Himu's Window

Saturday, December 26, 2009 Declining groundwater hits irrigation The drought that hit aman production in the Barind region this season is likely to affect the forthcoming boro too. The anxiety deepens as the irrigation machines cannot pump up water properly due to drop in the underground water level in the Barind tract under Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts. Against this backdrop, Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has started recommending boro growers to cultivate other crops like wheat, maize and pulses that are relatively less dependant on irrigation. The BMDA also sent notices to its branches in 25 upazilas in the three districts asking them to ensure irrigation of no more than 100 bighas of land with every deep tube-well despite the growers' demand for more. "We are urging farmers to divert to other crops that hardly need irrigation with an aim to reduce pressure on the deep tube-wells," said BMDA Executive Director Ab

Saturday, December 26, 2009   "And the winner is ...Konal," TV presenter Farzana Brownia dramatically announced at end of the four-hour grand finale of "Channel i Shera Kontho 2009", a musical talent hunt, held at Rajshahi District Stadium on Thursday night. With the announcement, the chilly winter night in the northwestern city warmed up for some moments as 25000 people at the stadium and some 50,000 outside jumped up in joy and fireworks lit the sky. It was a night to remember in Rajshahi. The announcement came as a relief to millions of Bangladeshis at home and abroad glued to the TV screen, waiting for the result. Somnur Monir Konal from Dhaka won the title, while Chaitee Mutsuddi Liza and the youngest finalist Moumita Tasrin Nadiraj won the first and second runner-up positions respectively. Konal received a cheque worth Tk eight lakh, while Chaitee got Tk five lakh and Nadiraj got Tk three lakh. They also received monetary and other gifts f

Friday, December 25, 2009 Different quarters yesterday demanded reinvestigation into the killing of Rajshahi University teacher Prof Muhammad Yunus while the trial process of the case against eight JMB militants is at final sage at Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal. The tribunal fixed December 31 for holding argument between the lawyers of both sides on completion of recording statements of 26 prosecution witnesses and examining the accused on Wednesday. "After the argument, the tribunal will fix the date for delivering the verdict in the case", said Public Prosecutor Entajul Haque Babu. Teachers and students of RU economics department demanded reinvestigation into Prof Yunus murder case while observing his fifth death anniversary on the campus yesterday. Hundreds of students and teachers of the department brought out a silent procession on the campus at around 11:00am and held a rally in front of the department. Addressing the rally, Prof M Moazzem Hossain Kh

Friday, December 18, 2009 Ritwik Kumar Ghatak, the Bengali master filmmaker was born in Dhaka on November 4, 1925 and stayed in Rajshahi for several years. He and his family moved to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in West Bengal in the 1940s. Partition (1947) had a major impact on Ghatak and is a recurring subject in his works. Ghatak's films are now celebrated in India and beyond. His stature among Bengali film directors is comparable to that of Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen. Nevertheless, he is rarely remembered ceremonially in Bangladesh. Starting from yesterday, Rajshahi Film Society has begun a three-day Ritwik Ghatak Film Festival at Rajshahi Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital at Ghoramara. Ghatak used to stay in the house that was later turned into the medical college. "Our aim is to celebrate the life and works of Ghatak who maintained a bond between Bangladesh and West Bengal," said Dr FMA Zahid, convenor of the film society. Eminent litterateur Ha

Friday, December 18, 2009 The nation as a whole had the final victory on December 16 in 1971 but the people of Rajshahi and Pabna had to wait for two more days to have the taste of freedom as the Pakistani occupation troops were desperately holding on a few camps there. On the night of December 17 and early December 18, Pakistani forces fled to Natore from Shahid Shamsuzzoha Hall of Rajshahi University, their last camp in Rajshahi, reports our staff correspondent from Rajshahi. Local people rescued a number of injured people including many tortured and abused women from the hall. The Pakistani forces surrendered to the allied forces in Natore on December 20. Sporadic clashes between the local people and Pakistani forces started in early March of 1971. On March 28, Pak forces killed a number of policemen at Rajshahi Police Lines for their refusal to surrender arms. As the freedom fighters under leadership of the then Captain Giasuddin Chowdhury and Captain Rashid sta

