No trade thru' Benapole till tomorrow

Indo-Bangladesh trade trough Benapole land port will remain suspended for three days till Saturday as Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Benarjee and Indian Central Home Minister P. Chidambaram will visit the Petrapole land port.

Transaction of goods and commodities was suspended on the Indian side yesterday which took extra security measures for the visit of the Indian ministers, said customs officials.

Sources said, the Indian ministers will meet port and customs officials and local commanders of BSF and discuss expansion of facilities and security measures for transporting cargoes to northeastern states of India through the land corridor of Bangladesh in near future.

Source : The Daily Star

Bail prayer of teacher held on rape charge turned down

Headmaster of a non-government school, held on charge of kidnapping and raping a college girl, was sent to jail on Tuesday.

Earlier AKM Shamiul Islam Lovlu, 48, headmaster of Uttar Khamar Mohona United Registered School at Khamar Mohona Alam Biditor village in Gangachhara upazila was produced in court in the morning.

The chief judicial magistrate sent him to jail hajat rejecting the bail prayer.

According to the case, Lovlu came in contact with a girl student of Jaldhaka Degree College, over cell phone.

After a few days, Lovlu, married and father of a child, went to Jaldhaka and tactfully kidnapped the girl and took her to an unknown destination where he allegedly raped her on August 18.

Victim's father immediately filed a case failing to find out his daughter.

After the case, police in a drive arrested Lovlu and rescued the girl from a house at Nekbakta village in Jaldhaka upazila on Monday.

Before going to jail hajat, the teacher repented for his deeds and said he actually wanted to marry the girl. He claimed that he also took permission from his first wife to marry the girl.

Police said the victim's father filed a kidnap and rape case in this connection.

Source : The Daily Star

Missing college student found murdered

A college student, missing since Tuesday afternoon, was found dead at Boktarpur village in Ishwardi upazila of the district yesterday.

The victim, Abdul Malek, was a second year honours student of Islamic history department at Rajshahi College.

Police quoted family members as saying that Malek went out of their house at Baghali village in the upazila riding his motorbike at around 4:00pm and remained missing since then.

Locals found the body of Malek, son of Gias Uddin, at Boktarpur village under Solimpur union in the morning and informed the police who recovered the body and sent it to Pabna Medical College and Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Kazi Haniful Islam, officer-in-charge of Iswardi Police Station, said Malek's body bore marks of stab injuries. Criminals killed him and took away his motorbike, the OC added.

Victim's father Giash Uddin filed a murder case with Ishwardi Police Station yesterday morning. Police arrested a man named Mohammad Sohan at Baghali village in connection with the killing.

The officer-in-charge said they are investigating the matter and trying to arrest the culprits involved in the killing of the college student.

Source : The Daily Star

Barapukuria miners reject offer of salary hike, continue strike

Barapukuria miners rejected a move by the authorities to increase their salaries and benefits and continued their indefinite strike on the third day yesterday.

The agitating workers of Barapukuria Coal Mine Company Ltd (BCMCL) turned down the offer as their main demand was regularisation of job union leaders said.

Meanwhile, the unit of labour directorate in Rajshahi on Wednesday issued a notice to the trade union leaders terming their indefinite strike illegal.

The notice also asked the TU to explain within seven days why its affiliation would not be cancelled for starting an agitation without serving any prior notice.

But the miners ignored the notice and strengthened their agitation yesterday with 1500 of them and their family members taking position outside BCMCL compound round the clock.

Sources said at a meeting on Wednesday afternoon the labour contract company XMC and BCMCL accepted the miners' demand to increase their salaries and other facilities.

At the meeting it was observed that the authorities would need more time as it was not possible for them to regularise the jobs overnight.

Sources said, the miners went out for discussing the matter with their adviser Md. Mohsin and later 'mysteriously' declined to accept the offer and join their work.

Talking to this correspondent, Rabiul Islam, president of BCMCL workers and miners union, said they had demanded their salary raise under a pay scale. But the BCMCL turned down our proposal, he said.

Source : The Daily Star

HC seeks footage on 2 BNP leaders' remarks

The High Court Thursday asked for compact disks (CDs) from nine private television channels on the statements of BNP leaders Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Moudud Ahmed about this court.

BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday at a meeting at Jatiya Press Club in the city said, "Now the court is governing the country as it is giving decisions on everything including the club, field and river."

Moudud Ahmed was present at the meeting and made a statement about the judiciary.

An HC bench in a suo moto move ordered the authorities concerned of the television channels to submit the video footage on the statements of Fakhrul and Moudud.

The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore passed the order as Attorney General Mahbubey Alam brought the statements before it.

The television channels are ATN News, ATN Bangla, Channel i, Mohona TV, Diganta TV, NTV, Desh TV, My TV and Independent TV, which covered the meeting.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that the court asked for CDs from the television channels to examine the statements of two BNP leaders about the court.

