A woman of indigenous Santal community was tortured to death at Shimla Dighipara village of Godagari upzila in Rajshahi district yesterday, allegedly as a sequel to land dispute with her late husband's relatives.
Police recovered the body of the victim Moriam Murmu, 48, widow of late Hopna Mardi of Chaitanpur village in Tanore upazila, some 100 yards behind her Shimla Dighipara village home, yesterday morning.
Moriam went to bed at around 9:00pm on Saturday and neighbour Shaheb Kisku's wife Anajali Murmu saw her stripped body hanging from a tree at around 6:00am, said her family members and neighbours.
"Injury marks were found over her throat, legs, and other parts of the body. There was bleeding from the lower part of the body. There were gold ornaments on her ears," Sub Inspector Godagari police station Nuruzzaman, who prepared the inquest report of the body, told reporters.
Police sent her body to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy, he said, adding that only autopsy report can say whether she was raped before murder.
Visiting her two-storied clay-made house at Shimla Dighipara village of Godagari upzila, police found that the room was ransacked but several valuables remained untouched.
Mariam's son Wilson Marandi, an official at Amnura Christian Mission, yesterday filed a murder case, mentioning his paternal uncle Biswanath Marandi as a suspect behind the murder.
"My mother had a feud with the suspected person over last 15 years as she demanded her due share of her father-in-law's landed property of 7.63 acres," Wilson told this correspondent.
Source : The Daily Star
Houses, jewellery shop looted
Robbers looted four houses and a jewellery shop in Magura, Comilla and Laxmipur districts on Saturday and the day before.
A gang took away gold ornaments worth about Tk 16 lakh and Tk one lakh from two houses at Mollapara and Parla area in Magura town early Saturday, reports our correspondent.
Police quoting family members said, about 10 armed robbers stormed into the house of district Awami League joint secretary Golam Mawla breaking open the main collapsible gate at Mollapara at around 2:00 am and took away about 35 tolas of gold ornaments and Tk 75 thousand.
In a separate robbery at around 2:30 am at the house of Amir Khan, a businessman of Parla area, in the town, a gang looted 4 tolas of gold ornaments and Tk 25 thousand.
In Laxmipur, robbers looted cash, gold ornaments and other valuables from two houses at Dalal Bazaar in Sadar upazila injuring 10 people early Saturday, reports UNB.
Police and local people said breaking open the door, an armed gang numbering 20/25 entered the house of Ranjit Chandra Mojumder late at night and took the members of the house hostage at gunpoint.
At one stage the robbers indiscriminately stabbed Ranjit, his wife Sheuli Mojumder and another Utpal Kanti Mojumder as they tried to resist them.
Later, they looted 10 tolas of gold ornaments and other valuables from the house and decamped with the booty safely.
Later, the same gang entered into the neighbouring house of Tajul Islam and looted two tolas of gold ornaments and Tk 20,000 in cash. They also beat up seven members of the house leaving them seriously injured.
In Comilla, a gang looted gold ornaments from a jewellery shop at Bangoda Bazaar in Nangalkot upazila Friday noon.
Police said breaking open the lock of NK Jewellers, the gang took away 120 tolas of gold ornaments and cash Tk 5 lakh when the owner of the shop Khorshed Alam went to say Juma prayers closing the shop.
Source : The Daily Star
Housewife killed for dowry
A newly married housewife was murdered allegedly by her husband for dowry at Laxmiganj village in Sadar upazila on Saturday night.
The deceased was identified as Khadija Akhter, 19, wife of Ahadat Kazi of the village. Family sources said Ahadat, son of Moslem Kazi, married Khadija, daughter of Babul Bepari of the same village two months ago. Police said Ahadat used to torture Khadija to bring Tk 20,000 as dowry from her parents. But her poor father failed to meet the dowry demand. On Saturday night, Ahadat picked up a quarrel with Khadija over the issue and at one stage he strangled her. Ahadat and his family members went into hiding soon after the incident.
The deceased was identified as Khadija Akhter, 19, wife of Ahadat Kazi of the village. Family sources said Ahadat, son of Moslem Kazi, married Khadija, daughter of Babul Bepari of the same village two months ago. Police said Ahadat used to torture Khadija to bring Tk 20,000 as dowry from her parents. But her poor father failed to meet the dowry demand. On Saturday night, Ahadat picked up a quarrel with Khadija over the issue and at one stage he strangled her. Ahadat and his family members went into hiding soon after the incident.
Source : The Daily Star
Acid thrown on housewife
Criminals threw acid on a housewife at Palashpole in the town on Saturday night inflicting serious burn injuries on the woman.
Victim Monzila Khatun, 27, is wife of Liton Hossain of Chandkati village in Tala upazila.
Quoting the victim's relatives police said Monzila, daughter of Md Yunus Ali of Itagachha in the town, was married to Liton Hossain about nine months ago.
Soon after the marriage, Liton demanded Tk 20,000 from her parents as dowry.
As Monzila's parents could not pay the amount due to poverty, he started to torture her off and on.
Unable to bear it more, Monzila returned to her father's house at Itagachha about two months ago.
Her husband recently came to Itagachha to take her but she refused to go to his house fearing torture.
On Friday, she went to visit her maternal uncle's house at Nagarhata village in Tala upazila.
While returning from there criminals waiting at Palashpole threw acid on her at about 8:30 pm and fled the scene.
She sustained severe burn injuries on face and chest.
As she cried for help, local people rushed to the spot and took her to Satkhira Sadar Hospital for treatment.
In Rangpur, a housewife, who was set on fire allegedly by her husband for dowry, died at Rangpur Medical College and Hospital (RMCH) early Thursday after fighting for life for 11 days, reports UNB.
The deceased was identified as Angura Begum, 30, wife of Abu Bakar of Jolapara village in Pirgachha upazila.
Family sources said Abu Bakar, son of late Mohir Uddin, married Angura Begum, daughter of Abul Kalam of Teletary village in Kaunia upazila, 12 years ago.
Police said Abu Bakar used to torture Angura to realise Tk 50,000 as dowry. But her poor father failed to give the money.
On June 27, Abu Bakar, following a quarrel over the issue, poured kerosene on Angura and set her ablaze, leaving her critically injured.
SSource : The Daily Star
600 sacks TR wheat seized
Around 600 sacks of government wheat meant for test relief (TR) programme were recovered from a launch at Majhirghat on the Bhoirab River in Sadar upazila yesterday morning. Acting on a tip-off, a team of Coast Guard conducted a drive and seized the wheat worth Tk 7.2 lakh from the launch, MV Rana Reza, at around 7:30am. Later, the team arrested the launch master, M Syed Hawladar, 38, of Jhalakati. Coast Guard sources said a gang brought the wheat here from Jhalakati for selling it on the black market. The wheat was sanctioned for 16 projects under test relief (TR) programme in Kanthalia upazila of Jhalakathi, they said. The seized wheat was later handed over to Sadar police. A case was filed.
Source : The Daily Star
Obituary: Shahadat Hossain
Shahadat Hossain, a Baufal upazila correspondent of the Dainik Inqilab and also professor of Baufal Degree College, passed away at Apollo Hospital in the city on Saturday at the age of 56.
He was the founding secretary of Baufal Press Club.
He left behind his wife, one son and three daughters.
He was buried at his family graveyard at Jomaddar House in Baufal after namaz-e-janaza yesterday.
Source : The Daily Star
Row Over Bill: Restaurant employees beat up 4 BCL men
At least four activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) of Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University unit including its general secretary were injured after being beaten by a restaurant's employees over paying the bill in the city's Mohammadpur yesterday.
The injured General Secretary Alamgir Sarwar alias Mamun was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital while the three others were given first aid.
Police held two people -- Syed Hossainur Islam Talukder, a relative of the owner of the restaurant Anurag at Mirpur road; and employee Rakib Hasan -- in this connection.
Some of the university students said the three students engaged in an altercation with the restaurant's employees over the bill around 3:00pm. They called Mamun over phone and he also engaged in a scuffle with the employees.
At one point, the employees took them inside the restaurant, pulled the shutters down and beat them, they added.
The locals said some of the university students used to pay less, which might have triggered the incident.
Sub-Inspector Sheikh Md Sirajdullah of Mohammadpur Police Station said the university Proctor Hasanuzzaman Akand filed a case naming five people and at least six others unidentified in this connection.
Source : The Daily Star
Obituary: Nurul Islam
Journalist Nurul Islam passed away due to old age complications at his Monipur residence in Gazipur yesterday at the age of 75.
