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The government has planned to start food ration programme for the freedom fighters across the country from December 1 as a mark of respect for the valiant sons of the soil, many of whom are uncared for and in acute poverty, officer sources said.
   The finance ministry Tuesday disbursed Tk 31.85 crore to the liberation war affairs ministry to run the programme for the next one year.
   ‘Freedom fighters will be given the ration the way the members of police get,’ said a senior official of the finance ministry.
   The liberation war ministry will procure rice, pulses, flour and soybean oil from the money.
   Finance minister AMA Muhith last week approved the liberation war ministry’s proposal for giving ration to some 2,10,000 listed freedom fighters across the country for next one year in four categories.
   A freedom fighter will get 10 kilograms of rice, 10 kilograms of flour, 3 litres of soybean oil and 3 kg of pulses every month while a freedom fighter’s family with two members will be given 15 kg rice, 15 kg flour, 4 litre soybean oil and 4 kg pulses.
   A freedom fighter’s family of three members will receive 30 kg rice, 25 kg flour, 5 litre soybean oil and 5 kg pulses.
   A four-member family is entitled to a monthly ration of 35 kg rice, 30 kg flour, 7 litre soybean oil and 6 kg pulses.
   ‘The finance ministry will convene an inter-ministry meeting shortly to set the modalities of the ration programme,’ Firoze Kibria, secretary of liberation war ministry, told New Age Tuesday.
   At a cabinet meeting last month, the government had extended the service age of the freedom fighters by two years to 59. Freedom fighters who went on Leave Prior to Retirement 23 months ago would also get the privilege.

The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has decided to hold a lottery on November 4 for eight categories of applicants for the plots in Uttara Model Town residential project and for the remaining categories of applicants for plots in the Purbachal residential project.
   ‘The lottery for allotting plots to all the categories of applicants except three — government servants, officials of autonomous bodies and members of the armed forces — for plots in Uttara will be held on 4 November,’ Rajuk’s chairman, Nurul Huda, told New Age.
   He also said that Rajuk would also hold the lottery for allotting plots to journalists in Purbachal on the same day.
   Rajuk sources said each of the MPs who applied, and applicants who would be validated by the BUET after scrutiny, would get plots in both the residential projects.
   On the other hand, each of the validated applicants in category of judges will get plots in Uttara in the same way that plots in Purbachal were allotted to them.
   Plots for government servants, officials of autonomous bodies and of members of the armed forces will be allotted on the basis of their basic salaries and length of service.
   The Rajuk has already allotted 2,250 plots to seven categories of applicants in Purbachal, in which some 6,000 plots will be allotted to people of 12 categories. On the other hand, some 800 plots will be allotted in Uttara to all categories of applicants.
   Sources said that over 3,000 plots would be allotted to three categories of applicants — government servants, officials of autonomous bodies and members of the armed forces —and only about 200 plots in Purbachal have been kept for journalists.
   After the Rajuk invited applications in November 25 last year, as many as 1.57 lakh people applied for 6,800 plots in the two housing projects, of whom 1,07,361 applied for plots in Purbachal.
   The Rajuk has started paying back unsuccessful applicants their deposited money.

Pataka Michhil, a pro-Liberation War organisation, on Friday called upon the government to arrest and try the war criminals immediately.
   Pataka Michhil activists took out a procession carrying national flags in the morning from the Central Shaheed Minar, assembled in front of the High Court building and held a rally there.
   Sculptor Ferdousi Priyobhashini kicked off the procession. Motahar Akhand, Sheikh Md Ali Aman, Firoza Begum, Lovely Yasmeen, Sohrab Uddin, Sharif A Kafi, Pataka Michhil president Sheikh Abdur Razzak and others addressed the processionists.
   The government and its ministers have only been making announcements from time to time, signifying nothing, they said.
   They should put an end to such mockeries, the speakers demanded. They said they have taken to the street to see the war criminals put on trial.
   Pataka Michhil activists will raise a movement across the country, the speakers said.
   They had waited for long 38 years and now they would like to see their ‘blood debts’ repaid, they said.
   Pataka Michhil has announced that they will have a similar ‘national flag procession’ in November in Tangail which will be replicated all over gradually.
   The Awami League-led grand alliance’s election commitments included holding trials of the war criminals.
   After the grand alliance assumed power in January, 2009, a proposal for holding trials of the war criminals was unanimously passed in parliament.
   The government amended the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973.

