Erosion of Sirajganj dyke thwarted

Further erosion by the river Jamuna at Hard Point of Sirajganj town protection embankment has been thwarted by throwing huge number of concrete blocks and sand bags in the breached portion.

Executive Engineer of Sirajganj Water Development Board (WDB) Abdul Malek said that the erosion is now under control and a four-member committee headed by the WDB chief engineer has started investigation into the embankment collapse.

The turbulent Jamuna devoured about 70-metre of the town protection embankment at hard point on July 18 and another 105-metre on July 21.

While visiting the breached portion at the hard point of Sirajganj town protection embankment yesterday, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen said the two affected spots will be repaired at any cost.

Steps have already been taken to prevent breach in other parts of the hard point, the minister said, adding that capital dredging in the river at Sirajganj point will be started soon.

Former engineer of Buet and IWMA Executive Director Dr Monwar Hossain, district Awami League acting President Mostafizur Rahman, head of the four member investigation team and Sadar upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Mohammad Hossain were present.

Built in 1997 by a South Korean company with a 100 years' guarantee, parts of the town protection embankment collapsed on July 19 in 2010 and twice in 2009. Locals brought allegation against the authorities concerned of misappropriation in the repair of the dyke.

WDB sources said 24,000 blocks and 26,000 sand bags have so far been thrown in the breached portion of the embankment at hard point.

BNP lawmaker from Sirajganj-2 constituency Rumana Ahmed also visited the erosion-hit area yesterday morning. She blamed the authorities concerned for not taking effective steps to save the hard point.

Water level in the Jamuna at Sirajganj point marked a further rise and was flowing above the danger level yesterday.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Lalmonirhat, Kurigram: Erosion makes 300 families homeless in a week

Erosion by Teesta and Dharla rivers in Lalmonirhat and Brahmaputra in Kurigram has rendered around 300 families homeless in the last one week.

At least a hundred families at five villages under two unions in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila became homeless due to erosion by Teesta and Dharla rivers in the last 5-6 days.

The erosion hit areas are Bapari Tari, Badai Tari under Mogholhat union and Kalmati, Bagdora under Khuniyagachh union, said Water Development Board (WDB) sources.

Erosion hit Delowar Hossain, 40, at Bapari Tari village said,"My homestead was devoured for fourth time by Dharla on Tuesday noon. Now I along with four of my family have taken shelter on a government road."

The Dharla erosion took a serious turn at Bapari Tari village on Tuesday morning devouring houses one after another, he added.

Dhirendro Nath, 75, said, Dharla from the same day eroded a number of homesteads and cultivable lands of his Badai Tari village.

"I lost my homestead for the sixth time on Wednesday morning," he said.

Khuniyagchh UP member Anisur Rahman said that Teesta started eroding homesteads, croplands and orchards on Tuesday morning at Kalmati and Bagdora villages of Khuniyagachh union in Sadar upazila. Villagers are leaving their homesteads in fear of more erosion, he added.

Mogholhat UP chairman Habibur Rahman Habib said, at least 50 homesteads at two villages -- Badai Tari and Bapari Tari -- in his union were devoured by Dharla river in 48 hours until Wednesday noon.

Khuniyagachh UP chairman Khairuzzaman Mandol said, around 50 families at Kalmati and Bagdora villages in his union have been rendered homeless by Teesta.

In Kurigram, erosion by Brahmaputra took a serious turn in the last one week with the increase of the river's water level.

About 200 families in 19 villages and char areas have become homeless while around 600 acres of cropland washed away during the period, reports our correspondent.

Violent erosion has been reported from char areas in four upazilas of the district.

Most of the victims have shifted their houses to safer places while many are living on the nearest embankment and high lands.

WDB embankment in Ghogadaho union, Bagua Anatapur High School and Anantapur Bazaar in Hatia union are being threatened by the river, sources said.

The 19 erosion-hit villages and chars are Rauliar Char, Bhaisher Kuthi and Char Rasulpur at Ghagadaho union and in Char Ghaneshampur, Char Jattrapur, Bhagobatipur and Ralakata villages in Jatrapur union under Kurigram Sadar upazila, Anantapur, Bhatigram, Kumer Para, Nayagram, Gaburjan villages at Hatia union under Ulipur upazila, Guratee Para and Rajarvita (South) in Ramna union under Chilmari upazila and Nayar Char (Munshi Para), Nayar Char (Bepari Para), Dhakaia Para, Molla Para and Barober Char in Mohanganj union under Rajibpur upazila.

Abdul Gafur Munshi, 65, an erosion victim at Rauliar Char under Ghogadaho union said, "Erosion by Brahmaputra has made me a beggar. Where shall I go with my family and how shall I arrange their meals now?"

In Sadar upazila, Ghogadaho UP chairman Md Abdul Malek said that the river washed away houses of 39 families and over 100 acres of agricultural land in Rauliar Char, houses of seven families and about 50 acres of land in Bhaisher Kuthi village and about 100 acres of land in Char Rasulpur.

In Ulipur upazila, newly elected chairman and former member of Hatia union Md Abul Hossain said, more than 50 families, who lived near WDB embankment in Shayampur village and another 50 families of Bhatigram, Kumer Para, Nayagram, Gaburjan villages under the union lost their houses in the last seven days.

Soruce : The Daily Star 

Hilsa catches too frustrating for fishermen, traders

The ongoing hilsa season sees poor netting of the popular fish in the coastal waters, much to the frustration among fishermen and traders.

Fishermen's families are passing hard days as the catches are not sufficient even to recover the cost of deep sea trips on trawlers for the purpose, according to our correspondent in Patuakhali.

Over 500 trawlers from coastal districts of Patuakhali and Barguna got engaged in catching hilsa in the deep sea after the end of ban period of hilsa catching but this year the catches are much less than expectation.

May to October is generally considered the hilsa catching season in Bangladesh.

"We went to the deep sea with 14 fishermen and came back to the shore on Friday after 12 days. We were able to catch only 1.5 maunds of hilsa that sold for Tk 27,000 whereas we have to spend about Tk 80,000 in a trip. During this time last year we caught 25 to 30 maunds of hilsa per trip," said Abdul Jabbar Mia, 40, a fisherman of Mohipur in Kalapara upazila.

Abdus Sobhan and Edris Mia of Char Anda under Galachipa upazila said they are now worried about payment of loan that they took from a mohajon (money lender) as they are not getting hilsa as per expectation during the running season.

Fishermen Mojibur Rahman and Razzak of Char Biswas said they did not see such crisis of hilsa in last 25 years.

Hilsa might have changed their place in the sea due to food crisis or rise in sea level as a result of siltation, they said.

Anwar Hossain, a hilsa wholesaler of Moudovi area in Galachipa upazila, said they expected netting of huge quantities of large size hilsa fish due to favourable weather this season but they are frustrated.

"Poor netting of hilsa has led to its high price this season. The fish weighing 800 grams to 1 kg each is selling for Tk 17,000 to 18,500 per maund while the price for the amount of hilsa weighing 600 to 800 grams each varies between Tk 13,000 to 14,000," said Md Elias, owner of Sahana Fish Traders, a hilsa warehouse at Mohipur.

"My experience says that huge hilsa is netted if sea is very rough. During this time last year at least 200 maunds of hilsa came to my warehouse daily but now we are getting only 25 to 30 maunds," he said.

Fazlu Gazi, president of fishing trawler owners association at Mohipur, said fishermen are coming back with almost empty trawlers although fishermen passed very busy time with hilsa catching during this period in previous years.

Local fishermen last week arranged a milad mahfil at Mohipur fish landing station and prayed for good catches of hilsa.

In Barisal, poor catch of hilsa has become a cause of concern for fishermen, fish traders and owners of ice mills, reports our correspondent.

Price of the fish has also shot up beyond the purchasing capacity of the common people due to poor netting.

Ajit Kumar Das, president of Barisal Zilla Matsya Aratder Samity said, for the last few years hilsa traders are facing this acute crisis of the fish.

The number of Samity members has come down to only 60 this year from 138 last year as a large number of hilsa traders of this region have shut their business, he said.

There are a dozen big hilsa centres in Barisal region on Barisal Port Road and Alipur, Mohipur, Patherghata, Monpura, Hizla, Ilisha, Patherhat and Pirojpur Machghat areas.

"They are now empty. Wholesalers are doing seasonal fruit business in their hilsa centres," said Ajit.

Fishermen said thousands of fishing trawlers were engaged in hilsa fishing in Kuakata, Kalapara, Galachipa, Daulatkha, Borhanuddin, Tajumuddin, Charfession, Manpura, Ilisha, Veduria Monpura, Hatiya, Ramgati, coastal areas and branches of Meghna, Padma, Arial Kha, Kirtonkhola, Tentulia, Andharmanik, Payera, Ramnabad and Agunmukha river. But almost all of them are now coming back because of poor catches.

