Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells and US Ambassador Kenneth Juster here.

“Met Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Ambassador Alice Wells and US Ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster for a wide-ranging exchange of views on issues of bilateral interest, regional and global affairs,” Gandhi said in a tweet attaching a picture of his meeting.

Met Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Ambassador Alice Wells and US Ambassador to India, Kenneth Juster for a wide-ranging exchange of views on issues of bilateral interest, regional and global affairs. @USAmbIndia pic.x.com/KuahNM1FL0

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) January 18, 2018

Senior party leader Anand Sharma was also present at the meeting.

The Congress on Thursday asked the government to come clear on alleged about fresh Chinese troops build-up in the Doklam region and asked it should specifically state whether some helipads or bunkers have been established or not.

“MEA statement does not say a word about the alleged construction by Chinese Army as depicted in satellite imagery. Please be specific if Chinese have constructed concrete posts, seven helipads, new trenches and placed several dozen armoured vehicles in Doklam,” Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a tweet.

MEA Statement does not say a word about the alleged construction by Chinese Army as depicted in satellite imagery.

Plz be specific if Chinese have constructed concrete posts,seven helipads, new trenches & placed several dozen armoured vehicles in Doklam.https://t.co/1ujXT6LKXt

— Randeep S Surjewala (@rssurjewala) January 18, 2018

His remarks came after the Ministry of External Affairs Ministry reports in a section of the media about fresh Chinese troops build-up in the Doklam region on the India-China-Bhutan trijunction as “inaccurate and mischievous” and that the status quo at the face-off site has not been altered.

Reports in a section of the media, citing satellite images, suggested there has been a fresh build-up of Chinese troops in Doklam.

Earlier in the day, the Congress has also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of misleading the nation over Chinese troops occupying Doklam plateau, saying that India’s security and strategic interests have been compromised.

Karti Chidambaram, son of senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, was on Thursday questioned by the ED officials for over 10 hours in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in a FIPB clearance accorded to INX Media in 2007.

A senior Enforcement Directorate official told IANS that Karti Chidamabaram was questioned for over 10 hours at the agency’s headquarters about the INX media dealings, save 30 minutes in the day for having lunch.

After coming out, Karti Chidamabaram told reporters: “Whatever I have stated here has already been stated in all my petitions in the court.”

The agency issued summons to him on January 16. The first summons was for January 11 when Karti Chidambaram’s legal representatives appeared before the agency.

On Saturday, the agency conducted raids at properties of Karti Chidamabaram — one in Delhi and four in Chennai.

The ED registered a money laundering case against him in May 2017.

Also named in a CBI FIR along with INX Media and its directors, Peter and Indrani Mukerjea — both accused in the murder case of Sheena Bora — and others, Karti Chidambaram is facing a probe for his alleged role in facilitating Foreign Investment Promotion Board clearance for INX Media Ltd when his father was the Union Finance Minister.

Karti Chidambaram is alleged to have received Rs 3.5 crore from Mumbai-based INX media, now 9X Media, for helping it get the FIPB clearance when it was run by the Mukerjeas.

The state government is working to give final touchs to plans to promote home stays as a vital cog in the tourism industry in the state. The tourism department is working with corporate houses to get the ambitious project up and running, possibly by the pujas this year, according to Mr Indranil Sen, minister of state for tourism.

“The tourism department in close cooperation with corporate houses is giving final touchs to a plan to promote home stays in the state. It might be a bit late compared to other states but things have begun to be put in place. Tourism in the state has taken a turn for the better since Mamata Banerjee took the mantle in 2011.

Bengal has peeped states like Rajasthan, Kerala and Goa in terms of international tourists inflow ~ the state ranks 5th in terms of foreign tourists in the state”, said Sen. He went on to add that the state would promote marriage tourism for various castes and religions. According to Vijay Dewan, chairman, tourism subcommittee, CII Eastern Region, home stay is a project that the hoteliers and
entrepreneurs are working on in an effort to expand tourism accommodations beyond the hotels.

