Heavy Rain in Natore Aman on 800 acres at Chalon Beel flooded

Aman plants on around 800 hectares of land have been submerged due to flash floods caused by heavy rain during last five days in Chalon Beel area of Singra upazila under Natore district.

Mizanur Rahman Mizan, upazila chairman of Singra upazila parishad, said Aman plants on at least 700 hectares of land have gone under water as the flash flood affected a large area in the upazila. The worst affected areas are Hiyalar Beel, Baria Beel, Bazrar Beel, Sherkol and the municipality area.

The Atrai River has overflowed the bank at Sardanagor in the upazila while locals are trying to protect their Aman plants by putting chunks of earth on the river bank, the upazila chairman said.

Aman was cultivated on 56,000 hectares of land in the district this season, said Delowar Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Natore. He, however, could not say clearly about the extent of damage caused by the recent flood.

"We may not be able to harvest the Aman crop this season as the water covered the crop fields. We demand re-excavation of the rivers in Chalon Beel area including the Atrai to save our crops from flooding," said Alamgir Hossain, a farmer of Sherkol village.

This time water level of the Atrai increased suddenly, causing flash flood and huge losses of crops, said farmer Alamgir Hossain of Bamihal village.

Many farmers are cutting down submerged Aman plants to use those as fodder, locals said.

Source : The Daily Star

JCD president on two-day remand

A Dhaka court yesterday placed President of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) Sultan Salahuddin Tuku on a two-day remand, hours after his arrest from the city's Gulshan area in a case of pre-hartal arson that killed a taxicab passenger last year.

Detective Branch (DB) of police produced Tuku before the Metropolitan Magistrate's Court seeking a 10-day remand for grilling him. Magistrate Harun-Or-Rashid granted remand for two days.

Tuku is one of the brothers of former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu, a detainee in the August 21 grenade attack cases. His two other fugitive brothers -- Maulana Tajuddin and Ratul Babu -- are also accused in the cases.

Detectives picked him up from one of his brother's house in Gulshan around 3:00am for his involvement in the arson that killed taxicab passenger Faruk Hossain at Moghbazar on June 26 night last year, Md Monirul Islam, deputy commissioner of DB (south), told The Daily Star.

Hartal supporters allegedly set a taxicab afire near Moghbazar level crossing and Faruk was burnt alive as he could not get out of the car.

"Police arrested me to harass politically," claimed the JCD chief at the DB office premises.

Source : The Daily Star

Attempt to Rape: Punishment to CU guard demanded

Punishment of Md Motaher Hossain, a security guard of Chittagong University (CU) who tried to sexually assault a 10-year-old girl in a CU colony on June 20, was demanded on Monday.

The victim's mother, an assistant of dinning of the university's Pritilata Hall, informed it to the CU authorities in a written statement Monday (July 4), seeking punishment to the man.

The statement said Motaher, 65, confessed to his guilt in a rural arbitration on June 26, and as a punishment the arbitrators asked him to leave the colony (Islamia Colony).

But Motaher has yet to leave and is threatening to kill the family members of the victim, it added.

Contacted, Motaher denied the allegations of threatening the family.

CU Acting Registrar Prof Dr Mohammad Shafiul Alam said, "I am now in Dhaka and I do not know detail about the matter." I will look into the matter later, he said.

Source : The Daily Star

RMG factory ransacked, 10 hurt

Workers of a knitting factory at Sanarpar Mouchak in sadar upazila staged demonstration and vandalized the factory yesterday demanding immediate payment of arrear salary and overtime allowances.

At least ten workers were injured during the incident at Sikotex & Fabrics LTD.

Police quoting witnesses said workers of the factory came to know that they would not be given salaries as supposed earlier when they join their work in the morning.

As the news spread, they started demonstrating inside the factory. Some hired goons attacked them ensuing a chase and counter chase leaving ten injured.

Source : The Daily Star

Road crashes kill 5, injure 15

Five people were killed and 15 others injured in separate road accidents in Gaibandha, Chandpur and Madaripur yesterday.

Our Gaibandha correspondent reports: At least two people were killed and 15 others injured when a Dhaka-bound night coach of Rupali Paribahan skidded off the road and fell into a roadside ditch after the driver lost control over the steering on Bogra-Rangpur highway at Kalabagan in between Palashbari and Pirganj upazilas early yesterday.

The deceased are Rassel Ahmed, 32 and Hujur Ali, 35.

The injured were admitted to Pirganj Upazila Health Complex and Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

Our Chandpur correspondent adds: Two people including a schoolgirl were killed on the spot when a speedy tractor hit a rickshaw, carrying the schoolgirl, from behind and rammed a furniture shop on Haziganj-Comilla road in Toragarh area of Haziganj upazila yesterday morning.

The deceased are Nijhum, 6, daughter of Mohammad Wahiduzzaman and also a student of Maitree Kindergarten, and Kamal, 35, a rickshaw puller, son of Abdul Barek of the same area.

Police seized the tractor but its driver managed to escape the spot.

Our Madaripur correspondent says: A housewife was killed on the spot as a Dhaka-bound bus of BRTC ran over her while she was crossing the Dhaka-Barisal highway in Tantibari area of Sadar upazila yesterday morning.

The deceased is Nasima Begum, 19, wife of Khokon Mia, of Khatial village of Kalkini upazila.

Following the accident, agitating locals barricaded the highway for about two hours demanding a speed breaker on the spot.

Later, the barricade was removed after the district administration took initiatives to construct a speed breaker on the road immediately.

The body of Nasima, who got married just ten days ago, was handed over to her family members without autopsy.

Source : The Daily Star

Pry, Ebtedai terminal exams from Nov 16

The primary education and Ebtedai terminal examinations 2011 will begin on November 16.

The decision came at a meeting of the national steering committee on the examination with Primary and Mass Education Minister Afsarul Ameen was in the chair at the ministry's conference room.

The examination would end on November 23, said an official handout.

The examination hour of each examination is two hours while the challenged students will get 15 more minutes, the meeting was told.

Source : The Daily Star

Armed forces to be modernised: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday stressed that the armed forces should be built into a modern and time befitting one through coordinating training, research and providing adequate administrative materials.

The prime minister expressed the view at a function of the President Guard Regiment at Dhaka Cantonment marking the 36th founding anniversary of the regiment.

Hasina said the government is implementing necessary measures for modernising the armed forces through higher trainings and modern equipment.