Diploma health technologists and pharmacists, under the banner of the Bangladesh Diploma Health Technologist and Pharmacist Samannai Parishad, on Friday demanded the status of Class-II gazetted officers.
   They also demanded upgrading of their pay scale at a press conference in the Dhaka Reporters Unity.
   Salim Mollah, coordinator of the organisation, said that diploma engineers, who were equivalent in rank to diploma pharmacists and technologists, got the status of Class-II gazetted officers in 1994.
   ‘The government is setting up new hospitals and increasing the number of beds in the existing ones and consequently needs many more doctors and nurses, but it has not created any posts for us,’ he said.
   The organisation also demanded that the health technology and pharmacist course of the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, which is being run without the permission of the health ministry, should be scrapped.
   They also demanded extension of the three-year diploma health technology and pharmacy courses to four years, the same as in other countries. They also said that the government should create new posts for teachers and trainers in the Institute of Health Technology so that it can provide education of good quality.
   The organisation’s president Khan M Ishaque, member secretary M Moniruzzaman, presidium members Mosharraf Hossain Khan, Shahjahan Siddique, Syed M Abdullah, Ekram Ali and committee member Ashish Kumar Haldar were present at the briefing, along with others.

The European Union will increase funding in promotion of development and confidence building including an additional 15.5 million euro in support of further improvements in health and education sector in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
   According to the EU sources, the EU has also committed 7.5 million euros for food security and agricultural support.
   The sources said the project has led the EU to increase the funding for the development of CHT. The development of confidence building in CHT was initiated four years back to help underpin the CHT peace accord by supporting the government and local institutions.
   The United Nations Development Programme is implementing the programme in all three hill districts with overall aim of promoting self reliance, decentralisation and sustained peace.
   The EU, largest donor of the project, is contributing 23.5 million euro towards the project. The project completed its first phase in December 2006 and expected to complete it second phase in November 2009.
   With successful implementation of the last five years of the programme basing on the upcoming evaluation it is expected that the programme will continue during the period of 2011 to 2015 through a contribution of 25 million euros by the EU.
   The sources said in addition to this the EU is also funding development work by local and international non-government organisations in the CHT region including tribal children’s education contributing 7,50,000 euros, vocational training for indigenous people 2,50,000 euros and a community-managed water supply and sanitation programme for the rural poor.

Politicians and academics at a discussion meeting on Friday called on the left parties to strengthen the left alternative political force to come out of the axis of the two big political parties — the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
   The Democratic Revolutionary Party organised the discussion meeting in Muktangan in the capital to mark its first founding anniversary.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, said the country was now facing serous problems.
   The Awami League-led government has already failed to take steps for changing the fate of the common people.
   There is no alternative to strengthening the left political forces for bringing change for the common people, he said.
   He called on all the left leaning political parties to be united to take programmes against the failure of the government.
   The Democratic Revolutionary Party president, Nirmal Sen, who chaired the meeting, also urged for greater unity of the left leaning political parties.
   The Workers Party of Bangladesh (reconstituted) convener, Haider Akbar Khan Rano, said, ‘We must establish the government of the common people in the country.’
   Jahangirnagar University teacher Anu Muhammad said the Awami League-led government was interested to lease out the national wealth to foreign countries ignoring the national interests like other previous governments.
   He called on the people to be vocal to save the national wealth of the country.
   BRAC University teacher Piash Karim said, ‘We must lead the country towards socialism to bring changes for the common people.’
   There is no basic difference between Awami League and BNP as the parties are not working for changing the fate of the common people, he said.
   The DRP general secretary, Mushrefa Mishu, said the Awami League-led government had filed to fulfil people’s aspirations in their last 10-month rule.
   The Revolutionary Workers Party general secretary, Saiful Huq, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal central leader Bazlur Rashid Firoj, vice president of All India Teachers Federation Tapati Mukhopaddhya, DRP organising secretary Babul Biswas, central leader Shahidul Islam Sobuj and student leader Sohan Sobhan also took part in the discussion.
   Prior to the discussion meeting, the party leaders and activists brought out a colourful procession from Muktangan which paraded different city roads.
   Several hundred party leaders and activists from across the country took part in the programme.
   The Democratic Revolutionary Party was formed on this day last year with the merger of three left leaning political parties.

