Himu's Window

Monday, October 19, 2009 Twelve councillors of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), including seven from the BNP, have joined the ruling Awami League with a pledge to 'accelerate development of the city'. With their joining the AL on Saturday night, now 22 of the total 30 councillors of the RCC belong to the ruling party. The councillors include panel mayor Shariful Islam Babu, once a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and four women councillors -- Farzana Haque, Sufia Islam, Kohinur Chowdhury and Anwara Begum. Seven others Meraj Uddin, Siraj Uddin Ahmed Manik, Abul Hasnat, Nizam-ul Azim, Zahangir Alam Alamgir, Akbar Hossain and Zaher Hossain Suja had been adherents of BNP. Earlier on October 12, RCC councillor Rabiul Islam Toju joined the AL along with over a hundred of his followers. Rajshahi mayor and AL leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton greeted them at a function held at Bhubon Mohon Park in the city where the councillors presented floral wreathes t

Sunday, October 18, 2009 The government should allow the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to act independently, speakers at the BBC-Bangladesh Sanglap programme yesterday. The ACC should also act without fear or favour to protect the country's economy and prevent social discrimination, they said. Rajshahi Mayor and Awami League leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, Organising Secretary of BNP Mizanur Rahman Minu, Rajshahi University teacher Moloy Bhoumik and Roksana Ferdousi, senior project officer of Barendra Unnayan Forum, were the panellists in the Sanglap held at Rajshahi Medical College auditorium in the city. Replying to a question why the ACC became inactive during the rule of a political government, Moloy Bhoumik said, "Making ACC inactive is part of our political culture where only a few are free from corruption. Solving the problem is not possible without raising a massive awareness about corruption." Mizanur Rahman Minu said ACC has lost its credibilit

Sunday, October 18, 2009 A ruling Awami League lawmaker, whose annual income was around Tk 1 lakh before the election less than 10 months ago, has bought a luxury minivan for Tk 22 lakh. M Meraj Uddin Mollah, MP from Rajshahi-3 (Paba-Mohonpur) constituency, splashed out on a Toyota Noah at a showroom in Chittagong on September 29. The next day, he spent around Tk 60,000 more to register the multi-purpose vehicle with Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, Rajshahi, say registration documents obtained by The Daily Star. In an affidavit attached to his nomination papers for the December 29 general election, Meraj claimed he is a farmer by profession and that his income from farming is around Tk 75,000 a year. An additional Tk 36,000 earned from house rents adds up to Tk 1.11 lakh a year. According to the affidavit, Meraj owns movable and immovable property worth Tk 6.21 lakh. Those include 28 bighas of land valued at Tk 4.06 lakh. Talking to The Daily Star, Meraj Mollah c

The seven arrested members of banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were taken on a fresh five-day remand last afternoon. The court of Metropolitan Magistrate BM Tariqul Kabir granted the five-day remand after police had produced the militants before the court with remand prayers for eight days, said Sub-Inspector M Hafizur Rahman, investigation officer (IO) of the case. Police identified the arrestees as JMB Rajshahi division chief Ashraf alias Haider, 32, Naogaon district chief Abdur Rahim, 30, and Natore district chief Shahabuddin, 35, and JMB ehsar (full-time) members Md Momtaz, 20, Asadul Islam, 30, Rohidul, 35, and Isarul Islam, 22. On October 10, the militants were taken on a seven-day remand that ended yesterday. A team of Special Branch of police arrested them from four greater Rajshahi districts. Senior police officials said, the seven militants during interrogation on remand denied their involvement in JMB activities. Rather they co

Friday, October 16, 2009 Speakers at a discussion in Rajshahi on Wednesday said though hunger situation has improved in the country, it might worsen again due to climate change impacts. The hunger situation has improved because of the overall socio-economic development, but the growth might be hampered due to increasing climatic change, they noted. They said the impacts of recurring storms, cyclones, draught and lack of rainfall during monsoon and excessive rain in other seasons might affect the agriculture and economy and, thus, mar the food security status. The speakers called for using appropriate technologies that promise to help reduce the impacts of climate change and foster introduction of new energy-efficient technologies and services. Rajshahi chapter of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) organised the discussion styled 'Tackling climate change through standards' on the occasion of World Standards Day at Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and