“As far as the state government’s tourism policy is concerned the idea is to rent out rooms to tourists by home owners. For that they will have to register with the state tourism department detailing all the facilities and amenities, safety and security features to be offered”.

Atri Bhattacharya, state principal secretary of home and tourism, said that keeping in view the biggest festival in the state, the Durga Puja, “home stay tourism is something that the state is eyeing and investors should come forward to help in this direction”.

A total of Rs 8, 07,000 was looted from a microfinance bank (Ujjivan Small Finance Bank) office situated at Marawari Patti in Alipurduar town yesterday night. The miscreants with precision cut opened the grill of
a window on the back side of the office and entered inside the bank while the office guard had no clue of the loot as he was on guard outside the main entrance gate of the bank, bank sources said. The bank authority has lodged a complaint with the Alipurduar police station today.

Police have started an investigation on the matter. Alipurduar SP, Avaru Rabindranath himself rushed to the spot in the morning to enquire the matter. Forest department’s sniffer dog, Karim was deployed on the spot to track the clues. Police then closed the office as the bank lacks proper security arrangements which is must to run a bank, police sources said.

Meanwhile,police have started interrogating the night guard as a part of their interrogation. “We have started a probe. We have to get acknowledged with the incident first. We have closed the bank because it does not have proper security arrangements,” said Alipurduar SP Avaru Rabindranath.

Yesterday’s robbery has sent a high alarm throughout the district as it marks the second such incident in the last two months. Notably, Rs 28 lakh was looted from the Bhatkhawa tea plantation situated under Kalchini police station in the district on 12 October.

Miscreants snatched a suit case full of money from three plantation staffs who were returning from a bank with the money for payments to the labors. Later, on 25 November, Rs 12 lakh was looted from a nationalized bank in Damanpur area near to Alipurduar town. This time the criminals broke the volt of the bank at Midnight and looted money.

South Dinajpur district labour fair began today at Avijatri Club’s play ground in Balurghat. The fair will continue till 20 January. District Magistrate of South Dinajpur, Sharad Kumar Dwivedi, Sabhadhipati of the Zilla Parisad, Lalita Tigga and Joint Commissioner of Labor Department, Ajij Rashul inaugurated the fair by lighting the traditional lamp.

More than 500 labors from different parts of the district participated in the occasion. The fair will continue till 20th January. A total of 17 different departments today showcased their excellence through models and banners. A blood donation camp was also organized in the opening day and 25 units of blood were collected from the labors.

Some of the successful self help groups in the district also displayed their products in the stalls. The District Magistrate of South Dinajpur said, “More than two lakh unskilled labors in South Dinajpur district from different sectors has been already registered with the Samajik Suraksha Yojana-2017 (SSY) and four thousand labors are entitled for the scheme and they are have started receiving the benefits of the project ”.

The Siliguri Metropolitan Police (SMP) is set to introduce sophisticated cameras and gadgets to upgrade the force when it comes to keeping a vigil on traffic violations in the town. The police believe that the systems would also help them keep crimes at bay. The work on the installation of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras began today, while one has already been installed.

Another one will be installed after a few days, while police said more will be commissioned within a month. Police also said that sophisticated ‘Pan-tilt zoom’ cameras would be installed at important areas of the town. “We are going to introduce sophisticated gadgets and cameras to keep a close watch on vehicles. We will install ANPR cameras at important locations, and they can scan the number plates.

It will help detect vehicles later if they violate traffic rules, and accordingly, chalans would be sent to the offenders,” deputy commissioner of police, traffic, SMP, Sunil Yadav, said. “This apart, other cameras, including those that can take five megapixels of photo, night vision cameras, ‘Pan-tilt zoom’ facilities would be set up at various locations in the town.

The cameras would be installed in a phased manner,” he said. Police officials said the several cameras will also be helpful in identifying criminals of they try to flee after committing crimes. While police sources said around 93 CCTV cameras had been installed at important thoroughfares in the town, the West Bengal Police Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation is funding the project.

