Himu's Window

Commercial cultivation of strawberry promises hefty gains for farmers Anwar Ali, Rajshahi   Quamruzzaman's (inset) strawberry field at Harishpur in Natore left,and Dr. Manjur Hossain with plucked fruits in Rajshahi city. Photo: STAR     Farmers will soon get a new highly value added fruit for commercial cultivation, thanks to years of tireless efforts by two persons. Rajshahi University Botany teacher Dr Manjur Hossain evolved a variety of strawberry suitable for cultivation in Bangladesh's climate. Horticulturist Quamruzzaman of Natore commercially cultivated the variety on 1.5 bighas of land this year. The red juicy and nutritious fruit produced by them was supplied to posh markets in Dhaka recently. With farmer-level price of around Tk 300 per kg, the commercially viable fruit has great export potential and will benefit farmers enormously, the pioneers said while talking to this correspondent at their fields recently. It can be harvested within two and a

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

Swindler NGOs Lax admin control, irregularities led to crisis Anwar Ali, back from Natore Taking advantage of lax administration and irregularities at social welfare office, 30 fraud NGOs swindled about 10 lakh people out of around Tk 500 crore in eight northwestern districts. Based in Natore, the NGOs stretched business web in the name of voluntary organisations for the poor quite openly over Rajshahi, Naogaon, Bogra, Pabna, Joypurhat, Kustia and Dinajpur since March last year. Even after leading swindler Freedom Unnayan Sangstha (FUS) disappeared with Tk 250 crore, the Natore district administration gave other NGOs green light at a meeting on March 3, ignoring general participants' opinions for arresting some officials. Following that meeting, two more NGOs having 3.5 lakh members -- Probhati Grameen Unnayan Sangstha, with around Tk 100 crore, and Palli Jagoroni Unnayan Sangstha with Tk 70 crore -- vanished. Two separate probes into NGO activities revealed a nu

NGO victims seek justice Submit memo to Natore DC for CA, army chief   NGO victims yesterday marched towards Natore district headquarters defying police interception and demanded justice in what they said was a swindle committed in cooperation with local administration. A procession of around 500 swindled people submitted a memorandum to the Natore deputy commissioner and sent its copies to the chief adviser, army chief and some other government high-ups. The victims made a six-point demand including a judicial probe into the fraudulent activities by some suddenly sprouted NGOs, which have vanished with around Tk 500 crore. Their other demands include immediate arrest and punishment to swindler NGO owners and those among local administration and people's representatives who assisted them, and arrangements for returning the swindled money. The victims from greater Rajshahi districts started gathering in front of the Sadar upazila nirbahi officer's office in the

Probe finds anomalies in NGO registration Now Sylhet NGO vanishes with money from 500 depositors The Social Welfare Directorate (SWD) yesterday stand-released two officials of Natore office as primary investigation revealed irregularities in registering fraud NGOs that disappeared with members' about Tk 500 crore. Meanwhile, the tendency of disappearing with public money spreads elsewhere, as another NGO vanished, this time in Sylhet, with Tk 50 lakh from over 500 depositors, report UNB. Sources said, Social Welfare Deputy Director Mir Bux has been transferred to Bhola and registration officer Ismail Hossain to Bandarban, reports our Roving Correspondent from Natore. The steps were taken after the three-member SWD team from Dhaka probed discrepancies in Natore office in the last three days. Headed by SWD Additional Director Sailendranath Paik, the team also comprises Deputy Director (HQ) Badiuzzaman and Assistant Director Nasir Uddin. "Now they [two officials]

Tk 7cr more gone with 2 other Natore NGOs Registration of 2 NGOs cancelled Roving Correspondent, Natore The Social Welfare Directorate yesterday cancelled registration of two fraud NGOs in Natore while officials of two more NGOs disappeared with around Tk 7 crore in Natore and Rajshahi. Registrations of Freedom Unnayan Sangstha and Probhati Grameen Unnayan Sangstha that disappeared on February 28 and March 4 with huge amount of money were cancelled. Bank authorities said they have been asked by the district administration to freeze accounts, if any, of the two NGOs. Victims of these NGOs held a protest meeting in Nasratpur from where they announced to besiege Natore Deputy Commissioner's Office on Sunday. Meanwhile, Jibon Dhara, an unregistered NGO in Dhamongram village in Naldanga, and Doel Bahumukhi Atma-Karmasangsthan Sangstha in Durgapur, Rajshahi have disappeared. Jibon Dhara staffs Shahidul Islam and Moazzem Hossain told reporters the NGO had collected about Tk 4 crore from 6