Leaders at the council session of Bangladesh Krishak Samity said poverty and hunger would ill remain until or unless distribution of land among marginal farmers could not be ensured through land reforms.
   ‘Local and foreign looters are pushing the country to the verge of ruination. There is no option to launch a democratic movement with the poor people, marginal farmers and labourers to fish out the country from such a situation,’ the Communist Party of Bangladesh president, Monzurul Ahsan Khan, said at the opening session.
   Tebhaga Movement hero Kamakhya Roy Chowdhury opened the council session of the organisation, the farmers’ front of the Communist Party, in Swadhinata Square in Sirajganj.
   The national committee to protect oil, gas, mineral resources, power and ports convener, Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah, Justice Golam Rabbani, Jasim Uddin Mandol, Krishak Samity general secretary Morshed Ali, Nurur Rahman Selim, Anwar Hossain Reza, Hedayetul Islam, Ismail Hossain, Shahidullah Sabuj, Sudhin Sarker Mangal, Mahbubur Rahman Majnu and Manabendra Dev also spoke.
   The organisation’s executive president, SMA Sabur, was in the chair. Some guests from India and Nepal also spoke.

A man was killed and four others were injured when a truck rammed into a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Pourasava gate area of Choumuhani on Friday.
   The police and witnesses said the truck rammed into the auto-rickshaw at about 11:30am, killing the latter’s passenger Kamaluddin, 35, of Durgapur in Begumganj, on the spot. Four other auto-rickshaw passengers were also injured in the accident.

Factions of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party staged demonstrations at Gournadi in Barisal on Friday, demanding immediate cancellation of centrally declared upazila and municipal committees of the party.
   BNP sources said followers of Zahiruddin Swapan, former local MP and a central BNP leader, and Abdul Kuddus Akon, a central Juba Dal leader, staged demonstrations and held rallies at the Barisal Press Club and in front of the Highway Police Station.
   Supporters of both the factions, wearing black badges, carried banners, placards and chanted slogans, demanding cancellation of the upazila and municipal BNP committees, which were announced from the party headquarters.
   The programmes were organised on the basis of rumours about a visit by BNP joint-secretary general Begum Selima Rahman to the area to formally introduce the centrally announced upazila committee, headed by
   Engineer Sobhan and municipal committee, headed by M Maniruzzaman
   Manir, the sources said.
   The rallies were addressed by local BNP and front organisation leaders of the rival groups.
   They vowed to resist Selima Rahman from visiting Gournadi till the cancellation of the centrally announced committees.

