Kolkata, Sept 29 : Thousands of Hindus gathered on the banks of the Ganges river in Kolkata and prayed for the salvation of their ancestors on the occasion of ''Mahalya'' on Monday.

According to the Hindu almanac, ''Mahalaya'' marks the conclusion of ''Piter Paksha'', the fortnight during which people hold special religious rituals for the deceased kin particularly ancestors and heralds ''Devi Paksha'' or the fortnight-long festival of Hindu goddess Durga.

Several devouts thronged the river bank to perform religious rituals, make offerings to their ancestors and to take a holy dip.

Kolkata-based Balmer Lawrie & Company (BLC) Limited, a diversified public sector conglomerate, has informed that it will keep its UK subsidiary, before being sold off to TAL International Container Corporation of USA (TAL).

BLC expects that the move would help in its overseas operation. The company’s UK arm is engaged in leasing and hiring marine freight containers.

Apart from this, the company will look for other lines of business for Balmer Lawrie UK (BLUK).

At present, BLC has only Rs 100 crore cash surplus on its balance sheets, and may have to go for debt to fund an acquisition.

Kolkata-headquartered McNally Bharat Engineering has secured an order worth Rs 115 crore from Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), Bangalore.

The contract involves design, engineering, supply, E&C and structural steel works of coal handling plant mechanical equipments for GSECL, 1x500 MW UKAI Project. The contract is schedule to be completed in 18 months from the date of LoI.

Kolkata, Sept 27 : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee on Saturday said that Ratan Tata, the Tata Group Chairman has replied to his letter and wants to talk to him on Singur issue, and the two are scheduled to meet on Sunday.

West Bengal Industry Minister Nirupam Sen had earlier said, "A meeting between the state government and Tatas may take place on Sunday to discuss the issue."

Kolkata, Sept 25 : West Bengal Industries Minister Nirupam Sen on Thursday reportedly told the state Cabinet that there was little possibility of the Tata’s Nano car project taking off from Singur.

Few vendors were seen moving out their equipment over the past few days from the project site, where work has remained suspended for more than three weeks.

Sources said that equipment was carted out from the plant and the cargo is believed to have been moved to the company''s plant in Pantnagar in Uttarakhand.

Kolkata, Sept 23 : A green box apparently containing high-powered explosives was on Tuesday recovered at India’s busiest Howrah Railway Station in West Bengal by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) spreading panic across the city in the wake of the recent bomb blasts across the country.

According to Dilip Mitra, Additional Director General (Rail), West Bengal Police, the RPF’s sniffer dog Ceasar started barking furiously during a routine security check of the Up Bhadrak Express on platform number 21. The train had just come in from the car shed.

The green box was found in the luggage compartment of the train.

The box contained markings similar to that used by the Indian Army and read “10 bombs, 51 mm, highly explosive.”