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Experts, researchers and environmental activists of South Asian countries on Monday stressed the need for floating a new platform other than Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to devise an independent agenda for South Asia to minimise the impact of climate change.
   They laid the importance while speaking at a roundtable on ‘Melting Glaciers and Rising Seas: Is Space for Regional Cooperating Shrinking?’ organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan at WVA auditorium in Dhaka.
   ‘IPCC is an organisation of developed countries which are largely responsible for emitting carbon. So it won’t be just to expect something good for the countries like Bangladesh and India,’ Sudhirender Sharma, executive director of Ecology Foundation, Delhi told the roundtable.
   ‘People concerned have doubts about the reports prepared by IPCC based on a definite plot. Its assessment will bring no good to the nations of ours rather it prepares the reports keeping the agenda of the developed countries in mind,’ he observed.
   ‘The people in these areas who are the worst victims of climate change, caused by carbon emission, will have to start raising question about the authenticity of the reports prepared by IPCC.’
   Making a clarion call for the policymakers, researchers and experts of South Asian countries to come forward, he said, ‘A space has to be founded so that we can assess the impact of climate change and can speak ourselves.’
   ‘The rich are not the victims of what they do. We are the victims. So we have to come forward to quantify our own casualties. It is not a global issue rather it is very much of South Asian issue,’ he added.
   Stressing on formation of a separate research-based platform for South Asia, BAPA president Muzaffer Ahmad said, ‘Ecology of the earth is changing fast due to unabated carbon emission by developed countries. IPCC does not contain the concerns of the people like us. We have to have our own agenda.’
   To raise the voice, he said, people-to-people contact must be increased. ‘Policymakers of the South Asian countries will have to understand that we need a different set of agenda to save ourselves from the impact of climate change.’
   He also underlined the need for bringing all the LDC countries in a single platform to raise their voice in the United Nations.
   Gopal Krishna, editor of Water Watch of Delhi, termed the IPCC reports political document of developed countries and blamed the World Bank and International Monetary Fund for transforming technologies, which cause carbon emission, towards the third world country in the name of carbon trade.
   Rakesh Bhatt, convener of South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy of New Delhi, asked all to listen to the nature and not to destroy it. ‘Climate has been changing continuously. Whenever we started interfering the nature, it started bouncing back on us.’
   Former adviser to the caretaker government ASM Shahjahan, BUET Professor Jahiruddin Choudhury and Professor Firoz Ahmed, editor of the New Nation Mustofa Kamal Majumder and Quamrul Islam Siddiqui also spoke at the roundtable.

The sight and sound show featuring the history of Dhaka centring on the 300-year-old Lalbagh Fort has become uncertain, said sources at the cultural affairs ministry.
   Sources at the Archaeological Directorate informed that the installing agency failed to bring proper instrument to operate the show. The agency, however, said the physical structure of the fort was not suitable for such shows.
   Shafiqul Alam, director of the Archaeological Directorate, told New Age on Monday that the agency had failed to install the system in time and was yet to inform the ministry of the reason for the delay or their failure. It may be installed by assigning another agency, he said.
   The 25-minute light and sound show at the Lalbag Fort would be presented thrice every evening and expected to attract a lot of visitors, the directorate sources said.
   The architectural heritage of Old Town in Dhaka can be a very good source of entertainment for city dwellers, and the government approved the ‘Light and Sound’ event at the fort so that all, including foreigners could know about the Mughal history of this part, the director said.
   Nasima Shaheem, custodian of the Lalbagh Fort said the project was halted soon after it was launched in August 2006.
   According to the project proposal, a spotlight would focus on Pari Bibi’s Mazar within the ramparts, with simultaneous narration on a hi-tech surround sound system, describing historical background of the shrine.
   The light will also streak through each building of the fort with brilliance –– every moment re-living the memories of the Mughal rule amid descriptions that might take the audience back to the half-forgotten past, said sources.
   The construction of the fort on the bank of the River Buriganga in the south-western part of Old Town, began in 1678 is not complete. Prince Muhammad Azam started construction of the fort during his 15-month vice-royalty of Bengal, but before he could complete the work, Aurangzeb called him back. His successor, Shaista Khan did not continue the work though he stayed in Dhaka up to 1688. Shaista Khan’s daughter Pari Bibi (fairy lady) died here in 1684 and this led him to consider the fort to be ominous.

