Indian army chief praises Bangladesh military’s role

The visiting Indian army chief, General Vijay Kumar Singh, on Wednesday appreciated Bangladesh army's role in the national arena and international peacekeeping operations.

'Updated and well trained Bangladesh army emerged through an armed liberation war and for last four decades Bangladesh army adopted a sundry policies and management procedures,' he told the President's Parade marking the passing out of the 64th long course and 35th special course of Bangladesh Military Academy at suburban Bhatiari in Chittagong.

He said Bangladesh army has become the largest contributor of troops to the world in 21 years and earned respect from world community in performing peace keeping tasks in an apple pie order.

A 1971 veteran and the last serving Indian general who fought the war also recounted his memories of Bangladesh's Liberation War and said it was a not fought alone through military arsenal or by military arsenal.

'It (the Liberation War) had to be organised and fielded by the concerted support of many other elements. War is always a huge and complicated affair,' he said.

Singh recalled that people of all walks of life fought the 1971 war valiantly against the occupation forces and ensured ultimate victory.

'As a junior member of Indian Army, I had a rare experience of taking part in 1971 war which gave me a tremendous feeling - a feeling of becoming a part of country's independence,' Singh said.

Singh called upon the newly commissioned officers to remain prepared even for supreme sacrifice for safeguarding independence and sovereignty of the beloved motherland.

Speaking about Bangladesh India relationships, Vijay said India is always ready to attach utmost importance to the development of brotherly and friendly relations of the two neighbours.

Singh earlier reviewed the smartly turned-out parade and took salute at the impressive march past as the chief guest and distributed trophies and awards among the outstanding cadets.

Battalion Senior Under Officer Mohammad Ruhul Quddus was adjudged the best all round cadet and awarded the coveted 'Sword Of Honour'. He also received 'Chief of Army Staff's Gold Medal' for his outstanding performance in the military subjects.

A total of 97 cadets passed out of Bangladesh Military Academy at a glittering ceremony.

Among them 92 cadets including 14 female cadets from 64 BMA long course and four cadets from 35 BMA special course have been commissioned to Bangladesh Army and five cadets from 64 BMA long course commissioned to Palestine Army.

Source : New Age

Rowling to reveal secret of Pottermore

Harry Potter fans are holding their collective breath as author JK Rowling gets set to reveal her latest project involving the boy wizard.

Rowling has called a news conference Thursday in London to reveal details of 'Pottermore,' a mysterious web site that has been taunting fans with the words 'coming soon.'

Theories include a Harry Potter encyclopedia, e-book versions of the novels or an Internet-based game.

Several British newspapers received what appeared to be a leaked marketing memo indicating the site is a web-based game including a hunt for real magic wands. It is not clear whether the memo was genuine. Rowling's representatives did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Rowling's seventh and final Harry Potter novel, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' was published in 2007. The final film the series, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2,' has its world premiere in London on July 7.

Rowling has not ruled out writing more books set in the Potter universe, but her publicist says 'Pottermore' is not a new book.

'Pottermore' was trademarked in 2009 by Warner Bros, which distributes the Potter movies, but Rowling spokeswoman Rebecca Salt said the site was not directly linked to the latest film.

The trademark description suggests an interactive site 'providing online chat rooms and electronic bulletin boards' and 'online facilities for real-time interaction with other computer users concerning topics of general interest.'

A leading Potter fan site, http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org, said it had seen a preview of Pottermore and called it 'breathtaking.'

Source : New Age

Beijing, Dhaka have significant opportunity to boost ties: Xi

Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping met in Beijing on Wednesday the visiting Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni, saying that the bilateral relationship between the countries faces an important opportunity for development.

'Since China and Bangladesh are both developing countries, both of us are committed to stepping up development and improving living standards,' said Xi, adding that it is

important for China to reinforce and develop its cooperation with Bangladesh.

China is ready to work with Bangladesh to boost their ties to a new high, he said.

China highly appreciates Bangladesh's support on issues related to Taiwan, Tibet and other issues concerning China's core interests, Xi said.

