SUBIR BHAUMIK The Indian government has refused to clear West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s proposed trip to China in June. She was destined to visit provinces like Shandong, which have a thick concentration of manufacturing industries, to attract investment for West Bengal. The Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi has told Banerjee in response…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has turned to the right to placate hard-line Islamists after facing flak for her recent visit to neighboring India, a trip her opponents have claimed sold out national interests to its giant western neighbor. Hasina’s concessions to hard-line Islamists have upset her own party supporters who value Bangladesh’s…
Read moreLOOKEAST REPORT Bomb making is no longer a cottage industry in West Bengal. By the look of it, it is large scale and perhaps the only industry doing well in Didi’s Bengal. At least eight people were killed while making crude bombs that were being rushed to rival groups locked in a turf war over…
Read moreSUBIR BHAUMIK The nosedive in Sino-Indian relations over Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh (Southern Tibet to Beijing, integral part of India as far as Delhi is concerned) has left many worried. The Dalai Lama has visited Arunachal Pradesh six times between 1983 and 2009 — so why is Beijing so upset now ! Beijing…
Read moreIndia moved to upgrade its defence infrastructure along the border with China, announcing the construction of two Advanced Landing Grounds (ALG) at Tawang and Dirang in Arunachal Pradesh, a day after Beijing gave its own names to six places in the northeastern state. Defence Secretary G. Mohan Kumar held a high-level review meeting with Arunachal…
Read moreLOOKEAST EXCLUSIVE Muhammad Habib Zahir, a retired Lt Colonel of the Pakistan Army working for the country’ military intelligence agency ISI in Nepal has disappeared from Lumbini near the border with India. His son says Zahir landed in Kathmandu from Oman to meet ‘some prospective employers’ and took a flight to Lumbini on a local…
Read moreThe first ever Nepal-China joint military drill ‘Sagarmatha Friendship-2017’ started at Nepal Army’s Para Training School Maharajgunj in Kathmandu. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s squad is participating in the 10-day military exercise that focuses on counter terrorism and disaster response, the Nepal Army said in a statement. “We hope such joint military exercise would help Nepal and Chinese…
Read moreNepal and China will hold their first ever joint military exercise on April 16-25 focused on counter-terrorism and distaster response, Nepal Army announced on Thursday. In a recent visit to Nepal, Chinese defence minister Chang Wanquan had announced 300 million Yuan military aid to Nepal Army for its UN peacekeepers, mainly logistics. “In a bid…
Read moreNepal’s agitating Madhesi parties decided to boycott next month’s local elections and hold fresh protests, saying the content of the new Constitution amendment bill tabled in Parliament was different from what was agreed with the government. The United Democratic Madhesi Front (UDMF) leaders, in a meeting held in Kathmandu, claimed that the new proposal has…
Read moreThe Indo-Bangladesh ties will undergo “another transformation” if a pact on Teesta water sharing is inked, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said but is anxious over West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s reaction to such an agreement. Stressing that common water resources must act as a uniting force, she pitched for a comprehensive solution to…
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Election Commission of India has decided to deploy at least 480 companies of Central Forces in various troubled parts of West Bengal from March 1
