Day temperature may rise over the country

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

Moderately heavy falls at places over the Khulna, Barisal, and Chittagong divisions, the Meteorology Office said in a forecast on Friday.

Day temperature may rise slightly over the country.

The sun sets in Dhaka today at 6:34pm and rises tomorrow at 5:33am.

The country's highest temperature, 34.6 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Friday in Rangamati and the lowest, 24.2 degrees Celsius, in Rangamati.

Source : New Age

DU intake tests on Oct 14

The Dhaka University vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique on Friday assured more transparency in 2011-12 intake tests to be held from October 14.

Addressing a press conference at his office, he said this year's admission process would be easier and more transparent compared to the previous years.

Referring to the High Court's rejection of the writ petition filed by 19 expelled students in 2007, Arefin Siddique said it was pathetic that the young men lost their valuable times for ever.

He warned all against adopting any illegal activity and forgery in getting admission like the expelled students.

The DU VC said that the automation process of intake test would prevent counterfeit students from getting admitted into the university.

The dependence on coaching centres for filling in application forms needed to be minimized to avoid unnecessary problems faced by the students, he added.

The admission test for five units will be held from October 14 to November 25, he told the media.

The application forms for intake tests would be available on the web from August 16 and continue till September 15, 2011. 

The applicants can download, fill in the forms and submit on-line by collecting a PIN number from branches of Janata, Agrani, Sonali and Rupali banks through paying Tk 320.

The university has also undertaken processes to get advantage from e-money order of Bangladesh Post Offices in collecting the application fees from the aspirants.

The admission tests of 'Ka' unit will be held on October 14, 'Kha' unit on October 21, 'Ga' unit on October 28, 'Gha' unit on November 18 and 'Cha' unit on November 25.

More information will be available at the website of the University of Dhaka www.admission.univdhaka.edu

Applicants can also call the help lines 01842 244 244, 01616 151 559 or contact through email-admission@univdhaka.edu 

Registrar Seyd Rezaur Rahman and admission committee convener Hasibur Rashid were also present in the press conference.

Source : New Age

National minorities want recognition as ‘indigenous’

National minorities in the Rajshahi city on Friday formed a human chain and held a rally demanding constitutional recognition as 'indigenous people'.

Several centre-left parties, rights organisations, ethnic minority groups and academicians joined the demonstrations organised by Adibasi Chhatra Parishad at Saheb Bazar Zero Point in the city at 12 noon.

The participants protested at the 15th amendment to the constitution that rejected the longstanding demand of national minorities to be recognised as 'indigenous'.

The speakers at the rally urged the government to insert the word 'indigenous' instead of 'ethnic' in the constitution or to face an all-out movement.

The left leaders complained that the present government was playing the dual role as it retained Islam as the state religion and also wanted to build a secular country.

They also said Awami League did not keep its pledges though the party, before the last parliamentary election, recognised the ethnic minorities as 'indigenous' in their electoral manifesto.

Adibasi Chhatra Parishad Rajshahi district in-charge Suvash Chandra Hembrom presided over the rally that was conducted by the Parishad's organising secretary Nabadip Lakra.

Rajshahi University Teachers-Students Cultural Centre director Sujit Sarker, Workers Party Rajshahi city unit secretary Liakat Ali Liku, Communist Party city unit president Abul Kalam Azad, National Awami Party district unit secretary Mustafizur Rahman Khan, Mahila Parishad district secretary Kalpana Ray, local daily editor Fazlul Haque, Rajshahi Rakkah Sangram Parishad organising secretary Debashish Pramanik, Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree city unit president Matiur Rahman, Adibashi Chhatra Parishad central committee president Harendranath Sing, general secretary Manik Saren, among others, also spoke on the programme.

Source : New Age

Few drives in Rajshahi to curb use of chemicals on fruits

Chemically treated fruits, both local and imported, continue to abound the markets of the Rajshahi city and the district as well, in absence of strong anti-adulteration drives of the government.

Among the local produces the Fajli variety of mangoes is the most chemically treated fruit while apples, oranges, grapes and dates undergo the process more than other imported varieties. 

On Wednesday evening a mobile court launched by the Directorate of National Consumers Rights Protection seized a carton of grapes treated with formalin from a shop at Laxmipur in the city.

The directorate officials on August 10 fined another roadside fruit vendor at Saheb Bazar Zero Point from whom they seized 200kg chemically treated dates. 

Calling such drives scanty compared to the scale of fruit adulteration going on in the region, sources in the city and district markets informed that the activities continued unabated.

Despite the media and public outcry ripening of fruits particularly mangoes and bananas with calcium carbide, a highly hazardous chemical substance, goes on under the nose of the law enforcers, sources said.

They named some other chemicals, marketed as crop-field pesticides by their manufacturers, which were used by the profiteers as ripening agents.

