Das | SilverScorpio.Com

Tripura police arrest a juvenile with three American made pistols

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala, Sep, 16 (ANI): A 16- year- old juvenile, who fled from custody with five other Bangladesh nationals, was arrested by Agartala Police on Wednesday.

Police have recovered three American pistols and ammunition from him.

West Tripura District Superintendent of Police K V Sreejesh said: “Based on the information last night we arrested one person from the Battala area and recovered two loaded pistols from his position.”

“During the interrogation, he informed about another pistol hidden in a temple near the Agartala railway station which also we have found along with eight live cartridges and six magazines,” Sreejesh added.

The juvenile arms carrier has been identified as Shiva Das and is suspected to have received the pistols from Bangladesh.

Police suspect an arms racket is on ahead of Durga Puja in Tripura.

A case has been registered under the Arms Possession and Using of Fire Arms Act. By Pinaki Das (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: act, agartala, American, American Ammunition, ammunition, ANI, area, arrest, Bangladesh, Battala, carrier, case, custody, das, district superintendent, Durga Puja, fire, fire arms, information, interrogation, juvenile, K V Sreejesh, Loaded Pistols, magazines, nationals, night, person, Pinaki, pistol, police, police arrest, position, possession, racket, railway, railway station, Sep, shiva, station, superintendent, Temple, tripura, Wednesday, west tripura, West Tripura District, year

Banking transforms lives in rural areas in northeast

September 17, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala (Tripura)/ Jorhat (Assam), Sep.16 (ANI): Banking services are playing a major role in transforming the lives of people in rural areas of the northeast India.

To upgrade infrastructure and attract more investment, banks have undertaken several economic upliftment policies and schemes.

In Tripura, a financial outreach camp was recently organized at the State’s Pitra village to raise awareness among villagers about banking and central banking services. It also intended to bring them under the fold of mainstream banking.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took the initiative along with different functioning banks in the State. It came as a boon to thousands of villagers, especially farmers, who enthusiastically participated in the camp.

Villagers were familiarized with various banking facilities, security features of currency notes. They were given an opportunity to exchange their soiled and mutilated currency notes and exchange currency notes for coins.

The participants put up their queries about banking facilities in the area.

“Here we do not have any banking system. Because of the camp the villagers would be benefited. With bank accounts, people will get to know about savings and this will help them in the future,” said Bubantala Jamatia, a Pitra villager.

“This outreach camp has helped poor villagers and we are now opening accounts without depositing any money,” said Anishmia Sarkar, a villager. o improve the banking sector in northeast, the Reserve bank of India has set up a Committee on Financial Sector Development.

The committee has made several major recommendations, including financial inclusion, opening of bank branches and enhancement of credit flow to the region.

“As far as Reserve Bank of India is concerned, the approach is that we work together, the State government, the banks, the non-governmental organizations, the local Panchayati Raj institutions and the Reserve Bank will act like a catalyst to make people come together an work for economic development,” said Usha Thorat, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

The United Bank of India (UBI) has drawn up a plan for economic upliftment of the seven northeastern States called ‘Vision 2020 for northeast’ aimed to cover rural people.

‘Vision 2020 for northeast, the plan, was declared during a press conference by UBI held at Tocklai in Jorhat in Assam.

It would include introduction of low rate interest loans for the poor, unemployed youths, farmers, women, self-help groups, small scale industries and entrepreneurs among others.

The bank also handed over rupees 750 million loan to 8,673 Union Bank of India (UBI) account holders.The loans have benefited us a lot. The bank provided us loans based on the need of the customers. We are really satisfied,” said C. Saikia, one of the customers.

At present there are 252 Union Bank of India branches in the northeast region of the country. The bank is setting up 15 branches in different parts of Assam. Two branches each will also be set up in Manipur and Nagaland. By Pinaki Das / Vaschipem Kamodang (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: account, agartala, ANI, Anishmia, approach, area, Assam, awareness, bank, Bank Branches, bank of india, banking, Banking Sector, boon, Bubantala, C. Saikia, camp, catalyst, Central Banking, committee, conference, country, credit, credit flow, currency, currency notes, das, Deputy Governor, Development, enhancement, exchange, Exchange Currency, Facilities Security, financial, Financial Sector Development, flow, functioning, future, Government, inclusion, India, Infrastructure, initiative, interest, introduction, investment, investment banks, Jamatia, Jorhat, Kamodang, loan, lot, mainstream, Manipur, MONEY, Mutilated Currency, nagaland, need, northeast India, northeastern states, opening, opportunity, outreach, Panchayati, panchayati raj institutions, Pinaki, pitra, plan, poor villagers, press, raj, rate, RBI, region, reserve, Reserve Bank of India, role, Sarkar, scale, sector, security, self-help, Sep, state, system, Tocklai, tripura, UBI, union, united, upliftment, Usha Thorat, Vaschipem, village, villager, villagers, vision, work

NREGA transforming lives in rural Mizoram

September 8, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Aizwal, Sep.8 (ANI): By generating employment opportunities through infrastructure development projects, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) has helped people in rural areas of Mizoram.

In Vairengte, located about 130 km from Aizawl, the state capital, many villagers are being employed in road construction projects.

They earn rupees 103 per day.

The roads help the farmers to sell their agricultural products.

The project is being implemented in three phases to cover all the eight districts of Mizoram.

Over 100,000 job cards have been sanctioned for the current financial year (2009-10) at a cost of around rupees 1.67 billion rupees.

“This scheme is beneficial for rural people because most of the people, about 70-80 per cent doesn’t have job in Industrial or Private or Government sectors. So, this kind of scheme is very helpful for them,” said Zomingthang, Superintendent under NREGA in Mizoram.

“After the coming of NREGA, we are getting jobs. We can earn our own day-to-day livings now. The project is also aiding in the development of our village. We are very happy,” said Joeph, a local resident.

Mizoram Government has sent proposals to the Centre for other developmental schemes related to agriculture, forest, water resources, land resources and rural roads that will help in increasing the productivity of assets and resources under NREGA.