“Earlier, we had one speed laser gun to monitor the speed of the vehicles. Now we have six more laser guns. We have installed them on selected roads which are accidentprone like areas near the Bagdogra Airport, Kestapur, Naxalbari, Sukna, Salugara, the connecting road to the Bengal Safari Park, Burdwan Road, and Ambari Canal roads. Following the installation of the devices, we are getting 15-20 cases of high speeding daily,” Mr Yadav said. Altogether, 110 cameras would be installed at various points in Siliguri. The process of setting up an integrated control room is also underway, it is learnt.

According to Mr Yadav, police are using breath analysers under six traffic guards to check drink driving. Mr Yadav said police were also stopping vehicles at ‘naka checks’ and offering tea or water to drivers, so that they get refreshed do not doze off while driving. “With all these measures in place now, the number of accident deaths has gone down. A total of 16 persons died in road accidents in the town in 2016, while the number came down to six last year,” Mr Yadav said.

The Siliguri Metropolitan Police (SMP) has rescued the baby stolen from outside the Siliguri District Hospital, while they have also arrested the accused woman from Dhupguri in Jalpaiguri district late last night. The 24-day-old infant was stolen when Soma Sarkar, the mother of the child, had been visiting the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Siliguri District Hospital for her checkup on 16 January, and 15- year-old Saraswati Sarkar, her sister-in-law, who had been holding the baby, was lured by a woman into eating something.

According to Saraswati, the stranger later took the baby from her and fled from the food stall. Police had identified a suspected woman through CCTV footage taken by cameras at the hospital. “Police immediately started investigations based on the complaints. We started tracking the woman after scanning the CCTV footage and tracking the mobile phones.

We got some clues and a team of police rescued the baby from the house of the accused, Sabita Garai, and her father Sukumar Dutta from Dhupguri late last night. Police have arrested the woman and his father,” said SMP commissioner Sunil Kumar Choudhary. Police handed over the male baby to their family members. “We have started investigations to ascertain their modus operendi, and whether they were involved in a child-lifting racket,” Mr Choudhary added.

Police sources said that the father of the child, Sustanta Sarkar, who is a driver by profession, was taken to Dhupguri to identify his son. “He was kept in a hygienic condition there. His condition is alright. I have no words to thank the police for giving me back my son. I had almost lost hopes, said M Sarkar. The arrested duo was, meanwhile, produced in the Siliguri Court today.

In what the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) said will be an effort to maintain transparency in all development work undertaken by the GTA board, all the details of a project, including its cost, will be written in a board and put up at the project site after inauguration.

Chairman of the GTA Board of Administrators Binoy Tamang today said that an order has been issued in this regard, asking the concerned to put up such boards at development project sites, be it roads, schools, health centres or even classrooms, among other things. “The details will include the GTA department that executed the project, the contractor assigned and the cost, among other things,” he said.

It may be mentioned that this will be the first time that such a move is being made in the GTA area. “We want people to know about the project from the board, where they can learn about the cost also,” said Mr Tamang. A similar step will be taken in the 100 days’ work scheme, where the supply and the man-days will be mentioned in the boards.

The GTA is further developing a software, through which one can find out the status of the project being undertaken. “We have started using software through which payment for a project, if it has been passed, will go directly to the contractor’s account through the treasury. This is a proper accounting system and you do not have to carry around cheques anymore,” said Mr Tamang.

The Kurseong Municipality has said it will take action against shopkeepers, vendors and hawkers who display their wares outside their shops and on sidewalks. The Municipality’s sanitary officer, and councillor incharge of the sanitary department, Ramesh Subba and Shyam Sherpa, respectively, said that the board of the Kurseong Municipality has decided to take action against such shopkeepers and hawkers, keeping in mind the inconveniences faced by the local people of Kurseong municipality area as well as people who visit Kurseong town for their various work.

“The pedestrians and locals have been facing problems while walking at market placesin the town,” Mr Subba said. He added that shopkeepers can carry on with their business without spreading their wares on the small footpaths or passages in the town area. “All of us should be aware of the issues and must think of the others too,” he said.

The duo added that they made announcements to this effect through loudspeakers around the town yesterday and today. “Later, we can conduct raids in the town and see if any person or shopkeeper is found displaying their items on the footpaths.

