Majority against nuclear energy as a source of electricity

A majority of the world's people voted against nuclear energy and supported solar power, wind power, hydro-electric power and natural gas as sources of electricity, said a recent study.

The study, titled 'Global Citizens' Reaction to the Fukushima Nuclear Plant Disaster', conducted by UK research company Ipsos MORI Reputation Centre, shows that support for nuclear energy is far below that for solar power which is about 97 per cent, wind power which is 93 per cent, hydro-electric power which is 91 per cent and natural gas which is 80 per cent as sources of electricity.

The study, published on June 23 this year on the website of the organisation, said that only about 38 per cent of the world's people — mainly from India, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the USA — voted in favour of nuclear power plants.

An international sample of 18,787 adults, aged between 18 and 64 in the US and Canada and between 16 and 64 in all other countries, were interviewed in 24 countries around the world via the Ipsos online panel system between May 6 and May 21 this year.

The survey shows that three out of five global citizens, about 62 per cent, oppose the use of nuclear energy, while about a quarter, 26 per cent, have been horrified by the recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan.

People from 24 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States, were interviewed by the surveyors.

The study also said that around four persons in ten, about 38 per cent, support 'modernization' of electricity production by nuclear power. The highest number of votes in favour of modernisation was in Russia (73 per cent) and in Japan (71 per cent).

The report also stated that about 80 per cent of the global citizens voted for boycotting at least one Japanese product, and among them the majority, about 56 per cent, blamed the Fukushima incident for the boycott.

Source : New Age

UNESCO Club urges govt to send Rumana abroad

National Association of UNESCO Club in Bangladesh urged the government to take step for sending Dhaka University teacher Rumana Manzur to Singapore or London for better treatment.

Club secretary general Mahbubuddin Chowdhury in a statement made the call on Tuesday.

He requested the women and children affairs ministry, Dhaka University authorities, philanthropists and NGOs to come forward to help Rumana send aboard for better treatment.

Mahbubuddin Chowdhury also demanded exemplary punishment to Rumana's husband Hasan Sayeed for her barbaric torture on Rumana for which she lost her eyesight.

Source : New Age

UPDF announces programme against constitution change

The United People's Democratic Front has announced programmes against the move to ignore ethnic and linguistic minorities in the Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill 2011, retaining state religion and other contradictory provisions.

The party will hoist red flags and bring out a procession carrying red flags on June 30, demonstrations in district and upazila headquarters on July 3, form a human chain on July 4 and hold a signature campaign in June 29–July 5.

The party's president Prasit Bikash Khisha in a statement on Tuesday said the ethnic and linguistic minorities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and elsewhere in the country would not accept the contradictory amendment moves. 'None of our ancestors were Bengali. We have our own national identity and we want its constitutional recognition,' he said.

'We will not accept any imposed identity instead of our national identity. It is our basic right,' he added.

The UPDF raised six objections to the constitution amendment bill. It found that retention of state religion and Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim in the constitution and reintroduction of secularism totally contradictory. 'The bill has proposed to make people of other religions second-class citizens and it is a discriminatory move,' the party said.

The party said that the bill has denied the existence of all other people in Bangladesh but the Bengalis. It also said that the amendment bill fully denies the contributions of national minorities to the war of independence.

Source : New Age

Multi-stakeholders meet to protect rights of apparel workers abroad

Multi-stakeholders related to Bangladesh apparel workers abroad on Tuesday started discussing the ways to protect the rights of migrant workers as a large number of them were reportedly abused and harassed in the receiving countries, the organisers said.

The organisers were trying to set core principles for responsible recruitment and employment of the migrant labours, said CR Abrar, the executive director of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit in Dhaka University.

The core principles provisions that the recruitment agent or employer would not charge the migrant workers any fee or deposit and health and safety measures will be made available in the languages of the migrants.

Derek Mackay, head of supplier management of the Arcadia Group Limited, in the roundtable urged the employers who hire migrant workers to recruit directly from the source countries instead of recruitment through agents.

The roundtable organised by the Institute of Human Rights and Business and the RMMRU at a city hotel is convening multi-stakeholders, including senior representatives of a select group of global apparel brands, their suppliers, Bangladeshi recruitment agents and officials concerned, representatives of migrant workers and non-governmental organisations.

'This is the new approach to protect the rights of our migrant workers by the employers abroad,' the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training director, Nurul Islam, told New Age after attending the roundtable.

International brands such as NEXT, Arcadia and Levis, Gap, Inditex, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Wal-Mart and Mauritian suppliers also joined the roundtable to explore how to mitigate the risks facing migrant workers and address the challenges for business dealing with poorly regulated recruitment agencies, one of the organisers told New Age.

Several retailers have expressed a need for addressing risk mitigation strategies with respect to recruiting and protecting migrant workers, sources attending the roundtable said.

The secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of international Recruiting Agencies, Ali Haider Chowdhury, who attended the roundtable, told New Age that it was important to have government-to-government agreements with receiving and sending countries to protect the rights of migrant workers.

The organisers earlier held multi-stakeholder roundtables in the labour receiving countries — on January 25 in Mauritius and in March 2010 in the United Kingdom.

The roundtable will end today with the Dhaka declaration.

Source : New Age

Businesses for consensus among parties to strengthen EC

A group 73 business community leaders in a statement has sought consensus among political parties and MPs to make the Election Commission independent and stronger for forming an interim government instead of caretaker government system.

'It is desirable to all to hold election under an independent, neutral and stronger Election Commission for the greater interest of the nation,' said a joint statement of the business leaders on Tuesday.

The statement requested both the treasury bench and opposition MPs to reach a consensus for strengthening the Election Commission which is the only constitutional body for holding polls free and fair.

'We have observed with grave concern that the last caretaker government extended its tenure by two years from 90 days. During the period, people's basic right was trampled, businesspeople, politicians were undermined and tortured,' said the business leaders in their statement.

Signatories to the statement include FBCCI president AK Azad, CCCI president Morshed Murad Ibrahim, Khulna Chamber president Kazi Aminul Islam, Rajshahi Chamber administrator Ziaul Haque Tuku, Sylhet Chamber president Farooque Ahmed Mijbah, Barisal Chamber president Saidur Rahman Rintu, Rangpur Chamber president Mosaddek Hossain Bablu, Bangladesh Chamber of Industries president ATM Waziullah, Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Khalilur Rahman, Chittagong Women Chamber president Monwara Hakim Ali, Narayanganj Chamber president AKM Selim Osman, BGMEA president M Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, BKMEA president AKM Selim Osman, Bangladesh Oushod Shilpa Samity president Salman F Rahman, BTMA president Jahangir Alamin and BAIRA president M Abul Bashar.

Source : New Age

PM to lay foundation stones of a new govt school, a college in city

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will lay the foundation stone for one new government school and one new government college at Kalu Nagar in Hazaribagh in the old town in Dhaka on July 2.

The school is named as Sheikh Russel Government High School and the college is Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Government College.

'All preparations are complete for a successfully holding of the foundation laying programme,' said Manik Chandra Dey, the project director of '11 new school and six new college establishment project.'  

The government took the project to establish 11 new schools and six new colleges in Dhaka to solve the seat crisis for rising number of students in the city.

One school and one college will be built at Hazaribagh, one school and one college at Mohammadpur, one school and one college at Pallabi, one school and one college at Sabujbagh, one school and college at Badda, one school at Uttarkhan in Uttara, one school at Shyampur, one school at Mirpur Darussalam and one school and one college in Mirpur's Bhasantek area.

The work on the Tk 435 crore project will start in July 2011 which is expected to be completed in June 2014.

There are 24 government schools and 11 government colleges in 24 thanas in the city.

Source : New Age

Ethnic minorities observe Santal Revolution Day

Two major organisations of ethnic minority communities in the northern region will observe the 156th anniversary of Santal Revolution today with a demand for their recognition as indigenous people in the constitution.

On June 30, 1885, santals led by Sidu and Kanu rose up in arms starting a heroic struggle against the British Raj. Since independence from the colonial rule, ethnic minority people commemorate the day as Santal Revolution Day.   

Jatiya Adibashi Parishad and Adibashi Cultural Development Organisation separately organised programmes in the city on Tuesday to mark the occasion.

Adibashi Cultural Development Organisation brought out a procession and accorded reception to the newly elected union council members, and organised war games with their traditional weapons arrows and bows and spears. Discussions and cultural programmes were also organised.

Jatiya Adibashi Parishad on Monday brought out a procession, held a rally and cultural programme in the city.

Several hundred ethnic minority people under the banner of Adibashi Cultural Development Organisation brought out a procession from Rajshahi C and B crossing which ended at the Rajshahi Central Jail playground where a traditional santal war game was watched by hundreds of townspeople.

A discussion was held at the Nan King Darbar Hall in the city where the speakers demanded constitutional recognition of and a separate land commission for the ethnic minority groups living in plains.    

The speakers said it would be unfortunate if the government stuck to its guns and did not recognise ethnic minorities as indigenous people.

The santal leaders, like other ethnic groups, renewed  their call for recognising them as 'indigenous' instead of 'tribal' people in the constitution or they said they would go for 'movement'.

'We participated in all democratic movements, including the liberation war. Why should we remain outside the mainstream,' said a speaker.

Commissioner of information Sadeka Halim, Rajshahi police super SM Rokon Uddin and Adibashi Cultural Development Organisation executive director Rajkumar Shao addressed the discussion, among others. 

Jatiya Adibashi Parishad on Monday afternoon brought out a procession from Alupatty crossing which ended at Rajshahi General Library at Miapara after parading the major streets.