Samajik Pratirodh Committee, a platform of 47 organisations working on women and rights issues, on Monday called for formulation of a policy against sexual harassment in all universities and other educational institutions.
   Addressing a news conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka, the committee leaders also demanded opening a cell for lodging complaints, providing the students with proper counselling and involving socio-cultural and professional bodies in the campaign against such repression.
   They also expressed concern over the recent incidents of sexual harassment to girl students in many universities.
   They cited incidents of harassing girl students reportedly by a dramatics department teacher at Jahangirnagar University and a psychology department teacher at Dhaka University, and the rape of a girl student of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology by one of her relatives.
   They said the incidents of harassment by teachers have tarnished the image of entire community of teaching professionals and demanded disciplinary action against the accused persons after proper probe.
   They also demanded that the authorities of the institutions, where the victims study, should file case against the criminals.
   In most cases, they said, the accused persons were sent to three-month forced leave and such light punishments, by no way, discourage them to commit such crimes again.
   The forum leaders also expressed concern over the increased incidents of suicide by students, especially by the girls, saying 30 students had committed suicide in the country during the past five years.
   Former adviser to caretaker government, Sultana Kamal, also executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra, said in most cases the girls fell victim to such harassments.
   Referring to the recent incidents of harassment by teachers, she said the accused teachers had threatened the students to give poor marks in examinations.
   The Bangladesh Mahila Parishad president, Ayesha Khanam, said repression against women was now a vital issue as university teachers were involved in such crimes. ‘We have to wage a vigorous campaign against such things,’ she said.
   Mahmuda Islam, who teaches sociology at Dhaka University, said as most of the teachers belong to certain political groups, the teachers accused of harassing students were yet to be punished as they got blessings from their respective groups.

Cultural affairs adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury on Monday urged both the print and electronic media to play more active role in flourishing country’s original and sound culture.
   ‘More active media role is needed to uphold our traditional culture to protect it from the invasion of satellite culture’ she said while speaking as the chief guest at an award ceremony in Dhaka.
   The ceremony, styled ‘BSS-TRAB Award - 2007’ was jointly organised by the state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha and Television Reporters Association of Bangladesh in the auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum.
   A total of 22 eminent personalities received the BSS-TRAB award for their contribution to their respective fields. The awardees will get Tk 5,000 each.
   The awardees are: Rasheda K Chowdhury (humanitarian service), language movement hero Abdul Jalil, injured freedom fighter Manik Ali, drama researcher Syed Ahmed, actor Aslam Talukdar Manna (posthumous), Ferdous Yasmin (culture), Poet Mostafa Allama, photojournalist T Rahman, Professor Syed Ahmed Siddiqui (health care), Saiful Alam, Saiful Islam, Harun- or- Rashid, Khondaker Jamil Uddin, Nurul Kabir Niru and Kamrul Hasan Tapan (business) and Begum Tahmina (women entrepreneurship).
   BSS chief editor Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury was given a special award for his contribution to journalism.
   Those who received awards in journalism are Morshed Naser Tipu of Daily Inqilab, Hamid Md Jasim of Daily Ittefaq, Tamim Hasan of Daily Naya Diganta and MS Rana of Daily Samokal.
   Chairman of the celebration committee of poet Mustofa Allama, TRAB president Qader Monsur and general secretary Suhridoy Jahangir also spoke on the occasion. Deputy managing director M Saiful Islam Bhuiyan of Ashian Lands Development Ltd was also present.

