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Kobi ar Kobial (Joy Goswami and Kabir Suman ...
45 min - 9 May 2008
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Joy Goswami reciting to protest Nandigram mass ...
2 min 23 sec - 17 Mar 2007
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BBC NEWS | South Asia | Mamata Banerjee's Bengal comeback
11 May 2009 ... The other reason for Mamata Banerjee's comeback has been ... the TMC won the support of a section of the Bengali middle class alongside its rural poor. Some Bengali intellectuals feel that the pressure of leading a ...
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The new divide
23 May 2009 ... Mamata Banerjee is now the rallying point for Bengal's allegedly ... A generation earlier, the Bengali intellectual was the protestor ... Even iconic film maker Satyajit Ray depended on government support for his works. ...
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Mamata Banerjee's Bengal comeback
But few in the know would deny that Mamata Banerjee is the biggest electoral ... Some Bengali intellectuals feel that the pressure of leading a people's ...
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Mamata Banerjee rewards intellectuals in West Bengal

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Same role is being played by few intellectuals and media of similar character in WB to project Mamata Banerjee as leftist and instal her as ...
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Mamata Banerjee rewards intellectuals in West Bengal - SiliconIndia

21 Aug 2009 ... Mamata Banerjee rewards intellectuals in West Bengal - Kolkata: Railway ... veteran Bengali actor Supriya Devi, painter Suvaprasanna, ...
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Singur, Tata Motors , Mamata Banerjee and People of West Bengal ...

23 Aug 2008 ... It amazed me to see intellectuals support Mamata Banerjee and her ... I heard some Bengali TV channel say that Mamata Banerjee wants Tata ...
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591 Sanjeeb Mukherjee, A glimmer of change in West Bengal
29 Sep 2008 ... Third, the Left-led Bengali middle class, especially the lower middle classes, ... In fact, it soon started losing support in urban areas; .... Mamata Banerjee left the Congress and formed the Trinamool Congress (TMC), .... A predominant section of the middle class and intellectuals who had earlier ...
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Is Mamata the 'cancer' of West Bengal? - dnaindia.com
The strong anti-Mamata Banerjee and anti-Trinamool Congress sentiment among the ... Interestingly, a group of Bengali intellectuals have already started ...
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Tehelka - India's Independent Weekly News Magazine
Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal's ubiquitous 'Didi' has already acquired the ... not unexpectedly, found an echo among those Bengali intellectuals who view .... Mamata's support base had been confined to a narrow section of the middle ...
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What Mamata Banerjee acheived through Singur "Hungama"in ...

Why all bengalis write poems which only he can understand and nobody else.Among so many intellectuals how mamata banerjee survived ? intriguing. ... do you support mamata banerjees stand regarding tatasproject in singoor? ...
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bengali intelligentsia - Palash Speaks
Interested in bengali intelligentsia? At http://palashspeaks.blog.co.uk/ you find posts and information relevant to bengali intelligentsia.
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Bengali Intelligentsia on Pay Roll! Chidambaram meets Tripura ...

21 Nov 2009 ... Bengali Intelligentsia on Pay Roll! Chidambaram meets Tripura chief minister, discusses refugee repatriation! Indian Holocaust My Father`s ...
palashspeaks.blog.co.uk/.../bengali-intelligentsia-on-pay-roll-chidambaram-meets-tripura-chief-minister-discusses-refugee-repatriation-74... - 23 hours ago -

Bengali Intelligentsia and the Politics ofRent, 1873- 885

nineteenth century Bengali bhadralok culture. The Bengali intelligentsia of ... Bengali intelligentsia in the late nineteenth century did not have a common ...
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by KKS Gupta - 1974 - Related articles

Bengali Intelligentsia's Attitudes to the Permanent Settlement

Bengali Intelligentsia's Attitudes to the Permanent Settlement. IN THIS ARTICLE, the term 'intelligentsia' is used in a typical. Bengali sense: besides the ...
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Writing Poems on Nandigaram, Revolutionary Peot Joy goswami Gets Rs Fifty Thousand Per Month, Nachiketa gets Rs Seventy- Fifty Thousand for his songs in Every Appearance!Shaonli Mitra, Bibhash Chakrabarti, Rituparno Ghosh, Rashid Khan and Arpita Ghosh , All arein the Fifty Thousand Club while Pallab Kirtynia Gets only Rs Twenty five thousand!

I have written about the Bengali Intelligentsia getting Paid last day. I have got some more details today. Joy Goswami had been as much as pet and Bonded in Ananad Bazar patrika as Sunil Gangopadhyaya, Shirshendu, Abul bashar and others could have been. Joy as an editor had to look on poetry section and he did everything to promote and demote Poets as following Suit to Sunil Gangopadhyaya best known to be launching strings of new Writers including Taslima nasrin, Sangita bandopadhyaya, tilottama Majumdar and kankabati Dutt!

Retired from Anaanda bazar group, Joy joined Civil society Uprising just after Nandigram Genocide and wrote poems on Nandigram.Well, he did write poems on gujarat genocide also. As Sunil gangopadhyaya is known to destroy Rural Bangla Foljk in Indian literature and transforming Bengali Literature in soft or Hard Porn concentrating on Metro despite his prolific Feudal writing centred on Baengali Brahaminical Literature, joy Goswami had NEVER Been Known for his social Concern or Commitment. he had never been in the close Arena onf the Marxist Cultural Scenerio as Sunil, Bibhash, Shaonli, Mrinal sen, gautam ghosh had been. Sunil later manipulated to become Sahitya Academy chairman just after ditching Mahashweta debi.Ananada Bazaar Patrika was marketing Brand Buddha at the time of Singur and nandigram and published so many things in defence of Tata Motors and NANO. Abhirup Sarkar, Dipankar Dasgupta and Vivek Debroy were all in praise for the Marxist hegemony and well Focused on by bengali Media. Dr. Amartya Sen was the only Economist who defended the Marxists. As Ananda Bazzar did the most striking turnaround, all the Bengali Band Economist hasted to become TMC tagged. Rachhpal singh and sultan Singh are the IPS officers who had been the targets of Ms Mamta Banerjee. Now not only Rachhpal and Sultan, but also Tusar Talukdar and Amiyo Samanta also joined Mamata.

Joy goswami had been writing Novels in DESH Puja Special until he left the group. All these Novels dealt with Sexual Perversion devoid of any content at all as his poetry has been!He has created a record and smashed all the records to getting Rs Fifty Thousand Permonth for Writing Nandigram Poems which had been traslated and published in other languages also and changed the image of Poet joy Goswami. but even Penguine is not known to pay such a huge Renumeration!

Arpita Ghosh had been known as the associate of Shaonli Mitra in her troupe Management. She came to lime light with animal Farm stand Off.

Bratya basu never impressed me neither in content nor in Form. Suman Mukhopadhyaya famous for herbert did look like the Promising theatre Personality beside Gautam Haldar.Bratya jumped in ime light with his anti Marxist productions like Twikle winkle and RUDDHA SANGEET. He gets Rs eight Thousand per Month from Indian Railway. he was instrumental to resolve the Kabir sumon Stand Off!

Beside monthly handsome salary, them members and cahirpersons of all the three newly Constitueted Railway Committes accomodating only Bengali Intelligentsia, have to get TA, DA as teh railway Officials get beside Meeting and allowances, AC First Class Pass with spouse or attender, car and phone!Indian railway has to pay all the Bills!

What about the Intelligentsia from Other states.

Mahashweta Debi, Sumit Sarkar, Tanima sarkar and Sunando sanyal have always been known as the Most committed soldiers of Marxist Maoist deology. We all rose up against the Genocide cultuer of the Marxist hegemony. But we had not to join the UPA Forum of Mass Slaughter.I Never know what compelled our best ICONS to tag with the Imperialist, zionsit Feudal Right Wing politics just because they want Change!

Mean while, in New Delhi,Friends and former colleagues recounted the salad days, while political leaders cutting across party lines, joined together at the India International Centre on Saturday to pay tribute to veteran journalist Prabhash Joshi, who passed away on November 5.

Thus the false Glorification Continues. Provided we defend Joshi with his hindutva Brahaminical Gandhian Cocktail, then we have to condemn raja ram Mohan roy who undermined the Brahaminical system with his reforms! better rewrite the History.

Relvantly, Joshi also joined Bengali brahaminical Intelligentsia to bring about the Change!

Joshi was the founder-editor of Jansatta in 1983, and later took up an advisory position as consulting editor. He also worked with The Indian Express as its resident editor in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Delhi.

Hailing Joshi as "the pride of Malwa", Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said: "His personality and writing mirrored each other — they were both clean and simple. He had an impeccable manner of articulation."

Confirming Joshi's reputation as an icon of Indian journalism, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan was brief in his tribute: "There are many things to say but I would just use this moment to pay homage to him."

RSS ideologue Govindacharya said, "Last time we met, he recommended me a book on Mahatma Gandhi. We were supposed to meet in January, but it was not to be."

Joshi had organised the 75th birthday celebrations for Hindi writer Namvar Singh, his lifelong friend. Today, Singh rued that he was not there to return the favour: "He promised us that he will receive our greetings when he turned 75. But he left us so soon."

MAMATA BANERJEE AND HER 'SO-CALLED' INTELLECTUALS

UNION RAILWAY MINISTER REWARDS MAOIST INTELLECTUALS

There is no denying the fact that a number of Maoist intellectuals and other opportunists in the guise of impartiality and neutrality had played a pivotal role in sabotaging industrialization at Singur, Nandigram and developmental works in West Bengal during the last three years in connivance with industrial competitors, big business houses and imperialists. They had also worked day in and day out campaigning in favour of Mamata Banerjee and her party candidates during the last Parliamentary Elections, 2009. Apart from this, they have also been supporting Maoists and instrumental in inciting criminals and antisocials to create serious problems of law and order in the state to destabilize the Left Front Government in West Bengal.

After becoming Union Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee has constituted three new Committees to reward these Maoist intellectuals and the opportunists. Under her instruction, the Railway Board under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India has issued a Government Order bearing No. ERB-1/2009/23/33 on 9th October 2009 constituting the said committees with detailed facilities.

1 Heritage and Cultural Committee under the chairpersonship of Smt. Shaoli Mitra

2 Passengers' Amenities Committee under the chairpersonship of Shri Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee

3 Passengers' Services Committee under the chairpersonship of Shri Derek-o-Brayen

The entire expenses of these committees will be borne by the Indian Railways. Each full time member of the Committee will be paid Rs. 50,000/- (Rupees Fifty Thousand) as monthly salary and each part-timer will be paid Rs. 25,000/- per month. They will be also provided with the following facilities and amenities free of cost as per the said Government Order.

· Meeting allowance @ Rs. 520/-per day

· Free 1st Class AC Railway Pass with one companion

· Travel in Executive Class by flight

· Travel on road by car to be provided by the Indian Railways

· Lodging and boarding in Class I hotel anywhere

· Free telephone with ISD/STD facilities both at residence and office

· Free Medical treatment and facilities at the cost of the Indian Railways

· TA & DA at par with railway officers

Each and every Member of the Committees can appoint his/her own Private Secretary and of peons. All of them will also be provided separate office and expenses for the same.

The Chairperson of each committee can enlarge his /her Committee by co-opting any person thought to be necessary.

The total expenditure in maintaining these three Committees comes around 50 Lakhs (Rupees Fifty Lakhs) per month.

These committees are unprecedented in the history of the Indian Railways. This is the first time that such expensive committees have been constituted at the cost of the public exchequer to accommodate sycophants and 'so-called' champions of tribals and downtrodden. These sycophants often used to raise the questions of nepotism, corruption and exploitation. But now they are most shamelessly drawing huge money from railway exchequer without performing any job.

The pseudo intellectuals Bibhas Chakraborty, theatre personality, Arpita Ghosh, theatre personality, Joy Goswami, poet, Bratya Basu, theatre personality, Pallab Kirtania, Singer, Rituparna Ghosh, film director, Ustad Rashid Khan, artist, GS Raitela, Director General, National Council of Science Museum, Ratan Thiyam, theatre personality and many others have been made their members. Rajesh Agarwal, Executive Director of Railway Board, will act as the Coordinating Officer.

