Most DCC employees against getting split

Most of the associations and trade unions of the Dhaka City Corporation employees are opposed to the government’s decision to split the corporation into two, purportedly to ensure better service delivery.

The mayor of Dhaka, Sadeque Hossain, told New Age on Friday that all the DCC ward councillors, officials, and employees were against the decision.

The cabinet in its weekly meeting on October 17 decided to divide the corporation into two by amending the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009.

In reaction, on October 24, a DCC board meeting, participated by 120 ward councillors and chaired by the mayor, formed a seven-member committee of ward councillors to inform the government about their unanimous opposition to the decision by submitting memorandums to the government agencies concerned.

The head of the committee, DCC Ward 74 councillor Quazi Abul Bashar, told New Age on Friday that they had already submitted memorandums to this effect to the offices of the local government and rural development minister and state minister, secretary to the LGRD ministry, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry, and 15 lawmakers of Dhaka. 

‘The government should strengthen and delegate more power to the existing corporation,’ Abul Bashar said, adding that the service-providing agencies of the city like the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited, and Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited should be placed under the corporation to ensure centrally coordinated service delivery by them.

Earlier on Wednesday, DCC Officers’ Association general secretary Khandker Millatul Islam told New Age that, if the corporation was split into two, it would increase the lack of coordination between the service delivery agencies of the city and intensify the manpower crisis of the DCC.

He also said, instead of dividing the city corporation, the idea of electing a metropolitan governor, who would control all metro services, could be implemented for ensuring better service delivery. ‘Former mayor the late Mohammad Hanif also supported this idea,’ he added.

DCC Sramik Karmachari Union general secretary SM Mosharraf Hossain Milan urged the government to reconsider the decision. ‘Splitting the corporation into two will increase the waste of money and the level of violence in the city,’ he said, adding that, if one city corporation failed to serve the city dwellers then two city corporations would only produce a chaos.

A capital cannot be divided, maintained DCC Transport Drivers’ and Employees’ Union president Akhter Hossain Dewan.

He said institution of two city corporations in Dhaka would increase the administrative complexities and demanded holding of the overdue DCC elections.

DCC Scavengers’ and Workers’ Union general secretary Abdul Latif said, before making any decision about the government move, they would first observe its implementation. ‘We cannot comment on the matter before identifying any positive or negative effect of the decision,’ he added.   

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, president of a faction of the pro-Awami League DCC Sramik Karmachari League, said they welcomed the government’s decision to split the DCC into two. ‘It will decentralise the work of different DCC departments and the city dwellers will get services at their expected level,’ he said. 

Mohammad Shah Alam Siraj, president of another faction of the DCC Sramik Karmachari League, said they would also support the government’s decision. ‘We are with our party.’

The mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, said the decision of creating two city corporations was not necessary as the existing one was able enough to carry on doing its duties.

Two city corporations would mean increased administrative complexities, he said and regretted the fact that the government had not discussed with the DCC office bearers before taking the decision.

‘As far as I know, all ward councillors, officials, and employees of the DCC are against the decision,’ the mayor said.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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BNP condemns diatribe against Khaleda in JS

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AppId is over the quota

Staff Correspondent

The parliamentary party of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday demanded withdrawal of what was discussed in the house on Wednesday under rule 68 and alleged that the discussion had violated the rule itself.

The opposition chief whip, Zainul Abdin Farroque, at a briefing in the Jatiya Sangsad media centre, demanded withdrawal of the speeches of the ruling Awami League lawmakers who had demanded that sedition charges be brought against the opposition leader Khaleda Zia.

‘The discussion under rule 68 initiated by Suranjit Sengupta was unprecedented

in the history of parliament. For the first time issues out of parliament have been discussed,’ he said.

The discussion was supposed to continue for an hour but it dragged on for three hours in violation of the rule itself and 15 lawmakers launched diatribes against the opposition leader, he said.

‘We condemn it and demand withdrawal of the speeches,’ he said.

Farroque termed the ninth parliament totally dysfunctional. ‘The parliament is now being run by proxy. Neither the questioner nor the respondent remains present in the session. How could the opposition return to the house in such a situation,’ he asked.

He alleged that the opposition was not allowed to speak on issues of the killing of Bangladeshi nationals on the border, subservient foreign policy and Indian move to construct a dam at Tipaimukh that would displace thousands of people downstream in Bangladesh.

Farroque alleged that the speaker did not accept the opposition’s notice for discussion on law and order and the price spiral but accept an ‘unusual’ notice.

He said the government was plotting to ‘sell out’ the country forcing the opposition to take to the streets. ‘But the ruling party is trying to mislead the people about the road marches,’ he said.

In response to a question, he said the opposition might return to the house if the treasury bench brought a bill to restore the caretaker government system.

He said the treasury bench has to table the bill and cited that Khaleda Zia had passed caretaker government bill after Sheikh Hasina went out on movement for caretaker government in 1996.  ‘That bill was tabled by the ruling party, not the opposition.’

Responding to a question, Farroque said the BNP was never against holding trial of war criminals rather it was the party which had repeatedly demanded trial of ‘real’ war criminals.

He said the BNP would hold trial of the killing of Siraj Sikder and 30 thousand political activists in 1972-1975, if it returned to power.

BNP lawmakers AM Mahbub Uddin Khokan, Asifa Ashrafi Papiya and Shammi Akhtar were present at the briefing.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Libya: Sequence of events and who or what next

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Rebels flash the V-sign for victory during celebrations in the newly named Martyr’s Square, formerly known as Green Square, after rebel forces overran Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fortified Bab al-Azizya headquarters in the capital Tripoli, following h

The age-old Gaddafi regime is in the final days, if not already at the very end. The worst it can do is to cause more unnecessary deaths and destruction as the last desperate gasp. The house of cards built over 42 years is about to fall apart. The cocoon of absolute authority and invincibility is about to come crashing down, writes Omar Khasru

WHAT had started with the self-immolation of a young Tunisian street vendor in December 2010 to protest against the harassment and humiliation by municipal officials has resulted in the overthrow of two Arab dictators and the third one is on the brink. The act of Mohamed Bouazizi was the catalyst for the revolution and the ouster of Ben Ali from Tunisian presidency after 23 years of power, and the advent of Arab Spring.

This was followed by the ouster of the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. It sparked uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and elsewhere. Gaddafi, the tyrannical Libyan ruler for 42 years, is about to be toppled and the presidents of Yemen and Syria are tottering.

The regime changes in the last two countries would seem only a matter of time. The Arab Spring would then complete the first phase. The hope is that democratic wind would blow freely in these countries after the long-awaited fall of the despicable despots.

As I watched the fast-track entrance of Libyan rebels into Tripoli on TV, I could not help but remember December 1971 in Dhaka. There are obvious differences in the two situations but also close similarities. The rebels entering Tripoli without much resistance from Gaddafi loyalists was similar to liberation fighters entering Dhaka with no serious challenge from the vaunted Pakistan army. The rumour earlier was rampant that the Pakistani troops would fight a stiff final battle. But they were war-weary, defeated, dispirited and had realised the futility of it all. They did not put up much of a fight.

The major resemblance also is in the significant and valuable support from dominant outside powers. In the case of Bangladesh, it was our big neighbour which eagerly offered assistance because independence of Bangladesh coincided with and advanced the strategic interests of India. In the case of Libyan freedom seekers, it is the NATO support and air strikes against Gaddafi troops and strategic spots. That enabled a ragtag band of Libyan rebels to organise and overrun the opposing troops in six months and enter Tripoli which it is about to capture. This is just as the Indian support had greatly hastened the process for Bangladesh.

The strongest similarity is the unfettered joy and spontaneous celebration of the common people in the new-found freedom, especially since both countries are unwavering testimony to the Martin Luther, Jr assertion that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be snatched by the oppressed. There is nothing like it and nothing else would give the people such complete, collective and unified feeling of ecstasy and thrill and a pure sense of ultimate triumph.

The struggle that will ensue in healing the wounds, national reconciliation, nation building, trial of war criminals and setting up a government that would give the highest priority to sustaining freedom, enhancing human rights and working towards peace, prosperity and progress of the country is monumental. The possible pitfalls, hiccups, discontent and failures would bring everyone down to harsh and stark reality. But that would all come later.

It is useful to present a short chronology of events that has resulted in a near outright victory of rebel forces in Libya. On February 14 of this year, three days after the overthrow of the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, calls went out through the social media of web-based Facebook and mobile phones for peaceful demonstrations against Muammar Gaddafi. The Libyan leader, who has ruled over the country for more than four decades, had supported Mubarak during the Egyptian upheaval.

In response to the clarion call, about 200 demonstrators participated in the protest march in the coastal city of Benghazi on February 16. Several of them were arrested in fully expected harsh police action. A Libyan high official dismissed the incident as minor internecine skirmishes with ‘just young people fighting each other.’