Of these pesticides, Profit, Prolank and Eden marketed by Alfa Company and Ethereal by Bayer Crop Science Company are more frequently used for artificially ripening fruits.

A 10-minute soak of green fruits like mango, banana and papaya in 10 litres of water mixed with 10 millilitres of any of these pesticides is enough to make them ripe in a very short period, several fruit traders in the city said.

Different textile dyes are also used to ripen fruits, they said. 

The Bangladesh Pure Food Ordinance 2005 prohibits use of any chemicals or ingredients such as calcium carbide, formalin, pesticides, artificial colours and flavours, that may harm, intoxicate or endanger human body.

The chemically ripened fruits are openly sold both at the permanent shops in different markets and by the mobile vendors on the roads in the city, all over the district and even outside.

Many fruit wholesalers in the city confessed to putting formalin on the fruits that had been ripened with calcium carbide.

They do it to prevent the fruits from getting rotted, they said. Such fruits although look fresh taste sour.

Local fruit traders, however, claimed that they had to use formalin because the fruits that were sent from the northern districts and other parts of the country were already ripened with chemicals, which made them prone to rot earlier than expected.

Local watchdogs blamed the government authorities for not giving sufficient efforts for preventing such acts while the latter claimed they did their best.

Kazi Gias, president of district Consumer Association of Bangladesh Rajshahi unit, said they had continued motivational activities among the fruit growers and food manufacturers and traders against adulteration.

'But as a watch body we don't have the necessary equipment for detecting adulteration of foods that are going on,' he admitted.

Zamat Khan, general secretary of Rajshahi Raksha Sangram Parishad, a pressure group, demanded setting up of mobile courts on the highways to prevent entry of chemically treated fruits in the Rajshahi city.

Sukumar Kundu, deputy director of the DNCRP, an agency under the commerce ministry, told New Age that they were trying as hard as they could to improve the situation in this regard.

Source : New Age

Nahid for private investment in edn sector

The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, on Friday called on the private sector entrepreneurs to invest in education sector for its development.

He was addressing a news conference, as the chief guest, on 'poverty alleviation through literacy' organised by all Rotary International clubs of Dhaka city at the National Press Club in the capital.

Nurul Islam said, according to Education for All Forum, each state must spent its 6 per cent of the national GDP on education purposes, but at present Bangladesh spent only 2.3 per cent GDP for education and technology purposes..

He also said that three ministries — education ministry, primary and mass education ministry and information and technology ministry — shared the little amount.

First president Rotarian Shawkat Hossain, AHM Zaker, Kamrul Hasan, Ashish Kumar Mondal, Anwarul Haque Khan, MS Siddique were present at the programme, among others.

Source : New Age

Dhaka city bus-shelters occupied

A few bus-shelters in the Dhaka city are available for the commuters relying on public transport as most of them are occupied by shopkeepers, vendors, drug addicts and even sex workers.

Dozens of the 162 bus-shelters in Dhaka have been turned into shops where people enjoy snacks and refreshments while bus passengers are forced to stand nearby on the road.

Passenger sheds at Malibagh, Paltan, Fakirapul, Dainik Bangla intersection, Baitul Mukarram, Motijheel, Farmgate, New Market are used by small roadside businessmen.

The Motijheel Shapla Chattar bus-shelter that was painted by the advertisements of Sonar Bangla Insurance Limited is difficult to identify as the whole bus shelter has been turned into a small market.

It is used by businesses trying to sell cheap clothes, mobile covers and tea.

Meanwhile, the commuters have to stand on the street.

At Mouchak, a bus-shelter is used by a butcher who took on it on lease from the Dhaka City Corporation for two years ago to do snacks business.

The DCC records state that at Dainik Bangla intersection there is supposed to be four shelters – but only one could be identified.

There is also no sign of a bus-shelter at Notre Dam College when there is supposed to be one.

Near Dhaka City College there is a bus-shelter but there is no bench in it to sit in and the space is shared by a stationary shop.

At the Malibagh passenger shelter, which is near a Criminal Investigation Department office, passengers were found waiting for a bus on the road while the shelter was completely occupied by shops selling flexi-load, spices and fruits.

Mitu a student of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, has said that everyday she waits for bus on the footpath as the two bus-shelters have been turned into medicine shops where snacks, juice, cigarette and betel leaf are available.

She said that the bus-shelters need to be monitored by the DCC.

Mitu has also said that in rainy season it creates huge problem for commuters.

Miraj, an accountant of a buying house who was been waiting for a bus to go to his office at Gulshan, has told New Age that the bus-

shelters are urgent in the Moghbazar area as a large number of people go from Moghbazar to their offices in Uttara or Gazipur.

Business centres like Motijheel, Paltan, Malibagh, Mouchak, Mohakhali, Banani, Gulshan, Mirpur, Shahbagh and Firmgate, Gulistan, badly need more bus-shelters where millions of commuters suffer everyday, he has said.