All the classes and examinations at Comilla University were suspended again Friday for an indefinite period.
   The decision came from an emergency meeting of the university syndicate, as the campus situation did not return to normalcy following the October 7 campus violence.
   First, the classes and examinations had been suspended till October 15 and then till October 29 following the clash between the activists of the Chhatra League and the Islami Chhatra Shibir on the campus on October 7.
   The university was scheduled to reopen on November 1.
   But, the university authorities decided to suspend the classes and examinations for an indefinite period due to a pent-up mood on the campus.
   The vice-chancellor, Jehadul Karim, said the university would reopen when the situation gets normal.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has decided to tackle the government’s ‘machinations’ on two fronts – legal and political, party insiders said.
   Against the backdrop of the filing of a fresh case against BNP’s senior joint secretary general, Tarique Rahman, and framing of fresh charge against the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, the party high command held several meetings with lawyers both within and outside the party.
   Party insiders said the senior leaders had taken seriously the issues of filing fresh cases and the government’s move to extract confession ‘by force’ from some detained leaders. They held a series of meetings with lawyers to discuss legal steps. The party chairperson was present in a few such meetings.
   The BNP also decided to strengthen and activate its lawyers’ forum and held an internal convention attended by leaders of different bar associations from across the country.
   A joint secretary general of the party said they were certain the government was plotting to implicate some top BNP leaders in certain sensitive cases. ‘Recent activities of the government and a synchronised propaganda against the party clearly indicate that we have no option but to go for legal means to face the government,’ he said.
   In this context, he referred to the state counsel’s repeated prayer for remanding some detained party leaders in police custody and incidents of torture on them on remand.
   The BNP’s panel of lawyers, especially handling the cases filed against Khaleda, Tarique and Arafat and other senior leaders, was also in touch with lawyers outside the party.
    They also contacted senior jurist Rafique-ul Huq. After a series of meetings, some senior lawyers began appearing in courts for BNP leaders.
   Khaleda’s attorney Nasiruddin Asim said senior BNP leaders were sitting with the lawyers regularly and were giving advices over particular cases.
   He accused the government of trying to forcibly extract confessions from the detained leaders or threatening to have killed in ‘crossfire’ which, he said, had prompted the BNP leadership to fight the cases with due preparations.

The foreign minister, Dipu Moni, Friday urged the people of all faiths to work together for building a happy and prosperous country.
   She said, ‘We participated in the War of Liberation in 1971 spontaneously to free the country from occupation forces and now it is time to work unitedly for building a peaceful and developed Bangladesh.’
   The minister was addressing the ‘Kathina Civara Dana’ and National Buddhist Religious Congregation 2009 in the International Buddhist Monastery in the city.
   The Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh, Zhang Xianyi, the ambassador of Myanmar to Bangladesh, U Phae Thann Oo, acting high commissioner of Sri Lanka to Bangladesh, C Munasinghe, addressed the function as the special guests with Sangharaja of the Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh Dharmasen Mahathera in the chair.
   President of the Supreme Sangha Council of Bangladesh, Satyapriya Mahathera, and general secretary of Bangladesh Buddhist Federation, Ashok Barua, among others, addressed the function.
   Dipu Moni said the people of the country voted the Mohajote to power in the last parliamentary election for building a secular democratic country.
   She said, ‘We need cooperation of all to perform the responsibility of building a secular democratic country.’
   Dipu Moni said Buddhism teaches us to remove jealousy, hatred and conflicts from the mind of the people.
   She said the main message of the great Goutam Buddha is to build a non-violent and peaceful society by shunning the differences of the people.

