Himu's Window

Thursday, October 15, 2009 Patients at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) are served less than half of the prescribed quantity of fish with meal. The staggering information was revealed as a mobile court conducted a drive at the hospital canteen on Tuesday night. Raiding the kitchen at dinner time, the mobile court found each piece of fish, ready for serving the patients, weighed around 30 gram whereas a patient is entitled to get 80-gram fish as per official order. Executive Magistrate Zahid Hossain Siddik, who led the drive, fined Abdul Mannan, a supervisor of the kitchen, Tk 10,000 for supplying lower amount of fish dishes to the patients. The drive was conducted under the joint initiative of the district administration, Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) and Consumers Association of Bangladesh. Supply of low quality meal has become a usual matter and the food often stinks, RMCH patients told the court. A deputy director of RMCH, who accompanie

Saturday, October 10, 2009 A team of Special Branch (SB) of police arrested seven members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from four districts of Rajshahi division over the last couple of days. All the arrestees were paraded before the media at Rajshahi Metropolitan Police headquarters yesterday morning. However, journalists were not allowed to talk to the arrested militants. Police identified the arrestees as JMB Rajshahi division chief Ashraf alias Haider, 32, JMB ehsar (full-time) members Md Momtaz, 20, Asadul Islam, 30, Rohidul, 35, and Isarul Islam, 22 and Naogaon district chief Abdur Rahim, 30, and Natore district chief Sahabuddin, 35. Ashraf was arrested from Malda Colony in Rajshahi city on Wednesday night and following his statement police arrested JMB ehsar members Asadul Islam and Isarul from Chapainawabganj the next day. The SB team arrested Abdur Rahim and Momtaz from Atrai upazila. The same day Shahabuddin and Rohidul were rounded up

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Fertiliser distribution in the northern region is being delayed by at least two weeks as the government move to recruit retailers at grassroots level has been largely marred by alleged politicisation of the process and various irregularities. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said the distribution could not be started on October 1 as scheduled earlier. The last date for completing recruitment of 10,629 retailers under 1,600 fertiliser dealers appointed by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) in 85 municipalities and 1096 unions in 16 northern districts expired on September 30. The sources said distribution of fertiliser is unlikely to begin before the third week of this month. This would adversely affect production of Rabi crops in the coming season, farmers fear. Braja Hari Das, DAE deputy director at Rajshahi, said the government adopted the new policy of distributing fertiliser at grassroots level by appointing

Saturday, October 3, 2009 Freed on bail, Asadullah Al Galib, chief of the militant outfit Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab), is still engaged in spreading militancy and spending money from unknown sources. The Ahab men, mostly divided, with no visible sources of income, are providing monthly salaries to some madrasa teachers for organisational activities. This was alleged by leaders of Jamaat-e Ahle Hadith (Jah), an Ahab splinter group and the authorities of Al Markajul Islami As-Salafi Madrassa, in a joint press conference in the city yesterday. The press conference was addressed by Rejaul Karim, secretary general of Jah and a teacher of Bogra Azizul Haque College, and Abdus Samad Salafi, superintendent and principal of the madrasa. Galib was arrested in February 2005 as many arrested JMB militants named him as their spiritual leader, and he was implicated in nine cases. However, Galib was bailed out from jail in September 2008. Abdus Samad Salafi alleged that Ga

Saturday, September 19, 2009   Wealthy leader took lease of govt plot meant for landless An Awami League leader of Bagmara, who possesses two small industries and ancestral property, managed to get lease of a piece of government land (Khas land), depriving the genuine landless people. Abdur Razzak, AL general secretary of Goalkandi union, obtained lease of a five-decimal plot of land for 99 years claiming himself landless and now constructing a two-storey building on it flouting the lease contract. Locals said Razzak has long been trying to grab the land by living in a temporary house there. After Awami League came to power, he applied for a lease of the land. The district administration approved his prayer last May following recommendations of the Upazila Committee for leasing khas lands, headed by the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO). At one corner of the land, bicycle mechanic Govinda runs his workshop. But he has lately been under tremendous pressure to leave the

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 An otter (udbiral) was electrocuted inside its cage at Rajshahi Central Zoo yesterday due to alleged negligence of the zoo authorities. The 13-year-old male otter died instantly as it came in touch with a falling power-line. Its body was taken out from the cage an hour later, zoo sources said. "The loosened electrical line fell over the cage at around 9:30am when crows sat on the line, and the otter was trying to chew it," said Farhad Uddin, veterinary surgeon of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) that operates the zoo. M Sadekul Islam, an RCC official and in-charge of the zoo, acknowledged that RCC's electricity department is responsible for the incident as they draw line from the main source without any concern for the safety of animals as well as visitors. The otter was buried behind the zoo control room at 12:00noon after its autopsy, he said. The female partner of the otter perhaps could not recover from the shock of this tragic incident an

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Over a thousand members of the indigenous Mahali community observed Jitia Parbon (a Mahali festival) at Baganpara village under Godagari upazila last Saturday amidst much fanfare. Mahali children, women, and men from some 18 villages of Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainwabganj participated in the daylong festival that started from midnight. The remote Baganpara village reverberated with life as groups of Mahalis danced with the beats of dhol, madol and other traditional instruments. The festival formally started with a prayer for the well being of the country. Although the festival is considered to be the biggest social event of the Mahali community, it was not observed for about half a century until the celebration resumed last year. "Mahalis withdrew from celebrating the festival since many of them converted to Christianity. But now, we find our existence as Mahalis is at stake and this festival is part of our identity," said Zakar