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Dhaka City Corporation on Sunday formed an 11-member monitoring committee to ensure bio-security in the city’s chicken markets in the wake of outbreak of the bird flu.
   The aim of the committee, headed by chief veterinary officer of Central Veterinary Hospital Dr Mosaddek Hossain, was also to increase awareness among the poultry traders about bird flu.
   The committee, formed comprising the officials of DCC and livestock department, will coordinate the activities among zonal bird flu resistance committees and review the recommendations made at a meeting on January 26. It will arrange workshops and meetings to build awareness of bird flu.
   DCC also asked all the kitchen market associations to put up separate drums at particular places in the markets and to dump the entrails of chickens into them after slaughter.
   One or two persons to be involved in slaughtering the chickens will have to maintain safety measures during their job, a DCC official said, adding that conservancy workers will collect the entrails of chickens or ducks at a particular time and dump them at the dumping grounds.
   ‘As the avian flu virus has been detected in the city, we have taken all-out safety measures, including building awareness among the people and businessmen about the disease,’ chief health officer Md Shawkat Ali told New Age on Wednesday.
   Chief veterinary officer Mosaddek Hossain said people should put dead birds in the ground. Urging people not to be panicked, he said bird flu spread through nasal discharge of birds or their faeces but not through air.
   DCC has planned to introduce trade licensing system to control the sale of chickens and ducks everywhere in the city, said another DCC official.
   ‘We have also asked the sanitary inspectors and sweepers to dump dead chickens, crows or other birds into the ground, if they find them on streets or other places.’
   Some 4,083 chickens were culled and 2,389 eggs destroyed at BDR poultry firm at Pilkhana in the capital on Wednesday after the detection of avian influenza. It was the third case of bird flu in the city.
   First case of avian influenza was detected in the first week of January at Mirpur central poultry firm where 19,000 chickens were culled by the livestock department.
   The second case was detected at a firm of Nasir Uddin at 521/2 Shahidbagh, Shahjahanpur, and 1000 chicks of the firm were culled, said the official.

The Awami League on Sunday demanded that the government should announce the date for the upcoming general elections and withdraw the state of emergency immediately to create a congenial political atmosphere for campaigning before the polls.
   It also demanded immediate trial of all the political murder cases, including the murder case of former finance minister and AL leader SAMS Kibria, to uproot the politics of assassination from the country for ever.
   ‘Lift the state of emergency; withdraw the ban on politics and announce the date for the upcoming general elections,’ said Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, an AL presidium member, at a discussion meeting in the afternoon.
   The AL organised the meeting to underscore its demand for the arrest and trial of the real killers of Kibria at its Bangabandhu Avenue office, with Sajeda Chowdhury in the chair.
   ‘We demand the trial of the killings including that of Kibria, and the interim government should not sidestep the issue as the previous government did,’ said Sajeda, adding that the people would not like it if the interim government turned a deaf ear to the demand.
   She also demanded that the government should begin the dialogues with the political parties immediately and they should be held without any preconditions.
   ‘The killing of Awami League leaders and grenade attacks on the party’s rallies were the continuation of the killing of intellectuals, and the government should ensure that all the perpetrators of the political killings that took place since December 14, 1971, should be brought to book,’ said Amir Hossain Amu, another presidium member.
   He also demanded immediate release of all the leaders and activists of AL and its front organisations, especially of the party’s president Sheikh Hasina and general secretary Abdul Jalil.
   Amu urged the party’s leaders to accept all decisions taken by the working committee and presidium to uphold the unity of the party.
   ‘If any one expresses views outside the party forum that are different from the party’s decision, it is clear that the person wants to foil the party’s unity intentionally,’ said Amu.
   Presidium member Abdur Razzak said that the BNP-Jamaat, during its last five-year tenure, planned the murders to turn AL into a leaderless party.
   ‘The BNP-Jamaat government wanted to save its party men from the charge of Kibria’s murder…The present government should identify the real killers and bring them in front of the country’s people,’ said presidium member Tofail Ahmed, adding that the government could ask the United Nations to cooperate to ensure fair investigation.
   ‘The BNP-Jamaat engineered a false charge-sheet of Kibria murder case to save its party men. The interim government should arrest those who were involved in preparing the false charge-sheet,’ said Suranjit Sengupta, another presidium member. He demanded that the government should disclose the names of the killers to the public and submit the charge-sheets of the cases within one month.
   Presidium member Matia Chowdhury said that the country’s people want Hasina’s release and the government should free her immediately.
   ‘The government can do many things quickly if it wants. It should implement the verdict of Bangabandhu murder case and ensure trial of all killings, including jail killings, Kibria murder and grenade attacks on the Awami League rally,’ said Syed Ashraful Islam, the acting general secretary.
   He also said that political killings would not be stopped even in a thousand years if the government failed to ensure trial of the previous killings.
   Reza Kibria, son of SAMS Kibria, accused the BNP-Jamaat government of implicating the so-called activists of militant groups in the murder instead of the real killers, while the real killers, including a reformist leader in the BNP, remain untouched.
   ‘It was the responsibility of the Awami League leaders to wage a movement to demand trial of the Kibria murder case, but I cannot understand why they did not do that,’ said Reza Kibria.