Anwar Mia, a fisherman who recently returned from sea after a 10-day trip spending Tk 2 lakh, said they caught only two maunds of hilsa. "Around this time last year we caught not less than 100 maunds per trip," he said.

Meanwhile, prices of hilsa have shot up in Barisal wholesale hilsha market. Small to medium size hilsa were being sold at Tk 20,000 to 25,000 per maund while big size at Tk 28,000 to 40,000 per maund, traders said.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Death anniversary

Today is the fifth death anniversary of Jolly Kabir, an organising secretary of Bangladesh Mahila Awami League and wife of Advocate Mohammad Humayun Kabir, president of Bangladesh Railway Sramik League, says a press release.

Following a road accident in 2006 Jolly Kabir died at the city's Apollo Hospital on this day.

On the occasion, doa and milad mahfil will be held at her residence at C/7, Shahjahanpur Railway Colony after Asr prayers today.

Relatives, friends and well-wishers are requested to attend the programme.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Obituary

Dr AHM Mahmud Kabir, professor of Jahurul Islam Medical College and Hospital, passed away at his Tajmahal Road residence in the city on Thursday night at the age of 75, says a press release.

He left behind his mother, wife and five children to mourn his death.

On the occasion, a doa mahfil will be held at his residence at 25/4 Tajmahal Road in the city after Asr prayers on July 29.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Dr Kamal for national unity against graft, terrorism

Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday called for national unity based on 1972 constitution against corruption, terrorism and sickening politics.

"The country needs healthy politics. We won't sacrifice our principle and ideology for temporary gains or winning votes," he told a press conference in the city.

Dr Kamal said his party never pursued the politics of sycophancy as "We do politics for establishing rights of the people and their welfare."

He said the country is now plagued with various problems. "A nation cannot move forward by suppressing the reality," he said.

He stressed that the national consensus should be built against those who are committing corruption and those who are patronising it.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Int'l Autism Conference Begins Tomorrow: No exact figure of autistic children in Bangladesh

The two-day international conference on "Autism spectrum disorders and developmental disabilities in Bangladesh and South Asia" begins in Dhaka tomorrow (Monday) to raise awareness on the neuro-development disease.

President of Indian Congress Party Sonia Gandhi will grace the inaugural session, to be held at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, as the chief guest.

Second Lady of the Maldives Iiham Hussain, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Fehmida Mirza, First Lady of Sri Lanka Shiranthi Rajapaksa, and the health minister of Bhutan will be present as special guests.

The conference is jointly organised by the Centre for Neurodevelopment and Autism in Children of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and US-based Autism Speaks in association with World Health Organisation (WHO), speakers told a news conference at BSMMU yesterday.

Saima Wazed Putul, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is convening the conference to be attended by specialists from 12 countries, they added.

The speakers said autism is still a neglected disease in Bangladesh and there is no exact statistics how many children are affected with autism in the country.

About 10 percent the country's people are challenged, said Ranjit Kumar Biswas, secretary to the social welfare ministry. Of those, one percent is estimated to be autistic accounting to around 1.5 lakh people, he added.

He also said currently one stop service is being provided to the autistic children in a very limited way in 15 districts including diagnosis, counseling, and physiotherapy.

"It will be extended to 35 districts soon along with a resource centre in Dhaka". The government also plans to extend homebound intervention for the autistic children to 17 districts, he added.

Health Minister Prof AFM Ruhal Haque, Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad, Social Welfare Minister Enamul Hoque Mostofa Shaheed, and BSMMU Vice-chancellor Prof Pran Gopal Datta also spoke at the press conference.

They also informed that a three-day training workshop will follow the two-day conference. The training sessions will be held on July 27-29 in different auditoriums of BSMMU and will be attended by about 370 participants from across the country, including parents of autistic children, therapists, psychologists, and teachers and students of psychology.

Soruce : The Daily Star 

CU syndicate polls July 31

The elections to Chittagong University syndicate, academic council, and finance committee will be held on July 31.

CU teachers will elect four members to the syndicate, six members to the academic council, and one member to the finance committee.

Sources said pro-Awami League and left teachers will contest the polls under "Yellow panel" while pro-BNP-Jamaat alliance under "White panel".

Yellow panel nominated candidates for all categories while White panel did not nominate their candidates in lecturer categories for syndicate and academic council.

As a result, Noeem Uddin Hasan Aorongojeb Chowdhury of economics department was elected syndicate member and M Jashim Ali Chowdhury of law department and Biswajit Nath of geography and environmental studies department were elected members of academic council uncontested.

The Election Commission sources said Yellow panel candidates for four categories of syndicate are Dr Irshad Kamal Khan (professor category), Dr Mohammad Nasim Hasan (associate professor), Quazi SM Khasrul Alam Quddusi (assistant professor). Prof Dr Md Ali Asraf will contest the lone post of Finance Committee under the panel.

For Academic Council, Yellow panel candidates are Associate Professor Mohammad Jamal Uddin, Associate Professor Md Sahidur Rahman, Assistant Professor Deepannita Bhattacharjee, and Assistant Professor Mir Saifuddin Khaled Chowdhury.

On the other hand, White panel candidates for syndicate are Prof ANM Munir Ahmed, Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Shahadat Hossain, and Assistant Professor Md Anwar Hossain. Prof Dr Mohammad Saleh Zahur will contest the post of Finance Committee under the panel.

Vying for the posts of Academic Council under White panel are Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Nasir Uddin, Associate Professor Dr Mohammad Mosharof Hossain, Assistant Professor Md Iqbal Sarwar, and Assistant Professor Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy.

Prof Dr Mohammad Shafiul Alam, the election commissioner and also acting registrar of the university, said a total of 548 faculty members will cast their votes.

The elections will be held from 9:00am to 1:00pm in the auditorium of Social Sciences Faculty, he said, adding that the faculty members can also participate in advance voting to be held on July 26-30 at the office of CU teachers' association from 11:00am to 1:00pm.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Prime Bank-NDDC debate contest ends

The Prime Bank-NDDC 23rd National Debate Competition 2011 ended amid festivities and cultural programmes yesterday.

Thirty-seven clubs of different educational institutions (schools, colleges, and universities) took part in the contest that began with the theme "divide and rule".

Notre Dame Debating Club (NDDC) hosted the competition where the debaters contested in three categories -- parliamentary, baroary, and sanatani.

At school level, two clubs of Motijheel Ideal School and College became champion and runner-up.

On the other hand, North South University clinched championship, defeating London College of Legal Studies in the inter-club contest (English).

In the inter-club contest (Bangla), Notre Dame College BLUE (NDC-BLUE) became champion winning over Residential Debating Society of Residential Model School and College.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs Promod Mankin, founder of NDDC Father RW Timm CSC, and Deputy Managing Director of Prime Bank Ahmed Kamal Khan Chowdhury were present at yesterday's programme held in Notre Dame College auditorium and presided over by Father Bakul S Rozario CSC.

The winners and runners-up received awards from the guests. The Daily Star and ABC Radio were media partners of the competition.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Future journos urged to be more attentive in studies

Department of Mass Communication and Journalism of Rajshahi University (RU) yesterday began its 20th founding anniversary celebrations with tree plantation, photo and book exhibition and free blood donation programmes.

Planning Minister AK Khandker inaugurated the programme, organised by Journalism Alumni Forum of Rajshahi University (JAFRU), by releasing pigeons and balloons at RU Senate Bhaban as the chief guest.

Speaking at the programme, he urged the department's students to be more attentive in studies as they are the future journalists. He also stressed the need for technical support for the students to turn them into human resources.

Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, RU Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Muhammad Nurullah, the department Chairman Prof Moshihur Rahman and JAFRU President Sazzad Hosen also spoke at the programme chaired by RU Vice Chancellor Prof Abdus Sobhan.

Later, around 1,000 people including teachers, former and present students and guests brought out a colourful procession on the campus.

A seminar titled "Mass media and journalism culture in Bangladesh" was also held at Senate Bhaban.

Press Institute of Bangladesh Director General Prof Dulal Chandra Biswas presented a key-note paper at the seminar.

The News Today Editor Riaz Uddin, journalist Abed Khan, Daily Shokaler Khobor Editor AKM Rashid Un Nabi, Daily Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shamol Datta and Dhaka University journalism department Prof Dr Golam Rahman were present.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Presidential Pardon: Law ministry approved it

State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam yesterday brushed aside Suranjit Sengupta's allegation that the home ministry did not take the law ministry's opinion on the presidential clemency to death-row convict AHM Biplob.

Talking to The Daily Star last night, he said Suranjit might have made the comments without knowing the facts.

Biplob, son of Laxmipur AL leader Abu Taher, was convicted in BNP leader Nurul Islam murder case. He is now serving life sentences at Laxmipur District Jail in two other murder cases.

Meanwhile, Suranjit, senior AL lawmaker and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry, said he had made the comment after talking to Law Minister Shafique Ahmed.

