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The project for planting 10 million (one crore) coconut saplings by the government in 61 districts including 26 coastal districts is gong on in full swing.
   The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, the Department of Agriculture Extension, the Bangladesh Forest Development Corporation and different government and non-government organisations are working for the implementation of that project.
   After completing the scheme, more than 500 million coconuts would be produced from those trees within next ten years.
   Related sources said the project started in 2003 and 4.8 million coconut saplings were planted in the project areas by 2004.
   According to sources, 4,80,000 coconut saplings were planted by the agricultural ministry and the DAE, 10,00,000 by the BADC and 30,00,000 by the BFDC.
   Besides, young coconut plants were supplied to educational institutions, defence forces, civil defence and law enforcing agencies for planting free of cost or at reduced price.
   The monitoring agencies expressed their satisfaction after observing that 85-90 per cent of the planted coconut saplings survived.
   The roots of coconut trees spread at least 20 feet in and around the ground and they are growing well, said MA Kalam, an agriculturalist.
   The coconut trees prevent soil erosion and protect embankments and roads. They also help reduce the intensity of tidal bore and storm, he added.
   In 2005, more 5.2 million coconut saplings would be planted in 61 districts and 50 per cent of those would be planted in 26 coastal districts suitable for coconut production, the official sources said.
   Of those, 0.5 million saplings would be planted by the agriculture ministry, 1.5 million by the BADC, and 3.2 million by the DAE.
   For the purpose 10,000 coconut seeds would be imported from Sri Lanka, 4,000 from Thailand and 5,000 from Malaysia.
   From experiments it was found that ‘Tone’ variety of Malaysia and ‘Doarc’ variety of Sri Lanka suit our climate and soil conditions well.

A so-called organisation named ‘Rajshahi Gram Daktar Kalyan Samity’ has set up several training centres at the upazila level in Rajshahi to impart training to selected youths on medical subjects.
   According to local sources, the so-called samity with its headquarters in the Rajshahi city forms a group of 15 to 20 youths at the upazila level to impart training on medical science for a period of six months holding out the assurance that after training they will be capable to work as village doctor.
   Each student has to pay minimum Tk 3,000 to the Samity for the short course medical training.
   The samity run by unqualified people seeks the help of local quacks for the enlistment of youths for this short medical course and conducting classes.
   The sources further said that the so-called samity has been cheating hundred youths of rural areas in the name of giving medical training.
   The organisation has been running its medical training business without taking any license from the concerned department.
   Neither any competent government organization nor the local civil surgeon office has questioned the authority of the samity to impart medical training to the youths to make village doctors.
   Dr Yasin Ali, president of the Bagmara unit of the village doctors association, in a complaint to the civil surgeon office recently made a strong plea to stop the illegal activities of the samity.
   He also called for investigating the issue of imparting medical training to selected youths by quacks and taking stern action against the evil doers.
   Besides, over two dozen organisations have been operating so-called medical centres for peddling medicines for the treatment of various chronic diseases.
   They are located near the medical college, rail station, stadium, university campus,busy roads and other important places to catch the attention of the people.
   They are selling both herbal and allopathic medicines for the treatment of cancer, ulcer, diabetes, bronchitis, gastric pains, sexual disorder and so on.
   They have also put up sign boards and bill boards at many vantage points in the city for the advertisement of their medicines.
   Gullible people coming to the city everyday from different parts of the division have been falling victim to the catchy advertisements of the fake medical organisations.
   Ironically,though these so-called organizations have been carrying out their medical business illegally and unethically for a long time, no government agency or the civil surgeon office seems to have cared to take any action against these unauthorized organizations which have been cheating people.
   

The local fisheries department imparted training to 1,800 shrimp farmers of Satkhira in last one year till this month to save the industry from manifold problems including the virus attack.
   Shrimp industry, known as `white gold’ in the country’s southern region, has come under serious threat as different kinds of virus affected scores of shrimp enclosures.
   Sources said infectious diseases that broke out during the early stage of this season affected some 30 per cent shrimp enclosures in the district.
   Considering the gravity of the situation, the fisheries department has taken up initiative to train up the shrimp farmers so that the farmers can face the situation and earn more profit.
   Under the programme, 1,800 shrimp farmers from Rampal, Mongla, Morelganj, Fakirhat and Sadar upazilas received training in 25 batches in last one year till this month.
   Some 59,424 hectares of land have been brought under the shrimp cultivation in the district this season.
   Of the total land, lobster will be cultivated on 43,208 hectares while prawn on the rest.
   The district fisheries officer Dr Nitya Nanda Das said the farmers received training on modern methods of shrimp cultivation, preparing enclosures, strategies to protect virus, and environment friendly cultivation and its management.
   Shrimp farmers, who received the training, said they were getting better production applying the modern methods of shrimp cultivation.

The committee of Gazipur District BNP was announced Sunday after about one decade.
   Professor MA Mannan, former state minister, and AKM Fazlul Haque Milon, member of parliament from Gazipur-3 (Kaliganj) constituency, were elected president and general secretary respectively.
   After spreading the news of the new committee, the people in the district came up with mixed reaction.
   A group of local BNP, celebrating the announcement, distributed sweets and brought out processions in different parts of the district. But the other group remained silent showing their disappointment.
   The council of district BNP was held in 1992 and after a couple of months in 1993 a committee containing 101 members was declared for two years.
   Borhan Uddin Master and Abu Taher respectively were elected president and secretary respectively. But for internal conflict, no committee was formed for a long time after its validity expired.
   In 1998, an 11-member convening committee was formed. But this committee could not function and at one stage the convenor had to resign.
   Later in 2001, another convening committee was formed and Khondakar Abdus Salam was made the convenor prior to national election. But at one stage this convening committee also dissolved.
   In 2001, before the general election, when Hasan Uddin Sarker, joined BNP form Jatiya Party (Ershad) the conflict between the workers of Mannan and Hasan Uddin Sarker reached a climax. Clashes took place between the two rivals several times.
   In the general election in 2001, Hasan Uddin Sarker managed to get the nomination from the party. Professor MA Mannan participated in the election as an independent candidate violating the party order.
   Professor Mannan got more votes than Hasan Sarker, the party nominee, but Awami League candidate Ahsan Ullah Master won the election.
   Mannan was expelled from the BNP for disobeying the party order.  Hasan Uddin Sarker fell into trouble after the return of MA Mannan in the party after two years of suspension.
   Sarker faced another trouble as his brother Nurul Islam Sarker was convicted in the much-talked-about Ahsan Ullah Master MP murder case.
   The of Sarker were in gloomy mood when the announcement came out. The supporters of professor Mannan took out joy procession and distributed sweets.
   Some of his supporters, however, said that earlier professor Mannan was the joint secretary general of BNP but it is now a demotion for him.
   It is known that many activists vowed not to take part in any party activities until declaration of the full district committee.

Almost 68 per cent couples have been brought under family planning programme in all the six southern districts under Barisal division in the last 11 months of the current fiscal.
   Divisional Family Planning office sources said the filed workers have so far registered 9,94,196 couples to adopt various methods of family planning in Barisal, Jhalakathi, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola district.
   Of them, the department provided 1,23,020 couples having two to three children with permanent sterilisation, 2,38,000 fertile couples with injection, 50,601 women with Copper-T for 8-10 years, and 27,630 women with Norplants for a period of five years
   under temporary and long term programmes, the sources said.
   Besides, a total of 5,01,292 cycles of oral pills were distributed among the women of the districts while 53,653 pieces of condoms among the males free of cost during the same period.