The entire exercise is nothing but blatant misuse of power and public exchequer for the promotion of the interests of the sycophants and the party.

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Pallab Kirtania's songs 4
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Jogen Chowdhury - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Mahasweta Devi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mahasweta Devi (Bengali: মহাশ্বেতা দেবী Môhashsheta Debi) (born 1926 in Dhaka in what is now Bangladesh) is an Indian social activist and ...

Biography - Career - Recent Activism - Works
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Rediff On The NeT: The Rediff Interview/Mahasweta Devi
An interview with Magsaysay Award-winner, Mahasweta Devi, the Bengali novelist.
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Rediff On The NeT: Mahasweta Devi wins Magsaysay award
Mahasweta Devi, the Bengali novelist and champion of tribal communities, has won this year's Magsaysay award for journalism, literature and creative ...
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About "Mahasweta Devi" « Shashwati Talukdar
At the center of a half-century of tumultuous change, the lifetime of Mahasweta Devi has spanned the British period, Independence, and fifty years of ...
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Mahsweta Devi
Mahasweta Devi was born in 1926 in the city of Dacca in East Bengal (modern ... Born into a literary family, Mahasweta Devi was also influenced by her early ...
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SAWNET: Bookshelf: Mahasweta Devi
Mahasweta Devi started writing at a young age, and contributed short stories to various literary magazines. Her first novel, Nati, was published in 1957 ...
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India Together: Journeying with Mahasweta Devi - 14 March 2009
14 Mar 2009 ... 14 March 2009 - "I met Mahasweta-di by default. Or, should I call it destiny?" asks Joshy Joseph, director of Journeying with Mahasweta Devi ...
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The Hindu : Other States / Manipur News : Mahasweta Devi not ...
7 Nov 2009 ... IMPHAL: The noted writer Mahasweta Devi was not allowed to meet the human rights activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on fast for the last ...
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Mahasweta Devi
Mahasweta Devi (born 1926 in Dacca now known as Bangladesh) is an Indian writer. Born into a middle-class Bengali family.
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Documentary on Mahasweta Devi
9 Jan 2009 ... ScreenIndia.Com latest bollywood and hollywood news - Documentary on Mahasweta Devi.
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Nabarun Bhattacharya : Products at Indiaclub.com
NABARUN BHATTACHARYA (b 1948) writes poetry and long and short narratives. Herbert, his first novel, won him the Narsinha Das Award, Bankim Puraskar and ...
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Mamata rallies intellectuals against Left

15 Apr 2009 ... Latest news, breaking news - Mamata rallies intellectuals against Left. ... tapping her knee as a cultural band sang a Bihu song. ...
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At Esplanade, Mamata sees road to Writers'

Mamata warns of fire if intellectuals 'touched'Mamata gives a buzz to home secretary, ... seats and that too with the help of Maoists and her band of goons. ...
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At Esplanade, Mamata sees road to Writers' - Express India

22 Jul 2009 ... Responding in kind, a beaming Mamata unfolded her roadmap for the ... that she needed "support from the Congress, SUCI and intellectuals and others". ... seats and that too with the help of Maoists and her band of goons. ...
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7 Aug 2008 ... None can accuse Mamata and her band of followers of being responsible and mature. ... and his band of intellectual pretenders their wish. ...
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Will sue Buddhadeb for linking Trinamool with Maoists: Mamata

1 post - 1 author - Last post: 9 Nov
Zac Brown Band All Set To Perform At Pepsi Coliseum ... Several intellectuals like painter Subho Prasanna and singer Nachiketa walked three ...
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No evidence against intellectuals: West Bengal‎ - 6 Oct 2009
Mamata flags off Tollygunge-Garia metro, state government upset (Lead)‎ - 22 Aug 2009

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Anti-Left intellectuals ask for peace in Lalgarh

21 Jun 2009 ... LALGARH - A group of intellectuals - comprising filmmakers, ... Bashar said: "Mamata Banerjee has asked these intellectuals to go there. ..... a member of the Irish band Boyzone, died Saturday whi... http://ow.ly/15UcES ...
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25 Jun 2009 ... Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today demanded that the Centre should .... man is not able to understand why a band of intellectuals, ...
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Maoists and the Intellectuals in West Bengal | PRAGOTI
This blindness and intellectual bankruptcy on their part have found them in the company of the Maoists, Mamata Banerjee et al. From the point of view of the ...
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''The Left became monsters'' - Rediff.com Discussion Board

14 May 2009 ... All such so called intellectuals just want the left front .... left WB due to irresponsible behavior of Mamata,Mahasweta Devi(and her band ...
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Anarya Dravid Vanga Indigenous: Jai HO BABA TARAKNATH! Matua ...

Matua Mamata on Hindutva Pilgrimage Walks on Foot as Kabir Suman Revolts. ...... Our point is honest Ezhava intellectuals have failed to liberate the poor, ...
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Kolkata Police - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He was the first officer of the Indian Police (IP) in the organization and on his report the Special Branch was created. He reorganized the city police ...
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The Statesman
6 Oct 2007 ... A former police commissioner, Mr Tushar Talukdar, two former DGPs, ... Mr Gyanwant Singh and Mr Ajay Kumar, both IPS officers, ...
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The Nation: Metro Crime; Fumbling Police
20 Dec 1999 ... the rest," says former Calcutta police commissioner Tushar Talukdar. .... Again, the best investigative training is reserved for IPS ...
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India Today Offtrack [Real Life Hero]
... appeared for the Union Public Service Commission exams and became an ips officer. ... points out former Calcutta police commissioner Tushar Talukdar. ...
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22 May 2006 ... *Tushar Talukdar: Also a former Calcutta Police commissioner, ... deployment of home guards at the residences of former IPS officers has not ...
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The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Metro | Fear is the ban ...

20 Oct 2009 ... be very serious," said former police commissioner Tushar Talukdar. ... The police did too little too late," said a retired IPS officer. ...
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www.outlookindia.com | Erogenous Zones
Says former police commissioner Tushar Talukdar: "You can't ask public space ... be forced to take legal action by tracing the IP addresses of the poster. ...
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... ex-police commissioner Tushar Talukdar—condemned the police action. ... we may be forced to take legal action by tracing the IP addresses of the poster. ...
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Bengal cadre bailing out - Kolkata - City - The Times of India
9 Aug 2009 ... Former police commissioner Tushar Talukdar said: "It's a non-functioning ... confirmed receiving many applications from IAS or IPS officers. ...
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Tehelka - The People's Paper
Sunanda Sanyal, a quiet, determined writer and president of the Ganamukti Parishad, a non-political organisation of eminent people which works towards ...
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Sunanda Sanyal - Mainstream Weekly
Authors > Sunanda Sanyal. Sunanda Sanyal. This author's articles (2). Deterrence, CPM-Style · In the Wake of Nandigram. Sections ...
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May Month Articles
by Sunanda Sanyal; Every child in West Bengal, aged over 10, has immediate perception of vote fraud. Come an election, the CPI-M's "motorbike brigade" ...
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Sunanda K Sanyal | Facebook
Sunanda K Sanyal is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Sunanda K Sanyal and others you may know. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes ...
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Sunanda Sanyal (Syracuse, NY) is on Facebook. Join Facebook to connect with Sunanda Sanyal (Syracuse, NY) and others you may know. Facebook gives people the ...
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Head and Tales: Adornments from Africa
Journal article by Sunanda K. Sanyal; African Arts, Vol. .... SUNANDA K. SANYAL is Assistant Professor of Art History at the Art Institute of Boston at ...
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African cultures, visual arts, and the museum: sights/sites of ... - Google Books Result

by Tobias Döring - 2002 - Art - 288 pages
SUNANDA K. SANYAL ... SUNANDA ...
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Sunanda K. Sanyal | Find Articles at BNET
Not only was institutional art training introduced in the African colonies... African Arts, 06/22/04 by Sunanda K. Sanyal · More from publication ...
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11 May 2007 ... Free Articles by Sunanda Sanyal on ArticlesBase.com, submit your own articles just like this author. ...
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Five-State Fight Agrees Professor Sunanda Sanyal Rediff.com

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Jyotirmoy Pal Chaudhuri, M.A. (Cal); Ph.D. (Birmingham) Director ...
... M.A.(Cal) Amiya Kumar Samanta, IPS (Retd); Ph.D. (Cal) Anindya Majumdar, M.A.; Ph.D. (JNU) Anish Chatterjee, M.A.; Ph.D. (Cal) Asit Ranjan Bandopadhyay, ...
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Top Bengal cops line up for tips from Steeplechase veterans ...

16 Oct 2009 ... "I remember Amiya Samanta, an IPS officer who got engaged in the development of areas dominated by Adivasis in Bankura and then undivided ...
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MARXIST STRATEGY against PROLETARIAT and final cataclysmic ...
19 Mar 2009 ... IPS AMIYA SAMANTA was the GESTAPO HEAD entrusted to evacuation. SAMANTA executed the PARTY RESULOTION and FED THE ROYAL BENGAL TIGERS with ...
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South Asia and the US: forward presence/I.P. Khosla. 10. ... Some trends in the northeast insurgency and the Naxalite movement/Amiya K. Samanta. 25. ...
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www.outlookindia.com | Brute Force
As Amiya Samanta, former state intelligence chief, puts it, .... we may be forced to take legal action by tracing the IP addresses of the poster. ...
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Nuke-Capable Agni-II to be Tested Tonight

India is likely to test its nuclear capable Agni-II Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) for the first time during night, defence officials said here today.

The trial is expected to be conducted from the Wheelers Island off Orissa coast tomorrow, they said.

"Range integration work in Integrated Test Range (ITR) for the proposed trial has been completed and if final check-up in the sub-system of the missile is found flawless, the mission will be taken up tomorrow," the officials said.

A special 'strategic forces team' raised by the Army would conduct the trial with necessary logistic support by various ITR laboratories and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists.

The indigenously built weapon is a two-stage solid propelled ballistic missile and has a weight of 17 tonnes and length of 20 metres. It can carry a payload of one tonne over a distance of 2,000 km.

Agni-II was developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other DRDO laboratories and integrated with Bharat Dynamics Ltd, Hyderabad with the private sector participating in a big way in its production.

The missile is part of the Agni series which included Agni-I (700 km range) and Agni-III (3,500 km range). Agni-I was already inducted and Agni-III is in the process of induction, the officials added.

Crorepati MPs Double in LS: ADR

Crorepati MPs Double in LS: ADR

New Delhi \| Nov 22, 2009	PRINT	SHARE	COMMENTS

The number of MPs with assets worth over Rs one crore has doubled in the present Lok Sabha compared to the preceding one as the average worth of assets of an MP has nearly tripled, a report has said.

The number of crorepati MPs has increased from 156 in 2004 to 315 in 2009, while the average worth of assets of an MP in the Lower House has gone up from Rs 1.86 crore to Rs 5.33 crore in the last five years, said the report compiled by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The report, which has been prepared on the basis of affidavits filed by the MPs during elections, said there has been a huge increase in the worth of the assets of the 304 MPs of last Lok Sabha who contested the polls in 2009 also.

The average worth of assets of these MPs was Rs 1.92 crore in 2004. But in 2009, the average worth of assets of these leaders increased to Rs 4.8 crore, marking an increase of Rs 2.9 crore, the report said.

About 20 per cent members in the present Lok Sabha have assets worth over Rs five crore each. The number of members having assets worth between Rs 50 lakh to Rs five crore is 294, accounting for more than 50 per cent of total strength.

The number of MPs in Lok Sabha with assets worth less than Rs 10 lakh is only 17, the report said.

Sugarcane Issue Stalls Parliament for Second Day

Parliament was rocked for the second day today over the new sugarcane pricing policy with a united opposition mounting further pressure on the government to withdraw the controversial Ordinance that saw massive farmers' protests yesterday.

It was trouble from the word go in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as opposition parties closed ranks to take on the government which has convened an all-party meeting on Monday to hammer out a solution.

"Withdraw the black order", "Take back anti-farmers' ordinance," shouted members of BJP and SP who stormed the well in both Houses.

The agitated opposition was protesting against Sugar Control (Amendment) Order, which fixes a uniform Central Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for sugarcane growers. Anything over and above the FRP will have to be borne by the states unlike in the past when the burden was to be taken by the mills.