Islam, who was associated with progressive politics and jailed for five years during the Ayub Khan's martial law, worked at the Bangladesh Observer, Ittefaq, New Nation and
Morning Sun during his long career.
Source : The Daily Star
India goes ahead with Tipaimukh project
Indian government is going ahead with its proposed 1,500 megawatt (MW) Tipaimukh hydro power project in Manipur despite objections from non-government organisations (NGO) in India and opposition parties in Bangladesh.
Quoting Prem Chand Pankaj, chairman and managing director of state owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (Neepco), Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) said, "All apprehensions are baseless. The project would be commissioned despite opposition within the country and outside."
A section of environmentalists and activists in Manipur and Bangladesh fear that rivers flowing through the countries could be adversely impacted by the project.
Originally conceptualised and awarded to Neepco in 1999, the project was handed over to a consortium comprising National Hydroelectric Power Corp (NHPC) and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and the Manipur government last year.
Pankaj said, "We would soon ask the government to hand the project back to Neepco for its early commissioning. The delay in execution of the vital power project would create numerous problems."
"Some so called environmentalists and NGOs for the past few years have been campaigning against the project and misleading people," said Pankaj, who took over as Neepco chairman and managing director last month.
Setting aside fears, the senior electrical engineer said only 74 families would be rehabilitated elsewhere due to the implementation of the Rs 8,138 crore (US $1.7 billion) Tipaimukh project.
The project, located on the Barak river under Churachandpur district in western Manipur, is under attack from opposition parties and environmental groups in Bangladesh, which say it could cause desertification in their country.
Part of the Brahmaputra river system, the Barak bifurcates into the Surma and Kushiyara rivers on entering Sylhet district in eastern Bangladesh.
IANS said Bangladesh's opposition party BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a letter also asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop construction of the project.
Incidentally, at the end of the three-day India visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in January last year, a joint communiqué by the two countries said "The prime minister of India reiterated the assurance that India would not take steps on the Tipaimukh project that would adversely impact Bangladesh."
Source : The Daily Star
Dipu Moni off to Saudi Arabia
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni left Dhaka last night for a week-long official visit to Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
Official sources said she will inaugurate Machine Readable Passport (MRP) activities in Riyadh and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for the Bangladeshis working there.
During her three-day stay (July 11-13) in Saudi Arabia, she will also perform Umrah. She is expected to meet her Saudi counterpart and other government high-ups.
Around 20 lakh Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia, official sources.
From Saudi Arabia, she will leave for Abuja, Nigeria to attend the 14th Session of the Developing-8 Council of Ministers on July 14.
Official sources said the D-8 will further encourage member countries to ratify a preferential trade agreement (PTA) this year to boost intra-group trade.
According to D-8 figure, the proposed trade deal would support the target of reaching a total trade volume of 2.8 trillion US dollar by 2020. The total foreign trade of D-8 members reached 1.15 trillion US dollar in 2009, while D-8 intra-group trade volume was only 67 billion US dollar, says the latest data.
Meantime, D-8 members Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Turkey had ratified the PTA while Indonesia was in the process of ratifying it. The population of D-8 is about 1.1 billion.
Source : The Daily Star
Obituary
Mohammad Idris Ali, a freedom fighter and deputy general manager of Janata Bank Limited and also the president of Bangabandhu Parishad of the bank, passed away on Saturday due to cardiac arrest, says a press release.
He left behind his wife, two daughters and one son.
Employees of the bank expressed deep shock over the death and conveyed sympathy to bereaved family members.
Source : The Daily Star
Dyeing factory fined for polluting Turag
The Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday fined a dyeing factory in Kashimpur under Gazipur Tk 13.44 lakh for releasing untreated chemical effluents into the Turag river.
A DoE team, led by director (Enforcement) Mohammad Munir Chowdhury, in a drive on June 16 found the Cotton Club (BD) Ltd's effluent treatment plant (ETP) totally closed, according to a DoE press release.
The DoE officials tested liquid effluent of the factory on the spot and found the level of dissolved oxygen in it was far lower than the standard level.
The enforcement team also found that a total of seven metric tonnes of knit fabrics are dyed at the factory every day.
The factory officials confessed to polluting the river by releasing untreated toxic chemical effluents, said the press release.
The team penalised yesterday its officials for destroying environment and ecology of the Turag river.
The DoE officials set July 31 as the deadline for the factory to install a functional ETP. Otherwise, utility connections to it will be snapped, said the release.
Source : The Daily Star
Formal charge against Sayedee likely today
Prosecutors may place formal charges before the International Crimes Tribunal today against detained Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee in connection with crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War, 1971.
"The formal charges against Sayedee will be pressed tomorrow," Syed Rezaur Rahman, a senior member of the prosecution team, told The Daily Star yesterday.
M Shahinur Islam, the tribunal's registrar confirmed that it will sit at 2:00pm today to hear the formal charges against the detained Jamaat leader.
On May 31 this year, the tribunal directed the prosecutors to press charges against Sayedee through filing a petition by today based on the investigation report and also fixed the same day for the hearing.
Earlier on the same day, investigators handed over the final report to the prosecution team on the allegations against Sayedee.
Also, the prosecutors informed the tribunal about the report during the hearing of Sayedee's bail petition that day.
Md Helaluddin, a member of the tribunal's investigation agency, had submitted over 4,000 pages of probe report and other related documents including compact discs and books as evidence to the Chief Prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo at Old High Court building.
Source : The Daily Star
Appeal for help
Kazi Muhammad Shaifuddin (Shahin), 35, working and living at Saitama, Japan, is a cancer patient and is seriously ill. Doctors at Tokyo University Hospital declared his life expectancy to be six to 12 months, if not operated on immediately. His family property has already been sold and all his belongings together will not be enough to pay for his treatment.
His family and friends appeal to the well-off of society for financial contribution to save his life.
Contributions can be sent by contacting Hoq Md Emdadul at phone #080-5515-3921 and Asraful Islam Shelly at phone #090-6102-6563.
Source : The Daily Star
Stray dog culling drive launched in city
Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) culled 17 stray dogs in a drive it launched yesterday in the city's Gulistan area after 27 people were bitten in different parts of the city on July 8.
DCC Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Md Azmot Ali said, "We have a regular culling programme for stray dogs but it needs more manpower."
The number of stray dogs in the city recently increased due to lesser culling after objections from animal rights groups and migration of dogs from flood affected areas, said DCC sources.
Some animal rights organisations like Obhoyaranna and Hands and Paws are voicing against the culling and advocating for neutering and vaccination to counter the spread of disease and reducing numbers.
Vets suggested a comprehensive programme for stray dogs including mass neutering and vaccination, licensing of pet dogs and culling of the sick to effectively deal with the problem.
Reportedly, 2,000 people and 10,000 animals die after being bitten by stray dogs every year in the country, added the sources.
Gulshan Pet Animal Clinic in the city's Gulshan 2 provides free animal vaccination from 8:00am to 11:00am on the first Friday of each month.
Source : The Daily Star
Hearing on recruitment July 14
The Supreme Court yesterday extended for a week its chamber judge's order upholding the actions of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for appointing two chartered account firms for auditing functions of mobile phone operators--Grameenphone and Banglalink.
An eight-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain yesterday passed the extension order following a leave to appeal petition filed by BTRC seeking stay on the HC order.
The apex court also fixed July 14 for hearing the leave to appeal.
Source : The Daily Star
Five bombs seized in Ctg, three arrested
Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) recovered five improvised explosive devices, 300 grammes of sulphur (used in making bombs), a handwritten letter and a walkie-talkie from a building at Bandartila area here yesterday.
Police detained three people including Mujibur Rahman, 45, son of the building's owner Mohammad Aziz; and two tenants Shafiqul Islam Munir, 30, and Raju Sikder, 24, in this connection.
Police, on information, raided the four-storied "Aziz Building" at Hundalpara around 3:00pm and recovered the items from a store room on the top floor.
Deputy Commissioner Kushum Dewan of port zone said a CMP Bomb Disposal Unit examined and took the bombs away to CMP headquarters.
Assistant Commissioner AKM Emran Bhuiyan said the recovered letter, addressed to one "Mujib bhai", contains some directions of armed operations and about an AK-47 rifle.
He said 17 hartal supporters were arrested from near the building in the morning when they tried to bring out a procession and police are investigating whether they had any connection with the bombs.