For the rest of the seminal month, protests continued and turned violent and increasingly confrontational but the casualty toll was unclear. There were reports of bloody clashes in Benghazi, with soldiers firing tear gas and bullets. Witnesses said protests also erupted in other cities. Human Rights Watch reported that 84 people had been killed in Libyan demonstrations in February.

A few other notable events of the month were the resignation of Libya’s justice minister to protest the ‘use of excessive force’, Gaddafi declaring that he will never leave Libya and ‘will die as a martyr,’ the United Nations Security Council condemning repression against peaceful demonstrators and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deploring ‘egregious violations’ of human rights in Libya and the US president, Barack Obama, signing an executive order freezing Gaddafi’s assets.

Among a flurry of other actions last February were: UN Security Council imposing sanctions against Libya and referring Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, the opposition movement announcing the former justice minister, Mustafa Abdul, Jalil as its leader, European Union banning sale of arms to Libya and freezing the assets of Gaddafi and his family.

The most notable event in March was the UN Security Council imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, with China, Russia, Germany, India and Brazil abstaining. It authorised all necessary measures to protect civilians. This gave green light to French, British and American military forces to begin immediate military operations. NATO eventually agreed to take command of the mission in place of individual countries and concerted NATO air strikes played a pivotal role in the eventual rebel success.

Also in March, a Libyan woman, Eman al-Obeidy, with bruises all over her body burst into a Tripoli hotel lobby claiming that Gaddafi’s militiamen had beaten and raped her. The government said that al-Obeidy was mentally ill. Later, the government changed its story and said the accused men were being investigated. At the end of the month, Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa arrived in London to announce that he had resigned.

In April, Gaddafi urged US President Obama to end the NATO bombing and stop what he called an ‘unjust war against a developing country,’ adding that the opposition were terrorists and members of al-Qaeda. In a speech, he exhorted NATO to end air strikes, accusing the international coalition of killing civilians and destroying the infrastructure in a bid to take over the oil fields. NATO missile attack killed one of Gaddafi’s sons and several of his grandchildren.

As NATO air strikes continued, the conflict between Gaddafi forces and rebels seemed to reach a stalemate in May and June. The European Union opened office in the rebel-held city of Benghazi. Several countries, including Spain and Germany, recognised the opposition National Transitional Council as Libya’s legitimate government. The country’s oil minister defected to Italy. South African President Jacob Zuma lashed out at NATO, accusing it of misusing UN resolution ‘for regime change, political assassinations and military occupation.’ International Criminal Court issued warrants against Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam for murder and persecution.

In July, United States and United Kingdom recognised the National Transitional Council as ‘the legitimate governing authority’ in Libya. The commander of Libya’s rebel army was assassinated in Benghazi under mysterious circumstances. The rebel forces claimed huge successes as the battles raged on.

Things seemed to deteriorate for the regime in the battlefield in early August as Gaddafi in a rambling speech urged Libyans to ‘pick up your weapons; go to the fight in order to liberate Libya inch by inch from the traitors.’ In mid-August, a NATO spokesman said that anti-Gaddafi forces had assuming control of the key approaches to Tripoli. A Gaddafi spokesman offered a differing opinion asserting that victory was imminent.

On August 18, the Libyan prime minister, al-Mahmoodi, declared that Libyan military was ‘powerful enough to finish this battle,’ at the same time calling for dialogue to resolve the crisis peacefully rather than militarily. The next day, US officials said that Gaddafi was making preparations for a ‘last stand’ in Tripoli as NATO air campaign continued amidst reports of rebel advances.

Libyan rebels entered Tripoli on August 20 largely unopposed at the outskirts of the city. Libyan official spokesman rejected the rebel claim that Gaddafi was seeking safe haven, saying that neither he nor his family planned to leave the country. In an audio address on state television, Gaddafi called on Libyans to rally to the defence of Tripoli on August 21. The rebels declared, ‘Gaddafi is finished,’ while NATO said his regime was ‘crumbling.’

On August 22, a rebel spokesman said Libya is under the control of the opposition, but intense clashes still raged in parts of Tripoli. Gaddafi’s whereabouts were unknown. ‘The real moment of victory is when Gaddafi is captured,’ National Transitional Council chairman told reporters.

The overall situation is murky, somewhat confusing and unclear as is usually the case in the middle of claims and counter-claims without independent or reliable verification. The situation is ‘very fluid,’ US President Barack Obama said, ‘There remains a degree of uncertainty and there are still regime elements who pose a threat.’ ‘But this much is clear: the Gaddafi regime is coming to an end and the future of Libya is in the hands of its people,’ he added.

This much is clear. The age-old Gaddafi regime is in the final days, if not already at the very end. The worst it can do is to cause more unnecessary deaths and destruction as the last desperate gasp. The house of cards built over 42 years is about to fall apart. The cocoon of absolute authority and invincibility is about to come crashing down.

First Tunisia, followed by Egypt and now Libya, demonstrating the Arab spring is alive and kicking, kicking out the corrupt and power hungry oppressive dictators one at a time. What or who is next? Even with uncertain and questionable future for these countries, freedom-loving people everywhere can rejoice and sing the hymns of freedom.

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| Source: newagebd.com

No troops in NCC polls

  An official oversees as cartons of ballot papers are unloaded from a vehicle at the Zia Hall at Chashara in Narayanganj on Friday.— Sony Ramany

Ivy, Taimur smell rat, demand immediate deployment of army

Staff Correspondent

No troops have yet been deployed for the Narayanganj City Corporation polls, scheduled for Sunday, because of the ‘non-cooperation’ of the government.

The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, at a briefing at the Election Commission on Friday said, ‘In order to hold free and fair elections to the city corporation, we had a plan under which army troops were supposed to be deployed there on Friday but no troops were deployed yet presumably because of the non-cooperation of the government.’

He said that the commission on October 16 had decided to deploy troops and sent a letter the same day to

the principal staff officer of the Armed Forces Division asking for four companies of troops for the city polls.

‘We have received no reply from the army till 5:00pm today [Friday]. We may assume that the government has issued no order for army deployment and also presume that the army is not coming,’ Shamsul told reporters after a four-hour emergency meeting of the commission.

Four companies of troops were originally scheduled to be stationed in Narayanganj at 6:00am on Friday as ‘striking and mobile force.’

The returning officer for the NCC polls, mayoral candidates but for the ruling Awami League-backed Shamim Osman expressed concerns about the non-deployment of the army.

The returning officer, Biswas Lutfor Rahman, told reporters Friday noon, ‘I am deeply concerned about the delay in army deployment.’

Two out of three heavyweight candidates — Awami League leader Selina Hayat Ivy and Bangladesh Nationalist Party-backed Taimur Alam Khandoker — smelt a rat in the commission’s failure to deploy the army and termed it a ‘conspiracy’ to influence the elections.

They demanded an immediate deployment of troops to ensure free and fair polls.

Supporters of Taimur took to the streets in Narayanganj demanding an immediate deployment of troops.

The police dispersed a procession of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the BNP-backed student organisation, by charging at the activists with truncheons when they tried to go on demonstrations on Bangabandhu Road at 7:00pm in protest at the commission’s announcement of not deploying troops.

The BNP vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman at a briefing at the party’s central office in Dhaka in the evening said the party would make a decision today regarding the elections if the troops were not deployed by this morning.

The Election Commission considers the non-deployment of army to be a violation of the constitution.

‘It was a constitutional obligation for the government to deploy troops as we asked for it,’ Shamsul said. ‘We do not have any liability in this regard. We took steps and send requisition, but the government paid no heed to it. I do not know whether this is the government’s negligence but it has given no reply to our letter.’

After failing to get any positive response regarding troops deployment, the commission had thought about two alternatives — to suspend the elections or to proceed with the elections considering the absence of the army, he added.

He also said that according to the law, elections to the city corporations need to be held in 180 days after the formation of the corporation and the time limit ends on November 2.

‘We have informed the Rapid Action Battalion director general and the home ministry and they have confirmed that a 100-member additional force would be sent tomorrow [Saturday],’ he added.

Regarding Shamim Osman’s apprehension of terrorist attack, the CEC said the candidate had sent a letter and also filed a general diary in this regard.

‘We have asked the home ministry to investigate the matter and to report to us in seven days. If the allegation is proved wrong, action will be taken against him in accordance with the rules, he said. ‘His candidature may be cancelled even if he is elected.’

By-elections to the Habiganj 1 constituency and the Brahmanbaria 3 constituency were held on January 27 without the deployment of troops although both the Election Commission and the BNP had so demanded.

Just a day before the polls, election commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain in the presence of another election commissioner, M Sakhawat Hussain, told the media that that the army might be deployed at night, a couple of hours before the polls would begin. But no troops were deployed.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Tk 1,200cr lies unused for lack of guideline

The economy that is laming under the burden of a huge budget deficit is yet to receive from the authorities concerned a release and utilisation process of the Gas Development Fund even after 27 months of its formation, while around Tk 1,200 crore accrued in the fund over the period is lying unutilised.