The Dhaka City Corporation executive magistrate Khalil Ahmed said that they had already fined a number of shops located at bus stops in different places of the Dhaka city.

Khalil told New Age that the DCC had to rely on DMP police officers to take action, but the police often refused to assist.

He also admitted the corporation's manpower crisis.

Source : New Age

Schoolgirl murder suspects sent to jail

A Barisal court sent two young men to jail Friday afternoon on the charge of murdering a schoolgirl after raping her in the city Thursday morning.

Senior judicial magistrate Abul Bashar Mia gave the order after recording their confessional statements, officer-in-charge of the Barisal Kotwali police station Shaheduzzaman said.

He said restaurant employee Harnur Rashid Hawladar, father of the victim, Sonia Akhtar, 15, had filed a murder case against the two, Rashed and Shahin, Thursday night.

The OC said they admitted that they had called Sonia, a Class X student of a local school, out of her house Wednesday night, took her to Shahin's residence where they raped and asphyxiated her.

The police recovered her body from a drain near her residence at Daptarkhana in the city Thursday morning.

The arrested employees of a nearby sweetmeat shop claimed that Sonia deceived both pretending that she was in love with them.

Source : New Age

3 students killed in Narsingdi road mishap

Three students of Narsingdi Government College were killed as their motorcycle was hit by a bus at Kundarpara in Shibpur upazila on Friday.

The deceased were Loknath, 25, Ashim Das, 26, and Mimu, 22. They all were friends and residents of Baniachal village in the town.

The police said they were going to Bhairab from Narsingdi by riding on a motorcycle when a bus coming from opposite direction hit their vehicle on Dhaka-Sylhet Highway.

Two of them, Loknath and Ashim, died on the spot at 7:00pm.

Mimu, who was on the driving seat, sustained serious injuries in the accident. He died on way to district hospital.

The driver along with his bus quickly fled away following the accident.

The police recovered the bodies and sent those to General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Source : New Age

REB, PDB power tariff to be same: Muhith

Consumer-level tariffs of electricity supplied by Rural Electrification Board and Power Development Board  would be equalised, the finance minister has said.

'Currently the tariff of REB electricity is slightly higher than that of the PDB. So, the price will be adjusted soon,' AMA Muhith said on Friday while speaking at an exchange of views on power problems of Sylhet division at the district council auditorium.

There is a difference of Tk 0.30 between the per-unit tariffs of the two government agencies.

Public representatives of different areas raised various allegations against REB at the meeting.

The minister said power supply in the division was interrupted due to the old transmission lines, inadequate number of transformers and technical glitches at the power stations.

Muhith said Palli Bidyut Samities [Rural Power Associations], executing agencies under the REB, was supplying power in almost 50 per cent areas of the country and it might have various limitations.

'A three-month plan has been undertaken to resolve the power problem in Sylhet region,' he said hoping that the regular load-shedding period would be reduced once the plan is implemented.

The minister said the extent of load-shedding was now lower than that in any other time in the past.

'Power generation has also been increased but its supply has to be ensured.'

Chaired by Sylhet divisional commissioner NM Ziaul Alam, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Power Division secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Shafiqur Rahman Chowdhury MP.

Source : New Age

More buses demanded in capital

Right activists on Friday urged the government to create scopes so that more public buses could ply in the capital and control the movement of private vehicles as well.

They also opposed the plan of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police to gradually ban the movement of rickshaws and CNG-run auto-rickshaws in the major city streets, demanding separate lanes on the roads for these small public vehicles.

The speakers said these at a roundtable jointly organised by the Save Environment Movement and Work for Better Bangladesh Trust at the National Press Club.

In his keynote paper the WBB Trust director, Syed Mahbubul Alam, said 95 per cent commuters of the capital resorted to rickshaws and buses or walked on foot while only around five per cent drove private cars.

Mentioning a recent study titled Pilot Bus Priority Corridor Pre-Feasibility Study, he said every day around 19 lakh people in the Dhaka city commuted by bus. It took a person 77 minutes on average to get on the bus, he added.

The speakers emphasised that an increased number of buses combined with a controlled movement of private cars was the only solution to the stifling traffic of the Dhaka city.

To ease the traffic congestion they further suggested revision in the existing bus routes with an addition of more such routes, repairs of pavements while building new ones, separate lanes for rickshaws, better training of drivers and better management of the movement of cargo vehicles on the city roads.  

In addition, they suggested that the government, to discourage the use of private cars, should increase the price of the compressed natural gas and the parking fees, impose additional taxes on the owners of more than one private car and make more car parks.

Manjurul Ahsan Khan, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Abu Naser Khan, chairman of the Save Environment Movement, Sarwar Jahan, president of the Institute of Planners, Monwar Hossain, former director of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, columnist Kamal Lohani, lawmaker Mojibul Haque Chunnu and UNDP official Khandakar Niaz Rahman were present at the programme, among others.  

