Dhaka, 13 July : India has agreed to build the necessary infrastructure to carry goods from Kolkata to Tripura through Bangladesh.The concerned Indian authorities will dredge the waterway from Kolkata river port of India to the Ashuganj river port of Bangladesh and construct a 40 kilometre roadway from Ashuganj to Akhaura, the shipping minister Shahjahan Khan said after a meeting he had with Rajeet Mitter, the Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh. After the meeting, which was held at the secretariat, the minister told reporters that the two sides also discussed the use of the Ashuganj river port and the Chittagong and Mangla Sea Ports.
Khan said that India was going to set up a power plant in Tripura and that they would have to transport a lot of building materials for construction. India will have to use the Ashuganj port to carry the Over Dimension Consignments (ODCs) from Kolkata to Tripura.
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West Bengal propose joint venture capital fund with centreKolkata, 13 July : West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta Tuesday proposed a joint venture capital fund with the centre to facilitate small and medium scale industries in the state.
"My suggestion is, if the centre and the state come together to form a venture capital fund and if the middle-level industries can get access to that and in two-three years time if they perform they can be listed in the stock exchanges," Dasgupta said, addressing a seminar on financial literacy organised by industry lobby FICCI. Indian Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid was present at the event.
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Jamaat leaders Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Qader arrested
UNB, Dhaka, 13 July : Two senior Jamaat leaders Mohammad Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Qader Molla were arrested today from the High Court compound.Police held Asst secretary general Qader Mollah at 4-30pm while senior asst secretary general Mohammad Qamaruzzaman at 6-30pm. They were shown arrested in a case filed by one Amir Hossain Mollah with Pallabi thana on 25 January, 2008 in connection with an incident occurred on 24 April, 1971, police said. The arrest was made under sections 148, 448, 302, 34, 326, 307 and 436 of the Bangladesh penal code.
Qamaruzzaman and Mollah went to the High Court and secured an order that asked police not to arrest them in connection with Keraniganj freedom fighter killing and obstructing police to perform their duty cases.
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Thousands pull chariots 'Rath yatra'Kolkata, 13 July : Thousands of devotees and foreign tourists chanting 'Hare Krishna' Tuesday pulled the chariots of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra during the annual Ratha Yatra (chariot festival) here.
Organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the procession with the deities astride three chariots snaked its way from Park Circus Maidan of South Kolkata to reach the Ganga Sagar Mela near Babughat in the central part of the city. The Rath Yatra marks the annual journey of the three deities from their abode to their aunt's house.
Monks of the ISKCON order who arrived from various parts of the globe distributed prasad as Mayor Sovan Chatterjee swept the streets with a gold-plated broom flagging off the festival. Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay was also present as a special invitee. The chariots would be kept at Babughat for the next seven days before making the return journey or 'Ulta Rath'.
Over 10,000 pilgrims attended the Rath Yatra festival at Mahesh in Hooghly district. A few lakh devotees have also gathered at Mayapur in Nadia district on the occasion. န Photo : AFP
Organised by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the procession with the deities astride three chariots snaked its way from Park Circus Maidan of South Kolkata to reach the Ganga Sagar Mela near Babughat in the central part of the city. The Rath Yatra marks the annual journey of the three deities from their abode to their aunt's house.
Monks of the ISKCON order who arrived from various parts of the globe distributed prasad as Mayor Sovan Chatterjee swept the streets with a gold-plated broom flagging off the festival. Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay was also present as a special invitee. The chariots would be kept at Babughat for the next seven days before making the return journey or 'Ulta Rath'.
Over 10,000 pilgrims attended the Rath Yatra festival at Mahesh in Hooghly district. A few lakh devotees have also gathered at Mayapur in Nadia district on the occasion. န Photo : AFP
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'Bheris' to be new eco-tourism hubs
Kolkata, 13 July : Salt Lake's 20 sq-km of bheris will be developed as an eco-tourism destination. Bidhannagar Municipality's new Trinamool board has taken this initiative to protect the waterbodies from the clutches of unscrupulous promoters.Eco-tourism is among the pilot projects the new board plans to take up. Bidhannagar Municipality's chairperson and her chairman-in-council members will discuss the plan to develop Salt Lake's bheris with members of the advisory committee to the civic body. The bheris are part of the East Kolkata Wetlands.
Municipality vice-chairman Sabyasachi Dutta said it would take some time for the idea to become a reality, however. "It is not going to happen immediately. We will have to discuss the issue,"he said.
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WAFSP gives Bangladesh Tk 367.50cr assistance this year
UNB, Dhaka, 13 July : Bangladesh received Tk 367.50 crore assistance from the World Agriculture and Food Security Programme (WAFSP) this year, which is the highest among the Asian countries.
