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Peeved over Govt apathy, Bengal farmers burn crops

     Jhargram (West Bengal): Farmers in West Bengal's Midnapore district, particularly in the village of Jhargram, have begun burning their paddy fields in wake of an unknown pest- related attack. Tthe pest, locally known as "Dhasa", has so far affected crops spread over several hundred acres, forcing the farmers to take immediate and drastic remedial measures. The farmers are also apparently peeved over the state government's apathy to their woes. The spraying of pesticides has apparently had no effect on the disease, as many of the crops struck at the roots, have turned black and withered away. "Here 400 bighas of paddy has been destroyed by the unknown disease. Some are saying its "Dhasa" others saying its not "Dhasa" but is something else caused by some pests. We don't know what to do " said, Ajit Kumar Mallick, a farmer. The villages of Alampur, Gopalpur, Sahagram and Sahari in the district have been the worst affected. "Paddy in few hundreds acres of land have been affected in this block. What do we do apart from burning them. We have nothing to eat. All of us took loans and have know idea how to repay it, said Mritunjay Mallick, another farmer. Most of the farmers took bank loans to cultivate "BORO" or rice crop before the onset of the monsoon. Apart from West bengal, the other potential areas where this crop is grown are Bihar, Assam, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. Some mortgaged ornaments to local money lenders and took big amounts of loan . Now they have no way out to repay their loans. Concerned state government officials have not visited the affected areas even after confirming the receipt of several requests from the farmers to do so.

NDA continues with its Parliament boycott (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Following Monday's decision to take part in the discussion on the Finance Bill for 2005-06 under protest, the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday decided to continue with its boycott of both Houses of Parliament, citing what it termed the UPA Government's "hostile and vindictive" attitude towards it as its reason for doing so. Senior BJP leader V.K.Malhotra told mediapersons here this morning that the NDA has decided to continue with its protest till the time the "Opposition is allowed to raise its voice on issues like corruption". Taking exception to the continuance of Lalu Prasad as the country's Railway Minister "despite charges being framed against him and Supreme Court passing strictures" on the Income Tax issue, a meeting of the NDA Parliamentary Party chaired by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee decided to review their boycott decision on a day-to-day basis. NDA had yesterday broken its three-day boycott of Lok Sabha to "demonstrate its commitment to Parliamentary duties" and to blow the whistle on the Government's claim that the opposition had not taken part in the Budgetary discussions for the second consecutive term. After Tuesday's meeting, BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj, said "as the main opposition party, the BJP-led NDA alliance cannot close our eyes to the corruption charges including the flood relief scam. The people have not given us the role of a mute spectator. The people's mandate for us is to be a vigilant guard". "Our leaders are being humiliated. The Leader of Opposition is not allowed to speak. If we are not allowed to raise the issues, what's the point in remaining inside. We may as well remain outside and raise them", she said. Dismissing suggestions that TDP was not with the NDA on the boycott issue, she said that TDP leader Yerran Naidu has assured them that his party fully supports BJP in the boycott decision. The coordination committee of the NDA is expected to meet later in the day followed by a meeting of its Parliamentary party on Wednesday to review its decision.

Indian newspapers propose Pak edition: Rashid (Go To Top)

     Islamabad: Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has said that several Indian newspapers have sought the Pakistan government's permission for starting the publication of their papers in Islamabad and Karachi respectively. The News quoted Rashid in an interview to a private television channel as saying that Indian newspapers had also sent an application to Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf for permission to launch their newspapers in Pakistan. He however did not say whether any permission regarding this has been given or not. Rashid said that the papers had said that this would give a big boost to the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs).

Anil Ambani questions cousin Nikhil's role (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Another twist was added to the ongoing tussle for ownership of the Reliance Industries, India's biggest business empire. Anil Ambani questioned the role of his cousin Nikhil Meswani in the family discussions. Nikhil is an Executive Director on the Board of Reliance Industries Limited board. Accusing Nikhil of misleading the media and the investors on family issues, Anil claimed that the former was harming the overall interest of the company. "Nikhil is not involved in the discussions in the family to resolve the ownership issues. He has no locus standi," Anil's spokesman said. Anil, engaged in a bitter battle with his elder brother Mukesh over the ownership issue of Reliance empire, yesterday asked that his "role, responsibilities, authority and accountability in the organisation be defined by the RIL board, no response has been forthcoming form the board so far.

IHF polls likely on May 23 (Go To Top)

     Kolkata: Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President KPS Gill has called for an early election in Kolkata on May 23. Gill surprised many IHF executive members by sending the election notice on Monday evening. The term of the present IHF office bearers expires in February 2006, but Gill wants to cash in the success of the inaugural PHL. He also wants to hold on to the support of the 33 affiliated units he received during the last general body meeting held in Hyderabad in January.

India beat UAE 3-0 in junior Davis Cup (Go To Top)

     Manila: Indian tennis colts kicked off their Junior Davis Cup campaign in style, beating United Arab Emirates 3-0 in the opening Group III match of the Asia Oceania zone qualifiers in Manila, Philippines. After Agnel Gladwin put them in the lead with a 6-2 6-1 win over Faisal Bastaki in the first singles, Kinshuk Sharma clinched the contest with a 6-4 6-0 defeat of Hamad Ismail in the second match on Monday. Sharma then paired with Navneetha Kannan to defeat Ismail and Khaled Al Hassani 6-2 6-0 in the inconsequential doubles rubber. India are seeded six in the 16 and age-group boys competition featuring 18 countries divided into five groups. The qualifying event is to be played till May 7, while the Junior Fed Cup for girls is scheduled to be held at Bangkok, Thailand, from May 9.

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