Later, a discussion was held in the library auditorium where the parishad president Anil Marandy said that the textbook 'Paribesh Parichiti' for class IV and V carries 'wrong information' about the lifestyles and cultures of ethnic minority communities.

Rabindranath Saren, general secretary of the parishad, suggested that a special committee should be formed in which experts from ethnic minorities should be included in order to correct information, dropping the 'humiliating details' from the textbooks.

He also demanded that a mother tongue-based primary education should be introduced for ethnic minority children.

Jatiya Adibashi Parishad's Rajshahi city unit president Bimol Chandra Rajowar, Godagary upazila president Uttam Kumar, Workers Party of Bangladesh city unit secretary Liakat Ali Liku, National Awami Party Rajshahi district unit secretary Mustafizur Rahman Khan Alam, Communist Party of Bangladesh Rajshahi city unit president Abul Kalam Azad and Jatiya Mahila Parishad Rajshahi district chapter general secretary Kalpana Ray spoke in the programme.

Source : New Age

Grading of pathological labs, uniform charge for tests demanded

Bangladesh Society of Pathologists on Tuesday sought government steps to salvage pathological tests from the grip of 'commission business.'

The society general secretary M Shamiul Islam called it 'unethical' that medical tests are prescribed in exchange of commission from diagnostic centres.

He called it regrettable that the patients in the country, most of whom are poor, have to pay unnecessarily or more for getting the tests done only for the benefit of the labs which pay the commission to the prescribers.

Pathological screening of patients has fallen into the trap of the diagnostic centres who pay commission so that the tests were prescribed, other speakers told the 29th national convention of the society held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.

They said that the diagnostic centres pay the commission to the doctors to get more tests done by them. For them it's nothing more than a business proposition, they said.

They called for immediate corrective action from the government to save patients from spending more or unnecessarily for pathological screening prescribed for the benefit of the diagnostic centres.

The society also demanded introduction of uniform charges for pathological tests, ranking of the diagnostic laboratories and checking mushroom growth of diagnostic centres across the country.

Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque, however, refrained from saying what corrective steps could be taken against the widespread practice of prescribing the tests in lieu of commission.

He, however, said the process had been initiated to bring all the pathological laboratories in the country under official registration.

Sadi said less known diagnostic centres pay more to doctors for referring their patients to get pathological tests done by them.

He said that these labs do it to get more patients.

He called for ranking the country's laboratories so that people would know where to go to get the tests done.

He said that different diagnostic centres charge at varying rates for the same tests in the absence of accreditation and uniform rates for the tests.

For urine routine and microscopy examination in short called urine RME, last year, United Hospital charged Tk 205, Popular Diagnostic Centre -- Tk 123, Padma Diagnostic Centre -- Tk 81, Medinova Medical Services -- Tk 120, Dhaka Community Hospital -- Tk 61, Ganashastha Nagar Hospital -- Tk 50 and Aitam Welfare Organisation -- Tk 30.

In the same year, for serum bilirubin test, United Hospital charged Tk 286,  Padma Diagnostic Centre -- Tk 204, Medinova Medical Services -- Tk 200, Popular Diagnostic Centre-- Tk 153, Dhaka Community Hospital -- Tk 123, Ganashastha Nagar Hospital -- Tk 150 and Aitam Welfare Organisation -- Tk 80.

Source : New Age

2 killed in city road accident

Reckless driving killed two unnamed pedestrians and injured seven passengers of a bus near Matsha Bhaban intersection in the capital's Ramna on Tuesday, triggering street protests.

The identity of the deceased, one aged 20 and another 35, could not be known immediately, police and hospital sources said.

Witnesses said that a bus (Dhaka Metro Ja 11-26-03) hit another bus from behind at about 11:45am, leaving two passersby dead on the spot and injuring seven passengers inside the buses.

The agitated people damaged the both buses, causing traffic a huge traffic congestion on the busy road.

Source : New Age

Alien encounters ‘within twenty years’

Russian scientists expect humanity to encounter alien civilisations within the next two decades, said a top Russian astronomer on Monday, according to the Guardian's report published on Tuesday.

The genesis of life is as inevitable as the formation of atoms...Life exists on other planets and we will find it within 20 years,' said Andrei Finkelstein, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Applied Astronomy Institute, according to the Interfax news agency.

Speaking at an international forum dedicated to the search for extraterrestrial life, Finke-lstein said 10 per cent of the known planets circling suns in the galaxy resemble Earth.

If water can be found there, then so can life, he said, adding that aliens would most likely resemble humans with two arms, two legs and a head.

'They may have different colour skin, but even we have that,' he said.

Finkelstein's institute runs a programme launched in the 1960s at the height of the cold war space race to watch for and beam out radio signals to outer space.

Source : New Age