Main Page «
Front Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
Sports «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

Unidentified assailants shot dead three people in three incidents and strangled a middle-aged woman at Mohammadpur, Motijheel and Jatrabari in Dhaka on Friday.
   At Mohammadpur, assailants shot dead two businessmen at Balur Math inside Dhaka Udyan early Friday.
   Family members of one of the victims claimed that plain clothes RAB members picked the victim from in front of their residence Thursday afternoon while the police claimed that assailants killed them over previous enmity.
   The deceased were identified as Sirajul Amin Lincoln, 32, son of Aminul Islam of 695/13, at Adabar and Alam Yamin Ablam, 32, son of Nurul Islam of 8/B, Road-8, Mohammadia Housing at Shymoli in the city.
   Police said, on information, a team of Mohammadpur police recovered the bullet-riddle
   bodies of the two victims
   from Balur Math on Friday
   and sent them to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations.
   Police suspect previous enmity might be the behind the killings as both of the victims were listed criminals in the locality and wanted in several criminal cases.
   Family members of Lincoln, a businessman and also owner of Dynamic Fast Food at Dhanmondi, said he went out of his house Thursday morning and did not return till late night.
   Family members of Ablam claimed that a squad of young men identifying themselves as RAB men picked up Ablam from his house at about 4:00pm Thursday and killed him.
   Acting officer-in-charge of the Mohammadpur police station Borhan Uddin told New Age, ‘Ablam was accused in seven criminal cases, including two for murder, with the Dhanmondi police station.’
   Mystery behind the double murder could not be ascertained immediately.
   At Motijheel, local people recovered Emadul Karim Riadh, 30, with bullet injury near the building No 15 at Motijheel AGB Colony at around 11:30pm and took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he died at around 1:30am.
   Mother of the victim Renu Begum on the hospital morgue premises told newsmen that her son went out of their Pagla residence under Fatullah along with Tk 1 lakh to give to a recruiting agency four days ago and did not return home.
   A case was filed with the Motijheel police station.
   At Jatrabari, on information, police recovered the body of a middle-aged woman inside a sack from Nayanagar Masjid Road of Kazla area at around 9:30am.
   The victim was identified as Parul Bala Das, 55, wife of Monoranjan Das, of 28/B, Nayanagar of Kajla under Jatrabari.
   Police suspected that assailants strangled the woman and dumped the body.
   The body was sent to Sir Salimullah Medfical College Hospital morgue for post-mortem.
   Police detained a woman, Khorsheda Begum, in connection with the murder after victim’s son said his mother went to Khorsheda’s house at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj on Wednesday to collect borrowed money from her.
   A case was filed with the Jatrabari police station in this connection.

The agriculture adviser, CS Karim, on Friday said there was no alternative to knowledge and technologies in the agriculture sector to ensure food security in the country.
   Describing that the future agriculture will be knowledge and technology-based, he said innovation of new technologies and knowledge was a must to make the country self-reliant in food.
   The agriculture adviser was addressing as chief guest the 10th founding anniversary function and the annual general meeting of Dhaka Reporters Unity Bahumukhi Samobay Samity (cooperative society) Ltd at the DRU conference room in Dhaka.
   The Rural Development and Cooperatives Division secretary, ATM Fazlul Haque, and the DRU president, Alamgir Hossain, were present at the function as special guests.
   With the DRU Bahumukhi Samobay Samity Ltd president, Ashraf Ali, in the chair, the function was also addressed, by its general secretary, Mohshinul Karim Lebu.
   Keeping in mind the climate change, the agriculture adviser said, a long-term plan would have to be taken to check its adverse impacts on agriculture.
   He said the government had taken a plan to set up a market at every union in the country and it would have a link with the district headquarters so that farmers got fair prices of their produces.
   Placing emphasis on strengthening cooperatives movement in the country, CS Karim said integrated pest management clubs should be built keeping similarity with cooperatives society. ‘If the farmers are encouraged in cooperatives they would be benefited to a greater extent,’ he opined.
   Mentioning massive success in agriculture sector, the agriculture adviser said 1.86 crore tonnes of boro paddy was produced this year which was 17 per cent more than that of the previous year.
   ‘A silent revolution took place in different fields, including empowerment of farmers and women,’ he added.
   CS Karim called upon the journalists to project more success stories of the farmers as well as the grassroots people. ‘We have social responsibilities and we have to be come out from vicious circle of lacking,’ he said.
   The agriculture adviser said the country’s food security would be ensured if the farmers were attracted to produce more crops and they got fair prices.
   Fazlul Haque said there was a huge prospect for cooperative movement in the country but it was not geared up.