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Farmers in Chapainawa-bganj earned an additional Tk 15 lakh last fiscal year simply by changing their product packing system. Farmers now use plastic crates instead of traditional straw-cushioned bamboo baskets covered with jute sacks. The plastic crates help farmers cut losses. In fiscal 2007-08, the growers packed around 205 tonnes of fruits for sale. But they had to throw away around 10 tonnes, as those were rotten due to the poor traditional packing system, said an official of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The crates were provided by USAID under its project Poverty Reduction by Increasing the Competitiveness of Enterprises. But the farmers were able to sell all of their 250 tonnes of fruits in fiscal 2008-09 thanks to plastic crates, the official added. In each plastic crate, 25 kilogram of mangoes can be packed. The traditional baskets are costlier than the new ones but not suitable for sending the fr

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 In a sequel to heists in five public offices in Rajshahi and Natore over last two nights, criminals ransacked another government office at Sutrapur in Bogra town on Sunday night and stabbed its night guard to death. Meanwhile, the government sent alerts to all district and upazila administration offices and law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant. Police and officials concerned in Bogra told our staff correspondent that a gang forced their way into the public works department (PWD) office, sometime on Sunday night, and stabbed night guard Jamaluddin, 35, to death and tied up another guard Abu Taleb. They also ransacked 33 almirahs in 14 rooms of the office. Earlier on Friday and Saturday nights, criminals also ransacked five government offices in Rajshahi and Natore, including Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner's office after tying up their night guards. Police of the three districts could not ascertain the motives behind the robbers

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Family members of several Liberation War martyrs have demanded steps for protection and proper maintenance of Babla Bon mass grave site in Rajshahi city so that people can pay homage to the great sons of the soil, who were buried there. The Pakistani army with the help of their local collaborators picked up 17 people including intellectuals and politicians from their houses on the night of November 25 in 1971. Their bodies were found after local people discovered the mass grave near Boalia Club in the city on December 30. Bodies of the 17 martyrs including Prof Mir Abdul Quayyum of Rajshahi University, Nawrose-ud-Doula Khan, Taslim Uddin, Abul Hossain, Alauddin, Taiyab Ali, Mirja Sultan, Azizul Haque Chowdhury and Aminul Haque Chowdhury were dumped at the site. "I can still remember the day well when I went to the grave site riding a bicycle in the morning of December 30, 1971. I could identify my father's body by seeing the ring on

Monday, December 14, 2009 In mysterious incidents of a series of heists, criminals ransacked three more government offices in Natore early yesterday, just a day after similar incidents of robberies at two other public offices in Rajshahi. Tying up four on-duty night guards, the gang swooped on Natore District Secondary Education Office, Natore Technical School and College at Madrasa crossing and a warehouse of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) at Kanaikhali in the town in between Saturday midnight and 2:00am yesterday. They also ransacked nine rooms of these government establishments. Officials concerned and police could not trace any clues to the incidents as nothing went missing from the offices except Tk 40,000 in cash from the technical school and college. Similarly, criminals broke into the offices of the Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner and LGED early Saturday and ransacked a total of 32 rooms. The officials concerned said nothing was missing

Sunday, December 13, 2009 Criminals broke into the offices of Rajshahi divisional commissioner and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in the city's Srirampur area early yesterday and ransacked 32 rooms of the two adjacent buildings. The gang tied up the on-duty night guard and confined him to the mosque on the ground floor of the three-storey LGED building and ransacked 20 rooms while other night guards were asleep during the incident. Police rescued the night guard, Khalilur Rahman, from the mosque at around 8:00am. Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Nawsher Ali visited the scenes and told reporters that the criminals entered the rooms of the two building sometime between 3:00am and 4:00am. He declined to give details for the sake of investigation. According to sources, criminals broke into the divisional commissioner's office by breaking open the main collapsible gate. They broke door locks of 12 rooms on the ground, first and second floors

Friday, December 11, 2009 Young one of gharial, one of the most critically endangered crocodilians on the globe and a near extinct species in Bangladesh, was captured from River Padma in Rajshahi on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a new fishing cat was brought to the Rajshahi Zoo recently after Atghoria Upazila Nirbahi Officer rescued the animal that was caught and injured by villagers. After fishermen netted the two and a half feet-long baby gharial from Gohomabona under Godagari upazila on Wednesday morning, local youths Arifuzzaman and Ismail took it and handed over to Rajshahi Zoo, said Forhad Uddin, veterinary surgeon of the zoo. "It is too early to understand the baby gharial's gender. Male gharials have a knot on their snouts, and the knot develops in one year. It is being fed dead fishes as per food chart prescribed by Dhaka Zoo," he said. The creature is feigning dead in human presence, and seldom wandering in water as it is kept in the cage of tortoise, s