Such developmental projects are hoped to improve the living conditions of people in Mizoram. By Pinaki Das (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: act, agricultural products, Agriculture, Aizawl, Aizwal, ANI, capital, cent, centre, construction, cost, das, day, Development, developmental, developmental projects, employment, Employment opportunities, farmers, forest, Government, Government Sectors, guarantee, industrial, Infrastructure, infrastructure development, job, Job Cards, Joeph, kind, land, Land Resources, Mizoram, national, nrega, Pinaki, productivity, project, proposals, resident, road, Road Construction Projects, rupees, rural, rural areas, rural roads, scheme, Sep, state, superintendent, Transforming Lives, Vairengte, village, water, water resources, year, Zomingthang

BJP will solve its problems, soon, says key RSS leader

August 30, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, Aug. 30 (ANI): Senior Rashtriya Swayam Sewak (RSS) leader Madan Das Devi on Sunday said he was confident about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking appropriate steps to resolve all of its problems, including the issue of the party succession plan.

Addressing a press conference in the capital this morning after between RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and LK Advani, Devi said: “We (RSS) are hopeful that the crisis in the BJP will be resolved. The RSS is assured that the BJP will overcome all problems.”

“We all think that a large party such as the BJP has the capability of being given new direction and end its problems. Important BJP leaders met leaders of the RSS. Shri L.K.Advani and other senior BJP leaders met us. We discussed issues of national importance, party issues etc. They have assured us that the problems of the party will be resolved,” he added.

Efforts to resolve the growing crisis within the BJP continued on Sunday, with Bhagwat travelling to Advani’s residence here to hold a breakfast meeting.

Bhagwat, who was accompanied by senior RSS leader Madandas Devi, is expected to continue discussions on a new roadmap for the BJP, including a possible change of leadership.

Sources said the BJP will most likely announce a succession plan on Sunday. It is indicated that individual responsibilities in the party would be finalised in the coming weeks.

On Saturday, Bhagwat stepped up efforts to mediate an end to the BJP crisis. He held hectic parleys with L K Advani and top leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi.

There were indications that BJP could come out with some statement tomorrow but Sangh Parivar sources said nothing spectacular could be expected.

Advani is reportedly under pressure from rebels to step down as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

Various names are under consideration, including Arun Jaitely, Sushma Swaraj and Bal Apte. However, both the RSS and the BJP have maintained that they were not discussing any succession plan. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, apte, Arun Jaitely, Aug, Bal Apte, bhagwat, bharatiya, bharatiya janata party, bjp, bjp leaders, breakfast, Breakfast Meeting, capability, capital, change, conference, consideration, crisis, das, devi, direction, end, importance, important, issue, Janata, Joshi, l k advani, L.K. Advani, L.K.Advani, leader, leader of opposition, leadership, lok, lok sabha, Madan, Madandas, Manohar, manohar joshi, meeting, mohan, Mohan Bhagwat, morning, murli, New Delhi, new direction, nothing, opposition, Parivar, parleys, party, plan, press, pressure, rashtriya, rebels, residence, roadmap, RSS, sabha, Sangh, Sangh Parivar, Saturday, Senior, Senior Bjp, sewak, shri, statement, succession, succession plan, sunday, Sushma, Swaraj, Swayam, tomorrow

Mizo artist sets up first ever fine art school

August 28, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Aizwal, Aug 28 (ANI): Laltanpuia, a promising painter who started the first fine arts school in Mizoram, is encouraging the youth to take to innovative ways to earn a living.

Laltanpuia, for whom painting was just a hobby, has now turned it into a mission to fight social problems like militancy, drugs and poverty in the northeast. is art not only pleases the eyes but also conveys an important message about culture, life and most of all peace.

With the objective of tapping the hidden talent among the youth, Laltanpuia started the first fine arts school in Mizoram after the completion of a Diploma in Fine Arts from Mumbai.

“As there is no art college here so I had to pursue my Diploma in Art outside of the state. After completion of my course, I returned and set up this school of fine arts so that people need not go out to learn about art. Art can attract the youth towards constructive activities. I think the educated youth can be self-employed by taking to painting and there is a good demand for paintings in metro cities and foreign markets,” said Laltanpuia.

Laltanpuia, who believes that art can play a role in developing aesthetic values among the people of Mizoram, encountered many hardships on his journey.

One of them was the absence of an art school or guidance centre in the state.

Keeping this in mind, he started the art centre, which is now molding lives of many budding artists.

“It’s a good profession. We can make good money and since it is my hobby, I can pursue my hobby as a profession,” said Lalchangchua.

Today, several educated Mizo youth have joined the centre and are learning fine art. Some even plan to further develop their skills after getting trained in painting and usage of colour.

“Art is a good scope for earning money through your works. You can also make a name for yourself through art. And government jobs are all very common here, so it’s a different way,” said Lisa Lalsanswani, a trainee.

Laltanpuia’s determination and hard work has set an example worth emulating. By Pinaki Das (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: absence, Aesthetic Values, Aizwal, ANI, art, Art Art, art centre, art college, artist, arts, Aug, centre, college, colour, Colour Art, completion, Constructive Activities, course, culture, Culture Life, das, demand, determination, diploma, earning money, Educated Youth, example, fine, Fine Art School, Fine Arts School, Foreign Markets, Government, government jobs, guidance, Guidance Centre, hardships, hobby, journey, Lalchangchua, Laltanpuia, life, Lisa Lalsanswani, message, metro, metro cities, militancy, mind, mission, Mizo, Mizoram, molding, MONEY, Mumbai, name, northeast, objective, painter, painting, peace, Pinaki, plan, poverty, profession, role, school, School Of Fine Arts, scope, state, talent, today, trainee, usage, way, work, youth

Uttarakhand villagers marooned for over two years

August 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Chai (Uttarakhand), Aug 21 (ANI): Residents of Chai village in Uttarakhand are still struggling to cope up with the predicament, which they encountered nearly two years ago when water from a tunnel of a powerhouse project gushed into their homes.

It was on October 25, 2007 that a massive leakage in the tunnel of the 400 MW powerhouse project constructed by the Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Jaypee Group of Industries resulted in the entire Chai village being inundated.

Only couple of families out of 25 were compensated.

With no roof over their heads and facing Herculean task to travel to the nearby villages or other places for their work, these families have reached the limit of their patience.