The principal of Dhaka Mohila Polytechnic Institute, Ijjat Ara, was transferred to the Graphic Art Institute in the capital amid students’ agitation demanding her removal for ‘corruption and irregularities’.
   Sources in the Directorate of Technical Education told New Age that the Graphic Art Institute’s principal, Khan Rezaul Karim was posted to the Mahila Polytechnic Institute located at Agargaon.
   The students of the polytechnic institute had long been demanding removal of and punishment for Ijjat Ara for what they claimed her large-scale corruption and irregularities.
   Several students on Monday staged demonstration on the campus and set ablaze an effigy of Ijjat Ara.
   The students alleged that Ijjat Ara had been involved in irregularities in running the hostel canteen, would charged additional fees.
   She (Ijjat Ara) had also recruited part-time teachers in the college at will, they added.
   The girls-only Mahila Polytechnic Institute offers diploma in engineering course and has about 800 students.

The revenue income of Khulna City Corporation has gradually increased in the past few years reaching Tk 15.52 crore in 2007-2008 from Tk 12.77 crore in 2005-06, official sources said.
   According to the sources, the corporation collected Tk 13.60 crore, Tk 13.90 crore and Tk 10.86 crore during 2007-08, 2006-07 and 2005-06 fiscal years respectively in revenue from holding tax, license fees, leasing out of estates, bazars, slaughter houses, auditorium and transport terminals.
   The KCC’s income from water supply department, public health department, public works department and selling of tender schedules stood at Tk 1.91 crore, Tk 1.56 crore and Tk 1.90 crore during 2007-08, 2006-07 and 2005-06 fiscals respectively.
   The corporation’s revenue officer SK Tasaduzzaman told New Age that the revenue income improved due to increase in tax collection from the households and from the estates.

Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at many places over Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions and at a few places over Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places over Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today, the Met Office said.
   The day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, it said.
   The country’s highest temperature on Monday, 34.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Rangpur and the lowest, 23.1 degrees Celsius, at Sandwip.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:50pm and rises tomorrow at 5:18am.

Except the Kangsha, all other rivers in the country are flowing below their danger levels, Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre officials said Monday.
   The Kangsha, a river flowing down the Garo hills to the northeast at Jariajanjail in Netrakona, fell down by 11cm at Jariajanjail Monday morning. The river was flowing 34cm above its red mark of 10.09metre. But the flashy hilly river, swelled by last week’s heavy rainfall, was slowing down.
   The Teesta in the north at Dalia also fell by 10cm Monday morning, flowing below its danger level.
   Out of its 73 water level monitoring stations of different rivers, the FFWC observation report said only one was flowing above danger level, 45 made rise, 26 fell, two remained steady.
   The rivers in the Brahmaputra and the Meghna basins have observed a see saw of rise and fall. The rivers in the Ganges basin observed mostly rise and all the rivers in the south-eastern hill basin marked fall.
   The Brahmaputra-Jamuna recorded fall by 2cm at its entry point at Noonkhawa, but rose by 10cm downstream at Chilmari, 4cm at Bahadurabad, 3cm in Sirajganj and 4cm at Aricha.
   The Ganges-Padma rose by 18cm at its entry point at Pankha in Chapainawabganj, 23cm in Rajshahi, 13cm at Hardinge Bridge, 7cm at Goalundo and 8cm at Bhagyakul.
   The rain-fed river Surma, which went into spate last week and jumped over its danger level at Sunamganj, was flowing quietly this Monday 30cm below its red mark. The river had marked fall at all its points at Kanaighat, Sylhet and Sunamganj as the rains had slowed down both at upstream and inside the country.
   The Meghna, carrying the flows of Surma and other north-eastern rivers, along with the Padma and the Brahmaputra-Jamuna to the Bay of Bengal rose by 9cm at Bhairab Bazar.
   The officials, quoting satellite-based forecast by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency of the United States of America, said rains had been slowing down over Bangladesh. Only it would be there in the south-eastern areas for a couple of days.