"I talked to the law minister earlier. He told me he knew nothing about it, and that is why I made the comment. But later I heard that opinion was received from the law ministry," he said.

The standing committee at its next meeting will look into the basis of the law ministry's recommendation for the clemency, added Suranjit.

Qamrul maintained that the president pardoned Biplob after receiving the law ministry's opinion. The ministry opined in favour of Biplob's reprieve, as he "had been convicted under the influence of the then BNP government".

The state minister also claimed the president acted as per the constitutional provisions and the home and law ministries did not do anything wrong.

Nobody was named in the first information report of the murder case. Police at first submitted a final report, but the then law minister Moudud Ahmed and some other BNP lawmakers put pressure on the victim's wife to implicate Biplob and his family members as they support AL, continued Qamrul.

Later, the law enforcers pressed charges against 24 people on instructions of Moudud.

The law ministry has found this all after examining the relevant documents and evidence.

The Daily Star could not reach Law Minister Shafique Ahmed for comments as he was abroad.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Mirror too into phone-hacking: BBC runs story about shocking practice by British tabloids besides News of the World

Allegations of phone-hacking spread beyond the felled News of the World to other tabloids yesterday as media heir James Murdoch faced pressure over the extent of his knowledge of the scandal.

Former journalists at the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror -- the main tabloid competitors to Rupert Murdoch's British stable -- reportedly said the illegally hacking of voicemails was widespread at their papers too.

Back at the Murdoch empire, a lawmaker on Friday referred James Murdoch's testimony to a parliamentary committee on Tuesday to the police, while Cameron said he had "questions to answer" after doubts were raised over his evidence.

James Murdoch, the chairman of News International, has been challenged by two of his former employees over evidence he gave before parliament's media scrutiny committee.

A lawmaker has referred James Murdoch's testimony to the police. The junior Murdoch is standing by his evidence.

Meanwhile, the BBC quoted an unidentified former Sunday Mirror journalist who worked on the paper in the past decade who claimed to have witnessed routine phone hacking in the newsroom.

The allegations about the Sunday Mirror were detailed by a source who told BBC's Newsnight: "One afternoon in the newsroom I saw Liz Hurley's phone being hacked and a reporter listen to her mobile phone messages and take a note of what was said.

"It was a Thursday and I was told that there wasn't much on there - just something about lunch from another woman, so they would keep trying before the weekend to see what they could find."

The programme's source said the technique of phone hacking was used on a daily basis.

"Designated reporters would be doing it pretty much every day," they said.

"One reporter who was very good at it was called the 'master of the dark arts'.

"At one point in 2004 it seemed like it was the only way people were getting scoops.

The source even claimed the Sunday Mirror hired a voiceover artist to imitate famous people in order to get information about them.

"He was such a god of a voiceover artist that he could pretend to be famous people or failing that he'd pretend to be their lawyer or someone related to them.

Separately, James Hipwell, a former Daily Mirror financial journalist jailed in 2005 for buying shares before tipping them in the paper, said he heard hacking was being used at the paper as he worked next to the showbusiness desk where it was rife. Hipwell worked at the Mirror for two years until 2000.

Trinity Mirror, the group which publishes both papers, said its journalists work within the law and the code of conduct of Britain's self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission. It said Hipwell's allegations were "totally unsubstantiated."

Also it has emerged that Lord Leveson, the judge who will lead the hacking inquiry has said he had attended functions with Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law - but that he had informed Prime Minister David Cameron of this before the appointment was announced.

The senior judge met with Matthew Freud, who is married to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth, at functions while he was chairman of the sentencing council, which advises the government on sentencing policy.

The scandal has rocked the British police and even given Prime Minister David Cameron a rough ride, but has so far largely been limited to the News of the World, which Murdoch shut on July 7 amid public outrage.

In a further twist, the New York Times reported that Kroll, a firm of corporate investigators hired by Britain's Daily Telegraph to probe the leak of a story, said they suspected the involvement of senior News International executive Will Lewis, the former editor of the Telegraph.

The Telegraph had obtained a recording of Business Secretary Vince Cable saying he had "declared war" on Murdoch in December, but it was leaked to BBC reporter Robert Peston, a friend of Lewis, before the paper could run the story.

Soruce : The Daily Star

North, South Korean foreign ministers meet

The foreign ministers of North and South Korea held an unofficial meeting yesterday on the sidelines of a regional security dialogue in Indonesia, the South's Yonhap news agency reported.

In the first such encounter since 2008, South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan and his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui-Chun chatted on their way to a conference hall at the Asean security forum in Nusa Dua, Yonhap said.

"Before entering a session of the Asean Regional Forum this morning, Minister Kim had a brief talk with Pak," the agency quoted an unnamed South Korean official as saying.

The encounter came a day after the two countries' nuclear envoys held an unexpected, rare meeting and agreed to resume multilateral talks on curbing the North's nuclear programme at the earliest possible date.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Egypt's military ruler commits to democracy

Egypt's military ruler yesterday stressed the army's commitment to democracy, as protesters kept up pressure on the general over the slow pace of reforms since a revolt ousted Hosni Mubarak.

Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and Mubarak's longtime defence minister, pledged to work for a free system through fair elections and a constitution.

He vowed to "pave the way for the pillars of a democratic state, which promotes freedom, the rights of citizens through free and fair parliamentary elections, a new constitution and the election of a president chosen by the people."

Tantawi delivered the television address to mark the anniversary of the 1952 revolution -- a military coup that overthrew the monarchy, which came six months after the January 25 uprising that ended Mubarak's 30-year grip on power.

Hours earlier, the military council had accused the April 6 pro-democracy movement of sowing strife after hundreds tried to march to the defence ministry.

Soruce : The Daily Star 

Stop celebrating Aug 15 birthday: Kader Siddiqui urges Khaleda during talks

Krishak Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddiqui yesterday urged BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to refrain from observing her birthday on August 15 as Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated on that day, though he believes it is her real birthday.

He also requested her for not to make any objectionable remarks against Bangabandhu at any level and reconsider the relation with those, who were against the country's independence, in the party as well as the alliance.

Siddiqui however agreed with BNP's stance on the caretaker government system and the fifteenth amendment but said his party will take a decision regarding the main opposition's invitation to join the anti-government movement after his possible meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Siddiqui, the legendary war hero, made the request at a meeting with Khaleda, also leader of the opposition, at her Gulshan residence. He highly appreciated the BNP chairperson for her warm attitude towards him during the meeting that continued from 6:00pm to 7:20pm. BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, Krishak Sramik Janata League General Secretary Habibur Rahman Talukder and Siddiqui's wife Nasrin Kader Siddiqui was present in the meeting. This was the first political meeting Khaleda had in her new home in Gulshan.

"I told her that I have problems to work jointly with those who were against our independence. I requested her not to make any derogatory comments about Bangabandhu so that we don't get hurt," Siddiqui said after a post-meeting joint briefing at Khaleda's political office in Gulshan with BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

"Bangabandhu was assassinated on August 15, 1975. I urged her not to observe her birthday the way it is being observed. However, I saw her 1972's passport where it was mentioned as her birthday," Siddiqui added.

Asked what Khaleda's reaction to his requests was, he replied, "I was assured and convinced over the discussion with her. But it's true she is the leader of a big party. They will inform me about their decision later.

"I agree with BNP's stance on the caretaker government issue. People want this system. The government should reinstate the system in the next parliament session and restore 'faith on almighty Allah' in the constitution," he said, adding, it is Khaleda Zia's statesmanship to take steps against the fifteenth amendment.

Asked about the unity with BNP, he said, "I will inform the media about my decision in consultation with my party leaders after holding a meeting with the prime minister."

Mirza Alamgir thanked Siddiqui, also a former Awami League leader, for meeting the BNP chairperson at her residence and said the process for unity will continue. Siddiqui quit AL in 1999 and formed his own party.

Earlier on July 19, Mirza Alamgir met Siddiqui at his Mohammadpur residence and conveyed the invitation on behalf of the chairperson to meet her.

The meeting was held as part of BNP's initiative to bring highest number of political parties under a common platform to forge a tougher movement to compel the government to restore the caretaker government system.

Khaleda will also hold meetings with the chiefs of those parties who want to see continuation of the system to oversee the next parliamentary elections.

Soruce : The Daily Star

Norway toll now 92: Paradise island turned into hell with Friday shootout killing 85; Oslo blast claims 7

Norwegian police searched for more victims yesterday after a suspected right-wing zealot killed at least 92 people in a shooting spree and bomb attack that have traumatized a once-placid country.

As harrowing testimony emerged from the summer camp where scores of youngsters were mown down, Norway was struggling to understand how a country famed as a beacon of peace could experience such bloodshed on its soil.

"Never since the Second World War has our country been hit by a crime on this scale," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told journalists as police searched for more bodies on the idyllic Utoeya island.

The latest death toll from the island massacre stood at 85 while seven people died in the Oslo bombing, reports AFP.