“As Bangladesh is planning to invest money in food security programme, the country received Tk 367.50 crore assistance from WAFSP this year,” Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque said at the inaugural session of a workshop at a city hotel yesterday. National Food Policy Capability Strengthening Programme under the food and disaster management ministry organised the two-day workshop titled “Research in Support of Food Security Polices: Availability, Access and Nutrition Issues.”
UNB, Dhaka, 13 July : Bangladesh received Tk 367.50 crore assistance from the World Agriculture and Food Security Programme (WAFSP) this year, which is the highest among the Asian countries.
“As Bangladesh is planning to invest money in food security programme, the country received Tk 367.50 crore assistance from WAFSP this year,” Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque said at the inaugural session of a workshop at a city hotel yesterday. National Food Policy Capability Strengthening Programme under the food and disaster management ministry organised the two-day workshop titled “Research in Support of Food Security Polices: Availability, Access and Nutrition Issues.”
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Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supporter shot dead in Bandwan
IANS, Kolkata, 13 July : An activist of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was shot dead by unknown assailants in a Maoist-dominated area of Purulia district, police said Tuesday.
The bullet-ridden body of Srikanta Hansda was found in a jungle near Maa Kapali village in Bandwan area. Police suspect that Hansda was killed by the Maoists while JMM leaders alleged that he was shot dead by CPI(M) activists. “During preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Hansda was returning home Monday night when he was stopped by some unknown people, forcibly taken into the jungle and later shot dead. The modus operandi indicates that he was murdered by the Maoists but no Maoists posters were found from the spot,” a senior police officer said.
IANS, Kolkata, 13 July : An activist of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) was shot dead by unknown assailants in a Maoist-dominated area of Purulia district, police said Tuesday.
The bullet-ridden body of Srikanta Hansda was found in a jungle near Maa Kapali village in Bandwan area. Police suspect that Hansda was killed by the Maoists while JMM leaders alleged that he was shot dead by CPI(M) activists. “During preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Hansda was returning home Monday night when he was stopped by some unknown people, forcibly taken into the jungle and later shot dead. The modus operandi indicates that he was murdered by the Maoists but no Maoists posters were found from the spot,” a senior police officer said.
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B'desh govt hopeful about Dhaka metro, Airport exp. way
Dhaka, 13 July : Bangladesh Communications minister Syed Abul Hossain told parliament on Tuesday that the government would be able to complete a significant portion of an express way from the city's airport to Narayanganj by 2014.Replying to a question from ruling party's Meher Afroze, the minister said the government would also complete in this period a major portion of the metro rail project in Dhaka. Hossain said the government was in discussion with four foreign companies to implement the elevated express way, which will ease traffic jam in the capital.
"By the end of this year, hopefully we will be in a position to sign a concessional agreement with one company and start construction of the express way from January next year," said the minister.
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Early repair of Silchar-Imphal Rd. urged by AAMSU-Cachar
Silchar, 13 July : The All Assam Manipur Students’ Union ( AAMSU), Cachar unit has demanded the immediate repair of the Silchar – Imphal road, now lying in a neglected and dilapidated condition.
The student body on Sunday blocked NH 54 which connects Silchar-Aizwal at Ramnagar near ISBT, five km from here in support of this demand. The Silchar-Manipur road is on NH 54 and it is an alternative route of supply of essential commodities and goods.
Silchar, 13 July : The All Assam Manipur Students’ Union ( AAMSU), Cachar unit has demanded the immediate repair of the Silchar – Imphal road, now lying in a neglected and dilapidated condition.
The student body on Sunday blocked NH 54 which connects Silchar-Aizwal at Ramnagar near ISBT, five km from here in support of this demand. The Silchar-Manipur road is on NH 54 and it is an alternative route of supply of essential commodities and goods.
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West Bengal to provide sports stipend to 15,000 children
Kolkata, 13 July : West Bengal government will provide monthly stipend to 15,000 children in the state in a bid to promote sporting talents, Sports Minister Kanti Ganguly said yesterday.Replying to questions in the Assembly, he said that 15,000 children with sporting talents, aged between 12 and 16 years, will be provided a monthly stipend of Rs 400 each. The stipend would continue till the children attained the age of 19, he said while claiming that West Bengal was the only state in the country to introduce such a stipend. He said that the state cabinet had recently approved a sports policy under which 20 sports disciplines would be promoted in the state.
Pointing out that only upto four per cent of the children in the states were involved in sports, he said the government was making efforts to include sports as part of a general education.
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