It took a long bureaucratic process for the Energy Division to arrive at the decision to release and utilise the GDF following a guideline, instead of a rule, incorporating a major part of the guideline designed by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission in January this year.

The current complications ensued after the BERC through an order issued as per its GDF guideline had allotted Tk 500 crore for three state-run oil and gas exploration and extraction companies on an emergency basis.

In August this year, the Energy Division freezed the move to release and utilise the allotment made from the GDF for the state-run companies, claiming that the BERC did not hold the authority to formulate any guideline and monitor the utilisation of such a fund.

Earlier in 2009, the Energy Division formulated another release and utilisation guideline for the GDF.

An Energy Division official told New Age that both the guidelines were incomplete and inconsistent with certain government rules. The energy ministry then drafted a fresh guideline following the recommendations of the BERC and sent it for approval to the Finance Division on Wednesday.

‘We have decided to utilise the fund under a guideline as the Finance Division gave us the green signal, indicating that it would allow us to use the GDF in the self-finance mode following the guideline. Top officials of the Finance Division also assured us that there would be no problem in using the 55 per cent of the fund, which is realised by the National Board of Revenue as supplementary duty and value-added tax and refunded by the Finance Division to the GDF for self-financed projects, although this portion of the fund is supposed to be utilised under the Annual Development Programme,’ he said.

The official said the Finance Division would scrutinise the draft guideline to check whether it in any way contradicts with the Financial Rule.

He said, after getting the Finance Division’s clearance, the Energy Division would allow Petrobangla, the state-run Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources Corporation, to spend the GDF for oil and gas exploration and extraction activities.

In a public hearing on July 30, 2009, the BERC increased the price of gas for power generation, fertiliser production, and industrial, commercial, and household use by 11.22 per cent on the condition that a ‘gas development fund’ would be formed by the additional revenue collected from the consumers from August 2009.

The commission also specified the areas – oil and gas exploration work, drilling of wells, setting up process plants, and laying down pipelines connecting them to the gas transmission lines – where the GDF would be utilised.

Experts and rights activists have criticised the Energy Division’s move, saying that a quarter in the government was creating obstacles to the process of increasing the investment capacity of the state-run oil and gas exploration and extraction companies, so that international oil companies would have to be offered to carry out the tasks.

A Petrobangla official said around Tk 1,200 crore had been accumulated in the GDF. As the extraction of gas has been on the rise since early 2010, the fund will start increasing by more than Tk 1,000 crore per annum within a year or two.

According to the BERC-formulated GDF guideline, the authority of releasing and utilising the fund had been delegated to Petrobangla.

The guideline also says, ‘A committee set up by Petrobangla, comprising officials of Petrobangla and its subsidiaries engaged in exploration and production, will identify the projects that will be financed with money from the GDF.’

But, as per the guideline drafted by the Energy Division, the energy ministry will control the GDF and the oil and gas exploration and extraction companies will have to take permission of the Energy Division through Petrobangla for approval, finance, and implementation of such projects under the GDF.

Experts said such a control of the Energy Division on the GDF would waste the project implementation time of the oil and gas exploration and extraction companies.

Officials of the state-run oil and gas exploration and extraction companies said a number of projects were in limbo at the moment as those had been planned for implementation using the GDF.

These projects include the one designed by the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company, or BAPEX, to drill an exploration gas well and, after discovery of any gas reserve, to drill a gas extraction well and set up a gas process plant in the Shunetro Gas Field using the GDF. Another BAPEX project to drill gas wells and set up process plants in Shahbajpur, Rupganj, Begumganj, and Semutang gas fields and a project of the Bangladesh Gas Field Company to drill a gas well and set up a process plant in Kamta Gas Field near Dhaka using the same fund are also put on ice.

Petrobanagla chairman Hossain Monsur, however, hoped that implementation of the projects would start soon.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Support policy for farmers key to the sustainable food production

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Himal Fonseka

Himal Fonseka, a senior programme specialist at the SAARC Agriculture Centre, tells New Age

by Shahidul Islam Chowdhury

EMPOWERMENT of farmers through policy support and incentive for young educated people to take interest in agriculture are necessary for sustainable production of quality food, says Himal Fonseka, a senior programme specialist at the SAARC Agriculture Centre in Dhaka.

If farmers are helped to make their own choices about agricultural inputs including seeds, and get a guaranteed price for their produces, it will encourage them to continue with farming, the Sri Lankan agricultural scientist told New Age in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

Fonseka believes South Asian countries can and should work together on agriculture with a view to eradicating hunger from the region. ‘For this, the countries need to be honest and show some commitment,’ he added.

Excerpts:

Boro, which requires intensive irrigation and other inputs, e.g. fertilisers and pesticides, constitutes 60 per cent of Bangladesh’s annual staple output. Don’t you think that increasing cultivation of irrigate boro poses a threat to agro-ecological balance?

Yes, I do. Farmers in Bangladesh are not utilising groundwater efficiently. They are just taking water up and putting it on rice fields. They hardly think that shortage of drinking water is a problem when most water sources are polluted. By doing so, they are bringing up arsenic, in many areas, with irrigation water. In addition, you are also inviting desertification in the

long run.

In a nutshell, you are getting into a complex situation. A lot of people are demanding drinking water and also crops.

So you need to supply food as well as water to the people. There are also environmental aspects. There needs to be a balance among the three.

In the past, farmers would prepare seeds themselves. Now, dealers have taken over, often creating artificial crisis and selling low-quality seeds.

Farmer’s seed is the best option for the poor people for their subsistence, for their livelihood and for fulfilment of their need. It is called subsistence agriculture when you produce something to eat.

But when the question of commercial production comes, when you need to produce more for commercial purpose, you need to maintain uniformity of crops. For that you would need to use perfect seed. I think hybrid seeds are good options in this case. Here, the government needs to regulate supply and quality of seeds used for commercial production. Unfortunately, in most countries in the region, there is no regulation.

In Sri Lanka, whatever seeds come in, they are first tested in government laboratories and then handed over to farmers for use. But here in Bangladesh, anybody can bring seeds and sell them to farmers. There is no effective regulation in Bangladesh. Who bears the consequences when something goes wrong in production? Poor farmers, nobody else.

How about farmers’ freedom over home-grown seed?
Once you buy hybrid, you cannot use it like other crops or what we call open-pollinated crops. There are crops that you can keep seeds of. The cycle, however, cannot go further. After two to three years you would not get seeds.
That is where the government should play a role. I think, in Bangladesh, the monopoly of hybrid seeds should not be kept protected for the private sector. The government should produce hybrid seeds to provide them to farmers at an affordable price.
Yes, hybrid seed production is costly and involves a lot of money, time and effort. The government has to do it.  It is possible.
We blame the private sector. We need to keep in mind that they are for making profit through business.

The use of farm labour has decreased remarkably with the increase in the use of power tillers, motorised winnowers and many other tools. How do you look at the trend, keeping in consideration the employment situation?

Cow plough is becoming a tale of the past. Do you think that a young person would go behind cows now? What I want to say is agriculture should be made attractive for the young people. With increasing mechanisation, people do not want to get all muddy for work.

A lot of people including agriculture graduates even do not want to go to field now. They prefer to work at laboratories.

We face the problem in Sri Lanka too. I do not get people to work in the fields to get my research done. There are going to laboratories to work on biotechnology and tissue culture. Our generation is getting old. People who are based in agriculture are of the older generation. Once they are gone, agriculture would struggle to survive.

So to keep the younger generation on the field, agriculture has to be made attractive.

Labour cost is gradually increasing. Can farmers deploy high-priced labour for farming? No. You need to cut the cost establishing efficiency at every level of production. Combined harvest with a balance between job opportunities, cost of production and efficiency can be a choice.

Farmers are now switching to alternative products including hybrid vegetables and fruits in the same field where they used to produce paddy. What do you think about the trend?

I do not think the rice farmers are making paddy fields into mango orchards unless there is a good profit. We, Asians, are rice eaters. We do not compromise with it in any way. So, if things are not profitable, farmers will not switch to other crops. I think the root cause of the problem is cost of production and how we can sell the crops. If our farmers do not get a better price, they would oft for products that have a guaranteed price. 

If the governments think that the farmers need to produce a crop that they do not produce, then it must ensure an attractive price for the crop.

We have a paddy market board in Sri Lanka to ensure good price for farmers. But still the private sector is involved in the market.

What is the state of agricultural research in Bangladesh?

I think Bangladesh is doing well in agricultural research. The BRRI has the capacity to analyse pesticide residues in farm products. BINA is a fantastic organisation working on application of nuclear technology in agriculture. We do not have any such facility in Sri Lanka. Those things can be utilised by other countries. What I can say is Bangladesh is better than Sri Lanka in agricultural research.

The giant big brother (India) is also doing well. Yes, Sri Lanka has an edge in education sector. I think we require better exchange between what richness we have and what richness the others have.

