Himu's Window

Growers to face Tk 300 crore loss from potato damage Anwar Ali, Rajshahi   Sacks of potato are piled up on the premises of Rahman Cold Storage at Nawhata Madhusudhanpur in Paba upazila while the authorities have hung a notice announcing closure of receiving potato. Photo: STAR   About 3.20 lakh tonnes of potatoes worth around Tk 300 crore is facing damage as growers in 16 districts of Rajshahi division are compelled to preserve the perishable winter crop in traditional way. The situation has arisen as growers have failed to preserve it in cold storages due to lack of accommodation. A prolonged winter this year helped yield around 58 lakh tonnes of potatoes from over 3.50 lakh hectares of land in northern districts and a total of 130 cold storages in the region could accommodate only 10 lakh tonnes. Of the remaining 48 lakh tonnes, about two-thirds 32 lakh tonnes are expected to be sold in local markets and other parts of country while the remaining amount will have

Published On: 2008-03-23 Business Bumper potato output puts Rajshahi growers in peril Anwar Ali, Rajshahi   Potato sacks are stockpiled on the premises of Rahman Cold Storage at Nawhata in Rajshahi as authorities put up a sign saying they have stopped receiving potatoes for storage.   Potato growers in 16 districts of Rajshahi division are in great trouble due to lack of storage facility following a bumper production of the crop. The farmers have harvested around 58 lakh metric tones of potato in the region but there have been only 130 cold storage, which can preserve only 10 lakh tonnes, agriculture department sources said. Of the remaining 48 lakh tones, some 32 lakh tonnes will be sold in local markets, the sources said. And the rest of 16 lakh tonnes will be preserved traditionally at houses due to lack of storage facility. But agricultural department officials fear some 20 percent of

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=19607   Govt must ensure welfare of indigenous people Speakers tell Gono Gobeshak Confce   Girls from indigenous community perform a dance number at a function marking the Gono Gobeshak Conference at Tanore in Rajshahi.   Speakers at the Gono Gobeshak Conference yesterday said the government must play a major role in ensuring welfare of underprivileged indigenous groups. They said the achievements of different NGOs in development of neglected indigenous ethnic societies are small in comparison to their huge population. So, government should undertake an initiative to follow the examples of Gono Gobeshak (researchers among rural poor) programme. Eminent litterateur Prof Hasan Azizul Haque attended the conference as the chief guest while Rabindranath Saren, general secretary, Jatiya Adibashi Parishad, Rina Roy, director (Rights), Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), and Tanore Upazila Nirbahi Officer Majedur Rahman Khan were pre

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/09/d70709060267.htm     New fertiliser distribution system from next season Agriculture Adviser Dr C S Karim yesterday said the government is to introduce a new fertiliser distribution system from next season stretching the network to union level. " Fertiliser will be distributed directly from unions...and for transparency in fertiliser management, registers would be maintained at dealers' shops and farmers would be given cards," he said while addressing a meeting at the conference room of Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner in the afternoon. "Fresh dealers will be appointed from among the locals at union level so that a dealer can have both the opportunities, to serve his neighbours as well as to have business," he added. Dr Karim, also a nuclear scientist, informed that steps towards introducing the new system are already complete and necessary instructions were given after series of surveys and researches. He

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/09/d70709012416.htm     Attack on UNO Office Ministerial body visits Nachole A high-powered four-member ministerial committee last night went to Chapainawabganj from Dhaka to investigate the July 4 Nachole violence that left 10 persons including four government officials injured and government properties damaged. The committee, headed by Anwar Faruk, director general of seed wing under agriculture ministry, is to start investigations today. Two joint secretaries from the same ministry and an additional divisional commissioner of Rajshahi are also on the committee. Meanwhile, the three-member probe committee headed by Mustafizur Rahman, additional district magistrate of Chapainawabganj, submitted its report yesterday recommending punitive measurers against the Nachole Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) whose misconduct triggered the mob violence as well as the ones orchestrated the rampage from behind the scenes. In its report, the co