“When the tunnel built by JP Company (Jaiprakash Power Ventures Limited) poured out two years ago, our complete village was wiped out. Every day we are living under the fear of losing our lives. All our homes have been destroyed. We face a lot of problems while commuting from one place to another, as there are no roads,” said Yashoda Devi, a villager.

She also complained that many families are living in shacks and tents since the government has not rehabilitated them even after two years.

Despite repeated appeals, the government has rehabilitated just seven to eight families out of the 25 gravely affected households.

So much so, relief if any seems to have become a mirage for these families.

“We took our problem to the Chief Minister and the District Magistrate and every authority concerned, but so far they have provided houses to just seven to eight families. Those families who were severely affected by the leakage were promised a compensation of 365,000 rupees.

But the villagers were not in favour of the compensation but wished to move to some safer place,” said Pratap Lal, former Pradhan (headman) of Chai village.

Reacting to all the plight of the villagers, the government of Uttarakhand has contended that the grievances of the affected villagers are being looked into and that the District Magistrate is being instructed to address the problems of Chai village.

“This problem is now under consideration. We will be referring the matter to the District Magistrate and strict instructions will be issued to him. The problem is very grave in the village ever since the tunnel had leaked.After that commuting has been very dangerous for the villagers.

The District Magistrate will be looking into the matter at the earliest,” asserted Khajan Das, Minister of Disaster Management, Uttarakhand. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Aug, authority, chai, Chief Minister, company, compensation, Complete Village, consideration, couple, das, day, devi, disaster, district, district magistrate, favour, fear, Government, grievances, group, headman, Herculean, herculean task, Jaiprakash, Jaypee, Jp Company, Khajan, lal, leakage, limit, limited, lot, magistrate, management, matter, mirage, nearby villages, October, patience, place, plight, power, power ventures, powerhouse, Pradhan, Pratap, predicament, problem, project, reacting, relief, roof, rupees, safer place, Shacks, subsidiary, task, tunnel, Uttarakhand, village, villager, water, work, Yashoda

Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan named Best War Film Of All Time

August 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Aug 20 (ANI): Steven Spielberg’s flick Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, has topped the list of all time best war movies.

More than 3,000 members of the online DVD and games rental service, Lovefilm, took part in the poll. The survey was conducted to mark the release of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

Saving Private Ryan is an Oscar-winning epic about the D-Day landings and it pipped Steve McQueen starrer The Great Escape to land the honour.

The 1998 Spielberg classic received 21 per cent of the fans’ votes.

The Great Escape got 11 percent of votes, and it pipped another Spielberg movie, Schindler’s List, to grab the second spot.

Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, based on Josef Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness, was ranked fourth with nine per cent of the votes.

The Vietnam War inspired Full Metal Jacket by director Stanley Kubrick and Oliver Stone’s Platoon, came fifth and sixth.

Mel Gibson starrer Braveheart claimed the seventh spot, Back Hawk Down, a tale of American troops in Somalia, came eighth.

Michael Cimino’s haunting The Deer Hunter was positioned at number 10.

Wolfgang Peterson’s German U-Boat drama Das Boot was the only non-English language film to make it in to the top 10 in ninth place.

The Telegraph quoted Darren Bignell, Lovefilm’s communications manager, as saying: “Having polarised opinion at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, Inglourious Basterds marks the comeback of one of modern cinema’s most revered directors.

“Tarantino fans have been chomping at the bit for his latest offering and we’ll soon discover whether it hits the mark with cinema-goers.”

The Top 10 War Films Ever:

1 Saving Private Ryan (1998) 21 percent

2 The Great Escape (1963) 11 percent

3 Schindler’s List (1993) 10 percent

4 Apocalypse Now (1979) 9 percent

5 Full Metal Jacket (1987) 7 percent

6 Platoon (1986) 6 percent

7 Braveheart (1995) 5 percent

8 Black Hawk Down (2001) 4 percent

9 Das Boot (2006) 2 percent

10 The Deer Hunter (2078) 1 percent (others 24 percent) (ANI)

Filed Under: Entertainment News Tagged With: ANI, apocalypse, Apocalypse Now, Aug, Back Hawk Down, basterds, bit, black, Black Hawk Down, boot, Braveheart, cannes, cannes film festival, cent, cinema, Cinema Goers, classic, comeback, Conrad, Coppola, d day, D Day Landings, darkness, Darren Bignell, das, director, Director Stanley Kubrick, drama, dvd, english, english language film, epic, escape, festival, film, films, flick, Ford, francis, Francis Ford Coppola, full, German, Great, haunting, hawk, heart, Heart Of Darkness, honour, hunter, inglourious, jacket, Josef, Josef Conrad, language, list, London, Lovefilm, manager, mark, Matt Damon, mel gibson, metal, Michael Cimino, movie, non, novel, number, offering, oliver stone, Online, opinion, oscar-winning, part, percent, place, platoon, poll, Private Ryan, quentin tarantino, release, Saving, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler, Schindler S List, service, Somalia, spot, Stanley Kubrick, starrer, steve mcqueen, steven spielberg, survey, tale, Telegraph, time, Tom Hanks, u boat, Vietnam, war, Wolfgang Peterson

Sangeet Akademi Awards presentation today

July 14, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New Delhi, July 14 (ANI): President Pratibha Patil will confer the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Akademi Awards for 2008 at a special ceremony at Vigyan Bhavan today.
The Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) and Akademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) are recognized as the highest national honour conferred on practicing artists, gurus and scholars and have come to stay as the most coveted honour, which the artistes aspire to.

This year, the most coveted honour of Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna) will be conferred on eminent personalities in the field of performing arts namely Sitara Devi, eminent Kathak exponent from Mumbai, Khaled Chowdhury, eminent stage designer from Kolkata, R.C. Mehta, eminent scholar of performing arts from Vadodara and Bhupen Hazarika, eminent personality in the field of performing arts and noted folk musician from Guwahati.

The Akademi Fellowship (Akademi Ratna Sadyasta) carries a purse of Rs 1, 00,000/-, besides a citation, an angavastram and a tamrapatra.

The Akademi Fellowship is restricted to 30 living persons at any given point of time.

The General Council of the Akademi also selected 34 practitioners of music, dance and theatre for 33 awards including one joint award for the Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Award) for the year 2008.

The Akademi Award carries a purse money of Rs 50,000/-, citation, angavastram and tamrpatra.

