Desperate Left to field 150 new faces in Bengal polls

KOLKATA: The Left Front, undefeated in the last seven assembly elections in West Bengal, released its list of candidates on Sunday with 150 new faces that did not include a single retired bureaucrat or film star. Instead, it`s fielding young teachers and politicians, making a generational shift that ruthlessly turfs out 80 MLAs, apart from weeding out all tainted members. 

The list released for the elections starting April 18 may seem drab, and no match to the proposed star-studded Opposition team, but it has a surge of fresh faces and minority leaders who have led theLeft Front from the street. It includes 40% more Muslim candidates than in 2006. 

No less than nine ministers, including four junior ministers, were dropped. Rabindranath Ghosh of Forward Bloc and CPI`s Nandagopal Bhattacharjee are out on account of ill-health. Senior CPM minister Partha De from Bankura volunteered to skip the polls and tourism minister Manab Mukherjee relinquished his claim on Beliaghata to make way for Anadi Sahu. 

The changes are expected to blunt the sting of the Opposition campaign on the ``lifestyle of ruling Marxists``. Leading the overhaul is chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, CPM candidate from Jadavpur. 

Most senior ministers — Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Nirupam Sen, Surjyakanta Mishra, Asim Dasgupta, Abdur Rezzak Mollah, Asok Bhattacharya and Naren Dey — will contest from their previous constituencies. 

Housing minister Gautam Deb was shifted to Dum Dum from his home turf of Basirhat North. Dum Dum is considered safe and Left leaders would use Deb for campaigning, a source said. 

The Left introduced new faces in almost all the 14 seats in the Maoist-hit Jangalmahal. Sushanta Ghosh, the minister leading the CPM campaign in Jangalmahal, will contest from Garbeta in West Midnapore. Four ministers — Kshiti Goswami, Debesh Das, Kironmoy Nanda and Anadi Sahu — were shifted to new constituencies after their previous seats got wiped out in delimitation. 

The longest-serving Speaker of Bengal Assembly, Hashim Abdul Halim, decided to quit electoral politics on health grounds. His son Fuad Halim, a doctor, will contest from Ballygunge. Deputy Speaker Bhaktipada Ghosh and Left Front chief whip Mohammed Masiah were denied tickets. 

CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharya had given indications of the change: he wasn`t ready to carry the ``tainted baggage`` anymore. Discredited people like former Haldia strongman Laxman Seth, Lagandeo Singh from Howrah and Majid Ali from Sashan in North 24-Parganas were dropped on grounds that candidates who lost in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls should not contest this year.Mohammed Salim and Rabin Deb, who also lost in the Lok Sabha polls, became victims of this formula. Seth`s wife Tamalika Ponda Seth will contest from Mahishadal. 

The Left reverses in the seven districts of South Bengal began after Muslims — mainly farmers and educated youth — dumped CPM in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and rallied with Mamata Banerjee against the land acquisition bid in South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore, North 24-Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly. The CM announced a slew of measures, included backward Muslims under the OBC category, and promised them 10% reservation in government jobs.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/west-bengal/Desperate-Left-to-field-150-new-faces-in-Bengal-polls/articleshow/7697078.cms

Tri Valley: Radio tags removed from three more Indian students

Washington:  The US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) have removed radio tags from three more Indian students of the now shut-down Tri Valley University (TVU) in California and also returned their passports.

Susmita Gongulee Thomas, the Consul General, Indian Consulate San Francisco, said ICE has returned the passports of these three students along with the two others, from whom radio tags were removed last week.

In all radio tags so far has been removed from five of the 18 Indian students. These students were taken to ICE by two immigration attorneys, Kalpana Peddibhotla and Manpreet Gahra.

Encouraged by the positive development, Thomas said 10 more students would be taken to ICE next week by these two immigration attorneys and they are very optimistic of the same positive outcome.

"Five of the 18 students are now free of the radio tags. Students were feeling very badly about. It was humiliating to go around with these tags," Thomas told PTI.

The Consul General said, three of the students who have radio tags have gone to their own lawyers, so she has no information about them.

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The two immigration attorneys -- Kalpana Peddibhotla and Manpreet Gahra are from the South Asian Bar Association, who in association with the Consulate had held free legal aid camp for the Tri Valley Students.

"Our primary concern and priority was to get these radio tags removed," she said.

Thomas said community organisations in the Bay area, especially the Telugu Association of North America, have been supporting these students in distress. She urged other community organisations to come forward with their resources to help these students.

The Consul General said the TVU students are from various parts of the country, not only from Andhra Pradesh alone.

"There are students from Kerala; some are from (West) Bengal. Some are from Madhya Pradesh. Some are Gujaratis," she said.

Source:-http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/tri-valley-radio-tags-removed-from-three-more-indian-students-85957

ONGC finds shale gas in Bengal

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the country’s biggest energy explorer, has struck shale gas reserves in its maiden well in West Bengal. This is the first time shale gas has been discovered in sedimentary shale gas rocks outside the US and Canada.

“ONGC created an exploration landmark when gas flowed out from the Barren Measure shale at a depth of around 1,700 metres, in its first R&D well, RNSG-1, near Durgapur at Icchapur, West Bengal,” the state-run company said in a statement.

