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Inadequate funds, inefficient manpower and limited access to development activities and natural resources are the reasons why the people of the coastal areas lag behind, said experts at a consultation meeting on Wednesday.
   The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and the Water Resources Planning Organisation jointly organised the national-level stakeholders’ consultation meeting on ‘Institutional and partnership issues in nine sea-facing coastal districts under the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan project’ at the IDB Bhaban.
   Minister for water resources Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, secretary to the ministry SM Jahrul Islam, BIDS director-general Omar Haider Chowdhury, WARPO director-general HS Mozaddad Faruque and project director KM Nabiul Islam addressed the inaugural session.
   The daylong consultation meeting also included six group discussion meetings where more than 200 recommendations were made, and a plenary session where participants added further suggestions to those collected from the group discussions.
   Nearly 150 representatives from the government, local government and non-government organisations participated in the discussion.
   Hafiz Uddin said the government had already prepared the coastal development strategy in the light of the policy for the coastal areas, which was earlier formulated by the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan project.
   The strategy lays down the principles and international standards of behaviour for responsible practices with a view to ensuring effective conservation, management and development of living aquatic resources, as well as of the ecosystem and biodiversity of the coastal areas, he added.
   The minister stressed the need for reforms of the Offshore Development Board, which was introduced during the tenure of late president Ziaur Rahman, for implementation of the strategy paper.
   Omar Haider said although the coastal areas possess many resources and are regarded as productive zones, at present most of these resources are managed in an unplanned and unsustainable way.
   He stressed the need for an integrated approach including ensuring power supply to the areas for modernisation, industrialisation and sustainable development.
   HS Mozaddad Faruque blamed fund constraints, lack of skilled manpower and people’s limited access to development activities for keeping the entire region in a backward position.
   Nabiul Islam held lack of coordination among the governmental, non-governmental organisations and the local government also responsible for the backwardness of the region. Almost all the participants agreed with them and made recommendations to solve the problems.
   The recommendations included coordination of the four ministries — industries, shipping, water resources and fisheries — to prevent water pollution of the coastal areas, ensure accountability of the local government and NGO workers, reduce interests on loans that the NGOs provide, develop infrastructure for health workers, and ensure rule of law so that the owners of the shrimp hatcheries cannot violate the rights of the workers.
   Participants also demanded formation of special tribunals to try the land-grabbers and the persons responsible for deforestation.
   They also suggested arrangement of training sessions for women on livestock and poultry. They said women usually look after the cattle and the poultry, but have no technical knowledge.

The 81st anniversary of birth of the country’s renowned artist, SM Sultan, was celebrated in Narail on Wednesday.
   The day’s programmes began with an announcement that the prime minister will inaugurate the Shishu Swarga, a dreamland for the kids planned by the artist, in November.
   To mark the occasion, the Narail district administration, SM Sultan Foundation and Sultan Birth Centenary Celebration Council arranged boat race, milad mahfil, art show and craft exhibition at the Shishu Swarga.
   Hundreds of people placed wreaths at the grave of the SM Sultan to pay tribute to this great artist.
   The traditional boat race was held at the Chitra river with thousands of people on both sides of the river watching the race.
   The state minister for water resources, Goutam Chakravarty, distributed prizes to the winners of the art competition.
   ‘SM Sultan, who grew up on the soil of Narail reflected beautiful Bangla in his art works,’ Goutam Chakravarty said while addressing a function on the occasion.
   A discussion on the life of SM Sultan was also held to mark the birth anniversary.
   The deputy commissioner of the district, Nuruddin Ahmed, chaired the discussion while lawmaker, Dhirendranath Saha, and the president of district BNP and Sultan Foundation, Iqbal Hossain Sikder, spoke at the discussion.
   SM Sultan, born on this day in 1924, won Ekushey Padak in 1982, Swadhinota Padak in 1993 and many other awards at home and abroad. He died on October 10 in 1994.

The social welfare ministry has incorporated 23 projects including 15 new ones for implementation under the annual development programme of the current fiscal.
   ‘Thirteen will be implemented by the government and the rest through government and private sector initiatives,’ said social welfare minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, at a press conference on Wednesday.
   The new projects include establishment of six vocational training centres in six divisions for orphans and disabled children, hostel for blind children, poverty reduction and socio-economic development for Chittagong Hill Tracts people, social services and medicare and control of HIV and skin diseases, liver transplantation facilities at the Bangladesh Institute of Research on Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolism, and creation of a database for registration and identity cards of disabled people.
   He said the government in the current fiscal has increased the social safety net allocation to Tk 324 crore from Tk 260 crore to provide a monthly elderly allowance of Tk 180 each to around 15 lakh people.

A man was killed at Pahartali, Raujan, in Chittagong on Wednesday. The police and local people said Abul Kalam and Samsul Alam, two brothers of Sheikhpara, Pahartali, hacked Mohammed Maheruzzaman, 36, to death at about 8:30am.
   The suspected killers called the victim out of his house and attacked him with sharp weapons in Kalam’s house.