Are the South Asian countries cooperating with each other in agriculture under SAARC?

SAARC, for me, is like an EU and you call it like USA—United South Asia. That you can promote to share experiences and richness. The EU countries are moving together even though for they went against each other on many occasions. How many wars they fought! How many lives they lost by doing so! Still, they came together! 17 countries! They opened their border. They are using one currency, one visa, everything!

Why can we, the eight countries in South Asia, not do that despite sharing histories, languages, culture, everything. For Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, we derived our languages from Sanskrit. You say Khabi (eat?), we say Khamu! Same meaning! You say Subha Nababarsha (Happy New Year), we say Subha Nababarsha! Samity (cooperative) is Samity! So we have lots of things to cooperate with each other on. So, it is the duty of the politicians to use this sharing of commonalities to the betterment of the people. We have a lot to do to strengthen cooperation.

Yes. SAARC is there. We have centres in most countries on agriculture, weather and some other things. These people (experts) are connecting the countries in their respective areas. There are some other forums like BIMSTEC. However, we require some commitments to resolve things despite differences among us.

How can the interests of marginal farmers be protected when corporatisation of agriculture goes on unabated?

If you think politically, especially from left-leaning political perspectives, then you can say agriculture is becoming corporatised. Here come issues including intellectual property rights which can protect small farmers’ rights to produce crops the way they want to.

A lot of plants and their varieties have originated in South Asian countries including Bangladesh reflecting the rich natural biodiversity in this region. If you have a variety of agricultural products that is not available in other countries, you must protect the IPR of that product. Otherwise they (other countries) will analyse everything and claim IPR of that product as their product.

Farmers, however, need to be looked after by the government.

Is the SAARC Agriculture Centre doing anything in this regard?
We normally keep record of what is available including medicinal plants and others.
One thing I must add that in addition to sharing of good practices and knowledge we also require work sharing. If Bangladesh is doing one thing successfully, why would Sri Lanka do the same thing? Or, vice-versa? Individual countries have agreements on transferring technology. I think there should be a regional mechanism for technology transfer.

Will poor farmers get benefit of knowledge sharing, good practices and technology among SAARC member countries?
We are working to establish linkages among researchers, extension agents and farmers. 

What is the SAARC Agriculture Centre doing to improve policies and strategies on agriculture in member countries?
SAC is providing inputs for developing regional policies and strategies primarily through developing networks in the crop, livestock and fisheries sectors for efficient utilisation of soil, water and other resources. It is not that one country is doing everything. We are working with participation of all the eight countries.

What about harmonisation of agricultural related standards?
Each and every country has its own facilities, policies, rules, regulations and standard. For instance, seed regulations. We think they require some harmonisation.  That is another important thing we are trying to do.

Are all countries cooperating with each other on agricultural issues on the ground?
In think all the parties (countries) can work together on agriculture including seed production. But for this all parties need to be honest.

Which countries are not honest?
I should not comment.

Public-private partnership has become the buzzword now. Is it possible in agriculture?
The private sector is out to make profit through business. The public sector is expected to provide service to the people. So they require a compromise to provide people with service at an affordable cost. The private sector also provides some services to the communities.

They do it in the name of corporate social responsibility. Are they maintaining their corporate social accountability to the people?
I should not comment on that.

How can poor farmers cope up in this
complex situation?

People are now going beyond their traditional way of thinking and practices. We can only provide some guidelines. The farmers are very rational. They decide what crop they should produce and for this what seeds—hybrid or traditional—they would use. In the past, the farmers ploughed land with buffalos and sowed seeds. Now they are using machines. It is nothing but evolution of a system. The same thing happens to our food habit. We were habituated with rice and curry. Now noodles and bottled juice are found in remote village shops. Because there are consumers of these products.

However, I need to say that the rights of the farmers are required to be protected. The governments need to help them get agricultural inputs and services at an affordable price. The governments are also required to ensure fair price of their products. It will help farmers to make their own decision and continue farming.

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| Source: newagebd.com

Students can get books not in time.

Textbook publishers and curriculum and textbook Board officials feared that VI-VIII not some textbooks could receive students of the class on the first day of the new academic year, as the Board was yet to deliver film-positive messages for printing for some books.

"We do not all have the movie positive for textbooks of class VI - VIII receive and it is impossible for us that at the time, deliver those laid down in the call for tenders textbooks," said a Publisher.

He said that all press workers on long holiday for Eid-ul ETA Eridani would go and they have problems with printing of textbooks and deliver them on time.

The textbook Board of the new curriculum is printed this year books according to.

Publishers, said that it is not the film-positive Bangla, Bangladesh and global studies and information and technology books for class VI, Bangla, and Bangladesh and global studies books for Class VII and Bangla and Bangladesh and global studies books received for class VIII.

"Publishers have completed, print other books, but they can not deliver, how books are printed," Tofail said Khan, the President of Bangladesh textbook printing and Marketing Association.

He said that the Government should provide immediate steps, to the film-positive.

"Publishers need to print to the textbooks, and it is difficult for the publishers on the books in the Executive Board in time to provide textbook, if we in giving the film positive are", an official said.

He claimed that some officials in consultation the process were delayed with some printers, so that could be sold textbooks on the black market.

The Chairman of the Board, Mostafa Kamaluddin, new age, which this year textbooks 30 comprehensive would be delivered by October, but is earlier said the Board the period missed.

Mostafa said that not film positives for some books not had received the publishers. "But they get the positive film in a day or two."

He said that the positive because of the new curriculum were late in providing.

Kamaluddin, but gave the assurance that students would get textbooks on the first day of the academic year.

"60% Of the books have been already delivered." Students will receive the textbooks on the first day of the academic year, "he said."

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Grim human rights situation in Bangladesh: FIDH report

Torture and killings without trial continued with impunity for the most part, which further shrinking space for freedom of expression, journalists who are reporting have been cases of corruption and human rights abuses of judicial harassment, attacks and threats and human rights were victims exposed to defender of a harassment in Bangladesh 2010-2011. This was from the New York international rights organization, International Federation for human rights (FIDH) said in its annual report on the situation of the defenders of human rights in some 80 countries.

The report was published on Monday at a press conference at the Headquarters United Nations in New York.

The chapter on Bangladesh in the report explains that the Parliament was running without the opposition, the concerns about the effectiveness of the legislative process and the opposition ability to influence government policy.

The report says impunity for acts of torture and ill-treatment and extrajudicial killings, held also in the 2010-2011. Despite the high level insurance consecutive have shown indifference towards these practices Governments opposed.

Although torture, of the Constitution, torture is forbidden and abuses remained pervasive and was practiced regularly, law enforcement, the report said, adding that no offence was torture right to Bangladesh.

'In addition", according to the report, ' despite the widely-used and well-known practice judges continue to permit, that the statements made by accused persons in prison custody.'

Border security force of India continued human rights violations, including killings, abductions and torture and other forms of violence along the border of India and Bangladesh. The BSF also operations in Bangladesh carried out areas.

"Still, these concerns were not raised by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her official visit to India in January 2010", says the report.

It said also that of the space for freedom of expression as attacks on shrink and harassment of journalists by the supporters of the parties, the closing and the restrictions on newspapers and TV stations remained widespread.

On the Bill submitted in the Parliament Act undergoing change of the anti-corruption Commission need to get sued the permission of the Government for officials on graft charges according to the report that State control over the Commission would clearly strengthen the proposed changes.

Journalists exposing cases of corruption and human rights violations termination still serious consequences, including judicial harassment, torture and ill-treatment to suffer. In particular Amar Desh and its employees of the police and the judiciary, were targeted the newspaper that the report said.

He mentioned also the arrest of Amar Desh Act editor Mahmudur Rahman, following cases against him and Supreme Court verdict sentencing him and special correspondent Oliullah Noman on contempt of court fees, cancellation of the Declaration of Amar Desh suspend their publication and resumption of the publication by the Supreme Court order to force.

Journalists were also victims of physical attacks and threats for reporting on human rights, the report said.

"It is also mentioned that new age editor Nurul Kabir on February 23 and 26, 2010 has been with terrible consequences for himself and his family threatened, if he continue to ' write and speak against terrorism and violence".

Defenders of human rights and organizations continue to subject various acts of harassment, including killings, 2010-2011 for the termination of violations of human rights committed by security forces, the report said.

15, March 2010 was Abdullah Al Farooq, a lawyer and human rights activists with ODHIKAR mentioned legal support for the poor victims of unknown people killed.

22. March 2010 organized an exhibition of drik Gallery highlighting the crossfire killings committed RAB was closed before it later again open by a decision of the Court on 29 March 2010, the report said the police.