Police said they were questioning a right-wing Christian on Saturday over the massacre that Norway's prime minister said had turned an island paradise into hell on earth.

While there was no official confirmation of the suspect's identity, he was widely named by the local media as Anders Behring Breivik.

The attacks on Friday afternoon were western Europe's deadliest since the 2004 Madrid bombings, carried out by al-Qaeda.

While there had been initial fears they might have been an act of revenge over Norway's participation in the campaigns in Afghanistan and Libya, the focus shifted when it emerged the suspect was a native Norwegian.

Seven of the victims were killed in a massive explosion which ripped through government buildings, including Stoltenberg's office and the finance ministry, in downtown Oslo.

It is thought that the bomber then caught a ferry to nearby Utoeya wearing a police sweater.

On arrival, he claimed to be investigating the bomb attack and began opening fire with an automatic weapon.

Stoltenberg, as he visited some of the survivors, spoke of his own anguish at the massacre on an island to which he was a frequent visitor. He had been due to give a speech on Saturday to the camp, organised by his Labour party.

"Many of those who have died were friends. I know their parents and it happened at a place where I spent a long time as a young person... It was a paradise of my youth that has now been turned into hell," he said.

The prime minister said he had been deeply moved by speaking to youngsters who had told him how they swam to shore under a hail of gunfire, in some cases helping friends who had been shot.

Norwegian police said they feared there could also be explosives on the island.

There was widespread international condemnation with US President Barack Obama saying the attacks were "a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "Everyone who believes in freedom, respect and living together peacefully should fight against this hatred."

The Norwegian capital is a well-known symbol of international peace efforts and home to the Nobel Peace Prize.

SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS

Police combed the island and the lake, even using a mini-submarine to search the water, police inspector Bjoerne Erik Sem-Jacobsen told Reuters. "We don't know how many people were on the island, therefore we have to search further."

They were also checking media reports that some witnesses believed Breivik had an accomplice. "There are no concrete reports of a second gunman, although we're not excluding any possibilities," said Oslo police spokeswoman Trine Dyngeland.

The suspect, tall and blond, owned an organic farming company called Breivik Geofarm, which a supply firm said he had used to buy fertilizer -- possibly to make the Oslo bomb.

"These are goods that were delivered on May 4," Oddny Estenstad, a spokeswoman at farm supply chain Felleskjoepet Agri, told Reuters. "It was 6 tonnes of fertilizer, which is a small, normal order for a standard agricultural producer."

It was not clear if Breivik, a gun club member according to local media, had more than one weapon or whether he had stocked ammunition on Utoeya, where police found explosives.

Initial speculation after the Oslo blast had focused on Islamist militant groups, but it appears that only Breivik -- and perhaps unidentified associates -- was involved.

Officials pointed to Breivik's far-right views.

"I think it's appropriate to underline that politically motivated violence that Norway has seen in the modern age has come from the extreme rightist side," Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said.

Home-grown anti-government militants have struck elsewhere in the past, notably in the United States, where Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people with a truck bomb in Oklahoma City in 1995.

Soruce : The Daily Star 

Border haat: Cheers for partisan traders

The people of Baliamari village under Rajibpur Police Station have long been excited about the prospect of the border haat there. Thus far, many of their relatives have suffered, even got killed, injured or jailed trying to trade across the border. So the news of the haat thrilled them immensely.

But not anymore, as these people know the benefits of the border haat will go to the selected ones the rich and partisans.

More than 20 out of 25 people selected and given identity cards for a stall in the haat are established businessmen, having shops in Rajibpur market, a place about five kilometres from the Baliamari-Kalaierchar border haat.

That's not all. The 25 beneficiaries are well-known activists of the ruling party.

Noor E Shahi (Ful), chairman of Rajibpur union, admitted that anomalies took place during the selection. He said all the 25 people selected to trade in the haat are partisans and established businessmen.

"I am also the president of Rajibpur market committee. It (the selection) has surprised me as none consulted me before finalising the list of beneficiaries."

Mojibur Rahman Bangavashi, chairman of Jadurchar union that shares a portion of the haat, said the very concept of the border haat has been tarnished by allocating trade rights to established businessmen from Rajibpur only.

The villagers of Baliamari, mostly farmers and day labourers, also have the same story to tell. Baliamari is the nearest village from the haat.

Korimon Begum, a widow and mother of three, said although her house overlooks the haat she never got the chance to work for it.

"I wanted to work as a day labourer when they built the road. But they hired all the labourers from Rajibpur," said Korimon, adding that, "I also tried to obtain an identity card for a stall in the haat but no one was interested."

Like Korimon, Mohammad Nazrul Islam of Beparipara said most of the people in his village survive on fishing. "We wanted to sell fish in the haat but could not prove our allegiance to the ruling party. We are too poor to do politics," said Nazrul.

During the inauguration ceremony of the haat yesterday, the two correspondents personally spoke to 20 card holders who admitted that they had shops in Rajibpur market. Interestingly, many of these traders brought readymade garments, melamine items and brand items to trade in the haat.

Thana Nirbahi Officer Abdul Kader, the person responsible for enlisting the beneficiaries, said that the selection was made based on merit.

"The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the governments prescribes listing of genuine businessmen for trading. We have done accordingly," he said.

However, the MoU did not define the vendors of the haat as "genuine businessmen". It rather says, "Vendors who are allowed to sell their products in the Border Haats shall be the residents of the area within five (5) km radius from the location of Border Haat."

Soruce : The Daily Star 

Border haat: Border haats trade hopes

Top-level officials of India and Bangladesh yesterday inaugurated the first-ever official border haat on the no-man's land here in efforts to bring economic benefits to the people of the area.

The inauguration comes nine months after the neighbouring countries signed agreements to set up two border haats.

Ministers, members of parliament, high officials of district administration and border forces and distinguished invitees from either side attended the ceremony.

As Commerce Minister Faruk Khan and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma hoisted the national flags, children from Bangladesh sang their national anthem and a band of Indian border guards played theirs.

Around 500 people from the two countries were allowed in the small haat area, approximately the size of two football pitches.

The ceremony was enlivened by colourful tribal dances, songs and beats of drums. Thousands of people including children gathered on the bank of the river Zinziram on the Bangladesh side and watched the function from a distance.

While the jawans of Indian Border Security Force and Border Guard Bangladesh shook hands and cracked jokes, 50 authorised vendors from both sides sat in their stalls to sell their produce and other merchandise. Some sold ready-made clothes, fish and vegetables while some others paans (betel leaf) and melamine items.

The buyers on the first day were mainly the security and administrative staffs who came to the haat accompanying the VVIPs.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister of Meghalaya Mukul M Sangma said he grew up in the region and as a child he witnessed how people of the two countries traded with one another without fear. The main trade activity of the tribal people in Meghalaya strip was with their Bangalee neighbours.

He spoke of great potential of trade between the two countries in this region and said, "I am grateful to the leaderships of Bangladesh and India for restarting the haat.

"The port of Chittagong is only a seven-hour drive from Meghalaya border. In future, people of this region could have access to international trade through good relationship with Bangladesh."

Commerce Minister Faruk Khan termed the occasion a historic moment.

"This haat is a symbol of our friendship. It will not only boost economic growth but also strengthen our relationship," he added.

"We have sea ports and I believe all the people in the region [who need access to sea ports] will be able to use our ports for economic development," said Faruk.

The minister thanked India for its help during the Liberation War.

Indian Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said trading along the borders has been part of the tradition and heritage of the two countries.

"Access to Chittagong port will open up huge possibilities for the people of this region," he observed.

Sharma added: "With our huge population we have to remember that our countries will have to sustain high growth potentials.

"India has the largest middle class and a big number of poor people. For historical reasons they remained deprived and marginalised. It will be a mistake if we do not mobilise and redistribute resources now for the generations to come."

The Baliamari-Kalaierchar border haat will sit on Wednesdays. The summer timing for the haat will be 9:30am to 3:30pm while in winter from 9:30am to 2:30pm.

The commodities sold here will be free of duty, while traders can use Bangladeshi Taka and Indian Rupees and/or barter system for the transaction. The estimated value of such purchases shall not exceed respective local currency equivalent of $50 for any particular day.

Soruce : The Daily Star 

Obama calls crisis debt talks as default looms

US president Barack Obama angrily summoned top lawmakers for crisis talks Saturday on averting a disastrous early August debt default that could send shockwaves through the fragile global economy.

With an August 2 deadline fast approaching, Obama warned that polarised lawmakers must have a plan for raising the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling by the time skittish world markets pass judgment Monday on the stalemate.

'We have run out of time,' Obama said at a hastily called press briefing late Friday, declaring himself 'confident' ultimately of a breakthrough 'that avoids a self-inflicted wound to the economy at a time when things are so difficult.'

Obama convened the emergency meeting shortly after Republican House Speaker John Boehner delivered the shock announcement that he was quitting negotiations with the president in favour of talks only with Senate leaders.

