"Counter Terrorism Strategy for South Asia" meeting began

B'desh seeks regional cooperation against terrorism
Experts said : South Asia becoming 'Centre Of Gravity' for terrorism
Dhaka, 24 February : A two-day counter-terrorism conference began in the city Tuesday, on concerns that South Asia has become the "centre of gravity for terrorism". "It is very unfortunate that there is such low-level of cooperation among South Asian countries in this regard," Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni told the opening session of the international meeting.
Experts from six South Asian countries, the USA, Canada, Germany, Norway, Spain, Australia, and Singapore were attending the event in the backdrop of Bangladesh's campaign for a regional anti-terrorism task force. Dipu Moni affirmed the present government's plan to work closely with partners in the region and beyond to counter terrorism and militancy.
She also stressed that it was not productive to point the finger at any particular religion for harbouring terrorism. Speaking to newsmen later, Dipu Moni said there was no framework or timeline yet for the planned regional task force. "It is still at an 'idea' stage."
The conference on 'Counter Terrorism Strategy for South Asia' was being hosted by Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, at the Radisson Water Garden Hotel.
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GJM challenges Bengal government on Power Cut
Siliguri, 24 February : The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, fighting for separate statehood, has challenged the West Bengal government to go ahead with its threat of cutting power supply to Darjeeling hills.While inaugurating a rural power project at Rupamdighi, 20 km from here, WB power minister Mrinal Banerjee had on Monday threatened to cut off power supply if the non-payment of electricity bills continued. GJM general secretary Roshan Giri said, "Banerjee is free to stop power supply to the hills if he has the guts. We know what to do thereafter."The minister told Bengal News, that residents of the Darjeeling hills had stopped payment of electricity bills after having been asked to do so by the GJM and that the arrears had run into a few crores of rupees. The government was so long restrained from snapping the power supply on humanitarian ground, "but no more".
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BENGAL NEWZ is a new age media concept : A. Sen
+ Economy will slow down further in next 2 months
+ Political Parties should do some stocktaking
+ Changes in Bangladesh are most welcomed
Kolkata, 23 February : Batting for the politics of collaboration, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen exhorted political parties in West Bengal that it was time to come together and do some stocktaking. Speaking on "Economics, Politics and our lives", organised by Pratichi Trust on Monday at Rabindra Sadan, Sen said "All political parties should remember their past. Things have happened which should not have happened. There is a need for collaboration. Political parties have to realise whether the use of means like strikes are justified."
Later in an exclusive interview with Bengal News Proffessor Sen focussing on West Bengal, said the future of the state without industrialisation was not bright. "This state had a very bad reputation associated with activism. That has returned now. West Bengal's prosperity based on industrialisation came from textile industries set up on fertile land besides the Hooghly." He did not spare the Left parties either, for advocating bandhs and strikes at the drop of a hat. "Bandhs have been called by both sides. It is peculiar when a ruling party calls a bandh. Being in power, it ought to be able to do without bandhs. In such a scenario, industrial development is increasingly impossible. The rapid decline of West Bengal's industries is not surprising. The state has gone off the way due to the bandhs". He was also critical of militant trade unionism calling the movements "self-defeating".
Focussing on Bangladesh, he said "the recent power changes in Bangladesh are most welcomed. It's really a new beginning in South East Asia. I'm originally a Dhaka boy. So positively anything happend in Bangladesh is a matter of joy to me. The concept like your www.bengalnewz.com is far beyond the man-made boundary...he explained.
Commenting on global recession, Sen said lax regulations had led to the present situation. "The financial sector in the US was a regulated one. Faith in the self-adjusting nature of the market economy has seen a gradual erosion of that control. There is a lack of accountability in the financial sector. Though the need for regulation has grown, actually it has shrunk". He added that the economies of India and China have not gone bust but will slow down further in the next two months.