UNB, Dhaka, 14 November : Pickets set ablaze a pickup van and a passenger bus in the capital during the BNP-called dawn-to-dusk hartal that disrupted normal life and businesses on Sunday.The dawn-to-dusk shutdown was enforced throughout the country to protest eviction of the BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia from her Dhaka Cantonment house on Saturday afternoon. Witnesses said a pickup van was burnt in front of National Hospital in old Dhaka at about 10:05 am while a passenger bus was set afire at Nurjahan Road in Mohammadpur at about 11:50am (BDST). Police charged batons and used tear gas shells on a procession of the Supreme Court lawyers. Movement of traffic in the city was less as private buses and cars went off the streets. Most shops and markets were closed till noon.
BNP leaders and workers staged pickets in front of their party central office at Nayapaltan as well as in some other places including Sutrapur, Gulshan and Dhanmondi. Till midday 15 pickets were arrested -four from Kotwali, one from Sutrapur, eight from Dhanmondi and two from Gulshan. န Photo : UNB
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Purulia's Ayodhya hills a safe haven for Maoists : BuddhaPTI, Balarampur, 14 November : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the Ayodhya hills in Purulia district have become a safe haven for Maoists and asked police to remove the ultras from hideouts there.
"Maoists are hiding in the jungles of Ayodhya hills. From there, they are carrying out killings in Balarampur, Arsha and Jhalda. I have asked the police to weed them out of the Ayodhya hills and to ensure that they cannot stay there," he said at a public meeting here. Bhattacharjee's directive came as Intelligence Branch officer Partha Biswas and NGO worker Soumyajit Basu, who were kidnapped from the hills on October 22, were yet to be traced.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangladesh, Turkey agree to boost trade up to US$ 3billion 
UNB, Dhaka, 14 November : Bangladesh and Turkey Sunday agreed to push bilateral trade up to US$ 3 billion by 2015.The desire was expressed during an official talk between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office this morning. According to FBCCI statistics, Bangladesh’s exports to Turkey trebled during the last four years from over US$ 100 million in 2005-06 to US$ 330 million in 2008-09. Turkey’s exports to Bangladesh, however, remained static at around US$ 80 million during the period.
Major export items of Bangladesh include jute products, readymade garments, cotton waste and leather and leather products while major import items from Turkey included machinery, mechanical and electrical appliances, vegetable products, food products, textile articles and mineral products.
Both countries agreed on to start direct air-link from December. The Turkish Prime Minister specified the date as 23 December. PM’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters that the Erdogan invited Sheikh Hasina to visit Turkey and she accepted the invitation to visit Turkey at her convenient time. န Photo : PID
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turkey gov to rapidly enhance cooperation with Bangladesh
Dhaka, 14 November : Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday assured that Turkish cooperation would rapidly increase to Bangladesh and emphasized on increasing cooperation in the education and cultural affairs.
Erdogan gave the assurance when he called on President Zillur Rahman at Bangabhaban this afternoon. He said Turkey is eager to turn the two-way trade into US$ three billion by 2015, more than three times of the existing volume of trade. The bilateral trade was US$ 47 million in 2002 and it has increased to US $ 658 million in 2009.
Dhaka, 14 November : Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sunday assured that Turkish cooperation would rapidly increase to Bangladesh and emphasized on increasing cooperation in the education and cultural affairs.
Erdogan gave the assurance when he called on President Zillur Rahman at Bangabhaban this afternoon. He said Turkey is eager to turn the two-way trade into US$ three billion by 2015, more than three times of the existing volume of trade. The bilateral trade was US$ 47 million in 2002 and it has increased to US $ 658 million in 2009.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AASU students objects to construction of mega dams
ANI, Guwahati, 14 November : All Assam Students Union (AASU) has warned the state and central governments to stop the construction of mega dams in Assam.
Samujjal Bhattacharya, advisor of the students’ body, said the experts committee has forbidden the construction of the Lower Subansiri Hydel Project at its present site as the well as construction of mega dams in earthquake-prone Himalayan foothills. “We are not against development and power generation, but this should not be done at the cost of the lives of the common people. The government can take recourse to the micro-hydel projects, instead of mega dams for power generation,” Bhattacharya added.
ANI, Guwahati, 14 November : All Assam Students Union (AASU) has warned the state and central governments to stop the construction of mega dams in Assam.
Samujjal Bhattacharya, advisor of the students’ body, said the experts committee has forbidden the construction of the Lower Subansiri Hydel Project at its present site as the well as construction of mega dams in earthquake-prone Himalayan foothills. “We are not against development and power generation, but this should not be done at the cost of the lives of the common people. The government can take recourse to the micro-hydel projects, instead of mega dams for power generation,” Bhattacharya added.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------www.bengalnewz.com-----
