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At least three fishing trawlers capsized and about 400 trawlers, with 5,500 crewmembers and fishermen on board, were reported missing in Bay of Bengal after they caught in a sudden storm and depression on Tuesday noon.
   The capsized trawlers are the FB Sirajul Islam, FB Jamaddar and FB Sohel which sailed on Tuesday morning from Patharghata in Barguna and Kalapara in Patuakhali.
   Eleven crewmembers of the FB Sirajul Islam, owned by Lalmia of Mohipur at Kalapara, were rescued by other fishing boats; and they reached Kuakata on Thursday morning.
   Ten crewmembers and fishermen of the FB Jamaddar, owned by Najir Jamaddar of Char Soholi at Patharghata, were rescued by another trawler, the FB Sohrab, and they reached Patharghata on Wednesday night.
   Crewmembers on board another trawler, the FB Bismillah, which is scheduled to return to Patharghata on Wednesday night, said they saw the FB Sohel capsizing. The trawler is owned by Abdul Hamid of Noly in Barguna. The Bismillah crewmembers failed to rescue anyone on board the FB Sohel because of the turbulent sea.
   Mustafa Chowdhury, who is president of the Barguna trawler owners’ association, and Dulal Master, president of Barguna district trawler workers’ association, Abdus Salam Howladar, president of the Alipur-Mohipur Fish Wholesalers’ Association of Kalapara, and secretary Nemai Chandra Das acknowledged
   the facts.
   They said sea fishing remained stopped for five days and fishing trawlers were in safe shelter along the coast between Thursday and Monday because of stormy weather.
   Weather condition improved on Tuesday morning and about 400 trawlers with 5,500 crewmembers and fishermen left the coast on a sunny morning.
   But within some hours, weather changed and the trawlers caught in a sudden storm in the Bay of Bengal at about 11:30am.
   There were no attempts from the local administration to rescue the missing till Wednesday evening because of rough sea condition, they said.
   The relatives of the missing are now wailing at the different points along the coast and crowding the branches of the trawler owners and workers’ association offices.
   Pradip Kumar Chakraborty, officer of Kalapara weather office, acknowledged that the sea was rough with wave rising up to 8 to 10 feet with wind clocking a speed of 50 to 60 miles an hour.
   As radar of the Kalapara weather station is out of order, he failed to give details on the nature, route and movement of the depression in the Bay.
   The weather station all water transports to stop fishing and anchor at safe points.
   Kapalara upazila nirbahi officer Abdul Barik on Wednesday night said he had heard about the incident and ordered the administration to begin rescue operation.

At least 50 people were injured on Wednesday in a clash centring a previous dispute over a football match at Ashuganj in Brahmanbaria.
   Police and local sources said about 10 injured people including critically wounded Dhan Miah, 42, were admitted to different hospitals after the clash that lasted two and a half hours involving 500 villagers.
   Aminul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ashuganj thana told the news agency that the villagers were locked in the clash as an arbitration, which was supposed to be held on Wednesday to solve a dispute centring a football game, did not take place.
   The police went to the spot and brought the situation under their control. A tense situation was prevailing in the area till filing of the report last night.

Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday recommended mainstreaming climate change in the national policy, development plan and capacity building to predict climate risks.
   They also suggested that the government should take a strategy to coordinate the least developed countries and develop a common LDC position on the key issues relating to climate change.
   The developed countries are responsible for the climate change, causing sufferings to
   the people in LDCs, they observed.
   The Global Legislature’s Organisation for a Balanced Environment organised the seminar on ‘climate change: adaptation needs and mitigation options for Bangladesh’ at a city hotel.
   Chaired by the deputy speaker, Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui, the seminar was addressed, among others, by the food and disaster management minister, Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, the law minister, Moudud Ahmed, the state minister for environment and forest, Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, adviser of GLOBE, Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud, water expert Ainun Nishat, Awami League lawmaker Faruque Khan and Jatiya Party lawmaker Rawshan Ershad.
   Mohammad Reazuddin, director of the department of environment, presented the keynote paper.
   The food minister said use of modern technologies in disaster management could reduce the risk and loss of lives and property during the disasters.
   The law minister said, ‘Environment is being damaged for unplanned development in the developed countries
   and LDCs like Bangladesh are becoming the victims of such changes.’
   He stressed on developing a regional water management strategy incorporating Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

The Afghan foreign minister, Rangin Dadfar Spanta, made a courtesy call on the leader of the opposition in parliament, Sheikh Hasina, at her Sudha Sadan residence on Wednesday and discussed various issues, including ways to combat terrorism.
   During the hour-long meeting that started at 6:55pm, Hasina, also the Awami League president, and the visiting Afghan minister also discussed regional issues like poverty alleviation.
   The AL foreign affairs secretary, Syed Abul Hossain, MP, who was present at the meeting, told journalists that Rangin Dadfar reiterated his county’s stance against terrorism and emphasised the need for developing bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
   Quoting the visiting minister, Abul Hossain said Spanta told Hasina that he was a student during Bangladesh’s liberation war in 1971 and he was a fan of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for leading the liberation war.