The two countries forged diplomatic ties 36 years ago. In March 2010, Bangladesh's prime minister Sheikh Hasina visited China.

The two countries issued a joint statement at that time, which stated that they would build a 'closer comprehensive partnership of cooperation.'

'China will continue to support Bangladesh in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as assist in its efforts to ensure national stability and social development,' Xi said.

Dipu Moni expressed gratitude for China's long-standing support and assistance in Bangladesh's development, saying Bangladesh will continue to support China in return.

Bangladesh highly values its relationship with China and will endeavor to enhance bilateral cooperation in all areas, she said.

Statistics show that two-way trade volume between the countries exceeded $7 billion in 2010. Dipu Moni also met her counterpart Yang Jiechi on Wednesday.

The China-Bangladesh relationship has boasted comprehensive development, highlighted by frequent high-level exchanges, as well as progress in major cooperative projects and economic and trade contacts, Yang said.

Dipu Moni began her eight-day visit on June 15 and is scheduled to conclude her trip Wednesday evening.

Source : New Age

No policy support for river protection

RIVER protection and water management have not had the requisite policy support from successive governments, even when the party in power was elected with a huge majority in parliament, says Professor Zahurul Islam of the Institute of Water and Flood Management at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

In an interview with New Age on Tuesday, he also questioned the role of the Water Development Board in river protection and water management.

People hardly get the benefit of flood and erosion forecasts as the board does not make these forecasts in time and appropriate ways, Professor Islam said.

Source : New Age

Verdict of Arafat’s money laundering case today

A Dhaka court is scheduled to pronounce its judgement today in the money laundering case against Arafat Rahman, youngest son of Bangladesh Nationalist Party's chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Arafat's lawyers, at a media briefing on Tuesday, said that Arafat might be deprived of justice as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had told the Cabinet meeting on April 11 to expedite the trial against him and his older brother Tarique Rahman, and her party's joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif on Tuesday had said that Arafat could not elude punishment.

On June 19 the judge of the Special Judge's Court 3, Mozammel Haque, set the date after completion of arguments by the Anti-Corruption Commission's lawyers. As Arafat's trial was held in absentia he was not entitled to engage any lawyer to defend himself in the case. Arafat's co-accused Ismail Hossain, son of late shipping minister Akbar Hossain, was also tried in absentia.

The court on 31 October, 2010 issued a warrant for Arafat's arrest after attorney general Mahbubey Alam appealed for the arrest of Arafat, who has apparently been undergoing medical treatment in Bangkok since 19 July, 2008 after his release on parole.

Mahbubey Alam, while moving the petition, told the court that the home affairs ministry had cancelled the parole on 19 August, 2010.

Arafat challenged the cancellation of the parole and the High Court bench of Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah and Justice Quazi Reza-ul Haque, in its verdict delivered on 11 October, 2010 extended Arafat's parole by 20 days.

However, the Appellate Division on 13 October, 2010 stayed for six weeks the High Court verdict and asked the government to file a regular petition seeking permission to appeal against the verdict.

At Wednesday's briefing, Arafat's lawyer Mahbub Uddin Khokon, who is also a BNP lawmaker, accused the prime minister, the attorney general and Hanif of influencing the judiciary through their comments on pending matters.

'The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the money laundering case against Arafat on 17 March, 2009 on the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also Awami League's president, and after that her party members also made undue comments on the case,' said Khokon.

Referring to Hanif, who told reporters on Tuesday that Arafat could not avoid being sentenced, Khokon asked, 'How can Hanif know about the verdict before its pronouncement?'

'How can we say that the verdict was not dictated by the Prime Minister's Office?' he added.

Mahbub also alleged that attorney general Mahbubey Alam had broken all the rules and norms by going to the lower court where the ACC had engaged its own lawyers to deal with the graft case.

SCBA's president Khandker Mahbub Hossain said that he could not believe that justice could be obtained from any court during the tenure of the present government.

Thousand of cases against Awami League's members were being withdrawn for the dubious reason that they were 'politically motivated cases' while Arafat's case was being disposed of expeditiously, Mahbub added.

