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

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

Land grabbers continue to encroach upon the River Buriganga, a lifeline of the Dhaka city, despite the ongoing movement by environmentalists to protect the river.
   Encroachment upon the bank of the river continues unabated due to lack of proper implementation of the existing laws by the government agencies concerned.
   Government land on the two sides of the Rayerbazar embankment along the Buriganga have already been grabbed by influential quarters including different real estate groups.
   After earth filling work, the encroachers have built houses, hospitals and CNG station, saw mills, brick kilns, business establishments and auto-mobile workshops.
   At least 20 feet free space was supposed to be left on both sides of the embankment along the river, said an official at the Water Development Board.
   The government acquired 19.83 acres of land at Ramchandrapur mouja, 8.30 acres at Barabo and 0.52 acres at Katashore mouja in 1988-89 to build Rayerbazar embankment.
   Later in 1992-93, the government acquired 14.50 acres of land at Ramchandrapur and 2.55 acres at Barabo for the embankment.
   ‘We have acquired 100 feet to 300 feet land in the areas for building the dam,’ a senior official of the Land Acquisition Department, said.
   Meanwhile, influential people in connivance with corrupt officials are engaged in grabbing different water bodies in and around the city, posing serious threat to environment, said sources at the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.
   Some environmentalists said a number of housing companies have recently mushroomed on both sides of the under-construction 3rd Buriganga-Basila Bridge.
   The bridge project manager Zahurul Islam told New Age that the government had acquired 100 feet to 300 feet of land for a road connecting Basila with the embankment.
   During a spot visit, our correspondent found that most of the land had been grabbed by some influential quarters.
   Local residents said most of the grabbed land had remained under water a few months back and the construction work of the bridge prompted the land grabbers to fill the water bodies.
   ‘We are trying our best to protect the water bodies of the city,’ said Abu Naser Khan of Bangladesh Paribesh Banchao Andolan.
   The BIWTA authorities during the regime of the immediate past interim government demolished about 3,200 illegal structures along the bank of Buriganga and 800 structures on the bank of Shitalakya.
   The interim government also reclaimed four city canals — Shubhatta, Rampura, Gazaria and Gobindapur canals.

Participants in a discussion on Thursday stressed the need for media role in creating awareness among the people to prevent all types of influenza like swine flu and bird flu.
   Media, both print and electronic, can play a vital role in checking all deadly influenzas like swine flu and avian flu by creating awareness among the people, they said.
   The speakers made the observation at the discussion titled ‘role of media in preventing flu’ organised by the UNICEF at a city hotel in Rajshahi.
   The UNICEF communication specialist, Shamsuddin Ahmed, addressed as a main speaker the programme also attended by local Sonali Sangbad editor Liakat Ali, Sunshine editor Tasiqul Islam Bakul, Dainik Barta editor SMA Qader and Bangladesh Observer correspondent Mustafizur Rahman Khan.
   Bangladesh is under threat of deadly swine flu that has already claimed some 100 people across the world, Shamsuddin Ahmed said.
   ‘Most of the rural people in the country do not know about influenzas as information in this regard is not reaching them,’ he pointed out.
   He also said a large number of people in the country are attacked with various diseases through influenza mainly due to lack of awareness.
   The speakers stressed that only media can play a vital role in preventing influenzas by creating awareness among the people across the country.
   Journalists, both print and electronic media, from Rajshahi and Natore took part in the discussion.

The Rajshahi City Corporation has drawn up a budget of Tk 222.63 crore for the fiscal year 2009-10.
   The Rajshahi mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton disclosed this in a pre-budget discussion held at Sharit Datta Gupta hall room of the Rajshahi City Corporation on Thursday.
   The mayor also said he would announce the budget for the fiscal year 2009-2010 on May 31 at Green Plaza of Nagar Bhaban.
   He sought cooperation from the city dwellers for implementation of vision-2018 and development of the city.
   Former mayor Abdul Hadi, former acting mayor Rezaunnabi Dudu, language movement veteran Abul Hossain, Professor Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan Sajal and journalist Mustafizur Rahman Khan also addressed the meeting.