Source : The Daily Star

Appeal for help

Rafa Ferdous, a student of class four at Glory School and College, is suffering from blood cancer and needs chemotherapy urgently.

Rafa is undergoing treatment at Christian Medical College Hospital in India and needs around Tk 15 lakh for the treatment.

Her family is unable to bear this cost and requests the affluent and generous people of society to come forward with financial assistance.

Contributions can be sent to Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Savings Account Number 6461, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, Mirpur-10 Branch. Her family can be contacted over cellphone number 01911336073 or 01670207719.

Source : The Daily Star

Outlaw arrested, bomb recovered

Police arrested an outlawed party cadre and recovered two bombs from his possession at Bamundi village of Gngni in Meherpur yesterday.

The arrestee is Azmot Ali, of the same village, a cadre of outlawed Janajuddho, one of the factions of Purbo Banglar Communist Party.

Police said a team of police led by Sub-inspector Osman Ghani raided the house of Azmot at about 3:00pm and arrested him with the bombs.

Azmot is a bomb maker of the outfit group, police said

Source : The Daily Star

Phulbari tragedy victims remembered

The people of Phulbari upazila observed the Phulbari Day yesterday, in honour of the protestors who were killed during firing by law enforcers in 2006.

Commemorating the deceased, Phulbari people built an altar on the riverbank of Chhoto Jamuna and started laying flowers at the altar since the morning. They also organised discussion and mourning procession.

At least three persons were killed and 70 others injured as police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) opened fire on people protesting the Phulbari coalmine project on August 26, 2006. The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Port organised the protest rally.

Speakers told a discussion at Nimtolamore yesterday that a deep conspiracy has been hatched in the country to sell the national resources for personal gains. People have to be alerted to protect the resources especially the coal, they said.

Prof Anu Muhammad, general secretary of the national committee, and Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah, the president, spoke at the discussion presided over by the committee's local convener, Saiful Islam Jewel.

Shiekh Shahidullah along with Prof Anu also led a grand mourning procession from Dhaka More (intersection) to Phulbari upazila headquarters.

Black flags were hoisted at the top of a number of buildings of the upazila.

Source : The Daily Star

Elderly woman dies in road crash

An elderly woman was killed after a pickup van hit her at Banani in the city yesterday afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Halima Begum, 60, of Pachkani at Savar. She came to pay a visit to her relative's house at Banani.

Kamrul Hasan, an assistant sub-inspector of Gulshan Police Station, said a speedy pickup van hit her from behind while Halima was walking on the road near Chairman Bari, leaving her dead on the spot.

The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy.

Source : The Daily Star 

Phulbari Day Observed: Implement deal

Speakers at a rally yesterday urged the government to fully implement the Phulbari contract, driving out Asia Energy to protect the country's mineral resources including coal.

They also demanded prohibition on open-pit coal mining and enactment of a law restricting export of mineral resources.

The rally was organised by the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power, and Port at the Central Shaheed Minar in the city, says a press release.

Earlier, the committee and different political parties and social organisations laid wreaths at the memorial in observance of the Phulbari Day yesterday.

On August 26, 2006, at least three persons were killed and 70 others injured as police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) opened fire on people protesting the open-pit mining of Phulbari coal.

The political parties, most of them leftist, expressed solidarity with the demands of the national committee.

Prof MM Akash of Dhaka University, Bimal Biswas of Workers Party of Bangladesh, Ruhin Hossen Prince of Communist Party of Bangladesh, and Saiful Haque of Biplobi Workers Party, among others, spoke at the rally.

Source : The Daily Star

TANGENTS By Ihtisham Kabir: Motor Man

During a respite from the non-stop rain, I have wandered out. Camera in hand, I explore the narrow streets behind the Court-kachari. Following a winding alley, I approach a street-side kitchen market. As I walk past a tiny corner shop, I see a man inside working with single minded concentration on a small mechanical part.

A minute later, something tugs at me about this man. He and his shop stood out among all the other grocery and variety stores that lined the alley. What was he doing? I make a U-turn back to his shop.

I watch for a minute as he meticulously winds a thin copper thread into the arm of a circular contraption. Finally he looks up and smiles: a kind face, glasses, very Bengali. I ask if I can take a picture, and, finding him friendly, sit down for a chat.

"I am rebuilding a motor for a table fan," he says. "The motor core's wiring was burned."

Now I understand. Motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy by sending a current through a coil which is made of a thin, wound up copper wire.

But it looks like he has to make an awfully large number of windings. "How many turns of the coil do you need?" I ask.

"This core, which had been burnt, needs 450 turns for each arm." I count twelve arms. That is 5400 windings of the copper wire, each winding spun by hand.

How many can he do every day? "On a good day I can fix four, maybe five cores," he says.