'We can come together for the good of the country and reach a compromise; we can strengthen our economy and leave for our children a more secure future,' the president said in his weekly radio address. 'Or we can issue insults and demands and ultimatums at each another, withdraw to our partisan corners, and achieve nothing.'

But Boehner, who said he left the talks because Obama insisted on tax increases, later told reporters he would attend the Saturday meeting and insisted: 'I don't believe that our relationship is permanently damaged.'

Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were expected at the White House.

Washington hit its debt ceiling on May 16 but has used spending and accounting adjustments, as well as higher-than-expected tax receipts, to pay its bills and continue operating up August 2.

Finance and business leaders have warned failure to raise the US debt ceiling by then would send shock waves through the world economy, while Obama has predicted a default would trigger economic 'Armageddon.'

Republican aides said the deal left on the table included plans to cut some $3-$3.5 trillion from US debt over 10 years by paring down annual spending as well as slicing into social safety net programs dear to Democrats.

'I've been left at the altar,' said Obama, noting that his party would have resisted that accord. 'One of the questions that the Republican Party's going to have to ask itself is, can they say yes to anything?'

Boehner and Obama were at odds on a range of issues, but a key sticking point was the White House's push for increasing tax revenues from the rich and wealthy corporations, something Republicans fiercely opposed.

Obama did not back away from this demand on Saturday.

'Before we cut medical research, we should ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries,' he said in his address.

Obama has insisted that the debt-limit increase be large enough to last through his November 2012 re-election bid, avoiding a politically dangerous vote in the heart of a campaign defined by his handling of the US economy.

But with time ticking down, it was hard to see how polarized congressional leaders could work out a large-scale deal, turn it into legislation, and push it through the Democratic-led Senate and Republican-held House of Representatives.

Spurring them on, a senior White House official told reporters late Friday that 'there's a very real prospect' that Washington may lost its sterling Triple-A debt rating 'for failing to take serious action to control our deficit' even if lawmakers agree on a debt-limit increase.

Soruce : New Age

China textile output posts 30pc rise in H1

China's textile industry posted a 30-per cent growth year-on-year in output in the first half of this year in spite of a raft of challenges, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

Output of the industry hit 2.39 trillion yuan ($370.7 billion) in the first six months, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Its value-added industrial output rose 9.9 per cent from a year earlier, down 2.3 percentage points compared with the rate for the same period of last year, it said.

Total profits of textile enterprises reached 97.7 billion yuan in the first five months, up 42.9 per cent from a year earlier, the statement said. Exports of textile products increased 28.8 per cent to 45.9 billion US dollars in the first half, it added.

China's textile industry faced a series of challenges in the first half, the statement said, citing fluctuations of cotton prices and higher costs due to labour costs, yuan's appreciation and increases in interest rates.

Some small and medium-sized textile enterprises suffered from financing difficulties as the government tightened liquidity, it added.

The ministry said more hurdles will take toll on the sector, resulting in a slowdown in output growth in the second half of the year compared with the first half.

Foreign demand will falter as regional political disturbance, euro debt crisis and massive

fiscal deficit of the United States will slow down global economic recovery, it said.

Soruce : New Age

Bull reigns over Dhaka bourse for 5th straight week

DGEN, the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stock Exchange, advanced by 82.70 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 6,660.98 points in last week, stretching the current bull run to five straight weeks.

The turnover of the bourse hit a six-month high on Wednesday, only to break the record by rising further to a seven-and-a-half-month peak the very next day. Yet, the average daily turnover of the DSE crawled down by 0.63 per cent to Tk 1,552.20 crore in last week from that of Tk 1,562 crore in the previous week, which posted a 44.53 per cent week-on-week rise.

Market operators said the 140 per cent interim cash dividend declared by Grameenphone and the government's planned move to double the paid-up capital requirement for non-banking financial institutions were the two factors that dominated the bull market last week.

Market insiders said the one-month-plus bull run seemed to have helped the investors regain confidence in the equities market, which, in turn, prompted them to inject fresh funds into it. Investment of undisclosed money in stocks might also have started in the week, they added.

They said some banks also made large-scale investments as Bangladesh Bank had extended the deadline for bringing their capital market exposure within the limit.

There were four trading sessions in last week on the DSE as Monday was a public holiday on the occasion of the Shab-e-Barat.

On Sunday, the bull market took a break after eight straight days of gain, with the DGEN shedding 91.69 points, or 1.39 per cent, following a remark of the finance minister, AMA Muhith, in which he expressed his dissatisfaction at the relentless price hike of stocks. A section of investors also went for profit-taking sell-off on the day after the eight-day surge. The day's turnover tumbled by Tk 526 crore to Tk 1,157.06 crore.

The bourse made a strong rebound on Tuesday, with the DGEN soaring by 100.99 points, or 1.55 per cent, riding on a sharp rise of the share prices of two giant companies – Grameen-phone and MJLBD. The turnover on the day also jumped to Tk 1,387.54 crore from Sunday's Tk 1,157.06 crore.

On Wednesday, the turnover of the country's premier bourse shot up to Tk 1,765.12 crore, a six-month high, as some institutional investors went for heavy buying, although the general index managed to gain only 31.51 points, a 0.47 per cent rise.

The next day, the turnover of the DSE soared further to Tk 1,899.09 crore, creating a seven-and-a-half-month record as the investors continued to inject fresh funds into the market, while the DGEN advanced by 41.88 points, or 0.63 per cent, to close the day at a five-and-a-half-month high of 6,660.97 points. The last time the index reached a higher level was on February 9 at 6,673.40 points. 

Grameenphone topped the list of turnover leaders of the week with shares worth Tk 221.72 crore changing hands, following its hefty half-yearly corporate disclosure.

Soruce : New Age

China textile output posts 30pc rise in H1

China's textile industry posted a 30-per cent growth year-on-year in output in the first half of this year in spite of a raft of challenges, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

Output of the industry hit 2.39 trillion yuan ($370.7 billion) in the first six months, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Its value-added industrial output rose 9.9 per cent from a year earlier, down 2.3 percentage points compared with the rate for the same period of last year, it said.

Total profits of textile enterprises reached 97.7 billion yuan in the first five months, up 42.9 per cent from a year earlier, the statement said. Exports of textile products increased 28.8 per cent to 45.9 billion US dollars in the first half, it added.

China's textile industry faced a series of challenges in the first half, the statement said, citing fluctuations of cotton prices and higher costs due to labour costs, yuan's appreciation and increases in interest rates.

Some small and medium-sized textile enterprises suffered from financing difficulties as the government tightened liquidity, it added.

The ministry said more hurdles will take toll on the sector, resulting in a slowdown in output growth in the second half of the year compared with the first half.

Foreign demand will falter as regional political disturbance, euro debt crisis and massive

fiscal deficit of the United States will slow down global economic recovery, it said.

Soruce : New Age

Loan distribution of banks grows by 23 per cent despite high interest rate

The amount of loans disbursed by the banks in the just-concluded fiscal 2010-2011 posted a 23 per cent rise year on year, despite the high interest rates.

According to the Bangladesh Bank data, as on June 30, 2010 the amount of cumulative loans disbursed by the banks in fiscal year 2009-2010 was Tk 2,68,304 crore, which was Tk 3,29,284 crore in FY2010-2011.

In FY2010, the amount of credit given by the state-owned commercial banks was Tk 61,978 crore, private commercial banks Tk 1,73,426 crore, foreign banks Tk 15,920 crore, and specialised banks Tk 16,982 crore.

In FY2011, the state-owned commercial banks posted a year-on-year lending growth of 31 per cent, private commercial banks 23 per cent and foreign banks 28 per cent, while the specialised banks showed a negative growth of 8.4 per cent, the BB data shows.

As on June 2011, the total amount of lending made by the state-owned commercial banks in the last fiscal year stood at Tk 81,127 crore, private commercial banks Tk 2,12,237 crore, foreign banks Tk 20,366 crore, and specialised banks Tk 15,556 crore.

According to the central bank, bank loan disbursement has been increasing since last December, posting a 5 per cent rise in June.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry president AK Azad said, although the BB data showed that bank loan disbursement had increased but many of the businesses continued to face difficulties in getting loans and banks were still charging high interest. 

'The overall cost of business and production has increased due to the high interest on bank loans, which is also fuelling inflation,' he said.

He said banks were charging 18 to 20 per cent interest on loans offered to different productive sectors and it was really tough to sustain a business paying such a high interest.

'Some banks are even saying that they are not interested to give loans to businesses as they have a liquidity crisis,' the FBCCI chief said.

He suggested that central bank should frame its monetary policy taking the interests of the businesses and investment in consideration.

A senior BB official said, 'The recent increase in loan disbursement was caused by inflated import financing.'

The BB is going to announce next week the monetary policy for the first half of the current fiscal year, in which the amount of consumer and small and medium enterprise loans will be tightened.