Emphasising on maintaining effective chain of command and showing respect to the commanders at all levels, Hasina said any sort of activity could be completed successfully with efficiency, discipline, and loyalty.

She asked them to carry out their duties reposing full confidence in the commanders. The prime minister said members of the armed force remain engaged in peacekeeping mission across the world and they have proved their superiority in establishing peace through their efficiency and relentless efforts. Bangladesh is now number one peacekeeper sending country, she added.

Hasina said father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman established the PGR in 1975, which has become a big force with 1,6,00 members and praised their efficiency, sincerity and dutifulness.

She listed various steps of the government for development of the armed forces, which include establishment of several units, brigades and institutions for higher training of the armed forces, National Defence College and Military Institute of Science and Technology, Armed Forces Medial College and Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation and Training.

Besides, she said for protecting the country's eastern border, a Permanent Housing and Operational Deployment for a brigade group has been established in Ramu upazila.

Earlier, one her arrival at the PGR Headquarters a smartly turned out contingent of the regiment presented guard of hour to the prime minister. She inspected the guard and took salute. She also talked to relatives of the martyred members of the regiment who were killed during their service in the regiment. The PGR commander presented a crest to the prime minister while she presented him a painting.

Source : The Daily Star

LDP's moral support to hartal

Extending moral support to today's hartal, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Oli Ahmad yesterday said the opposition should go for a non-stop hartal against the government considering the country's present situation.

"We won't participate in the 48-hour hartal, though we support it morally. I think the opposition should go for an indefinite hartal as this is the only option to realise demands," he told a press conference at Dhaka Reporters' Unity auditorium at Segunbagicha in the city.

The opposition should call hartal for a month before the Ramadan instead for a day or two to match with what Awami League did when in opposition, noted the lone LDP lawmaker adding, people want caretaker government system as the political parties have no trust in each other.

On Indian prime minister's recent remark that 25 percent Bangladeshis are anti-Indian, Oli insisted it is more than 90 percent and Bangladesh did not get anything from India.

Source : The Daily Star

Risky to exclude state religion: Minister tells seminar

Social Welfare Minister Enamul Huq Mostafa Shaheed yesterday said it would be "risky to take away Islam's status as the state religion since 90 percent people in the country are Muslim".

"We should not forget that Bangladesh was born out of a fraction of Pakistan, which itself came into the world map because of Islam", he said.

Due to the country's long-standing connection to the religion, this is a sensitive subject that needed to be considered with much deliberation, he said.

The minister was addressing a national seminar on "Village based defence of human rights and the emergence of MDG villages" organised by Brotee, a non-government organisation, in association with Manusher Jonno Foundation at LGED auditorium in the city.

At the seminar, Brotee shared its experience of working in 36 villages in Rajshahi district.

The NGO officials said that while number of girls going to schools in the villages has increased over the years, participation of boys has decreased.

"In 2008, 51 percent of the boys in the villages went to school. In 2010, it reduced to 49 percent", said Sharmeen Murshid, chief executive officer of Brotee. "Concurrently, participation of girls increased from 48 percent to 50 percent during the same period."

Murshid also highlighted other social and economic developments including rise in rural savings, decrease in child marriages, and more income generating opportunities in the villages.

Other speakers at the seminar stressed the need to make these developments sustainable, and migrate them to other regions.

The minister, however, laid emphasis on collaborative efforts to bring social development in the country and reduce poverty.

He said the government has resources but lacks enough human resources to make a difference.

He called on the private and non-government organisations to gather human resources and approach the government with projects. This way the government can collaborate with non-government organisations to bring social development, he said.

Noted litterateur Selina Hossain chaired the seminar while human rights activist Dr Hameeda Hossain, Manusher Jonno Foundation Executive Director Shaheen Anam, and Anisatul Fatema Yousuf of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), among others, spoke.

Source : The Daily Star

Islamic University: JCD vandalises 4 more buses

Islamic University unit activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) yesterday vandalised four buses of the university protesting filing of a case against its 19 leaders and activists in connection with Monday's violence.

Police said JCD men along with a number of "outsiders" put barricade on Kushtia-Khulna highway and vandalised the four vehicles, leaving traffic communication snapped for about an hour and a half.

On Monday, JCD activists vandalised 25 buses of the university as Bangladesh Chhatra League men did not allow them on the campus and chased them away.

That night two drivers of the university buses filed the case against the vandals on charge of injuring them and damaging the vehicles.

Proctor Mahbubul Arefin said the university has incurred a loss of about half-crore taka due to the damage of the transports.

Source : The Daily Star

Transport Fare: PM banks on BRTC buses

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said that her government will not allow the private sector transport operators to impose unjustified fares on passengers.

The present government will not take into consideration the loss and profit of the state-owned Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) as this organisation is just for providing services to the people, she said.

"If we do not run the BRTC, then the private sector transport operators will get a free field and this may not bode well for the common people. That is why we will run the BRTC without considering whether they are making profit or loss."

The premier made the remarks while handing over keys of 30 BRTC buses to various educational institutions at a function at the Prime Minster's Office.

Hasina said that in each country of the world, whether rich or poor, there is public sector transportation system. "So, why should we shut down the [BRTC] service in our country?"

"If we do not have a system of check and balance in the country, then the private transport owners might get the chance to impose unjustified fares on the mass people," she added.

Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain, among others, was present at the function.

Source : The Daily Star  

Electoral Reforms: EC invites BNP for talks again

The Election Commission yesterday for the third time sent a letter to the main opposition BNP with an invitation to join a dialogue on electoral reforms.

The letter was sent to the BNP secretary general requesting him to join the dialogue on July 20 in the national interest, said Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda.

The CEC was talking to reporters at the commission's secretariat over the ongoing dialogue being held with registered political parties.

Earlier, the EC invited BNP for a dialogue on June 13 and again on any day between June 19 and 22. But the party rejected the invitation terming the commission "controversial".

"The allegations raised by BNP against the commission are baseless. We saw distortion of information in their letter. We request them to join the dialogue," said CEC Huda.

BNP's alliance partner Jamaat-e-Islami and two other parties, Bangladesh Jatiya Party and Jamiyat-e-Ulama-e-Islam, also skipped the dialogue.

Source : The Daily Star

August 21 Cases: Hanif's assets confiscated

Police last night sealed off the Dhanmondi residence of Hanif Paribahan owner Mohammad Hanif, an accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases, after confiscating all movable properties there.

The police action came following a court order.