Besides the new pricing policy, the farmers especially in Uttar Pradesh are demanding hike in cane prices because they feel the industry is making huge profits as sugar is selling at Rs 40 a kg.

Members of RLD and BJD were also in the well in the Lok Sabha, while members of almost the entire opposition were on their feet in support of the demand.

Both the Houses witnessed adjournments soon after they met for the day.

The Rajya Sabha was forced to call it a day after two adjournments while the Lok Sabha after one adjournment.

In the din, Speaker Meira Kumar in the Lok Sabha and Chairman Hamid Ansari in the Rajya Sabha ordered tabling of listed papers including statement of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora in the Lower House on the recent fire incident in the IOC depot in Jaipur.

BJP members Varun Gandhi, Gopinath Munde and SP's Dharmendra Yadav were among those who stormed the well in the Lok Sabha.

Sudheendra Joins High-Level Railway Committee

New Delhi | Aug 26, 2009

Sudheendhra Kulkarni, former political aide to senior BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, has joined a key committee of the Railway ministry.

"I joined the committee 3-4 weeks back," Kulkarni said over phone.

Kulkarni, who dissociated himself from BJP on Saturday citing ideological differences, on Wednesday, said he had joined a committee appointed by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.

He clarified that he was not joining any political party and would not be associated with Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

The high level committee, headed by FICCI general secretary Amit Mitra, was constituted to "recommend to the minister innovative ways of financing and implementing railway projects for expansion and modernisation".

It would also explore ways of inviting private investment to Railways through public-private partnership.

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Banerjee spells out road map for delayed, new railway projects

The committee, headed by Amit Mitra, suggested, among other things, detailed time frames for each project, while also proposing a relook at projects that had been stalled for various reasons

Rahul Chandran and Liz Mathew

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New Delhi: Apparently stung by criticism that her absence from cabinet meetings suggested that she was neglecting her ministry, railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday set out a road map for her budget day announcements as well as for long-pending expansion and modernization projects.

Banerjee said an expert committee on financing—which she constituted after she took over charge in May this year—had submitted its initial report.

Clearing the air: Mamta Banerjee said on Monday that an expert committee on financing had submitted its initial report. Ramesh Pathania / Mint.

The committee, headed by Amit Mitra, secretary general, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, or Ficci, suggested, among other things, detailed time frames for each project, while also proposing a relook at projects that had been stalled for various reasons.

The expert committee said 12 of the 64 planned multifunctional complexes—Rampurhat, Bardhaman and Digha in West Bengal, Alappuzha in Kerala, Raipur in Chhattisgarh, Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, Madurai, Hardwar, Jammu, Udaipur, Mysore and Indore—could be completed within the next six months. Land for these projects, which is to be developed by the railways itself, has already been handed over for construction.

Mitra said the railways should revisit the plans for the modernization of the New Delhi railway station.

"We have suggested that the Railway minister look at the optimal size world-class station rather than a maximal size station, which the local area can absorb," he said.

Plans for the station had been stalled by disagreements with several local agencies including the Delhi Police and the Delhi Development Authority.

The committee has also suggested setting up of greenfield stations—in Anand Vihar and Bijwasan in Delhi, Bhopal and Abidganj in Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh, Byappanahalli in Bangalore, Chitpur and Majerhat in West Bengal.

This is apart from the 50 world-class stations Banerjee announced in her budget speech in July this year.

Mitra said strict time frames had been set for the projects, with master plans and feasibility reports for some projects to be submitted by end of October and construction to be as early as December this year.

Saying that the railways' infrastructure projects had been divided into several phases, Banerjee said the committee would continue to provide recommendations in the future.

The railways has also sent its recommendations on the proposed dedicated freight corridor to the Union cabinet for consideration.

Banerjee, leader of the Trinamool Congress, a crucial ally of the ruling Congress in the United Progressive Alliance, had been criticized in the media for missing seven of 12 cabinet meetings including one in which a major railway project was expected to be taken up.

"This is not fair," Banerjee said referring to the criticism. "I am not a Delhi-based politician and I have other commitments too. I need not be present in all the cabinet meetings," the minister said.

http://www.livemint.com/2009/09/14221345/Banerjee-spells-out-road-map-f.html

Railway Minister constitutes expert committee

New Delhi (PTI): Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday constituted an expert committee under the chairmanship of FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra for developing innovative funding techniques for the Railways through PPP mode and a vision document 2020.

The 16-member committee has been asked to start offering recommendations within fifteen days of its first meeting, said an official release.

She had announced the formation of this committee in her Budget speech earlier this month.

The expert committee has been specifically asked to consider developing business models of the Delhi–Mumbai industrial corridor and utilising railway land bank along the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor for starting projects in rolling stock production.

Besides, it has been asked to advice on private-public participation in setting up the new coach factory at Kanchrappara – Halisahar Railway complex and setting up of a 1000 MW power plant at Adra in collaboration with the NTPC, the release said.

Comprising members from the Railway Board, industry, and retired bureaucrats among others, it will also review the status of progress of ongoing activities undertaken by the Railways.

Further, it will give views on assembly facilities and coach rehabilitation at Dankuni-Majerhat-Nowpara section and consider the best way for developing world class stations and multi functional complexes, the release added.

http://www.newstin.co.in/rel/in/en-010-016613277

Pass ya fail, Mamata Banerjee will tell

Sumanta Ray Chaudhuri & Madhumita Mookerji / DNA

Thursday, August 27, 2009 1:39 IST

Kolkata: Railways minister Mamata Banerjee continues to raise eyebrows, be it with her selective felicitation of celebrities at the 54th Railway Week National Awards ceremony in Kolkata last week or her decision to grant them life-time free first class railways passes.

Almost all the celebrities who were felicitated had backed Mamata and openly called for change in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha election. They include Gyanpith award-winning writer and social worker Mahashweta Devi, painters Suvaprasanna and Yogen Chowdhury, theatre personality Bivas Chakrabarty, poet Joy Goswami and singer Pratul Mukhopadhyay.

It was surprising to see actor Soumitra Chattopadhyay, directors Mrinal Sen and Gautam Ghosh, magician PC Sarkar (junior) and singers Sandhya Mukhopadhyay and Arati Mukhopadhyay being ignored.

Considering that Mamata always accused the CPI(M) of making divisions among intellectuals, one might as well accuse her of doing the same this time. However, the Trinamool is not willing to take such criticisms seriously. "It is the CPI(M) and state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who always distinguishes between 'we' and 'them'. And now they are spreading canards about us," a Trinamool spokesman said.

As regards giving life-time free passes to celebrities, critics wonder if Mamata can really give such passes to a select few, unless their financial condition is such that they cannot afford travelling expenses. A Trinamool spokesperson said these free passes are nothing compared to the number of free rail passes Mamata's predecessor Lalu Prasad had instituted. During Lalu's tenure, an ex-minister plus four could travel free. Mamata Banerjee has done away with that. "Those free passes have now become Gold passes for Bengal's intellectuals," the party spokesperson said.

However, Mamata is trying to institute such passes for intellectuals elsewhere in the country too. It is possible that the intellectuals would be honoured wherever a rail week is held in the country.

The Gold rail passes are valid for life or 25 years and the pass owners can travel for free anywhere in the country by AC First Class as many times as they desire.
But the Trinamool source said, "This is just an honour. The people who have been awarded these passes will, at most, travel by train only once a year and that too at their own expense."

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_pass-ya-fail-mamata-banerjee-will-tell_1285413

Goat and the Bengali Intelligentsia

Posted in: The Americas, Meat & Poultry
By nynjbengali.com
Sep 11, 2009 - 8:44:04 AM

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The intelligentsia (as defined by Wikipedia) is a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them. You can very well attribute this term to the Bengali society who fits this definition quite well. But what does a timid and herbivorous (although Bengalis think goats to be omnivorous - chhagole ki na khay) mammal like goat got to do with this elite group of people? The answer to this is well known to all of us - Bengalis love goat meat. Although in other parts of the World, goat milk

and milk products (cheese) are also extremely popular, but we the Bengalis don't care much about the milk. It is the meat that is most important to us - the ultimate food in any Bengali plate. Historically, goat meat is the only kind of meat that Bengalis (especially the Hindu Bengalis) ate. Goats were the most popular offerings to Goddess Kali and Durga - and the meat then cooked in a recipe void of any garlic or onions and hence termed as "vegetarian meat".

But Bengalis hardly ever use the term "goat meat". "Panthar Mangsho" or "Khashir mangsho" or the anglicized version "mutton" were the popular terms. In Bengal (West Bengal to be more specific) it is a sacrilege to slaughter a "she goat". Hence, the male goats or "Pantha" or the neutered male goat or "Khashi" were the unfortunate ones. If some inscrupulous butcher tried to sneak in a female goat and got caught by the "intelligentsia", he would be severely punished and his business would be ruined for ever.

Bengalis have invented several goat recipes and sometimes have cleverly adapted many other meat dishes. Although goat and lamb are sometimes used interchangeably in culinary circles, Bengalis detest lamb

meat. Lamb meat, although treated as a delicacy in many parts of the world, is hardly sold in Bengal. When a Bengali serves goat meat, he/she makes it absolutely clear that the meat you eat is goat and goat only. In America, goat meat is not popular amongst mainstream Americans. Hence most Indian restaurants will not advertize goat on their menu. They'll call it lamb - lamb curry, lamb biriyani etc.

A Bengali's love for goat meat is legendary. In Kolkata (or for that matter any town in West Bengal), Bengali babus queue up in front of their local meat shops

. The traditional Sunday lunch of goat and potato stew with fine white rice followed by a nap is the highest point of luxury in a Bengali's life. Just the words "Kosha Mangsho" (spicy fried goat meat) and "Parota" is like music to Bengali ears. No dinner party or celebration is complete without goat meat.

In this country (USA) we, the Bengalis, try hard to hold on to our culture and traditions. Hence goat meat is an integral part of that effort. Goat meat is not sold in most American butcher shops, but that is hardly an impediment. We travel miles to find a "Indo-Pak Halal" meat shop to get our quota of red meat. Goat meat is a must at any weekend party. Since cooking goat meat is kind of a long term project, we prefer if someone else cooks it for us. Hence the demand for invitations to goat meat parties is extremely high. A persons popularity in this community is judged by the number of goat meat parties he/she is invited to. Hence, no Bengali would sacrifice a goat meat party invitation. Attendance is a must at any cost. Another way to become popular is to invite folks to your goat meat party. Since you are assured of a high attendance, a few calculated parties can catapult your popularity poll numbers to ensure a seat at your local Bengali club committee. Goat meat parties dominate over any other events – be it a musical concert, or a theatrical show, or a literary gathering. Once a frustrated Bengali play director lamented during a rehearsal that was scheduled on a weekend evening, "I give up! I just cannot compete with goat!" The Bengali intelligentsia cannot function properly without goat. People seem to have a wrong notion that the Bengalis can kill for a meal of fish curry and rice! But they are wrong – goat rules the Bengali palate!

http://www.halalfocus.com/artman2/publish/the-americas/Goat_and_the_Bengali_Intelligentsia.shtml

Award/Grant Name: THE BENGALI INTELLIGENTSIA IN THE 19TH CENTURY: A HISTORY OF MENTALITY
Award/Grant Holder: Dr T Raychaudhuri
Start Date: 01/03/1988	End Date: 30/04/1990
Award/Grant Description

The vast changes in the social, political and economic life of Asia in the nineteenth century were mediated by a profound alteration in the mental world of the Asian elites, especially the intelligentsia. Their world-view, expectations from life and even their emotional responses were reshaped by the challenge of Europes dominance, encounter with the western civilisation and absorption into an international economy. The Bengali intelligentsia, the first sizeable social group in Asia to come into close contact with a European nation, were also the first to experience such a revolution in their mental world. This research project aims to reconstruct that process of transformation, the changes in outlook, concerns, attitudes and sensibilities and trace the sources of that change. Memoirs, biographies, letters didactic works, newspapers, fiction, ephemera and relics of the changing life-style will be explored to identify the new concerns and responses in many areas of life, intra- family and intra- personal relationships, perceptions of the individuals obligations to society and state, religions and cultural sensibilities and the image of the good life. The nexus between these altered attitudes and new patterns of social(including political) action will be analysed to establish how the efforts at innovation were informed by the quiet revolution in mentality.

http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/ViewAwardPage.aspx?data=z8HSvl3fWwVY2sDo4JNP8iOLJQdQnq85xFaxyg3u19HPhGXqbRQC2FjO1myNXkCYNqq8ExvI%2BlbdwA%2BS5pfJLW3V%2FG5nsrjETcGEW5ZWgCA%3D&xu=0&isAwardHolder=&isProfiled=&AwardHolderID=&Sector=

Mamata pays Tollywood in kind: A film city on rly land

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Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay

Posted: Oct 20, 2009 at 0443 hrs IST

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Kolkata After introducing a number of new trains, extending Metro Railway and modernising the Railway Sports Complex at Behala, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has now turned her generosity to Tollywood, which backed her during the Lok Sabha polls and in the string of rallies and programmes she held after that.