Yet another NGO vanishes with Tk 2cr Probe body arrives in Natore Roving Correspondent, Natore A three-member probe committee from Social Welfare Directorate (SWD) in Dhaka arrived in Natore yesterday as another NGO disappeared from Mirjapur Diarpara in Naldanga with about Tk 2 crore. Headed by Sailendranath Paik, SWD additional director, the committee will look for discrepancies in registering NGOs that sprang up in Natore and surrounding districts and engaged in swindling people. Natore Social Welfare office registered 59 NGOs since January last year and most of them locked into illegal businesses, which the office also grossly ignored, said sources. Three officials of unregistered NGO Ashar Alo fled from the head office in Mirjapur Diarpara in Natore with around Tk 2 crore collected from around 5,000 members through 58 branches. About 100 people gathered in front of the head office with hopes of refunding. They said director Rejaul Karim, Selim and Rejaul Amin fle

Another NGO disappears with Tk 18 lakh in Natore Victims torch office, assault UP chairman   Roving Correspondent, Natore Thousands of victims of Probhati Grameen Unnayan Sangstha went on the rampage yesterday, assaulting a woman Union Parishad chairman and torching office and chief's house in Naldanga as the NGO disappeared with about Tk 18 crore. The NGO officials went into hiding hours after being in the charge of Mahua Parvin Lipi, chairman of Biprobelgharia UP, at Monday night's meeting at the deputy commissioner's office, Natore. A huge number of police, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and members of joint forces rushed to bring the situation under control. A contingent of armed police has been on hand as the furious members of the swindling NGO might explode anytime. It could not be immediately estimated how much money the NGO swindled out of its members. Police suspect the NGO collected over Tk 150 crore from around 60,000 members in the last one yea

3 more NGOs vanish with Tk 10 crore Mob ransacks 10 NGO offices   Angry mobs ransacked 10 NGO offices and beat up officials as three more NGOs disappeared with Tk 10 crore seizing the opportunity of Natore district administration's lax management. Meanwhile, a meeting held at the district administration office yesterday decided to stop activities of all NGOs and recommend cancellation of their registration. Anarchy was prevailing in the villages of Naldanga in Natore and Puthia in Rajshahi yesterday as cheated people were desperately looking for the NGO officials concerned to get their money back. Tofazzal Hossain, Chhatni Union Parishad chairman, said: "We informed the district administration several times about the illegal monetary dealings by the NGOs. But they didn't take any action." Sajjad Hossain Mukul, chairman of Shilmaria Union Parishad, said local administration has failed to establish control over NGOs even after Freedom Unnayan Sangstha

Swindler NGO men flee with Tk 250cr 2 lakh cheated of their last penny   Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Mozahar Hossain was enthusiastic about being a member of local NGO Freedom Unnayan Sangstha in Natore depositing only Tk 6,400, as the return seemed very promising. Initially he was asked to bring two more members to start getting Tk 570 a week until Tk 29,540 in 57 weeks. Mozahar, a rickshaw-puller from Mominpur, Naldanga borrowed Tk 70,000 mortgaging his only piece of land and put down the money. He was planning to deposit more when he got back Tk 16,000 in weekly payments. Housewife Sabiha Begum of Mollapara in Puthia, Rajshahi borrowed Tk 38,000 from Karitas, Grameen Bank and Padakkhep and credited those with the NGO. She was getting Tk 3,990 per week. Like Mozahar and Sabiha, thousands of ignorant people from remote villages in Natore, Rajshahi and neighbouring districts were enthusiastic about making quick money, even by selling everything they had and taking loa

