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Local sources said Panchagarh located on the north of Nilphamari and an Indian state on its north-east side are now producing world class tea.
   Nilphamari bearing the same characteristics of Panchagarh and the Indian state with regard to soil, climate and rainfall, is full of promise for the production of quality tea.
   A team of the Bangladesh Tea Board visited Nilphamari a couple of years ago and found the soil of Domar upazila in Nilphamari and Patgram upazila in Lalmonirhat friendly to tea cultivation.
   A soil test conducted by an NGO found about 5,000 hectares of land at Chilahati, Bhogdaburi, Dangapara, Gosaiganj, Chandkhana, Gunuram, Ketibari, Gomnati, Ambari, Jorabari, Bamunia and Boragari under Domar upazila most suitable for tea cultivation.
   Several farmers of Domar upazila have been cultivating tea on their lands on experimental basis.
   Abu Musa of village Bhogdaburi has planted 7,000 tea saplings on his one-acre plot in 2003. He is now plucking tea leaves from his garden.
   Ameer Hossain, development officer of BTB at Panchagarh regional office,
   said a tea plant starts giving leaves from the fifth year of its cultivation.
   A farmer could earn as much as Tk 30 to 35 thousands annually from his tea garden covering one acre of land. Tea plants need small quantity of fertiliser for their nourishment.
   The Tea Board sources said cultivation of tea is five times profitable than sugarcane, three times than paddy and seven times than jute.
   Shafiqul Alam Khokan, a former chairman of Bogdabari union, called upon the government to take up a 5-year pilot project for the cultivation of tea in Nilphamari.
   He said technical support of the government to the tea growers, arrangement of training for them on the methods of tea production and loans to small growers would go a long way to producing tea in Nilphamari on a large scale.
   Agriculture experts said Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Thakurgaon and Lalmonirhat have vast potential for the production.
   The government should come forward to exploit that potential fully to augment tea production in the country.
   The rate of tea production is increasing at 1.23 per cent annually in the country while its consumption is going up at 3 per cent, according to informed sources.

As many as 16 murder incidents took place in Comilla in May, indicating the deteriorating law and order situation in the district.
   Many people of the district think the crime scenario is alarming here, though the police administration held a different view.
   The police super of Comilla, Arongazib Mahabub, said that in a big district like Comilla which has 16 upazilas 16 murders is not anything alarming.
   On May 31 the daily Comilla Muktakantha editor Md Golam Mahfuz was slaughtered in his office room. The killing created much sensation in the district.
   On May 23 the dead bodies an unknown mother, 30, and her four year old son were found in a paddy field in village Nadarchar under Muradnagar upazila. They were thought to be murdered.
   On May 18 Md Sarwar, 18, son of a local UP-member, was killed following a dispute over a cricket match. On the same day a rickshaw-puller Ayib Ali was killed in Brahmanpra.
   The same day one Fojitulnessa, 52, was killed in Narinda under Daudkandi upazila over a brawl with house boundary.
   On May 17 Parvin Akhter, 24, daughter of Waziuddin of village Groontra of Muradnagar, was killed after rape.
   At Champaknagar sobered Md Sagar, 25, and Md Khokan, 32, were slaughtered.
   Md Rashid, 12, a student of Amir Institute, was missing and later the police recovered his body bearing injury marks on May 11.
   On May 10 two persons were killed in village Kalirbazar under Anandapur union of sadar upazila.
   On May 3 a housewife Jobada Akhter, 30, was beaten to death for dowry.
   In other incidents, Abu Kowser, 25, in village Rajapur under Burichang upazila was shot dead by dacoits; Abdul Awal, 32, in Kalirbazar under sadar upazila was killed in an encounter with thieves; and Md Samad, 31, in village Batagachi was killed over a land dispute.

Several thousand landless people gathered at Ghugudaha Bill in Pabna on Friday to observe Land Rights Day.
   The Bhumi Odhikar Dibas Jatiya Udjapan Parishad, a combine of more than 300 non-government organisations, organised the gathering from where speakers demanded agricultural reforms to ensure land rights.
   The day was observed, marking the sacrifice of those landless people, who recovered 3,000 bighas of khas land from illegal occupation of influential people known as jotdars after a bloody fight in 1985.
   With the Parishad coordinator, Khushi Kabir, in the chair, the rally was addressed, among others, by coordinator of the Committee to Protect Oil, Gas and Power, SM Shahidullah, Santosh Singh of Indian organisation Ekota Parishad and Abdul Kader of Samata.
   Shahidullah urged the government to implement laws that will preserve rights of the landless people.
   Khushi Kabir called upon the people, who were given khas land, to stand by the landless people.
   Santosh said after 58 years of the independence of India, 43 per cent of population remained landless in that country.

Three persons were killed and 25 injured in a road accident in Sirajganj early Friday.
   The police said a Dhaka-bound passenger bus of GS Paribahan from the Noagoan district town fell into a ditch at Bhuyangati Bazaar at Rupganj in the district.
   The victims were identified as Abdul Mannan, 32, supervisor of the bus, and Shahin Alam, 30, of Sariakandi of Bogra. The other victim could not be identified till Friday evening.
   The injured were admitted to Rupganj Upazila Health Complex. The bodies were sent to the morgue of Sirajganj Sadar Hospital.
   A case was filed with the Rupganj police.

An old man and his young son died tragically in Nilphamari Thursday.
   It is known that Abul Kalam Khan, 60, a businessman of New Market area of the town felt chest pain on Thursday midnight.
   He made his way to a local hospital immediately but he died on the way at 12:30am. Seeing the death of father, Sabir Khan, 32, also fell sick.
   He was instantly taken to the hospital. But he died at 6:30am.
   Anjuman Ara Begum, 55, wife of Kalam, fainted as soon as she heard the death news of her husband and son.
   This twin death stunned the entire locality. People were found in gloomy mood.
   The dead father and son were buried at the central graveyard of the town after Jumma prayers on Friday. Kalam had five sons and two daughters.