The Jatiya Party has primarily announced its nominations against 102 constituencies for the upcoming general elections.
   A list containing the primary nominations for 102 electoral seats has been made available through a news release issued from JP chairman’s office on Thursday.
   The party has nominated HM Ershad to run for the parliament from Dhaka-17, Rangpur-3, Kurigram-2 and Hobiganj-3 constituencies, his wife Rawshan Ershad from Mymensingh-4 and Gaibandha-2 and younger brother GM Kader, from Nilphamari-3, Lalmonirhat-3 and Dhaka-18.
   Signed by Sunil Shuvo Roy, the chairman’s press secretary, the news release read: ‘Based on the recommendations received from the grassroots, the JP parliamentary board drew up a list of the primary nominations.’
   ‘The final lists will emerge while the party will nominate candidates to contest the polls as ‘grand alliance’ contestants, which will be published in phases for all the seats.’
   The primary nominations include acting chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud Chowdhury, who is to contest from Chittagong-4, Kazi Zafar Ahmad from Comilla-11, Ruhul Amin Howladar from Patuakhali-1, Mostafa Jamal Haider from Pirojpur-1, Sunil Gupta from Barisal-1, Jahangir Md Adel from Dhaka-7, Syed Abu Hossain Babla from Dhaka-5, Shamsul Haque from Chandpur-2, TI Fazle Rabbi from Gaibandha-3, Karimuddin Bharosha from Rangpur-4, Golam Habib Dulal from Kurigram-4, Fakir Ashraf from Netrokona-2, Nasim Osman from Narayangannj-5, Mojibul Haque Chunnu from Kishoreganj-3, Abdul Jabbar from Pirojpur-3, Khandakar Mahbub Hossain from Barguna-2, Maidul Islam from Kurigram-3, NK Alam Chowdhury/ Jafar Iqbal Siddiqui from Nilphamari-1 and Hafizuddin Ahmed fromThakurgaon-3.

BRAC, one of the largest NGOs in the world, was among the first to respond with immediate relief after cyclone Sidr hit the country on November 15, 2007 and has also been involved in long-term rehabilitation programmes.
   Under its long-term programmes since December, 2007, BRAC built 17 cyclone shelters and 1,182 houses, and reconstructed 927 school buildings and 2,634 houses for restoring the livelihoods of the Sidr-affected people, a BRAC news release said on Friday.
   It organised funds of $1.8 million for emergency relief work from its own resources, including staff contribution and BRAC USA, and from individual local and international contributors.
   Emergency relief packets, containing Tk 200 and emergency food were distributed to 1,84,469 households, while water purification tablets given to 69,503 people, and nutrition supplements given to 81,844 pregnant women, children and new mothers.
   Besides, BRAC also distributed 42,453 blankets and 2,01,787 pieces of clothes. Two thousand eight hundred and forty-eight ponds were decontaminated and 21,499 sanitary latrines were installed while it distributed books and supplies for primary and pre-primary school students.
   In addition, all loan repayments in the affected areas were suspended through March 2008 and for long-term agricultural rehabilitation work and crop production it distributed 1.5 million saplings to 163,575 households.
   Meanwhile, BRAC generated short-term employment for 1,99,505 people through cash for work projects and gave disaster preparedness training to BRAC staff for capacity building.

Bangladesh has set an example before the global community for its efforts to disaster management. It was told at a seminar arranged by Muslim Aid Bangladesh on ‘Cyclone and Bangladesh’ at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Friday.
   Bangladesh Planning Commission member Ehsanul Fattah was present as chief guest. The Muslim Aid Bangladesh country director, H Fadlullah Wilmot, was in the chair while the Disaster Management Bureau director, M Abu Sadeque, presented the keynote paper at the seminar.
   The IUCN country director, Ainun Nishat, and the Disaster Management Bureau director general, KH Masud Siddiqui, and former secretary of the disaster management ministry Mazharul Haque were present as special guests.
   Referring to cyclone Sidr, the speakers said Bangladesh lost many lives and properties due to the storm. The storm also taught the people to survive against any such strong natural calamities.
   Disaster management is not distribution of relief only but an effort to bring the affected people to their normal life and provide them with livelihoods as soon as possible, they said.
   Fadlullah Willmot said Muslim Aid had been making its stride to help Sidr-affected people to build their lives anew so that they could live in the society with dignity.
   Sadeque in his keynote paper put forward some specific proposals to reduce losses of natural calamities in Bangladesh, ways of shifting vulnerable people to safer places and making the cyclone centres more effective.