The entire country has been brought under meteorological radar coverage through setting up five radar stations including three ultra modern Doppler at different points giving new momentum to the disaster early warning system.
   The Japan government installed the radar stations through the Japan International Cooperation Agency for strengthening the capacity of the Bangladesh Meteorology Department.
   The radars were set up through Japan government’s grant aid programme in the last ten years as the first radar was installed in Rangpur in 1999 and the last one in Moulvibazar this year. The other three radars are in Dhaka, Cox’s Bazar and Khepupara.
   The BMD can produce more accurate early warnings of different disasters like cyclone, rainfall and flash flood by effective analysis and forecasting of quality and real time data getting from these Doppler radars, project formulation officer of disaster mitigation and climate change wing of JICA Bangladesh, Hideki Katayama, said Tansim Anwar.
   Total grant aid assistance for upgradation of BMD operations and network including establishment of 5 radar stations from 1986 to 2009 was 5.6 billion Yen, he said.
   ‘Among the five radars, the Khepupara and the Cox’s Bazar work for forecasting especially cyclone and the Rangpur and the Moulvibazar for measuring flood situation while the central one in Dhaka maintains the entire network,’ he said.
   The JICA disaster management and climate change programme officer, M Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, said the advantages of Doppler radar compared to typical ‘Pulse’ radar lies in its capability to differentiate between steady objects and moving objects.
   ‘Doppler radar may also provide ‘velocity search’ which later can be used as a basis for target recognition,’ he said.
   Besides, the JICA has incepted a new technical cooperation project for BMD styled ‘development of human capacity on operation of weather analysis and forecasting’ to strengthen the weather information for natural disaster management in terms of quality through human capacity development. The project started in September last and will end in 2011 at a cost of 260 million yen, Hideki Katayama said.

The 37th founding anniversary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal will be observed today.
   The party was formed this day with independence ware sector commander MA Jalil as convener and then student leader ASM Abdur Rab as joint convener.
   The JSD factions, one led by Hasanul Haq Inu and the other by ASM Abdur Rab, have chalked up separate programmes on the occasion.
   The Inu faction will hold a discussion in the National Press Club auditorium today.
   The party president, Hasanul Huq Inu, and the general secretary, Syed Zafar Sajjad, in a statement called on the party men to observe the day.
   The Rab faction has also taken up programmes such as hoisting the national and the party flag, placing flowers at the Central Shaheed Minar, reunion in the party’s central office and a discussion.
   The faction earlier on Thursday brought out a procession and held a discussion and a cultural programme at Mahanagar Natya Mancha to mark the occasion.

Nicole Shireen Chowdhury, wife of Iftekhar Chowdhury, former foreign affairs adviser to the immediate past military-controlled interim government, died in Gleneagles Hospital, Singapore on Friday.
   Nicole, 54, had suffered from cancer for a year and a half. She is survived by her husband and daughter Nawreen. She was buried in Singapore after her namaz-e-janaza there.

A colourful Lalan festival was held at Narayanganj Central Shahid Minar to mark the 41st founding anniversary of Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Gosthi Friday afternoon.
   The Narayanganj district unit of Udichi Shilpi Gosthi organised the programme where a discussion meeting was also held.
   Presided over by Advocate Ziaul Islam Kazal, the meeting was addressed, among others, by cultural organiser Rafiur Rabbi, general secretary of central Udichi Habibul Alam, president of the Narayanganj cultural alliance Bhabani Shankar Roy and former president of the alliance Zahidul Hoque Dipu.
   Tuntun Fakir and his group performed Lalan songs at the function, which was also participated by different other cultural groups.

A man was killed Friday morning in a dispute over the demarcation of the boundary line on a piece of land at Zakiganj in Sylhet.
   The deceased was identified as Zaynal Abedin, 45, of village Pirnagar under Jakiganj upazila.
   Local sources said the victim and his brother Ainul Haq had an altercation with their cousins Numan, Lal Miah, Alal Miah, Shahabuddin and Nazrul over setting the boundary line of a piece of land.
   At one stage of, one of the cousins struck Zaynal in the head with a bamboo stick, leaving him critically injured.
   Zaynal was taken to local upazila health complex where the on-duty doctor declared him dead, the sources said. The Jakiganj police recovered the body and sent it to the Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital morgue, the police said.