Source : The Daily Star
Assault on Abdin: Court orders probe
A Dhaka court yesterday ordered the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner to take legal action, upon investigation, against the policemen responsible for the assault on Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque.
Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Azad delivered the order after a BNP lawmaker filed an attempt-to-murder case with the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, accusing 25 policemen. The accused include Additional Deputy Commissioner Harun-or-Rashid and Assistant Commissioner of Mohammadpur zone Biplob Sarker.
Meanwhile, UK High Commissioner in Dhaka Stephen Evans and Jon Danilowicz, political and economic counsellor of the US Embassy in Dhaka, yesterday visited Farroque in the city's United Hospital, reports UNB. Farroque was admitted to the hospital on July 6 with severe head injuries.
The court yesterday also asked DMP Commissioner Benazir Ahmed to submit a report by August 10 on the development of the investigation.
The plaintiff, MP ABM Ashraf Uddin Nizan, from Laxmipur-4, in the case statement named 13 other BNP lawmakers including Syeda Afia Ashrafi Papia as witnesses.
In the complaint, Nizan said a total of 22 lawmakers led by Farroque brought out a procession on Manik Mia Avenue around 7:50am on the first day of the opposition-sponsored 48-hour hartal.
But two police officers along with their forces in a pre-planned way stopped them and hurled abuse at them. They also beat up the BNP leader leaving him seriously injured, says the case statement.
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police after a few hours of the incident filed a case accusing 10 to 12 people including Farroque of assaulting policemen.
On Thursday, Nizan went to the police station to lodge a case against the two senior police officers in connection with the assault on Farroque, but police refused to record it.
He was told that as there was already a case against Farroque, they could not file the case without permission from the higher authorities.
Sanaullah Miah and Taherul Islam Towhid appeared for the complainant.
In a latest development yesterday, the DMP commissioner transferred the investigation charge of the case to the Detective Branch of police, said DMP sources.
Source : The Daily Star
River Directives: 11 top govt officials face contempt charge
A rights organisation yesterday filed a petition with the High Court against 11 government officials including five secretaries for not fully implementing its directives on protecting the four rivers in and around the capital from encroachment and pollution.
The officials facing the contempt of court charges are secretaries to the ministries of planning, finance, shipping, communications and water resources, directors general of departments of land record and survey, and environment, chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, and deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur.
Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed the petition seeking the court's order asking them to appear before it and explain why they did not fully comply with all its directives regarding the protection of the Buriganga, Shitalakkhya, Turag and Balu rivers.
In response to a writ petition filed by HRPB, the HC on June 25, 2009 ordered the government officials to take steps to remove all structures, piles of garbage and deposits of sand and soil from the rivers, setup boundary pillars, construct walkways on the bank of the rivers and dredge those by November 30, 2010.
Following a government petition, the HC on October 30 last year extended the deadline until May 30 this year.
Petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told The Daily Star that the respondents have started executing the HC directives. But they did not fully implement all the directives within the deadline, which "constitutes contempt of court".
Hearing on the contempt petition may be held today, he added.
Source : The Daily Star
Tk 23 lakh mugged in city
Muggers took away around Tk 23 lakh from employees of two companies at Badda and Jatrabari in the city yesterday.
Sub-Inspector Delwar Hossain of Badda Police Station said armed criminals held four employees of JR Corporation at gun point and snatched Tk 18 lakh from their possession at about 10:30am.
The employees were going to the National Bank, Pragati Sarani branch from their office at Joarshahara of Kuril to deposit the money.
When they reached in front of the bank, three youths riding on a motorbike halted them and snatched the money, the SI said adding that the snatchers left the scene firing blank shots.
The criminals also stabbed Moinul Islam, 22, assistant storekeeper of the company, in his hand when he tried to resist the miscreants.
Moinul took primary treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, general manager of JR Corporation, filed a case with the police station accusing some unidentified criminals.
Police detained all the four employees, who were present during the snatching incident, for interrogation.
At Jatrabari, snatchers took away Tk 4.84 lakh from an employee of a petrol pump around 12:50pm.
Sub-Inspector Amena Begum of Jatrabari Police Station said three to four criminals held Arifur Rahman, manager of Metro Petrol Pump at South Jatrabari, at gun point and snatched the money.
The muggers left the scene firing blank shots, the SI said.
A case was filed with the police station in this connection.
Source : The Daily Star
School to act finally
Viqarunnisa Noon School and College authorities yesterday decided to take legal and institutional actions against the teachers and staff accused in the case filed for sexually abusing a class-X student of its Bashundhara branch.
According to the school's governing body decision, Principal Husne Ara Begum and branch-in-charge Lutfur Rahman, among others, will face such actions if allegations of protecting the culprit against them are proven.
The decision came at a meeting between the governing body and the education secretary at the latter's secretariat office.
Earlier, the body sat at the school's conference room to discuss the latest situation of the school, one of the most sought after educational institutions in the country.
"We have discussed the latest situation and decided to take action against those involved with the incident," said Dilip Roy, member of the governing body, who presided over the meeting.
Barun Chandra Barman of commerce department and Abdul Kalam Azad of religion studies are also to face actions if found guilty, he told The Daily Star.
The two are now on temporary suspension.
Porimol Joydhor, a Bangla teacher at the school's Bashundhara branch, allegedly violated a student when she went to his coaching centre at his Badda residence.
According to her written complaint to the school authorities, Porimol sexually assaulted her for the first time on May 28 and again on June 17.
The school authorities fired Porimol on July 5. Law enforcers arrested Porimol the day after upon a sexual assault case against him filed by the victim's father.
School Principal Husne Ara Begum and Bashundhara branch-in-charge Lutfur Rahman are also accused in the case.
The students and guardians have been demonstrating for the last few days for exemplary punishment to Porimol and withdrawal of the branch-in-charge for "helping the culprit and destroying evidence".
The victim is now undergoing treatment in Singapore.
Also yesterday, the governing body in a press release expressed deep concern over the situation at the school and solidarity with the demand of students and guardians.
Source : The Daily Star
Hartal Arson: Victim loses battle for life after 4 days
Mosharraf Hossain, the only breadwinner of a six-member family, succumbed yesterday to burns he suffered when miscreants torched a truck in Natore on Wednesday during hartal hours.
Mosharraf died at Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital at about 1:30am.
Mango trader Mosharraf and two others were injured when a band of six to seven persons set fire to a mango-laden truck on Natore-Dhaka highway at the district headquarters around 11:30pm Wednesday, the first day of the 48-hour shutdown called by BNP and its allies.
Mosharraf, son Ayub Ali of village Goshal Shikdarkandi under Jajira upazila in Shariatpur, lived at Hazaribagh area with his family members for the sake of business.
His mother Meherjan told The Daily Star that of her five children one daughter was married off. She was living with other four.
As her husband, a banana vendor, is seriously ill, the responsibility of the family fell on Mosharraf.
She does not know how she would bear educational expenses of her three children and treatment of her husband.
On Tuesday Mosharraf left for Rajshahi with about Tk 1 lakh to buy mangoes to sell those in the capital.
He was returning in the truck on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, Mosharraf told his mother that the gang threw some liquid on the truck. In no time the vehicle caught fire.
Before he jumped off the truck, his body was seriously burnt.
Mosharraf's family members now demand support from the government. They did not get any help from anybody while Mosharraf was in hospital with 95 percent burns, they said.
The mangoes he bought have been lost and they have already borrowed Tk 50,000 to bear the expenses of his treatment.
They also demanded punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.
Police on Thursday arrested five BNP activists -- Rafiqul Islam, Alam Hossain, Masud Rana and Mamunur Rashid and Mamun Hossain -- for their alleged involvement in the arson.
Truck owner Rafiqul Islam lodged a case with Natore Police Station accusing 50 people in this connection on Thursday noon, our Natore Correspondent adds.
Abdullah-Al-Mamun, officer-in-charge of the police station, said, they are preparing to pray to the court to register it as a murder case.
Source : The Daily Star
Thailand set for return to ‘Thaksinomics’
Riding a wave of support among rural voters, Thailand's incoming premier plans a raft of populist measures to narrow the rich-poor divide, at the risk of higher inflation and public debt.
A rise in the minimum wage, increased rice prices for farmers and free tablet computers for primary school students are some of the promises that helped propel former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's Puea Thai Party to victory.
The one-time billionaire telecoms tycoon, who was ousted by the military in 2006 after five years in power, is adored by Thailand's rural poor for his populist policies such as cheap healthcare and microcredit schemes.