Also mentioned, that serious obstacles continue to decided the human rights organisation ODHIKAR in its activities as the Bangladeshi authorities to cancel some of the proposed human rights projects.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Bangkok's second airport drives such as flooding before

A resident speaks on their mobile phones, as she Wade through floods along the Chao Phraya River, after a dam, another area in the heart of Bangkok on Tuesday torn floods overnight. -AFP photo

Agence France-Presse. Bangkok

Bangkok's second airport closed Tuesday as floods the authorities extended in the Thai capital, in the ' crisis mode ' force to declare a five day holiday in preparation for the flood.

The Cabinet ordered the Kingdom worst floods an October 27-31-holiday for Bangkok and 20 provinces, for decades, amid warnings, a flood hit rise up would escalate the capital, the most important and the disaster.

'The Government crisis mode has changed to one as a massive runoff will arrive on 26 October in the capital at the same time with a flood on 28 October,' said the flood relief operations centre in a statement.

Minister has the decision in a meeting in Don Mueang airport in the town of North, the domestic flights and has also as a man protection and a seat for the flood relief operation has been doubled.

But as the waters closed already several northern and eastern districts of Bangkok, both airlines, NOK air and orient Thai have flooded, said that they were exposed to all flights.

"As much water in the North of the airport premises is cringing, it could push aircraft on the slopes create,", said airports of Thailand, adding that Don Mueang would be closed two runways and start up the 1.

About 100 flights properly from the airport every day.

The Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, the its first major crisis since is power is faced in August, said before the Cabinet meeting that it would be protected even the evacuees to relocate.

"We are moving them in protected areas", she said.

The holidays are designed to Bangkok that 12 million inhabitants for the floods, which now town centre creeping parenthesis after that replication data flooded some other parts of the nation, 360 people killed and millions of households to damage.

' That have prompted public and private sectors, their flood enable workers affected some time way, so that she would have a chance to take care of their property and their homes, protect ' the FROC statement said.

Schools and authorities will be closed, while the Central Bank said that it was still consider whether to shut down financial markets the newly declared holidays.

Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra made a televised address Tuesday residents along the Chao Phraya River in the capital on "full alert" to be, after the waterway reached record highs of 2.30 m on Monday.

He said "If the situation this may continue, the water level this weekend while 2.60 m hits our average flood 2.50 M High Dam".

In the Centre of town, residents have been snake mineral water directly from trucks that, buy buy transactions of which after days of panic, shelves emptied.

Yingluck apparently at odds with Bangkok's local government, a competing party, and rumors of tensions was information on the floods often contradictory, with politically inexperienced with the army.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Sahara asks people like to own security before leaving Dhaka

 

The home Minister Sahara Khatun, on Tuesday called the inhabitants of the city to safety on their own for homes and businesses before leaving Dhaka to celebrate Eid-ul ETA Eridani in remote areas.

She said that the law enforcement agencies would remain alert and on patrol while the oath begins holiday in the first week in November, to keep order.

The Minister, who make on a law and order in the Secretariat, asked the owners of clothing manufacturers pay for the workers oath, are expected to be celebrated on 7 November.

She said that in and around livestock markets in Dhaka and across the country, law and order to keep would be mobile courts in operation.

"A large number of people, many of them businessmen, left with her family in village homes to celebrate Eid Dhaka." I ask, some security measures make local to shopping centres, markets and homes before leaving the city Fopr oath,' Sahara said at a press conference meet the.

The police and the rapid action battalion with regular patrol would last during the time, she said, however.

Legislators for constituencies in Dhaka City, law enforcement, senior officers and representatives of the Bangladesh Association of tanners, among other things the attended meeting and discuss, as sacrificed to check smuggling of hiding of the country, such as a large number of animals for Eid-ul ETA Eridani would be.

The BTA President, Shahin Ahmed, sought action to the crime and extortion in hide trade after oath included. He was looking for transitions in Postagola and Hazaribagh, where most of the tanneries are also security for the Bank.

Sahara said that crime and extortion may not. She asked the businessmen to use machines to identify counterfeit notes, if some quarters during the oath, to spread fake notes.

Teams are mobile law enforcement on roads and waterway leads to livestock markets to harassment by seller and buyer of sacrificial animals check provided.

Get asked to strengthen border guards Bangladesh, so that the hide smuggled into neighbouring countries for vigilance at the borders of the home Minister.

Which it was decided that no one has to hide of sacrificial animals from Dhaka to check city smuggling.

Sahara directed the authorities set up closed-circuit television cameras on city livestock markets to tighten up security systems.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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JS Panel adheres to open pit

Abdullah Juberee

A parliamentary Panel decided on Wednesday, coal Barapukuria to the 22 'reality' observing area deposit visits

It stood by its earlier proposal for open-pit mining for "increased extraction against the demand."

The Parliamentary Committee on the Ministry of energy and mineral resources had made the decision at its 29th meeting on the Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban before today's meeting of the House.

"We have already proposed was to extract coal in mining for further extraction of coal to the call to the Ministry." The Committee has decided to see mine in the Barapukuria area the real situation, "the Committee Chairman Subid Ali Bhuiyan, said.

The Committee visit several coal mines in China, to get regional and international mine first-hand experience of the used in a month after the visit of Barapukuria, Subid said.

The Committee, as soon as it visited several coal mines in Germany in 2010, but it was moved for fear of public unrest, sources in the Committee and the Division of energy it should visit Barapukuria.

Different permission groups, environmentalists, energy experts, and the National Committee for the protection of oil, gas, makes natural resources, and had ports for for a long time against open pit, out of fear that it would displace hundreds of thousands of people from their homes destroy fertile farmland and the u-Bahn water table and in many other ways to environmental damage.

The immediate past BNP-led Government favours open pit method but movement in the face of the uprising of the indigenous in the three fires of border guards were killed, then it known as the Bangladesh rifles, suspended on 26 August 2006.

The people were against plans to extract coal from Phulbari with open-pit mining method by the Asia energy, the later its name in global coal management or the GCM change demonstrates.

Then had opposition leader in Parliament, Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister is now their support for the people's movement at a rally in Phulbari extends the Government in 2006 after the BNP led an agreement with the movement organizers, the National Committee for the protection of oil, gas, minerals, makes and ports.

She had asked the BNP-led Government on all conditions of the transaction.

The most important conditions of the transaction have been suspension Asia energy mine coal project at Phulbari, ban on open-pit mining in the country, so that none extracts foreign company for coal extraction and export of coal.

Wednesday the decision of the Standing Committee the Government followed from moving coal extraction to public opinions for open-pit mining which is located in the northern districts to create particularly the Phulbari coal mine, and develop a mining town in Dinajpur, near the coal deposits of Phulbari and Barapukuria.

As part of the movement, the Parliamentary Committee on the power, energy and minerals Ministry members, Secretary of State for Home Affairs visited Secretary of State for power and energy, and the Prime Minister's Adviser on energy, along with senior officials, the involvement of experts, some areas in Cologne and Hamburg in Germany in October 2010 to see the impact of the mine.

After people revolt found face down and open the Asia energy a number of professionals such as teachers, politicians and journalists after Germany to support for the Phulbari project to drums.

The journey of Subid Ali Bhuiyan and Secretary of State for energy Mohammad Enamul Huq, see her reports to the Prime Minister, recommend the environmentally controversial open pit method.

A U.S. diplomatic cable leaked by WikiLeaks in December 2010, said that energy consultant of the Prime Minister had assured Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, the United States, support for the Phulbari-coal project of the Asia energy through the parliamentary process drums, after the U.S. Government, the project again under pressure diplomats.

After it, the State oil, gas and mineral resources Corporation Petrobangla are five deposits of approximately 2500 million tonnes of high-quality coal in the three northern districts. The coal Phulbari, Barapukuria and Dighipara are in Dinajpur.

It was estimated that there are 572 million tons of coal in the Phulbari deposit at a depth of 150 metres up to 240 meters and the Barapukuria deposit 390 tons of coal in the depth of 119 m up to 506 meters.

Since 2005 extract of Barapukuria coal mining company Ltd, a subsidiary of the Petrobangla from the Barapukuria deposit coal.

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| Source: newagebd.com

Libya aims for govt in 2 weeks

Libya’s interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil set a two-week target Monday for the country to have a new government and said a commission of inquiry will probe Muammar Gaddafi’s killing.

‘We have begun talks (on forming a government), and this matter will not take a month but will be finished within two weeks,’ the National Transitional Council chairman told a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi.

A day after the NTC’s declaration of Libya’s liberation in the wake of Gaddafi’s capture and death, Abdel Jalil also said a commission of inquiry is being set up to probe the controversial killing of the fallen strongman.

‘In response to international calls, we have started to put in place a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances of Muammar Gaddafi’s death in the clash with his circle as he was being captured,’ Abdel Jalil said.

And after having raised concern in the West by stressing on Sunday that the

new Libya will be governed in line with Islamic sharia law, the NTC chief gave assurances it would remain a ‘moderate’ Muslim country.

‘I would like to assure the international community that we as Libyans are Muslims but moderate Muslims,’ he said.

The French foreign ministry said Paris will keep a watch over Libya’s respect for human rights after the promise of a system of sharia to run post-Gaddafi Libya.