In the field of music, eight eminent artists namely Ulhas Kashalkar and M.R. Gautam for Hindustani Vocal Music; Ramesh Mishra (Sarangi) and Krishna Ram Chaudhary (Shehnai) for Hindustani Instrumental Music; Puranam Purushottama Sastri for Carnatic Vocal; B. Sasi Kumar (Violin) and Manrgudi A. Easwaran (Mridangam) for Carnatic Instrumental Music and Ningombam Ibobi Singh (Nata Sankirtana, Manipur) for Other Major Traditions of Music have been selected.

In the field of dance, nine eminent practioners namely Saroja Vaidyanathan, Bharatanatyam; Shashi Shankhla, Kathak; Kalamandalam Kuttan, Kathakali; Ramani Ranjan Jena, Odissi; M. Vasanthalakshmi and M.V. Narasimhachari (Joint Award), Kuchipudi; Kalamandalam Leelamma, Mohiniattam; Yogsunder Desai, Creative and Experimental Dance and Ramhari Das, Music for Dance (Odissi) have been selected.

In the field of theatre, eight eminent persons namely Markand Bhatt and Arundhati Nag for Acting, S. Ramanujam and Probir Guha for Direction, Mudra Rakshasa (Hindi) and Narsingh Dev.

Jamwal (Dogri) for Playwriting, Amba Sanyal for Allied Theatre Arts (Costume Designing) and Bansi Lal Khilari (Khayal, Rajasthan) for Major Traditions of Theatre have been selected.

For their contribution to other traditional/folk/ tribal music/ dance/ theatre, Shakuntala Nagarkar, Lavani (Maharastra); Birabar Sahoo, Gotipua (Orissa); Mangi Bai Arya, Mand (Rajasthan); L. Heramot Meitei, Thang-Ta (Martial Art, Manipur); Lakha Khan Mangniyar, Folk Music (Rajasthan); Hilda Mit Lepcha, Lepcha Music (Sikkim); Kartar Singh, Gurbani (Punjab) and Lakshman Das, Hari Katha (Karnataka) have been selected.

R. Satyanarayana of Kartanaka has been selected his Scholarship in Performing Arts. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: A. Easwaran, acting, Akademi, allied, Amba, angavastram, ANI, art, arts, Arundhati, Arya, award, awards, B. Sasi, bai, bansi, Bharatanatyam, bhatt, Bhavan, Bhupen, Birabar, C Mehta, Carnatic, ceremony, chaudhary, Chowdhury, citation, contribution, costume, Council, dance, das, Desai, designer, Designing, dev, devi, direction, Dogri, Eminent Artists, eminent personalities, Eminent Scholar, Experimental, exponent, fellowship, Fellowships, field, folk, general, Gotipua, Guha, gurbani, Guwahati, Hari Katha, Hazarika, Hilda Mit, hindi, Hindustani, honour, Ibobi, instrumental, Instrumental Music, Jamwal, Jena, joint, July, Kalamandalam, Karnataka, Kartanaka, Kartar, Kashalkar, Kathak, Kathakali, khaled, khan, Khayal, Kolkata, krishna, Kuchipudi, kumar, Kuttan, L. Heramot, Lakha, lakshman, Lal Khilari, Lavani, Leelamma, Lepcha, M R Gautam, M. Vasanthalakshmi, M.R. Gautam, M.V. Narasimhachari, Maharastra, Major Traditions, Mand, Mangi, Mangniyar, Manipur, Manrgudi, Markand, martial, Mehta, Meitei, Mohiniattam, MONEY, Mridangam, mudra, Mumbai, music, musician, nag, Narsingh, Nata Sankirtana, Natak, national honour, New Delhi, Ningombam, Odissi, Orissa, Other, personality, Playwriting, point, presentation, President Pratibha Patil, Probir, Punjab, Puranam, Puraskar, PURSE, Purse Money, Purushottama, R. Satyanarayana, R.C., Rajasthan, Rakshasa, ram, Ramani, Ramesh Mishra, Ramhari, ranjan, Ratna, rs 50, S. Ramanujam, Sadyasta, sahoo, Sangeet, Sanyal, Sarangi, Saroja, Sastri, scholar, scholarship, Shakuntala Nagarkar, Shashi Shankhla, Shehnai, Sikkim, Singh, Sitara, Sitara Devi, stage, Stage Designer, tamrapatra, tamrpatra, Thang, theatre, time, today, Tribal, Ulhas, vadodara, vaidyanathan, vigyan, violin, vocal, Vocal Music, year, Yogsunder

Tripura fast emerging as a major tea exporting state

July 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala, July 11 (ANI): With its favourable agro climatic conditions, Tripura is fast emerging as a major tea exporting state in the region. The industry has evolved into a major business in the northeast.

The tea gardens here like the Manu Valley Tea Estate are in the process of modernizing production and are using the latest automatic machinery.

The tea estate has also imported Japanese machinery for plucking of tealeaves and is one of the biggest factories for tealeaf drier in Asia.

Last year, the 90-year-old tea industry in the state created history by exporting the beverage.

Despite the global economic meltdown, the tea industry in Tripura is reaping good profits in which 1 lakh Kg of tea named ‘Jewel Tips’ were exported to Iran, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

This generated revenue for the state and benefited the workers tremendously.

“Last year, we exported to UK, Iran, and Uzbekistan. In TATA also we have supplied more than 100,000 kilogram of tea. Now, the second phase has just started and the market is very good this year. Talk is going on with the TATA tea,” said J. C. DAS, General Manager with Tripura Group of Gardens.

“Earlier, we use the hand plucking method but now we are using machines. This has benefited us a lot as the work is completed faster and we get more money as well. We are very happy,” said Sudangshu, a Tea worker in Tripura

There are over 57 tea gardens in the Tripura, with about 6,000 hectares under plantation. Currently, the state produces about 7.5 million kilograms of tea in a year.

To give a boost to the tea industry, the Tripura Government, in collaboration with the Tea Board, is providing better irrigation facilities. Initiatives have also been taken to produce “Bio-tea”, which is free from any chemical residue.