Speakers at a discussion on Thursday stressed the need for taking immediate and effective steps to protect the ethnic minorities in the country from extinction.
   They said there were some 45 ethnic minority communities, including Manipuri, Khasia and Patra, in the Sylhet region, but many tribes are now threatened with extinction as the ethnic minority people are being forced to leave their ancestral homesteads and traditional jobs due to severe financial crisis over decades.
   Patra Sampraday Kalyan Parishad and Bangladesh Research Centre for Indigenous Knowledge jointly organised the discussion styled ‘local biodiversity-based agricultural life in facing the impact of climate change’ at the auditorium of sadar upazila council in Sylhet.
   Sylhet sadar upazila council chairman Ashfaq Ahmed attended the discussion as the chief guest while upazila nirbahi officer Enamul Habib and female councillor of the city corporation Bilkis Begum as the special guests.
   Chaired by Gauranga Patra, chief executive of Patra Sampraday Kalyan Parishad, the meeting was addressed, among others, by columnist and researcher Pavel Partha, Sumela Patra and Anjali Patra and journalists Zaman Monir, Sangram Singh and Sharif Ahmed.
   Sunil Paul, assistant officer of the upazila agricultural office, presented the keynote paper at the discussion.
   The speakers at the meeting also underscored the need for bringing the ethnic minorities into the mainstream society keeping their own culture unchanged.
   The number of the Patra community people has came down to only 3,365 now, though they had a glorious tradition in the past and their forefathers had ruled the Sylhet town and its surrounding areas since arrival of saint Hazrat Shahjalal, they told the meeting.
   The discussants urged the government to increase the job quota for different ethnic minority groups in the country. They also called on the government to create job opportunity for the people of small ethnic groups and improve their livelihood.
   They demanded that the government should take immediate action against those responsible for harassing indigenous people in different regions across the country. The ethnic minorities would feel secured if the government ensures their basic human rights, including protection of their homesteads, from land grabbers, the speakers added.
   The discussants also emphasised the importance of designing long-term plan in the national agricultural policy for the development of the cultivation system of the ethnic minority people instead of hybrid system.

The UNESCO has invited nominations from individuals or institutions for Madanjeet Singh Award to honour the outstanding creative achievement in the promotion of tolerance and non-violence.
   The UNESCO Award, launched in 1995, is generously endowed with the Indian artist, writer and diplomat Madanjeet Singh, said a UNESCO press release on Thursday.
   The prize honours significant activities in scientific, artistic, culture or communication fields that promote a spirit of tolerance and non-violence.
   It may be awarded to institutions, organisations or persons who have contributed to a particular meritorious and effective manner to tolerance and non-violence.
   The prize will be awarded on International Day for Tolerance on November 16. The prize consists of a sum of $150,000.
   Appropriate individuals or institutions are requested to collect the nomination form from office of the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO, BANBEIS Bhaban (3rd Floor), Plassey-Nilkhet, Dhaka-1205 and submit the filled in forms with relevant documents by June 20.

Speakers at the concluding session of a three-day workshop have stressed on the role of mass media in creating awareness of HIV/AIDS in the country.
   Bangladesh still remained as a low HIV/AIDS prevalence country compared to its neighbouring countries resulting in coordinated efforts of the government and non-governmental organizations and the media, they said at the workshop on ‘Advocacy Workshop on HIV/AIDS for Journalists.’
   Padakkhep Consortium in cooperation with Save the Children USA and national AIDA/STD programme organized the workshop in the conference room of the Press Institute of Bangladesh. Senior journalist Farid Hossain addressed the workshop as the chief guest.
   Chaired by PIB director general AKM Shamim Chowdhury, the program was also addressed by adviser of the Padakhep Consortium Shahjahan Majumdar, director of Save the Children-USA Dr Nizam Uddin Ahmed, advocacy manager Kazi Emdadul Haque, deputy director Kazi Belayet Hossain, directors of PIB Jahangir Hossain and Hosne Ara Begum.
   Farid Hossain, also bureau chief of the Associated Press, said the journalists should remain alert while making reports on HIV/AIDS as the people who are infected with the deadly disease might be socially disgraced in case of wrong reporting in this regard.
   Moklesur Rahman said the government has taken various programmes for creating awareness of the disease side by side with inclusion of HIV/AIDS related education in school curricula.
   Journalists will have to play more responsible role in changing the risk behaviour among the people, said said AKM Shamim Chowdhury.

The results of written admission test for Master of Population Sciences in Population Sciences Department of Dhaka University were published on Wednesday, said a press release on Thursday.
   Candidates who came out successful in the written test have been asked to appear before the viva board at the office of the department chair at the arts building on June 1 and 2.
   The candidates will have to bring all the original certificates, mark sheets and admit cards of the admission test at the time of the interview.

Personnel of the Department of Environment and RAB-7 seized 28 tonnes of banned polythene bags worth about Tk 45 lakh during the weeklong drives at different parts of the port city.
   The DoE and RAB authorities recovered the huge illegal shopping bags from an unauthorised polythene shopping bag manufacturing factory, nine go-downs and a showroom, a DoE release said on Wednesday.
   Seven persons were also arrested during the drives for their suspected involvement with the illegal polythene shopping bag trading and manufacturing.
   Cases were filed against the arrested persons with the environment court under the Environment Court Law 2000 and the court sent them to jail, the release added.

A mobile court, led by magistrate Joynul Abedin, unearthed a fake homeo medicine factory in the city and arrested its owner on Wednesday night.
   The mobile court conducted the drive with the help of Rapid Action Battalion, court sources said.
   Later, the law enforcers seized a huge quantity of adulterated medicines, materials and chemicals.

Rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at one or two places over all the six divisions in next 24 hours till 6:00pm today.
   Day temperature may rise by 1-2 degree Celsius over the country, Met Office said.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:41pm and rises tomorrow at 5:11am.
   Country’s highest temperature 35.6 degrees Celsius was recorded on Thursday at Mongla, Satkhira and Chandpur and lowest 21.7 degrees at Saidpur.