'The government will have to answer to the people in the future for fostering injustice by influencing the judiciary,' he said.

Arafat and Ismail were charged on 12 November, 2009 for siphoning off $28,84,000 and $9,32,000 to Singapore in 2005.

The court has cross-examined 21 out of 23 witnesses in the case.

Source : New Age

Bangladesh would do better without its vicious politics: Duncan

Politicians in Bangladesh need to get rid of vicious politics to be able to explore huge growth potential of the country, British state minister for international development Alan Duncan said in Dhaka Wednesday.

'Politics is quite vicious here,' he told a news conference at the end of a three-day visit. Politicians have to be about the future, not about the past, through lifting up the way politics is conducted here, he said. 

He said the British government wants to encourage (major) political parties, politicians and their supporters to look at politics in a different way so that they could work together for democracy and higher growth.

'The issue of caretaker government is up to you (Bangladesh people),' he said in an obvious reference to the ongoing row between the government and the main opposition party.

'What we want to see is holding of free, fair and quality elections in Bangladesh,' he said.

The British government would, he said, provide to Bangladesh one billion pound sterling in aid over the next four years (2011-15).

Asked whether or not conditions would be attached, he said the British government did not make development aid conditional.

'However, we believe that strong democracy, better governance and rule of law at all levels are essential for the reputation of a country,' he said. 

A British High commission press release quoted him as saying, 'My second visit to Bangladesh reinforces my belief in the huge potential of this country and its people. We share Bangladesh's desire to see sustainable democracy and a stable environment in which Bangladesh can really grow. But Bangladesh needs, too, evolve in political maturity to enable it to fulfill its aspirations.' 

He said, 'The British government wants to see an effective, efficient and non-corrupt Bangladesh.'

 'There is corruption,' he said.

Asked about the role of NGOs, he said delivery of effective services cannot be done without them.

Asked whether or not he discussed with prime minister Sheikh Hasina the issue of removal of Grameen Bank founder Mohammad Yunus as its managing director, Duncan said he wanted to know whether the bank was working well without problems after his departure.

' It's not a conspiracy,' he said when asked whether or not it was a mere coincidence that he as well  German minister Dirk Niebel and European Union commissioner Andris Piebalgs were visiting Dhaka at the same time.

They jointly hosted a reception on Tuesday to meet a wider section of stakeholders to reiterate the importance of 'joined up partnership' in international development.

 British High Commissioner in Dhaka Stephen Evans and Chris Austin, head of the Department for International Development in Dhaka, were present at the news conference. 

 Austin said that over the British aid in question would come in four areas of social service, economic growth, improved governance and climate change.

During his three-day visit to Dhaka ending Wednesday, Duncan met prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia, finace minister AMA Muhith, food minister Abdur Razzak and state minister for environment and forest Hasan Mahmud.

He visited Gaibandha to speak with communities facing poverty, lack of services and the risk of flooding.

He also met representatives of civil society organisations to discuss how to ensure transparency, accountability and value for British aid, according to the BHC press release.

Source : New Age

Hasina expects a solution by 2012

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday that she expects the maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar to be resolved by next year through the legal process.

She told parliament in the question hour that attaching top priority to the issue her government took the maritime dispute with Myanmar to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in 2009 with the consent of Myanmar.

She hoped that on completion of hearing within this year, the issue would be resolved by 2012.

Hasina also said that there had been significant progress in resolving the maritime dispute between Bangladesh and India.

She said the two countries initiated a legal process through the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea under Annex-7.

She hoped the two countries would be able find an acceptable solution soon to the dispute through diplomatic efforts.

She said that her government was 'very keen' on resolving the outstanding problem of enclaves in adverse possession with India.

She hoped that the issue would be resolved soon.

Hasina said that discussions were at the final stage for securing the facility for uninterrupted movement between Bangladesh mainland and its enclaves of Angarpota and Dahagram.

She said that she was optimistic about the issue getting resolved immediately.

The prime minister said that census of the Bangladeshis in the two enclaves of the country was going on.

Hasina said that the efforts were on to resolve the refugee problem with Myanamar.