Tea plantations have now become one of the promising industries in Tripura and are likely to witness more success in the coming years. By Pinaki Das(ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: (Iran, 1 lakh, agartala, agro, ANI, asia, Automatic Machinery, beverage, Bio-tea, board, boost, business, chemical, Chemical Residue, climatic conditions, collaboration, das, drier, estate, general, global economic meltdown, Government, group, hand, history, industry, initiatives, irrigation, irrigation facilities, J. C. DAS, Jewel Tips, July, kilogram, kilograms, lakh, lot, machinery, manager, manu, market, meltdown, method, MONEY, northeast, phase, Pinaki, plantation, process, production, Promising Industries, region, residue, revenue, second phase, state, success, Sudangshu, talk, TATA, tata tea, tea, Tea Board, Tea Estate, tea gardens, Tea Industry, tea plantations, tealeaf, Tealeaves, tripura, Tripura Government, U.K, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, valley, witness, work, worker, year

Meira Kumar to inaugurate MLAs orientation programme in Bhopal

July 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Bhopal, July 4 (ANI): A two day orientation programme of the legislatures of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly will be inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in Bhopal today.

Besides Meira Kumar, Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwar Das Rohani, the state’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kailash Vijaywargiya and the Leader of Opposition, Jamuna Devi will also guide the newly elected MLAs.

The BJP’s Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj will deliver a lecture on how to become an effective MLA while former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh will speak on the role of young MLAs in the empowerment of the parliamentary culture in the programme.

Besides them, former Union Minister Vikram Verma and former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha Subhash Kashyap, Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, MP Sandeep Dikshit, former MP Thavarchand Gehlot and former Lok Sabha general secretary G C Malhotra, and some other experts in parliamentary and legislative procedures will also guide the new members on legislative issues.

Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Karia Munda will chair the closing ceremony. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, assembly, assembly speaker, bhopal, bjp, ceremony, chair, chaturvedi, Chief Minister Digvijay, Chief Minister Shivraj, closing, culture, das, day, deputy leader, deputy speaker, Deputy Speaker Karia, devi, empowerment, G C Malhotra, gehlot, general, inaugurate, Inder Singh, Ishwar, Jamuna, Jharkhand, July, Karia, Kashyap, leader of opposition, lecture, Legislative Procedures, lok, lok sabha, Madhya, Madhya Pradesh, malhotra, Meira Kumar, Minister Kailash Vijaywargiya, mla, MLAs, MP Sandeep Dikshit, Munda, Namdhari, opposition, orientation, Orientation Programme, parliamentary, parliamentary affairs, pradesh, programme, Rohani, role, sabha, sandeep dikshit, Satyavrat, secretary, Singh, Singh Chauhan, Singh Namdhari, Speaker Inder, Speaker Meira Kumar, state, Subhash, Sushma, Sushma Swaraj, Swaraj, Thavarchand, today, union, verma, Vikram

People in north-east have high hopes from their MP Manmohan Singh

May 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Imphal/Kohima/Agartala May 26 (ANI): The recently concluded Parliament elections, which elicited the participation of over 65 percent voters, have raised the hopes of the people that the region will be given special attention by the centre.

People expect the new Members of Parliament to take up their needs in the Central Parliament. The response of the people towards elections also displayed their faith in democracy and rejection of militancy.

The swearing-in of B.K. Handique, who was elected from Jorhat, as a Cabinet Minister, has strengthened their belief that the Central leadership is keen to ensure peace in the region.

All the Members of Parliament, elected from seven states in the region, wish to work for the development of the region, which is rich in natural resources. They hope efforts will be made to exploit the natural resources and the tourism and trade potential.

” I will continue to work for the welfare of my people,” said B.K. Handique.

People in the northeast have high expectation from their political representatives and hope that they will effectively neutralise the insurgent groups who have not allowed peace to prevail.

In Manipur, the Indian National Congress made a sweep in elections on both the Inner and Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency seats.

“As usual we have the manifesto of our party. This is an all- India manifesto. We also have a state manifesto. We will try to implement whatever we have proposed in the manifesto of our party under the guidance of the party president and chief minister,” said Dr. Th Meina Singh, Member of Parliament from Inner Manipur.

In Nagaland, the Nagaland People’s Front won the lone Lok Sabha seat of the state.

People expect that factional clashes will end in the State.

In Tripura, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) candidates won in both parliamentary constituencies.

“We shall continue our fight inside as well as outside the parliament for the development and betterment of the lot of the people in the state,” said Khagen Das, MP from West Tripura.

In Assam, the Congress party won seven of the 14 Lok Sabha seats.

Bharatiya Janata Party registered win in four seats while its alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) secured one seat. The Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) secured one seat each.

In Meghalaya, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party won one seat each.

The Indian National Congress won two seats in Arunachal Pradesh and one in Mizoram. In Sikkim, the Sikkim Democratic Front won the lone parliamentary constituency.

People in the north-east are happy that Dr. Manmohan Singh, who has a house in Assam, will give special attention to the north-east. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: agartala, agp, all, alliance, ANI, arunachal, asom, Assam, attention, AUDF, B.K. Handique, belief, betterment, bharatiya, Bodoland, BPF, cabinet, central leadership, Central Parliament, centre, communist, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, Congress, constituency, Constituency Seats, CPI-M, das, democracy, Democratic, Development, Dr. Manmohan, expectation, factional, faith, fight, front, Gana, guidance, high expectation, house, imphal, India, Indian, indian national congress, inner, insurgent, insurgent groups, Janata, Jorhat, Khagen, kohima, leadership, lok, lok sabha, lot, manifesto, Manipur, Manmohan Singh, May, meghalaya, Meina, member, member of parliament, members of parliament, militancy, minister, Mizoram, MP Manmohan, nagaland, national, neutralise, northeast, outer, parishad, parliament, parliament elections, parliamentary, parliamentary constituencies, parliamentary constituency, participation, partner, party, peace, percent, political representatives, pradesh, president, region, rejection, response, sabha, seat, Sikkim, Singh, state, swearing-in, sweep, Tourism, tripura, united, welfare, west tripura

Tension along India-Bangladesh border over barbed wire fencing

May 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Tripura, May 23 (ANI): Tension prevailed along the India-Bangladesh border on the outskirts of Akhwara region, in Tripura, over the construction of a barbed wire fencing by the Border Security Force (BSF).