Now his sister Yingluck is set to follow in his footsteps as Thailand's first female premier, marking a return to her brother's expansionary policies targeting the rural poor that came to be known as 'Thaksinomics'.
'The concept of the policies is good because it focuses on how to resolve the vicious circle of poverty,' said Thanawat Pholwichai, head of economic forecasting at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
'But Puea Thai has to implement it carefully,' he added.
Thailand has made great strides in reducing poverty, with 8.1 per cent of the population living below the national poverty line in 2009, one of the lowest rates in developing Asia, according to the World Bank.
But there are significant inequalities in the distribution of wealth, particularly between Bangkok and the rural northeast, the heartland of Thaksin's 'Red Shirt' supporters.
The richest 20 per cent of Thai households account for nearly half of total household incomes, the Asian Development Bank estimates.
'When people have more income they will spend more and that will boost the economy,' Thanawat said. 'But it is also risky. There are concerns that Puea Thai's populist policies will cause higher inflation.'
Inflation in Thailand is relatively contained for now at about four per cent, lower than the levels in many other Asian nations.
But growing price pressures could lead the central bank to extend its series of interest rate rises — attracting more capital inflows, driving up the value of the baht and affecting the competitiveness of exports, analysts said.
The effects of Yingluck's policies are likely to be felt further afield than just Thailand, the world's top rice exporter.
She has promised rice farmers a minimum price of 15,000 baht per tonne, much higher than the current market price of less than 10,000 baht.
'It will be the highest rice price in the world,' said Korbsook Iamsuri, director of the Thai Rice Exporters Association.
'It will definitely affect our exports. With this price, we can sell our white rice only after Vietnam sells all its rice,' she told the AFP.
There are also concerns about the impact on Thai companies of a proposed 40-per cent increase in the daily minimum wage to 300 baht, about $10, although the impact should be cushioned by a cut in the corporate tax.
The biggest worry is for small and mid-sized firms, the bedrock of the Thai economy, said Mark Monson, a fund manager at Vienna-based Raiffeisen Capital Management.
'Their margins are thin already. Will they have to fire people? It could put pressure on job and labour growth,' he warned.
For now investors appear largely unfazed: Thai stocks surged 4.5 per cent last week as news of a decisive win by Puea Thai in the July 3 vote raised hopes of a return to political stability after years of turmoil.
The Thai baht also rose sharply and extended its gains after Yingluck, who is widely seen as Thaksin's political proxy, said the value of the currency would continue to be determined by market forces.
Jitters about the new policies are tempered by optimism about the robust health of the Thai economy, despite years of political unrest and a series of sometimes-bloody opposition street protests.
Source : New Age
China June import growth weakest in 20 months
China's import growth fell sharply to its slowest pace in 20 months in June in further evidence of the broad impact of monetary tightening on the economy, while a wider trade surplus suggested capital inflows will remain a challenge for authorities.
The substantial drop in June import growth, which decelerated to a 19.3 per cent annual pace from May's 28.4 per cent, is bound to heighten investor concerns about how swiftly the world's second-largest economy is slowing.
But, coming a day after data showed June inflation hit a 3-year peak, analysts took the jump in the trade surplus as a sign that China might have to raise rates further, both to rein in prices and to combat capital inflows.
'The trade surplus surged in June,' said Liu Li-Gang, an economist with ANZ.
Source : New Age
Lagarde warns on US debt default
New IMF chief Christine Lagarde warned Sunday that a US debt default would jeopardise global economic stability and urged warring American politicians to forge a compromise budget deal.
A default 'would certainly jeopardise the stability, but not just the stability of the US economy, it would jeopardise the stability at large,' the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund told ABC News.
'And that's clearly against the purpose and the mission of the International Monetary Fund. So we are — we are concerned.'
Without an agreement, she said she could see 'interest hikes, stock markets taking a huge hit and real nasty consequences, not just for the United States, but for the entire global economy, because the US is such a big player and matters so much for other countries.'
Source : New Age
Luxury brands riding high on stock market
Purveyors of luxury and indulgence flirted with record stock market valuations last week as investors looked past a litany of bad economic figures and the eurozone debt crisis to focus on the fundamentals.
Dealers said successful share floats for such fashion icons as Prada in Hong Kong — a key market for investors and buyers alike — and Salvatore Ferragamo in Milan boosted interest and offered the prospect of further gains.
Asia shines like a beacon for the companies, where a fast growing middle class is chasing the good life as emerging economies in China, India and across the region throw off wealth as never before.
Upcoming first half results are also expected to be stellar, with many expecting an exceptional performance from the likes of LVMH, which runs a stable of global brand names from perfumes to wines and champagne.
'2011 could be a record year in regards to margins, sales and share prices,' Francois Arpels, chief executive at investment bank Bryan Garnier said.
The sector does look promising. According to consultancy Bain & Company, the global market for luxury goods and services should grow by eight per cent this year, pushed by 25 per cent gains in China and 15 per cent in the rest of the Asia Pacific.
Source : New Age
Tokyo investors brace for profit-taking
Investors are bracing for profit-taking in Tokyo this week after the Nikkei index reached its highest level since the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster, dealers said Friday.
'We see some signs that Japanese shares are overheating a bit,' said Katsuhiro Kondo, market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. 'It won't be surprising if profit-taking starts to kick in at anytime.'
In the week to July 8, the benchmark Nikkei index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 2.73 per cent, or 269.66 points, to 10,137.73, a four-month high at close on Friday.
The Nikkei index topped the 10,200 mark in early Friday trading for the first time since the March 11 disaster. The Nikkei had plunged after closing at 10,254.43 on the day of the disaster. The Topix index of all first section shares rose 4.94 per cent, or 41.14 points, to 833.20.
Tokyo shares were buoyed as optimism about a recovery in US employment conditions and a weaker yen supported exporters.
Investors were closely watching official US employment data due out later Friday after jobs figures from the payrolls firm ADP showed gains for June, Kondo said.
Source : New Age
Change in temperature unlikely
Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at many places over the Chittagong and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over the Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna and Barisal divisions till 6:00pm today.
Moderately heavy falls are also likely at places, the Meteorology Office said in a forecast on Sunday.
Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.
The sun sets in Dhaka today at 6:49pm and rises tomorrow at 5:19am.
The country's highest temperature, 35.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Sunday in Jessore and the lowest, 25.0 degrees Celsius, in Rangpur.
Source : New Age
Miscreants wound 2 SUST students
Miscreants wounded two students of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet on Saturday night.
The injured are the university's fourth year civil and environmental engineering bachelor's students Farid Munnaf and Tawhidul Islam.
Local people said six miscreants, led by Salman and Pappu, swooped on Farid at about 11:00pm, when he, along with Tawhidul, was returning to the campus.
They also attacked Tawhidul as he tried to save Farid, the people said.
Later, local people took them to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital.
Farid said that Pappu and Salman threatened him of murder about two years ago as he taught some students privately in the area and the attackers were hostile to him.
Source : New Age
5 bombs recovered in Ctg
The Chittagong Metropoli-tan Police on Sunday afternoon recovered five bombs, some explosives and a walkie-talkie from a building at Bandartila in the city and arrested three persons in connection with this.
CMP sources said, on secrete information, a Bandar police team raided the Aziz Building at Hundalpara at Bandartila and recovered the bombs from a storeroom on the top floor of the four-storey building at about 3:00pm.
CMP assistant commissioner AKM Emran Bhuiyan said the seized five Improvised Explosive Devices, a walkie-talkie, about 300 grams of Sulphur and a letter at the spot.
The arrested are Mujibur Rahman, 45, son of the building owner Mohammad Aziz, and two tenants of the building, Shafiqul Islam Munir, 30 and Raju Sikder, 24.
Source : New Age
Accommodation crisis acute at BL College
The students, especially the female ones, of Government BL College, have long been facing severer accommodation crisis.
The seven dormitories — five for the male and two for the female — can accommodate only 577 students while more than 23,000 students read in the college, with 40 per cent of them being females, official sources said, adding that there were only 188 seats for the female students.
As a result, more than 22 thousand students, of whom almost 80 per cent come from out of the Khulna city, have to reside in private dormitories, which in most cases lack congenial atmosphere and are shabby, insecure and, on top of all these, costly.
The female students are the worst sufferers because of the accommodation crisis.
Economics honours student Mrittunjoy Das, who hails from remote village Kanaidia in Shatkhira and resides in a private dormitory at Roypara Cross Road in the city, told New Age that he had to spend Tk 2,500 per month for meal charge meal and dormitory fare.
