Himu's Window

Vaishnavs of ISKCON render "Naam Sangkirtan" at the festival. Photo: STAR “Some render 'kirtan', some are immersed in 'puja', what links them all is their devotion to Lord Gaurango,” said Ramesh Chandra Das at Kheturi Dham. A Krishna devotee, Ramesh recounted his pilgrimage from Narayanganj to Kheturi Dham at Premtali -- some 20 kilometers off to the west of Rajshahi city. He was humming a 'kirtan' of Nazrul, “Hey Gobinda rakho choroney.” Like him, thousands of Vaishnavs and Hindus from different areas gathered at the three-day Kheturi Vaishnav Festival recently. Many of the Vaishnavs arrived from far-flung districts like Chittagong. Joining them were foreign delegates from India, Italy, Australia and Canada who are members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) joined in. This festival has been observed for 436 years. The festival marks the death anniversary of the renowned Vaishnav saint Sri Narottam Das Thakur (on the f

RMP gets list from police headquarters for vigilance and action to hold peaceful election   Police have prepared a list of 36 terror-suspects including some ward councilors and politicians in Rajshahi city as they might pose threats to holding of the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections peacefully. The police headquarters prepared the list following field level intelligence reports and sent it to Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) for keeping vigilance on them, highly placed sources in RMP said. According to the sources, the list includes names of six newly elected ward councilors of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), three former ward councilors and five persons belonging to Awami League (AL) and BNP. The listed persons might hamper the JS elections by abetting use of illegal arms, musclemen and money, the sources said quoting the intelligence reports and analysis of their previous criminal records. The police headquarters have directed RMP authorities to take legal action

Published On: 2008-10-24 Front Page Around 42 large trees on the eastern side of Mohiuddin Jahangir Sarani are being chopped down after Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) authority sold those for a meagre price of Tk 1.98 lakh to make way for construction of a sewerage drain. According to RCC sources, the trees are 10 to 20 years old and include Mahogani, Koroi, Paikor, Babla and Epil Epil trees, which generally fetch a good price in the market for their timber value.   Environmental activists say the felling of the trees would hamper the ecology of the northwestern city generally known as Green City and that such a move should not be allowed. Locals allege that the price quoted by RCC is peanuts compared to their real market value. A private organisation, Modina Printing and Packaging, purchased the trees and begun felling the trees yesterday morning and seven trees were chopped down by the afternoon, witnesses said. Some branches of the felled trees were piled up for s

Published On: 2008-10-23   Lofty promises made violating election code   The day-long opening ceremony of Saleha Emarat Medical Centre at Sakoa village in Bagmara upazila yesterday virtually turned into a political campaign to woo public support for Awami League's nomination for industrialist Enamul Haque.   In sheer violation of the electoral code of conducts for probable candidates in the upcoming general elections, ambitious promises were made from the meeting while almost all the speakers remained focused on seeking nomination for Enamul.   "I have a plan to turn this medical centre into a medical college hospital, I will establish more medical centres spending Tk 60 crore… I want to serve the people of my locality.   "Please help me to create the opportunity for serving you," Enamul told the gathering, categorically seeking support for his candidacy. The election code of conduct prohibits such promises of development projects or giving allo