The Railways now plans to build a state-of-the-art film city on a 22-acre plot owned by it at Howrah, which will be thrown open to filmmakers on a commercial basis.

The land abuts the Hooghly and has all the ingredients needed for a film city — a small forest, dilapidated buildings and abandoned railway tracks. The land has been selected by the Heritage Committee of the Railways. Led by chairperson Saonli Mitra, the committee had visited the place twice.

"At present, filmmakers from Tollywood go to Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad or the film cities at Mumbai or Chennai. If we offer the facilities here in Kolkata, they do not have to go outside. And it will also serve as a source of revenue for the Railways," Mitra told The Indian Express.

The Committee will finalise the project at its meeting scheduled for October 21. "We will take the advice of Rituporno Ghosh, who is also a member of the Heritage Committee," Mitra said.

Other members of the committee include theatre personalities Bibhas Charaborty and Arpita Ghosh, and vocalist Ustad Rashid Khan, among others.

The Heritage Committee has other plans in the field of culture. While it is planning to set up a theatre academy, also at Howrah, it also has on mind a music academy to be headed by Ustad Rashid Khan.

"There are several documentary films made on our national leaders and other eminent Indians. We plan to screen these films at railway stations for passengers. We are also working on the upgrading of railway museums in different cities," Mitra added.

Banerjee, meanwhile, said she wanted to explore the full potential of the Railways to showcase the culture and tradition associated with it. "I have constituted these committees (the other two are the Passenger Amenities Committee headed by artist Suvaprasanna, and the Passenger Services Committee, headed by quizmaster Derek O' Brien) with an aim to increase passenger comfort and better the e-services. And I have given them a free hand," the railway minister told The Indian Express.

She said the details on the film city is being finalised by the Heritage Committee. "I have told them that the Railways should reflect on the local culture and tradition."

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/mamata-pays-tollywood-in-kind-a-film-city-on-rly-land/530845/

http://www.taratv.com/national.php?task=full&newsid=8040

Report of Railway's Expert Committee
   Rajya Sabha, November 20, 2009 (PIB) :The first set of recommendations of the Expert Committee headed by Dr. Amit Mitra has been received. These recommendations inter alia relate to setting up of multi-functional complexes across Indian Railways by bringing in appropriate Private Equity, development of world class stations over Indian Railways through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, and setting up of locomotive and rail coach factories through Joint Venture/Private Equity models. Recommendations of the Expert Committee have been accepted and action for the implementation of the same has been initiated.
This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Shri E. Ahamed in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
   Railways launch new timetable
   PATNA, November 16, 2009: The railways has launched its new timetable with effect from November 1 to fulfil the needs of people across the country. The new timetable mentions each new train either introduced or likely to be introduced in each railway zone in the current fiscal. According to a Railway Board official, the new timetable has special colour coding system for each class of passengers for different class and trains.
The Board official maintained that while pink has been chosen for Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Jan Shatabdi, Garib Rath and Duronto Express, yellow is the colour for other superfast trains. The blue and white colours have been chosen for other mail and express trains.
   Train derails near Jaipur; 6 dead, 21 injured
Jaipur, November 14, 2009: Six people were killed and 21 injured after the Mandore Express, travelling between Jodhpur and Delhi, crashed at a village near Jaipur early on Saturday morning. All 15 bogeys, including five AC coaches, seven sleeper and three general compartments, of the train were derailed. Four bogies were badly damaged including an AC sleeper coach where rail tracks pierced into the coach. Over 400 railway personnel are now working on a war footing to restore the track on the section of North Western railway.The Railways have ordered an enquiry into the reasons for the accident, the third major rail mishap in the past one month.
   Railways' Jan Ahar outlets at stations soon
   New Jalpaiguri, November 11, 2009: To provide food to passengers at reasonable rates, Indian Railways is launching special outlets in stations across the country. To begin with, four Jan Ahar outlets are going to be operational at Howrah, Bangalore, Chennai and Secunderabad stations this month. Seven more will be launched at different stations, including Patna, New Jalpaiguri, Lucknow and Mysore next month. An initiative of the Railway Passenger Services Committee, the food prices at the Jan Ahar outlets will be in the range of Rs 10 to Rs 35.
"These outlets will not be outsourced to private contractors. It will be run by IRCTC itself under the strict monitoring of the committee," said Derek O'brien, chairman of the passenger services committee. The committee was constituted by railway minister Mamata Banerjee to suggest ways for improving food service at stations and trains as there were A large number of complaints against the quality of the food available. Source: Rediff.com
   Railways posts 8 per cent growth in earnings
   New Delhi, November 9, 2009 (PTI): Indian Railways have posted a eight per cent growth in earnings between April and October this year as compared to the same period last year, thanks to robust growth witnessed in freight and passenger sectors. The total approximate earnings between April and October stood at Rs 48,322.23 crore compared to Rs 44,614.15 crore during the same period last year, thereby showing an increase of 8.31 per cent, said a Railways spokesperson. Of this, he said total goods earnings went up to Rs 32,452.79 crore and passenger revenue earnings went up to Rs 13,626.74 crore.
   The revenue earnings from other departments was Rs 1317.72 crore during this period, the spokesperson said. In this period, 4318.23 million passengers bought tickets compared to 4119.89
million during the same period last year. Similarly, in the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the numbers of passengers booked during April-October 2009 was 2216.08 million and 2102
   Yuva trains to have double decker AC coaches
   New Delhi, November 8, 2009 (PTI): With a view to cater to the needs of students in the country, Indian Railways is planning to introduce AC double decker coaches in the new 'Yuva' trains, which would run at the speed of 150 km per hour. Preparations are afoot to start the Howrah-New Delhi Yuva Express and Bandra Terminus-Hazrat Nizamuddin Yuva Express shortly on a pilot basis, said a senior Rail Ministry official. While the Howrah Yuva will leave from New Delhi station at 4.10 pm on Sunday and arrive in Howrah the next day at 10.40 am, the Mumbai Yuva will depart from Nizamuddin station on Saturday at 3.50 pm and reach Bandra Terminus the next day at 8.20 am. The modalities of the Yuva train are being worked out, he said.
   Express train kills six near Delhi
   Delhi, November 4, 2009: Six people were run over by a passenger train while trying to cross a railway track near Delhi. The accident, involving the Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express, took place in the town of Pataudi, rail officials said. The train's engine failed due to the impact and it came to a halt. Angry locals then protested, surrounding the train and demanding compensation. According to reports, the protesters dispersed after the government of the northern state of Haryana agreed to pay 500,000 rupees each to the families of the dead.
   Indian Railways mulls on adding exclusive luxury coaches
   Mumbai, November 03, 2009: (IANS) Indian Railways is mulling over a plan to attract foreign tourists by adding exclusive luxury coaches to all its major trains. As per an official from the Indian Railways, the Public Amenities Committee (PAC) recently recommended that exclusive 'specially designed coaches' be added to trains for the benefit of foreign tourists. On the Committee's proposal, many domestic travellers feel that the ability to pay, and not the nationality, should determine who is taken on board. However, the Committee's recommendations are not final.
   In order to attract foreign travellers, the select coaches will be designed to have more leg room, better designed seats and toilets, wider sleeping berths and aesthetic interiors. Tourists can currently enjoy lavish facilities only on board Palace On Wheels, Deccan Odyssey, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Fairy Queen and The Golden Chariot - all luxury tourist trains run by the Indian Railway Tourism and Catering Corporation (IRCTC).
   Fire diverts trains at Jaipur
JAIPUR, November 1, 2009: Passengers at Jaipur railway station had to face a tough time after three trains were cancelled and eight others were diverted to different routes due to the fire at IOC's Sitapura depot. Major trouble was faced by the Sawai Madhopur-bound passengers as the railway authorities declared the services on Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur section would remain suspended till further orders. Public relation officer, NWR, Jaipur said the trains cancelled include Bayana-Jaipur Passenger (Train No. 195/1769), Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur Holiday Special (0993) and Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur Holiday Special (0994).
   Indian Railways to connect Bhutan, Bangladesh
   Cooch Behar (WB), October 29, 2009 (PTI): Indian Railways would connect Bhutan with Sikkim and Bangladesh through north Bengal, Railway minister Mamata Banerjee said today. One survey for the Bhutan project was complete and three other surveys were now on for it, the minister, who will lay the foundation stone of the Rs-1,335 crore Sevoke-Rangpo railway project to connect Sikkim with rest of the country tomorrow, told newsmen here. "Tomorrow, we will begin a historic project to connect Sikkim with the rest of the country," she said.
   Location survey tender for the 52.7 km Sevoke-Rangpo railway project has been floated and Rs 10 crore allotted for it in this year's railway budget. The project is scheduled for completion by 2015. Stating that the project on doubling of railway tracks between Changrabandha-Malbazar was on, she said it would help Bhutan in freight movement.
   Detention of the Rajdhani Express and taking its two drivers hostage
   Kolkata, October 28, 2009 : The detention of the New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express and taking its two drivers "hostage" leading to a five-hour crisis today was carefully planned by the Naxals, a senior security official claimed. "This is not a sudden reaction by agitators but was very carefully planned with
25 armed Naxals guiding the agitators to block the tracks forcing the Rajdhani to halt at Banstala halt in West Midnapore district," the senior CRPF officer, who was involved in anti-Naxal operations in West Midnapore district, said.
   Around 2,000 supporters of the People's Committee Against Police Atrocities gathered at Pirakati just beside Banstala on the instruction of Naxals, he said. At around 1400 hrs IST, the agitators stopped a goods train blocking the down line. Forty-five minutes later when the Rajdhani Express came into sight, they waved red flags.
   A technology to harness wind pressure by a moving train
   NAGPUR, October 25, 2009: A city-based entrepreneur claims to have developed a technology to harness wind pressure generated by a moving train and convert it into electricity. Santosh Pradhan, who has even obtained 22 national and international patents for the concept, is sure that his eco- friendly way of generating power was the answer to country's electricity crisis and to global warming.
"The technique has the potential to generate 14.81 lakh megawatt (MW) power in India alone, with its 63,000 route kilometres of railways and 14,300 trains operating every day," said Pradhan. A CEO
of an engineering company which is a vendor of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited (M&M), Pradhan says his calculations show that every single kilometre of the network of the Indian Railways can generate 20.89 MW of power every day. "In fact, nearly 10,000 MW of electricity can be generated in Mumbai alone, on the suburban train network of the metropolis," he said.
"Wind pressure is created on the front surface of the engine of a moving train. This pressure can be harnessed using a system of turbo-chargers and impellers to generate a huge quantity of compressed air. A system of pipes and impellers can transmit this compressed air to the roof of the train. From there, it can be transferred to a matching system of impellers and pipes suspended from the fixtures of the overhead equipment above the track," Pradhan explained. The Times of India