He said his father was a farmer and the only earning member of his family and it was difficult for him to bear this expense.
Philosophy department student Mukti Pal, who hails from another remote village Mahamudkati under Paikgachha in Khulna and resides in a private dormitory at Banikpara near the college, told New Age that they felt unsecured in the private dormitories where proper atmosphere for study was absent.
Admitting the severe accommodation crisis and insecurity involved in residing in private dormitories, especially for female students, the college principle, Professor Shafiullah Sardar, said they were going to construct a 100-seated hall for the female students under the project of Development of Post Graduate Colleges.
He said the soil test of the spot had already been completed and the Education Engineering Department had already prepared the design of the building.
The college has higher secondary, degree pass course, degree honours course in 14 subjects and Master's course in 15 subjects.
Source : New Age
Illegal cloths seized in Ctg
Customs intelligence officials seized an illegal consignment of cloths worth about Tk 35 lakh at the Chittagong port.
Customs officials said an organisation—Harvour Sweater Industry at Savar—made contract for bringing polyester fabrics with minimum duty taking advantage of bond facility.
Violating the condition of contract, they imported costly suite cloths of cent per cent duty, evading huge amount of revenue.
Customs officials became suspicious when the goods containing one container were passing through Newmooring Container Terminal of the port on July 3.
The consignment was seized at the NCT gate.
The officials became sure about the false consignment on Sunday after verification.
Source : New Age
Nurul Islam dies
Journalist Nurul Islam died of old age complications at his Manipur residence in Gazipur on Sunday at the age of seventy-five.
Nurul Islam, who was associated with progressive left politics for long time and served in jail for five years during Ayub Khan's Marshal Law, worked at the Bangladesh Observer, Ittefaq, New Nation and Morning Sun during his long career.
He was buried at a graveyard near his residence.
Source : New Age
Giasuddin Ahmad’s qul khwani today
The qul khwani of Giasuddin Ahmad, a Bangla-desh Public Service Commi-ssion former member, will be held in Dhaka today.
A prayers session will be held at Mahakhali DOHS mosque after asar prayers today on the occasion.
His friends and well wishers were requested to join the prayer session.
He died on July 7 at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital and buried at Mohammad-pur graveyard, said a press release.
Giasuddin Ahmad was also former chairman of Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation and director Bangladesh Chemi-cal Industries Corporation.
Source : New Age
Teacher arrested for violating student
The police arrested a teacher of Debgram High School in Akhaura upazila for allegedly violated a girl student of Class VI.
Shamsul Alam Polash, 36, the teacher, seduced Beauty (not the real name) to fall in his arms in the classroom when all left for home at the end of the day on June 29. The philanderer deflowered her.
The incident was leaked and the villagers came to know. The elders tried in vain to settle the matter at a meeting of reconciliation.
Finally, the father of the girl Sunday lodged a complaint with Akhaura thana. Soon the police arrested Shamsul Alam.
Source : New Age
Tk 18 lakh snatched in capital
Tk 18 lakh were snatched from employees of a group of companies from capital's Kuril Bishaw Road area Sunday morning.
Witnesses said four muggers riding on two motorbikes stopped five employees of JR Corporation, a sister concern of Akij Group at Joarshahara at about 11:00am and snatched the money.
The employees including assistant manager Abdullahil and store officer Mainul were going to deposit the money at National Bank of Kuril branch at Hakim Plaza on Progoti Sarani under Badda police station.
When they reached near the bank, the muggers intercepted them. As the gangsters tried to snatch the money, Mainul tried to resist them.
The muggers stabbed him and fired three rounds in the air while fleeing the scene. Mainul was admitted to a hospital.
Harun-ur-Rashid, general manager of the JR Corporation, filed a case with Badda police station.
Source : New Age
Sahara orders more cops in suburbs
The home minister has ordered an increase in the number of policemen at the district level.
Her order came following a remark from the inspector general that law enforcers fall victims to picketers in suburban areas.
Sahara Khatun visited Square Hospital to see additional superintendent of police Saidur Rahman who was injured in a clash with hartal supporters at Fatullah on Sunday.
Twelve parties, mostly Islamist, enforced a 30-hour countrywide shutdown.
Inspector general Hasan Mahmud Khandaker told Sahara after the visit that picketers were concentrating on suburban areas and policemen were getting outnumbered and beaten up.
Sahara instructed him to increase the number of policemen in those areas.
'We also observed hartal. We used to get beaten up by the police. But now the picketers attack the police with large canes,' she said.
She also praised the police for their patience during the Fatullah clash.
Asked about civilians seen aiding the police in battling the picketers, she said, 'People do not support hartal. So they resisted it.'
Source : New Age
2 murdered within 72 hours in Mehendiganj in Barisal
Two people—an old man and a female—were killed in two separate incidents within 72-hour in Mehendiganj upazila in Barisal district and police arrested three, including a female, in connection with the murders.
Police and Barisal SBMCH morgue sources said the slaughtered dead body of Hossen Ali, 65, was recovered from his home at Dadpur village under Char Ekkaria union of Mehendiganj upazila on Sunday morning.
Zulfikar Md. Gajjali, officer-in-charge of Mehendiganj police station, said the victim was alone in his home as other members of his family had gone to visit his elder daughter's house in another village in Char Hogla.
Police recovered his body at about 11am on Sunday after neighbour informed them. The body was sent to Barisal SBMCH morgue for autopsy.
Family sources said Hossen Ali had old rivalry with the family members of his uncle-in-law Karam Ali over land disputes.
Khalek Biswas, one of the sons of his uncle-in-law, was detained for interrogation by police and preparation for filling a case was being taken till writing this report.
In another incident, Amena Begum, 56, mother of Kalam Dewan, was beaten to death by opponents over land dispute at Darir Char Khajuria village under the same upazila on Thursday night.
Police sources said Kalam Dewan had disputes over a piece of land with neighbour Monir Gharami.
Kalam was beaten by Monir and his associates on Thursday night and his mother Amena was also injured by beating while she tried to save her son. She succumbed to her on early on Friday.
A case was lodged by Kalam and police arrested Monir Gharami and his wife Masuda Begum in this connection on the same night, police said.
Source : New Age
Govt intensifies repression to cling to power: BNP
The Awami League-led government's fear that it would lose the next election prompted it to intensify repression to crush the opposition, BNP standing committee member Rafiqul Islam Mia said on Sunday.
Speaking at a meeting of lawyers he said that Awami League knows too well that it would lose a fair election held under a non-partisan caretaker government.
That's why, he said, the AL led government was preparing to hold the next elections under its own supervision to be able to be able to continue in power.
The meeting was hosted by Jatiyatabadi Lawyers' Forum at the hall room of the Supreme Court in protest against police assaults during last week's 48-hour hartal on the opposition chief whip Zainul Abdin Farroque in the capital city and on lawyers in Khulna.
He said that the Awami League led government's popularity sharply declined in last two and a half years for failing to keep its pre election commitments to the people. He said that the government did nothing for the people.
That's why, he said, the AL led government intensified repression to silence the opposition.
He said that with the same objective the government withdrew all cases against ruling Awami League men while it was filing 'false' against BNP leaders and workers.
Mia said that the Awami League led government 'stifled democracy' in Bangladesh by its repression of the opposition.
He said that the entire government was behind the police assault on Farroque, now under treatment at a hospital.
BNP joint secretary general Mahbubuddin Khokan, lawyers Joynal Abedin, Nitai Roy Chowdhury and Gias Uddin Ahmed spoke, among others.
Mia said that Awami League had darkened the country's history in 1975 by introducing one-party BKSAL rule.
He said that now Sheikh Hasina was treading the path of her father by amending the Constitutions to reestablish Awami League's grip on power.
He said that Sheikh Hasina also dropped from the preamble of the Constitution the inscription that 'absolute trust faith in the Almighty Allah' as one of the fundamental principles of the constitution.
Mahbubuddin Khokan, also a Supreme Court lawyer, said that the AL led government was wrong in stating that the rules of procedure allowed no procession or gathering in and around the parliament complex.
He said, 'This provision is not applicable for Members of Parliament, because they can hold demonstrations in and around the parliament complex.'
He said that the prime minister and the home minister ought to apologise for such misinterpretation of the Rules of Procedure of parliament.
Source : New Age
India firm on Tipaimukh hydel power project
The Indian government is going ahead with its proposed 1,500MW Tipaimukh hydel power project in Manipur despite objections from NGOs in India and opposition parties in neighbouring Bangladesh.