When renowned stage artist Shimul Yousuff descended from stage in an uncanny silence performing the last scene of Chaka, many of about 5000 spellbound audience surrounded her. They were dipped in memoirs of the deceased drama icon Selim Al Deen. Selim Al Deen's play Chaka (Wheel) relates a harrowing tale of an anonymous corpse that was compared with a state or life and needs to be buried for peace. The cart-driver of Chaka, along with two companions, started a journey to deliver the corpse. They carried it to far flung cities and villages and none acknowledged it. The body decomposes, rots, stinks - yet none agreed. Thus driven away from all human destinations, the cart-men bury the dead on a dry riverbed. By that time, the dead had already arisen in each of them. Like cart-men, entire Puthia audience of Shimul Yousuff too kept staring at her utterly flabbergasted for many minutes. Eminent litterateur Hasan Azizul Haque aptly caught their thoughts and told Shimul, "The more I

Cobweb of death Blood-chilling story of killers who preyed on foreign job seekers Cashing in on the rising zeal for overseas jobs, a group of people have invented a deadly method of swindling in the northern districts, inviting foreign-job seekers to rented homes and killing them after grabbing their money. The swindlers later tell the victims' families that they went abroad. The game was unearthed after Helal Uddin, a man from Bogra's Dupchachia upazila, was caught with a body tamped inside a sack in Natore Wednesday. He confessed to Detective Branch (DB) police that he is a member of an organised gang who look for potential foreign-job seekers. Headquartered in Bogra, he said their gang has set up a network across the northern districts. The gang members, he said, rent home in neighbouring districts, bring their victims there and kill them after taking their money. Helal, disguised as a madrasa teacher, rented a microbus for going to Bogra. The driver smelt s

Barrister Aminul Haque The action against patrons and godfathers of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahidin, Bangladesh is to start soon. The executions of Six top Jama'atul Mujahidin, Bangladesh (JMB) militants on late Thursday marked the end of the country's firt overtly run militancy campaign that rattled the nation through a series of blasts and suicide bombings in 2005. The axe now turns to its patrons. Ex-BNP post and tele-communication minister Barrister Aminul Haque and Rajshahi district BNP general secretary Shis Mohammad were sued at Bagmara police station in Rajshahi on Friday night for patronising Siddikul Ialam Bangla Bhai’s Jagrata Muslim Janata, Bangladesh (JMJB) in 2004. They who were earlier named by Bangla Bhai as patrons of Jama’atul Mujahidin, Bangladesh were alleged in the case for masterminding JMJB operations in Rajshahi, Naogaon and Natore in 2004 and patronising militants. Other 26 militants were also accused in the case that was filed by JMJ

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi A decision of Rajshahi University (RU) to send 24 rare Bengal treasures from Barendra Research Museum (BRM) to Paris for a 'great global exposure' drew criticism from different quarters. Advocate Ankur Sen served a legal notice on RU authorities yesterday demanding cancellation of the decision within seven days. Sen pleaded that sending the rare treasures of BRM, one of the oldest research museums in the sub-continent, would hamper research work. It will be an irreparable loss to the nation's heritage if those are lost or not returned, it said. A group of 326 RU teachers on Sunday submitted a memorandum to RU Vice-chancellor to press the same demand. The precious archeological assets might not be returned they apprehended in the memorandum. The BRM is run by Rajshahi University. Signatories to the memorandum included senior professors like Muhammad Shafi, Shafikunnabi Samadi, Abdus Sobhan, Mizan Uddin, Dr AHM Zehadul Karim, Moloy Kumer Bhoumik and Faku

Anwar Ali, Rajshahi Thousands of Santal aborigines of Rajshahi and surrounding areas became enthusiastic in festivals drawing attention to their old and rich culture. Three-day Baha (flower) festival began at remote Sundorpur village of Kakonhat in Godagari upazila on Tuesday. A day before two-day Karam festival ended in Godagari upazila. They took ‘My Culture My Identity’ as main slogan to give new dimensions to the festivals and demanded ensuring fundamental rights of living, education and land. Eminent literature Prof Hasan Azizul Haque formally inaugurated Baha festival of welcoming Santal New Year in evening as chief guest. In his speech, he called upon aborigines to struggle for safeguarding their own culture and heritage. “There are close relations between Bangali and Adibashi cultures. But economic freedom is essential for enjoying same status” Prof Mesbah Kamal of Dhaka University and Prof Moloy Kumar Bhoumik of Rajshahi University attended as special guests. Santal Pargana le