She described the issue of refugees from Myanmar as 'very sensitive and important' for Bangladesh from the socio-economic perspective.

She said that the process for Nepal and Bhutan to export goods to third countries through Bangladesh, using Chittagong and Mongla ports as transit points was at a final stage.

Hasina said, replying to a separate question, that Bangladesh signed memorandums of understanding with financial intelligence units of 10 countries for the exchange of information about money laundering.

She also said that to make anti money laundering drive more effective her government had taken the initiative to amend the Money Laundering Act 2009 and Anti-Terrorism Act 2009.

Replying to another question she said that her government would provide readymade garment making training to those serving jail terms so that they could rehabilitate themselves on completion of their sentence.

Hasina said that the female prisoners would be given training so that they could work as beauticians.

Source : New Age

Preliminary report misses deadline

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics missed the date of publication of the preliminary report of the fifth national population and household census although it was supposed to be published three months after the census.

Planning Minister AK Khandker, while presiding over the 15th extraordinary meeting of the National Statistics Council on 26 August, 2010, said, 'Necessary steps will be taken to publish the preliminary report of the census within three months and the final report within 12 months.'

The census, which has been widely criticised for being hurried and not sufficiently thorough, began on March 15 and ended on March 19.

BBS's secretary Riti Ibrahim told New Age on Wednesday that within this month the preliminary report would be submitted 'informally' to the concerned ministry. A press release, which will contain the population, number of males and females and households only, will be sent to both the print and electronic media.

'We are committed to complete the report within this month. The final report will take a bit more time as it will include all the details,' Riti added.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics engaged 3.10 lakh enumerators to collect data about the citizens and the households. The five-day population census began with the counting of floating people a minute after midnight after March 14.

A digital enumeration map and computerised geo-coding system have been used for the first time in the census.

The first population census in the subcontinent was conducted in 1872. Since then censuses have been conducted almost regularly every 10 years. This year's census is the fifth since the country's independence.

After independence, population and household censuses were conducted in 1974, 1981, 1991 and 2001. According to the fourth census, the number of households was about 2.54 crore and the population was 12.43 crore.

Source : New Age

Italy urges halt to Libya conflict

Italy called Wednesday for a halt to Libyan hostilities to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, as the civilian death toll mounted and state media said NATO was bombing highway traffic checkpoints.

On the diplomatic front, China said it recognises Libya's opposition National Transitional Council (NTC) as an 'important dialogue partner.'

'We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of NATO action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli,' the Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, told a parliamentary committee meeting in Rome.

'I believe an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities is required in order to create effective humanitarian corridors,' while negotiations should also continue on a more formal ceasefire and peace talks, he said.

'I think this is the most urgent and dramatic point,' Frattini continued.

'I think it is legitimate to request ever more detailed information on the results' of the NATO mission, he added, condemning 'the dramatic errors that hit civilians, which is clearly not an objective of the NATO mission.'

France, which has taken the lead in military operations against Muammar Gaddafi, immediately ruled out any pause in the Libya campaign.

'The coalition and the countries that met as the Abu Dhabi contact group two weeks ago were unanimous on the strategy: we must intensify the pressure on Gaddafi,' French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told reporters.

'Any pause in operations would risk allowing him to play for time and to reorganise. In the end, it would be the civilian population that would suffer from the smallest sign of weakness on our behalf,' he said.

NATO has been forced to defend the credibility of its air war after the alliance admitted firing a rogue missile that the Libyan regime says killed nine civilians, including children, in Tripoli.

'I would suggest that our reputation and credibility is unquestionable,' said Wing Commander Mike Bracken, the mission's military spokesman.

'What is questionable is the Gaddafi regime's use of human shields, (and) firing missiles from mosques,' Bracken told reporters from operation headquarters in Naples, Italy.

The blunder — an embarrassment for a mission that prides itself on protecting Libya's people from the regime — came on the heels of a friendly fire incident last week in which a column of rebel vehicles was hit by NATO warplanes.

The outgoing head of the Arab League Amr Mussa too voiced concerns about NATO's bombing campaign, in an interview with a British newspaper on Wednesday.