‘We will be watchful of respect for human rights and democratic principles, notably cultural and religious diversity and the equality of men and women to which France is unswervingly attached,’ ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

And the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said the introduction of sharia in Libya must respect human rights.

Abdel Jalil’s two-week timeline came as Libya’s new leaders embarked on the tough task of forging an interim government uniting disparate political forces after 42 years of Gaddafi’s iron-fisted rule, under which sharia took a back seat.

‘Today, we begin preparing for a new phase... the phase after the liberation, the phase that we will plan and work hard for the future of Libya,’ said Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice chairman of the NTC.

‘Let us start work on the adoption of the constitution,’ he said Sunday as he declared liberation from Gaddafi’s rule at a rally attended by tens of thousands of revellers in Benghazi, birthplace of the anti-Gaddafi revolt.

Under an NTC roadmap, an interim government is to be formed and then polls for a constituent assembly to draft a new basic law held within eight months — the first democratic vote since Gaddafi came to power in a 1969 coup.

Parliamentary and presidential elections would be held within a year after that — or within 20 months of Sunday’s declaration.

The head of operations in Libya for NATO, which has said it will wind down its seven-month mission by October 31, said on

Monday that the country is ‘essentially’ free from threat of attack by Gaddafi loyalists.

‘All areas have been freed,’ Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard said at a video news conference from the operation’s Naples operational headquarters. ‘The threat of Gaddafi remnants is essentially gone.’

The long-awaited liberation announcement came amid raging controversy over the circumstances of Gaddafi’s death after he was taken alive during the fall of his hometown Sirte last Thursday.

Disquiet has grown internationally over how Gaddafi met his end after NTC fighters hauled him out of a culvert where he was hiding following NATO air strikes on the convoy in which he had been trying to flee his falling hometown.

Mobile phone videos show him still alive at that point.

The corpses of Gaddafi — which a bullet wound to the head — his son Mutassim, and decades-long confidant Abubakr Yunes still lay in a meat market freezer on the outskirts of the city of Misrata on Monday.

But government officials said the body of Gaddafi would no longer be kept on public view and guards shut the gates at the cold storage container where it had been displayed since the fallen leader was killed four days ago, reports Reuters.

From 3:00pm (1300 GMT), the public will no longer be able to view the body,’ a National Transitional Council official said. Guards at the container locked the gates to the surrounding compound at around 3:30pm, barring access.

Since Friday, thousands of ordinary Libyans have viewed the bodies of the slain men, many taking pictures on their mobile phone.

In the devastated city of Sirte, hundreds of returning residents on Monday found their streets littered with corpses, and their houses pillaged and destroyed.

Burst water pipes — gutted during the final, NATO-backed offensive by NTC fighters — flooded streets, while electricity inside people’s homes remained cut and taps dry.

Angry residents said they were struggling to find water and food.

‘Sarkozy is a horrible man!’ an old man yelled at a group of French journalists, referring to France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy who spearheaded international support for the revolution.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Sunny shines on sunny day

Left-arm spinner Elias Sunny claimed 4-56 on his debut but could not stop West Indies from moving towards safety in the rain-hit first Test against Bangladesh on Monday.

West Indies reached 144-5 at stumps on the fourth day,

needing only seven runs to avoid follow-on after Bangladesh had declared first innings on 350-9 three overs into the second session.

As rain and a damp outfield caused the cancellation of more than two days’ of play, enforcing a follow on was the only option for Bangladesh to create an outside chance of a win.

Sunny raised the prospect with his dream debut, but veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul brought his all experience together to deny them any chance and take West Indies close to safety.

Bangladesh also had themselves to blame as a number of catches went down which could have made the situation completely different. 

A couple of umpiring decisions went against them while on one occasion batsman survived for no-ball despite seeing his two stumps uprooted.

A combination of all these things made a draw an obvious result in this Test, though it will not do any harm to the cause of Sunny, who will remember the Test for the rest of his life.

It is not just because he has got his Test cap in this game but for the performance he put in which also gave Bangladesh a great hope to have a spinning partner for Sakib al Hasan in the longer version. 

It all, however, began on a wrong note.

After Mushfiq declared the innings, only fourth time in Bangladesh’s cricket history, Bangladesh thought they had a breakthrough in only the second over of the innings.

Rubel Hossain uprooted two wickets of Kraigg Brathwaite in the second over only for the umpire to signal a no-ball. Thanks to Shahadat Hossain, who forced Lendl Simmons to give a catch to Roqibul Hassan at gully, they, however, did not have to wait too long.

But Shahadat was almost ruining the advantage of early breakthrough when he dropped a simple catch of Kirk Edwards on naught in what was only the second ball of Sunny in Test cricket. 

Mushfiq gave Edwards his second reprieve on 16 off Sunny to prompt the bowler to take the matter in his own hands as he trapped the batsman in front two balls later for his first Test wicket. 

Sunny also had Darren Bravo after the tea break to leave West Indies reeling at 52-3 before Chanderpaul and Brathwaite provided the first resistance with  a 62-run fourth-wicket stand.

Chanderpaul also survived two close appeals and was almost caught at forward short-leg by Imrul Kayes off Sunny on 26. After an initial jittery Chanderpaul launched a counter-attack hitting Sunny for two sixes off successive balls to force Bangladesh to spread their fielding.

Brathwaite’s luck finally ran out at 33 when Imrul managed to take a catch giving Sunny his third wicket.    The defiance of Chanderpaul (49) also came to an end shortly with Shahriar Nafees taking the catch at slip.

Marlon Samuels (17 not out) was batting with Carlton Baugh (six not out) at the stumps.

 Earlier resuming at 255-4, Bangladesh lost a wicket without scoring a run when skipper Mushfiq got the leading edge off a Fidel Edwards short-pitched delivery and was caught by Bishoo at square leg.

 Mushfiq, unbeaten on 68 overnight, was only facing his first ball of the morning session.

 Shahriar Nafees (32), who had retired hurt after an Edwards bouncer hit him in the face on the opening day, resumed his innings but could add only 11 runs to his score before departing.

 Edwards took the wicket of Nafees, who slashed and edged a catch to wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh.

 Debutant Nasir Hossain survived some deadly bouncers and yorkers from Edwards to score 34 off 47 balls with six fours before Baugh took a skier off Bishoo to send him back to the pavilion.

 Bishoo later claimed the wicket of Sunny and Shahadat to return with 3-81.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Ivy faces wrath of Shamim

Selina Hayat Ivy, one of the three high profile candidates in the Narayanganj City Corporation election, on Sunday faced the wrath of Shamim Osman, the AL-backed candidate and his men.

When Ivy was coming out of a television programme at Narayanganj club, Liton Saha, a man of Shamim Osman, asked Ivy how long she and her father, Ali Ahmed Chunka, were involved in politics with the Bangladesh Awami League, according to an account of witnesses.

In response to Liton’s remarks, Ivy and her supporters locked into a noisy altercation with him while some of Shamim’s men joined him.

At one stage, Shamim Osman came to the scene and tried to calm down his men while Ivy left the place along with her followers to avoid any untoward incident before the election.

A private television channel had organised a debate between the three mayoral candidates— Shamim Osman, the ruling Awami League candidate, Ivy, also the vice-president of AL city unit, and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party-backed candidate Taimur Alam Khandoker.

Meanwhile, Shamim Osman, during the time of a break of another TV programme, asked Ivy to stop talking, saying ‘shut up’ and in reply Ivy also asked him to shut up.

The incident happened at the time of a break in the middle of a live debate between the three mayoral candidates organised by a private Satellite television channel from Narayanganj Press Club on Sunday night.

The altercation continued between Shamim and Ivy and at one stage Shamim Osman shouted saying ‘shut up’ and in reply, Ivy also said, ‘You shut up, Mr Shamim Osman’, according to an account of the witnesses.

Meanwhile, Selina Hayat Ivy, whom the AL refused to back in the polls, wrote to the Election Commission on Monday asking it to take necessary measures to ensure presence of army troops in and around every polling station in the city on the polling day.

‘The history of Narayanganj is very dangerous. We have repeatedly experienced how the terrorists snatched away the voting rights of the people of the area. Votes were robbed by snatching away the ballot boxes,’ Ivy expressed her worry in the letter to the commission.

‘Against this backdrop, we are requesting you to ensure the presence of army troops in and around the polling stations to guard against vote robbery,’ said the letter signed by her chief election agent, Anwar Hossain, also the president of Narayanganj city AL.

Ivy, in another letter, asked the commission to change its decision with regard to using the electronic voting machines.

‘Illiterate and elderly voters will take much time to cast their votes through the EVM. So, we are calling on the commission to use the EVM only in the Wards having small number of voters,’ the letter said.

In another letter to the commission, Ivy asked the commission to investigate into an incident of vandalising the idols of Hindu community.