Quoting Prem Chand Pankaj, chairman-cum-managing director of the state-owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd, IANS said 'All apprehensions are baseless. The mega hydel power project would be commissioned despite opposition within the country and outside.'
A section of environmentalists and activists in Manipur and Bangladesh fear that the project would adversely impact rivers in that country.
Originally conceptualised and awarded to NEEPCO in 1999, the giant power project was handed over to a consortium comprising National Hydroelectric Power Corp and Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and the Manipur government last year.
Pankaj said: 'We would soon ask the government to hand back the project again to NEEPCO for its early commissioning. The delay in execution of the vital power project would create numerous problems.'
'Some so-called environmentalists and NGOs for the past few years have been campaigning against the project and misleading people,' said Pankaj, who took over as NEEPCO CMD last month.
Setting aside fears, the senior electrical engineer said only 74 families would be rehabilitated elsewhere due to the implementation of the Rs 8,138-crore ($1.7-billion) Tipaimukh project.
The project, located on the River Barak under Churachandpur district in western Manipur, is under attack from opposition parties and environmental groups in Bangladesh, which say it could cause desertification in their country.
Part of the Brahmaputra river system, the Barak bifurcates into the Surma and Kushiyara rivers on entering Sylhet in eastern Bangladesh.
IANS said Bangladesh's opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia in a letter also asked the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, to stop construction of the project.
Incidentally, at the end of the three-day India visit of the Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in January last year, a joint communique by the two countries had said: 'The prime minister of India reiterated the assurance that India would not take steps on the Tipaimukh project that would adversely impact Bangladesh.'
Additionally, a 10-member Bangladeshi parliamentary delegation conducted an aerial survey of the Tipaimukh dam in July 2009 after opposition over the hydel project's possible ecological impact intensified in Dhaka.
Source : New Age
Obaidul asks BCL not to elect leaders with bad image
Awami League presidium member Obaidul Quader has asked the councillors of Bangladesh Chhatra League not to elect those who have already earned bad image to the new committee.
Obaidul, former president of the Chhatra League, made the remarks at the inaugural session of the two-day 27th central council of the BCL at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on Sunday.
He said Chhatra League could not suffer for few tender manipulators, hooligans and cheats.
Obaidul said the new leadership of Chhatra League would have to be educated, talented, brave and honest.
He blamed the absence of student unions in educational institutions for present leadership crisis in students' organisations.
'When a student leader would think of his acceptability among general students and when he/she would compete for the leadership, it would be difficult for them to get involved in any evil act,' Obaidul said.
He also urged the opposition party to help the government root out militancy and communalism from the country.
Obaidul said the liberation war of 1971 was a glory of every citizen of Bangladesh. 'Let us work together to uphold the glory,' he requested the opposition party.
Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, prime minister's son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed, outgoing BCL president Mahmud Hasan Ripon and general secretary Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury Rotan also spoke on the occasion.
Ashraf said Bangladesh Chhatra League had not only produced heroes, but also betrayers.
He said Chhatra League had contributed to the nation's democratic movements as well as played important role in leading the affairs of the state.
Ashraf also praised the student community's role during the political crisis under the last army-backed caretaker government.
Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed said today's BCL leaders were the future leaders of the nation.
He wished successful council to elect new BCL leaders.
Earlier, the Awami League president prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, inaugurated the council.
Source : New Age
Bus drivers and helpers given a raw deal by employers
The drivers and workers of inter-city buses have no respite even on the days of hartal as they pass a busy time cleaning and repairing their vehicles at the terminals.
Instead of wages they are paid only the cost of their meals on the day, said Russel Sheikh, a helper of Sharbik Paribahan that plies the Dhaka-Madaripur route.
Russel, who was helping the mechanics to repair the bus at Gabtali inter-district terminal, said that his family badly misses his daily income of about Tk 200 on hartal days.
'We don't have any home in Dhaka and that is why we have to sleep in the bus in spite of the mosquitoes that bite us throughout the night,' said driver Md Abdullah of Shoukhin Paribahan that plies the Dhaka-Khulna route.
Abdullah, who was gossiping with some of his colleagues at the same terminal, said sadly that they cannot leave the buses to enjoy their holidays with friends and family, as other people do.
On hartal days, he said, they had to spend more than other days as they have to take tea, snacks and cigarettes either out of sheer boredom or to ease the ache of being away from their families.
'After completing each trip, I go to my home in Gazipur and teach my children,' Quamrul Hasan Kanak, a driver of Hanif Paribahan which plies the Dhaka-Chittagong route, told New Age. 'But due to hartal, I had to stay at the terminal to help in the repairing and cleaning of my bus. I lighten my homesickness by talking to the children over my mobile.'
He said that a driver gets Tk 1,000, supervisor Tk 700 and helper Tk 500 for each up-and-down trip, but they get nothing if there is no trip.
According to official sources in Association of Bus Companies, around 29,000 buses ply the various long inter-district routes, and use the Gabtoli, Mohakhali and Syedabad inter-district bus terminals.
Almost one-third of the total number of buses were stationed at the three terminals on Sunday, they said. A good number of buses were kept in different garages for repair work and for security, they added.
The bus owners' association president, Rafiqul Islam Kajal, told New Age that though some companies pay for the food of their staff, many of them do not, forcing their employees to spend their own money on food.
Source : New Age
Feral dogs bite 500 in city in a week
Incidents of dog bite have increased alarmingly with nearly 500 cases reported in the city and from its suburbs in the last six days, officials said.
The Infectious Disease Hospital in Mohakhali recorded 110 patients on Saturday, 79 on Friday and 281 in the previous four days. They were given anti-rabies vaccination after dog bites.
'It is alarming,' said Jagodish Chandra Ghosh, a senior consultant at the IDH. 'But we have been giving intra-dermal rabies vaccine since July 2010 to prevent rabies,' he added.
After a meeting on Saturday, the government asked officials concerned to intensify the anti-rabies vaccination campaign, sources in the meeting told New Age.
Physicians at the IDH said that attacks by feral
dogs had increased in recent times despite drives against mad dogs by the Dhaka City Corporation.
The DCC kills up to 20,000 feral and rabid dogs a year, amid concerns that rabies has become a major killer in the country.
The government said more than 2,000 people died of rabies in Bangladesh annually, the highest in the world.
The IDH sources said that more than 15,000 people took treatment for animal bites at the hospital since January this year.
Eighty-two per cent of the cases were dog bites and 56 per cent of the victims were under 15 years old. Of the dogs, 71 per cent were feral dogs, 21 rabid dogs and the rest pet dogs, according to a sample survey done by, SM Emran Ali, general secretary of the Association for Prevention and Control of Rabies in Bangladesh.
On Friday, at least 48 people, a number of them children, were injured in dog bites at Moghbazar, Uttara, Agargaon, Karwanbazar, Gabtali, Malibagh, Lalbagh, Jinjira, Azimpur, Mirpur, Khilgaon, Keraniganj, Shyamali, Gulistan and other places of the capital.
DCC officials, however, disputed the hospital figures of dog-attacks claiming that their teams regularly kill feral dogs despite protests from animal rights activists.
Incidents of dog bite increases during mating season in July-September when they usually go mad and bite people without provocation, causing infectious diseases, Emran Ali told New Age.
The DCC, which spends Tk 40,000 per month to kill dogs, has estimated more than 50, 000 dogs in the capital.
Every year more than 20,000 dogs are culled in and around Dhaka city alone, sources said.
Animal rights organisations said they supported the anti-rabies drive but demanded an end to the brutal methods used to kill dogs, including breaking their necks with tongs and beating them to death.
An animal rights activist, Rubaiya Ahmed, said 'humane' methods should be used to control the dog population.
'Considering their calls,' the DCC chief health officer, brigadier general Nasir Uddin, told New Age, 'We have planned to sterilise male feral dogs roaming the streets in the capital.
'The decision to sterilise dogs came after animal rights groups protested against culling by lethal injection,' Nasir said.
'The Strategy Plan: Elimination of Rabies in Bangladesh, 2010' says that more than 3, 00,000 people are bitten by animals annually and take post-exposure treatment with nerve tissue vaccine.
Besides, the IDH sources said that IDRV was administrated free of cost under a World Health Organisation programme.
But, a few days after the vaccine became popular, patients need to spend Tk 400 for a four-vaccination course, an official told New Age.
Source : New Age
Stern action if BCL men indulge in crimes: PM
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday warned leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League that stern action would be taken if they deviated from the ideology of the organisation and indulged in crime and corruption.