Source : New Age

Karamjal wildlife centre gets 64 young crocodiles

The Karamjal wildlife breeding and rearing center at the Sundarban east division got 64 young salt water crocodiles on Tuesday and Wednesday, said officials in forest department in Bagerhat.

The center that has three sections – mangrove arboretum, animal hospital and wildlife breeding — and was established in 2002 got the young crocodiles after hatching 78 eggs laid by two crocodiles – Juliet and Pilpil, officials said.

Surprising the forest officials, Pilpil laid 40 eggs for the first time at only 10 years of age though generally the female salt water crocodiles become adult at the age of 12 and lay 19 to 20 eggs for the first time.

Juliet laid 44 eggs on May 14 and six of them were damaged, they said, adding young crocodiles came out of 29 eggs, out of the remaining 36, on Tuesday after they were hatched artificially.

They said Pilpil laid eggs on May 21 and young crocodiles came out of 35 eggs, out of 40, on Wednesday.

'But all the pilpil's youths are ill healthy as her eggs were irregular in size, the egg cells and egg cell membranes were soft and fertility rate was high,' the centre in-charge Md Abdur Rob told New Age on Friday.

The crocodile eggs are hatched artificially to increase their fertility rate, he said, adding that the saline water crocodiles generally lay egg in May-June in the coastal areas.

He said they kept all the young crocodiles in incentive care unit of the centre till Friday morning and later released them in the raring pan.

'We will keep them at the place until they become two-metre long and later they would be released in the rivers as we want to increase the population of the saline water crocodile in the forest,' he said.

With the new 64 crocodiles, the centre will have now 143 crocodiles, said the center officials.

Source : New Age

Taking farmers’ views in agriculture policy demanded

Peasant organisation leaders and rights activists on Friday asked the government to take the views of farmers, agriculture economists and agriculturists before adopting the draft agriculture policy.

They also demanded that the government must consult and take the views of the leaders of different peasant organisations to make the proposed agriculture policy effective for achieving food security and national food sovereignty.

They described the draft policy as unrealistic as it ignores the farmers, the key factor behind agricultural productivity.

Speaking at a demonstration they said that they came to know that the government would soon place the draft agriculture policy in parliament seeking its approval without caring to take the views of the farmers, peasant organisation leaders and agriculturists.

The human chain was jointly organised by the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood and Nagarik Sanghati in front of the National Press Club.

They said that the draft agriculture policy would encourage the production of only food grains and neglect cash crops.

They said that the draft policy also neglected two agricultural sub-sectors – fisheries and livestock.

They said that the draft policy did not give due importance to the issue of timely supply of seeds to the growers.

They said that the government followed a contradictory approach in making the draft agriculture policy by following the prescriptions of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers it had rejected in 2009.

They called it regrettable and unacceptable that a draft policy like this was now being finalized on the wrong advice of some 'bureaucrats' and 'consultants who knew nothing about the ground realities of agriculture in Bangladesh.

They said that the draft policy did not reflect the government's 'political commitments to agriculture.'

They said that implementation of the policy, containing 'imposed agenda,' would spell disaster for the country's agriculture which provide sustenance to two thirds of Bangladesh's population and 52 per cent of its total workforce.

They said that it would be absolutely to adopt  a policy like this considering agriculture's contribution to GNP, employment, poverty alleviation, livelihood, food sovereignty and security and socio-economic development.

They said that none of these goals could be achieved by adopting a policy that ignores agriculture.

They warned that the farmers, leaders of different peasant organizations, agriculture economists and agriculturists would reject the policy if their views were not taken into consideration.

Chaired by Nagarik Sanghati general secretary Sharifuzzaman Sharif, the rally held at the end of the demonstration was also addressed by Bangladesh Krishak Samity president Morshed Ali, Jatiya Krishak Jote general secretary Anwarul Islam Babu, Bangladesh Krishak Federation central committee member Rezaul Islam Raja and Protect and Progress Foundation general secretary Jibanananda Jayanta.

Source : New Age

Rajshahi-Dhaka flight resumes Thursday

Flight operations on the Rajshahi-Dhaka route via Saidpur are going to resume on Thursday after around six-year suspension of the operation.

To this end, necessary preparations including repairing and renovation of the two airports— Rajshahi and Saidpur — have been completed by the authorities concerned.

The Rajshahi Shah Mukhdum Airport was declared closed in 2005 on an excuse that it was incurring loss. But, since then no initiative was taken to resume the port despite repeated appeals from different corners during the last six years.

At present, a private organisation — Galaxy Flying Academy — has been using the airport as a pilot training centre since last year.

United Airways, a private airline, will start operations of its flights on the route to bring the people in Rajshahi and its adjoining areas and Rangpur region under air connectivity and facilitate trade and business, said the officials concerned.