The villagers are concerned as the newly constructed barbed wire fence will block free access to the graveyard, which would now fall on the other side of the fence.

The Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), the border guard of Bangladesh, has raised objection to the move of BSF saying that the treaty signed between the two nations prohibits construction of the fence within 150 yards from the border pillar on both sides.

A mass protest against the BSF move and people demanded free access to their burial land.

The local councilor gave assurances to the villagers that their grievances would be addressed with utmost priority. “It (Graveyard) will not be covered by the fencing.

BSF will not erect fencing just in front of the graveyard. They will be able to use the graveyard freely,” said Ratan Das, local councilor.

Villegers complained that the BSF constructed the fence at night and did not consult them. They now allege that their life is under threat as the forces may fire at them.

Amina Khatun, a local protester said, “BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) as well as BSF had taken gun positions against each other. BSF instructed us to move away with our children as there may be firing at any moment. We are not against fencing but we want the access to burial ground.”

A meeting at company commander level on Akhaura border has been organized by BSF and BDR to prevent further deterioration of the situation.

Tension prevails in the area and the villagers on both sides of the border are reported to be moving to safer places.(ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: access, Akhaura, Akhwara, Amina Khatun, ANI, area, assurances, Bangladesh, bangladesh rifles, Barbed Wire Fence, barbed wire fencing, BDR, border, Border Guard, border security force, bsf, burial, Burial Ground, commander, company, company commander, construction, councilor, das, deterioration, fence, fencing, force, front, graveyard, grievances, ground, guard, gun, Gun Positions, India, land, level, life, Local Councilor, mass, mass protest, May, meeting, moment, move, night, objection, outskirts, pillar, priority, protest, protester, Ratan, region, rifles, security, side, Side Of The Fence, situation, tension, threat, treaty, tripura, Utmost Priority, Villegers, wire

I will accept my defeat in these polls: Paswan

May 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, May 16 (ANI): Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost from Hajipur parliamentary constituency in Bihar, on Saturday, accepted his defeat.

Talking to reporters, Paswan said, “I am happy that the secular front will be forming the government and the NDA’s plans have failed.”

“We have done our job. Nobody in Hajipur can say that Paswan has not worked for the development of Hajipur,” he added.

Paswan accepted defeat to former Chief Minister Ram Sundar Das of the Janata Dal-United (JD-U). (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ANI, Bihar, Chief, Chief Minister, constituency, Dal, Dal United, das, defeat, Development, front, Government, Hajipur, Janata, Janshakti, jd, JD-U, job, LJP, lok, lost, May, minister, nda, nobody, parliamentary constituency, party, Paswan, Patna, polls, ram, ram vilas paswan, Saturday, secular, Secular Front, Sundar, union, Union Minister, Vilas

Chidambaram loses in Sivaganga, seeks repoll

May 16, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Sivaganga, May 16 (ANI): Congress leader and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has lost the elections in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga parliamentary constituency to his All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) rival Raja Kannappan.

According to sources, a repoll has been ordered in the constituency.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shatrughan Sinha has won the Patna seat, beating his rival and television actor Shekhar Suman of Congress.

In Ghaziabad, BJP President Rajnath Singh has won, while Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad has managed to win only the Saran seat.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamta Banerjee has won the South Kolkata seat, beating her nearest rival Robin Deb of CPI-M.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has lost against the Janata Dal-United’s (JD-U) Ram Sundar Das in Bihar’s Hajipur parliamentary constituency.

BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has won the Amritsar seat, beating O. P. Soni of the Congress.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Jaya Prada has won the Rampur seat, while Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda beat his nearest rival Nafe Singh Rathi of INLD by over four lakh votes in the Rohtak constituency. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Actor, AIADMK, Amritsar, ANI, Anna Dravida, banerjee, beating, bharatiya, Bihar, bjp, bjp president, Chief, Congress, congress leader, constituency, CPI-M, Dal, Dal United, das, Deepender, dravida, elections in tamil nadu, ghaziabad, Hajipur, home, Hooda, India, INLD, Janata, Janshakti, jaya prada, JD-U, Kazhagam, lakh, Lalu, lalu prasad, leader, LJP, lok, Mamta, mamta banerjee, May, Minister P. Chidambaram, Munnetra, nadu, Nafe, Navjot, O. P. Soni, parliamentary constituency, party, Paswan, Patna, prasad, President Rajnath, Raja Kannappan, rajnath singh, ram, ram vilas paswan, Rampur, rashtriya, Rathi, repoll, RJD, Robin Deb, Rohtak, samajwadi, samajwadi party, saran, seat, shatrughan, shatrughan sinha, Shekhar, Shekhar Suman, Singh, Singh Hooda, Singh Rathi, Singh Sidhu, Sinha, Sivaganga, South Kolkata, Steel, suman, Sundar, tamil, television, Television Actor, tmc, trinamool, union, Union Home Minister, Vilas

Standard Chartered Marathon charity function fetches rupees 77.5 million

May 15, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Mumbai, May 15 (ANI): Bollywood actor John Abraham attended the Standard Chartered post Mumbai Marathon charity function and announced the charity raised in the year 2009.

John who also happens to be the brand ambassador of Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon also felicitated the winners of ‘Best Published Photograph’ competition.

The event was also graced by presence of Maharashtra Governor S C Jamir.

Held in January 2009, barely a month after some armed gunmen stormed Mumbai, the charity amount raised through Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon is said to be a whopping amount of Rs 7.75 crores.

All the individuals and organisations who worked selflessly to raise the funds for numerous causes were recognised and felicitated.

Prashant Nakwe of the ‘Times of India’ was named the winner of the ‘Best Published Photograph’ competition, while Raju Shinde of the ‘Mumbai Mirror’ and Pradeep Das of the ‘Indian Express’ were declared runners up, respectively.

Looking suave in a formal suit, the Bollywood heartthrob lauded the efforts of Standard Chartered and also talked about the importance of raising charities to bring a difference in someone’s life.