Md Maniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi Police Station, said they confiscated all the movable properties from his flat on the third floor of his Dhanmondi 10/A house around 8:00pm.

A Dhaka court on Sunday issued an arrest warrant against 18 fugitive accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases and ordered to seize their properties.

"We carried out the court order issued on Sunday", the OC said, "As we do not have enough room in our police station to keep those, we made a list in presence of Hanif's family members and locals. The house was later sealed off."

The OC added that Hanif's family members left the house after it was sealed.

Hanif is the general secretary of Savar thana BNP.

Source : The Daily Star

Ahmeds held responsible But: JS probe body still open to their self-defence

A parliamentary probe body yesterday came up with its "final observation" that Fakhruddin Ahmed and Moeen U Ahmed were responsible for the violence on Dhaka University campus in 2007.

"We'll start preparing the probe report very soon accusing the military-backed past caretaker government's chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and the then army chief Moeen U Ahmed," Rashed Khan Menon, chief of the parliamentary sub-committee, told reporters after a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

Menon, also president of the Workers Party, however said they would keep the door open for the duo for self-defence till submission of the probe report in parliament's next session in September.

"The committee will include their [Fakhruddin and Moeen] versions with the probe report if they make any contact physically or through teleconference and explain their role," Menon added.

"If they don't appear before the committee or don't make any sort of communication, it would be clear the allegations against them are true," Menon continued.

"The committee held eight meetings including one with 19 students and several teachers who were tortured by a section of army personnel during and after the campus violence. The committee is now convinced the duo were responsible for the atrocities on the teachers and students of different universities, especially Dhaka and Rajshahi," Menon said.

"We also exchanged views with the then officials of DGFI, NSI and other intelligence agencies who said they had followed directions of Fakhruddin Ahmed and Moeen U Ahmed," added Menon.

The student violence flared up in the capital and elsewhere in the country in August 2007 after some army personnel beat up several students during a football match at DU gymnasium playground.

The parliamentary standing committee on education ministry on August 19 last year formed a four-member probe committee to investigate the matter.

Talking to reporters, Menon also said the military-backed caretaker regime tried to use the campus violence as a pretext to prolong its rule.

The caretaker government adopted a policy of torturing DU teachers and students with an aim to create an atmosphere for imposing martial law, he added.

Earlier, the probe body summoned Fakhruddin and Moeen twice. Both of them however did not show up and instead sent letters from the US to the committee.

Source : The Daily Star 

Film banned as villain wears Mujib coat

Bangladesh Film Censor Board has banned a film in which the main villain is shown wearing a jacket associated with the ruling Awami League, saying it could trigger violence.

The film Ridoy Bhanga Dhew (Heart Breaking Wave), which was shot in Thailand, was refused a screening permit as it "mocks" ruling party officials, Surat Kumar Sarker, vice-chairman of the censor board, told AFP Monday.

The main villain in the film is shown wearing a "Mujib coat"--a distinctive, black sleeveless jacket named after Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who wore it when addressing political rallies.

"We have rejected the film because it clearly violates the country's film censor rules. It goes against a political philosophy of the country," Surat said.

"There is no need for the character to wear this dress. It could spark violence," said Akanda Sanawar Morshed, a filmmaker and member of the censor board.

Morshed also noted that a hero in the film was shown wearing a safari suit of the style favoured by members of the opposition BNP.

The film's director Gazi Mazharul Anwar told AFP that he had never set out to mock anyone.

"Politics has nothing to do with the film," Mazharul said, adding that he would appeal against the ban.

In 2007, Bangladesh's then army-backed government banned a movie after a character--playing the role of a criminal--was shown in military fatigues.

Source : The Daily Star 

Eurozone growth slows, orders dry up

European services growth slowed in June in the face of sluggish new orders and rising interest rates, giving firms less optimism about the year ahead, business surveys showed on Tuesday.

The euro zone service sector grew at its weakest pace since October with an unexpectedly deep contraction in Italy and smaller euro zone countries masked by resilience in Germany and France.

In Britain, the Markit services purchasing managers index showed growth was still not strong enough to generate any meaningful increase in employment.

The monthly surveys echoed earlier data from China, which showed growth in its fledgling services sector slowed slightly in June, and data due from the United States on Wednesday are also expected to highlight weaker growth.

Still, the European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the second time in four months on Thursday even though the PMI data provide little reason to do so.

'The rate at which growth appears to be easing off will only raise concerns that the current trend may amount to more than a usual cyclical slowdown,' said Janet Henry, economist at HSBC.

'We continue to expect that the ECB, following the signalled increase expected for July, will slow down the process of interest rate normalisation, with the next rate rise not expected until November.'

Markit revised down sharply its June PMI to 53.7 from 54.2, which was already down substantially from 56.0 in May.

Source : New Age

Egypt set to reduce budget deficit

Egypt's ruling military council on Monday approved the government's revised draft annual budget, which is set to post less of a deficit than originally forecast.

The draft budget for the year from July 2011 to June 2012 was endorsed by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the finance ministry announced in a statement.

The government had to amend its original draft after submitting plans to run a budget deficit amounting to 11 per cent of GDP, because of a sharp rise in public spending.

The new draft projects a deficit to 8.6 per cent or 141 billion Egyptian pounds ($23.7 billion) by reducing state expenditure to 490.6 billion Egyptian pounds, with revenues estimated at 349.6 billion Egyptian pounds.

The drop in state spending follows Cairo's June 25 announcement that it would not draw on a three-billion-dollar loan facility it secured with the International Monetary Fund, nor would it take up a World Bank offer of aid.

Source : New Age

Japan cabinet okays second disaster recovery budget

Japan's cabinet on Tuesday approved a two trillion yen ($24 billion) second special budget to finance relief and rebuilding after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Already facing a mountain of public debt, the government will not issue fresh bonds to finance the supplementary budget to March 2012 but plans to instead divert funds left over from last year.

The budget sets aside 800 billion yen in reserve for reconstruction, and 275 billion yen to tackle the Fukushima nuclear crisis, including compensation for victims and health checks for local residents.

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi atomic plant has been spewing radiation since the massive quake and tsunami knocked out reactor cooling systems, forcing around 85,000 people to leave a 20-kilometre zone around the plant.

Prime minister Naoto Kan's cabinet plans to submit the budget to parliament on July 15 and aims to pass it by the end of the month.

Source : New Age

Senior StanChart officials due today

Global head of capital markets for Standard Chartered Bank Philip Cracknell arrives in Dhaka today on an official visit. He will be meeting senior officials of the bank during his visit, said a news release.

