Bangladesh and S Korea eager to bolster economic cooperation

BSS, Seoul, 18 May : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak today expressed eagerness to further bolstering economic cooperation between the two Asian nations for the benefit of the two people.
The two leaders expressed their interest in the openingremarks as they held a hour long summit talks at the President Office here this morning. During the meeting, the two leaders discussed entire gamut of bilateral and mutual interest and socio-economic cooperation between Bangladesh and South Korea. The Korean President appreciated Sheikh Hasina's able and prudent leadership in achieving 6.5 percent economic growth rate last year despite global economic meltdown.
Describing it as "remarkable achievement," Lee said this has been achieved due to the far-sighted and able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Korean President told Sheikh Hasina that 150 Korean companies are operating in Bangladesh that created employment opportunities for at least 1,00,000 Bangladeshi workers. န Photos : Reuters

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Rizwan case : High Court orders CBI to register murder case, conduct fresh probe

Kolkata, 18 May : Over two years after computer graphics teacher Rizwanur Rahman was found dead under mysterious circumstances near a railway track here, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the CBI to register a murder case and initiate the investigations afresh. A division bench of Justices Bhaskar Bhattacharya and P Mondal directed the investigating agency to conclude its investigation within four months.
Rizwanur was found dead near railway tracks in Dumdum area on 21 September, 2007, just a month after his marriage to Priyanka Todi, daughter of industrialist Ashok Todi, owner of the Rs 200-crore Lux Cozi hosiery brand. Todi, his brother Pradip and brother in-law Anil Sarogi are accused in the case along with senior IPS officers then serving in the Kolkata Police.
The court directed the CBI to treat a 21 September, 2007, complaint by Rizwanur's elder brother Rukbanur Rahman as an FIR. It was alleged that Rizwanur had been threatened and intimidated by senior officers of Kolkata Police at the behest of Todi and other relatives in allowing her to go back to her paternal home at posh Salt Lake area. However, despite an assurance that she would be sent back to Rizwanur's home at Tiljola, Park Circus in south Kolkata after a week, she did not return.

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Army proposes dedicated new 'anti-Naxal training centre'
PTI, New Delhi, 18 May : In the backdrop of major attacks by Maoists against paramilitary and central police personnel, the Army has proposed to set up a dedicated centre to ready the security men for the battle against the Naxals.
The proposal was made during the ongoing Army Commanders' Conference here and it was suggested that the new centre could be set up on the lines of the Army's Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) in Mizoram.

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Bangladesh government proposes 'paternity leave' for men

PTI, Dhaka, 18 May : Bangladesh is planning a 15 days "paternity leave" for men, saying it was a justified legal claim for fathers of newborn babies. "Such a proposal has been sent to the women and children affairs ministry," additional establishment secretary Mohammad Sadiq told PTI. He said, the proposal had been prepared on the pattern of such leave being granted in other countries.
The official said, the proposal would be introduced for all men working in government and private establishments and was aimed at allowing men to take care of their wives and newborn babies. But the proposal had a rider, as Sadiq said it would be applicable for the first two children only.
In Bangladesh working women currently are entitled to four months maternity leave and under the new proposals it will be extended to six months. န File Photo : Reuters

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Tripura boy Somdev DV gets easy opener in French Opens

PTI, Paris, 18 May : Tripura boy Somdev Devvarman has been seeded sixth in the French Open qualifying event and has got an easy opener against Jiri Vanek of Czech Republic.
Somdev is placed 111 places above 32-year old Vanek in the ATP ranking charts and it will be first meeting between the two players. US based Indian Prakash Amritraj is also trying his luck and will open his campaign against 17th seed Brazilian Joao Souza. Last year, Somdev had stumbled at the final hurdle at the clay court Grand Slam.
Somdev had cleared the first two rounds at the Australian Open qualifiers in January this year but defeat in the decisive third round dashed his qualification hopes.

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Int’l court bins Chevron’s claim of $70m from 'Petrobangla'

Dhaka, 18 May : An international arbitration court on Tuesday turned down US oil giant Chevron’s age-old disputed claim of around US $70 million from Petrobangla.

Chevron filed the case with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in June 2006 saying Petrobangla has been illogically deducting around $70 million over the years from Chevron’s earnings from gas sales. After avoiding the arbitration for three years, Petrobangla last year went to the ICSID a wing of the World Bank and submitted papers saying that the deduction was fair and legal. Dr Kamal Hossain represented Bangladesh in the arbitration. The ICSID announced its verdict unanimously rejecting Chevron’s claim.
Petrobangla has been deducting 4 percent wheeling charge from its payments to Chevron for the purchase of gas from Jalalabad gas field which is operated by the American company under a Production Sharing Contract (PSC). This charge is imposed because Chevron uses Petrobangla’s pipeline to transmit gas from Jalalabad field into the state-owned national gas network.