Though the well is still under assessment, the breakthrough is significant, as India is the first Asian country where gas was discovered from shale outside the US and Canada. “The well was drilled down to a depth of 2,000 metres. The Barren Measure Shale, which is the main target, was encountered from 985 to 1,843 metres,” the statement said.

Exploration of shale gas, an unconventional energy source, has witnessed a surge in the US and Canada in recent times and is making substantial contribution to total gas production. In the US, shale gas contributes nearly 17 per cent of total gas produce.

The R&D project, which involved drilling of four wells in the Damodar Basin — two wells in the Raniganj sub-basin in West Bengal and two wells in the North Karanpura sub-basin in Jharkhand, was operationalised with the help of Schlumberger. “The estimated expenditure is about Rs 168 crore and the total project is expected to be completed within 520 days,” ONGC said.

Source: ONGC finds shale gas in Bengal

Jindal Steel starts land survey for coal mining

DURGAPUR, 6 FEB: Chinese mining experts, appointed by Jindal Steel for the purpose, started a survey for a coal mining project in the Sarpi-Ichapur area in Laudoha block about 12 km from Durgapur town. The coal deposits were located in January, 2011. A group of 31 Chinese coal mining experts headed by Mr U Lee were seen conducting land survey in the Ichapur-Sarpi area this morning. They were given adequate police protection apprehending local protests against the project.

Jindal Steel was awarded three captive coal blocks in Ichapur, Kulti and Salanpur in Burdwan district for extracting coal for the purpose of running its proposed steel plant at Salboni in Midnapore West. Incidentally, the project had met with protests from the People’s Committee against Police Action (PCPA) which brought a long-sustained political turmoil in Lalgarh and its adjoining areas, experiencing a slew of police-Maoist encounters in recent times. Jindal Steel officials had intimated the nearby Laudoha police station of the survey prior to the visit of Chinese experts. The West Bengal Mineral Trading Development Corporation, the prime custodian of coal blocks, had awarded mining lease to the Jindals for the purpose of captive usage. The Ichapur – Sarpi mine, according to experts: “Would have a 10 square km operation zone and would be an underground mine lifting coal from the seam reserve located 1400 ft underground. 80 to 90 drillings will be conducted to know the thickness of the seam bed.” The company is planning to use Chinese or Australian technology for coal extraction from the mine. sns

Source: Jindal Steel starts land survey for coal mining

Cabinet rejig with eye on polls

NEW DELHI: Congress seized the reshuffle window to rev up its election machine in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala by broadbasing participation from these states in the Union ministry.

The elevation of Salman Khurshid and Sriprakash Jaiswal and induction of Beni Prasad Verma as steel minister have upped the share of UP in the Cabinet to put it on a par with its political heft. (Read: PM inducts 3 new ministers, drops none )

K V Thomas's surprise elevation as food and consumer affairs minister and the filling of Shashi Tharoor's slot is another leg-up for the party in Kerala which takes on the Left Front in May polls. Giving temporary charge of civil aviation to Vyalar Ravi and making K C Venugopal junior minister for power fits the 'K C Venugopal' pattern.

Sources said the focus on short-term political battles in the reshuffle, which was expected to be a performance appraisal of UPA-2, underlined the importance of the coming polls in the party matrix.

Congress is banking heavily on victories in Kerala and Assam where it is the main player to turn the tide after the negativity of scams.

Victories on ally turfs such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu would supplement party strategy. UP polls would also decide the fate of the party's revival attempt in the 80-seat state and give a peep into the possibilities of 2014 Lok Sabha battle.

The rejig seeks to broadbase Congress's UP outreach. A position to Verma can renew the party's appeal among OBCs. Verma's entry in the power echelons is a snub to Samajwadi Party, his home before the high-voltage rebellion against Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2007.

Verma's gain compounds Mulayam's woes because he too is eyeing a power perch at the Centre to rival the clout of an imperious Mayawati. His PMO visit on Monday evening had set tongues wagging in the Congress camp.

A cabinet rank for Khurshid aims to neutralise SP's bid to dent Congress among Muslims. SP's Azam Khan has accused Congress of denying the community its due share in power with only Kashmir's Congress among Muslimshaving Cabinet status. Khurshid's elevation sets right the balance.

Congress has lent weight of key portfolios to Kerala leaders to add to its momentum in the Left-held state. Autonomous charge of food and consumer affairs to Thomas and civil aviation to Ravi are steps in that direction.

The criticality of Kerala in Congress matrix stems from the prospect of double whammy for Left in Bengal and Kerala. A defeat-induced disarray in Left camp can soften the Red resistance in Delhi which will be big relief for the cornered Congress.

The political subtext of the rejig in UP follows a realisation in Congress that the waning of post-2009 mood after scams and price rise will test its bare cupboard of leaders and appeal among caste groups. Though Rahul Gandhi leads a campaign among dalits who are loyal to Mayawati, the key to party success in the state lies with Muslims, OBCs and upper castes.

Also read: PM will now keep a sharper eye on key economic ministries

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-rejig-with-eye-on-polls/articleshow/7323296.cms