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The farmers in Jhenaidah are cutting the immature transplanted aman paddy plants and selling the same as fodder as the plants could not produce any grains in a major portion
   of land.
   Farmers and officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension, Jhenaidah, have blamed drought-like-situation for the poor growth of aman paddy.
   Sources in the DAE said the farmers had brought 9,1750 hectares of land under aman cultivation in the district in the current season expecting an output of 275,250 tonnes of rice.
   While visiting a number of aman plots at Sadhuhati, Naopara, Damukdia and Manaharpur villages and in some other areas on Friday, this correspondent came to know that plants of
   aman paddy were almost drying up.
   Growth of the plants stopped and they could not produce any milk in the grains. Farmers said at the initial stage of transplanting aman plants, there was almost no rainfall.
   As a result, most of the seedbeds were damaged. The farmers prepared new seedbeds later and transplanting of the same was delayed.
   They hoped that they might harvest paddy late.
   But they were frustrated when they saw the plants not producing any milk in the grains at the appropriate time.
   Rashidul Hasan, a farmer, also a fertiliser and pesticides dealer in Sailkupa, said most of his aman plants were drying up for want of rainfall in past several months.
   Further, the growth of the plants was also hampered.
   Sufian Mandal, a farmer of village Sadhuhati under the same upazila, who was found selling a huge quantity of immature aman plants in Sailkupa Bazar, said, 'Out of my five bighas of land, the plants on four bighas were drying up badly. I was compelled to cut the plants and sell the same as fodder.'
   Another farmer Manirul of village Dudsar echoed the same opinion.
   The farmers said some of paddy varieties, especially 'Swarna', were affected seriously.
   As a result, the total production might reduce to 75 to 80 per cent on an average, they apprehend.
   Earlier, aman plants on a vast tract of land were affected by sheath blights disease, farmers said.
   When contacted, the deputy director of the Jhenaidah DAE, Altaf Hossain, said they had been informed about the poor growth and drying condition of aman plants.
   'We have nothing to do in this regard as there had been too insufficient rainfall during aman plantation this season,' he added.
   'But the DAE is advising the farmers to apply balanced fertiliser and pesticides in their fields, if necessary,' the DD said.

President of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and eminent journalist Swapan Kumar Saha on Friday said spirit of the War of Liberation would have to be upheld through maintaining communal harmony in the greater interest of the country.
   'Communal harmony must be upheld to build a digital Bangladesh as declared by the government,' he said while speaking as the chief guest at the annual conference of local Saradeyo Puja Udjapan Parishad on the premises of Kalibari here.
   He said after the country's independence the constitution was framed for the people irrespective of cast, creed and religion to uphold the spirit of the freedom struggle and to implement 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
   But, he said, the very spirit of the constitution was disregarded repeatedly after the brutal killing of Bangabandhu on the black night of August 1975.
   Swapan Saha said in 39 years of independence, the Awami League was in state power only for nine years while the reactionary forces enjoyed power for the rest 30 years.
   He said the reactionary groups had trampled in many ways the social and citizens rights. Swapan Saha said they are trying to uphold the spirit of Bengali nationalism through celebrating Sarbajanin Durga Utshab across the county.
   The annual conference was inaugurated by the central vice-chairman of the parishad, Sabitree Battachariya. Chaired by the president of the District Puja Udjapan Parishad, Advocate Vupendra Voumic Dolon, the function was addressed, among others, by the central general secretary of the organisation, Advocate Sattendra Chandra Vokta, and central leaders Gopal Debnath and Padmabati Devi as special guests.
   Moderated by the general secretary of the District Puja Udjapan Parishad, Subal Sarkar, the conference was also addressed by Advocate Ashok Sarker, Advocate Nasiruddin Faruqi and Nadirul Huq.

A young man with disability was killed in a road accident in Begumganj upazila of Noakhali on Friday.
   The deceased is Nur Hossain, 28, a resident of village Fazilpur under the same upazila.
   According to witnesses, Nur Hossain was seriously injured as a speeding bus knocked him down on the Fazilpur Bridge near Chandraganj on the Chowmuhani-Laxmipur Road of Begumganj at 7am.
   Locals rushed him to the Noakhali General Hospital where he died later after admission.

Some 21 shops were gutted in a devastating fire in the bus stand area of Kaliakoir upazila under Gazipur early Friday.
   According to locals and fire fighters, the fire originated from a burner at a sweetmeat shop and spread to other adjoining shops at about 4:00 am.
   On information, a fire service unit from Savar EPZ rushed to the spot and brought the fire under control after about one hour's efforts.

The police on Thursday arrested three persons, including a union parishad chairman, on charge of misappropriating rice allotted for VGF programme in Luxmichhari upazila of Khagrachari hill district.
   Upon receipt of information that Bormachhari union parishad chairman Swapon Chakma had sold three tonnes of rice under Vulnerable Group Feeding programme in the black market after releasing those from the upazila food warehouse, the police raided the union parishad godown Thursday evening.
   They found shortage of three tonnes of rice there out of the total rice allotted.
   The police arrested UP chairman Swapon Chakma,
   secretary Habibullah Majumdar and peon Eka Chakma in this connection.
   Local administration had allotted total 17 tonnes of rice for distribution among 570 VGF beneficiaries, at the rate of 30 kilograms each.
   The three arrested were being quizzed, the police said on Friday.
   The police also sealed off the UP warehouse.
   A case was lodged with Luxmichhari police station in this connection.

An angry mob Friday morning laid a siege to the Tamaltala police outpost in Sailkupa upazila of Jhenaidah for alleged beating of a rent-a-bike owner
   by the outpost in-charge.
   The agitators hurled brickbats at the camp during the protest.
   Local people said the assistant sub-inspector and in-charge of Tamaltala police outpost, Abdus Salam, had entered into an altercation with rent-a bike owner Showkat Hossain as he refused to give his bike to the in-charge on rent.
   At one stage, he dragged Showkat away towards the camp and started beating up him with a log in presence of a huge crowd.
   Following local people's request, he later released Showkat.
   Badly injured, Showkat was taken to the Shailkupa Health Complex and later shifted to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital as his condition worsened.
   After witnessing the police brutality on Showkat, the local people encircled the camp, threw brickbats at it and demanded exemplary punishment to the camp in-charge.