Two construction labourers were electrocuted and two were seriously wounded in Bogra when they were on the roof of a building Wednesday morning.
   One of the wounded was shifted to Dhaka. The dead were Abul Kalam Azad,

High consumption of dairy food might increase the risk of ovarian cancer, according to researchers.
   Although, milk and milk products are rich with nutrients, lactose (milk sugar) –one of their ingredients, might be the factor for raising the risk of ovarian cancer, said an article published in International Journal of Cancer.
   Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm observed that high intake of milk and milk sugar (lactose) was associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer in prospective studies (in which diet has been assessed before the cancer diagnosis) but not in case-control studies (in which diet has been assessed after the cancer diagnosis).
   However, studies that examined the association between lactose or dairy food consumption and ovarian cancer risk have yielded conflicting results.
   The researchers, therefore, summarised the literature available on the matter. The findings of 18 case-control studies differed, except for whole milk. They do not provide evidence of positive associations between dairy food and lactose intake regarding the risk of ovarian cancer.
   In contrast, the three prospective cohort studies were consistent, which showed significant positive associations between intake of total dairy foods, low-fat milk, and lactose and risk of ovarian cancer.
   For a daily increase of 10 grams in lactose intake (the approximate amount in one glass of milk), the risk of ovarian cancer increases by 13 per cent.
   Although milk consumption might increase the ovarian cancer risk, intake of milk has other potential benefits. For instance, there is strong evidence that high consumption of milk may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

The nine Indians who were arrested while making the podium for prime minister Khaleda Zia’s meeting at Laksam Stadium were today handed over to Indian authorities through a border meeting.
   Official sources said the trespassers were sent back to India through Bibirbazar border checkpost in sadar upazila at 10:00am in presence of high government officials from both Bangladesh and Indian sides.
   BDR Bibirbazar BOP Subedar Abdul Hye and OC (Watch) Lutfur Rahman were present from Bangladesh side while Sonamura sub-division (Tripura) SDPO Sanjoy Roy, deputy collector and magistrate Sudhangsu Sarker and BSF Srimantapur BOP company commandant BP Singh from Indian side.
   The deported Indian nationals are Dulal Sutradhar, 25, Haricharan Debnath, 22, Kalipada Saha, 35, Dilip Das, 40, Goutam Bhoumick, 35, Anu Dev, 20, Dipen Dey, 22, Mahadev Ghosh, 31, and Khokon Das, 40.
   Special Security Force personnel held the nine foreigners on March 11 this year while they were making the stage, as undocumented workers, for the prime minister’s scheduled public meeting.
   Later, the meeting was cancelled for security reason.
   The Indians were reportedly ‘hired’ to make the podium.
   A magistrate court fined the nine Tk 200 each and sentenced them to seven days’ imprisonment in June for illegal entry into Bangladesh.
   They were turned over to Indian authorities following a home ministry order after the expiry of their prison term.

The government on Wednesday appointed Major General Rezaqul Haider the ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, according to a foreign ministry news release.
   Rezaqul, who was commissioned on August 19, 1971, has worked for UNAMET/UNTAET as chief military observer and won the Wiesel Ethics Award 2000 for display of dedication to the ideals of international civil service.

Activities at Chittagong Medical College Hospital were suspended for two hours on Wednesday because of the agitation of Class IV employees as one of their colleagues was allegedly assaulted by a physician.
   The hospital sources said the Class IV employees abstained from work from 10:00am and brought out processions at the hospital demanding punishment for the physician who assaulted, Mohammed Idris, a gateman, on Tuesday.
   The workers also stopped the physicians from attending patients in all the departments except at the emergency, the sources said.
   After two hours of agitation, the physician responsible for the incident apologised in line with the decision of a meeting between the hospital authorities and the Class IV employees’ union leaders. The hospital activities resumed at about noon.
   Mezbaul Haque, associate professor of paediatrics, allegedly slapped the gateman of Ward 9 as he let a visitor in while the physician was on a round at the ward at about 2:00pm Tuesday.

Former student leader Zahiruddin Swapan MP was made information and research secretary of central executive committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
   BNP chairperson made the nomination under Section 6 (kha) 11 of the party’s constitution, said a release.
   ‘The decision will come into effect immediately,’ the release said.
   Swapan was earlier assistant office secretary of the party.

Shahabuddin Laskar Dhira, the suspected mastermind of the murder of Sheikh Belaluddin, a journalist, was freed from the Khulna district jail on Tuesday evening on bail.
   He is also accused in the murder case of Sagar and Shiplu, both members of an underground party.
   The court granted him bail in the murder case of Sagar and Shiplu and to set him free if there were no more cases against him.
   The order reached the Khulna district jail on Tuesday afternoon and he was freed in the evening, the sources said.
   The sources said the Dhaka metropolitan police arrested Dhira from near the office of Criminal Investigation Department at Malibagh on July 5.