In the preliminary stage, the airliner will operate a flight ones in a week (Thursday) but the number will increase if required response were received from the passengers, said Badruddoza Sagar, manager (PR and communication) of the airways.

The government agreed to resume operations of the airport considering local demands including the users of Sonamasjid Land port in Chapainawabganj.

Meanwhile, the Saidpur, the lone airport of the newly declared Rangpur division, with 6,800 feet runway was opened on July 5, 1979 and the flight operation continued till 2006. But it was declared closed on February 19, 2007 on an excuse of the same reason.

Source : New Age

30 hurt in BCL-Juba League clash

Rajshahi Medicale College chapter of Chhatra League, the student front of ruling Awami League, clashed with Juba League, the youth wing of the ruling party, in the northern city leaving at least 30 injured Thursday night. 

The police said that they arrested nine BCL men from an RMC hostel and seized from their possession a 9-MM pistol, two bullets and a large quantity of other homemade sharp weapons Friday morning.

Chhatra League sources said that the clashes were prompted by some Juba League men's bid to extort Tk one lakh from their teacher, who is also the general secretary of Rajshahi chapter of pro ruling party doctors' forum—Shadhinata Chikitshak Parishad.

They said that on Thursday at around 1.30 PM some Juba League men had gone to chamber of Mohidul Hasan, assistant director of RMCH and general secretary of Shadhinata Chikitshak Parishad and demanded the money, giving the reference of former Rajshahi city Juba League president Asaduzzaman Asad.

The angry Juba League men at one stage beat up Dr Mohibul Hasan as he refused to pay.

Dr Hasan was taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for treatment.

On hearing the news, the students of Mohibul Hasan, all members of Chhatra League took out a procession from the hostels of the medical college in protest against Juba League men beating their teacher.

After marching through the college campus the Chhatra League members went to the local Awami League office at Laxmipur and set it on fire, smashed its doors and windows as well as television sets, a portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also got damaged in the process.

On hearing the news of the incident, Juba League men equipped with homemade lethal weapons chased the Chhatra League activists and sporadic clashes ensued between the two groups.

A huge contingent of police from Rajpara and Boalia police stations and a Rapid Action Battalion squad rushed to the spot and dispersed the two fighting groups from the spot.

Later, the Chhatra League activists went back to their hostels and carrying firearms and other lethal weapons tried to `oust' Juba League men from the area.

Panic gripped resident students at the hostels of Rajshahi Medical College as the Chattra League activists openly moved with firearms.

In the early morning of Friday, a joint squad of the police and RAB, led by a Rajshahi Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner raided the Shaheed Maynul Ahsan Pinku Hostel of the RMC and arrested nine Chhatra League activists from there.

The police said that they arrested Juel Rana, Sajib Ahmed, Rayhan Ali, Rasel Rana, Maruf Ahmed.

The police said that they were looking for other Chhatra League activists, they did not find.

The police said that they seized a 9-MM pistol, two bullets and a huge quantity of homemade sharp weapons.

RMP commissioner Mohammod Obaidullah told New Age that they were looking into the matter.

He said that police contingents had been deployed on the Rajshahi Medical College campus to stop a deterioration of the situation.

RMC principal said that he had called a meeting at his office to solve the problem through discussion between the warring groups.

Chattra League leaders filed two cases with Rajpara police station against the rivals.

Source : New Age

Dhaka city BNP set to miss deadline

The Dhaka city unit convening committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is set to miss the deadline for announcing a full-fledged committee as formation of ward and thana level units is proceeding at a snail's pace.

Twelve out of 100 ward units have so far been formed while no thana and union level units have been constituted in last two and half months. The delay has caused disappointment in the party.

At a meeting of the convening committee on Friday, all ward committees, which already served out their terms, were asked to name new committees by holding conferences before Eid.

A number of ward level leaders hailed the move to reorganise the city unit. Despite slow pace, the move has encouraged the activists and brought mobility in the organisation with crowds of activists visiting the central and local offices every day, they said. 

There are 43 thana units and 14 union level units under the jurisdiction of the party's Dhaka city unit.

BNP insiders said that long-drawn rivalries among leaders were causing the delay in reorganising the city unit, launch of a vigorous anti-government movement and preparations for Dhaka City Corporation polls.

After a lapse of nearly three years, BNP announced its 21-member Dhaka city unit convening committee headed by mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka on May 15. The committee was assigned the task to form a full-fledged executive committee by November 14 by holding a council session.

The BNP high command's move to expand the city convening committee to accommodate more leaders and end intra-party feuds over the new committee is yet to gather momentum.

Sadeque Hossain Khoka, convener of the city committee, told New Age that it would take at least one year to complete formation of all the committees. 'Formation of new committees is being delayed due to a lot of political programmes and also because we are taking the views of local people over the matter,' he said.

Abdus Salam, member-secretary of the city convening committee, said that the government was obstructing holding of conferences of local units which was also causing delay in forming committees.

