Himu's Window

Published on July 15, 2022 Sitting next to lawmaker Omor Faruk Chowdhury, college principal Salim Reza yesterday told reporters that he was not assaulted by the MP on July 7. Omor then asked journalists to give him back the reputation he had lost because of the assault allegations. During the press conference at a packed room in Omor Theme Plaza, a property owned by the MP, the principal of Rajbari Degree College read out a statement. "The allegation against MP Omor Faruk Chowdhury was fabricated to tarnish his image and [reduce his] popularity ahead of the [ruling] party's council on July 15… We, the principals, had an argument and shoved each other. I got minor injuries from falling on furniture," he said. Salim then repeated what Omor said the day before: It was the MP who stopped the fight. Abdul Awal, principal of Matikata College, who also addressed the event, said he and Salim were arguing about something when "I couldn't take a word he uttered during the

Published on July 14, 2022  A Rajshahi MP has allegedly assaulted a college principal at his office last week. Lawmaker Omar Faruk Chowdhury from Rajshahi-1 constituency, however, refutes the allegation. Talking to this correspondent, he claimed some college principals, who met him at his chamber on July 7, got locked into a brawl, and it was he who stopped them. However, Asaduzzaman Asad, former general secretary of Rajshahi District Awami League, said he visited the injured principal of Rajbari Degree College, Salim Reza, at his home on Monday and saw bruises on different parts of his body. He added that the lawmaker was giving the ruling party a bad name. Meanwhile, the National University yesterday formed a committee to investigate the allegation. Molla Mahfuz Al-Hossain, registrar of National University, is the convener of the three-member committee, which was asked to visit the area of the alleged incident as soon as possible. Some people, who are aware of what happened at the

 

Rice yield is likely to dwindle to some extent in eight districts of Rajshahi division during this Boro season due to bad weather during the harvest period, officials and farmers said. Good weather persisted during the sowing and cultivation period, but the storms and rains started partially damaging crops in many areas since the harvest began in mid-April. Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) which warned farmers of more storms till the end of May is also another reason for crop damage in storms. Farmers cannot harvest Boro paddy before the storms as many of them cultivate additional crops before the proper sowing period of Boro paddy. This leads to crop damage, they said. Such as farmers in Rajshahi cultivate potatoes before boro and mustard in the Chalan beel areas covering Natore, Pabna and Sirajganj districts, delaying the boro cultivation, they said. The DAE has recorded a yield of 3.99 tonnes of rice per hectare as they accounted for a harvest of 31 per cent of 8,20,981 h

H Ataur Rahman Akib started fishing when he was four and he was largely focused on his hobby and making baits until 2018. His passion took a new turn in the year when an amateur angler sent Akib Tk 2,000 and asked him to make baits for him. This was the beginning. When demands for his baits rose, he turned his hobby into a full-time commercial business. He did not have to look back since then. Today, Akib, who hails from Rajshahi, has a factory on the premises of his residence in the Thakurmara area in the northern city that manufactures eco-friendly baits for game fishing. In the last four years, baits made by Akib's company, Primitive Fishing by Akib, have gained immense popularity across the country and also beyond borders. The factory produces at least 14 types of baits. All products are sold in various districts in Bangladesh and are exported to India, Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia, and Europe, especially in the UK. In 2019, he began by exporting 100 kilogrammes of baits, and this

সম্প্রতি এক বিকেলে শহরের মোল্লাপাড়ার একটি পুকুরে মাছ ধরছিলেন রাজশাহীর উদ্যোক্তা এইচ আতাউর রহমান আকিব। মাছ ধরার জন্য নিজের কারখানায় তৈরি টোপ ও চার ব্যবহার করছিলেন তিনি। প্রতিবারই বড় বড় মাছ তার ছিপে আটকা পড়ছিল। কিন্তু ধরার সঙ্গে সঙ্গে সব মাছই আবার পুকুরে ছেড়ে দিচ্ছিলেন তিনি। 'মাছ ধরা আমার শখ। এত মাছ আমার প্রয়োজন নেই। বরং আমার টোপ ও চার যে মাছকে বোকা বানাতে পারছে এটা দেখতে পারাতেই আমার সার্থকতা'- বলছিলেন আকিব। গত এপ্রিলে আকিবের সঙ্গে তার অফিসে, মাছ ধরার পুকুর পাড়ে ও কারখানায় বসে কথা হয় এই প্রতিবেদকের। মাছ শিকারের এমন নৈতিক ধারণা পাঁচ বছর আগে দেশে আকিবই আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে প্রথম প্রচার শুরু করেন বলে জানান। তবে সেখানেই তিনি থেমে থাকেননি। শখের বশে তার মাছ ধরার নেশা থেকে নতুন এক পেশার সন্ধানও পেয়েছেন তিনি। রাজশাহী শহরের ঠাকুরমারা এলাকায় তার বাসভবন প্রাঙ্গণে টোপ ও চার তৈরির একটি কারখানা স্থাপন করেছেন। সেখানে প্রচলিত রাসায়নিক ও ক্ষতিকর পদ্ধতির বদলে তিনি বাণিজ্যিকভিত্তিতে পরিবেশবান্ধব টোপ ও চার তৈরি করছেন। ৪ বছরে আকিবের প্রতিষ্ঠান 'প্রিমিটিভ ফিশিং বাই আকিব' এর তৈরি টোপ ও চারের জনপ্রিয়