    Mamata to seek CBI enquiry into train collision
    Mathura, October 22, 2009 (PTI): With conflicting reports on the cause of the train accident near here, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to go for a CBI enquiry into the mishap. "Realising the gravity of the accident, I have decided that it is better to go for a CBI probe," Bannerjee told reporters last night during a visit to the site of the accident involving Goa Samparkranti Express and Mewar Express.
   22 killed as one train rams into another in Mathura
   Mathura, October 21, 2009 (PTI): At least 22 people were killed and as many injured when Delhi- bound Goa Express rammed into stationary Mewar Express near here early today. The Goa Express hit the Udaipur city-Hazrat Nizamuddin Mewar Express from behind between Mathura and Vrindavan at around 4.30 AM, apparently after its driver ignored signal, railway officials said.
   At least 22 people, including the guard of Mewar Express and two staff members of the pantry car of Goa Express, were killed and 22 others injured, they said. The unreserved compartment, which was a second class cum luggage rake at the end of the Mewar Express, bore the maximum brunt of the accident. The pantry car of the Goa Express was also damaged. Senior Superintendent of Police of Mathura, B D Paulson, said 18 people were rescued from the coach which was packed with women passengers and children.
   Luxury trains to add a new dimension to India's tourism
   NEW DELHI, October 19, 2009: Luxury trains will add a new dimension to the country's tourism landscape when two such trains with private participation are launched in the next three months, charging up to Rs 3.7 lakh per person in a presidential suite for a week's travel. Travel firms Thomas Cook's subsidiary Travel Corporation (India) and Cox & Kings will soon launch luxury trains on the tourist circuits of the country.
   Travel Corporation (India) will launch The Indian Maharaja-Deccan Odyssey, the country's first privately-operated luxury tourist train, on November 18 from Mumbai on a seven night-eight day trip on
Mumbai-Aurangabad-Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur-Bharatpur-Agra-Delhi circuit. The itinerary includes visit to Ellora Temple Caves, Ajanta Caves, City Palace, Lake Pichola, Jag Mandir Palace, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and National Park, Taj Mahal and Agra Fort.
   The Indian Maharaja's in-house hospitality will be managed by Taj Hotels and Resorts. The 21-coach Deccan Odyssey — which is owned by Maharashtra Tourism and has been leased by the travel firm — can accommodate 96 passengers.
   The luxury train offers Silver Class at $525 per person per night on twin-sharing basis, Platinum Class at $950 per person on twin-sharing basis that offers luxury of the presidential suite, and single occupancy with tariff up to $1,120 (Rs 53,000) per person per night. Thomas Cook claims to have booked 70% of its inventory through 16 departures for the winter season starting November 18. Rival Cox & Kings is rolling out its luxury train in a tie up with the Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corp (IRCTC) in January next year. News-The Economic Times
   Railways to build links with Nepal & Bhutan to counter China
   PATNA, October 17, 2009: Indian Railways has chalked out a comprehensive plan to build rail links with Nepal and Bhutan in an apparent bid to counter the recent Chinese move to build rail links in South Asia. The Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) has been asked to submit a feasibility report on this soon. According to a Railway Board official, the railways has taken a serious note of the fact that China has been building a 1,956-kilometre-long rail route connecting Qinghai province and Tibet with Kathmandu across the Tibetan plateau.
   Besides, China intends to build an internal railway network in Nepal linking it to Pakistan via the Karakoram Highway and Bangladesh via Myanmar. Indian Railways proposes to build six rail links with Nepal and three with Bhutan on a priority basis, he said. - The Times of India
   Railways could soon have its own dedicated TV channel
   New Delhi, October 15, 2009 (PTI): Indian Railways could soon have its own dedicated television channel, broadcasting passenger related information and highlighting various other facets of the PSU behemoth, if the suggestion of a railway committee is accepted.
"The channel could be run on the lines of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha channels and content developed to bring out various facets of Indian Railways," the Passenger Amenities Committee of Railways has recommended. It said the channel should also act as a medium in promoting tourism and culture across the country and bring out programmes in association with tourism departments and tour operators. Its recommendations are being currently studied by the Railway Board.
   The six-member committee, which met in Kolkata recently, has also suggested slashing the price of Railways own brand of bottled water 'Rail Neer' from Rs 12 per bottle to make it more affordable to the masses.
AIDS patients yet to get 75% concession on train tickets
BANGALORE, October 13, 2009: The Indian Railways will now call HIV/AIDS patients as "people with immune deficiency". Following a Supreme Court order recently, the railway ministry mulled over giving 75% concession in some classes of tickets for HIV positive and AIDS patients. Currently, patients suffering from cancer, thalassemia, haemophilia, heart and kidney conditions and mental illnesses are eligible for up to 75% concession in all classes of tickets.
Booking rail tickets on mobile postponed further
  MUMBAI, October 12, 2009: The Indian Railways ' mobile ticket scheme, which has already been delayed for almost a year now, is likely to be postponed further. Once launched, this scheme—the first of its kind—will come as a boon for suburban commuters, who will no longer have to wait in queues to buy tickets. They can purchase their passes simply by sending a text message from their cellphones. According to a source, the railway board approved of the scheme in December and it was supposed to be launched on the Western Railway (WR) at the end of this month. However , it will now take more time as the mandatory clearance from the RBI has not come in yet.
   Railway revenue earnings up by 6.65 per cent
   Ministry of Railways, October 07, 2009: The total approximate earnings of Indian Railways on
originating basis during 1st April – 30th September 2009 were Rs. 40910.49 crore compared to Rs. 38358.16 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 6.65 per cent.
   The total goods earnings have gone up from Rs. 26106.68 crore during 1st April – 30th September 2008 to Rs. 27631.32 crore during 1st April – 30th September, an increase of 5.84 per cent.
   The total passenger revenue earnings during first six months of the financial year 2009-10 were Rs. 11573.91 crore compared to Rs. 10755.10 crore during the same period last year, registering an increase of 7.61 per cent.
   The revenue earnings from other coaching amounted to Rs. 1115.81 crore during April-September 2009 compared to Rs. 956.97 crore during the same period last year, an increase of 16.60 per cent. The total approximate numbers of passengers booked during April- September 2009 were 3685.03 million compared to 3526.31 million during the same period last year, showing an increase of 4.50 per cent. In the suburban and non-suburban sectors, the numbers of passengers booked during April- September 2009 were 1888.51 million and 1796.52 million compared to 1879.87 million and 1646.44 million during the same period last year, an increase of 0.46 per cent and 9.12 per cent respectively.
   West Bengal gets new hills-to-coast train
   Siliguri (West Bengal), October 4, 2009 (IANS) Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday announced a new train service between this northern West Bengal town and the coastal tourist destination of Digha in East Midnapore from Monday. 'We'll flag off a new train from Siliguri to Digha tomorrow (Monday), which will connect two tourist spots of the state. The train service will enhance
connectivity between the hills and the coastal tourism belt in the state,' Banerjee said while laying the foundation stone of a multifunctional complex at Siliguri railway station.
   'We also have plans to run small rail buses from Siliguri to Bagdogra station. A railway museum will also be set up at Cooch Behar soon,' she said, spelling out other plans of her ministry. Banerjee flagged off a super-fast train from New Jalpaiguri to Sealdah that will run thrice a week.
   'Science Express' train will travel to 55 locations
   Ministry of Railways: October 03, 2009: The Phase-III of the 'Science Express' which was inaugurated by Chairman, Railway Board Shri S. S. Khurana on 2 October 2009 at Gandhinagar will travel to 55 locations, mostly not covered earlier, covering about 18,000 kms in seven months of its journey. It is covering the entire length and breadth of the country. At each of the locations, it would halt for 3-5 days, during which students and general public would visit the exhibition. The 55 locations will include Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Madgaon, Hubli, Bangalore Cantt. Mysore, Calicut, Thirvanthapuram, Salem Town, Balasur, Dimapur, Darbhanga, Chhapra, Amethi, Jammu Tawi, Kapurthala, Delhi Cantt, Agra Cantt, Jhansi and Ujain.
   The sparkling white fully air conditioned train with 16 coaches was custom made and specially fabricated at Rail Coach Factory Kapurthala. In the first two completed phases of the run, the train was successfully taken to 108 stations of the country.
No tatkal schemes or concessions for Duronto trains
Mumbai, October 01, 2009 (PTI): The Indian Railways have decided not to offer tickets for Duronto trains under the Tatkal scheme and have also kept aside various concessions. Concessions on tickets will not be available under the scheme for patients, students, artistes, physically challenged and others in Duronto trains. A senior Ministry of Railways official informed that except benefits for senior citizens, no other provisions will be applicable in Duronto trains.
Non-availability of Tatkal scheme has created confusion among passengers including those belonging to the business community as the scheme was of much help to them. The non-stop AC Duronto Express has all the facilities including food, bedrolls like Rajdhani trains. The official added that since the railways are providing so many facilities in Duronto trains, on par with Rajdhani trains and has also kept the fares low, it is not considering any other concessions for the train.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in her Railway Budget 2009-10 had mentioned that 12 Duronto trains will be launched. Four Duronto Express trains have already been launched for Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi. Banerjee said that all the Duronto trains would begin operations during the next two months. According to the official, the Indian Railways is also contemplating on introducing few more such services between other cities.
Railways to open reservation booths at airports
New Delhi, September 29, 2009: In a bid to cash in on the ongoing disruption of Air India flights in wake of the agitation launched by the carrier's executive pilots, Indian Railways has decided to open temporary "Passenger Reservation" booths and "May I Help You" booths at all major airports across the country. The Railways ministry has also directed its officials to coordinate with Air India officials asking them to guide passengers affected by the agitation about using the railway travelling option.
Railways has also asked the Zonal Railways to publicize the vacant berths available in various trains.
Railways launch drive to curb malpractices
PUNE, September 24, 2009: The Pune division of Central railways has launched a drive to curb unauthorised sale of tickets and provision of seats in trains for a charge. The drive will be carried out at places such as unreserved coaches of trains and places inside stations like the unreserved ticketing system (UTS) machines, reservation centres and the counters of railway travel service agents.
A railway official said complaints about such malpractices are received often. "We have observed that these incidents usually take place during the rush season," he said. "According to the Indian Railways Act, it's illegal to sell or use tickets booked in another person's name. We appeal to passengers to buy tickets in the correct manner. The division is also creating awareness about this," another official stated.
Railways speeding up safety drive
New Delhi, September 22, 2009 (PTI) Aiming at making rail travel accident-free, Indian Railways plans to introduce a slew of safety measures including ways to bring down human error that account for 86 per cent of rail mishaps. "Railways is speeding up safety drive including frequent inspections and safety audits to improve safety performances," said Railway Board Chairman SS Khurana while inaugurating Safety Convention 2009 organized by Safety and Quality Forum of Institute of Engineers here today. "We are recruiting more people and plan to cover up 5000 unmanned level crossings in the country in the first phase out of total 17,000 unmanned crossings," he said.
Advocating investment in safety, he said, "it helps raise productivity significantly." Giving details, he said, "In 2000-01, the incidence of train accidents stood at 0.65 per million train kms and railways was on the verge of going into red.
Mamata Banerjee brings colour to Indian rail
Kolkata, Sept. 18, 2009: For the first time in Indian Railways' 150-year history, a train with many- coloured splashes rolled today. The Sealdah-New Delhi Duronto Express, flagged off by railway minister Mamata Banerjee, has been painted in the primary colours that erupted out of its body, garlanded for the first run. A railway official said: "The design was primarily conceived by the minister herself. Such colours have never been seen in the railways and she wanted this new train to be bright and colourful which would go along with its speed."
Japanese ODA assistance to Indian Railways
Ministry of Railways, September 17, 2009 (PIB): The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for availing Japanese ODA assistance for implementation of the Western Corridor of the DFC project, the first phase of the assistance being estimated at Rs.17,700 crores for the Rewari-Vadodara Section and to start with an engineering services loan of approximately Rs.130 crores. The Japanese ODA loan is a soft loan with very low interest of 0.2% per annum (0.01% p.a. for consulting services), long repayment period of 30/40 years and a moratorium of 10 years. Approval has also been given for the terms and conditions of the tied loan.
   In order to augment the rail transport capacity to meet the growing requirement of movement of freight traffic, Indian Railways have decided to develop Freight Corridors along its busy trunk routes. The Dedicated Freight Project on the Western and Eastern routes is one of the most ambitious project but Indian Railway has ever taken up and once completed would meet the transport requirement of the two busy trunk routes for the next 15 to 20 years.
Railways introducing the Economy AC-3 Class, with 3-tiered side berths
New Delhi: September 16, 2009: Railways launch a new class of AC travel — the Economy AC-3 on its Duronto non-stop superfast trains. The first of the Durontos, to be flagged off between Sealdah and Delhi on September 18, will have five Economy AC-3 coaches in addition to one AC-1, three AC-2 and four AC-3 coaches. This fully air-conditioned biweekly train is to cover the 1,454 km distance between Sealdah and Delhi in 16-and-half hours, one-and-half hours less than a Rajdhani on the same route. The Railways are positioning the Economy AC-3 as a new AC Class, offering travel at fares lesser than the normal AC-3. The extra berths are being squeezed in to increase coach capacity from 64 to 72 berths — it will, however, reduce the comfort level. A ticket in Economy AC-3 may cost up to Rs 50 less than an AC-3 ticket.
Railways to start special train to promote Games
New Delhi, September 14, 2009: Indian Railways will launch a special train to promote the Commonwealth Games 2010, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said in New Delhi on Monday. The Ministry of Railways will join hands with the Ministries of Communication and IT and Youth Affairs and Sports to launch the train, which will travel across the country to "glorify" the Games and promote sportsmanship among the youth, Banerjee told reporters.
"We will start a train which will be dedicated purely to glorifying the Commonwealth Games and to promote sportsmanship in the country," she said, adding: "The train will start in November this year and travel to each and every state during the next 12 months." The Games will be held in India in October 2010. "The purpose of the train will be not only to promote sports and Commonwealth Games, but also to spread IT education and hold exhibitions across the country," the minister said.
   Pak approves Indian proposal to launch SA train
   Islamabad, September 13, 2009 (PTI): Pakistan's railways ministry has "technically approved" an Indian proposal to launch a South Asian train service linking Bangladesh, India and Pakistan and forwarded it to the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce for further evaluation. The proposal was floated by the Indian railways two weeks ago, the Dawn newspaper quoted officials as saying.
   Experts had acknowledged the potential of the South Asian route and they see it as "more easy to operate", the officials said. The three countries have broad gauge railway tracks and their operating systems are similar as they were established by the erstwhile British rulers of the region. Officials of the railways ministry said experts had suggested that the Dhaka-Delhi-Lahore train service is "viable in all respects". The service could be extended to Karachi or Islamabad if the need arose, they said.
   Railways to launch historic non-stop trains
   Ministry of Railways, September 11, 2009 (PIB): Indian Railways will add one more feather to its cap when it launches its new class of passenger carrying 'Duronto' trains on the next Friday, September 18, 2009. 'Duronto' will be the first ever non-stop superfast passenger carrying train in the history of the Railways and will herald a new era of rail travel in the country ensuring better speed, comfort and security for passengers. 'Duronto' trains will be non-stop and take passenger from end to end. It means that passengers will not be allowed to embark or disembark at the intermediate stations. 'Duronto' will be of two types, one is fully air-conditioned reserved train and other is air- conditioned and non air –conditioned combo reserved train. The fare of both the 'Duronto' trains
will include the cost of meals.
   The introduction of this class of trains was announced for the first time in the Railway Budget 2009-10 speech delivered in the Parliament by the Minister of Railways Kumari Mamata Banerjee in July this year. Kumari Mamata Banerjee will flag-off the first train in this series at Sealdah station in West Bengal on September 18, 2009 which will reach its destination, New Delhi Railway Station, the next day i.e. on September 19, 2009. The second 'Duronto' train will be flagged-off by the Minister of Home Affairs, Shri P.Chidambram from Chennai on 18th September, 2009 which will reach Nizamuddin Railway Station, the next day i.e. on September 19, 2009. The Sealdah-Delhi 'Duronto' will be fully air-conditioned and a fully reserved train and will cover the distance of 1,454 kms. between Sealdah and New Delhi in around 1630 hours which will be around 1.30 hours less than the corresponding Rajdhani train running on the same route.
   Railways to install biometric identification system
   New Delhi, September 9, 2009: Close on the heels of the Home Ministry installing biometric identification system in North Block, Railways have decided to install the same at its vital installations across the country. "We have sanctioned a pilot project at an estimated cost of Rs 4.4 crores for installing biometric identification at vital installation and offices of Indian Railways," said a senior Railway Ministry official involved in the project. The project is aimed at enhancing the protection of major IT installations and PRS (Passenger Reservation Service) data centres in view of the threat of attacks which could disrupt train operations and damage data base. Zonal railways are to identify vital installation and offices where biometric identification system is to be provided, he said, adding all server centres and control offices have to be covered under the system and later the system would be extended to all production centres.
- (Agencies) Sep 09, 2009
   Railways to start two Duronto trains before Durga Puja
   NEW DELHI, September 7th, 2009 (IANS): Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will flag off two non- stop Duronto Sewa trains before the Durga Puja festival begins Sep 25."Indian Railways will be starting at least two Duronto Sewa trains, from New Delhi to Sealdah and New Delhi to Chennai," a senior ministry official said. "The New Delhi-Chennai Duronto service is likely to start in the second week of September," the official added.
   The service to Sealdah is expected to start a week later. Both trains will be bi-weekly with only two or three technical stoppages, and will have both air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned coaches. The New Delhi-Sealdah will take 16 hours to cover the journey, as against 17 hours taken by Rajdhani Express.
   Eco-friendly LED based lights in Railways to save energy
   ALLAHABAD, September 5, 2009: In another step towards energy conservation, Indian Railways has decided to install special types of eco-friendly LED (Light Emitting Diode) based lights in the coaches of trains. Presently, small bulbs, CFLs (Compact Fluorescent Lights) are used for lighting purpose in the coaches of trains. Though these lights provide efficient lighting but they consume comparatively more energy than the LED lights. Further, they are also burden on the alternator and the batteries of the coaches. Pointedly, a Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a semiconductor device which converts electricity into light. Each diode is about 1/4 inch in diameter and uses about ten milliamperes to operate at about one-tenth of a watt. LEDs are small in size, but can be grouped together for higher intensity applications. LED lights are more rugged and damage-resistant than compact fluorescent and incandescent bulbs. LED lights don't flicker.
   LED based Luminaire are more efficient, compact, quick light up in micro-seconds, ideal for use in applications that are subject to frequent on and off cycle, dimming feature, cool long life, more than 50 thousand hours, shock resistant, maintenance free and having no toxicity. There will be reduction of power consumption by 30-35 per cent on account of implementation of LED based coach lighting scheme. It would also reduce the burden on alternator and batteries of the coach which are being fitted in the lower part of the coach.
Source: The Times of India
   Enjoy a McMeal on trains & in stations
   New Delhi, September 4, 2009 : Tuck into McDonald's burgers at railway stations. Or order dirt cheap thalis on phone from your train and your order will be delivered to your seat at no extra cost. It might sound too good to be true, but passengers of the Indian Railways can relish traditional dishes at hygienic conditions and cheap prices. Northern Railway general manager Vivek Sahai inaugurated the first McDonald's outlet, christened as Cell kitchen, at Old Delhi railway station on Thursday. The kiosk will also house an outlet serving janata
meals ( Indian thali s) at affordable rates. The same model may be replicated at 42 other stations across the country. "McDonald's has been allowed to operate on railway premises on the condition that they will ensure common people are served quality food at affordable prices and drinking water free of cost. The customers will
enjoy a comfortable meal in a clean environment." - India Today
Govt not to impose service tax on goods sent by rail
NEW DELHI, September 2, 2009 (Reuters) - The government has withdrawn a proposal to impose a 10 percent service tax on goods transported by rail, to check price increases of products such as steel, cement and coal, a government official said on Tuesday. In his budget for 2009/10, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced levy of service tax on a host of new services including transport of goods through railways. The tax was to come into effect from September 1. "The "government has decided to exempt transport of goods in containers by rail from service tax, scheduled from Sept 1," Hemambika R. Priya, spokeswoman for Central Board of Excise and Customs, told Reuters.
Shatabdi runs on bio-fuel
LUDHIANA. September 1, 2009: To cut down on the emission of pollutants in the environment and to reduce the huge amount being spent to buy diesel, the railway authorities are conducting experiments by using bio-fuel and compressed natural gas (CNG) to run trains. The bio-fuel has already been tested successfully on super-fast trains like the Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express. If the authorities expand it throughout the country, it will reduce the use of diesel up to 15%, which means the expenditure will come down to Rs 5,100 crore.
According to information, as around Rs 6,000 crore is spent on diesel every year, the authorities are making use of bio-fuel which is collected from Jatropa seeds. For this, they plan to sow Jatropa plants on acres of land lying vacant. Officials say Jatropa oil is mixed with diesel when a train starts moving or climbing a steep path, while oil is only used when the train has to roll. They also said the Lucknow-based Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) of the Indian railways was working on a project to run CNG trains.
Source: The Times of India
http://www.worldjute.com/wj_rail2.html

