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The country needs to protect the small and marginal farmers and entrepreneurs for sustainable growth of agribusiness by providing them with financial and infrastructural support in order to attain food security in the future, said speakers at a seminar on Thursday.
   The government must provide credit, policy, infrastructure and investment support for accelerating the growth of agribusiness as annually the country incurs a post-harvest loss of some 30-35 per cent due to lack of proper infrastructural facilities, they said while addressing the seminar on ‘Agribusiness in Bangladesh: present status, pitfalls and prospects’, held at the CIRDAP auditorium.
   The national trade rules must include tariff and non-tariff barriers for protecting the marginal farmers as well as the small and marginal entrepreneurs, otherwise it will be difficult for them to compete with the players in the global market, the speakers pointed out.
   The seminar was organised by Oxfam International and GMark Consulting Ltd, and Khairul Islam from the latter company presented the keynote paper.
   According to the multilateral trade rules, the least developed countries, including Bangladesh, have the mandate to impose 200 per cent duty on imports to protect the small and medium entrepreneurs.
   The government must also increase the allocation for agriculture research and technology to boost agricultural production although the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are asking the government to gradually reduce the subsidies for agriculture, they said.
   The growth of agribusiness, though faster than the 3.2 per cent annual expansion in 1999-2000, is still insufficient to generate enough employment and income growth that is required to reduce poverty significantly and accelerate the overall growth of the rural economy, said the keynote paper.
   Agribusiness systems in Bangladesh are characterized by large numbers of small-scale farmers, a generally weak base of input suppliers, limited technical and market information services, multi-layered procurement and distribution channels, few post-harvest facilities and services and a relatively small agro-processing sector, the paper added.
   The seminar was attended, along with others, by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s adviser Manzur Ahmed, WTO expert and economic minister of Bangladesh in WTO Badrul Hasan and Shirin Sultana, and was presided over by Ziaul Haque (Mukta).

As part of its campaign against institutional corruption in service-providing organisations, the Anti-Corruption Commission is going to investigate corruption and irregularities in the Dhaka City Corporation and its other offices.
   The ACC director general (admin), Col Hanif Iqbal, told the commission’s regular briefing Thursday afternoon that the anti-graft watchdog had formed a five-member special team to carry out the investigations.
   The team will investigate issues like misuse of government money, irregularities in tender process, corruption in construction of dams, multi-storeyed buildings and markets, allocation of shops, purchase of vehicles, selling of vehicles through auctions, purchase of mosquito-killing equipment and chemicals, leasing out of bus stands and bazars, corruption in Jatrabari flyover, misappropriation of money in the name of constructing roads and irregularities in usage of fuels for vehicles.
   Hanif said the commission had already written to the DCC chief executive officer to provide all types of assistance, logistic support, and documents.
   He said the DCC CEO had also been asked to appoint a DCC official as a liaison officer.
   Hanif said the team would conduct investigations by
   making direct visits to different offices of the DCC the mayor
   of which has already been sued for amassing illegal wealth
   and concealing information about that.

A senior US counterterrorism official on Thursday praised Bangladesh’s counterterrorism effort as it neither harboured harbour nor allowed terrorists transit or residence.
   The US state department coordinator for counterterrorism, Dell L Dailey, however, felt the countries could have further cooperation in global war on terror.
   Dailey, who arrived in Dhaka on a two-day tour on Wednesday to discuss Bangladesh-US cooperation on counterterrorism and global war on terror, made the comments after his meeting with the home affairs adviser, MA Matin, in the latter’s office Thursday morning.
   Dailey also met the law adviser, AF Hassan Ariff, at the law ministry. Hassan said the US government would help Dhaka to bring back the money siphoned off to other countries.
   At the meeting with Matin, Dailey said disruption in and dismantling of the Jamaatul Mujahi-deen Bangladesh had showed that the Bangladesh government was serious about terrorism.
   ‘This place [Bangladesh] does not harbor, nor allow terrorists to transit or to reside here,’ he said.
   He told reporters he had a successful discussion with the Bangladesh officials on counter-terrorism.
   In reply to a query whether the United States has any interest in forming joint working group as Britain, he said, ‘There are numerous joint groups going on right now in counterterrorism and the United States’s relationship with Bangladesh — across the board economically, militarily and in terms of law enforcement — covers all of the needs of counterterrorism.’ About the meeting, the home secretary, Abdul Karim, told reporters the type of assistance needed would be determined in discussions and the assistance would be given according to the need.
   He said assistance would be provided in training police officials, including RAB, and the US government would consider assisting on the issue of community policing.
   As for militant activities, he said the US side praised the Bangladesh government for the steps taken and also for ‘our vigilance against militant activities.’
   In reply to a query, Karim said the issue of joint working group was not discussed at the meeting.
   The inspector general of police, Noor Mohammad, Rapid Action Battalion director general Hasan Mahmud and the deputy chief of the US mission in Bangladesh Geeta Pasi were, among others, present at the meeting.
   After the meeting with Dailey, the law adviser, AF Hassan Ariff, said the US government would help Dhaka to bring back the money siphoned off to other countries.
   He said the government was taking a number of steps to get back the money siphoned off.
   ‘We will need to become party to some international conventions to bring back the money siphoned off to other countries… The US government has assured us of assistance in this regard,’ Hassan said.
   Asked whether the authorities have so far brought back any money siphoned off to foreign countries during the previous political government, the adviser said, ‘Let us take the steps first and then see what happens.’
   He said the government had already framed laws on money laundering and it would soon publish a gazette notification on the anti-terrorism ordinance as the law was in the final stages.