Philip will be accompanied by managing director and regional head of syndications for Europe, Africa and South Asia Hiren Singharay and managing director and head of capital markets South Asia Charles Corbett.

Source : New Age

Citi senior official due today

Business Desk

Managing director, country head and Citi country officer, Thailand Peter B Eliot arrives in Dhaka today on a two-day official visit.

During his stay Peter is scheduled to meet senior Citi officials, key clients, and review Citi's potential for further growth in Bangladesh, said a news release.

Source : New Age

Investors must keep it in stocks till June ’13: NBR

The National Board of Revenue on Tuesday said the investors must keep the undisclosed money invested in stocks till June 2013 to avail the opportunity of legalising it by paying 10 per cent tax.

The board in an order issued on Tuesday said the holders of undisclosed money would have to invest it in the capital market between July 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012 to avail the opportunity of legalising their money by paying 10 per cent tax in line with the Finance Bill 2011 passed in the parliament on June 28.

'Undisclosed money which will be invested in the share market cannot be withdrawn before June 2013. If any one withdraws the capital, he or she will lose the opportunity of legalising the money by paying 10 per cent tax,' NBR first secretary Apurba Kanti Das told a press conference at the NBR headquarters in the capital on Tuesday.

He, however, said the investors would be allowed to withdraw profits made from the investment of undisclosed money during the period.

He said the investment of undisclosed money in the stock market should be made by June 30, 2012 and the declaration about the investment should be made by July 15, 2012.

He said the investors must have to submit a copy of beneficiary owner's account statement and portfolio monthly reports to the NBR so that the board could monitor whether they withdrew the capital or not.

NBR chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed hoped the initiative would help stimulate the share market.

He claimed that the opportunity of legalising untaxed money by investing in the share market and three other sectors, which had been offered first in fiscal 2009-2010, did not fail.

He said they had set a cap of two years for keeping the money in the stock market to ensure its sustainability.

The NBR chair also said the investors who would invest legal money in primary shares would get a 10 per cent tax rebate.

Source : New Age

Rajshahi nursing students on strike over stipend

The Rajshahi Nursing College students on Tuesday enforced indefinite strike on campus to push for several demands, especially the stipend they receive each month should be increased.

Their others demands include solution to the teacher, classroom and educational apparatus crisis, to ensure the security of nurses and to reduce the working time from six hours to four hours.

The girl students of the college brought out a procession at about 10:00am to draw support for the strike and later held a rally.

The strikers said they would continue the strike until their demands were met.

They complained that the stipend they received was very poor and they were getting only Tk 850 for each month for last 19 years.

They said most of the students were from working class families and it was very difficult for

them to manage their education with the small amount of money in present condition.

The speakers demanded Tk 3,000 minimum stipend.

They complained that their demands were not met though they staged demonstrations earlier to push for their demands.

The college principal, Sadeka Khatun, however, admitted the crisis and said all nursing colleges in the country face same crisis.

The government should make steps to resolve the crisis and no single college could do anything.

Source : New Age

Due importance to fine arts in edn policy demanded

Charukala Shikkhak Parishad Bangladesh, a platform of government school fine arts teachers, on Tuesday submitted a memorandum with signatures of fine arts teachers to the education ministry, demanding due importance to fine arts in the national education policy.

Before submitting the memorandum, the organisation also formed human chains simultaneously in front of Dhaka University fine arts faculty, Chittagong University fine arts faculty, Khulna University fine arts faculty, Rajshahi University fine arts faculty and Mymensingh Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, where members of the organisation collected signatures from all government school fine arts teachers on the day.

Renowned artists and Dhaka University fine arts faculty including Shishir Bhattacharya, Qayyum Chowdhury, Rafiqun Nabi, Khushi Kabir, Hashem Khan also put their signatures in the memorandum, in which they placed forth five-point demand.

The demands included making fine arts compulsory in Class 1-12, reserved post for fine arts teacher at all government and non-government schools, due status for the teachers of the subject and introducing fine arts in junior school certificate and primary school certificate examination.

Parishad general secretary Jakir Hossain Fakir, Shere Banglanagar School fine arts teacher Atik Mamun, DU graphic design department teacher Israfil Ratan, among other, were present at the human chain.

Source : New Age

Slight rise in temperature likely

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at a few places over the Rajshahi, Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet divisions till 6:00pm today.

Moderately heavy falls are also likely at places, the Meteorology office said in a forecast on Tuesday.

Day temperature may rise slightly over the country.

The sun sets in Dhaka today at 6:50pm and rises tomorrow at 5:17am.

The country's highest temperature, 33.7 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Tuesday in Sylhet and the lowest, 23.7 degrees Celsius, in Rangamati.

Source : New Age

RU 58th founding anniv today

Rajshahi University, all set for celebrating its 58th founding anniversary today, postponed its programmes till July 12 due to the countrywide general strike.

The university began its journey on this day in 1953.

The RU vice-chancellor, Abdus Sobhan, is scheduled to inaugurate the celebrations on July 12 by hoisting flags on the premises of the university main building at 8:00am.

Later he will lead a procession of RU teachers, students and staff, which will be followed by a tree plantation activity on the Teachers-Students Cultural Centre premises, a release said.

A discussion participated by the former and present teachers of the university will also be held at the Senate Bhaban.

Marking the day, RU student organisations will also hold separate programmes.

The Progressive Students Alliance, a platform of four leftist student organisations, while marking the day demanded withdrawal of the existing ban on holding political rallies on the campus.

Shipon Ahmed, general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, a member of the alliance, told New Age that they would celebrate the day amid their demands of a fundamentalist-free campus and withdrawal of the ban on political activities.

Kendrya Sangskritik Jote, a platform of more than 15 cultural organisations, will stage cultural programmes on the occasion while continuing their demand for a full-fledged TSCC, said its leaders.

Many general students of the university marked the day, hoping for a campus free from session jams and accommodation and transport crises.

Imran Hossain, a fourth year political science student, told New Age that he envisaged a campus free from political violence.    

Rajshahi University began its journey with Itrat Hossain Zeberi as the first VC and 161 students.

It has now around 26,000 students and 1,040 teachers in 48 departments under nine faculties. There are 16 residential halls for the students, including five for the females.