If we find them doing so, we will take action as per the rules and regulations of the municipality,” Mr Sherpa said. According to him, locals in Kurseong have been facing such a problem since long, “and it is really unfortunate that due to various reasons, no one has come forward officially or boldly at the municipality to crack down on such activities.”

The duo further said that local people have often complained to the municipality about such a thing happening in the town, which has inconvenienced the common people.

Not only the footpaths, but several places belonging to the municipality, highway, and railway have been encroached upon by the people in the Kurseong area, where they have also erected structures.

Officials of the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) were today orced to free a youth they had detained yesterday for “illegal gathering in the forest with ill motives.” Backed by local Trinamul Congress leaders, around 100
villagers living in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) Forest today staged a demonstration at the West Damanpur Range Office, demanding unconditional release of a forest villager, Akhay Rava, 24.

“Akhay Rava is an innocent youth. He works in Kerala. He was not in the group of poachers who illegally entered the forest. That is why we demand his release,” said the president of the local Gram Panchayat committee of the Trinamul Congress, Albert Sangma, who led the demonstration. Notably, forest staffs had apprehended Rava from his house at Uttar Poro forest village near the Poro forest where the authorities chased away a group of 10 to 12 wildlife poachers on Tuesday.

Forest officials suspected Rava was a member of the same group of poachers who fled. Forest staffers also recovered a country-made gun, iron nets and some other materials, which are used to kill or catch animals, from Rava’s house yesterday. “We released the youth, as after interrogation, we found that he did not enter the forest, though his father is directly involved in the case,” said the Deputy Field Director of the BTR, Kalyan Rai. “The court has issued an arrest warrant against the father of the youth. We will arrest him as soon as we find him,” he added.

Acting on a tip-off, forest staffers chased the poachers in the Poro forest under the West Damanpur Range of the West Division of the BTR on Tuesday. Forest sources had claimed that they had to fire two rounds of bullets in the air to chase away the criminals. Forest officials also recovered a country-made gun, cartridge, a bow and arrows, some kitchen utensils and winter garments, which probabbly belonged to the poachers. BTR sniffer dog ‘Karim’ had been pressed into service to track down the criminals.

As they lose patience, former enclave residents, who are presently living in the enclave settlement camp in Dinhata in Cooch Behar district, have sought help from Rajya Sabha member Pradip Bhattacharya, who is also a member of the standing committee for External Affairs, in drawing the Centre’s attention to the several problems that the settlers are still facing.

Convenor of the Indian Enclave United Council (IEUC) Mijanur Rahman, who used to live in the Dasiar Chhara enclave and who decided to settle down in India after the enclave was incorporated with Bangladesh during the enclave exchange process on 31 July, 2015, is virtually upset. Mr Rahman, who sometimes recalls his memories back in the village where he was born and brought up, now says he regrets his decision to settle down on the Indian side, as his, along with the many others, future has become uncertain.

In a letter he wrote to Mr Bhattacharya yesterday, Mr Rahman says: “The entire situation should be reviewed after visiting the three settlement camps in Cooch Behar district, as people now living there had dreamed about India and the bright future here and decided to settle down in the Indian part leaving all their belongings there, which is now Bangladesh.” Citing an example, he points out once case where one Surotan Bewa has settled in India, but her family members are ‘languishing’ in Bangladesh for the past two years after the execution of the enclave exchange programme.

“There are many instances like Bewa, and authorities should resolve such problems on an emergency basis,” Mr Rahman says. The former enclave residents have not been able to sell off their plots of land they own in Bangladesh, while many such plots have now been allegedly grabbed by others.

The letter says that a section of people, who lived in the Indian enclaves on the Bangladesh side, could not take part in the enclave
exchange process as they were left out of the Census conducted in 2011.

According to the IEUC, around 500 such families could not take part in the exchange process and their applications are gathering dust in the Cooch Behar district magistrate’s office.

The IEUC has also demanded recasting of joint families in the settlement camp and permanent settlements with agricultural land for their livelihood. It has further demanded that the passport rules be made lenient for them so that they can visit their motherland and try to sell their property they had left behind.