রাজশাহীর পবা উপজেলায় আমান কোল্ড স্টোরেজে রাখা আলুতে পচন ধরেছে। হিমাগারের শীতলীকরণ যন্ত্রের ত্রুটির কারণে আলু পচে যাওয়ার অভিযোগ তুলে কৃষকরা হিমাগার কর্তৃপক্ষের কাছে ক্ষতিপূরণ দাবি করছেন। হিমাগার কর্তৃপক্ষের হিসাব অনুযায়ী, এখানে ১ লাখ ৬৬ হাজার বস্তা আলু আছে। ৫০ কেজির প্রতি বস্তা আলুর বর্তমান দাম ৬০০ টাকা। সব আলু নষ্ট হয়ে গেলে ক্ষতি হবে প্রায় ১০ কোটি টাকা। কৃষকদের দাবি, সব আলু পচে গেছে। বস্তায় একটা আলু পচে যাওয়া মানে সব আলু নষ্ট হওয়া। এগুলো আর খাওয়ার উপযোগী থাকে না। হিমাগারটিতে এমন পরিস্থিতিই তৈরি হয়েছে। আজ বুধবার সকালে শীতাতপ নিয়ন্ত্রিত গুদাম ঘর থেকে আলুর বস্তা বের করে হিমাগারের ভেতরেই বাতাস দেওয়া হচ্ছিল। তখনই কৃষকরা আলু পচে যাওয়ার কথা জানতে পারেন। ক্ষতিপূরণের দাবিতে তারা হিমাগারের সামনে বিক্ষোভ করতে থাকেন। হিমাগার কর্তৃপক্ষ আগামী ১০ দিনের মধ্যে তাদের ক্ষতিপূরণ দেওয়ার আশ্বাস দেয়। এরপর কৃষকেরা শান্ত হন। বিকেলে হিমাগারে গিয়ে দেখা গেছে, যে বস্তা খোলা হচ্ছে সেখান থেকেই বের হচ্ছে পচা আলু। হিমাগারের সামনে আলু চাষি ও ব্যবসায়ীরা অভিযোগ করেন, হিমাগারের গ্যাস মেশিন খারাপ থাকার পরও আলু তোলা হয়েছে।

What makes "Shokher Hari", (a decorative clay pot made in rural regions) unique is its colours and presentation. It bears testament to Bangalee craftsmanship and the utilitarian purpose of a pot -- making it one of the most unforgettable earthenwares in our region. However, this craft, popularly made in Rajshahi, and a symbol of art and culture -- is ceasing to exist due to a lack of support. Sushanta Kumar Paul (62), award-winning maestro of artisanal pottery from Bashantapur, Rajshahi, and his family members are considered to be the last potters in the country who have been preserving the craft. But at present, many of Paul's family members have started engaging in agriculture alongside pottery for survival. During a recent visit to Sushanta's residence at Basantapur village in Paba upazila, this correspondent saw rooms of his house filled with newly harvested onions. He said they never engaged in agriculture before, but began cultivating crops to survive the pandem

রাজশাহীতে পদ্মা নদীর পাড়ে তিন কিলোমিটার হেঁটেছি। পথের ধারের অভিজ্ঞতাগুলো বিভিন্ন পর্বে ভাগ করে আপনাদের সামনে তুলে ধরছি। রাজশাহী বোয়ালিয়া ক্লাব থেকে শুরু করে পদ্মা নদীর বাঁধের উপর দিয়ে সিমলা পার্ক, সিএন্ডবি মোড়, চিড়িয়াখানা হয়ে রাজশাহী টেনিস ক্লাব, এই তিন কিলোমিটার। দেখুন জীবনবৈচিত্র আর ঐতিহ্যের মাঝে আমার ভ্রমণ।

  The deep tube-well of Issoripur village in Godagari upazila. Amid lax monitoring by the authorities, many deep tube-well operators have been depriving small farmers in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon of their fair share of water for irrigation. Those operators delay releasing water from their pumps, which leads to frequent crop loss for the farmers. Thrown in a situation they simply cannot cope with, the farmers are then forced into selling their land or leasing out land to others. Many of them leave farming for good and become day labourers to survive. In many cases, the tube-well operators, who have money and political connections, buy those land or take them on lease to grow their own crops, The Daily Star has learnt after talking to several such farmers as well as experts and development activists in the Barind region. On the other hand, the well-off farmers, who pay the operators extra money, are supplied with the irrigation water on time, they also said. On Wednesday, two

Robi Mardi Another farmer who drank pesticide in Godagari upazila on Wednesday died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital last night. Robi Mardi, 27, son of Goyanath Mardi of Nimghutu village in Godagari, had been hospitalised since Wednesday night, hospital employees said. Robi's cousin Abhinath Mardi, 36, died at his home in the same village on Wednesday night after also drinking pesticide. Both men belong to the Santal community. Abhinath Mardi On Thursday, after police recovered Abhinath's body from his home, Additional SP Iftekhayer Alam of Rajshahi said in primary probe police found that the two had drunk the pesticide for not getting water for their farmland. Locals had said Abhinath and Robi badly needed irrigation water and were being ignored by Shakhawat Hossain, the operator of the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority's (BMDA's) deep tube-well in Ishwaripur village, for over two weeks. On Wednesday afternoon, they took pesticides with them and visited Sha

A farmer in Rajshahi's Godagari upazila died on Wednesday after he and his cousin drank pesticide, police said. In primary probe police found that the two had drunk the pesticide for not getting water for their farmland, said Additional SP Iftekhayer Alam of Rajshahi, adding that the matter was still under investigation and that police have recorded an unnatural death case. Both men belong to the Santal community. Abhinath Mardi, 36, died at his home the day after he took the pesticide, said Kamrul Islam, officer-in-charge of Godagari Police Station. The deceased's cousin, Robi Mardi, 27, is undergoing treatment at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, the OC added. Police recovered Abhinath's body from his home yesterday morning and sent it to RMCH for autopsy. According to police, eye-witnesses and locals, the two cousins drank the pesticide near a deep tube-well of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) at Ishwaripur village of the same union around 5:30pm. H