Tuesday, December 8, 2009    America Week opens in Rajshahi A three-day 'America Week', featuring activities of the US embassy and US agencies in Bangladesh begins in Rajshahi today. According to government officials, Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister GM Quader is likely to inaugurate the colourful programme that will continue until December 10 at Parjatan Motel. On the inaugural day, US Ambassador to Bangladesh James F Moriarty will visit Martyrs' Memorial Archive at Rajshahi University and take part in a discussion with students on education in America and visa procedures, said RU sources. Youths in Rajshahi showed enthusiasm about the programme as many of them yesterday visited the Parjatan Motel. Following a tradition of past America week, people could visit more than 40 booths run by the US embassy, USAID and its development partners and some US business houses. In a press conference in November, Cultural Affairs Officer of the US embassy in

Monday, December 7, 2009 Passengers halted an intercity train for three hours at Panchbibi station in Joypurhat yesterday protesting carrying of smuggled goods in trains and alleged harassment by border troops in the name of raids. Hundreds of passengers got down from Barendra Express that runs between Nilphamari and Rajshahi when it arrived at Panchbibi station at around 10:00am and staged demonstration for three hours until 1:00pm. They sat on the rail track just in front of the locomotive of the express train and held a rally, said sources in the headquarters of Bangladesh Railway's west zone in Rajshahi. The agitators said the smugglers were carrying Indian fertiliser at different compartments of Barendra Express since it started from Nilphamari. Half an hour before the train reached Panchbibi, some members of Bangladesh Rifles challenged the smugglers, they said. At this stage, the smugglers spread the fertiliser inside the compartments by cutting sacks and t

Thursday, November 26, 2009 Ahle Hadith man held Detective Branch (DB) of police yesterday arrested the secretary general of Jamaat-e-Ahle Hadith, suspecting his hand in giving death threat to Attorney General Mahbubey Alam. Md Rezaul Karim, also a teacher of Bogra Government Azizul Haque College, was shown arrested under Section 54 and produced in Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, seeking a 10-day remand. Judge Ruhul Amin granted seven days' remand for Jamaat-e-Ahle Hadith leader. Talking to The Daily Star, Mahfuzur Rahman, Assistant Commissioner of DB of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said a copy of the handwritten letter conveying the death threat to the attorney general was also posted to a local daily. "We took samples of Rejaul's handwriting and sent those to CID's handwriting experts two days ago. The experts verbally confirmed us that the samples matched", said Rahman. Police claimed they arrested Rejaul on secret info

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral

Friday, January 1, 2010 Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader Emdadul Haque was sent to jail after he was hauled before a court yesterday on charges of beating up a Rajshahi University teacher and attempting to extort an admission seeker. The First Court of Metropolitan Magistrate Amirul Islam also rejected his bail prayer in connection with the case filed by the assaulted folklore department teacher Anupam Hera Mondol. Meanwhile, the RU unit BCL suspended membership of Haque, mass education affairs deputy secretary of the university unit. They also wrote to the central committee for his expulsion terming the attack on a teacher a heinous crime, said Ibrahim Hossain Moon, president of RU unit BCL. Both police and RU BCL leaders say Suman, another accused in the case, could not be properly identified as his father's name and hometown remained unknown. RU Proctor Prof Chowdhury Zakaria, meanwhile, served Haque with a show-cause notice asking him to clarify in seven

Wednesday, December 30, 2 The five and a half hour cultural evening at Rajshahi Bholanath Bisheswar Hindu Academy was abuzz with nearly 2,000 of former and present students of the 111-year old school and almost all were immersed in nostalgia. Although performances by noted vocal artiste Rafiqul Alam and composer Anup Bhattacharya, who were students of the school in the '50s, were the main attraction, presentations of current students like Pial, Sangeeta Pal and Mousumi seemed no less important to the cheerful audience. The academy organised the cultural evening, to celebrate its 111 years of glory and heritage at the school premises. Beginning at 6pm, the programme ended at 11:30pm on December 26. The evening began with "Karna Kunti Sangbad" where young student Mousumi Moitra played the role of Kunti and Shukhen Mukhopadhyay performed as Karna. Former student Tarun Kumar Das, a disciple of Pundit Raghunath Das, and music director of Rajshahi Betar enthral