Notably, Mr Bhattacharya had said during his recent visit to Siliguri that he wanted to raise the issue in the Rajya Sabha. “A lot of funds were allotted for execution of the enclave exchange programme and rehabilitation.However, now I am receiving information that rehabilitation has not been executed properly.

The former Vice Chairman of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), Lopsang Lama, was arrested by the police from the Bengal- Bihar border at Khoribari near Siliguri. A police source said that Mr Lama was involved in various cases during the recent bout of agitation, while he was specifically wanted on in a case on 17 June 2017 when the Jaldhaka police station was attacked and two police vehicle were torched.

“He has been booked for these incidents,” the source said. Mr Lama is a GTA member of the No-44 Jaldhaka- Todaytangta constituency in Kalimpong district. It is learnt that he had all the way refused to join the Binay Tamang-Anit Thapa faction of the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha (GJMM) and that he has been a “full-fledged supporter” of Morcha leader Bimal Gurung.

While Mr Lama was taken for medical examination from the police station here today, reporters quickly had a word with him where he said, “I was on duty. Still, I was arrested. I was going for a school inspection after returning from Delhi yesterday, I was arrested from the border of Bengal and Bihar.

I had no police case, and I don’t know why they arrested me.” Mr Lama was later taken to the Kalimpong ACJM court today, which sent him in four days’ police remand. Sources said that the police had sought a seven-day remand, but that the court allowed only for 4 days. The court also registered cases against him under sections 188/147/148/ 149/153/506 of the Prevention of Damag

Hot on the heels of the ‘lovejihad’ murder in Rajasthan, the body of another labourer hailing from Chanchal in Malda district was found in his rented room at the Narikana area under the Shastrinagar police station in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on Tuesday. Saker Ali, 32, had been living in Jaipur for the past four years with another youth from his village who, however, recently returned home.

It may be mentioned here that a labourer, Affarajul Khan, from Kaliachak in Malda, was brutally killed and burnt at Rajsamand in Rajasthan on 5 December, 2017, in a case that hit headlines as the ‘Lovejihad’ murder. Ali’s body had blood stains on the face and nose, while there were some burn injuries on his body, which prompted family members to claim it a murder.

The body has been sent for post-mortem and the process to send it back to Malda has been started by the Rajasthan police, it is learnt. The incident has once again brought to the fore the issue of security of migrant labourers going to other states for work. According to sources, the deceased lived in flat No-7 owned by one Latif, while police there detained some locals, including the flat owner and his son, immediately after the body was recovered.

“We have contacted Rajasthan police and theyhave already filed a case of unnatural death there and sent the body for post-mortem. No one has, however, filed any complaint with the police, neither there in Rajasthan nor here till now,” Inspectorin- charge of the Chanchal police station, Sukumar Misra, said. According to Ali’s parents, Mohammad Giasuddin and Obaida Bibi, Ali had been living separately from his wife and daughter who are living in Mumbai for the past four years and that he had been in a state of “mental agony,” owing to this.

Manjur Alam, the uncle of the deceased and a local leader of the CPIM, said, “We do not know what happened there, but it seems that he had been murdered and then miscreants tried to set him on fire. It is up to the police now to find out the truth which we also want to know desperately.” “Though he had not come home for the last three years, he used to call us,” Obaida Bibi said as she cried.

North Malda MP, Mausam Noor (SNS photo) , and district secretary of the CPIM, Ambar Mitra, visited the bereaved family th is afternoon. Both the leaders demanded security for labourers from the state who go to work in other states.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today announced an increase in health insurance for television actors and technicians to Rs 2.5 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh under the government’s mediclaim scheme. Miss Banerjee after felicitating personalities of Bengali television at a Tele Academy awards function at Nazrul Mancha said: “We are trying to bring the television industry under the purview of Swasthasathi scheme. Then anybody engaged in television work, including cameramen would get maximum benefit of Rs 5 lakh under the health scheme”.