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Talks with Maoists if they suspend violence : Chidambaram
PTI, New Delhi, 18 May : Indian Home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday made a fresh offer to hold talks with Maoists if they "suspend" violence even for just 72 hours, a day after Maoists unleashed another attack in Chattisgarh.
"Maoists should say 'We will abjure violence. We will suspend violence and actually suspend violence for 72 hours'. We will get the chief ministers on board. We will respond. We will fix a date, time and place for talks and let the Maoists come for the talks on anything they wish to talk," Chidambaram said. Maoists blew up a bus killing at least 44 people near Dantewada on Monday.
ALSO READ 'India reviews anti-Maoist policy' BY BBC

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Mamata defends stay in Kolkata, says Delhi not her home
PTI, Kolkata, 18 May : In the face of criticism by the opposition for her frequent absence from Delhi, railway minister Mamata Banerjee has defended her stay in Kolkata saying the national capital was not her home.
"Delhi is not my home. When there is no Parliament session, why should I stay in Delhi? Kolkata is my homeland," she told a public meeting here on Monday night while campaigning for her Trinamool Congress candidates in the coming civic polls. Banerjee's remark came in the wake of latest criticism by opposition, including CPI(M), charging her of neglecting duty as railway minister following Sunday's stampede at New Delhi railway station, which left two persons dead and eight others injured.

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Tripura CPM demands central govt' intervention in Manipur
Agartala, 18 May : CPI(M) today demanded central intervention in Manipur to resolve the ongoing crisis arising out of the state government's decision to conduct elections to autonomous district councils and not allow NSCN-IM leader Thuingaleng Muivah to enter the state.
"The Centre should immediately intervene in the situation in Manipur and solve the problem in consultation with the state government," CPI(M) central committee member Bijon Dhar told reporters here. "Peace talks between the Centre and NSCN-IM must continue and the ongoing peace process should not be stopped anyway," he said.

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Bay of Bengal's deep depression turns cyclonic storm Laila

Dhaka, 18 May : The deep depression over the southeast and nearby areas of the Bay of Bengal has intensified into cyclonic storm, Laila.
Bangladesh Met Office in a special bulletin on Tuesday said the storm moved slightly towards the west-northwest over the same area around midday and was centered about 1305 km southwest of Chittagong port, 1230 km southwest of Cox's Bazaar port and 1220 km south-southwest of Mongla port. The Met Office advised the maritime ports to hoist 'distant warning signal number two.'
All fishing boats and trawlers along the northern part of the Bay and deep sea have been asked to stay close to the coast and move with caution until further notice. Vessels have also been advised not to venture into deep sea. The depression is likely to intensify further and move in a north-westerly direction.

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7 poachers arrested near Kaziranga National Park in Assam
PTI, Guwahati, 18 May : Seven poachers were arrested and a rhino horn was seized from them near Kaziranga National Park in Assam's Golaghat district today, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of forest protection force and police launched an operation in Bokakhat area near the park and apprehended three poacher, who were en route to Dimapur in neighbouring Nagaland, National Park DFO Dibyadhar Gogoi told PTI. Based on their interrogation, four others - two from Kothori and two from Dahgaon areas - were also caught, he said.

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Woman commits suicide on metro track, services disrupted
Kolkata, 18 May : A woman allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a running metro train at Shovabazar station here this morning, briefly disrupting the metro train services.
The Metro Railway sources said that the woman jumped on the tracks when the train from Dumdum was entering Shovabazar station. The motorman immediately applied the brakes but she could not be saved. According to sources the railway services were disrupted from 7.40 am to 8.18am.

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Five killed in road crash at Doultatdia-Khulna HW in Rajbari

Faridpur, Rajbari, 18 May : At least five people were killed and 25 others injured as two buses collided head-on on the Doultatdia-Khulna highway at Rajbari Sadar Upazila early on Tuesday.
Rajbari Sadar Police Station sub-inspector Dipak Kumar said the Dhaka-bound bus Hanif Paribahan bus, coming from Jessore, crashed into the Patuakhali Express bus coming from Dhaka at around 1am(BDST) at Nimtala. The driver of the Hanif Paribahan bus was amongst the dead. The four other victims could not be identified, he said. The injured were admitted to Rajbari General Hospital and Faridpur Medical College Hospital.

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NDFB Daimary's arrest a giant step for peace: Tarun Gogoi

ANI, Guwahati, 18 May : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has described the recent arrest of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) leader Ranjan Daimary alias D R Nabla as a giant step for restricting peace to the region.
"He (Daimary) is a prized catch. Sometime back, ULFA leaders including the outfit's vice-president Arabinda Rajkhowa were detained. Now, Daimary's arrest is a big achievement," Gogoi said. "These are the two dreaded outfits in Assam - ULFA and NDFB. So definitely, it is a very big catch, and it will go a very long way in bringing peace to Assam," he added.
Daimary is said to be the mastermind of October 2008 Assam serial bomb blasts that killed over 100 people and left over 800 injured. Daimary was as responsible for many other violent incidents in the state. Security forces arrested him near the Dawki outpost in Meghalaya. He had been hiding in neighbouring Bangladesh. Daimary is currently in for 12 days police custody. န Photo : Chinmoy Roy

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