A number of ward level leaders said that formation of the committees was being delayed as rival groups led by Khoka and Mirza Abbas were trying to have as many of their respective followers in the new committees as possible. Party leaders also said that an initiative had been undertaken to reconcile the two groups and new committees were being formed keeping the problem in mind.

The last Dhaka city committee was dissolved by the then party secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain in June 2008, after Khoka and some prominent leaders sided with the reformist faction.

After the December 2008 parliamentary polls, several attempts of the BNP high command to form the committees failed due to internal conflict.

The activities of the city unit, however, have increased in recent times with a number of leaders visiting the party office and lobbying the high command for posts in the committees and nominations as ward councillors.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia recently castigated leaders of its Dhaka city convening committee for being inactive during the general strike.

Source : New Age

‘People’s commission’ for Himalayan rivers named

The International Farakka Committee has named a 'people's commission' and its steering committee for sustainable management of the Himalayan rivers.

Leaders of the New York-based IFC at a press conference at the National Press Club on Friday said that the 24-member commission and its 14-member steering committee was composed of representatives of Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan.

They hoped that during Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh's upcoming visit to Bangladesh, an understanding would be reached on resolution of all water-related issues and India would declare scrapping of the proposed Tipaimukh dam project upstream of the Barak river. 

IFC chairman Atiqur Rahman Yousuf, read out the written statement at the press conference attended by columnist Sadek Khan, former Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor Jasimuddin  Ahmed, Dhaka University professor Asif Nazrul, Syed Irfanul Bari of the Bangladesh chapter of IFC and daily New Nation editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder, among others.

Source : New Age

Phase II pilot electoral roll update begins today

The 2nd phase of the Pilot Project of Updating Voter Role-2011 will start in ward No-18 of Dhaka City Corporation today.

The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, will inaugurate the updating programme at Kala Chandpur High School auditorium at 11:00am today, according to the EC.

The ward No-18 comprises the areas of I and K block of Baridhara residential area, Nanda, Kalachandpur and Shahjadpur.

Source : New Age

Light engineering remains neglected despite huge promise

The light engineering sector has failed to flourish for lack of policy support from the government and financial institutions and lack of modern technology, experts and industry owners said.

Light engineering factories are also struggling because of shortage of capital, strict conditions imposed by the banks for loans and shortage of skilled workers, they said.

Most small entrepreneurs cannot access some facilities which larger business owners enjoy as the former do not have any platform to bargain with the government on different issues, entrepreneurs said.

'The light engineering sector lacks policy support,' Kamal Uddin, director of the Institute of Appropriate Technology at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, told New Age.

For a couple of decades, the sector has constituted a significant segment of the national economy in terms of its contribution to employment, output, value addition and exports, according to SME Foundation.

Small factories are engaged in manufacturing various import-substitute metallic products such as electrical, ceramic, rubber and plastic goods, saving a significant amount of foreign currency, it said.

They produce goods ranging from agricultural machines, machines for the apparel sector, for rice mills and for the paint industry.

They also make spare parts for cars, power looms, and even ammunition boxes for the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners' Association president, Abdur Razzaque, told New Age. 

Their annual turnover together is estimated at more than Tk 10,000 crore, according to the association.

About 600,000 skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled people are working in about 40,000 light engineering factories throughout Bangladesh.

The government has declared the sector a 'priority' sector in its export policy 2003 and as a 'thrust' sector in its industry policy 2005 but none of the successive governments have taken sufficient action, association leaders said.

Abul Hashim, the owner of the Nipun Engineering, said that most of the factories use outdated machines and produce low-quality products for lack of capital and support from financial institutions.

The banks charge small businesses high interest levels at rates of 16 to 17 per cent and are also unwilling to offer collateral-free loans although the sector belongs to the SME category, he said.

Saiful Islam, proprietor of the Progoti Engineering, said that most of the people working in the sector do not have any formal training.

'They have learnt the trade simply by working,' he said, adding that proper training can surely improve their productivity.

The managing director of the Dider Engineering, M Bachu Mia, said that weak linkages between industry and technical educational institutions was another important issue.

'Many industries have machines and tools but the workers are incapable of running them,' he said.

The BRAC Bank's head of SME Syed Faridul Islam told New Age that most of the entrepreneurs in the light engineering sector cannot improve the quality of their products and market them through the right channels as they do not have access to information.

If the industries cannot upgrade their technology now, they might not survive in the future because of increasing competition on the global market, he said.

The government-run Bangladesh Institute of Technical Assistance Centre provides some materials and training for light engineering industries but these are not sufficient to promote this sector, said the BITAC director, Syed M Ehsanul Karim.

Students of BITAC or polytechnic institutes are not interested in working in the light engineering sector for lack of job security or  technology support, he said.

