, DEC 25
PATNA, DEC 25
SUPPORTERS
of
Congress leader Bidesh
Singh today allegedly
fired gun shots in the air
to celebrate the win of the
Memebr of Legislative
Assembly from Panki
Assembly seat, two days
after the election results
were announced.
"We have received the
information about it and
have asked all police stations under the constituency to give a report
regarding it (firing of gun
shots
in
the
air),"
Palamau Superintendent
of Police Mayur Patel
said here.
Patel said there was no
report of any victory procession led by the candidate, but reports of gunshots were received.
Singh retained the
seat, which he had won
as an Independent last
time.
SENIOR JD(U) and RJD
leaders today spoke out in
identical tones advocating
for merger of the two parties at the earliest to jointly
take on a resurgent BJP at
the Assembly election next
year.
"Our senior leaders have
publicly expressed commitment on merger of the
two parties as well other
constituents of the Janata
Parivar to take on the BJP at
the national level. The
process must be expedited
now," state JD(U) president
Bashishtha Narayan Singh
told reporters.
With the BJP extending
its
victory
run
to
Jharkhand, it's time that the
leadership of Janata Parivar
constituents fast-track the
merger process, he said,
adding that it would
require ratification by the
executive bodies of the two
parties to formalise merger
With the BJP on its
its victory run, it's
time that Janata
Parivar constituents
fast-track the merger
— State JD(U) head
and formation of a new
political outfit.
The state JD(U) president said the merger
process would start as early
as possible amid buzz that
the top leaders of the RJD
and JD(U) were planning
to complete merger process
by January-end next year.
Senior RJD leader Abdul
Bari Siddique also spoke in
the same vein and said RJD
and JD(U) should formalise
merger at the earliest and
also take on board the
Congress as a partner to
fight the BJP.
Siddique, the RJD legislature party leader, said
taking Congress along
would put up a strong
challenge to the BJP's bid to
attain power in Bihar.
ER observes ‘Good
Governance Day’
VARANASI, DEC 25
ANTICIPATING protests
against the government
over several issues, police
today detained more than
23 people from different
areas as they were planning
to stage demonstrations
during Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's visit here.
Five members of the
Railways employee union,
who were planning to
protest against the Modi
government's decision to
allow 100 per cent FDI in
their sector, have been
detained as a precautionary
measure.
Manduadih
Station
Officer, Ajit Mishra said the
five persons, including
Amar Singh, Sushil and
three others, were detained
and sent to police lines.
As many as 12 members
of Shaheed Bhagat Singh
Youth Front were also
detained as they were planning to show black flags to
the Prime Minister near
Diesel Locomotives Works
(DLW), where he is scheduled to attend programmes. Circle Officer of
Bhelupur area said more
than six students of BHU
were detained for as they
too had planned to block
the PM's cavalcade in
Lanka police station area to
press for their demands of
restoration of the university's students' union.
.
Cong MLA’s
supporters
fire in air to
mark his win
PBD BUREAU/PTI
As many as 12
members of Shaheed
Bhagat Singh Youth
Front were also
detained as they
were planning to
show black flags to
the Prime Minister
.
politicalbusinessdaily
23 people
detained
ahead of
PM's visit
PM Narendra Modi with officials during a cleanliness drive at in Varanasi — PTI photo
KOLKATA:
‘Good
Governance Day’ was
observed at Eastern Railway
today as a mark of respect to
former Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee on the occasion of his 90th birthday.
General
Manager,
Eastern Railway R K Gupta
speaking on the occasion
advised all officers and staff
to accord topmost priority
to passenger grievances.
He asked for an action
plan to motivate frontline
Railway staff who interface
with the general public in
general and Rail users in
particular, with the training
and interaction with the
professional bodies to
change their behaviour and
attitude towards passengers.
The General Manager
emphasized on further
strengthening
of
eGovernance by introduction of e-Procurement and
e-Tendering process to
bring transparency in
Railways’ working.
The feedback system
like Facebook, RTI and
other complaints should be
dealt by the officers and
staff in a regular measure
on priority basis, he said.
Lack of spirit hits festive season
CHARLES NANDI
KOLKATA, DEC 25
BUY your favourite scotch
or imported wine immediately. Stocks of costly
imported liquor are drying
up in Kolkata owing to the
new central excise rule. The
new excise rule makes it
mandatory stating that
India-specific labels and listing of ingredients should be
mentioned specifically on
the bottle.
According to Kolkata’s
landmark Duke Bar owner S
Chatterjee, this is technically
called
bottled-in-origin
(BIO). This has to be mentioned on the label of the
bottle. “This has resulted in
lack of supply of costly
imported liquors. The
owner maintains that clubs
and bars may not face a
major problem because they
had stocked up in anticipation of the problem.
Individuals may suffer due
to lack of supply of high-end
imported liquor,” he opined.
Area sales manager of
Seagrams K Gupta echoed
the same voice saying that
brands like Absolut, Chivas
Regal and Ballentine might
not be available everywhere
due to bottled-in-origin segment for the last few weeks.
Imported liquor stocks
dried up in Kolkata.
“Some retail outlets like
Rustamji are able to supply
as they had stocked heavily
during Pujas and Diwali.
But the stock may finish any
time during this winter festive season,” said another
bar owner.
Spokesman of EasternIndia regional manager of
Remy Cointreau, a global
leader in cognac, points out
that the new rule requires
new bottle labelling for
India.
Director of East India
Spirits
and
Beer
Distributors, Shiv Sultania
said in a statement there is
shortage of some imported
brands but says there are
adequate stocks of others.
In some cases, there is
shortage. There is no stock
of Ballentine in the market
now.
However, elite Kolkata
clubs have adequate stocks
who in anticipation of the
problem have managed to
maintain adequate inventory. They also agree with the
problem in this winter festive season as consumption
of high-end imported liquor
is higher in December and
January. Saturday Club,
Calcutta Club, Tolly
Club and Bengal Club
members agree regarding the problem of stock
of imported liquors.
They, however, hope that
situation will improve
by the end of January.
City of Joy basks in Yuletide spirit
Oldest litigant in Babri
Masjid case passes away
PBD BUREAU/PTI
the
PBD BUREAU/PTI
KOLKATA, DEC 25
Couple from Australia got married with Hindu customs in Bodhgaya — PTI photo
MIDNIGHT
mass
at
churches across West
Bengal heralded Christmas
today as people, Christians
and non-Christians alike,
celebrated the occasion
with fervour.
The nip in the air and a
bright sun provided the
perfect backdrop for the
revellers to visit the
Alipore Zoo, Victoria
Memorial,
Indian
Museum, Nicco Park,
Millennium Park and other
hotspots.
Some chose to just
spend their lazy afternoons
in the vast green Maidan
soaking in the Yuletide
spirit.
Government and private buildings as well as
street corners were illuminated and decorated with
Christmas trees as
colourful banners and
festoons were strung
across the length ofs Park
Street, the hub of the festivities.
Special programmes,
midnight mass, followed
by day-loang prayers at the
city's century-old St Paul's
Cathedral drew huge
crowd, cutting across religious divides.
The Basilica of the Holy
Rosary, commonly known
as Bandel Church, and the
Sacred Heart Church at
Chandannagar, both in
Hooghly district, saw a big
footfall with individual
artistes and gospel bands
enthralling the crowd.
Melodies of traditional
Christmas songs like
'Jingle Bells', 'Oh Holy
Night' and 'Santa Claus Is
Coming to Town' wafted in
the air as children danced
and sang with their parents
keeping a hawk eye on
them.

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