‘A vested quarter on Sunday vandalised statues of different goddesses of Hindu community in Baburail temple to destroy communal harmony in the city ahead of the polls,’ the letter said.

Ivy demanded exemplary punishment to those involved in such heinous act.

Earlier on Sunday, at a views exchange meeting with the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, Shamim Osman hinted that supporters of Ivy might have carried out the vandalism.

Speaking on the occasion, Ivy asked the CEC to take necessary measures to stop ‘propaganda’ against her, alleging that Shamim Osman was falsely accusing her of vandalism.

Selina Hayat Ivy conducted her election campaign accompanying the local AL leaders while central leaders of ruling AL and main opposition BNP conducted campaign in different parts of the city in favour of their respective candidates—Shamim Osman and Taimur Alam Khandoker.

Meanwhile, a new civic forum called ‘Sammilito Nagarik Forum’ was floated on Monday under the leadership of district AL convener SM Akram to work in favour of Selina Hayat Ivy in the mayoral election slated for October 30.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Twelve Sramik Dal men, in the AL attack in Khulna

Our correspondent. Khulna

At least 12 Sramik Dal men were injured, as the cadres of the ruling, Awami League a human chain formed unit of Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal at Khulna hardboard mill on the Khalishpur in Khulna city attacked by Khalishpur.

They formed the human chain, the payment of their fees and wages for last

three months and

Festival premium before Eid-ul-Fitr.

The injured Sramik Squad, Mohammad Khokon, Mamun, Foysal and Ripon, include Dal men were treated at local hospitals Fazle Halim fabischmidt, Sheikh SADI, Abdul, city BNP said Guide.

Witnesses said the Sramik Dal men began to the human chain at 11 but AL men, escorted by police and armed with bamboo sticks attacked, they and them away.

At least 12 Sramik Dal were men in the attack, said BNP leaders and witnesses violated.

Khulna city BNP Secretary General Moniruzzaman Moni claimed that the police AL men helped with the attack on the Sramik Dal activists.

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| Source: newagebd.com

Indian trucks to carry transit cargo from Akhaura

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Bangladeshi trucks carrying export goods lie stranded at the Akhaura land port on Monday to make way for the Indian trucks to enter Bangladesh. — Indrajit Ghosh

Shipping ministry unaware of ‘regular transit’

Mustafizur Rahman 

The government decided to allow Indian trucks to enter into Bangladesh to carry Indian goods under ‘regular transit’ from Akhaura land port to Agartala in the Indian province of Tripura, said officials.

On October 19, when the regular transit began Bangladesh trucks carried the

Indian transit cargo from Akhaura to Agartala.

The regular transit began in a hurry and without any formal announcement even before the trial transit could be completed.

‘The authorities instructed the land customs station at Akhaura to allow Indian trucks to carry the transit cargo from Akhaura to Agartala,’ the customs station officer Subhash Chandra Kundu told New Age on Monday.

He refused to say when he received the new instruction.

Under the new decision, he said, local trucks would carry the Indian transit cargo from Ashuganj river port only up to Akhaura land port.

India started using Bangladesh for the trial transit of its cargo from West Bengal to Tripura on September 29.

Indian trucks transported its cargo from Akhaura to Agartala since the trial transit began.

Bangladesh allowed India regular transit even before completing the trial transit, creating fresh confusion over the entire issue.

The ‘regular transit’ of Indian cargo from Kolkata to Agartala through Bangladesh began under Bangladesh-India Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade.

On the first day of the regular transit on October 19, nine Bangladesh trucks, each carrying 17.5 tonnes of iron bars, carried the transit cargo from Ashuganj river port to Agartala.

The Indian cargo, arriving by ship is unloaded at Ashuganj river port before reloading on trucks headed for the land port at Akhaura border for the ultimate destination of Agartala in Tripura.   

Shipping ministry secretary Md Abdul Mannan Howlader told New Age on Monday, ‘No truck of India can enter into Bangladesh to carry its transit cargo without an agreement in this regard.’

He said, India is transiting its cargo through Bangladesh, using the Ashuganj river port and Akhaura land port on trial basis following a decision of the two countries.

The shipping ministry secretary, however, expressed his ignorance about it when asked how the regular transit could begin even before the transit on trial basis could be completed.

He said that the shipping ministry called a meeting of the ministries of commerce, communications and the national board of revenue to evaluate whether the trial transit would bring benefit or loss to Bangladesh.

The inter-ministerial meeting is set for tomorrow, he said.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Shahjahan blames JS body’s intervention for extortion in transport sector

Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan on Monday said the government had failed to curb extortion in the transport sector due to intervention of the Jatiya Sangsad oversight body on communications ministry.

‘We have already controlled extortion in Dhaka. But, due to intervention of the parliamentary standing committee on communications ministry we have failed to curb extortion in the rest of the country,’ he told a rally of transport workers in the capital.

Truck and bus owners assembled thousands of workers from across the country at the rally at Central Shaheed Minar to press home an 11-point set of demands including putting an end to ‘bureaucratic steps and harassment by officials’ in issuing driving licences.

Shahjahan said some intellectuals including Muntassir Mamoon were propagating lies and they were persuading people to stand against the transport workers.  

He said no driver wanted to kill any one and ‘an accident was an accident’ and urged all not to consider any driver as a ‘killer’.

In an apparent counter to the widespread criticism of reckless driving that regularly causes fatal accidents on highways, the drivers also demanded an end to filing cases, harassment in the name of vehicle requisition, and stopping toll collection at all the bridges including the Jamuna Bridge.

The huge rally organised by Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikya Parishad caused severe traffic congestion in the Dhaka University and adjacent areas that had continued till the evening.

The transport workers played drums and carried banners and portraits of film actor Ilyas Kanchan with garlands of shoes hung on those in protest against Ilyas’ advocacy for safe roads.

Transport workers leaders at the rally threatened to launch a greater movement and even fast unto death, if their demands were not met by November 30.

Shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, chief guest of the rally, said his comment that ‘a driver who knows road signs and signals, can differentiate between a cow and a goat, and has good driving skills, can get a licence’ was based on a June 2000 gazette.

Showing the gazette to the gathering, Shahjahan, also executive president of Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation, said, ‘I am asking those who were making propaganda against me and transport workers, to see this gazette’.

The gazette, he said, used pictures of cows, goats, and bullock cart, along with other traffic signs and signals that were international standard signs.

In an oblique reference to those who talk in favour of educated drivers, the Awami League leader said, ‘I want to ask about the qualifications of your drivers. Have they passed the driving licence test? Are they skilled?’

‘Educational qualification is not necessary for a driver to be skilful. Even prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s driver was not educated,’ Shahjahan said.

He also thanked Sheikh Hasina for taking a stance in favour of his own regarding the educational qualifications of drivers. ‘I want to assure you that she will never stand against transport workers as she loves workers,’ he declared.  

Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikya Parishad convener Khandokar Anayetullah and member secretary Osman Ali, among others, also addressed the rally.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Syria economics of demos but not reduced: experts

Agence France-Presse. Damascus

The Syrian economy could survive anti-Government protests, hit hard by five months, unrest and sanctions in the next year, but experts and officials warn a drastic deterioration in afterwards.

The protests that have rocked the country since mid-March, have significantly slowed economic activity, with analysts predicting the negative economic growth in 2011 from a decline in tourism and investment.

"In the first three months of the uprising, everything stopped, because consumers were stunned", said Abdul Ghani Attar, Vice President Attar group a Syrian investments in hotels, finance, pharmaceuticals, and office equipment.

"Since June economic activity has resumed, but is about 40 percent over the previous year."

The 32-year-old further: ' for the moment, the private sector, which represents 70% of GDP, has survived, but if the situation improves, not next year the economy will really suffer. There is a risk of redundancies.'

Even now, Syria's economic indicators paint a bleak picture.

The Washington-based International Institute of finance predicts that the country's economy will contract by 3 percent and tourism, which accounts for GDP and 11% of employment, strongly fails 12%.

2011 According to official figures is the total number of investment projects, now-47.84% in the first half from the same period of 2010.

Make matters worse, in addition, the population buy only the bare necessities because of fear of the unknown, according to Naji Shawi, directs the Shawi group.

Sales of the Shawi group that is in foods, pharmaceuticals, finance, and between 5 and 10% compared to last year, he said.

"Until now, the economy survive, but if this crisis for more than six months continues, it will problems," he said.

40 Percent of Syria's most important stock market has plunged since mid-March and consumption significantly weaker, with clothing and electrical outlets in Damascus blatant lies.

The country imported only 2,000 cars have halved in may, before 20,000 in March and total imports compared to the previous year, according to a European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

On the other hand, building materials are booming, because construction is unattended occupied by widespread protests, with police on the rise. Street vendors do well for similar reasons.

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| Source: newagebd.com

Ivy fears fake voters in NCC electoral role

Selina Hayat Ivy, one of the three heavyweight mayoral candidates in Narayanganj, on Sunday alleged that there were some 1,000 fake voters in Ward No.12 and feared such fake voters might also be in other Wards of the city.