Syed Rezwanul Kabir, managing director of the SME Foundation, which is capitalised by the government with a total endowment of Tk 2 billion, said that it was not possible to provide too much of this money for the light engineering sector as it is responsible for supporting 10 other 'booster' sectors.

Light engineering factories often need higher loans than factories in other sectors, he said. 

A light engineering business needs about Tk 2 crore whereas a footwear or a plastic factory needs Tk 15 lakh to Tk 20 lakh, he said.

Source : New Age

RMG workers threaten unrest unless paid before Eid

Apparel worker leaders have threatened movement unless they get paid their wage for August in full, festival allowance and other dues about a week before Eid-ul-Fitr, to be celebrated either on August 31 or September 1.

The leaders also demanded introduction of low-price shops for apparel workers, increase in minimum wages and an end to termination of the job of workers without satisfactory reasons.

They urged apparel factory owners to stop night-shift duty of workers in Ramadan.

The low-paid apparel workers will not be able to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr if they were not paid their wages for August and the festival allowance before Eid, the  Garment Workers' Unity Forum president, Mushrefa Mishu, said.

The Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association president, Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, told New Age that about 80 per cent of the factories would be able to pay the workers their wage for August in full, festival allowance and other dues by the time the workers are demanding.

He, however, said, 'The apparel industries are now facing hurdles such as bad business, fresh global economic recession and other problems.'

He said that they should be getting the incentives the government gives them now to pay the workers.

Mohiuddin said that they had already instructed the members of the association to pay the workers the wages, the festival allowance and other dues in time.

Some organisations of apparel workers have demanded that the workers should get paid by August 20 while some others said that they should get paid by August 25.

The Garment Workers Unity Forum has demanded the wage for August in full and the festival allowance by Ramadan 20.

Mushrefa said that workers were ill-paid and if they were not given the full wage for August and the festival allowance, they would not be able to celebrate Eid with their families properly.

'The festival allowance should be equal to the amount of full wage of a month,' she added.

The Garment Workers Trade Union Centre general secretary, KM Ruhul Amin, echoed what Mushrefa said.

He added that the owners should stop firing workers without satisfactory reasons and stop harassing them physically and mentally.

Taslima Akhter, a leader of the Garments Workers Action Council, a combine of nine organisations working for apparel workers, called on the government to take necessary steps so that the workers get the wage for August in full, festival allowance and other dues by Ramadan 20.

There will be unrest in the apparel sector if workers are not get paid in time, Taslima said.

She also said they would go on demonstrations to push for their four-point demands that include introduction of low-price shops for apparel workers, increase in minimum wages and end to the firing of workers without satisfactory reasons.

The combine has announced to hold a human chain on August 16 and a rally on August 19. It will also hold rallies in August 15–20  in areas that are home to apparel factories.

The National Garment Workers Federation president, Amirul Huq Amin, demanded that the workers should get paid by Ramadan 25. He also urged owners to stop-night shift duties of workers in Ramadan.

The apparel sector alone accounts for 76 per cent of the total export earning but the interest of workers in the sector have always been ignored, he added.

Amirul Huq said that most of the workers were women and from remote villages. About 25 lakh of the 35 lakh people employed in the sector are women.

The Jago Bangladesh Garments Sramik Federation president, Bahrene Sultan Bahar, echoed Amirul Huq.

The labour leaders said that there had been unrest before Eid in the past as the workers were not paid their wages and the festival allowance. They feared that if the workers were not paid well before Eid, there might be unrest again.

The home minister, Sahara Khatun, at an inter-ministry meeting on law and order in the apparel sector on August 7 instructed the owners to pay the workers their wages, allowance and dues in time to stave off any untoward incidents before Eid.

The meeting also decided to open a control room in the labour ministry to monitor the situation in the apparel sector throughout Ramadan.

It also directed the crisis management committee to hold a meeting every other day to avoid trouble in the sector.

The inter-ministry meeting also asked the Bangladesh Bank to take steps to keep open the banks on weekly holidays for smooth transactions before Eid.

The labour and employment minister, Khondker Mosharraf Hossain, state minister for labour  Monnujan Sufian, state minister for home Shamsul Haque, representatives of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters' Association and senior officials of the law enforcement agencies, among others, attended the meeting.

Source : New Age

Gunmen kill 3 in Kaptai

Gunmen killed two villagers and an activist of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti, a regional political party in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, in Kaptai of Rangamati on Friday.

The PCJSS claimed that all three deceased were its supporters and blamed its rival United People's Democratic Front for the killings but the UPDF denied the charge.

Locals and police said 10-20 armed people in green attire swooped on a tea shop at Agapara under Chitmaram union and shot the three villagers – Chy Ching Khowai, 25, Hla Ching Khoi Marma, 30, and an unidentified youth – and left the place.

The three people died on the spot.

PCJSS sources identified the third victim as Devi Chakma Rocky, who had gone there from Baghaichari, although locals and Chitmaram union council chairman Thowai Ching Marma could not confirm his  identity but suspected him as an activist of PCJSS.