Source : New Age

JCD president arrested

The Detective Branch of police in the early hours on Tuesday arrested Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president Sultan Salahuddin Tuku and a Dhaka court remanded him in DB police custody for two days for interrogation in a case of killing a man by setting fire to a car at Maghbazar in the capital on June 26, 2010, on the eve of a hartal day called by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Metropolitan magistrate Tanbhir Ahmed put Tuku in police custody after hearing a petition filed by DB inspector Fazlur Rahman seeking permission to interrogate him in their custody for 10 days in the case.

Faruk Hossain, a factory worker of Old Dhaka, succumbed to burn injuries sustained when the car he was travelling by was torched at Maghbazar on the night preceding the hartal enforced by the BNP on June 27.

Tuku's counsel Sanaullah Miah said plainclothesmen arrested Tuku at the house of a relative at Gulshan in the city at around 3:00am on Tuesday, the day preceding another hartal, a 48-hour one, called by the BNP and its allies.

The detective inspector told the court that Tuku was involved in the arson committed on June 26 last year and they needed 10 days to interrogate him to identify and arrest his accomplices.

Source : New Age

Formation of 4 new battalions under Ansar, VDP recommended

Public administration ministry has recommended for formation of four new battalions under Ansar and VDP Directorate.

The recommended battalions are Suhilpur in Brahmanbaria, Nauhata in Rajshahi, Manikganj and Pabna.

The recommendation came at a meeting at the ministry with joint secretary (organisation and management) of the ministry Mohammad Lutfor Rahman in the chair on Tuesday.

Source : New Age

$320m ADB loan to raise quality of pry edn

The Asian Development Bank has approved a $320 million loan that will help Bangladesh continue its push to improve the quality of the primary education system.

ADB's board of directors approved the funds on Tuesday for the Third Primary Education Development Project.

It builds on earlier reforms that have helped Bangladesh, which has one of the world's largest primary school systems, increase net enrolments to almost 96 per cent in 2010 and to achieve gender parity.

Eight other development partners, including the World Bank, EU, the UK's Department for International Development, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Canadian International Development Agency, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and Australian Agency for International Development, and the United Nations Children' s Fund are also providing assistance.

The full project cost is $8.3 billion with the government contributing $7.3 billion equivalent.

The nine development partners including the ADB will provide $1.05 billion.

ADB's loan from its concessional Asian Development Fund has a 32-year tenor, including a grace period of 8 years, with an interest charge of 1 per cent, rising to 1.5 per cent for the balance of the term.

The ministry of primary and mass education will execute the project which is expected to be completed by end June 2016.

'Despite the progress made to date, primary schools still suffer from high student dropout rates, as well as low completion levels and this project will help address these issues,' said Sultan H Rahman, ADB director general at the South Asia Department.

It will support textbook and curriculum improvements, a teacher development plan and a class assessment system that will result in a more effective, relevant and child-friendly learning environment.

To reduce current access and participation gaps, targeted assistance will be given to disadvantaged groups such as tribal children, ethnic minorities and children living with disabilities.

The project will expand support for early learning by providing funds for one year of pre-primary education and for non-formal and second chance primary schooling.

Source : New Age

Primary, ebtedaye final exams in Nov

The final examinations for primary schools and ebtedaye madrassahs for 2011 will begin on November 16.

The examinations will continue till November 23.

This was disclosed at a meeting of national steering committee held at Primary and Mass Education Ministry with its minister Afsarul Amin in the chair on Tuesday.

The meeting was informed that duration of examinations of each subject would be two hours, but the candidates with disabilities would get 15 minutes more.

There will be no referred system in the final examinations and limitation of age of examinees has been removed for ensuring education for all.

Source : New Age

JU gets 4 new buses

The government handed over four new buses to the Jahangirnagar University authorities on Monday.

JU vice-chancellor Shariff Enamul Kabir disclosed this to the media on Tuesday.

He said that the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, handed over the keys to the university authorities at a programme on Monday.

Communications minister Syed Abul Hossain was present, among others, at the handover ceremony, he added.

The acting director of the university transport department, Shahedur Rashid, expressed his hope that the new buses would ease the transport crisis of the teachers and students.

At present, the JU transport has only 12 buses for about 12,000 students and teachers and frequently hires buses to ease the crisis temporarily.

Source : New Age

ASK concerned over police attack on oil-gas body men

Rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra on Tuesday expressed grave concern over the police atrocities on the leaders and activists of the national committee for protection of oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports.

The organisation in a press release said the committee called a half-day general strike for July 3 demanding cancellation of the deals signed with the ConocoPhillips for the exploration and extraction of gas in two offshore gas fields.

According to the media report, the police injured the leaders and activists of the committee and arrested many students, the release said.

The organisation said it was unacceptable that anybody would vandalise vehicles and it was likewise unacceptable that the police would attack a peaceful demonstration.

Ain O Salish Kendra

said the committee was carrying out its movement to save the country's resources. 

It hoped that in future the government would take necessary step to change the behaviour of the police forces during any strike.

Source : New Age

BGMEA fears export fall due to hartal

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has apprehended that the textile exports might face a setback due to continuous hartal called by opposition political parties.

In a statement on the eve of a 48-hour hartal that begins this morning, the BGMEA said the hartal of July 6 and 7 as well as July 10 and 11 would hamper positive trend of economic progress, although the garment industries had been kept out of the purview of hartal.

'Buyers may switch over to other countries due to political unrest, while 'lead time' for exports will go up as the garment sector will face disruption in production,' said the statement signed by BGMEA secretary Mohammad Mustafizur Rahman.

It said the hartal had been called at a time when the workers were supposed to get their monthly wages. So it would be difficult for employers to pay salaries to workers and it might lead to labour unrest in the readymade garment industry, the biggest export earner.

It said differences of opinion in a democratic society were a must, but those could be removed through dialogues and consultations. The RMG sector, it said, has reached its present level because of patronisation from all political parties and successive governments in Bangladesh.

Based on the economic reality, the BGMEA said the opposition should withdraw hartal and pave the ways for uninterrupted industrial production in the country.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its three allies have called a 48-hour continuous hartal on Wednesday and Thursday, while an alliance of 12 parties led by Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish announced another 30-hour hartal covering Sunday and the first half of Monday.

The country is likely to face a virtual shutdown of nearly six days as Friday and Saturday are weekly holidays.

An opinion poll conducted over 3,000 people in 2003 by the UN Development Fund found that the vast majority (95 per cent) thought that hartals had very negative or somewhat negative impact on the economy.

Disruption to mobility, business activities, and daily activities sets negative impacts on the society as a whole. Day-labourers and middle and lower socioeconomic groups were perceived to be the worst affected by hartals.