To sweep its own house clean, the Anti-Corruption Commission has taken punitive measures against some of its staff members for their alleged offences like corruption, misconduct and breach of discipline.
   ACC director general (admin) Colonel Hanif Iqbal said in the commission’s regular briefing session Monday afternoon that the ACC internal committee that deals with corruption allegations and discipline issues of its employees sat to take decisions about different allegations against 28 suspects.
   Among the 28 ACC employees are two deputy directors, five assistant directors, one deputy assistant director and quite a few data-entry operators and constables.
   Of the 28, the high-power committee headed by the ACC chairman has decided to file criminal and departmental cases against five officials, departmental cases against six staff, caution one official, reinvestigate allegations against three staff and supervise intensively about the allegations against eight employees.
   The allegations against five other officials among the 28 were not proved.
   Responding to a question, the ACC director general informed that first information reports had already been filed against two of the 28 individuals.
   In reply to a question, he said, ‘It should not be taken for granted that ACC employees would not be involved in corruption, so constant surveillance is a must.’
   Hanif also said that in cases of dealing with the ACC officials the same procedures were to be followed as followed in cases of the other corrupt during the ongoing combat against corruption that threw many bigwigs behind bars.
   He said the reconstituted commission had so far submitted final reports in 71 graft cases, which were mostly against high-profile persons, including former ruling politicians who fell in trouble under the reign of the interim regime.
   Of these cases, 28 are related to misappropriation of CI sheets meant for relief, 21 relating to misappropriation of government money and other relief materials, 13 related to bribery and 9 involving other charges.

The Bangladesh Rifles members arrested three persons, including two Indian nationals, for entering the country illegally through the Kanaighat frontier in Sylhet Sunday night.
   The Indian nationals were Abdur Rab, 26, son of Azizur Rahman, and Faruk Ahmed, 20, son of Ekram Ali, of Nawgoan district under Meghalaya province of India. The arrested Bangladeshi was Abdus Salam, son of Ashraf Ali of Goainghat upazila in Sylhet, sources in the Kanaighat police said.
   A patrol team of the BDR had arrested the three youths at Lovachhara of Kanaighat upazila in the district on charge of entering the Bangladesh territory illegally, the BDR sources said. The Kanaighat police said the BDR had also seized Indian 620 rupees from their possession.
   The BDR men handed over the three youths to the Kanaighat police and filed two cases—one for intruding illegally and another for carrying foreign currency unlawfully—against them.
   The police produced them in a judicial magistrate court on Monday and the court ordered to send them to jail, the police said.

A Rajshahi court on Monday sentenced seven people to life term rigorous imprisonment for a triple murder in Pabna.
   Judge ATM Mesbauddowlah of the speedy trial tribunal of Rajshahi also fined the convicts Hannan, Golzar, Sharif Uddin, Joynal Abedin, Anis, Delwar Hossain and Abdul Malek Tk 10,000 each and acquitted eight others from the charges.
   The acquitted people
   are Habibullah, Manik Khan, Amin Uddin, Sujan, Abdur Rahman, Bablu, Dulal and Abdur Rajjak.
   The prosecution story in brief is that on December 25, 2003 the accused people had shot and butchered Inu Fakir, Nazrul Islam and Majnu at Faridpur in Pabna following a feud over a land dispute.
   Hakim Fakir, brother of Inu Fakir, filed a case with the Faridpur police station naming 15 people as accused.
   The police submitted a charge sheet to the court against 15 people on October, 13, 2004.
   The judge pronounced the verdict after examining 15 witnesses and evidences.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, on Monday said his government would take all necessary steps to solve the problems of expatriate Bangladeshis working in Malaysia.
   Strategies have been taken to send trained manpower abroad so that they can reap maximum benefits for themselves as well as the nation, he added.
   Fakhruddin was addressing a gathering of expatriate Bangladeshis at Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
   During the meeting with the chief adviser, the expatriate Bangladeshis raised various problems they have been facing.