The veteran Egyptian diplomat, who played a key role in securing Arab support for the UN Security Council Resolution that authorised NATO air strikes, told the Guardian the bombing mission may not be working.

'When I see children being killed, I must have misgivings. That's why I warned about the risk of civilian casualties,' he said.

Libyan state television and official news agency JANA meanwhile reported that NATO warplanes had carried out raids on the towns of Khoms and Nalut in western Libya.

NATO targeted two checkpoints in the Khoms region 120 kilometres east of Tripoli, the television report said. It added that the control points were 'civilian' intended to 'organise traffic movements.'

If the strikes were confirmed, it would mean the Western alliance had moved into a new stage of operations in the west of Libya, aiming at checkpoints on the highways leading into the capital Tripoli.

Until now, NATO had limited itself to attacks on military installations and armour.

China meanwhile said it recognised Libya's rebel opposition as an 'important dialogue partner', in a further sign of Beijing's willingness to get more deeply engaged in the Libyan conflict.

The praise for Libya's National Transitional Council came in a statement by the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, after talks in Beijing earlier in the day with senior rebel leader Mahmud Jibril.

'China views it as an important dialogue partner,' Yang said of the NTC, which is based in the eastern Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

The Chinese foreign minister added that since the council was established, its 'representative nature has increased daily and it has gradually become an important domestic political force'.

Beijing consistently opposes moves deemed to interfere in the affairs of other countries.

But energy-hungry China has held a number of meetings with Libyan rebels in recent weeks in an apparent sign that it wants a speedy end the conflict in the oil-rich north African state, where it has sizeable economic interests.

Source : New Age

BBS halves per capita income

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in its Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2010 has said that per capita income in 2010 increased to Tk 30,636 or $418.

The Bangladesh Economic Survey 2011 given with the budget proposal for the 2011–2012 financial year, however, has showed that per capita income in 2010–11 increased to $818 or more than Tk 57,000.

The statistics bureau launched the HIES 2010 survey report at a workshop at the Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Asked about the incongruity between the findings of the statistics bureau and the economic survey, the statistics division secretary, Riti Ibrahim, told news agency Bdnews24.com that she did not know where the Bangladesh Economic Survey had got its data from.

'Only the BBS conducts the household income and expenditure survey and it has found out that monthly per capita income is Tk 2,553 and if it is multiplied by 12, one can get the yearly figure,' the news agency quoted Riti as saying.

The HIES 2010 survey says that the monthly per capita income increased to Tk 2,553 in 2010 which was Tk 1,486 in 2005.

The survey also says that as the per capital income has increased, poverty also decreased.

The survey also says that poverty lines decreased in the Dhaka region to 30.5 per cent in 2010 from 32.1 per cent in 2005 which is 'the lowest reduction.'

The Rajshahi region reduced poverty compared with Dhaka by a huge percentage as Rajshahi's poverty line fell down to 35.7 per cent in 2010 which was 51.2 per cent in 2005.

The survey was conducted on 12,240 households — 7,840 households in rural areas and 4,400 in urban areas.

The planning minister, AK Khandkar, said that the survey would be help to work the plan for the sixth Five Year Plan.

The experts who attended the workshop, however, said that the HIES 2010 survey did not present the total scenario of the country.

Academics and population scientists at the programme said that the BBS should have conducted a more in-depth survey.

They also said that the survey did not include any statistics on slum people, no data by gender and no statistics on district and thana levels and this could be considered a flaw of the survey.

AKM Nurun Nabi, a teacher of population science in Dhaka University, said, 'Poverty is multi-dimensional. Poverty cannot be defined only by food and expenditure. It also includes health and other things.'

'We must also take note that per capita savings has decreased although the per capita income has increased. And poverty prevails as a result.' he added.

World Bank consultant Faizuddin Ahmed presented the key findings of the survey at the workshop.

BBS director general M Shahjahan Ali Mollah, acting head of the World Bank Bangladesh Sanjay Kathuria, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies director general MK Mujeri and Planning Commission member Shamsul Alam, among others, also spoke.  