The BB official said, 'The new monetary policy is aimed at reducing credit flow to the unproductive sectors as the central bank has found that a huge amount of SME loans was being misused.'

Soruce : New Age

First Indo-Bangla border haat starts operation

The border haat along the border between Kurigram in Bangladesh and Meghalaya in India was inaugurated on Saturday with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the two neighbouring countries.

Commerce minister Muhammad Faruk Khan, and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma, jointly launched the first trading of local products of the two countries on the border by hoisting their national flags and listening respectfully to their national anthems.

Both the ministers expressed the hope that the operation of the weekly border market would enhance cooperation and friendship between the two countries and benefit the locals who are living along the border.

Lawmakers, politicians and officials from Bangladesh and India, along with other notables, were present at the launching ceremony.

Rajibpur's upazila nirbahi officer and member of the haat committee, Abdul Kader, said that the weekly market would sit on Wednesdays from 10:00am to 4:00pm in the summer, and 10:00am to 3.00pm in the winter. The market will come into full operation from July 27 (Wednesday).

People living within 5 kilometres of the weekly market would be allowed to trade here after obtaining special identity cards, he added.

Some 300 people from each country are initially allowed to enter the haat while 25 traders from each country will sell products. Each person can buy goods worth up to Tk 3000 or $ 50.

Officials estimated that bilateral trade worth $ 20 million would take place annually through the border haat.

The joint weekly market has been set up on four bighas of no man's land where locally produced vegetables, fruits, fruit juice, processed foods, spices, bamboo, bamboo grass, products of local cottage industries like gamchha, lungi, garments and melamine products, small agricultural tools like ploughs, axes, spades and sickles, etc, will be traded.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during her visit to New Delhi in January 2010, agreed with her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh that the border haats would be established 'on a pilot basis' in some selected places along the India-Bangladesh border.

The two countries signed an agreement on 23 October, 2010 to set up two border haats initially, allowing each other's trucks into their territories to carry goods up to the warehouses.

As per the Memorandum of Understanding, the two countries have listed 47 items — locally grown agricultural and manufactured products—for trading in the haat.

Both Bangladeshi taka and Indian rupee will be accepted in the haats and trade will be duty-free, according to the deal between the two countries.

Apart from the border haat on Baliamari-Kalaichar border, another will come into operation at Lauwaghar in Sunamganj district of Bangladesh and Balat in the East Khasi Hills district of the Indian state of Meghalaya. A number of similar weekly markets will be set up in due course, according to officials.

The informal trade that continued along the borders even after partition in 1947 was snapped during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Our correspondent from Kurigram reported that commerce minister Faruk Khan had said that the friendship between the two neighbouring countries would be strengthened with the beginning of the border haats. Trade and business will also be extended, he added.

Ananda Sharma, the Indian minister for industry and commerce, said that border haats would enhance cooperation between the two countries and give the people of the two nations the scope to increase interaction between each other.

He said that a similar weekly market would be opened in the Maghalaya province in October this year.

Meghalaya's chief minister Mukul Sangma, Bangladeshi lawmakers Md Zakir Hossain, Md Zafar Ali and Ahmed Nazmin Sultana, and Indian lawmaker Abdus Saleh, director general of foreign trade Anuk K Pujari, chief secretary of Meghalaya WMF Parijat and other officials attended the inauguration ceremony.

Many people from various parts of the district gathered there to see the inaugural ceremony of the border haat.

Kurigram's deputy commissioner Md Habibur Rahman said that the necessary infrastructural facilities had been provided for the joint weekly market on the border.

Soruce : New Age

Protest at RDA housing initiative

Several hundreds Rajshahi city dwellers on Saturday went on demonstration, protesting at the Rajshahi Development Authority's land acquisition for a commercial housing project.

The demonstrators also posted a memorandum to the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, for her intervention in the public issue.

Residents of Chotobangram, Bhadra and Seroil gathered at Bhadra and brought out a procession, shouted slogans against the housing project and later held a rally at the starting point.

Speakers said that a great portion of the areas was acquired during the establishment of Rajshahi University, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology and others housing projects.

They complained that, earlier in five phases, the RDA acquired several acres of land for housing projects, but the authority failed to carry on any housing and only occupied the land.

The speakers vowed that they would wage tougher movement to keep RDA from acquiring land.

College principal Abdur Razzak, lawyer Mohammod Ali, Rajshahi City Corpo-ration ward councillor Nuru-zzaman Tito, residents Faruk Hossain and Abul Kalam Azad addressed the rally.

When contacted, Rajshahi Development Authority chairman Abdur Rahim refused to comment on the issue.

Soruce : New Age

Water bodies conservation must: seminar

Speakers at a national seminar have unequivocally called for protecting the water resources from further degradation for the sake of protecting the fisheries resources from devastation.

Expressing their grave concern over the gradually declining of the surface water resources, they underscored the need for immediate and effective measures to protect the water bodies and other floodplains from disappearing.

The department of fisheries organised the seminar styled 'Safe Fish Production: Aquatic Resources of North Bengal' at Safawang Community Centre in Rajshahi on Saturday observance of the National Fisheries Week-2011.

Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, who addressed the seminar as the chief guest, said fish met up lion portion of the animal protein demands so the production of fishes should be enhanced.

To this end, he said the water resources especially the ponds and canals must be conserved side by side with creating water reservoir.

He put emphasis on formulation of tough law against dumping of ponds and other natural water bodies as the aquatic biodiversity and fish production of the area have been decreasing gradually due to various manmade and natural causes.

Besides, he recommended for time-fitting policy for freeing the water resources free from all sorts of pollution and contamination so that the indigenous fish species could be saved from extinction.

In his keynote paper on the topic professor Mostafa AR Hossain of Fisheries Faculty, Bangladesh Agricultural University, stated that the reduced water flow in the Ganges rivers basin had resulted in a severe depletion of fisheries.

In this regard, he put emphasis on fish habitat restoration, establishment of fish sanctuaries, fish pass, stock enhancement in floodplain and creating social awareness for proper rehabilitation of the fisheries sector.

He favoured for close coordination among different ministries, departments, institutions, NGOs and universities to attain a positive results in this regard.

Professor Abdul Mannan of Zoology Department of Rajshahi University and professor Nayem Uddin of Fisheries Technology of Bangladesh Agricultural University addressed as panel discussants.

Soruce : New Age

Tajuddin to remain as ever-illuminating figure: Suranjit

Advisory committee member of the Awami League Suranjit Sengupta said martyred national leader Tajuddin Ahmad would remain as an ever-illuminating figure in the country's political history.

Tajuddin, who was one of those few prominent leaders after Sheikh Mujib, made immense contribution in organising the nationalist movement for self-determination and country's independence, he said.

Suranjit was addressing a discussion organised by the 'Bangabandhu and Four National Leader Council' at Dhaka Reporters' Unity marking the 86th birth anniversary of the great leader.

'A man like Tajuddin never dies, they are immortal,' Suranjit, who is also the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on law, justice and parliamentary affairs, said.

Recalling the wisdom and depth of knowledge of Tajuddin he said, 'Tajuddin was a living encyclopaedia at his time'. 'He was a well-educated and gentle figure and on the other hand his political insight and perception was very sharp'.

Acting president of the council Mozaffar Hossain was in the chair while chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on ministry of land AKM Mozammel Hossain was present as special guest. General secretary of the council HM Sujan, spoke, among others, on the occasion.

Suranjit said the contribution of Tajuddin, first prime minister of Bangladesh, would be evaluated more positively in the coming days if the country's history continued its journey in the present course.

He urged the new generation to follow the ideals of the farsighted leader to build themselves as capable leader for the future.

Soruce : New Age

Cotton teal lays eggs in artificial nests at Baikka Beel

A cotton teal, better known across Bangladesh as bali hans has laid eggs in artificial nests set up in the jungles around Baikka Beel in Moulvibazaar district.

Bird experts working in the project feel jubilant that a jungle-mynah, also called gu-shalik, is also incubating its eggs in the artificial nests.

The beel is in a hail haor in Sreemangal upazila of the district.

Integrated Protected Area Co-Management set up the experimental artificial nests in the jungles around the beel with the objective of facilitating procreation of rapidly declining number of native aquatic birds, particularly cotton teals also called cotton pygmy goose.

An expert in the IPAC project said that the biodiversity of country's hail haors are threatened due to unbridled shooting of aquatic birds, hunting of animals and poaching of aquatic plants.

He said the haors were once rich in flora and fauna, particularly aquatic birds, plants, animals and fish.

No more. Unabated poaching endangered the flora and fauna of the entire haor belt, he said.

He said hail haors are known internationally as the important abode of birds.

In 2005, IPAC set up 12 artificial nests resembling holes on a tree in jungles at different parts of the Baikka Beel.

Initially, he said, no bird nested in them.

A cotton teal first laid eggs and incubated them in the artificial nests in 2007.

