First-ever container cargo from Kolkata via Chattogram port reaches Agartala: MEA

Business & Economy, Records, All, World Opinion

India and Bangladesh have enhanced cooperation in shipping and inland water trade in the recent years.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava

New Delhi :

The first-ever container cargo from Kolkata via Bangladesh’s Chattogram port has reached Agartala, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday, terming it a “historic milestone” in the Indo-Bangladesh connectivity and economic partnership.

Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya had last week flagged off the first trial container ship from Kolkata carrying cargo meant for Agartala that reached the city via the Chattogram port.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said it will help in further development of the northeastern region.

“Another historic milestone in India-Bangladesh connectivity & economic partnership as the first ever container cargo from Kolkata via Chattogram port reaches Agartala.

This will help in further development of the north eastern region,” he said in a tweet.

India and Bangladesh have enhanced cooperation in shipping and inland water trade in the recent years.

Under the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, in addition to the six existing Ports of Call, five more in each country have been added recently, the Ministry of Shipping said in a statement last week.

A Port of Call is a place where a ship stops during a voyage to enable the loading and unloading of cargo.

Dredging of inland waterway routes is ongoing under a pact signed by the two countries on development of fairway in selected stretches of Bangladesh waterways, with the Government of India bearing 80 per cent of the project expenditure and the balance being borne by the neighbouring country, it said.

Cruise services have also commenced between the two countries, promoting tourism and people-to-people contacts, it said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by PTI / July 23rd, 2020

Former JU professor passes away

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, World Opinion

He had been admitted to a private hospital for a procedure and later his Covid test report came positive.

Manabendra Bandyopadhyay / sourced by The Telegraph

Manabendra Bandyopadhyay, a former professor of comparative literature at Jadavpur University, passed away on Tuesday. He was 82 and is survived by daughter Kaushalya.

Bandyopadhyay was among the five students of the first batch of the comparative literature department at JU, which was launched by poet Buddhadev Bose in 1956. 

He had been admitted to a private hospital for a procedure, said a professor of the department. “The procedure went fine and he was supposed to go home. But he had some complications. His Covid test report came on Tuesday afternoon and it was positive,” the professor said. 

Bandyopadhyay was widely known for translating Latin American literature into Bengali.

Ipshita Chanda, a JU teacher who did her PhD under him, said: “Death does not diminish professor Manabendra Bandyopadhyay’s presence as the scholar, translator and ‘rasika’ who introduced the Bengali reader to literatures of the ‘third world’ as well as to literatures in other Indian languages. Not only did he translate prolifically, he also, on principle, produced scholarly  and creative work in Bangla, inspiring and encouraging his students to do the same. He was not only a PhD supervisor but a mentor, a guide and above all an understanding and humorous friend.”

Another teacher said he introduced Gabriel García Márquez in the syllabus of the department before the Latin American author won the Nobel prize. 

“He was the one who translated Jules Verne in Bengali. Dev Sahitya Kutir would publish the abridged version initially. Later, as his expertise grew, he started coming up with unabridged versions,” said a teacher of the department.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> West Bengal> Calcutta / by Special Correspondent / August 05th, 2020