“I am so honoured to be a part of this cause. It’s a great pleasure to stand up out there like watching Mumbai and pledge for such an honourable cause,” said Abraham. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: ''cause, 5 million, abraham, Actor, actor john abraham, ambassador, amount, ANI, bollywood, bollywood actor john abraham, Bollywood Heartthrob, brand, charities, charity, Charity Function, chartered, competition, das, difference, event, Express, Formal Suit, function, governor, gunmen, heartthrob, held, importance, India, Indian, Indian Express, January, john, john abraham, life, Maharashtra, marathon, May, mirror, month, Mumbai, Mumbai Mirror, part, photograph, pleasure, pledge, post, Pradeep, Prashant Nakwe, presence, raju, runners, rupees, S C Jamir, Shinde, someone, standard, Standard Chartered Marathon, suave, suit, the, times, Times Of India, winner, year

Residents ignore militants’ threat against polls in Assam and Manipur

May 4, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Guwahati/ Imphal, May 2 (ANI): Defying militants’ threat against participation in the ongoing parliamentary elections, residents in Assam and Manipur demonstrated their faith in the democratic set-up of governance.

In Assam, the voter turnout was 62 %. This was a considerable increase of 16.2 per cent over the last general elections in 2004.

The huge voter turnout in the 15th Lok Sabha Elections indicated people’s faith in democratic institutions and rejection of militancy.

People came out in large numbers to exercise their franchise, despite militant threats. Voters made a beeline outside to exercise their franchise.

Be it men or women, young or the elderly, all voted with a hope for a better future.

“This says clearly that people have complete faith in the Indian Democratic system and they like to identify themselves as Indians. We don’t want a sovereign Assam, we have faith in the Indian democracy and we are making good progress,” said Priyanka Devi, local resident of Assam.

“I believe that the mass participation of the people in the election has sent a message to the insurgent groups that their ideology has failed. They had earlier appealed for a boycott of voting but the people have sent a message that the ideologies of the militants are not good for them. The people have shown faith in the democratic system,” said Dhruva Das, local resident.

The efforts made by the government and the security agencies were reflected in the increase in the voting figures.

The increased participation of the people in the electoral process is a clear indication of the fact that that they want normalcy, peace and development in the state.

“It is a clear indication that the people of Assam have complete faith in the democratic process. The insurgent groups who are demanding for sovereignty they should learn a lesson from this election process,” said Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of Assam

In Manipur too people displayed their faith in democracy and against militancy.

Rejecting the poll boycott call by militant groups, people turned up at polling booths.

A 17-hour bandh called by the Joint Action Committee against killing of one sub-divisional officer and two others coincided with the polling. However, it failed to affect the voter turnout.

“Even if the militants boycotted the elections, as the government is ruling the state the boycott was not a success. And since the MPs are elected once in five years, we did not want to waste our vote,” said S. Indra Singh, local resident of Manipur.

“According to me, the citizens want peace and harmony in the state so they’ve cast their vote,” said Kh. Achou Singh, another local resident in Manipur.

Large participation of the voters in two major States of the northeast region of the country has demonstrated that people want peace. .

They wish to live under a democratic set up under a people’s government which can protect the residents from militancy and pay attention to development and resolve issues (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Achou, action, ANI, Assam, attention, bandh, beeline, better future, boycott, call, cent, Chief Minister, committee, country, das, Defying, democracy, democratic institutions, democratic system, Development, devi, Dhruva, Election, Electoral Process, fact, faith, franchise, general elections, gogoi, governance, Government, Guwahati, harmony, hope, hour, ideology, imphal, increase, Indian Democracy, indication, insurgent, insurgent groups, joint, killing, large numbers, lesson, lok, lok sabha elections, Manipur, mass, Mass Participation, May, message, militancy, mps, normalcy, northeast, officer, parliamentary elections, participation, peace, poll, polling, Priyanka, process, progress, region, rejecting, rejection, resident, S. Indra Singh, sabha, security, Security agencies, Singh, sovereignty, state, success, system, tarun, threat, turnout, vote, voter, Voter Turnout, voting

Pak militants using Bangladesh route for infiltration: BSF chief

April 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala, 26 Apr (ANI): Pakistan sponsored anti-India elements are now using the eastern border with Bangladesh and Nepal for infiltrating into the Indian territory, said Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) M L Kumawat.
“The western frontier is almost fully fenced and is better mended because the fencing work started much early, they (Pakistan intelligence sponsored militants) have to find some other ways to come into India,” said the BSF head during interaction with reporters here at the BSF Tripura Frontier headquarters.

“There is the Bangladesh route, Nepal route or some other areas of sea route. So they are out sourcing or providing help to other forces, which are inimical to India,” he added.

Commenting on relations with neighbouring countries, he assured that it has improved with Bangladesh after the recent change of regime there.
“Bangladesh is a friendly country and our leadership at national level also has extended all help to Bangladesh. Even at border guarding forces level our relationship is very good,” said Kumawat.

“The very fact that DG BDR came here and he expressed gratitude proves that our relationship is all time good and I can say this will help both the countries in dealing with problems that both sides are facing,” the BSF DG said.

“As far as the present government (Bangladesh) is concerned they are fully with us in dealing with such elements which are anti-India,” Kumawat added.
Kumawat further assured that Bangladesh has already started taking action against anti-India insurgent groups camped in its territory.
“The ground reality is they (Bangladesh) at some places (alongside the border) they have taken good action against them and dismantled their camps” Kumawat informed.

He claimed that India would further tighten the vigil along the 4,095 km-long international border with Bangladesh by increasing border outposts (BOPs) from 1,411 to 1,882 and deploying more BSF troopers with modern gadgets and devices and flood lighting of the fencing.
Kumawat, however, expressed regret over the non-commitment of Pakistan towards fight against terror. Such actions have boomeranged against Pakistan itself. By Pinaki Das (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: action, agartala, ANI, anti, Apr, Bangladesh, BDR, BOPs, border, border security force, bsf, change, country, das, dg, Director General, eastern border, fact, fencing, fight, flood, force, frontier, Government, gratitude, ground, Ground Reality, head, headquarters, help, India, indian territory, infiltration, insurgent, insurgent groups, intelligence, interaction, international border, leadership, level, lighting, M L Kumawat, militants, neighbouring countries, Nepal., outposts, Pak, Pakistan, Pinaki, present government, reality, regime, regret, relationship, route, sea, sea route, security, territory, terror, time, tripura, vigil, western frontier, work

RJD-LJP alliance will be uprooted from Bihar: Nitish Kumar

April 24, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Patna, Apr 24 (ANI): Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal- United leader Nitish Kumar on Friday said the RJD-LJP alliance would be uprooted from Bihar after general elections.

