Buddha panel

Calcutta, March 17: The chief minister today said he had suggested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a panel comprising Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, historian Barun De and economist Amlan Dutta to improve Visva-Bharati.

In the Assembly lobby, Bhattacharjee said he has already spoken to De and Dutta and they have expressed willingness to help. ?I will try to persuade Amartya Sen to be part of the panel,? he said, adding that during a recent visit to Delhi, ?I had a chance to discuss it with the Prime Minister ? also the chancellor of the university ? who was equally keen?.

Cousins dead

Midnapore: Two teenager cousins drowned on Wednesday evening while bathing in the Subarnarekha at Tikayetpur in West Midnapore, 200 km from Calcutta. The police said villagers fished out the bodies of Sumit, 15, and Tapan Khamari, 14. Their fathers, settled in Jamshedpur, had come to their ancestral home for their grandmother?s last rites.

Widow burnt

Calcutta: A 25-year-old widow was admitted to Medical College Hospital with burns on Thursday. Police suspected that the resident of Manmath Mukherjee Road in Muchipara was set afire.