The estimated average cost of hartals to the economy during the 1990s was 3 to 4 per cent of gross domestic product. The cost is anticipated to be much higher now.

Source : New Age

Country not ready yet to adopt secularism: minister

The country is not ready yet to adopt secularism due to the historical baggage of   splitting the sub-continent, social welfare minister, Enamul Haque Mostafa Shaheed, said on Tuesday. 

He said that it was not easy to overcome the 'religious culture' that led to the creation of India and Pakistan by splitting the subcontinent.

The subcontinent was divided on the basis of religion, he said, responding to what an academician had told a seminar in the city on 'village based defence of human rights and the emergence of MDG villages, hosted by Brotee, an NGO.

He said that a government of the day had no option but to be tactful in dealing with the religious parties and other related issues in a country where 90 per cent citizens are Muslims.

He described the role of the civil society as 'regrettable' with regard to the recent Constitution amendment to retain the provision of state religion and non recognition of the national minorities as 'indigenous people.'

He also called the civil society's views on issues relating to oil, gas and natural resources as equally 'regrettable.'

He said that if today's seminar was on indigenous people or on oil and gas, the auditorium would be packed with civil society people.

He said that the civil

society was good only at finding faults.

He said that the civil society, which knows the flaws, should be able to provide the solutions as well.

Speaking before him, academician Hamida Hossian had said the spirit of the War of Independence taught Bangladesh to be a secular, democratic and progressive country that respects different views and faiths.

Brotee chairperson Selina Hossain said that the people in the civil society also love the country. 

She said that the government and the civil society should be able to work together for betterment of the country.

Manusher Jonno Foundation executive director Shaheen Aman, Brotee chief executive Sharmeen Murshid also spoke.

Source : New Age

FIRs and charge-sheets faulty, says counsel of accused

Twenty-four soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles, now renamed Border Guards Bangladesh, who are facing charges of murder and other criminal offences committed during the February 2009 rebellion at the paramilitary headquarters in Dhaka, on Tuesday demanded reinvestigation into the case on the plea that the First Information Reports and the charge-sheets were faulty.

They made the plea during the hearing of the framing of charges in the case in the makeshift courtroom of the Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge, set up in Aliya Madrassah at Bakshi Bazaar in the capital.

Their counsel Faruk Ahmed told the court that 2,307 mutiny suspects were arrested for alleged involvement in the carnage and 1,504 of them lost their jobs.

Their arrest, without presenting adequate evidence against them and sacking them before trial, were illegal, he contended.

Faruk argued that 62 spots were mentioned in the charge-sheet, but it was not mentioned who committed crimes at which spot and what kind of crimes were committed.

A charge-sheet needs to specify the type of offences, the offenders and the places of the commission of the offences, he contended.

He also argued that the First Information Report did not mention that a delegation of the soldiers held a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had announced a general amnesty for the rebels.

The Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge, Mohammad Zahurul Haque, began the hearing amidst tight security at about 9:45am and continued till 3:25pm with a 30-minute break.

The court adjourned the proceedings till July 13.

Till Tuesday, 395 accused soldiers have argued through their lawyers against the framing of charges against them since May 23.

The Criminal Investigation Department of the police filed two cases — one under the Penal Code for murder, arson, robbery and other crimes, and the other under the Explosive Substances Act for illegally taking up arms — against 850 BDR personnel and civilians.

Three of the accused have died in the meanwhile and released from the charge.

Of the accused, 828 including former BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu and Awami League leader Torab Ali, a retired Subedar, were present in the courtroom on Tuesday.

Twenty-one have been absconding till date.

Source : New Age

Millions will die if India stops AIDS drugs: UN

Millions of people dependent on life-saving generic drugs to treat HIV/AIDS will die if India stops producing cheap drugs for the disease due to its trade deal with the European Union, the head of UNAIDS warned on Tuesday.

The EU and India are currently negotiating a free-trade agreement, which campaigners say will restrict India's ability to produce anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, preventing the world's poor from accessing cheap drugs for their treatment.

'India should resist removing any flexibility because any trade agreement which could lead to India not being able to produce will be terrible for the rest of the world,' said Michel Sidibe, executive director for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

'Millions of people will die if India cannot produce and Africa will be the most affected. For me, it is an issue of life or death,' he told Reuters in an interview, adding that about 86 percent of people on treatment were taking drugs made in India.

The EU-India trade deal includes measures that could delay or restrict competition from generic medicines by extending patent terms, requiring data exclusivity and tightening border enforcement rules.

Such moves could drive up prices for India's anti-retroviral treatments, limit dosage options and delay access to newer and better drugs, said a U.N. report in September last year.

Thirty years after the HIV/AIDS virus was first discovered, experts say while substantial progress has been made by the global community in stemming it, only a fraction of those living with the illness are on medication.

At a high level UN meeting last month, nations agreed on a set of ambitious targets to rid the world of disease, including scaling up the provision of generics to reach 15 million patients from six million by 2015.

The trade deal, Sidibe said, would reverse many of the gains made in improving the lives of the world's poor.

'We have been fighting for so long to make sure that poor people could have access to treatment,' he said. 'For me, it will be the beginning of reversing all the gains we made on social justice and redistribution of opportunity.'

Source : New Age

Mobile courts to check anarchy: Sahara

Mobile courts would protect public life and property during the 48-hour hartal called by the opposition, home minister Sahara Khatun told reporters at her secretariat office Tuesday.

She said that besides the police, mobile courts would operate just as they did during last month's hartal called by the main opposition BNP and its allies.

'None would be allowed create anarchy in the name of hartal,' she said.

She said the police would remain on the vigil to check vandalism and violence during the 48-hour countrywide shutdown beginning Wednesday.

Mobile courts set up by the Awami League-led government on June 11 on the eve of a 36-hour hartal, called by the opposition, had on the first day sentenced at least 52 leaders and activists of BNP and its allies to various terms on the spot.

The mobile courts, which remained active throughout the 36-hour countrywide hartal which ended on June 13, sentenced over 100 opposition leaders and workers.

The government drew sharp criticism from human rights groups and lawyers for setting up the mobile courts which gave the on the spot sentences refusing the opposition leaders and workers the right to self-defence, in gross violation of the Constitution.

BNP and its allies on Sunday called the nationwide hartal in protest against the abolition of the

election time caretaker government system to ensure Awami Leagues return to power by holding rigged elections. 