The state-of-the-art tele academy project at Baruipur will soon be completed, Miss Banerjee said and asked senior government officials to ensure its speedy completion. The Tele Akademi Awards event was hosted by the West Bengal Tele Academy. Miss Banerjee gave away awards to distinguished actors, directors, producers and technicians at the event.

She also felicitated personalities of Bengali television at the award function. While addressing the audience, Banerjee said: “I am very glad to be here. We are proud of our TV actors. Television is the most popular entertainment medium. People who reach the hearts of millions of people are true artists,” she said. “Tele stars today are house hold names.

Even I watch a few televisions despite my busy schedule,” Miss Banerjee said.” “Television is a big industry. It generates a lot of jobs,” she added. This is a matter of pride. We have honoured Jatra artistes, folk artistes, technicians and musicians. My best wishes to all,” she added.

The award function saw turnout of eminent personalities and several ministers, including public health and engineering minister Subrata Mukherjee and power minister Sovandeb Chattopadhyay.

The four-day long Kalahandi Utsav concluded on Wednesday mid night amidst much fanfare. During the 4 days, the festival showcased rich cultural heritage, folk dances and development project models of Kalahandi. There was interaction with the folk dance troupes from different parts of the state and country.

The craft mela, krushi mela and pallisri mela organised alongside the festival also drew huge crowd and did brisk business. In the valedictory function MP Arkakesari Deo attended as chief gfuest and chairman Zilla parishad Namitarani Sahu, MLA Dibyasankar Mishra, and director of Odisha Livelihood Mission Pranabyoti Nath attended.

Late Udayanath Nanda, veteran stage artist cum director of repute, portrait painter of excellence and foot ball player was conferred with Kalahandi Ratna honour posthumously. For literary excellency short story writer Debahuti Kar, performing art stage and cine artist Abdul Kadir, social service Shayam Sundar Jal running orphanage and rescuing deserted children , for exemplary agriculture practice Jahna Bisi and for foot ball Ladukeswar Mishra were conferred with Kalahandi Baraputra Samman last night. Earlier, 12 farmers for their Excellencies and Child/ youth prodigies of the district were felicitated.

The valedictory function continued till midnight despite mercury dripping below 8 degree.

A college student and member of Trinamul Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP) of Bidhan Chandra College in Rishra lodged a complaint of molestation and torture against Sahid Hassan Khan, general secretary of the college.

The college authority has decided to form a committee to investigate, while the police have not taken any initiative in this regard. Later in the day, Mr Partha Chatterjee, state education minister, said that he was not aware of the incident. “I think the television channel is showing an old video clipping. I came to know about it from you all (news reporters). I have not seen it myself but I have immediately sought a report from the party’s Hooghly district chairman, Tapan Dasgupta, who is also a Cabinet minister.”

The victim alleged, the TMCP general secretary of the college, picked up a quarrel when she refused to hand over her mobile phone to him. She said: “Sahid Khan turned violent when I refused to hand over my mobile phone to him. He slapped me, made dirty gestures at me and even tried to throttle me… he issued life threats to me.

Once I had objected towards his malpractice of issuing illegal money bills to the students against sports subscription. My protest have practically infuriated him and thereafter he was always on the lookout
to humiliate me. I have lodged a complaint with the Chandannagar Commissionerate.

“I want strict steps against the GS who has brought bad name to the college as well as the party through his bad behaviour towards a female student.” His father, Jahid Hassan Khan, is the vice-chairman of Rishra Municipality. Khan, however, denied all the allegations. He said: “On 4 December while I was sitting in the college compound with other students, in an inebriated state, she approached me and behaved rudely. She also misbehaved with other students in the college compound.

I took her inside the college student union room were I pushed her aside when she tried to thrash me. I offered to sort out the differences but she refused. I suspect that she is trying to defame the college and the party.” The college teacher-incharge, Mr Ramesh Kar, assured of proper investigation and strict steps against the accused, if found guilty.

The party’s Hooghly district chairman, following the directive of state education minister, today visited Bidhan Chandra College to apprise himself of the entire incident an then submit a report to the education minister by tomorrow.