Himu's Window

English in Schools (EIS), a joint initiative by The Daily Star and AKTEL, is a very positive and timely initiative; it will open up a new horizon for English learners, said educationists yesterday. This will help students know the world better and face the present global challenges, they observed at an EIS orientation session for schoolteachers. At least 250 teachers from 118 secondary schools in Rajshahi from eight districts - Joypurhat, Bogra, Pabna, Sirajganj, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Natore and Rajshahi participated in the event at Nanking Darbar Hall in the city yesterday. Under the EIS, around 1,000 schools across the country will get three copies of The Daily Star each five days a week for free. The distribution already began in 479 schools in Dhaka, Mymensingh, Comilla and Rajshahi zones. More schools in Barishal zone will be brought under the programme on July 4. The Daily Star will bring out an extra page featuring helpful materials and discussions every week to help student...

Saturday, June 20, 2009 Editorial Eviction of indigenous people There must be zero tolerance for this kind of action The news out of Khatirpur at Porsha in Naogaon, where over 50 indigenous families have been attacked and forcibly evicted from their land, shocks us all. We unequivocally condemn this barbarous act, and strongly urge the government to take remedial action. The victimisation of Bangladesh's indigenous populations is, unfortunately, not a new phenomenon. We feel that the government has a special responsibility to protect the country's minority communities and to ensure that none of their rights are violated. It is because of their being in a minority, being out of the mainstream of society that land-grabbers and other criminal elements feel emboldened to cheat them or deny them of their rights. Powerful members of the majority community calculate that no one will lift a finger to help such marginalised people, and that they can thus be targeted with impunity. The ...

A government probe team detected that former agriculture minister Matiur Rahman Nizami was behind misuse, waste and misappropriation of at least Tk 35 crore of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) during the four-party alliance rule. The team also found that Tk 81.27 crore more of BMDA was wasted, misused or embezzled during that period. In response, Nizami, who heads Jamaat-e-Islami, a partner of the four-party alliance, told The Daily Star, "I am surprised hearing about the probe report. I am in no way involved in the alleged corruption and misuse, waste and misappropriation of BMDA money. This is a politically-motivated move against me with an intention to defame me." He said he never interfered in BMDA operations when he was a minister from 2001 to May 2003. The BMDA had been run by successive governments and it had no direct link with the minister, he claimed. Headed by Omar Faruk Chowdhury, lawmaker from Rajshahi-1 constituency, the seven-member government t...

Published On: 2009-06-01 Even though this mango trade centre at Baneswar in Rajshahi seems full of mangoes and traders, the hustle and bustle of the place is much less than that of previous years.Photo: STAR 50pc drop in mango output Climate change blamed Mango growers fear 50 percent drop in production this year in Rajshahi region due to irregular weather pattern. Horticulturists attributed the sharp slump in mango production to abnormal variations to the climate that has an adverse affect on the Mother Nature. "Mango yield might drop to around 2.14 lakh tonnes from last year's average 4.28 lakh tonnes", said M Abul Bashar, Rajshahi regional additional director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE). The annual average mango production is about five lakh tonnes from over 45,000 hectares of land in eight districts including the mango capital Chapainwabganj where mango grows on the highest 22,000 hectares of land while it is about 8500 hectares in Rajshahi. The ...

RCC defies rules to favour AL lawmaker Tuesday, May 19, 2009 Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) plans to let an Awami League (AL) lawmaker's real-estate company implement two multi-storeyed commercial building projects worth Tk 150 crore on corporation land. The RCC does not have any rules or regulations that allow private real-estate companies to make commercial developments on RCC land, according to officials concerned. The RCC rules also do not allow it to follow instances or rules of other city corporations under any circumstances, they said. However, RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton has already publicly spoken about awarding the projects to Ena Properties, owned by AL lawmaker Enamul Haque of Rajshahi-4 (Bagmara) constituency, way before any tender in this regard was floated. Ena Properties has been short-listed for the projects during the pre-qualification process. The final tender is yet to be floated. The RCC decided to sign contract with the "tender winni...

Monday, May 18, 2009 Rajshahi Theatre has come up with yet another unique production, "The Flag", a short film based on the Liberation War and war crimes. The second screening of the film was held at the Padma Ranga Mancha last Friday. Ahsan Kabir Liton, a promising young playwright and member of Rajshahi Theatre, came up with the concept and directed the 34-minute thought provoking film. The film stands out for no use of dialogue. Background score has been done by Bappa Majumder. Another highlight is that the film does not show the faces of the actors. Actions are denoted by lower parts of the body, especially legs, and hands, and shadows. A few years ago, Rajshahi Theatre drew much acclaim at home and in India for staging its play "Aronney" on a tree. Eminent litterateur Hasan Azizul Haque attended the film screening ceremony as the chief guest. Renowned dramatist and teacher Malay Kumar Bhowmik and Dr. Syed Shafikul Alam, general secretary of Rajshahi Sammilito S...

Published On: 2009-05-16 An Awami League (AL) leader was stabbed to death at Balia under Bagmara upazila yesterday afternoon. Bagmara upazila acting president of AL Mokbul Hossain Mridha blamed armed cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami for the murder. The deceased was identified as Shahadat Ali, 45, a teacher of Jatrapukur Dakhil Madrasa. He was the convener of AL's election conducting committee of Balia during the December 29 polls, Mokbul added. The attackers numbering over 15 waylaid Shahadat at around 4:00pm when he was going to Bhawaniganj bazar with his son Emdadul by a motorcycle, locals and police said. The attackers also clashed with locals who rushed out of their houses to his rescue leaving 20 villagers injured, said locals. Ahad Ali, the victim's elder brother, was also injured in the attack. Later, the angry mob torched the houses of Seher Amin and his sons Shamsul Islam, Amjad, Amser and Ashaful blaming them for the murder. Police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members ru...