Senior leaders of the ruling BNP on Wednesday said the opposition political parties might join the ruling alliance for the sake of the development of the nation.
   ‘The BNP can sweep the general election, but we have kept the door open for all the parties including the 14-party to forge a greater unity,’ BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan told a rally held at Muktangan in Dhaka.
   The Awami League and its allies had not taken a single programme for people’s interest in the past four and half years, he said. ‘Even they are least interested to deal with the problems through the dialogue and
   making ploys to destabilise the country,’ Mannan, also LGRD and cooperatives minister, said.
   The Dhaka city unit of BNP organised the rally in protest against the ‘opposition-sponsored anarchy and conspiracy’ across the country.
   Chaired by the Dhaka mayor, Sadek Hossain Khoka, the rally was addressed, among others, by law minister Moudud Ahmed, health minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, BNP standing committee member Khandakar Mahbub Uddin, housing and public works minister Mirza Abbas and state minister for labour and employment Aman Ullah Aman.
   Referring the remarks made by Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil, he said they were thinking that they would be able to make reforms of the Election Commission and other institutions after the takeover of caretaker government, but he (Jalil) should know that no reform would be possible in Bangladesh excluding the BNP.
   The 14-party leaders said they were anticipating a mass upsurge through their series of ‘afternoon-walks’ which had participation of hardly five to seven thousand people and half of whom was the people of the state minister for home. ‘How can they expect they will topple an elected government with such participation of people,’ he said.
   Senior leaders said the opposition parties had turned imbalance calculating the latest political developments and that is why making ‘nonsense remarks’.
   The frontline leaders also said the BNP had no problem till Sheikh Hasina would be the president of the Awami League. The more she would the more BNP would be benefited, they commented.
   They said the BNP earlier resisted the plots against the nation with people’s support and would do it again to protect the country.
   The grassroots units of the city took part in the rally with large processions leaving no room to move in between Paltan crossing and zero point. Amid such crowd, supporters of BNP lawmaker from Demra, Salahuddin Ahmed, and aspirant candidate, Nabi Ullah Nabi, locked in brawl and chased each other. They calmed down after prompt intervention of the police.
   After the rally, party activists brought a large procession that paraded major streets with carrying portraits of aspirant candidates for the eight constituencies and the BNP’s election symbol, sheaf of paddy, and chanted slogans.

The Awami League’s president, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday said that the use of transparent ballot boxes was essential to check vote-rigging in the upcoming election.
   She also said that the minority voters’ right to cast votes without any threat or intimidation by the ruling party’s goons should be ensured to hold a truly free and fair election.
   Hasina, also leader of the opposition in parliament, made the remarks while exchanging views with the 32 grassroots-level leaders of Khulna at her Dhanmondi office. The presidents and general secretaries of Khulna city, district, upazila, thana and first-grade pourashava units took part in the meeting.
   Expressing optimism about the realisation of the demand for reforms in the caretaker government system and election rules, the AL’s president said that no fair election was possible under the supervision of KM Hasan, who is likely to be head of the next caretaker government, and MA Aziz, the chief election commissioner.
   Accusing the BNP-led alliance government of irregularities and corruption in all the sectors, Hasina said that the government had appointed its party-men to various critical posts by leaking out the question papers of the Bangladesh Civil Services examinations.
   The Khulna leaders apprised her of the local political situation and pointed out that the problems of internal grouping and feuds in the party should be addressed immediately.
   The president of the district unit, Harun-ur-Rashid, accused the unit secretary, Mostafa Rashidi Suja, of forming different upazila committees without consulting him, said meeting sources.
   Another upazila unit president accused the local lawmaker, Panchanan Biswas, of not maintaining proper communications with the local people.
   The local leaders also requested Hasina not to nominate Abdur Razzak, the former speaker of the last BNP government who was reportedly preparing to get the party’s ticket, as an AL candidate.
   But the leaders said that the political situation of the party was much better this year compared to previous times and the party would win all the six seats if the proper candidates were selected.
   ‘Although there is competition among the leaders to get nomination, the party is free from any major internal grouping,’ AL Khulna city unit’s president, Talukdar Abdul Kaleque, told journalists.
   He also said that the local leaders have demanded nomination of the leaders who stay in the locality and have gained popularity.

Some Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists on Wednesday vandalised the office of the transport administrator at the Islamic University at around 11:00am for not doing what they wanted.
   The administrator, Abdul Wadud, said the Chhatra Dal activists, led by Milton and Alamgir, went to his office and closed the door. They asked him to suspend the trips of hired buses as the teachers have not been taking classes and giving examinations.
   He said the only authorities could decide on the suspension. And the activists forced him to suspend the trips.
   When Wadud tried to inform the acting vice-chancellor, Anwarul Karim, of the matter over telephone, the activists vandalised his room.
   They left the room after breaking the window panes and furniture.
   Wadud was injured in the incident as a broken glass hit him in the head.

The opposition combine led by the Awami League announced on Wednesday a moth-long programme including general strike, demonstrations and mass contacts.
   The combine coordinator, Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil, at a briefing in the central Awami League office on Bangabandhu Avenue, said, ‘We want to involve people in our movement in August when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed.’
   The combine will announce tougher programmes after August to pressure the government to accept the reforms proposals, he said.
   The August programmes include a half-day, countrywide general strike on August 15, to protest at the killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The combine will place flower on the portrait of Sheikh Mujib and hold a discussion on August 14.
   The central combine leaders will join eight road marches in divisional and district headquarters.
   Road marches will be held in Bogra on August 10, Kushtia on August 12, Barisal on August 19, Jessore on August 20, Rajshahi on August 24, Rangpur on August 26, Chittagong on August 28, and in Sylhet on August 30.
   The combine will go out on countrywide demonstrations in district headquarters on August 17, the day the Islamist outfit exploded a series of bombs in 63 districts.
   The combine will also observe August 21, the day grenades were blasted at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in 2004, in which 23, including central Awami League leader Ivy Rahman, were killed and Sheikh Hasina was wounded.
   The combine leaders will place flowers on a temporary monument at the place where grenades were hurled on Bangabandhu Avenue and hold a road march. A rally will also be held.
   The combine leaders and activists will observe silence for two minutes at 5:22pm across Bangladesh on the day.
   The August 21 programmes will end with lighting candles on Bangabandhu Avenue, in front of the central Awami League office, in the evening.