“The RJD-LJP alliance would face a rout in the state in the general elections. There is a strong anti-Lalu and anti-Paswan wave blowing across Bihar, as people want to see a change in governance at the Centre. It is now clear that the LJP-RJD combine will be uprooted from Bihar after general elections,” Nitish Kumar told reporters here.

Kumar also said that Lok Janshakti Party’s chief Ram Vilas Paswan would lose the Hajipur parliamentary constituency this time.

“Just as the people of Hajipur selected Paswan in 1977 with record margin, 2009 will see him rejected with the same margin.

JD (U)’s Ram Sunder Das would definitely win this time. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: alliance, ANI, anti, Apr, Bihar, centre, change, Chief, Chief Minister, constituency, Dal, Dal United, das, face, Friday, general elections, governance, Hajipur, Janata, Janshakti, kumar, Lalu, leader, LJP, LJP-RJD, lok, Margin, minister, Nitish, Nitish Kumar, parliamentary constituency, party, Paswan, Patna, people, ram, ram vilas paswan, record, Record Margin, RJD-LJP, rout, state, Sunder, time, united, Vilas, wave

Tripura witnesses dull campaigning on last day

April 21, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Agartala, Apr. 21 (ANI): Elections for two Lok Sabha seats scheduled on April 23, Tripura witnessed a very dull last day of campaigning.

“This is the dullest election I have witnessed till date; the state Congress unit without any campaign or activities seems to have given a walkover to the Left”, said senior member Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) and a former Congress MLA Tapas Dey.

Tripura which is politically very active unlike earlier, this election missed street plays, poems, songs and colourful decorations as part of campaigning for the two Lok Sabha seats.

No star campaigner or any big rally was there in the state except one by CPIM general secretary Prakash Karat, who visited the state only for few hours.

“The TPCC has brought Pranab Mukharjee, as captain to attack Left, but unfortunately for only few street corners like and he returned back on the same day to Kolkata and the impact is our boys could not be motivated to come to the field’, said Dey.

The ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) though managed few big rallies but stretched on people to people contact through local meeting and house to house campaign.

Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have organised poll campaigns using vehicles draped with colourfully party flags and festoons and putting few flags by the road side.

“Campaign here this time is very dull no doubt about that because Congress has not taken much of an initiative to launch and carry on good campaign for the election,” said Sekhar Datta, special correspondent, The Telegraph.

Tripura which had it assembly election only a year back in which Left had a sweep victory this time had had very less publication of books; leaflets besides letters to the electorate highlighting various issues are the other methods of campaign used by all political parties.

“In Tripura campaign had not pickup because the opposition is a divided house. Activist of the opposition seems to be not working for the victory of Congress candidate. It has become a one-sided game. Left or CPIM is a much organised party,” said Jayanta Bhattacharjee, political analyst.

Today at the end of the campaign there was a mammoth rally of the Left in capital Agartala and the enthusiasm of the party cadres with band party and songs was so high as if they were celebrating victory.

“Today at the end of campaigning it can be easily said that the campaign was only of out party i.e. of Left Front and the scene is same through out the state’, Samar Aidro, senior CPM leader.

Tripura is going for poll for its two Lok Sabha seats with 19 candidates, including a woman in the fray and over 2.08 million voters, including 1.01 million women, will exercise their franchise at 3,008 polling stations. With almost no campaign of opposition parties the result is expected to be sweep for the ruling CPI-M-led Left Front. By Pinaki Das (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: activist, agartala, Aidro, analyst, ANI, Apr, April, assembly, assembly election, band, bharatiya, bharatiya janata party, Bhattacharjee, bjp, campaign, campaigner, campaigning, candidate, capital, captain, committee, communist, communist party of india, communist party of india marxist, Congress, congress committee, congress mla, contact, correspondent, CPI-M, CPI-M-led, cpim, CPM, das, date, datta, day, dey, doubt, Election, electorate, end, enthusiasm, Festoons, field, franchise, fray, front, game, general secretary, house, impact, India, initiative, Janata, Jayanta, Kolkata, leader, left, lok, lok sabha seats, meeting, member, mla, Mukharjee, opposition, part, party, Party Flags, pickup, Pinaki, poll, polling, pradesh, Prakash Karat, pranab, publication, rally, result, road, Ruling Communist Party, sabha, Samar, scene, secretary, Sekhar, side, special correspondent, star, state, State Congress, street, street corners, sweep, Tapas, Telegraph, time, today, TPCC, tripura, unit, victory, walkover, woman, year

GlaxoSmithKline nears $3 billion deal for Stiefel: report

April 20, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

NEW YORK (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK.L) is close to a deal to buy U.S. skincare specialist Stiefel Laboratories for about $3 billion, the Wall Street Journal said on its website on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.

The deal for Stiefel, which is partly owned by private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX.N), is expected to be announced on Monday, the report said, adding there is still a chance it could fall apart.

A person familiar with the matter told Reuters a month ago that Stiefel was considering selling itself and had asked Blackstone to seek offers for the business.

Stiefel is the world’s largest independent dermatology company and is viewed as a potentially attractive asset for major drugmakers, industry experts have said.

The source had told Reuters that Blackstone and the company’s family owners were seeking a speedy sale.

The Wall Street Journal, which had first reported news of the possible sale last month, said the business had drawn interest from a number of major drug companies, including Johnson and Johnson (JNJ.N) and Novartis AG (NOVN.VX).

(Reporting by Jui Chakravorty Das; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: asset, Blackstone, Blackstone Group, business, Bx, chakravorty, chance, company, das, deal, dermatology, drug, Editing, equity, family, firm, GlaxoSmithKline, Glaxosmithkline Plc, group, gsk, industry, industry experts, interest, Jan Paschal, jnj, johnson, johnson and johnson, journal, JUI, matter, Monday, month, New York, NEWS, novartis, Novartis Ag, NOVN, number, paschal, person, Plc, private equity firm, Private Equity Firm Blackstone Group, report, reporting, reuters, sale, skincare, source, specialist, Stiefel, sunday, unnamed sources, US, Wall Street, wall street journal, website, world