The High Court on Sunday issued a rule on the Election Commission to explain in four weeks why it should not be directed to include information of an individual’s religion in the voters’ list, national ID cards and birth registration certificate.
   The EC, however, claimed that it had not included any column for obtaining information on religion as per the directives contained in Article 121 of the Constitution, which said that the voters’ lists must not be based on differences of religion, caste and sex.
   The High Court bench of Justice Najmun Ara Sultana and Justice Ashfaqul Islam passed the order after hearing a public interest writ petition filed by two lawyers, Sharif Ahmed and Parvez Hossain, on January 27.
   According to Article 41 of the Constitution, every citizen’s religious identity should be mentioned in all the national documents, claimed the writ petition.
   The petitioners alleged that the forms used for voters’ registration and national ID cards did not have any space for recording information on a citizen’s religion, which may be termed as ‘obliterating one’s religious identity’ held for centuries.
   ‘It is a citizen’s basic right to be identified by his religion too; otherwise a citizen without his religious identity might feel deprived of a basic civic right,’ argued Tajul Islam, a counsel for the petitioners, during the hearing.
   He also said that the Constitution has named Islam as the state religion. It also said that all other religions will be practised in communal peace and harmony.
   The chief election commissioner, the cabinet secretary, home secretary, LGRD secretary and law secretary have been made respondents in the writ and asked to come up with a reply within the next four weeks.
   Tajul Islam, with the assistance of Belayet Hossain, MK Murad and Shamsul Arefin, moved for the petitioners.

A wild buffalo ran amok through crowds in the capital city on Sunday and left at least 13 people seriously injured, before having been captured for feast.
   The injured included two women and one child named Rubel. ‘In the brutal attack, the intestines of the 9-year-old boy came out from his belly,’ says as a spot account of the buffalo’s gambol.
   The animal started prancing from Chholmaid in Badda area at about 9:00am, goring people from behind on its way up to Malibagh-Maghbazar area.
   Being chased, the mad buffalo stormed in Malibagh slums via Khilgaon rail crossing and attacked one after another, leaving several slum-dwellers injured.
   The buffalo, later, swooped on Maghbazar kitchen market amid the hot chase by people and hit some people in the market.
   Finding survival at stake without capture of the buffalo, local people with the help of butchers in the kitchen market overpowered the angry animal and slaughtered it at about 1:00pm.
   The butchers distributed the meat of the buffalo to people in the area for free.
   Among the injured people, Rubel, Milon and Jahangir were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