I ask him about other, more challenging work. Difficult tasks involve motors that run at a high speed, he says. For example, a kitchen blender or a drill can be finicky and requires more expensive, fatter copper wires.

His name is Jagannath Mondol. I ask him if he had learned this work as a hobby. But the truth is more down to earth. He started working as an apprentice after finishing class eight.

"I needed to bring in income to the household as our family was not well-off," he says. After several years working for others, he opened his own store about fifteen years ago.

Still, tinkering with electrical devices is not for everyone, and I cannot shake off the notion of a hobby. "Do you make anything for yourself? As a hobby?" I ask. "I do it simply to make my living, not a hobby" he says smiling.

As I take my leave, I look for the store's name but can find none. "That's right, my store has no name. But everyone in the neighbourhood knows me. They just ask for Jagannath when something breaks," he says.

Jagannath has a son and a daughter, both attending school. "Will they work here?" I ask. "No, no, this kind of work is fading away today, I hope they do something else," he says before returning to winding his coil.

Source : The Daily Star

Suicide bomb rocks Nigeria UN building: At least 18 killed

A suicide bomb blast rocked the UN compound in the Nigerian capital Abuja yesterday, killing at least 18 people, leaving others trapped and blowing out large areas of the building, officials said.

Witnesses reported that the bomb went off after a suspect rammed a car through the front gate. Parts of the first two floors of the building were blown out and rescue workers scrambled to rescue those left inside.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of bombings in recent months.

"So far, we have 18 dead and eight injured," Mike Zuokumor, police commissioner for the Federal Capital Territory, which includes Abuja, told journalists.

"It was a Honda Accord car. The suicide bomber died immediately as the bomb cut him into three. I cannot say how many people are still in the building. The rescue operation is still on."

A member of security personnel speaking on condition of anonymity spoke of "many dead."

"A guy drove a Honda car, forced his way through the gate and rammed into the building, and then the bomb exploded," the security source said at the scene.

AFP correspondents saw wounded people being taken from the building, including those with bloodied heads. Some appeared lifeless but it was unclear whether they were dead.

One UN staff member said people were still trapped in the building that sustained heavy damage.

"I don't know what is going on. Many people are still trapped upstairs and we need a crane to bring people down," said the UN staffer who did not want to give her name.

Two cranes were later brought to the scene and rescue workers were trying to free those trapped on the upper floors.

"We spoke to our colleagues in Lagos, who confirmed that the explosion was caused by a bomb. But we have no further information for now," a UN spokeswoman in Geneva told AFP.

A spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs meanwhile told AFP that a colleague on site had sent an SMS message to say that the explosion "appears to have come from the gate entrance to the building."

The UN building is located in Abuja's diplomatic zone, not far from the US Embassy, and houses a number of United Nations agencies.

Security is usually extremely tight, with non-UN vehicles typically not allowed to approach the gate leading to the compound, and the building is set back from the street.

A bomb blast that rocked a car park at national police headquarters in Abuja in June and killed at least two people was claimed by Boko Haram. Police first said it was the result of a suicide blast before later retracting their statement, saying they could not be sure.

Most of the attacks blamed on the sect have occurred in the country's northeast, but a number have been carried out elsewhere, including the previous explosion in Abuja as well as several in Suleija near the capital.

There have been growing concerns that the sect has formed links with extremist groups outside of Nigeria, including al-Qaeda's north African branch.

Source : The Daily Star

Footpath Shops: Extortion on rise as Eid nears

Local hoodlums and a section of law enforcers are allegedly extorting money from the hawkers and vendors on footpaths as the Eid shopping peaks in the capital.

Many hawkers in the city's Karwanbazar, Farmgate, Paltan, Gulistan, New Market and Gulshan areas said they have been forced to pay the extortion money to the policemen and 'linemen' appointed by local criminals.

"Usually I pay Tk 600 per week to the members of Tejgaon Police Station, Tk 20 to 30 to the patrol policemen and Tk 100 to the lineman daily," said a tea-seller at Karwanbazar.

But during Ramadan, the amount has increased to Tk 700, Tk30 to 40 and Tk 120 to 130 respectively, he added.

A garment hawker in front of the Bangabandhu National Stadium said he has paid Tk 700 per week to the members of Paltan Police Station, Tk 40 to 60 to the patrol policemen and Tk 150 to the lineman daily since the beginning of the fasting month.

Extortion by both policemen and linemen is an old practice and it is quite impossible to run a business without paying them the money, mentioned traders.

A lineman collects the extortion money from the vendors in a specific area.

Contacted, Deputy Commissioner (Tejgaon division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Imam Hossain rejected the allegation of extorting the traders. He also claimed there is no existence of any lineman.

"If they [vendors] are forced to pay the money, why don't they come to me with complaints? If anybody finds a lineman, I would like to see how influential he is," noted the official.

Source : The Daily Star