But no cotton teals nested or laid eggs in the nests until April this year, when  Baikka Beel Co-Management committee on advice from international bird-expert Paul Thomsom made 21 artistic water-proof artificial nests of different sizes and set them up in hijol and koroch jungles.

In the second week of July, a conservation team led by Moloy Sarkar, IPAC project director for Sylhet zone, during a survey found that bali hans, jungle- mynah and other birds laid eggs and incubated them in 14 artificial nests.

But no bird either nested or laid eggs in the remaining seven artificial nests.

Ador Miah, a member of the Baro Gangina resource management committee said that a shalik incubated its eggs in the artificial nests and took away its young birds.

He said a bali hans laid more than 50 eggs but it was yet to incubate them.

 Besides, he said several species of other native birds including machh ranga, as the kingfisher is called and ghash pakhi have started nesting in the artificial nests.

Ador Miah said that the artificial nests have to be protected from bird hunters.

Sarkar said that bali hans and several other native birds were getting extinct.

He said that the experimental artificial nests could possibly increase the native bird population to save them from extinction.

But he said that the Baikka Beel experiment though at a primary stage already showed some success.

Soruce : New Age

RU BSF forms new body

Rajshahi University unit of the Bangladesh Students' Federation formed a new committee through the unit's second council on Friday night.

The two-day council was launched on Friday and ended on Saturday.

The organisation held a rally protesting at the government's policy to commercialisation of education in front of the university library on Saturday.

BSF central committee president Ariful Islam, as the chief guest, attended the rally that was presided over by the organisation's newly formed committee president Sham Sagar Mankin.

RU BSF general secretary Shipan Ahmed, Biplabi Chhatra Moitri convener Iqbal Kabir, Samajtantric Chhatra Front leader Sohrab Hossain also addressed the rally.

Sham Sagar Mankin was elected the president and Ahsan Habib Rocky general secretary of the new committee, while other office bearers are vice-president Sujan Chandra Ray, organising secretary Asaduzzaman Rony, finance secretary Golam Mostafa, publicity secretary Mosaddek Hossain, political education secretary Faisal Ahmed, office secretary Shaumitra Bishwas and members Shirin Sultana, Musa and Abdullah Al Muiz.

Soruce : New Age

WP demands commerce minister resign

The Workers Party of Bangladesh, a component of the AL-led alliance, on Saturday demanded that the commerce minister, Faruq Khan, should reside for his failure to control prices.

The party in a press statement expressed its concerns about the abnormal increase in commodity prices before Eid-ul-Fitr.

The minister should resign for his failure to control the hoarders responsible for the price increase, the party said

The commerce minister also failed to strengthen the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh for which hoarders got an opportunity to control the market, it said.

The party called on the government to take immediate steps to strengthen the Trading Corporation and introduce mass rationing to control the market. It also put out a call for action against hoarders.

Soruce : New Age

Old man killed in UP polls-related clash

An octogenarian was killed in UP polls-related clash between two rival member candidates at Gunaighar South union in Debidwar upazila Saturday.

Locals said supporters of member candidates Billal Hossain and Shahjalal Jharu engaged in an altercation over vote casting at Goneshpur polling centre  Saturday.

The two groups also chased each other.

Soruce : New Age

Mobile court jails groom, registrar over early marriage

A mobile court jailed for a month a marriage registrar for arranging an early marriage and a man for marrying an under-aged girl at Kalai in Jaipurhat on Friday night.

Local people said that Afzal Hossain, of Dhap Khetail of Kalai was giving his 13-year-old daughter, a student of Class VIII, in marriage with 21-year-old Mamunur Rashid, of Aora at Kalai.

On being informed, the mobile court reached the place after the registrar, Abdul Karim, had registered the marriage and the ceremony was going on.

The mobile court, headed by the Kalai upazila nirbahi officer, Abdur Rahim, arrested the registrar and the groom and jailed them for a month.

Soruce : New Age

Sylhet hospital interns continue strike

On Saturday the interns of Jalalabad Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital

in Sylhet city staged demonstrations in the hospital's compound and continued their strike for the third day, demanding immediate withdrawal of punishment of two of their fellows.

Most of the 120 interns of the hospital staged a sit-in from the morning to underline their demand.

The hospital's authorities sat for an hour-long meeting, from around 10:30am, with the angry interns in order to persuade them to stop agitating and resume their duties.

But they refused to start working until their demand was met, said sources present in the meeting.

The interns started work abstention for an indefinite period on Thursday noon, demanding withdrawal of the one-month suspension order against two of their colleagues.

They claimed that the medical college's principal had taken the decision of punishment illogically, without any evidence of their two fellow interns' involvement in slandering a female student.

The college authorities on Thursday suspended two interns and one student because they had allegedly spread calumny against a 4th year female student.

On being contacted Major General (retired) Nazmul Islam, the medical college's principal, said

that the authorities are

continuing talks with

the interns.

'I hope that they agree to resume working as we have assured them that we would consider their demand,' said the principal, adding that the two interns have been suspended as they breached the academic code.

But the interns claimed that they would not

stop their strike until

they receive a written decision of the withdrawal

of punishment of their two fellows.

Soruce : New Age

Civic groups demand safe iftar during Ramadan

Anti adulteration protesters demonstrated in the city Saturday demanding stepped up drives by mobile courts and institution of a market monitoring committee to prevent selling of adulterated food during Ramadan.  

They formed a human chain in front of the Fine Arts College to sensitise the authorities to ensure that only hygienic Iftar and essentials were sold at fair and reasonable prices, particularly during the Ramadan.

They demanded establishment of a commission with the responsibility to ensure that only quality foods were sold.

The commission should be empowered to provide exemplary punishment to sellers of poisonous and chemically trea-ted food and fruits, they said.

Rights activists called for stern action so that no dishonest trader could increase essential prices as they do each year during the Ramadan.

They said that the government's anti adulteration drive could not stop traders from selling chemically treated harmful and poisonous foods and fruits contributing to rising incidence of cancer, asthma as well as liver and kidney malfunctioning and other deadly diseases.

Save the Environment Movement, Nagarik Adhikar Sangrakhkhan Forum and Green Mind Society jointly organised the demonstration.

NASAF president HAfizur Rahman Moina, Green Mind Society president Amir Hossain, SME chairman Abu Naser Khan, programme officer Atik Morshed, academician Kamal Ataur Rahman, Bangladesh Nagarik Samaj secretary M habibur Rahman Bhuiyan spoke, among others.

Soruce : New Age

‘Distrust in judiciary roots deep in people’s mind’

Prominent human rights activist Sultana Kamal says distrust and disrespect have been created in people's mind about the country's judiciary because of its fragile functioning as an institution.

Sultana says there have been many recent incidents that demonstrate that public representatives, religious leaders and other influential people of the society are involved in tortures and killings in the name of arbitration or fatwa (edict).

She says in those cases, the influential people have followed a clear tendency of bypassing the judiciary.

Sultana, executive director of human rights group Ain-o-Salish Kendra, made her comment Saturday as she spoke to reporters at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity.

The ASK boss, also a former caretaker government adviser, said common people were killing human beings out of suspicion while law enforcing agencies were conducting extrajudicial killings.

She found a connection for such lawlessness with presence of weak institutions.

Explaining her views, Sultana said maybe a judge was a good person, maybe a policeman or an administrator was a good human being, but the country's judiciary was unable to deliver as an institution.

She said innocent people were being punished while real culprits remained scot-free.

'(That's why) Repressions, tortures and extrajudicial killings are gaining acceptability in the society,' she said.

Sultana, a daughter of renowned poet Sufia Kamal, urged the people to come out against such illegal activities to prevent them from happening.

Soruce : New Age

Clemency violated legal procedure: BNP

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has alleged that legal procedure has been violated while awarding presidential clemency to AHM Biplob, convicted of killing a local party leader, and demanded that the mercy should be rescinded.

BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed made the allegation at a human-chain programme in front of the National Press Club on Saturday.

'As per the constitution, the president has the prerogative to exonerate a death penalty, but that has to be done through a legal procedure,' he said.

'We've come to know that no opinion of the law ministry was included in the note the home ministry sent to the president for the clemency to Biplob.

'The president has forgiven a party criminal by violating legal procedure. We deplore this,' he added.

Moudud demanded withdrawal of the clemency, saying that outlaws would be encouraged with such presidential mercies.

The human-chain was formed to press for the demand. Later, another human-chain was formed in this regard.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, 'There will be no rule of law in the country if identified criminals get off the hook.'

'Not only this, the ruling party released many identified criminals by withdrawing 7,000 cases. The country has become their sanctuary,' he added.

On July 14, the president, Zillur Rahman, awarded clemency to Biplob, son of Lakshmipur municipality mayor and an Awami League leader.

Biplob was convicted of kidnapping and subsequently murdering Lakshmipur BNP organising secretary and lawyer Nur Islam in 2003. He is also accused in two other murder cases.

Biplob, who had been absconding since the murder, surrendered before the court on April 4.

