TRIPURAHERALD

Tripura police arrested two persons and seized 103 kilograms of cannabis (ganja) worth Rs 10 lakh at Ambassa Betbagan Naka checking point on Tuesday.

 The police stated that they received a crucial tip-off regarding two individual transporting a substantial quantity of cannabis (ganja) from Agartala towards Ambassa, on the basis of the tip-off a police team led by inspector Govinda Das along with police personnel from Ambassa police station laid a trap and intercepted the vehicle bearing number TR 01BF 0275 at Ambassa Betbagan Naka checking point.  

During a meticulous search of the vehicle, police officials found 103 kilograms of cannabis (ganja) packed in 89 packets. The vehicle driver and his aide both residents of Sidhai Mohanpur were arrested for possessing the cannabis (ganja). The contraband worth Rs 10 lakh was concealed in secret compartment inside the vehicle. The two arrested have been identified as Samridha Debbarma and Boyar Debbarma. The seized cannabis (ganja) was intended for smuggling purposes beyond Tripura’s borders, police said.

The two accused were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic  Substances Act, 1985.

The Charilam forest department officials seized an illegal saw mill at Pal para in office tilla area under Bishalgarh sub-division on Monday evening.

According to a forest official, the machine was used for cutting timber. But the machine was lying unused for quite a long time. We received information that an illegal saw mill at Pal para in office tilla area under Bishalgarh sub-division was present. After getting the information a team of forest department staffs rushed to the spot and seized the machine, said the forest official. The forest bandits eloped from the scene and could not be detained, he added.

According to a source, there are about 30-35 illegal saw mills are operating at various places of Bishalgarh. But no one dares to say anything to the forest bandits as a group of corrupt forest officials and police official have under the table connection with the forest bandits, the source added.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) celebrated its 42nd Foundation Day at Pragna Bhaban, Gurkhabasti, Agartala on Tuesday.

Addressing in the inaugural session MLA Jitendra Majumder said “NABARD has played a vital role in making the men, women, and youth, self-reliant in the rural areas. It is the backbone of the rural development. NABARD has started many progressive works in various fields during its 42 years.”. Founded in 1982, NABARD is a national bank that provides financial and development support to the agricultural and rural sectors in India.  He also underlined the significant contribution made by NABARD to bring about rural development and alignment of its initiatives with the principles of Mahatma Gandhi promoting self-sufficiency and empowerment of grassroots levels.

The programme was attended by the SLBC, Banks, Government Departments, Research Institutions, NGOS, PACS, SHGS, FPOS and farmers.

AGM of NABARD Rajesh Chandekar and other officials of NABARD were present in the programme.

President Droupadi Murmu today presented Bhoomi Samman 2023 and Platinum Certificate to Tripura for achieving saturation of the core components of the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) at a function in New Delhi.

Addressing on the occasion, the President said the digitization of land records will play a crucial role in the development of the country.

The awards were given to nine State Secretaries and 68 District Collectors along with their teams. The awards were given to Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and West Bengal.

On his faceook Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Tuesday wrote, Hon’ble President of India has given “BHOOMI SAMMAN” and Platinum Certifcate to Tripura for achieving saturation on the 6 components of Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) comprising computerization of Land Records and Registration, digitization of cadastral maps, integration among them and setting up Modern Record Rooms in 7 out of total 8 districts (West, Sepahijala, Gomati, South, Khowai, Dhalai & Unakoti).

Tripura government has targeted 1 lakh 48 thousand hectare area for Aman paddy cultivation across the state and to meet this target a special program called ‘Chief Minister’s Integrated Crop Management Program’ has been undertaken by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said Minister of Power, Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare and Election Department Ratan Lal Nath.

Addressing in a press conference at Secretariat in his office room on Monday, Minister of Power, Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare and Election Department Ratan Lal Nath said that to achieve the target of Aman paddy cultivation in 1 lakh 48 thousand hectare area, the state government will spend an additional 65 crore 77 lakh rupees.

He said, due to less rainfall this year, the production of Aus rice is not as expected that much. So, special programs have been undertaken to increase the production of Aman rice this year.

The Minister further said that the current state government has given more importance to doubling the income of farmers and increasing the production of agricultural crops.

Since the formation of the present government till now 1 lakh 71 thousand metric tons of paddy has been procured from the farmers at minimum support price (MSP) and for this the state government has spent a total of Rs. 327 crore. It has been decided to purchase a total of 35 thousand metric tons of paddy from the farmers this year at the minimum support price. Already 1 thousand 931 metric tons of paddy has been purchased from 1 thousand 177 farmers, Ratan Lal Nath added.

Conspiracies are being hatched to divide the Tiprasas of our state living in ADC said the royal scion Pradyot Kishore Deb Burman, who stepped down as the Chairman of the opposition TIPRA Motha party and decided to serve party as a warrior.

