Women to dominate Tripura civic polls

AGARTALA, Dec 7 – The Left-ruled Tripura is all set to field maximum number of women aspirants in the civic elections. Of the total contesting candidates of this year’s civic elections, about 45.2 per cent are women.

According to official figures, as many as 241 candidates out of total 533 are females across 230 Wards of the Agartala Municipal Council (AMC) and 15 Nagar Panchayats.

While Ward No 2 of Khowai Nagar Panchayat threw up a victorious uncontested winner after Congress candidate Nibaran Deb withdrew his nomination, the election is being conducted in 229 Wards on December 11.

As many as 38 women candidates will test their electoral fortune in the 35 Wards of AMC election while two and seven aspirants are contesting from ST and SC categories. After AMC, it was Dharamnagar Nagar Panchayat where highest women candidates-19, are in the election fray. Fifty per cent reservation for women is in place in the three-tier Panchyati Raj System.

“We have managed to field female candidates in all the reserved Wards”, said a leader of CPM State Committee here. He acknowledged that it was noticed that women-managed Gram Panchayats have experienced less corruption and nepotism.

Network on Bangla border being improved: BSNL

SHILLONG, Dec 7 – State-run service provider Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is improving its network on the Indo-Bangla border by setting up towers and common service centres, which would be unusable from across the neighbouring country.

“Three operators – Aircel, Reliance and BSNL – have been assigned to execute connectivity to enable support for mobile services and broadband connectivity in rural and border areas of the three States of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura”, Chief General Manager (CGM) North East, Telecom Circle-1 Rajesh Gupta said.

“We have erected four towers in border areas of Meghalaya at Tikrikilla, Rongjam, Mawsynram and Baghmara,” Gupta said at a media briefing here yesterday.

The border towers would render the services unusable from across the international border, he said.

Under its universal service obligation (USO) programme, 115 BTS towers in NE circle-1, with 49 common service centre (CSC) in Meghalaya including 30 in the border areas are progressing at a steady rate, he said.

The CGM said the BSNL began the process of erecting BTS Towers near the borders after the Centre relaxed its directive of setting up towers from 10 km to 500 metres from the border. “Earlier, there was a restriction by the Union Home Ministry to set up towers within 10 km from the international border. Now the restriction has been reduced to 500m. The new towers will be erected shortly,” he said.

The fund allotted is to be utilised exclusively for meeting the universal service obligation (USO) by providing access to telegraph services to people in the rural and remote areas at affordable and reasonable prices. – PTI

ULFA firm in its stand on condition for talks

DIBRUGARH, Dec 7 – ULFA is firm in its stand that peace talks would be possible only when all the leaders of the outfit were released from jails unconditionally.

“After all the jailed leaders are set free, we will certainly decide for holding parleys with the Centre,” ULFA vice-chairman Pradip Gogoi told a gathering at Natya Mandir here today. The ULFA vice chairman along with political advisor and idealogue Bhimkanta Buragohain and central executive committee member Ramu Mech attended felicitation functions at Natya Mandir in Amollapatty and at Dibrugarh Development Authority market complex here. The ULFA leaders escorted by supporters also attended felicitation functions at Teloi, Khowang, Dulia Demow, Lepetkata, Dibrugarh University (DU) and Duarasuk before holding a meeting here.

Gogoi said that government needs to create an environment conducive for talks and then make its stand clear on discussing the issue raised by ULFA. “When we sit for talks, ULFA will also see that the demands, issues and aspirations of various ethnic communities, intellectual societies, non-governmental organisations, religious groups, minorities etc of the State are brought out for discussion,” Gogoi said. The vice chairman of the ULFA called upon the people to extend their support so that the conflict was resolved at the earliest.

Political advisor of the ULFA, Bhimkanta Buragohain, who is also called Mama said that ULFA is not just seeking peace through dialogue but wants that the exploitation, oppression, negligence and draining of wealth from the State by the Centre comes to halt. In his short speech, Mama also recalled his school days here. Earlier, Pradip Gogoi requested the gathering to observe one minute silence in respect of the ULFA men who laid down lives.

It needs to be mentioned here that top ULFA leaders like outfit’s chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, foreign secretary Sasha Choudhury, finance secretary Chitrabon Hazarika are still behind bars in Guwahati. The vice chairman, political advisor and the central executive committee member of the ULFA later proceeded for Lahoal.

2G scam: CBI raids houses of Raja, four associates

New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today searched the homes of former Telecom Minister A Raja and four of his associates here in connection with the 2G spectrum investigation, an official said.

"A CBI team reached the Delhi residence of Raja at around 7 am. Raids are still on," a CBI official told IANS.

Raids were also conducted at the residences of Raja's former private secretary RK Chandolia, former Telecom Secretary Siddharth Behuria, Member Telecom K Sridhar and Deputy Director General, Telecom, AK Srivastava.

Raja is alleged to have sold spectrum licenses at rates much lower than the market, which is said to have caused huge financial losses to the national exchequer.

The CBI, however, denied that there were any raids at Raja's home in Tamil Nadu. The investigating agency's office in Chennai told IANS that none of its officials are involved in any raid. "If at all raids are there, then it must be by a team from New Delhi," a CBI official said.