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/07/d7070701085.htm   Nachole Probe Report Today Dishonest dealers, officials create fertiliser crisis     Anwar Ali, Rajshahi The probe team for Wednesday's Nachole riot yesterday said a few dishonest traders are taking advantage of the growing demand for fertiliser and doing illegal marketing allegedly with the help of administrative officials, creating artificial fertiliser crisis in the northern districts. The probe committee headed by Chapainawabganj Additional District Magistrate Mustafizur Rahman reportedly found a top upazila official responsible for the rampage and recommended his punishment. The committee is likely to submit its report today. The other committee members are Additional Superintendent of Police Sazzadur Rahman and Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Department Asim Kumar Malakar. The probe body had collected hand-written description of the incident from some 50 persons including fertiliser-deal

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/06/d70706020127.htm     Editorial Flaws in fertiliser distribution glaring Nachole incident rings with lessons to heed   The violent outbursts of farmers on the heels of an incident centring around collection of fertiliser quota slips from Nachole upazila office has brought to the fore the issue of chronic mismanagement in the distribution of the important input to the agriculturists. In the face of persistent demand for the input, the local administration had arranged to supply authorisation slips to them to collect the stuff from the dealers. As the slips were being distributed by the sub-assistant agriculture officer to the farmers standing in a queue of 3000 persons, the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) allegedly intervened objecting to the handing over of the slips under signature from the agricultural officer. The UNO went furious and slapped the officer concerned when he pleaded for the farmers to get a quota of two bags to th

http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/07/06/d7070601085.htm     5,000 farmers sued for attack on govt offices at Nachole   Anwar Ali, from Nachole, C'nawabganj Nachole upazila administration yesterday filed a case against 5,000 unnamed farmers for attacking and damaging government properties on Wednesday. Emdadul Haq, office superintendent of the upazila parishad, filed the case with Nachole Police Station. Farmers in the area fearing arrest have been keeping off their homes. They are also avoiding fertiliser stores and the local agricultural office, locals said. Fewer than a hundred farmers were seen gathered on the office premises of the UNO (Upazila Nirbahi Officer) for fertiliser. Before the Wednesday's violence, thousands of farmers used to line up for fertiliser at the UNO's office every morning during the last several days, the locals added. The farmers demanded open sale of urea and they blamed Monjur Morshed, the UNO of Nachole, for Wednesday'

Fertiliser hungry farmers ransack UNO office Aggrieved at the scanty supply of fertiliser, farmers vandalised the UNO office at Nachole, set fire to the furniture and documents and injured the UNO (inset) in Chapainawabganj yesterday. PHOTO: Focus Bangla   Fertiliser hungry farmers ransack UNO office Clashes erupt over improper distribution at Nachole; 10 including UNO injured Thousands of fertiliser deprived farmers of Nachole upazila in Chapainawabganj yesterday damaged the upazila parishad office and torched its furniture and documents in a desperate rage against the local authorities' mismanagement in distributing the essential agricultural input. Ten persons including Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Monjur Morshed, Upazila Agriculture Officer Abul Kalam Azad, Upazila Monitoring Officer of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Asaduzzman, and a farmer Abdul Latif were injured during the one-hour wildcat protest. The scene was almost a déjà vu to some o

Revolution The Islamist challenge to secular Bangladesh Nicholas Schmidle The headquarters of Al-Markazul Islami, an Islamic organization in Bangladesh, is a single tower whose frosted green windows rise several stories above the coconut trees and rooftops of Muhammadpur, a neighborhood in central Dhaka. Below, in the streets of this capital city of seven million, bicycle rickshaws with handlebar tassels, tin wheel covers, and carriages painted with faces of Bengali film stars ding-ding-ding along. Car, dump-truck, and bus horns blast four- and five-note jingles, and ambulance sirens wail. But none of the commotion reaches Mufti Shahidul Islam, the founder and director of Al-Markazul Islami, through the thick windows of his fifth-story office. Al-Markazul Islami provides free healthcare and ambulance services. Many Bangladeshi journalists, analysts, and politicians think it is just a cover, and that Shahidul's real business is jihad. "Mufti Shahidul is a