 “I came through a statement where the ST status for the tribals who turned to Christianity was demanded to be withdrawn. What is the response of the state government in this regard when a sitting MLA and an organization made this demand? This is a total ploy to damage the unity of the Tiprasas,” he told reporters in a press conference here in the Ujjayanta Palace on Monday.

He alleged, “There have been ploys to break the thansa (Unity) in the name of language, script and religion, TIPRA Motha will not allow the ‘Manipur experiment’ to happen in Tripura.”

“All are alarmed by the killing of 18 people in the panchayat elections in West Bengal, but why has the Centre failed to take proper initiative in Manipur even after the mass killings and arson?”, he asked.

Reacting on the budget allocation made for the TTAADC, Pradyot said, “Government should respond to the discrimination made towards the Tiprasas in ADC by reducing the budget allocation. Only 2% fund allocation for the ADC is not Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas.”

“Government is punishing the Tiprasa community in the name of TIPRA Motha. During the assembly election, the tribals voted for the BJP and IPFT too, then why their Tiprasa voters in ADC will get 2%,” he questioned to state that the ADDC is reeling under acute financial crisis.

He said, “The education sector of the TTAADC is ruined. At least 10 schools in ADC are running with single teacher. Is this what we call quality education?”

He continued castigating the government and expressed his concern over the delay of holding the Village Council election. He said, “The government would need to respond to the High Court as to why they failed to conduct the village committee election, which was postponed many times.”

Meanwhile, Pradyot on Monday said that the plenary session of the TIPRA Motha had passed several resolutions. “We have decided to build TIPRA Motha party office in all the eight districts of the state. Committees will be constituted by September to get the party ready for the village committee polls.

“We are also going to launch mass agitation on the party’s decisions adopted in the plenary session, because we are not here to compromise our demand for Greater Tipraland,” he told reporters.  

The Tripura Police on Monday arrested a woman from Bihar for allegedly possessing 6 kilograms of cannabis (ganja) at Dharmanagar Railway Station. The arrested individual has been identified as Benu Devi a resident of Samsipur in Bihar State.

According to the police, She was apprehended after some people found her suspicious and they immediately contacted the Dharmanagar police station. After getting the information police personnel from Dharmanagar police station rushed to the spot and arrested her.

During the search of her bags police officials found 6 kilograms of cannabis (ganja) from her possession.  Moreover, the estimated value of the confiscated cannabis (ganja) in the illicit market amounts to approximately Rs 1.5 lakh. The seized cannabis (ganja) was intended for smuggling purposes beyond Tripura’s borders, police said.

A case has been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against the arrested women.

However, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha has called on Tripura to get rid of drugs. Police are seizing crores worth of heroin, brown sugar, cannabis (ganja) and arresting traffickers, but the real kingpins remain out of reach, which is why the state is not moving towards a drug-free state despite so many anti-drug campaigns.

The construction of Unity Mall will begin soon said Chief Minister of Tripura Dr. Manik Saha  while visiting the proposed site for “Unity Mall” at Jute Mill complex located in the outskirts of Agartala city on Monday.

Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha was accompanied by Chief Secretary JK Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Principal Secretary of Industries and Comerce Department KS Sethi and Secretary to the Chief Minister PK Chakraborty, CEO Agartala Smart City Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Director of Industries and Commerce Viswashree B.

According to the Chief Minister the project will be implemented with an outlay of around Rs. 100 crore and it was already announced in the State Budget 2023-24. The project will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 26, 2025. “The Prime Minister has said that he would inaugurate all the Unity malls to be set up in all the state headquarters of the country on January 26, 2025, the chief minister mentioned.

Minister of SC Welfare, Fishery & ARDD Department Sudhangshu Das today said that people must plant trees and contribute back to the environment for the climate change.

Addressing in the Sub-Division and District level Vanmahotsav-2023 organized by Kumarghat forest sub-division at Nazrul Kalakshetra in Fatikroy on Monday Minister of SC Welfare, Fishery & ARDD Department Sudhangshu Das said change in climate, loss of biodiversity and depletion of natural resources have become serious challenge for modern civilization, because such changes are going to have long lasting effects on the future generation. Climate change has impacted the world and only greenery is the solution to this crisis, he said.

“In the blind race of development, we forget the mantra of Indian culture that nature is our mother and it cannot be exploited. This is the reason why the temperature of the earth is increasing and the climate has been badly affected. The world is afraid of climate change,” said the minister.

Minister Sudhangshu Das said there is only one solution to this problem, one that has been mentioned in the “Puranas” by sages, that trees are friends of mankind and only greenery can get people out of this crisis. Trees give people life-saving oxygen, help reduce carbon footprint and preserve the ozone layer, he said.