The expatriate welfare and overseas employment ministry, has said adverse impact may be cast on Bangladesh’s labour market in Malaysia due to unpleasant behaviour by few Bangladeshi workers there.
   ‘Working freestyle at other place after taking back passport from employers is not consistent with labour laws of Malaysia. Illegal demands raised by these few workers are not acceptable considering interest of all Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia as well as overall national interests,’ an official release said.
   The release said a significant amount of remittance was sent to Bangladesh in 2007 from Malaysia, a biggest labour market for the country.
   So far 2,36,601 Bangladeshi workers went to Malaysia last year.
   It said amidst the large number of workers sent to Malaysian in so short period of time, a small number of unskilled workers also went to Malaysia with vocational jobs.
   The release said due to lack of prior experience, those unskilled workers could not adjust with their working atmosphere, resulting in causing disputes with their employers.
   Some 2,000 to 3,000 workers out of 3,59,000 informed the Bangladesh high commission in Kuala Lumpur of their problems. Of these workers, 70 to 80 per cent workers were sent back to their workplaces following fruitful discussion with recruiters and concerned Malaysian authorities through the Bangladesh high commission.
   Rest of the workers did not show interest in going back to their workplaces despite assurance of providing all existing facilities by employers. Rather, they have been creating pressure on employers to give their passports back through the Bangladesh high commission. They are also using the high commission premises as their agitation ground.
   The release cautioned that legal action will be taken
   against these workers after discussion between the Bangladesh high commission and the Malaysian works department, immigration and law enforcing agencies.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, has extended thanks to the anonymous philanthropist for donating $130 million for rehabilitation works in the cyclone Sidr-hit coastal belt.
   He also gave thanks to the president of the Islamic Development Bank for taking the responsibility of managing the funds. The unnamed donor wants to use the funds through the IDB.
   The chief adviser conveyed the gratitude through the visiting IDB mission as a four-member team led by MA Sattar, adviser to the IDB president, made a courtesy call on him at the Chief Adviser’s Office in the afternoon and discussed some options of using the handsome amount of charity.
   According to the desire of the philanthropist, the donor wants to spend $110 million for constructing school-cum-cyclone shelters while the rest $20 million for livelihood rehabilitation of the cyclone-affected people.
   The IDB mission, who visited some of the cyclone-ravaged spots, appreciated government as well as army’s role and efforts in the immediate tackling of the aftermath of the cyclone.
   They apprised that they might need government’s support in designing and side selection.
   The chief adviser assured government’s necessary cooperation in this regard.
   The mission made the visit to Bangladesh, particularly to the Sidr-hit areas, to explore how best IDB could utilise the 130 million dollars in a transparent way so that real beneficiaries get benefited.
   The IDB team, who have already met many high officials of the government and prominent NGO leaders, apprised that they would submit a report regarding utilisation of the funds to the IDB president.
   The chief adviser recalled his meeting with the IDB president at Mina when he went to Makkah to perform Hajj last year. At the time he was apprised of the philanthropist’s donation.
   ERD secretary Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, secretary to Chief Adviser’s Office Kazi M Aminul Islam and chief adviser press secretary Syed Fahim Munaim were also present.

The Border Security Force of India on Sunday shot dead a Bangladeshi national on Dabdaha border under Haripura upazila in Thakurgaon gross violation of opening fire across the border during day time.
   The BSF of Makarhat outpost fired three bullets targeting Azad Ali, 48, in the morning near the border. He died on the spot and the BSF men dragged away the body, said relatives of the victim.
   A trader, Azad was the inhabitant of Bhaturia Bazarpara village. He was killed within 72 hours after three more Bangladeshis were shot dead by the BSF on Ratnai border in Baliadangi upazila of the district.
   Confirming the incident local BDR commander Lt Col Abdul Hamid Sardar said BSF action was in gross violation of accord of not firing across the border during the day time and all disputes should be settled through flag meeting.
   He said strong protest was lodged with their BSF counterparts and asked for immediate return the body.

Helen Keller International, Bangladesh has taken up a post-flood rehabilitation programme starting with distribution of 60,000 fruit saplings among 10,000 households in char areas of the north.
   As part of the programme, the organisation distributed vegetable seeds and seedlings among hundreds of Homestead Food Production Programme beneficiaries at Hatsherpur of Sariakandi in Bogra.
   Sariaknadi upazila Agriculture Officer Zalaluddin inaugurated the programme organised by Gram Unnayan Karma, a partner organisation of Helen Keller International.
   Homestead programme manager Rejwanul Karim Anik, deputy programme manager Aminuddin, and programme coordinator Abdul Baten, Gram Unnayan consultant Mobarak Hossain Talukder and Khudrabalail High School headmaster Mokhlesar Rahman attended.
   Helen Keller International, Bangladesh has implemented food-based interventions
   to provide micronu-trient-rich food at the household and community level since 1990.
   The Homestead programme reached more than five million beneficiaries in Bangladesh in two decades.

Chowdhury Fahimul Zaman, an HSBC Bank customer service officer who was arrested on suspicion of his involvement in the killing of his wife, was on Sunday remanded in custody for three days for interrogation.
   The Gulshan police produced Fahim in the chief metropolitan magistrate’s on Sunday seeking him to be remanded for seven days.
   His wife, Tasmir Hossain Munni, 25, was found dead in her bedroom on their first wedding anniversary at Gulshan in Dhaka on Saturday. The body was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her bedroom.
   The Gulshan police arrested Fahim after Tasmir’s brother Anwar Hossain filed a murder case with the police on Saturday night.

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Sunday issued a notice on former BNP whip Shahidul Huq Jamal to submit his wealth statement.
   The commission staff in Barisal on Sunday returned from Labansara at Banaripara in Barisal, the village home of Jamal, without finding anybody in the house to receive the notice.
   Sources in the commission said a messenger would reach the notice to Jamal’s address in Dhaka.
   The sources said the commission at a meeting in Dhaka on January 23 had decided to issue the notice. That order reached Barisal on January 30 and the commission office in Barisal sent the notice on February 3 to Jamal’s house at Labansara.