Four Days in Free Bangla by Partha Banerjee

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Loot of the land

Chandan Mitra

Revered sage Ramakrishna Paramhans, made even more famous by his principal disciple Swami Vivekanand who founded the Ramakrishna Mission, held material cravings in disdain. Once, offered a vast some of money by a devotee, the sage is believed to have remarked: "Taka ki? Taka maati, maati taka (What is money? Money is as useless as clay and clay is as useless as money)." This popular saying has often been used by Bengali intellectuals to justify their nonchalant attitude towards wealth accumulation and contempt for those who pursue money-making. However, Ramakrishna's dictum has now been turned on its head as more and more entrepreneurs discover that soil is worth its weight in gold. For a growing band of mine sharks spread across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, maati has indeed become taka. You need only to scrape the surface of the land, load the soil on trucks and drive to the nearest port for export (mainly to China). Then you laugh all the way to the bank.

The scale of this theft of Indian soil is truly gargantuan. In progress for the last decade or so, it is only now that the media and judiciary have woken up to this rampant loot of the country's natural resources. Unfortunately, none has mounted the kind of feisty campaign required to bring this scandal to light and enforce accountability. However, the size of the Madhu Koda scam, (which coincided with Karnataka's Reddy brothers' audacious bid to dislodge the State's popular Chief Minister and install a puppet or their own kin in the chair) finally alerted opinion makers to the need for rectification. I doubt if investigations in either case will yield the desired results, given the clout of the personalities involved, proverbial malleability of the CBI and the excruciatingly slow pace of judicial action.

Meanwhile in Odisha, an equally big mining scam was finally unearthed almost accidentally. The Supreme Court has acted swiftly in response to a PIL and banned operations in 157 mines besides ordering the offices of more than 50 accused mining companies to be sealed. Unfortunately, these steps are akin to closing the stable doors after the horses bolted, because mine-owners have already amassed huge amounts through illegal mining and exported vast quantities of iron ore especially during the boom period in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics of 2008.

Few independent investigations have been mounted into these scams. The bulk of media reports in this connection are based on second or third hand sources. The Pioneer last week ran an investigative report identifying the beneficiaries of Madhu Koda's largesse, detailing companies that applied for large iron-ore rich blocks to be allotted to them in the name of setting up integrated steel plants. Many of these outfits are recent entrants to the mining arena, have no proven record of successfully running steel factories, and are clearly fronts for bigger players. As in the case of the Rs 60,000 crore telecom scam presided over by Minister A Raja, allottees of mines in Jharkhand obviously intended to grab the land and then sell the allotment to bigger sharks, making a killing in the process. While many rumours about the alleged recipients of huge kickbacks have been doing the rounds of the media and political circles, few have bothered to find out who the alleged bribe givers could be. Juicy gossip and mud-slinging on members of the political class are undoubtedly interesting, but cannot be a substitute for a hard-nosed probe into the role of those who were required to cough up hundreds of crores in exchange for allotment of mining leases.

The dangers inherent in the emergence of a new class of parvenu entrepreneurs, no better than carpetbaggers, have been explicitly revealed by the machinations of the Reddy brothers of Bellary. Arguably, the Andhra Pradesh Government has suddenly gone ballistic and demanded a probe into the scandals that involve not only the Reddy brothers but also a clutch of players promoted by the coterie around the State's deceased Chief Minister YS Rajshekhar Reddy. But the reason for incumbent Chief Minister K Rosaiah's hyperactivity lies in his eagerness to expose his principal challenger Jaganmohan Reddy who is apparently being sponsored by the mining lobby. Even if Rosaiah is driven by the self-preservation motive, at least he has taken a bold initiative.