The BTRC with the help of the Rapid Action Battalion on Friday seized Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment and sealed off a phone service shop at Rampura in Dhaka city.
   Acting on a tip-off, a RAB team conducted a drive at Maisha Technologies Ltd at Banasri in the city’s Rampura area early Friday, says a press release of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission.
   During the drive, RAB members found that the organisation was operating VoIP equipment to illegally divert calls abroad by call origination and termination using 60 MB bandwidth of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd and 10 MB bandwidth of Mango Tele-services Ltd.
   Illegal VoIP operators use VoIP equipment to generate or terminate overseas calls by first turning voice calls into data and then turning the data into voice again.
   The method, also known as internet telephony, is used bypassing the authorised carriers for overseas calls in Bangladesh and thus depriving the government of huge revenue.
   The managing director of the organisation, Md Mohammad Zahid, acknowledging the fact said his outlet was being used for voice clients.
   Later, the BTRC authorities sealed off the establishment, the release said adding that legal action would be taken against the illegal phone services operators.
   The action to be taken may include cancellation of internet service provider licence, it said.

The 17 Bangladeshi victims of the last month’s Turkish road crash tragedy were buried at their village homes at Nabiganj in Habiganj 41 days after they were killed apparently on their way to Greece.
   Officials and residents said a Malaysian aircraft carried the bodies back home after midnight Thursday while they were brought to their village homes in ambulances early Friday to be received by bereaved family members and relatives.
   Out of the 17, seven hailed from the same village.
   On October 3, a small truck packed with the illegal immigrants overturned in western Turkey killing the 17 Bangladeshis and another foreign national and injuring 23.
   The accident took place near the town of Malkara, about 60 miles west of Istanbul, when the driver apparently lost control as the victims were travelling in hidden compartments on the back of the truck.
   Turkish officials said they were planning to sneak into Greece.
   Turkey is a major transit point for migrants attempting to reach Europe illegally.
   This was the second such crash.

The Shachetan Shilpi Samaj, a platform of cultural activists, brought out a procession on the Dhaka University campus on Friday, protesting at the removal of baul sculptures from the airport crossing in Dhaka
   The precisionists carrying dolls and placards also demanded installation of a big-size sculpture at the airport crossing that will speak of the spirit of the country’s war of liberation.
   The Shilpi Samaj started agitation programme on October 16, a day after the Roads and Highways Department and Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh had dismantled the baul sculptures under the pressure of religious bigots.
   They also demanded that the authorities concerned should take immediate steps to ensure communalism-free and cultural-friendly atmosphere on the campuses.

Ambassadors, high commissioners and high officials of 17 countries Friday visited Mainamati War Cemetery in Comilla to pay respect to the martyrs of the World War II.
   The envoys observed two-minute silence paying homage to 736 soldiers, buried in the cemetery, and placed flowers.
   Besides, army bugle played the last post when a contingent of the Comilla Cantonment, led by Colonel Ambia, gave a guard of honour.
   The US ambassador, James F Moriarty, the British high commissioner, Stephen Evans, and envoys from EU, France, Denmark, Canada, Australia, Afghanistan, India, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and Japan were present.
   High officials of the respective embassies were also present on the occasion.

Pakistani high commissioner Alamgir Mohmmad Babar Friday called on Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office.
   BNP’s foreign affairs coordinator Shamsher Mobin Chowhdury told reporters after the meeting that the Pakistani envoy wanted political stability restored in Bangladesh at the earliest.
   Asked whether the BNP chief shared with the envoy anything about the party’s position on the December 18 general elections, Shamsher said, ‘We [BNP] prefer not to discuss these issues with foreigners.’
   He said the envoy updated Khaleda Zia on the latest developments in Pakistan.
   The envoy evaded reporters.
    Babar is scheduled to call on Awami League president Sheikh Hasina today.

A three-year celebration of 400 years of Dhaka will begin on November 28.
   The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, will inaugurate the programme, ‘Dhaka Amar Dhaka,’ at 3:00pm on the day on the south plaza of Jatiya Sangsad.
   Programmes have been chalked up to celebrate the anniversary, an official handout said on Friday.
   Committees and sub-committees have been formed to smoothly conduct the anniversary that will run till 2010.
   The decisions were made at a meeting of people from different levels in the auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Friday with the cultural affairs adviser, Rasheda K Chowdhury, in the chair.