She also castigated Islamist parties for enforcing hartal without reason.
'Stern action will be taken if any leaders or activists of Chharta League deviate from the ideology of the organisation and indulge in terrorism and corruption,' said Hasina, also the president of Awami League, after inaugurating the 27th council session of BCL, associate body of the party, at the Bangabandhu Conference Centre.
She asked the BCL activists to renounce terrorism and advised them to be more attentive to their studies even at the cost of organisational activities, if necessary.
Hasina said that proper education was a must for good leadership; illiterate leadership could not do the nation any good.
About the 30-hour hartal enforced by some Islamist parties, the prime minister said, 'We have retained Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim in the constitution but they [Islamist organisations] did not find Allah in it. They find Allah in hartal.'
Terming the hartal a flop, Hasina said Islamists should explain how they discovered Allah in hartal.
'If they are ashamed after the unsuccessful hartal, they will never call it again,' she said.
Accusing other political parties, including the AL's arch rival Bangladesh Nationalist Party, of taking to the country to backwards during their rule, the prime minister urged the people to be alert so that anti-liberation forces could not take over the state power again.
She said that the AL-led government was taking the country ahead upholding the spirit of the liberation war and implementing its election manifesto gradually.
The prime minister said the constitution had been amended upholding the spirit of the liberation war. 'Over some points, we considered the sentiment of the people but the rights of all religions and minority communities have been safeguarded,' she added.
Speaking on the occasion, AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam reminded the BCL activists of its glorious past and said that there were many dedicated activists in the BCL, but 'betrayers' were also hiding in the organisation.
AL presidium member Obaidul Kader also urged the leaders and activists to work for restoring the image of the BCL being imbued with a sense of patriotism.
'A few extortionists and tender manipulators should not be allowed to destroy the image of Chhatra League,' he said.
Central leaders of the BCL, including its president Mahmudul Hasan Ripon and general secretary Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury, also addressed the opening session of the two-day council being held after about five years. Senior AL leaders, cabinet members and former BCL leaders were present among others.
Though there is a provision for holding BCL council session every two years, the last council was held on April 4, 2006.
A short-listed central committee would be elected today, the second day of the council, by the councillors and delegates.
A total of 2,500 councillors and 18,000 delegates from all over the country are attending the council session.
The age-limit of BCL members was fixed at 29 years in the last council and it will be applicable this year, BCL leaders said.
Source : New Age
5 secys sued on contempt charges
A rights organisation on Sunday petitioned to the High Court seeking an order on 11 government officials, including five secretaries, to explain why contempt of the court charges should not be drawn against them for violating the court directives to protect four rivers flowing around the city.
In the contempt petition, the Human Rights and Peach for Bangladesh said that secretaries to the ministries of planning, finance, shipping, communications and water resources, directors generals of the departments of land record and survey, and environment, chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, and deputy commissioners of Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur had violated the court's June 25, 2009 verdict that asked them to take steps to save the rivers Buriganga, Balu, Turag and Shitalakhya.
After hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by the organisation, the court, in its directive asked the government officials to take steps to remove all structures, piles of garbage and deposits of sand and soil from the rivers, set up boundary pillars and construct
walkways on the banks of the rivers and dredge those by November 2010.
Following a government petition, the High Court, on October 30, 2010, extended the deadline to execute the order to May 30, 2011 but the authorities failed to take any step to implement it.
The organisation, however, did not accuse the environment and forest secretary of not executing the order as the ministry in reply to its legal notice, said that it had already declared the rivers ecologically critical area in accordance with the directive, and that steps for tree plantation would be taken after construction of walkways or pavements.
But the other authorities did not reply to the legal notice issued by the organisation on July 2 to implement the directives in seven days.
Source : New Age
Hartal marked by sporadic clashes
The first day of the 30-hour countrywide hartal enforced by 12 Islamist parties was marked by sporadic clashes that injured at least 200 people, including 15 policemen, and resulted in the arrest of at least 400 demonstrators.
The main flashpoints were at Panchabati under Fatullah upazila and Kanchpur Bridge of Siddirganj upazila on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway where police and Awami League members clashed with pro-hartal activists, resulting in the injury of at least 50 people, including 10 policemen.
'Panchabati virtually turned into a battlefield during the hour-long clashes in the morning. At least 15 people, who have no connection with the hartal, were also beaten up by AL members,' Golap Ahmed, a former Union Parishad member, told New Age.
Picketers put up barricades on the busy Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Kanchpur, set fire to tyres and also looted a pistol and a shotgun from the police, which were later recovered. The police arrested 13 activists of the Islami
Andolon Bangladesh from the area.
Police used lathis to break up pro-hartal processions in different parts of the capital in the first 12 hours of the hartal, which has the full support of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
However, the BNP and Jamaat activists were not seen on the streets during the hartal called in protest against incorporation of the 'wrong' translation of 'Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim' in the Constitution.
The activists of the AL and its front organisations joined the police in bashing up the picketers, who were mostly attired in Islamic caps and long robes, leaving many of them seriously injured.
In Keraniganj, pro-strike processions came under attack by AL men backed by the police. At least 50 people were injured, 10 of whom were admitted to Mitford and Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Educational institutions remained closed, while banks and some private business houses kept their backdoors open. Government offices, heavily guarded by the police, remained open, though attendance was thin.
Container handling and other activities inside the Chittagong Port remained normal, but goods were not transported.
The railway and airport officials did not report any disruption in the schedule of trains and flights during the hartal. However, no inter-district buses were active during the hartal hours.
A few launches plied various river routes but with fewer passengers, said launch owners.
Although inter-district buses remained totally off the roads, traffic in the capital, Chittagong and some other cities returned to almost normal after 8:00pm.
People in the capital were in a relaxed mood as pro-hartal demonstrators were not given any chance to get a foothold on the streets where smaller vehicles, particularly rickshaws and auto-rickshaws, plied the roads freely without any obstruction from picketers.
Some buses, carrying commuters, also plied the streets without any obstruction. Most the people in the city, however, preferred to remain home instead of going out.
'I stayed home, fearing trouble on the streets, and spent the time with my family,' said Altaf Hossain, an automobile engineer and resident of Mirpur.
Groceries in different parts of the city were open and so were the kitchen markets, although the large shopping malls and supermarkets remained closed.
Syed Mohammad Rezaul Karim, amir of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, said at a press conference that the AL men and police jointly attacked his party members during the hartal, leaving 2,573 injured throughout the country. Of them, 371 who were seriously injured were being treated in hospital or clinics. He claimed that at least 1,251 people were arrested.
He urged the government to release the detained party men and to take immediate steps for restoration of the clause 'Absolute Faith in Allah' in the Constitution.
A faction of the Khelafat Majlis, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Sammilita Ulema Mashaikh Parishad, National Democratic Party, Islami Oikya Andolan, Bangladesh Muslim League, Bangladesh National Awami Party, National Awami Party (Bhasani), Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, Bangladesh Islamic Party and Nezame Islam Party called the hartal on June 30, immediately after the passage of the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Bill.
The hartal, they said, is also in protest against incorporation of the wrong translation of 'Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim' in the Constitution, from which they have demanded the dropping of all the clauses in the National Women Development Policy and the National Education Policy that contradict the strictures of Islam.
Locals said that fierce clashes took place in Siddhirganj between hartal supporters and police at Panchabati when the picketers were trying to barricade the road at around 6:30am.
Several hundreds hartal supporters, mostly activists of Islami Andolon, took to the streets armed with bamboo sticks, chanting slogans against the government, and at one stage vandalized three vehicles.
The pro-hartal activists later clashed with the police whom they pelted with stones and brickbats. At and one stage they surrounded the policemen and beat them up indiscriminately.
At least 10 police personnel, including additional police superintendent Saidur Rahman and Fatullah thana's officer-in-charge Ainul Haque were injured in the attacks by picketers.
Saidur Rahman and Anwar Hossain were rushed to the DMCH as both sustained head injuries. Later, Saidur Rahman was shifted to Square Hospital.
The police and AL activists clashed with picketers at Madaninagar near Kanchpur Bridge on early morning, and at least 20 people were injured. Police lathi-charged the picketers and fired tear shells when they were trying to barricade the busy road. At least one bus was vandalized by them. The picketers left the spot after chased by the police and AL activists.
Later, Chhatra League activists, backed by the police, attacked the people and looted at least 10 shops located on both sides of Madaninagar Madrassah road at around 9:30am.