Ivy, also a ruling Awami League leader, handed over the list of fake voters to the chief election Commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, at a views-exchange meeting at Shaheed Zia Hall in the city.

 ‘There are some 1,000 names enlisted as the voters at Chanmari slum, in different areas of new Chashara and Jamtala slum in Ward No. 12. But we did not find them during an inspection,’ Ivy made the allegation to the CEC.

‘There is no holding number against the names of the fake voters. I now doubt whether the voters’ lists of other Wards of the city corporation contain such fake voters,’ she said.

‘I would request you to investigate into the matter as early as possible to assure us that those are not fake voters,’ she called on the CEC.

Talking to New Age, district election officer Farhad Hossain said the voters whose names were enlisted in the electoral roll have now shifted their residence and that is why Ivy could not find them in the respective area.

Asked how the Election Commission would stop false voting using the identity of those voters, he said, ‘The poling agents will have to identify the real voters.’

The elections to the country’s 7th city corporation

will be held on October

30 where a total of 4,04,189 voters will elect the mayor for the city and the councillors for their respective areas.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Indian goods get speedy ‘trial transit’, no fees paid

Indian goods from Kolkata, loaded on 10 trucks crossed over to Agartala on Sunday availing speedy ‘trial transit’ through Bangladesh.

The trucks carrying 284 tonnes of Indian goods got the preference in crossing over to Agartala, while the trucks carrying Bangladesh’s own exports waited in long queues on the narrow road leading to the Akhaura land port expecting clearance would come from India to cross the border to Agartala.

But the trucks carrying export items from Bangladesh, mainly fish, stone, and cement, had to queue up at the land port awaiting clearance from the Indian authorities to cross the border into Agartala.

The Indian goods from Kolkata to Agartala got the preferential treatment from the Indian authorities to cross the border availing ‘regular or trial transit’ from Bangladesh, said officials and clearing and forwarding agents at Akhaura.

On October 19, the ‘regular transit’ of Indian goods from Kolkata to Agartala through Bangladesh began quietly under Bangladesh-India Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade leaving many questions unanswered.

More than 150 trucks carrying exportable from Bangladesh remained stranded in a queue at the land port.

But the trucks carrying steel sheets from India crossed over to Agartala without any fees, they said.

The steel sheets carried by ships from Kolkata were unloaded at Ashuganj river port and reloaded on trucks which took them o Agartala through the land port at Akhaura, they said.

Earlier, over 700 tonnes of Indian goods were carried to Agartala through Ashuganj and Akhaura ports under trial transit while 466 tonnes of steel sheets of the same consignment remained dumped at the port as ‘regular transit’ began on October 19.  

‘Ten more trucks carrying the Indian shipments crossed the border today availing the trial transit through Bangladesh and two more trucks loaded with iron bars are waiting at the port to cross over to Agartala availing  regular transit,’ Akhaura land customs station officer Subhash Chandra Kundu told New Age.

He said the Indian shipments availing ‘trial transit’ were not charged any fees.

Nine trucks, each carrying 17.5 tonnes of iron bars crossed the border on the first day the India availed ‘regular transit’ through Bangladesh to transport its goods between its two regions.

Bangladesh land customs at Akhaura realised only Tk 14,000 as commission for clearing and forwarding the Indian goods which were shown as imported from India and later exported to India, said officials.

India paid no customs duty to Bangladesh for the transshipment of its goods through Bangladesh territory.

Asked about transit of Indian goods without fees, finance minister AMA Muhith told reporters at a function in Dhaka on Saturday that the fees had been realised and would be realised.

‘There has been a long queue at the port as the trucks carrying trial transit goods has crossed the border today. The Indian Border Security Force always gives

preferential treatment to trucks carrying Indian goods to enter into the Indian territory first, Abbas Uddin Bhuiyan, clearing and forwarding agent at Akhaura, said on Sunday

He said that obviously it creates problems for exports from Bangladesh which have to wait inordinately to get entry into India at Agartala.

The Agaratla land port has a limited space.

Abbas said the situation turned worse when Indian big lorries carrying power plant equipment from Ashuganj river port cross the border breaking the serial.

An on-duty officer at the Border Guards Bangladesh check post at Akhaura land port said that 100 trucks carrying exportable fish, stone, cement and other items from Bangladesh now require to wait to cross over Agartala every day.

At the Akhaura land port one warehouse superintendent, one traffic superintendent and eight security personnel are two inadequate to handle operations which expanded sharply since India started availing the ‘transit/transshipment’ for its goods.

Bangladesh government had earlier directed its land customs station at Akhaura to allow ‘transit/transshipment’ of Indian goods from Kolkata to Agartala although the formalities for India to use Bangladesh as a corridor remained incomplete, said officials.

Land customs officials at Akhaura said that they had received a government order on October 17 asking hem to treat the Indian consignments as goods for ‘transit/ transshipment’ but it did not say a word about whether or not the customs duties or fees would be charged.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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Hawkers say pay toll to police, politicians

Hawkers in the capital on Saturday alleged that they needed to pay the police and local leaders of the ruling Awami League through linesmen between Tk 30 and Tk 300 in extortion money every day.

They, however, said that the amount varied depending on the places they were doing business and the products they traded in.

‘No hawker in the capital can do business without paying money to the lawmen and the leaders,’ the Bangladesh Chhinnamul Hawkers’ Samiti convener, Kamal Siddiqui, said at press conference at the Dhaka Reporter’s Unity.

He also placed 11-point demands that include end to extortion of money from hawkers, punishment of toll collections, no eviction of hawkers without their rehabilitation, official recognition of their profession, formulation of a policy for hawkers, an end to their harassment by mobile courts and licences for hawkers.

The demands also include arrangement for holiday markets in front of different markets on weekly holidays, allocation of shops of hawkers’ markets to real hawkers, strict implementation of premises rent control law and rehabilitation of hawkers who are victims of climate change with climate change funds.

The hawkers’ association convener said that they would take up their demands with the government on November 1 and threatened a greater movement if the government failed to meet their demands in a month.

The association’s member secretary Sheikh Imran, convening committee member Harunur Rashid and former vice-president Abdul Kader attended the press conference.

People known as linesmen collect toll in the name of the police and local political leaders, the association’s convener said.

‘If anyone refuses to pay the toll, he is forced to keep a local leader as a partner of his business,’ said Kamal Siddiqui.

The Dhaka city unit Awami League’s general secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya brushed aside outright the allegations of ruling party men

being involved in extortion. He said that none of the city unit leaders were involved in such a heinous act.

Krishna Pada Roy, the Ramna zone deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told New Age that they would take legal steps against extortionists, whoever may be, if they received any complaints from hawkers.

‘But hawkers should not do business occupying footpaths. This is illegal,’ he added.

Anwar Hossain, the Motijheel zone deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that that he himself would file case against the extortionists if anybody could give him names of the police personnel collecting tolls from hawkers.

An unsubstantiated allegation would not be proper in this regard, he added.

The hawkers’ association convener, Kamal, referring to a study carried out by the organisation in 2010, said that 52 per cent of the toll collected this way goes to policemen and 5 per cent to political parties and local clubs, 7 per cent to local goons and 5 per cent to leaders of hawkers’ organisations.

Although hawkers pay toll, they are always used by the ruling party men, Kamal said, adding that his organisation was non-partisan but has supporters from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

The hawkers are asked to join rallies and processions of the ruling Awami League closing their trade and they often face the threat of being evicted by the administration, he said at the press conference.

He also said that the country has about 23.97 lakh hawkers, with about 2.35 lakh being in the capital.

The association’s convener said that hawkers occupied footpaths to sell their goods as most of them were not in a position to buy shops at the hawkers’ markets run by the Dhaka City Corporation. Shop prices range between Tk 2 lakh and Tk 2.5 lakh, he added.

The number of hawkers is also increasing as more people are coming to the city because of joblessness in villages and many of them come to the after losing their property to natural disasters, Kamal said.

An allegation was made at a meeting of a subcommittee, set up by the parliamentary standing committee on the labour and manpower ministry to curb extortion on highways, with transport worker leaders on October 13 that a nexus of the police, politicians, administration and trade unions was involved in transport section extortion which was pushing up commodity prices by 200 per cent.

‘We have preliminarily found that people of various quarters such as the police and politicians of both the ruling and opposition parties are involved in transport sector extortion. Final recommendations will be made after talks with the police, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and other stakeholders,’ the subcommittee head, Israfil Alam, said after the meeting on the day.

‘Extortion is patronised by the police, politicians and the administration,’ the president of the Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Union, Ali Reza, told New Age after the meeting on the day.

‘Associations of owners and workers have no way but to collect toll as they need to pay a portion of the money to the police and political leaders,’ the president of the Bangladesh Tank Lorry Workers’ Federation, Mohammad Shahjahan, told New Age.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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