Some victims sought intervention of the chief adviser to the caretaker government and the inspector general of police in stopping toll collection and land grabbing at Paniarchar village under Sirajdikhan police station of Munshiganj.
   Nobody can plough land without paying ‘toll’ to Amin Uddin, Mostafa and their associates, the villagers alleged at a briefing at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday.
   They are listed criminals and have been grabbing people’s lands for years, the villagers alleged.
   ‘At least 20 cases were filed against the gangsters with the police,’ said Joynal Abedin, one of the victims, who has lost his 60 decimals of land.
   The gang captured three acres and 60 decimals of land of three people and a case was filed with the police in this connection, he said.
   ‘Amin demanded Tk 1 lakh as toll…and I paid him Tk 20,000 as he had threatened to kill me and others in the family,’ said Joynal. Amin Uddin, a former union parishad chairman, however, denied the charges.
   ‘I know my rivals lodged some cases with the police during my tenure as UP chairman. All those cases have been settled now,’ he told New Age by mobile phone.
   About the allegation of grabbing land of Joynal and others, he claimed that one Shahida Begum was the original owner of three acres of land, which was illegally occupied by some others and could not be reclaimed even after a series of arbitration involving local influential people.
   Amin also accused a local police officer of taking Tk 40,000 as bribe from Shahida.
   Shamsher Ali, Mozammel Ali, Achhia Khatun and Ambia Khatun were among the villagers who attended the press conference.

Former joint secretary to the government Mohammad Mofizur Rahman died at Uttara in Dhaka on Sunday at the age of 75.
   Mofizur Rahman was suffering from various ailments, including cardiac problems.
   He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.
   He was buried at Uttara, Sector 4 graveyard following namaj- e-janaza after esha prayers on Sunday.
   Known for his expertise in economic and trade policies, Rahman served in different capacities for various government organisations and worked for years in the commerce ministry and was posted in Moscow as the commercial councillor.
   His elder son Dr Mizanur Rahman is a leading cardiologist.

Former deputy minister Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu, his nine family members and 12 BNP activists were sued on Monday for exacting money and looting rice from a shop at Naldanga in Natore.
   Sudhir Chandra Saha, of Ramshar Kazipur village, filed the case with the Naldanga police station.
   He alleged that Dulu, his elder brother Ruhul Amin Talukder Tagore, Shahidul Islam Bachchu, municipal chairman Kazi Shah Alam and other accused went to his shop at Amtoli Bazar in Naldanga on February 10, 2004 and demanded Tk 2 lakh after the death of Dulu’s nephew Sabbir Ahmed Gama. The plaintiff added that the accused exacted Tk 28,000 and looted 40 sacks of rice from his shop and later set fire to his shop being failed to realise the rest of the toll.
   Sudhir also complained that he couldn’t dare to file the case against them at that time as the accused threatened to kill him.
   Thirty-three cases had been lodged against Dulu with various police stations, and he with 43 BNP leaders and activists had been sentenced to different terms of imprisonment.

A campaign to register fertile couple living in the slums was launched in the capital on Monday aiming to bring them into the family planning programme and contain the population growth.
   Dhaka City Corporation organised a programme at Sultanganj Balur Math in city’s Rayer Bazar area on the occasion. Kamrun Nesa Khanam, director general of the directorate of family planning, chaired the programme.
   Health secretary AKM Jafar Ullah Khan, local government division secretary Khurshid Alam, DCC officials and representatives from different NGOs were also present.
   Speaking on the occasion, Kamrun Nesa Khanam underscored the need for creating awareness among the couples especially poor and slum dwellers of family planning to halt the population explosion.

Former labour officer SMA Gafur died of old age complications Sunday night. He was 75.
   He is survived by his wife, three sons and one daughter. He was buried at the Mohammadpur graveyard after zuhr prayers on Monday.
   His qul khwani will be held on July 11 after asr prayers at 27/1 Tajmahal Road, Block-C, Mohammadpur, Dhaka.

British Council holds counselling sessions in Sylhet
The British Council organises counselling sessions on studying and living in the UK and professional advisory service for students in the British Council auditorium, Sylhet on Wednesday from 2:30pm to 5:00pm and on Thursday from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Further information can be obtained from the council’s Zindabazar office in Sylhet, Tel 0821814925.
— BSS

Training for women with disabilities held
A six-day leadership training programme for women with disabilities, organised by the SARPV-Bangladesh, ended at the BIAM Foundation in Dhaka on Sunday. Twenty-five disabled women from five divisions received training on analysing the situation of women with disabilities, their rights, existing facilities, laws, advocacy, networking, organisational development and the leadership capacity and how these issues could be incorporated in the mainstream development process. After completion of the training, a 9-member convening committee was formed with a view to exploring the network on women with disabilities, programmes and rights at the national level.
— New Age