Police ransacked the houses there and beat up people indiscriminately during the hour-long attack on the houses and business establishments. They also shot one Tofail Ahmed after entering a barbershop. Critically injured, he was admitted to the DMCH.
BCL thugs entered shops and houses and indiscriminately beat up men wearing caps, said Golap Ahmed, a former UP member.
'BCL thugs vandalized 10 shops which were closed in the morning. They broke the locks of the shops and beat up the employees. Tofail was having his hair cut when police shot him in his leg and chest,' he said.
In Chittagong, the police arrested 49 picketers from Kadamtoli, Bahadderhat, Mansurabad, Chandgaon and Bandartila as they had blocked the roads since the morning.
In Barisal, no picketers were seen as the police took control of the streets which remained empty.
The New Age correspondent in Pabna reported that a mobile court sentenced picketers to different terms of imprisonment during the hartal on Sunday. Earlier, the police arrested 17 activists of the ISA from various areas of the district when they were picketing.
The officer-in-charge of Pabna Sadar thana, Enayet Uddin, said that the police raided Gaspara, Banglabazar and other areas of the district from the morning on Sunday. During the drive the police arrested 17 activists of the ISA from various spots of the town while they were picketing.
The arrestees were produced before a mobile court at about 3pm on Sunday. The mobile court, conducted by the executive magistrate Sarwar Alam, jailed 11 activists of the ISA for picketing and released the rest because they were too young, said the OC.
In Noakhali, twelve picketers where sent to jail by a mobile court conducted by Khandkar Nurul Hoque, Noakhali sadar's upazila nirbahi officer, after the picketers vandalised two motorised vehicles at Shonapur Zero Point.
Our correspondent in Patuakhali reported that five policemen were injured after hartal supporters attacked them at about 8am on Sunday. All of them were admitted to Kalapara Health Complex. The police arrested 12 picketers from the spot.
Md Azad Miah, SP of Patuakhali, said that a group of picketers, who identified themselves as activists of Islami Andolon Bangladesh's Kalapara unit, burned a tire at Chakamoiya on the Kalapara-Patuakhali highway at about 8am, but left the place after being chased by the police.
In Sylhet city, leaders and activists of the Khelafat-e Majlis tried to bring out a procession from Bandarbazar at about 10:00am, but were dispersed by the police.
In Narsingdi at least 30 picketers were arrested by Narsingdi sadar thana police from various spots.
Source : New Age
Family planning in free fall
The government's Family Planning Programme is in terminal decline unless serious measures are taken, said officials in the Directorate General of Family Planning, pointing to over 10,500 posts, including 185 posts at the deputy and assistant director level, which are lying vacant.
The lack of staff, the indifferent attitude of the government towards family planning, and the withdrawal of family welfare assistants from their regular door-to-door campaigning are the main reasons why the programme can no longer achieve anything like the success it did in the 1980s, said officials.
All 72 posts of deputy director, 113 of the 134 posts of assistant director, 168 of the 480 posts of upazila family planning officer and 535 of 1,055 posts of medical officer are vacant, creating significant obstacles in the running of the programme.
Though all the posts of 15 directors have been filled, the officers have been appointed on deputation from the administration and health cadres, bypassing experienced staff within the DGFP.
Moreover, since the directors are appointed on deputation, they have little motivation to do the required work.
Another significant problem is that the family welfare assistants, who used to be the driving force of the Family Planning Programme through their door-to-door counselling, are now engaged in other work.
'When the programme was designed, every FWA had to counsel 600 couples in a locality. Now the number of couples has risen to 1,800 as the population has soared, but the empty posts have not been filled,' said MM Nizamuddin, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services.
Fully 2,280 posts of FWA are now vacant, according to directorate's own documents.
Painting a dismal picture of the DGFP, Nizamuddin said that for over 30 years there has been no recruitment of FWAs at the field level and many of them have now retired, resulting in the stagnation of the programme.
'Recently we have taken some steps to recruit people at the field level. The process is going on and hopefully we can recruit nearly 800 field-level workers by the end of July,' he said.
Rashid-e-Mahbub, former president of the Bangladesh Medical Association, blamed the government for the total failure of the programme.
'The government actually has no clear vision of the programme. It has not taken any steps to ensure that the programme runs smoothly,' he said.
Another concern is that family planning workers also have to provide various other services for the government, including participation in immunisation programmes and community clinics, which hinder them from fulfilling their principal responsibilities, said family planning officials.
They said that workers employed in about 190 non-government organisations are also supposed to work alongside the government workers as part of the programme.
The NGOs, in city corporations and municipalities, mainly provide services in clinics to people for a fee, said the officials, complaining that although sometimes the NGO workers go door to door, they do not distribute contraceptive products.
Rashid-e-Mahbub criticised this approach and said it was another reason for the failure of the programme.
'It is very necessary to give the contraceptives directly to the people, especially the poor. It should not be expected that poor people have to purchase the products for planning a family because they simply cannot afford it,' he said.
The experts said the target of achieving a fertility rate of 2.2 per family by the end of 2011 is almost impossible if the family planning activities are conducted at the current speed.
Only around 57 per cent of couples are using contraceptives whereas the number of users should exceed 70 per cent to achieve the target, they said.
Professor AKM Nur un Nabi, of the Department of Population Sciences of the University of Dhaka, said that the government needs to address the family planning needs of slum-dwellers as they constitute 40 per cent of the total population of a city.
He also said the government should consider what special measures need to be taken in each division after considering its fertility rate.
'The nation is going to face a disaster if the government does not take immediate measures to improve family planning,' Nabi warned.
Source : New Age
The lack of staff, the indifferent attitude of the government towards family planning, and the withdrawal of family welfare assistants from their regular door-to-door campaigning are the main reasons why the programme can no longer achieve anything like the success it did in the 1980s, said officials.
All 72 posts of deputy director, 113 of the 134 posts of assistant director, 168 of the 480 posts of upazila family planning officer and 535 of 1,055 posts of medical officer are vacant, creating significant obstacles in the running of the programme.
Though all the posts of 15 directors have been filled, the officers have been appointed on deputation from the administration and health cadres, bypassing experienced staff within the DGFP.
Moreover, since the directors are appointed on deputation, they have little motivation to do the required work.
Another significant problem is that the family welfare assistants, who used to be the driving force of the Family Planning Programme through their door-to-door counselling, are now engaged in other work.
'When the programme was designed, every FWA had to counsel 600 couples in a locality. Now the number of couples has risen to 1,800 as the population has soared, but the empty posts have not been filled,' said MM Nizamuddin, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services.
Fully 2,280 posts of FWA are now vacant, according to directorate's own documents.
Painting a dismal picture of the DGFP, Nizamuddin said that for over 30 years there has been no recruitment of FWAs at the field level and many of them have now retired, resulting in the stagnation of the programme.
'Recently we have taken some steps to recruit people at the field level. The process is going on and hopefully we can recruit nearly 800 field-level workers by the end of July,' he said.
Rashid-e-Mahbub, former president of the Bangladesh Medical Association, blamed the government for the total failure of the programme.
'The government actually has no clear vision of the programme. It has not taken any steps to ensure that the programme runs smoothly,' he said.
Another concern is that family planning workers also have to provide various other services for the government, including participation in immunisation programmes and community clinics, which hinder them from fulfilling their principal responsibilities, said family planning officials.
They said that workers employed in about 190 non-government organisations are also supposed to work alongside the government workers as part of the programme.
The NGOs, in city corporations and municipalities, mainly provide services in clinics to people for a fee, said the officials, complaining that although sometimes the NGO workers go door to door, they do not distribute contraceptive products.
Rashid-e-Mahbub criticised this approach and said it was another reason for the failure of the programme.
'It is very necessary to give the contraceptives directly to the people, especially the poor. It should not be expected that poor people have to purchase the products for planning a family because they simply cannot afford it,' he said.
The experts said the target of achieving a fertility rate of 2.2 per family by the end of 2011 is almost impossible if the family planning activities are conducted at the current speed.
Only around 57 per cent of couples are using contraceptives whereas the number of users should exceed 70 per cent to achieve the target, they said.
Professor AKM Nur un Nabi, of the Department of Population Sciences of the University of Dhaka, said that the government needs to address the family planning needs of slum-dwellers as they constitute 40 per cent of the total population of a city.
He also said the government should consider what special measures need to be taken in each division after considering its fertility rate.
'The nation is going to face a disaster if the government does not take immediate measures to improve family planning,' Nabi warned.
Source : New Age
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