About 19 million children aged between 1 and 5 years will be administered Vitamin A and 17 million children aged between 2 and 5 years de-worming tablets on Saturday, said the health and family welfare adviser, AMM Shawkat Ali, at a briefing on Thursday.
   The theme of this year’s nationwide campaign is ‘Administer Vitamin A and reduce the risk of child mortality.’ The campaign also emphasise breastfeeding for infants to fight against diseases caused by vitamin A deficiency such as night blindness.
   Health workers and volunteers will administer Vitamin A at 140,000 sites in health facilities, health centres, schools and at bus and launch terminals and railway stations under the National Vitamin A Plus Campaign, he said at the briefing in BCPS auditorium at Mohakhali.
   The Institute of Public Health Nutrition conducts the drive in collaboration with the Expanded Programme on Immunisation. It is supported by UNICEF, the Micronutrient Initiative, Canadian International Development Agency and WHO.
   Vitamin A deficiency poses a major threat to the health
   and survival of children and mothers. Effects of Vitamin A deficiency extend much beyond blindness.
   It increases the risk of child death from diseases such as measles and diarrhoea.
   ‘This campaign marks another milestone towards attaining the global goal for sustainable elimination of Vitamin A deficiency by 2010,’ said the institute director, Fatima Parveen Chowdhury, also line director of Micronutrients.
   ‘All sectoral partners, including frontline workers and volunteers, are requested to lend their full support to make this campaign successful to ensure better survival of children,’ she said.
   In countries where mortality among young children is high, Vitamin A supplementation, two doses a year, may be the single-most cost-effective child survival intervention.
   Vitamin A save the lives of over 30,000 children a year in Bangladesh and reduce illness among thousand others.
   ‘It is fortunate that Vitamin A supplementation provides a highly cost-effective way of protecting children from Vitamin A deficiency.
   A simple Vitamin A capsule, each costing only Tk 1, can increase a child’s chances of survival by up to 25 per cent,’ said Iyorlumun Uhaa, acting country representative of the UNICEF Bangladesh.

Four of the 16 suspected ultra-left Purba Banglar Communist Party activists arrested in connection with Friday’s killing of a police constable and looting of firearms at the Taherpur police outpost in Rajshahi were on Thursday sent to jail after their remand for four days expired on Wednesday.
   The Naldanga police in Natore, meanwhile, deposited with the Range Reserve Force the sub-machine gun and four rifles and five bullets recovered from a pond on Wednesday.
   Four police constables and a member of the Ansars of the Taherpur outpost were also injured in the attack by the ultra-left operatives.
   Subinspector Nasirul Haque of the Baghmara police filed
   a case against 20 to 25 unna-med ultra-left operatives on Saturday.
   Four of the 16 suspected operatives arrested in this connection — Abdur Rahim, Santosh Kumar Mohanta, Raihanul Haque and Jalal Uddin — were remanded in police custody for interrogation on Sunday.
   The law enforcers are yet to make any headway in the investigation of the killing of the constable and looting of the firearms, sources in the police said.
   Lawmen were carrying out raids on places in Rajshahi, Natore, Pabna, Kushtia and Sirajganj in search of Purba Banglar Communist Party activists.
   They arrested four more
   suspects, but did not identify them in the interest of investigation.
   The Naldanga police were on Thursday preparing to file a case against Bachchu, also known as Nishan, a PBCP operation commander arrested Tuesday night at Baghmara.
   The police recovered the firearms based on the statement of Bachchu.
   The Rajshahi superintendent of police, Didar Ahmed, said they might seek Bachchu to be remanded in custody for interrogation after producing him in a Natore court.

The Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, accompanied by the British high commissioner, Anwar Choudhury, and the Department for International Development country representative, Chris Austin, on Thursday visited Barisal.
   They attended the inaugural of the Barisal Technical School complex of the Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programme in Bangladesh at Kashipur in Barisal.
   Prince Richard unveiled the foundation plaque of the complex in a ceremony. He left Barisall by air in the afternoon.
   It was the second visit of Prince Richard to Bangladesh after 1987. He earlier visited various United Kingdom-aided programmes in Patuakhali and areas of Majher Char which were affected by cyclonic storm Sidr.
   UCEP sources said the technical school complex was built at a cost of Tk. 3.56 core on 0.88 acres of land. The initial capacity of the school is 260 students in two shifts a day in four trades for a year’s duration. The school graduates will be provided with employment supported by the employment and field services component of UCEP.