The State that has escaped limelight so far despite being one of India's most mineral rich is Odisha, probably because its Chief Minister appears to have been born with a Teflon-coated reputation — nothing usually sticks to him. In the absence of 'smoking gun' evidence, it may be difficult to directly charge him with complicity in the systematic loot of the poverty-ridden State's mineral resources, but recent reports clearly indict him with acts of omission if not commission.

A fortnight back I accompanied a team of BJP leaders, including three MPs, to the epicentre of the scam — Barbil in Odisha's impoverished Keonjhar district. Regular readers may recall my article United Killing Co in these columns last May in which I had written about this sleepy town where I spent much of my childhood.

I lamented Barbil's loss of innocence over the last two decades but admitted that it was a price one probably had to pay for development as it has come to mean. Returning to Barbil after six months, this time in an investigator's role, I was shocked to discover the modus operandi of the mining mafia, which regrettably features the Who's Who of the country's industry barons.

We visited six mines during the day I spent there and discovered contractors merrily digging away on land outside the leased area, continuing operations in mines whose lease had long expired, flouting laws that prohibit encroachment on forest land and, in one case, digging under a reserved forest to escape attention. I learnt that each truck that headed its way out of the myriad iron ore and manganese mines around Barbil would fetch Rs 6,000 at the peak of demand last year.

The price has come down since, but that in turn has spurred more illegal mining because it comes absolutely free except labour cost, which in this part of the country is appallingly low. There are no checks or records, forest guards, municipal and revenue officers are all believed to be on the take, and at least 5,000 fully loaded trucks make the long journey to Paradip every night.

I am not against mining as such, but believe that the people of India have a right to know why our national wealth is being pilfered in this manner. By bribing politicians and bureaucrats, the mining mafia has mounted massive loot whose benefits have completely bypassed the tribals and other inhabitants of these areas.

This is a national scandal and we must demand its immediate cessation as well as action against the looters. Anybody robbing private property is arraigned before the law and sent to prison, but what about those who brazenly seize the collective property of 1.1 billion Indians? Shouldn't they be punished too?

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Corruption and Loot
By Madhu Borwankar, New Delhi on 11/22/2009 5:27:08 PM

That the largest businessman to the smallest entrepreneur have been paying bribes to the people in power, paying hafta, etc is something Indians have learnt to adjust to and live with. It is accepted as a fact of life without much fuss. It may be because of sheer apathy, or just inability to do anything or due to something else. However, as this article points out, the same businessman / entrepreneur now becoming the muscle of power takes the problem to a whole new level .

Your Article above
By Sanjay Verma on 11/22/2009 1:55:09 PM

What has been given is stunning and raises a very basic question of how and ever will this problem be solved.

If allowed to run, will it not lead to a situation like what we used to have historically. "Local chieftans" who's domination in the local areas ran supreme and they were absolute kings in their area of influence.

I hope the Govt has taken cognizance of this, even if remote.

Loot of the Land
By Raman Gupta on 11/22/2009 1:27:59 PM

The stage for such acts was set when an entrepreneur said that he walks into offices wearing a silver shoe in one foot and a golden shoe in the order and gives one as per the persons standard

It is these acts which lead to more and more people seeing Maoism and Naxalism as the only remaining saviour. Trying to kill Maoists and Naxals with guns will not achive the purpose

Why should we spend our money on law enforcement agencies
By Rahul on 11/22/2009 9:35:20 AM

The land which gave to the people invaluable treasures like the sacred Vedas, Upanishads and Gita and role model leaders like Harishchandra, Rama, Krishna, Arjuna, Vyasa, Sankara, Chandragupta and Vikramaditya is now under such leadership that not even the fig leaf of rule of law is maintained when some mega scam is discovered. The Country may at least save some tax money if it do away with law enforcement agencies like the CBI altogether.

Where are the red saviours?
By Partha on 11/22/2009 9:07:35 AM

I wonder what the red soldiers who lose their night's sleep over the exploitation of the tribal people are doing! They seem to prioritize their issues based on a convenient and spurious logic. By killing police personnel and working against the Constitution they are bent on grabbing power and by being oblivious to this organised loot they are probably accumulating capital which might help them to keep that power which would probably be wielded by them in a country shorn of its riches.

Loot the land
By G.Narayanaswamy on 11/22/2009 5:41:02 AM

A very good article on how the natural wealth of the nation is getting looted. Lamentably we have such a low caliber of administration prone to corruption. Political parties have to do a lot of introspection and heart-searching, and find out how far they going to side with the loot of the nation. Values are important. More important than money.

loot of the land.
By darsan on 11/21/2009 8:38:08 PM

media devotes their might against their pet hatreds.here it is hindu,bjp, rss etc. one lakh taken by a bjp president occupied more t.v hours than all case involving hundreds of crores. forty five thousand riots , silence. gujarat riots billions of words. malegaon blasts condemned as hindu terrorism, not the hundreds of bomb blasts by muslim terrorists.!!drsan

http://www.dailypioneer.com/217363/Loot-of-the-land.html

The Revenge Of The Proletariat

The full story of why the CPI(M) is losing Bengal after 40 years

SWAPAN DASGUPTA
Senior Journalist

'WHEN IT CAME TO POWER, THE CPI(M) REPLACED THE BUREAUCRACY AND POLICE AS TOOLS OF GOVERNANCE WITH ITS OWN CADRE'
Illustration: ANAND NAOREM

THERE ARE some images which serve a twin purpose: they can both terrify and inspire, depending on who is looking. Earlier this month, the world celebrated the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, an event which triggered the eventual collapse of the socialist bloc in Eastern Europe and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Once again the world relived the frenzy and the spontaneous anger which nullified the organised might of a superpower. There were also those who shed a quiet tear at the collapse of a world built on passionate certitudes.

Curiously, for a state that flaunts its penchant for internationalism, the event wasn't commemorated in any meaningful way in West Bengal. The Comrades who earlier celebrated Vietnam's resistance to US imperialism, came out in their thousands to welcome Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela to Kolkata and created a literary tradition inspired by Maya - kovski, Bertolt Brecht and Pablo Neruda, were not unexpectedly silent about a mass uprising against regimes that claimed direct lineage from Lenin and Stalin.

Apart from the inhibitions of socialist correctness, the wariness of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to address the lessons of history was completely understandable. The celebrations in Berlin touched a raw nerve because they coincided with the CPI(M)'s devastating defeat in the by-elections to 10 Assembly seats. Whereas Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee could, arguably, have attempted to gloss over international communism's greatest debacle by focussing on nine years of his own stewardship of West Bengal, the electoral drubbing left the CPI(M) demoralised and disoriented. There are no Assembly elections due until the summer of 2011 but the ruling Left Front already gives the unmistakable impression of being a defeated army.

Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal's ubiquitous 'Didi' has already acquired the reputation of a lady who, having fought the Reds unwaveringly since her political debut in 1984, is within smelling distance of capturing Writers' Buildings. On November 15, when she undertook a short padayatra from Nandakuthi to Tarakeshwar in Hoogly district against the CPI(M)'s "reign of terror", she was accompanied by a sea of adoring and belligerent humanity. There were two popular slogans: the first taunted the Reds, "Aye CPM dekhe jaa, Mamatar khamata" (Come CPI(M), and witness the power of Mamata) but the second was decidedly menacing, "Biman/Buddhadeb-er chamra, khule nebo amra" (We will skin Biman Basu and Buddhadeb).

The CPI(M) has reason to be worried. The electoral downslide of the Left Front in the Lok Sabha election of this year was quite precipitate. For the first time since 1971, the CPI(M)-led combine failed to win a majority of Lok Sabha seats from the state. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, which had been reduced to just a solitary seat in 2004, stole the thunder by winning 22 seats. Mamata drove home her advantage in the by-elections to 10 Assembly seats held in November. The ruling Left Front won a solitary seat and the CPI(M) tally was zero.

Trade union Chief Minister Bhattacharya after a meeting with the Home Minister
Photo: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

Initially the CPI(M) tried to gloss over the magnitude of its defeat. In a resolution of June 22, the party Central Committee admitted "serious reverses" but simultaneously argued that "the main base of the Party is by and large intact…" The CPI(M) leadership comforted itself with the statistical delusion that its popular vote had fallen nominally, from 1.88 crore in 2004 to 1.85 crore in 2009. The reality was far gloomier. The support for the Left Front fell by a staggering 7.42 percent, from 50.72 percent in 2004 to 43.30 percent in 2009. The CPI(M)'s own vote share fell from 38.57 percent to 33.10 percent and it lost every seat in what is loosely called the FM belt around Kolkata. More ominously, a substantial body of Muslim voters, those who had contributed to the huge Left victories in 2004 and 2006, switched over to the TMC-Congress alliance. The ruling coalition just about managed to save face by winning a clutch of seats in the Jalpaiguri-Cooch Behar belt of North Bengal and successfully defending its strongholds in the outlying districts.

That the Lok Sabha outcome wasn't merely a case of an electorate voting on national considerations for a stable government at the Centre became clear in the 10 by-elections this month. Compared to the 50.72 percent and 50.12 percent Left Front candidates polled in the 2004 Lok Sabha and the 2006 Assembly elections, its vote fell to 38 percent, a 12 percent decline. The CPI(M) could not even hold on to the Belgachia seat in Kolkata which was held by Subhas Chakravarty, the flamboyant Jyoti Basu loyalist who had once been censured by the party for his Kali worship.

To describe recent happenings in West Bengal as mere evidence of parivartan (change) is an understatement; the state is witnessing an upheaval that has the potential to rival the turbulence in the late 1960s when Congress dominance gave way to the domination and stranglehold of the Left.

For a start there is the strong undercurrent of violence. Politics in West Bengal has always been peppered with violence and intimidation on a scale that many in the rest of India find difficult to imagine. Just on paper, more than 500 political murders have been committed since the 2006 Assembly election. The CPI(M) has claimed that since March and October this year, nearly 124 of its cadres (or their children) have been killed, over half of them by Maoists. On its part, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has made popular resistance to the CPI(M)'s high-handedness and "reign of terror" its signature tune, a theme that has, not unexpectedly, found an echo among those Bengali intellectuals who view Maoist insurgents with starry-eyed romanticism.

There is a basis to the indignation of both sides. Ever since it came to power in 1977, the CPI(M) has exercised a stranglehold over the state. Its political thrust has not been confined to merely winning electoral battles but in exercising control over civil society. In rural West Bengal, the dreaded Local Committees of the CPI(M) replaced the bureaucracy and police as instruments of governance and law and order. From determining who can farm a particular piece of land and appointing the village school-teacher to imposing social boycotts of an errant "class enemy", the CPI(M) ensured that its presence impacted on each and every individual in the village. It was impossible for a family to live in a village unless it made peace with the local CPI(M). It naturally followed that it was virtually impossible for an opposition party, be it Congress, TMC or anyone else, to operate freely in rural society. This may explain why almost all competitive politics in West Bengal was invariably centred on cities and other urban clusters; in much of rural Bengal, the CPI(M) and its allies ran a one-party state.

Seeding wrath Tribals vs state forces in Nandigram; their despair runs deep
Photo: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

The party took a very dim view of all those who became very vocal in their opposition to the Left during elections. Every election in West Bengal was invariably followed by violence when TMC and Congress activists would either be hounded out of their homes or forced to 'surrender' before the Local Committee. The police and administration would remain mute spectators to these harsh assertions of class power. When Mamata rails the CPI(M)'s 'reign of terror', she is invoking the plight of those unfortunate individuals who were victims of Left intolerance.

However, it would be a travesty to suggest that the CPI(M) hold on rural society stemmed from the exercise of force alone. For more than three decades, the Left prospered on the goodwill generated by Operation Barga and the decentralisation of power to the panchayats. Operation Barga, the Left Front's most far-reaching achievement, conferred security of tenure to bargadars (sharecroppers). In practice, it made 'registered' bargadars de-facto owners of the land they cultivated. The devolution of power to elected panchayats which immediately followed the empowerment of the poor peasantry, together redefined rural power relations. With Left cadres and the elected panchayats taking an active interest in the actual implementation of land reforms, the social and political backbone of the jotedars, the rich farmers who made up the village leadership of the undivided Congress, was broken. For 30 years, the anti-Left opposition could not re-establish their presence in rural West Bengal. The Left would invariably lose seats in Kolkata and Howrah, perhaps even in the border districts of Malda and Murshidabad, but in the vast expanse of the rural hinterland its strongholds were almost impregnable.