An eight-member delegation of the Committee on Development of the European Parliament led by Nirj Deva MEP (UK) will visit Bangladesh from November 1–3.
   Four other members of European Parliament (MEP) are — Franziska Keller (Germany), Niccolo Rinaldi (Italy), Jean Lambert (UK) and John Attard-Montalto ( Malta).
   The delegation will discuss with policy makers in Bangladesh as well as with its international partners the overall impact of climate change and especially its impact on food security in this country.
   An EU release said to the European Union, the climate change this issue is of high importance and the EU is committed to help the countries in the front row of the battle regarding climate change. A Nirj Deva in a statement said, ‘We are talking about real problems threatening real people. These people are alive today and they may be gone tomorrow unless we do something now. What we need is funds and not only talks.’
   During the visit, the delegation will meet the PM Sheikh Hasina, the speaker, the food and disaster minister, the foreign minister, the chairpersons of the parliamentary committees on ministry of food and disaster management, ministry of environment forest and ministry of women and children affairs.

Chhatra Shibir activists snatched away five of their party members, who were outsiders, from the proctor’s office at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology on Friday after they were confined there by the university authorities.
   Campus sources said the tests for admission into First Year Honours courses were held in two shifts on Friday, and the student fronts of different political parties brought out processions and staged rallies on the campus at noon to welcome the admission seekers.
   But some persons, coming from outside of the campus, joined the procession of the Chhatra Shibir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, against which there were vigorous protests by the Bangladesh Chhatra League, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Samajtantrik Chhatra Front.
   The members the proctorial body, in response to their complaint, caught five persons and took them to the proctor’s office in order to take punitive measures against them, said campus sources.
   But after about 20 minutes of confinement the Chhatra Shibir’s activists thronged the proctor’s office and took away their fellow members, the sources alleged.
   ‘Steps will be taken against the persons who have helped the detained outsiders to escape,’ the proctor, Saiful Islam said.

The Kuwaiti Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah, has expressed his interest to visit Bangladesh at a convenient time.
   The Kuwaiti Amir expressed this eagerness when the newly-appointed Bangladesh ambassador to Kuwait, Syed Shahed Reza, presented his credentials to the Kuwaiti Amir at the royal guesthouse at Bayan Palace on Wednesday.
   He also wished continued peace, progress and prosperity of the brotherly people of Bangladesh.
   The Amir invited the Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to visit Kuwait, saying that his country would be very happy to welcome her.
   Kuwaiti deputy prime minister, foreign minister and other ministers and high officials of the royal palace were present on the occasion.
   Earlier, the ambassador was taken to the Bayan Palace by high officials of the Kuwaiti Amiri protocol from his residence through a motorcade. A smart contingent of the royal force presented a guard of honour to him as he reached the palace.
   Referring to the existing excellent bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Kuwait, the Bangladesh envoy said the brotherly ties would be deepened further in the years to come.
   He expressed sincere thanks and deep gratitude to the Amir for hosting a large number of expatriate Bangladeshi workers in Kuwait. The ambassador conveyed the invitation of the PM to the Amir to visit Bangladesh.
   Thanking the PM for her invitation to visit Bangladesh, the Kuwaiti Amir expressed his good wishes for the president and prime minister of Bangladesh.
   The ambassador mentioned the role of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the OIC, particularly in strengthening unity and fraternity of the Muslim Ummah.
   In this regard, the Kuwaiti Amir said that as the then foreign minister of Kuwait, he fondly remembers his role in the OIC summit in Lahore, Pakistan, as he accompanied Bangabandhu to the summit.
   He also assured the Bangladesh envoy of all-out cooperation during his tenure in Kuwait.

State minister for water resources Mahbubur Rahman Friday accused former president Ziaur Rahman of patronising the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founding president.
   ‘Taking advantage of the Bangabandhu killing, Ziaur Rahman had become president and rewarded the killers with lucrative state posts,’ he said while addressing a conference of Kalapara upazila BCL.
   Mahbubur Rahman said Zia had introduced the politics of terrorism by rewarding the killers sending them to various countries with jobs in foreign missions and also by rehabilitating Golam Azam after the assassination of Mujib on August 15, 1975.
   He said terrorists had attempted at least 28 times to kill Sheikh Hasina. ‘Recent bomb attack on her cousin Fazle Noor Taposh was also a part of the ongoing conspiracy against Bangabandhu’s family.’