The Bangladesh Rifles has handed over relief supplies, including mineral water, medicines and ORS saline to Nasaka, border security forces of Myanmar, for the victims of cyclone Nargis on Thursday at Maungdaw township in Arakan province of Myanmar.
   A 15-member Bangladeshi relief team led by Colonel Mahbub Ali, commander, Chittagong sector of the BDR, went to Maungdaw with the relief materials in the afternoon.
   U Aung Ggi, director, border immigration headquarters at Maungdaw, received the relief goods.
   According to 42 Rifles at Teknaf, the relief materials sanctioned by the BDR included about 11 thousand litres of drinking water, 1,07,000 analgesic tablets and about 30,000 packs of ORS saline.
   U Aung Ggi thanked the people of Bangladesh and the BDR for the donation.

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested six fugitive accused along with arms and ammunition in the city in connection with a murder case early Wednesday.
   Acting on a tip-off, a RAB team arrested Mansur Ahmed Mohan alias Suman, 23, Kamruzzaman alias Kamrul, 28, Munna, 38, Parvez
   Hossain alias Rony, 22, Jasim Uddin, 26, and Sona Miah, 35, from different parts of the city in raids between 1:00am to 2:00am.
   Following their statement, the elite force raided a house at South Paikpara in Mirpur and recovered one revolver, one pistol and
   ammunition from inside a wooden showcase kept under the stairs of the 3-storied building.

The 147th anniversary of poet Rabindranath Tagore’s birth was observed on Thursday.
   The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, inaugurated the national programme on the occasion in the Osmani Memorial Hall auditorium. The programme was organised by the cultural affairs ministry.
   He said Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore remains a great source of inspiration in the nation’s efforts for establishing a superstition-free, knowledge-based society through a rigorous transition.
   He said Bangladesh was engaged in a tough task of building good, balanced and well-arranged society and life through a transition along a problem-strewn rough path.
   Fakhruddin hoped good thought, humanity and tolerance would prevail over all spheres of society and wished the thoughts and philosophy of Tagore would guide the country in its march forward.
   Professor Mustafa Nur-Ul Islam delivered the Rabindra commemorative speech at the presided over by the cultural affairs adviser, Rasheda K Chowdhury.
   Jatiya Sangsad’s deputy speaker Abdul Hamid Siddiqui, special assistants to chief adviser, cultural and noted personalities and senior government officials attended. A colourful function based on Tagore’s songs and poems followed the inauguration.
   The ministry also organised national observance of Tagore’s birth anniversary at Selaidah, Shahjadpur, Patisar and Dakkhin Dighi where the poet had passed times.
   Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha remembered the poet through recitation, songs and discussion on the concluding day of its two-day Tagore Song Festival at the Central Public Library. Eminent Tagore singers joined the programme.
   The Bangladesh Shilpaka Academy organised programmes at the National Theatre Hall marking the occasion. The programmes included dance, recitation, dance drama and songs.
   Chhayanaut marked the day with a cultural programme in its building at Dhanmondi.
   The occasion was observed with programmes such discussion, session of songs, dance and recitation from his poems in other places of the country.

The army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, has urged all to plant palm trees to meet the growing domestic demand of edible oil.
   ‘If a family plants one palm tree, it can help meet its annual demand of edible oil, as a palm tree can produce fruits after five years of its plantation. There is no need for technology. It only requires an initiative,’ he said after inaugurating a Palm Oil Tree Farming Project at Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka Thursday.
   Under the project, some 500 palm saplings will be planted primarily. The initiative of planting palm trees to meet the domestic demand of edible oil and alleviating poverty came from Gen Moeen’s idea.
   Replying to a question, Gen Moeen, who is also the president of Kurmitola Golf Club, said Bangladesh would be able to export cooking oil after meeting domestic demand in five years if every family plants at least two palm trees for producing the edible oil.
   The vice-president of Kurmitola Golf Club, Maj Gen Md Shafiqul Islam, and senior military and civil officers were present.
   Earlier, Gen Moeen, who is also the president of Bangladesh Golf Federation, inaugurated the 2-day ‘Warid Telecom Golf Tournament-2008’.

One person was killed and 14 others were injured in gas explosion at oil mill factory at Hayderganj in Raipur upazila on Wednesday midnight.
   Sources said fire broke out at the mill, owned by Mahbubul Alam, following the gas explosion, killing worker Kashem on the spot.
   Fourteen workers were also injured in the explosion and they were admitted to Raipur Health Complex and various private clinics.
   Of them, critically injured Majibal Mollah, 30, Helal Gazi, 35, and
   Babul, 30, were taken to Laxmipur Sadar Hospital.

A Shahbagh police subinspector, Mohammad Golam Rabbani, was suspended on Thursday on charge of misbehaving with a Dhaka University student on the Topkhana Road in the city on Wednesday.
   The police said Golam Rabbani misbehaved with a Dhaka University student when he sought help in settling a brawl after the student had entered into an altercation with a rickshaw-puller at about 12:15pm on Wednesday.
   The Shahbagh police officer-in-charge, Rezaul Karim, told newsmen they had been informed of the suspension through the deputy commissioner’s office in the morning and received a letter Thursday night.
   Rezaul joined the Shahbagh station as officer-in-charge on Thursday after the previous officer-in-charge, Shahid Uddin, was transferred ‘in public interest’ on Wednesday.