Friday, October 16, 2009 The central bank has put in place a three-tier monitoring system to ensure a proper distribution of Tk 12,000 crore in farm loans across the county. "Apart from BB's monitoring, the respective banks will also monitor their own distribution," said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman at a discussion meeting with reporters at the central bank's Rajshahi office yesterday. "We are also training 80 new officials. With the completion of their training, the officials will spread across the country and monitor the distribution for 15 days," Rahman said. BB has asked all banks to record the mobile numbers of farmers who will be given loans so that the monitoring staff can contact them easily about loan distribution. Rahman said the latest policy has set the target for agricultural loans 25 percent higher at Tk 12,000 crore. "It's a big jump and it includes Tk 500 crore for distribution among sharecroppers. So, we are

Thursday, October 15, 2009 As managing director of Ena Properties, Awami League lawmaker M Enamul Haque yesterday singed an agreement with the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) for construction of a 16-storey building in the city, ignoring the electoral laws. The Representation of the People Order (RPO) does not allow the ruling party lawmaker and his developer firm to have the contract for construction of the City Centre. According to the RPO, a lawmaker may be disqualified from remaining an MP if he ignores the RPO provision that bars him from being engaged with any work for the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any contract or the performance of any services undertaken by government. But neither the ruling party lawmaker nor the RCC bothered about the RPO to sign the agreement for the construction. Under the deal, the MP's real estate company will fund and construct the City Centre on 24 kathas of the RCC land spending around Tk 40 crore raising total sp

Thursday, October 15, 2009 Patients at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) are served less than half of the prescribed quantity of fish with meal. The staggering information was revealed as a mobile court conducted a drive at the hospital canteen on Tuesday night. Raiding the kitchen at dinner time, the mobile court found each piece of fish, ready for serving the patients, weighed around 30 gram whereas a patient is entitled to get 80-gram fish as per official order. Executive Magistrate Zahid Hossain Siddik, who led the drive, fined Abdul Mannan, a supervisor of the kitchen, Tk 10,000 for supplying lower amount of fish dishes to the patients. The drive was conducted under the joint initiative of the district administration, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and Consumers Association of Bangladesh. Supply of low quality meal has become a usual matter and the food often stinks, RMCH patients told the court. A deputy director of RMCH, who accompanie

Saturday, October 10, 2009 A team of Special Branch (SB) of police arrested seven members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from four districts of Rajshahi division over the last couple of days. All the arrestees were paraded before the media at Rajshahi Metropolitan Police headquarters yesterday morning. However, journalists were not allowed to talk to the arrested militants. Police identified the arrestees as JMB Rajshahi division chief Ashraf alias Haider, 32, JMB ehsar (full-time) members Md Momtaz, 20, Asadul Islam, 30, Rohidul, 35, and Isarul Islam, 22 and Naogaon district chief Abdur Rahim, 30, and Natore district chief Sahabuddin, 35. Ashraf was arrested from Malda Colony in Rajshahi city on Wednesday night and following his statement police arrested JMB ehsar members Asadul Islam and Isarul from Chapainawabganj the next day. The SB team arrested Abdur Rahim and Momtaz from Atrai upazila. The same day Shahabuddin and Rohidul were rounded up

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Fertiliser distribution in the northern region is being delayed by at least two weeks as the government move to recruit retailers at grassroots level has been largely marred by alleged politicisation of the process and various irregularities. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said the distribution could not be started on October 1 as scheduled earlier. The last date for completing recruitment of 10,629 retailers under 1,600 fertiliser dealers appointed by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) in 85 municipalities and 1096 unions in 16 northern districts expired on September 30. The sources said distribution of fertiliser is unlikely to begin before the third week of this month. This would adversely affect production of Rabi crops in the coming season, farmers fear. Braja Hari Das, DAE deputy director at Rajshahi, said the government adopted the new policy of distributing fertiliser at grassroots level by appointing

Saturday, October 3, 2009 Freed on bail, Asadullah Al Galib, chief of the militant outfit Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab), is still engaged in spreading militancy and spending money from unknown sources. The Ahab men, mostly divided, with no visible sources of income, are providing monthly salaries to some madrasa teachers for organisational activities. This was alleged by leaders of Jamaat-e Ahle Hadith (Jah), an Ahab splinter group and the authorities of Al Markajul Islami As-Salafi Madrassa, in a joint press conference in the city yesterday. The press conference was addressed by Rejaul Karim, secretary general of Jah and a teacher of Bogra Azizul Haque College, and Abdus Samad Salafi, superintendent and principal of the madrasa. Galib was arrested in February 2005 as many arrested JMB militants named him as their spiritual leader, and he was implicated in nine cases. However, Galib was bailed out from jail in September 2008. Abdus Samad Salafi alleged that Ga