Soruce : New Age

2 held by police while conducting a drive

Two residents of Amin Bazaar were detained by the police on Saturday morning in connection with the lynching of six students on July 18.

The arrestees, Sanwar Hossain, 29, and Mohammad Selim, 26, of Poshchim Para, were apprehended at Baradeshi in Amin Bazaar during a drive, said Savar thana's station inspector (investigation), Matiar Rahman.

Sub-inspector Anwar Hossain of the same thana filed a murder case, accusing five to six hundred unidentified villagers of killing the six students.

'The persons involved in the killing have already been identified. We don't know their whereabouts but we are hunting for them. Hopefully, they will be tracked down soon,' said Matiur Rahman,

Over 200 policemen, led by additional superintendent Sheikh Rafique-ul-Islam, who is the member secretary of the 4-member body formed to investigate the murders, began the drive at 3:00am and continued it for the next four hours.

'A list of over 50 criminals of the area has been prepared, based on information obtained by detectives. The two arrestees are on that list,' said Matiar Rahman, and added that their names would be included in the murder case.

However Sanwar, one

of the arrestees, claimed

he runs a tea-stall alongside the Dhaka-Aricha highway and is not involved in any criminal activities.

'The police arrested me when I came to open my stall around 6:30am,' said Sanwar. 'I heard the announcement of the planned robbery on the night of the incident, but I didn't go to the spot.'

Selim said he drives a bus on the Saturia-Balia route.

'The police arrested me from my house early in the morning. I didn't even go out of my house on the night of the incident,' he added.

The process to hand over the case to the Criminal Investigation Department is at the final stage, said the police.

Several hundred students of Tejgaon College formed a human chain in front of the college at around 11:00am, demanding punishment of the killers of their fellow student Tipu Sultan, who along with his five friends was beaten to death by a mob.

The five others students are Towhidur Rahman Palash, Kamruzzaman Kanto and Ibrahim Khalil of Bangla College, Shams Rahim Shamam of

Maple Leaf International School and Sitaf Jabi Munif of the Bangladesh University of Business and Technology.

A local trader, Abdul Malek, filed a robbery case against Al Amin, the lone survivor of the lynching. Malek also alleged that the six dead students were robbers.

In his case statement Malek claimed that the youths killed by the

mob were robbers, and

four of them had extorted Tk 5,000 from him earlier that night.

Soruce : New Age

Bullet train crash kills 11 in China

At least 11 people were killed and 89 hurt on Saturday when a Chinese bullet train lost power after being struck by lightning and was hit from behind by

another train, knocking two of its carriages off a bridge, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said four cars on the second train also derailed, but it did not say how serious that was.

The first train was travelling from the Zhejiang provincial capital of Hangzhou when the accident happened in Wenzhou city at about 8:30pm (1230 GMT), Xinhua said.

It said one carriage from the first train fell about 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters).

Xinhua quoted an unidentified witness as saying 'rescuers have dragged many passengers out of the coach that fell on the ground.'

The trains involved are 'D' trains, the first generation bullet train with an average speed of about 150 kilometres per hour and not as fast at the Beijing-Shanghai line that opened June 30.

Xinhua said the train hit by lightning was 'D3115.' The other train was 'D301,' which was travelling from Beijing to Shanghai.

China has spent billions and plans more massive spending to link the country with a high-speed rail network. Recently, power outages and other malfunctions have plagued the showcase new high-speed line between Beijing and Shanghai since it opened last month.

Official plans call for China's bullet train network to expand to 13,000 kilometres of track this year and 16,000 kilometres by 2020.

The huge spending connected with the rail expansion also has been blamed for corruption, and Railways Minister Liu Zhijun was dismissed this spring amid an investigation into unspecified corruption allegations.

No details have been released about the allegations against him, but news reports say they include kickbacks, bribes, illegal contracts and sexual liaisons.

Soruce : New Age

Kamal says will meet AL

The Gana Forum president, Kamal Hossain on Saturday said that his party would sit with the ruling Awami League soon in response to an invitation.

'Awami League presidium member Obaidul Quader on Friday phoned me and said that his party wanted to hold a meeting with us,' Kamal said at a press beefing after a meeting of the party's central committee at the Moitri Auditorium of the Communist Party of Bangladesh.

He said that he had accepted the proposal of the Awami League and replied

that the meeting for a political discussion could be held any time in two or three days.

The Gana Forum was a partner of the AL-led alliance when the alliance was formed in 2004 and it dropped out of the alliance when the military-backed interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed assumed office in 2007 when Kamal made some statements supporting the government.

Kamal called on the left and democratic political parties to float a greater national unity to push for proper amendment of the constitution and 23-point demands based on which the Awami League had formed the alliance.

Kamal criticised the AL-led alliance government for its failure to fulfil the aspirations of the people and take steps to implement the 23-point demands.

The party's acting general secretary placed a political report at the central committee meeting.

He called on the party men to work to strengthen an alternative political force outside the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The party will hold its national council in Dhaka in December 2-3, he said.

The party's central leaders Abdur Rouf, Mofizul Islam Kamal, Abul Kashem, Rafiqul Islam Pathik and others also spoke.

About 100 central committee members from across the country took part in the meeting, party sources said.

Soruce : New Age

Kader Siddiq resents Jamaat being in BNP alliance

The Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League president, Kader Siddiq, on Saturday held talks with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and conveyed his reservations about Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, which is a partner of the BNP-led alliance, in the formation of a greater platform in against the government.

After the meeting with

Khaleda in her office at Gulshan, Siddiq told reporters that he would make public his position after the meeting with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the Awami League.

Siddiq said that at the meeting he had expressed his reservations about working with the BNP as its alliance has a party which opposed the country's independence.

He also said that the party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, remained in leadership role in the BNP-led alliance.

'There are some problems in working with the BNP as the party which opposed the country's independence is yet to apologise for their role,' Siddiq said at a joint press briefing after the meeting that continued for about an hour.

The BNP's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that they had held a discussion and would hold further discussions to reach an understanding.

Siddiq said that he had not differed with Khaleda on the BNP's ongoing movement to push for the reinstatement of the caretaker government provision in the constitution. He added that he had agreed with her on this point.

There are many similarities in movements now being carried out by the BNP and his party and he went to the BNP office with this in mind.

Asked whether his party will carry out simultaneous movements with the BNP, Kader said there were similarities between the programmes of his party and those of the BNP but he would make the decision later. He said that he would continue holding discussions with Khaleda.

Fakhrul Islam said that the meeting was held as part of Khaleda's call for all political parties and individuals for unity to push for the cancellation of the 15th amendment.

Siddiq's wife Nasrin Kader Siddiq, the party's general secretary Habibur Rahman Talukder and organising secretary Kamaluddin Ahmed, among others, accompanied him. Kader presented Khaleda with a gamchha.

As part of the BNP's efforts to float a greater platform to expedite the anti-government movement, Fakhrul on Tuesday met Siddiq at his residence at Mohammadpur.

Siddiq later said that he had agreed to join talks with Khaleda on how to overcome the 'current crisis of the country.'

Siddiq, a former Awami League man, held another meeting with a delegation of the Awami League two days later when he accepted an invitation to meet his 'sister Hasina.'

Fakhrul also met Oli Ahmed of the Liberal Democratic Party and AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury of Bikalpadhara in June to take them along in the anti-government programmes.

The Liberal Democratic Party joined the BNP's mass hunger strike. But Bikalpadhara representatives not attend.

The LDP and the BNP on Wednesday reached a consensus on issues such as the repeal of the 15th amendment to the constitution.

Soruce : New Age

Goons beat up headmistress after being refused chunk of TR fund

Local gangsters beat up the headmistress of a primary school after she refused to pay them a chunk of the test relief fund allocated for development of the school.

Hasina Begum, headmistress of Udaypur registered primary school in Sujanagar upazila, was admitted to the upazila health complex on Saturday afternoon with grievous injuries after the assault.

Hasina said that the goons numbering five had attacked her on the school premises at about 3:00pm when she was going to a classroom and struck her repeatedly with sticks and iron rods.

The gangsters had demanded Taka 10 thousand from the Taka 32 thousand allocated to the school for development works under the TR project. 'They pounced on me after I refused to pay them the money,' she said.

'The school has received the fund for development works, including repair work and purchase of furniture. Why should we pay them money from the fund meant for development of the school,' Hasina told New Age.

 'When I cried out for help after being attacked, locals rushed to the spot and rescued me and took me to the hospital,' she said adding that the upazila education office and the police had been informed of the matter.

 When contacted, upazila primary education officer Sirajum Munira said that she had heard about the incident and asked the teacher concerned to file a case against the culprits with the local police. 'I will take the matter to the upazila administration and the district education department,' she said.

Officer-in-charge of Sujanagar police station Ahsanul Haque said that the police had visited the spot. 'Action would be taken against the goons after the victim files a case.'

Soruce : New Age