PCJSS assistant information secretary Sajib Chakma told New Age all three slain villagers were supporters of the party and that the gunmen had abducted a few more people from the spot.

UPDF spokesperson Niron Chakma denied the allegations. 'UPDF had no involvement in the incident. There are no activities of the UPDF in the entire Kaptai upazila. It has become a habit of the PCJSS to blame us whenever something like this happens.'

Sajib, however, claimed that the UPDF gunmen had come from nearby Rajsthali upazila. 'We condemn the heinous act and demand immediate arrest of the UPDF goons and seizure of illegal arms from their possession,' he said.

Alakesh Chakma, a UPDF operative in Rangamati, said they heard that the 'clash' had resulted from rivalry between the PCJSS and a breakaway faction of the party.

Thowai Ching Marma said two of the three victims were residents of his village and they had never seen them involved with any political party. 'But we failed to identify the other victim. He is an outsider and we have heard he was an activist of PCJSS,' he said.

Thowai Ching said panic gripped the remote village as it was so far free from factional rivalries. 

Chandraghona police officer-in-charge Pradip Kumar Das said, 'We are trying to identify the attackers. Security has been tightened and police, BGB and military personnel are on patrol. The bodies will be sent to Rangamati General Hospital for post-mortem examination.'

Kaptai upazila nirbahi officer Hazera Khatun said the death of three people had been confirmed 'Police have been sent there…I can say nothing more at the moment as the area is out of mobile phone network.'

Rangamati assistant superintendent of police Pranab Kumar Roy said three bodies had been recovered and brought to Rangamati General Hospital.

Fierce rivalries between the UPDF and the PCJSS since the formation of UPDF in 1998 have often led to bloody clashes between the two regional political groups. The PCJSS, led by Santu Larma, signed a peace treaty with the government the 1997.

After the signing of the 1997 CHT treaty, a dissident group of students, women activists and PCJSS leaders formed the UPDF opposing the deal calling it a 'document of surrender' and demanded total autonomy of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the PCJSS-UPDF rivalries since 1998. At least 38 leaders and activists were killed only in Rangamati district between June 2010 and August 2011.

Gunmen had killed four activists of the UPDF, including its central committee member Animesh Chakma, at Mitingachari of Barkal in Rangamati on May 20.

Source : New Age

5 killed in RAB ‘crossfire’

Five youths were killed in a reported 'gunfight' with the Rapid Action Battalion at Uttara in Dhaka on Friday night.

Witnesses said they had heard three gunshots at about 8:45pm, when six members of the battalion on three motorbikes were chasing a car on Sonargaon-Janapath near Mascot Plaza at Uttara. The battalion forced the car to stop in front of a branch of Dutch-Bangla Bank and fired shots.

The battalion personnel then dragged out the bodies of three youths from the car. Another youth was also found dead by the car, the witnesses said.

A fifth youth was rushed to Bangladesh Medical College Hospital at Uttara with bullet wounds where he died later on.

All the victims, aged between 20 and 25, were hit by bullets in the head and chest, said sources at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where the bodies were sent for autopsy.

The battalion arrested two at the spot.

RAB intelligence wing director Ziaul Ashan, who visited the spot, told New Age the battalion members went to the Sonargaon-Janapath, a road at Uttara, on a tip-off.

The battalion members detained two youths, who were sitting at a makeshift tea-stall, and waited there, on information that a car carrying muggers would come to join the two, said Ziaul.

As soon as the car reached the spot, the RAB men stopped it and the people inside opened fire on them triggering a gunfight, he said, adding that four were killed on the spot and another in the hospital.

Of the deceased, two were identified as Hasan, 21, ring leader of Hasan group of Tongi, and Sabuj, 21, and the arrestees were Imran, 18, and Saidur Rahman, 20, said Ziaul.

He said the identity of the car owner was yet to be known.

Arrested Saidur, who talked to media in RAB custody, said that Hasan had persuaded him to accompany the gang and picked him from in front of the House Building area at Uttara and together they headed for Balurmath of Section 13 at Uttara for mugging.

Saidur claimed that he knew none but Hasan in the car.

The Uttara police early today said that the battalion was yet to hand over the two arrested to them.

The battalion director general Mukhlesur Rahman told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangshta, 'The RAB rushed to the scene at around 9:20pm on a tip-off … and sensing danger the gangsters fired gunshots prompting our men to retaliate.'

The RAB personnel seized the car and some firearms from the spot.

The latest incident took to 43 the number of people  killed extrajudicially in

so-called 'crossfire,' 'gunfight' or 'encounter' after January 1.

Two hundred and

seventy-three people have fallen victim to extrajudicial killing by law enforcers since 6 January, 2009 when Awami

League-led government assumed office with a pledge to put an end to such killings.

Source : New Age