The opposition called the hartal also to press a host of other demands.

On Monday, prime minister Sheikh Hasina while chairing a cabinet meeting ordered the law enforcement agencies to deal with hartal protesters sternly 'to protect public life and property.'

Shara told reporters, that the mobile courts would operate under the Mobile Court Act 2009 to 'check vandalism in the name of hartal.' 

Asked whether or not the BNP and Jamaat would be allowed to take out processions in favour of hartal, the home minister said police would go tough if the pro-hartal activists block the streets to vehicular traffic.

She said that there was no reason for the opposition to call the hartal.

She called upon the opposition to withdraw its hartal.

Source : New Age

Some cooperatives flourish despite neglect

Groups of people have made notable success by improving their living standards with their collective efforts overcoming negligence to and lack of policy supports for the cooperative sector.

Some cooperative societies, formed in the capital with small subscriptions of members, are now viably running small and big businesses ranging from tailoring and grocery shops and transport and real estate firms.

A small number of cooperatives have also started establishing light and small industrial units.

Apart from raising incomes of the members, the cooperatives are creating jobs for hundreds of others in society.

 'We were 100 poor women students of adult literacy centres at Nurerchala (near Baridhara in Dhaka). In 1990, we started cooperative activities by depositing Tk 50 in monthly saving. Now we have more than 25,000 members and shareholders who collectively own Tk 700

million cash and assets,' Golap Banu, the president of the Baridhara Mahila Samabai Samity, told New Age.

The organisation was registered with the Department of Cooperatives in 1996.

About Tk 600 million, out of the total capital Tk 700, has been given to the members of the organisation in loan for investing in various income-generating and resource-building activities — opening tailoring and grocery shops, running commercial transports and light engineering industries, etc, Banu, a housewife, said. The rate of recovery of loan is about 96 per cent.

About 3,000 members of the organisation have now become self-reliant, she said.

The organisation also bought about five acres of land in Gazipur for a housing project for its members.

She said that the organisation was running in a rented office. 'But we have started constructing the head office on four kathas of land at Nurerchala.'

Nitya Adhikari, manager of the society, said that the organisation had 64 staff members who receive monthly salaries from Tk 4,000 to Tk 64,000.

Seven like-minded people formed the Kingshuk Multipurpose Cooperative Society at Mirpur in Dhaka in 1987 with each member contributing Tk 50 every month to its fund, according to M Golam Faruq, former chairman of Kingshuk.

It is now an organisation of 82 members and more than 50,000 shareholders who collectively own Tk 2,000 million in assets, Azaher Ali Molla, the current chairman of the organisation, told New Age.

The organisation has investments in businesses such as agricultural marketing, security services, health club, filling station and several housing, commercial and tourism complexes.

With technical support from a South Korean company, Kingshuk has set up a factory to manufacture energy-saving lamps in 2010 at a cost of about Tk 7 crore, he said.

It has 850 full-time paid staff members and at least 2,500 temporary employees, Molla, also an associate professor at the Institute of Health Economics in Dhaka University, said.

Asked about making policies for the organisation, he said that the general assembly consisting members of the organisation makes policies and elects a governing body by secret ballots to run the organisation for three years.

About the benefit of the shareholders, who do not have voting rights, Faruq said that the organisation had given 12 to 16 per cent of dividend so far on the investments of individual shareholders.

Asked about the secret of success of the organisation when most of the cooperatives are either sick or non-functional, Molla said that there was no magic wand to make a cooperative successful.

Faruq said that democratising the decision making process and implementing the decision collectively can make a cooperative successful.

Kingshuk now gives advocacy support for other cooperative organisations to help them survive and flourish.

Source : New Age

Minibuses, buses not following govt fare chart

The city's buses and minibuses are reportedly charging more from passengers than the prescribed minimum fare of Tk 7 and Tk 5 respectively set by the government after the price-hike of compressed natural gas in May.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, which is carrying out regular drives against bus companies charging extra fare, have filed 702 cases, sent 11 offenders to jail, realised Tk 8,17,100 in fines, seized 83 buses and minibuses and 16 route permits from May 15 to June 30.

Jasmine Akhtar, who rode on a bus of the Taranga Plus Transport Ltd from Shankar to Dhaka City College on Tuesday, said she had to pay Tk 10 as minimum fare.

Other bus companies like Nisharga Transport, Megacity Passenger Service Ltd, Malancha Transport, Midway Transport Ltd and Maitree Transport also charge Tk 10 for the minimum distance.

The employees at the counters of the bus services said their company would run at a loss if they took only Tk 7 as minimum fare.

They also said every bus hangs the fare chart fixed by the BRTA only to show them to officers of the mobile courts.

Super, Maitree and Malancha transport companies were also charging Tk 10 from Press Club to Shahbagh.

Hafiz, a passenger who rode a bus of the Silk City Service, said that the conductor took Tk 10 from him when he wanted to go to Kazipara from Mirpur-10.

It was also seen that the bus conductors demanded Tk 13 for Mirpur-10 to Farm Gate and Tk 22 from the same place to Karwan Bazaar.

The bus conductor said that Tk 22 was also the fare to Motijheel and there was no separate ticket for every bus stop.

At Mirpur-10 square, Safety Enterprises demanded Tk 10 as minimum fare while other bus companies like Shikar Transport and Mirpur United Service Ltd refused to accept any passenger for the minimum distance.

'The BRTA has only two executive magistrates, which is not enough for a big city like Dhaka,' said executive magistrate Mohammad Tofael Islam.

He said that five executive magistrates of the Dhaka district also help them in the drives but they had been busy with the Union Parishad elections.

Islam suggested that the traffic police can also help to enforce the fare chart, and the amount of fine prescribed by the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1983 should be increased.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police's joint commissioner (traffic), Mahbubur Rahman, told New Age that they were also carrying out drives against buses and minibuses that are charging extra fare.

'We have a plainclothes team,' he said, and said that measures would be taken against any transport company for exceeding the fare chart if someone provides specific information against them.

The government on May 16, after the price-hike of CNG, increased the bus fare by Tk 0.35 a kilometre in Dhaka and Chittagong cities, and set the minimum fare at Tk 7 for buses and Tk 5 for minibuses in the capital.

Communications minister Syed Abul Hossain on May 28 said the government would cancel the route permits of the bus companies that charge extra fares.

The High Court on May 30 issued a six-point directive, including one for putting up the fare chart, set by the communications ministry, on display at ticket counters after bus operators started charging fares at their sweet will.