Source : New Age

NEC approves Tk 13.47tln 6th Five Year Plan

The National Economic Council has approved the country's Sixth Five-Year Plan (2011-15) giving priority to education, employment generation and industrialisation and projecting an 8 per cent GDP growth at the terminal year of 2015.

The planning commission has prepared the plan with an outlay of Tk 13.47 trillion setting the objective of reducing the poverty level to 22 per cent from existing 31.5 per cent.

The plan was approved at an NEC meeting with its chairperson and the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in the chair at the planning commission.

Of the total outlay, Tk 12215.3 billion (90.7 per cent) will be arranged from domestic resources and the rest Tk 1254.1 billion (9.3 per cent) will be tapped from development partners.

Much of the investment will be undertaken by the private sector, accounting for Tk 10393.6 billion or 77.2 per cent of the total investment under the plan, much of that harnessed from domestic sources.

The external financing for private investment, primarily in the form of foreign direct investment is expected to grow, but it will still remain very small in relative term at about 4 per cent, said the planners.

Briefing reporters after the meeting the planning minister, AK Khandker, said that the adopted SFYP is an indicative plan and it will be implemented under the Perspective Plan. On completion of the SFYP, the 7th Five Year Plan would be undertaken.

General Economics Division member of the Planning Commission Professor Shamsul Alam, Planning Division secretary M Monzur Hossain and GED division chief Fakhrul Ahsan were present at the briefing.

Khandker hoped that they would be able to achieve the targets of the Perspective Plan by 2021 through entering into a middle income country by 2021 as also reducing the poverty rate to 15 per cent.

Answering to a question, the planning minister expressed hope that once the foreign aid dependency of the country would come to a zero level.  'The foreign aid dependency will gradually decline and we'll be self reliant.'

Shamsul Alam said 8 per cent GDP growth by 2015 is achievable as the current base year is 1995-96 which will be upgraded to 2005-06 incorporating many new sectors.

He also said that the previous Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) was imposed on the government by the development partners.

According to the SFYP, the public sector investment, much of it through the Annual Development Programme, will amount to Tk 3.1 trillion at constant 2010-11 prices, accounting for about 22.8 per cent of the total investment in the economy.

The plan projects an increase in the revenue to 14.6 per cent of GDP by FY 2015 from the existing 10.9 per cent. Much of the revenue gain will come from the NBR taxes.

To achieve 8 per cent growth by 2015, the government will emphasise manufacturing and organised services as the investment ratio to GDP will be increased by 8 per cent by the end of the plan period to 32.5 per cent from existing around 24.7 per cent.

Under the plan a total of 16 core targets have been set for economic growth, employment, poverty reduction, human resources development, gender balance and environmental protection.

If the targets are achieved, the socio- economic environment of the country will transform it from a low-income economy to the first stages of the middle- income country.

The SFYP will increase the manufacturing sector's GDP share to 25 per cent from 17 per cent and employment share to 15 per cent by 2015 by emphasising labour-intensive export and high demand domestic production.

The plan would focus on removing the infrastructure constraints through investment in power and transport, ensuring better efficiency and demand management, and through energy trade with neighbours.

Cabinet members, PM's advisers and senior officials attended the NEC meeting.

Source : New Age

Four ‘pirates’ killed in ‘gunfight’

Four persons, said to be pirates, were killed in a 'gunfight' with the Rapid Action Battalion on Wednesday morning at Sharonkhola under the east wing of the Sundarbans Forest Division in Bagerhat.

Local fishermen identified the deceased as Zulfikar Ali Zulfu, leader of a pirate gang called 'Zulfikar Bahini', Hafizur Rahman, second-in-command of the gang, Sanwar Hossain Sanu and Zakir Hossain.

The latest incident took to 36 the number of such people killed extrajudicially in so-called 'crossfire,' 'gunfight' or 'encounter' after January 1.

Two hundred and sixty-six people have so far fallen victim to extrajudicial killing by law enforcers since 6 January, 2009 when this government assumed office with the commitment to put an end to extrajudicial killing.