For the Left, the political and economic empowerment of the rural poor was central to its larger game plan. The Left movement was born in the industrial heartland of West Bengal, at a time when the state was second only to Maharashtra in overall development. In the mid-1960s, when the CPI(M) first tasted power in a fractious anti-Congress coalition, it concentrated its energies in nurturing militant trade unions. In 1967, it unleashed the 'gherao' movement which saw the forcible incarceration of managers until they agreed to the union's demands. The police were given strict instructions by the administration to not interfere in worker's struggles. The result of the 'gherao' epidemic was, predictably, a rash of lockouts and closures. Panicky industrialists got the message and began the flight of capital from West Bengal, a process that continued till the 1980s.

When it returned to power in 1977, the CPI(M) knew that reviving the manufacturing industry in West Bengal would take a lot of doing. Apart from the wariness of militant trade unionism and an increasingly ramshackle infrastructure marked by prolonged power cuts, there was a strong impression in industry circles that over-exposure to Left politics had deprived the state of any worthwhile work ethic. At an individual level, Jyoti Basu was regarded as a reasonable man and the archetypal Bengali bhadralok but his invitation to industry to return to the state carried little credibility. West Bengal had become a byword for trouble.

In the early days of Left Front rule, there was a belief in CPI(M) circles that public sector investments, particularly in Haldia, would pave the way for a second wave of industrialisation. It was a naïve optimism that produced many manhours of daydreaming and also triggered a polemical fusillade against an 'uncaring' and 'discriminatory' Centre.

With the private sector petrified of a return to the bad old days of 'gherao' and Naxalite violence in the streets and both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi unmoved by the call for public sector investments — Rajiv, in fact, presciently called Calcutta a "dying city" in 1984 — the Left had no alternative but to concentrate on making a difference in rural West Bengal. Left ideologues rationalised an expedient turn with suggestions of growing agricultural productivity creating additional demand for goods and services. In short, the decline of the 'old' economy centered on manufacturing would be compensated by a flowering of the rural economy.

Riding anger Mamata Banerjee at a rally in Singur; she has formalised the revolt
Photo: REUTERS

Bengal politics has always been peppered with violence on a scale the rest of India cannot even imagine

The rural thrust of the Left Front was complemented by an electoral strategy based on two principles: unite the Left vote and divide the anti-Left vote. It is a measure of the CPI(M)'s far-sightedness that it never abandoned the Left Front despite winning a clear majority on its own. Equally, it is noteworthy that all the major Left parties have remained allies of the CPI(M), despite occasional bouts of frustration. Having learnt the lessons from the late-1960s, Jyoti Basu in particular was careful never to repeat the intra-Left feuding that was a factor in the downfall of the first two United Front governments and the CPI(M)'s narrow loss in the 1971 Assembly election.

THE CPI(M) was also fortunate that the willingness of the Left parties to stay together was matched by a suicidal streak in the Congress. The Congress was always a formidable force in West Bengal. Its vote share invariably hovered around 40 percent, a winning tally in multi-cornered contests but insufficient to take on a united Left which invariably polled between 48 percent and 51 percent. The CPI(M) further reinforced its advantage by nurturing favourites within the Congress — individuals with whom local deals could be cut in return for a larger compliance. It was this divideand- rule approach, plus some cosying up to the Congress high command in Delhi, that brought about the split with Mamata in 1996. As long as the Congress and TMC fought separately, the Left Front was sure of not merely winning but also securing a steamroller majority. When Mamata teamed up with the BJP in 1998, the Left was jubilant. In a state where Muslim voters made up more than one-fourth of the electorate, and in the absence of any discernible Hindu wave, the Left victory was guaranteed.

The CPI(M)'s hold on rural society did not stem from force alone. There was the goodwill of Operation Barga

Yet, until the panchayat election of July 2008 when the TMC won 1,505 seats against the CPI(M)'s 1,597, the CPI(M) hold over West Bengal was unimpaired. What created the openings that Mamata was able to take advantage of so successfully?

It is interesting that both the Left and its opponents have a broadly common perception of what triggered the decline in the CPI(M)'s fortunes. The finger of suspicion has been pointed at Buddhadeb's 2004 industrial policy which was born out of the Left realisation that unless it departed from Jyoti Basu's contradiction management approach and did something proactive, it would be overwhelmed by a tide of rising expectations. With the improvements in agricultural productivity reaching saturation point and insufficient alternatives for economic betterment available to the people, the CPI(M) chose to jettison its traditional distaste for the private sector and foreign capital. The rediscovery of manufacturing and the turn to urban and infrastructural upgradation was overdue in a West Bengal which had slipped precariously down the national league. After his foreign visits, Buddhadeb was moved by the advances in western capitalism and struck by China's disregard of Maoist orthodoxy and its single-minded quest for economic growth. From being a party apparatchik nurtured carefully by the legendary Promode Das Gupta, who had helped the Left Front's post-1977 approach, the Chief Minister transformed himself into an overzealous reformer.

FOR BUDDHADEB, the Left Front's unequivocal victory in the 2006 Assembly poll was the signal to rush headlong into the industrialisation of the state. The election, where the CPI(M) campaigned for a modern, tech-savvy, sparkling Bengal, seemed a big step in the reinvention of the Indian Left and a welcome departure from its anti-capitalist cussedness. Indeed, during the campaign, Mamata was consistently lampooned by an impatient Bengali middle class for her willingness to embrace the CPI(M)'s discarded culture. Even Ananda Bazar Patrika, the traditional repository of anti-Left feeling, endorsed Buddhadeb enthusiastically. In his no-nonsense commitment to efficiency and growth, the chief minister was even quietly compared to Narendra Modi.

The decline in the CPI(M)'s fortunes is commonly believed to lie in Buddhadeb's 2004 industrial policy

The honeymoon turned out to woefully short-lived. In pressing for rapid industrialisation and industry-friendly sops, Buddhadeb entrusted the management of change to the party, just as his mentor had done in 1977. Using the CPI(M)'s awesome organisational clout and its control over local society, the apparatchiks set about the task of acquiring agricultural land for industry with the same degree of ruthlessness as the Communist Party of China. The reluctance of farmers to part with their land was brushed aside with contemptuous disdain on the ground that the compensation package was generous and the acquisition was for the larger good of society. When reluctance turned to fledgling resistance, the party came down with a heavy hand. And then, suddenly, without warning, Nandigram became a flashpoint. It was followed by Singur. Even the CPI(M) now grudgingly admits that the land acquisition process was handled without adequate sensitivity and that 'mistakes' were made. In hindsight, the CPI(M) was undone by a remarkable failure to appreciate Marx's insights into the peasant mind. Deeply contemptuous of peasants — he once equated them to "sacks of potatoes" — Marx felt that rural life was marked by a strong attachment to land. Ironically, it was this land hunger and the CPI(M)'s ability to satisfy it through Operation Barga that won it brownie points and the undying loyalty of the rural poor. The land attachment was most marked among the first generation beneficiaries of the land redistribution programme and it was precisely this section that came out militantly against the CPI(M)'s perceived betrayal.

Till the CPI(M) aroused peasant fears with its land acquisition programme, Mamata's support base had been confined to a narrow section of the middle class, the lumpen bhadralok and those frustrated by the CPI(M)'s inability to create sufficient employment opportunities. Her rural following was largely confined to a layer of the erstwhile jotedar class. After she took up the protests against land acquisitions with characteristic passion, including inviting urban opprobrium for driving Tata Motors out of Singur, Mamata came to be perceived in a new light in rural West Bengal. Her slogan, Ma, Mati, Manush (mother, land, people) touched the chords of rural romanticism as potently as the old Left slogan Langal jar, jamin tar (land to the tiller). The CPI(M) found itself undone by a political empowerment it had nurtured.

Didi's slogan — 'Ma, Mati, Manush' (mother, land, people) has potently caught the rural mood

It was a broadly similar story in Lalgarh. A botched Maoist bid to assassinate the chief minister in November 2008 provoked a vicious response from the local police and CPI(M). The official high-handedness led to Adivasi protests and provided an opening for Maoist cadres to enter the arena. The Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee was never an out and out Maoist front; it was made up of diverse elements that opposed the CPI(M). The Maoist input lay in transforming a protest against police harassment into a full-fledged revolt, marked by the establishment of 'liberated' zones. There is enough evidence to suggest that Mamata tacitly encouraged all those who were taking on the state administration in Lalgarh. Her motives were simple: my enemy's enemy is my friend. But her tacit encouragement of Chhatradhar Mahato had two consequences. First, the CPI(M) redoubled its bid to paint Lalgarh as a Maoist insurrection. The idea was to paint Mamata as an irresponsible politician, capable of compromising national security as long as it suited her anti-CPI(M) thrust. Secondly, the militancy of the local Adivasis and their need for logistical support facilitated the entry of trained Maoist cadres from the battlefields of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. For the CPI(M), the Maoist menace became a self-fulfilling prophecy.

For the CPI(M), Nandigram, Singur and Lalgarh introduced another complication: the party's alienation from the Bengali intelligentsia. West Bengal is unique in the social importance it attaches to a free-floating community of 'intellectuals', including writers, artists, singers, playwrights and producers of obscure documentary films. In the past this community had always been Left in its orientation, although in the mid-1960s many of them flirted with ultra-Left Naxalism. In the mythology of the 'intellectuals', Siddhartha Shankar Ray was the biggest villain for his role in ruthlessly suppressing the Left movement after 1971. Consequently, they never had any time for either the Congress or the TMC. Indeed, for a very long time, Mamata was an object of derision among the 'intellectuals' for her shrillness. Compared to her, Buddhadeb was the biggest patron of the Left fringe. His patronage of art films, theatre and poetry was appreciated and contrasted with the cretinism of other chief ministers.

The 'intellectuals' had traditionally turned a blind eye to the excesses of the CPI(M), unless it was directed against the Maoists. However, after the official high-handedness in Nandigram the 'intellectuals' chose to speak out—not least because the target happened to be land acquisition for industrialisation. In the battle between a decaying rural arcadia and the vulgar world of shopping malls, the intellectuals were firmly supportive of the former. As long as the Left epitomised an amorphous struggling mass, it was kosher; once the priorities changed to humdrum capitalism, the intellectuals smelt betrayal.

Today, the CPI(M) finds itself politically paralysed. Buddhadeb's lofty industrial dreams have come crashing down. With Mamata on the rampage and her party colleagues bulldozing their way into areas that were hitherto forbidden territory, old memories have come to haunt West Bengal again. There is fear that political violence could become endemic as turf battles intensify. There are concerns that a more vicious brand of Maoism (as compared to the Naxalites of an earlier age) has entrenched itself in some outlying districts, using Mamata as a convenient cover. More ominously for a state that was once a communal tinderbox, there are indications of Muslim sectarian bodies also using Mamata's ever-growing umbrella as a camouflage.

For the politically paralysed CPI(M), the Maoist menace became a selffulfilling prophecy

Fattened and even corrupted by 32 years of uninterrupted power, the CPI(M) lacks both the capacity and the will to take to Mamata's raw aggressiveness. With the state's poor rallying behind her and identifying her as the new repository of entitlement politics — sops and lollipops for all — it is more than likely that West Bengal will give Mamata a chance to prove herself in Writer's Buildings. The middle class may well be nervous but the Bangla street is wildly enthused by her populism.

Since Independence, West Bengal has had just seven chief ministers. Dr Prafulla Ghose, Prafulla Chandra Sen and Ajoy Mukherjee were old-style Gandhians, fuddyduddy and ineffective; Dr BC Roy, Siddhartha Shankar Ray and Jyoti Basu were bhadralok patricians; and Buddhadeb is a chain-smoking Left intellectual, most at ease watching films with subtitles. Mamata, if she gets her way, will herald the entry of colloquialism into a rarefied pantheon.

WRITER'S EMAIL
swapan55@gmail.com

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 6, Issue 47, Dated November 28, 2009