Source : New Age

9 vehicles burnt, processions foiled

Eight vehicles were burnt in pre-strike violence in the afternoon and at night in the capital on Tuesday while the police foiled processions and arrested people drumming up support for the 48-hour general strike the BNP and its allies are enforcing from today.

The police arrested supporters of the strike and a mobile court jailed for a year a supporter of strike on charges of burning a bus at Bangshal in Dhaka. Seven others were jailed for a month by mobile courts at Motijheel and Paltan.

At least six buses and two cars were burnt in the

capital. A covered van also went up in flames at Kakrail which the police said was burnt by the protesters while others said that the van had caught fire because of a technical fault.

At least seven crude bombs were also exploded in the capital — in front of the BNP's central office at Naya Paltan, on the Dhaka University campus, in the Science Laboratory crossing, near the Supreme Court crossing and at Gulshan.

The authorities said a mobile court had jailed Motaleb, 24, for a year on the eve of the strike on charges of burning a bus at Chankharpool. Mobile courts also jailed seven others for a month at Motijheel and Paltan.

A bus was burnt near the Rajarbagh Police

Lines about 9:25pm. Two cars were burnt at Mohakhali about 8:30pm and about 9:30pm, fire fighters said.

Four buses were burnt fire at Maniknagar about 3:15pm, at Kazipara about 5:00pm, at Rampura about 6:30pm and at Chankharpool at 7:00pm. Another bus that was parked was burnt near the AGB Colony at Motijheel about 1:45pm.

The police arrested Motaleb in connection with the burning of the bus at Chankharpool. A mobile court jailed him for a year.

The Sutrapur police arrested three people in possession of five crude bombs and a dagger.

The police said that the covered van, at Kakrail, was burnt by the supporters of the strike about 1:45pm while the fire fighters said that the vehicle had caught fire from its battery because of a technical fault. Nobody was, however, reported injured in the fire, fire fighters said.

While the police suspect that the vehicles had been burnt by the supporters of the strike, the BNP brushed aside the allegations.

The BNP's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged the government had employed its goods to burn the vehicles.

Law enforcers arrested about 100 supporters of the strike in the capital. The police foiled an attempt of BNP leaders to distribute leaflet in the city.

The BNP's allies Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Naziur) and like-minded Jatiya Ganatantrik Party also brought out processions.

The police foiled BNP rallies at places across the country. At least 50 people were wounded in clashes between police and supporters of the strike at places across the country. Twenty of them were injured in Chittagong and 10 in Rajshahi. At least 10 buses were vandalised in Chittagong.

The BNP, however, alleged that more than 200 activists had been arrested and 250 had been wounded in attacks carried out by 'the police and goons hired by the ruling party.'

The BNP and its allies are enforcing the strike in protest at the scrapping of the caretaker government provision from the constitution and in demand for some other issues.

Twelve Islamist parties have, meanwhile, called general strike for 30 hours beginning Sunday morning.

Source : New Age

BNP, allies begin 48hr strike today

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies begin a general strike for 48 hours this morning in protest at the scrapping of the caretaker government provision from the constitution and in demand for some other issues.

The BNP and its four allies — Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Naziur), Islami Oikya Jote and Khelafat Majlish, which split from the Islami Oikya Jote after the Islamic party combine had joined the BNP-led alliance — are enforcing the general strike simultaneously.

Some other small political parties, including Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, National People's Party, Bangladesh National Awami Party, Muslim League, Labour Party and National Democratic Party also called the countrywide general strike, the longest stretch at a time since the Awami League-led alliance took office in 2009, for today

The Liberal Democratic Party of Oli Ahmed, a former BNP leader, also extended its support for the general strike.   

Twelve Islamist political parties have, meanwhile, announced to enforce countrywide general strike for 30 beginning Sunday morning in protest at the removal of the phrase 'Absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah' from the constitution. The Jamaat-e-Islami extended its support for the 30-hour strike.

This is going to be the first general strike called simultaneously by all the partners of the BNP-led alliance and like-minded political parties.

This is the seventh general strike called by the BNP after the 2008 general elections.

The BNP and its allies but the Islami Oikya Jote earlier enforced general strike for 36 hours beginning June 12 in protest at the government's move to scrap the caretaker government provision.

The other issues centring on which the BNP and its allies are enforcing the strike include protest at the 'hurting of religious sentiment of Muslims, price spiral, slide in law and order and shortage of power, gas and fuel and share market scam.'

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, meanwhile on Monday, ordered the law enforcement agencies to deal with protesters sternly 'to protect public life and property' during strike hours.

She gave the directive at the weekly cabinet meeting before the 48-hour general strike.

The BNP's acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference at the party's central on Tuesday said that the party along with the people would retaliate by enforcing tougher action programme if the government would try foil the strike.

He alleged that the government was pushing the country towards a confrontations and chaos.

Fakhrul warned the government against any move to foil the strike. 'The government will be responsible and face dire consequences if any untoward incident happens during strike hours.'

The home affairs minister, Sahara Khatun, on Tuesday announced not to allow the holding of any rallies and processions on the roads by obstructing traffic.

The BNP and its allies including Jamaat-e-Islami, BJP and NAP brought out processions and distributed leaflets to people in the capital and elsewhere to drum up support for the strike. The police also arrested some pickets who were drumming up support for the strike.

The police also foiled an attempt of BNP leaders, including Fakhrul islam, standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan and joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, of distributing leaflets at Naya Paltan.

The police also foiled processions at different parts of the country, according to reports reaching from districts.

A huge contingent of policemen stood guard in front of the BNP's central office at Naya Paltan early in the day and arrested at least 15 BNP activists at the place.

The police also arrested Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, president of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the BNP-backed student organisation, early Tuesday. The police, the BNP said, arrested more than 200 BNP activists at places across the country.

The BNP alleged that the police started raiding the houses of its leaders and activists and were harassing the families of BNP activists after they were failing to pick up BNP men.

Unnamed people, said to be pickets, burnt four buses and a covered van in the capital on the eve of today's general strike.

Addressing the press conference, Mirza Fakhrul brushed aside the allegation of being involved in arson in the capital.

Fakhrul called on the people to make the general strike successful to resist the 'ill motive' of the 'fascist' AL-led government of clinging to power by snatching away the people's voting rights.

On June 30, the national assembly passed the Constitution (15th Amendment) Bill 2011 by dropping the caretaker government provision.

Source : New Age