The commanding officer of RAB-8, Lieutenant Colonel Monirul Haque, told New Age that four 'pirates' were killed in the 'gunfight' that had taken place from 9:25am to 10:50am in Boro Shawlar Khalpar area under Supati Range of Pashchim Sundarbans.

RAB members later recovered four dead bodies, and seized eight firearms including two 9.0mm pistols, three light guns, one single-barrel gun, 1 one-shooter gun, one rifle, 141 rounds of bullets and 60 rounds of used cartridges, four sharp weapons, one binocular, 48 'Tiger' brand drinks, 10 packets of cigarettes, fruits and cooking materials and a trawler from the spot. The dead bodies and guns and other items will be handed over to Sharonkhola police after completing legal formalities, said RAB officials.

Sub-inspector Mustafizur Rahman, acting officer-in-charge of Sharonkhola thana, said that the dead bodies would be sent to Bagherhat General Hospital's morgue for autopsy.

He could not tell reporters whether any cases had been filed against the deceased, but said that they were 'notorious' in the region for piracy and collecting ransom for kidnapped fishermen.

Source : New Age

Little done to stop polythene bag use despite ban

Continuing manufacture of polythene bags along with lax law enforcement is blamed by environmentalists for the increased use of non-biodegradable polythene bags.

Save the Environment Movement president Abu Naser Khan blamed the government authorities for failing to implement the ban on the bags saying that their enforcement operations were very irregular.

The environment department's director (Dhaka division) Sukumar Biswas, however, told New Age that his department regularly organised enforcement action against the use of polythene bags but said that it has little effect as people were not sufficiently aware of the bad effect of polythene on the environment.

Sukumar referring to an official document said that between January 2010 and May 10, 2011, his department had seized 63,740 kilograms of polythene bags from 492 factories and sellers, filed 475 cases under the Environment Conservation Act 1995 and realised Tk 3,658,900 in fines.

Referring to that document, he also said that in the year up to May 10, the mobile court had imprisoned about 17 people for terms not exceeding six months.

Sukumar blamed the associations related to the manufacturing of polythene bags for their support of the polythene bag factory owners.

'When we lead enforcement actions against banned polythene bags in the markets of the capital city, some people belonging to the associations try to hinder our operations,' he said.

Abu Motaleb, president of the Bangladesh Plastic Packaging Roll Manufacturers and Owners' Association, admitted to New Age that some factories of his association still produce polythene bags and sell them as they do not agree with the present law.

He termed the Environment Conservation Act 1995 'a black law' saying that it destroyed a very profitable business.

He said that the government did not think about the businessman when deciding on banning the production and selling of polythene shopping bags.

He claimed that polythene bags do not harm the environment. 'People collect the polythene bags and sell them back to the factories for Tk 30 a kilogram. Then the factories recycle them and make different plastic products from them.'

He said that before the plastic bag ban, there were about 150 factories and shops producing and selling polythene bags in the country but the number has now reduced to 30 to 40.

These factories mainly produce polythene bags with a thickness of less than 30 microns which the Environment Conservation Act 1995 had banned in 2002.

He said that the association does not agree with the law adding that 'As the DoE could not promote any other cost-effective alternatives, the businessman have been forced to produce polythene shopping bags and provide them to the consumers at an affordable price.'

Environmentalists, however, remain concerned about the environmental consequences of plastic bags saying that the use of polythene remained very visible in the environment with bags found everywhere such as on streets, dumps, drains, ditches, open fields, roof tops, hanging from trees and from overhead cables, and floating on ponds, canals and rivers.

Hossain Shahriar, secretary general of the Environment and Social Development Organisation, said that the decomposition process is very slow and that polythene bags break into tiny pieces and leech toxic chemicals into the soil, lakes and rivers.

'We do not have enough land to dump those polythene bags. We cannot recycle them more than twice. After recycling them, we have to dump them', he said. 

'Apart from polythene necessary for packing foods, all other polythene and plastic products should be banned by the law,' he added.

The Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters' Association president, Shamim Ahmed, told New Age that there remained about 400 factories in the country making polythene bags for export, not for local use.

Source : New Age