Friday, November 27, 2009 Police yesterday shifted a detained Awami League leader arrested on charges of mugging and demanding toll to hospital apparently to release him in the face of pressures by the ruling party men. Mahbubur Rahman, acting AL general secretary of Godagari upazila, was arrested along with his son Rajesh at his home in connection with a mugging case in the early hours yesterday. Mahbub was admitted to Police Hospital around 5:00pm, while Rajesh was hauled before a court that sent him to jail, said police and court sources. "Mahbub was admitted to the hospital as his health deteriorated. But we sent Rajesh to the court," confirmed Abdul Kuddus Chowdhury, additional superintendent of police. "We will decide about him after he recovers," Chowdhury added. AL leaders including Jubo League President Asaduzzaman were putting pressure on the police for his release since 12noon, sources say. At around 3:00pm, the AL leaders along with

Read The Daily Star special supplement recollecting the gruesome events of Bangabandhu Murder, the related conspiracies, and the roles of some prominent actors.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 Several lawyers including the president and the general secretary of Rajshahi Bar Association were assaulted as two groups of lawyers scuffled during the association's general meeting at the hall room of first Bar Bhaban in the city yesterday noon. The general meeting, called over discussion on recent resignation of 11 members of the executive committee of the association, was postponed as some lawyers chased each other and damaged chairs and tables at the meeting venue. The 11 lawyers, including a vice president and six secretaries of the association, resigned on October 31 protesting corruptions and forgery involving Tk 26 lakh allegedly by association President Mohammad Yahia and General Secretary Lokman Ali. The unwanted situation ensued at around 2:45pm when Entajul Haque Babu, a public prosecutor and member secretary of Rajshahi Ainjibi Oikya Parishad, was delivering speech at the meeting. He demanded that the association committee

Wednesday, November 18, 2009   The councils of BNP Rajshahi city and district units have now become uncertain as intra-party feuds deepened further yesterday. Leaders and activists loyal to former state minister Kabir Hossain and former lawmaker Nadim Mostafa staged demonstration in the city yesterday against BNP's Organising Secretary Mizanur Rahman Minu who, they said, arbitrarily formed committees at different upazilas, wards and municipalities without following the party constitution. They urged the high command to save the party from the clutches of Mizanur Rahman Minu. Minu refuted the allegations, saying the protesters are young in politics. "We will be able to reach a consensus before the councils," he said. In the protest meeting at Shaheb Bazar zero point, district BNP joint conveners Delwar Hossain and Motiur Rahman alleged that at least 1,000 BNP leaders and workers could not be enrolled as members of the city unit as membership forms were

Saturday, November 14, 2009 Boalia police released a businessman after two and a half hours of the arrest as hundreds of cloth traders laid siege to the police station protesting "unfair arrest" Thursday night. Police said, a team of Detective Branch (DB) and Malopara police arrested Shamim Ahmed, owner of Alam Cloth Store, around 8:00pm on recovering 50 grams of heroin from his motorcycle parked outside the shop. Shamim was released around 11:00pm upon an undertaking by Rajshahi city's Panel Mayor Shariful Islam Babu in the face of the protest. The agitating traders alleged that some policemen or hired goons hid the heroin in Shamim's bike to satisfy a grudge as he denied a policeman 'Eid gifts.' Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Sarder Nurul Amin said, "We released Shamim sensing a conspiracy as claimed by the traders." He formed a two-member probe team led by assistant commissioner of DB Tariqul Islam to look i

Lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha yesterday called on all to resist conspiracies against the government steps to restore the constitution of 1972 as well as to start the trial of war criminals. He said the government steps are underway for reestablishing the four basic principles of the constitution of 1972 as Bangladesh's birth was based on the ideals. Badsha, also a politburo member of Workers' Party of Bangladesh, said as per its election pledge, the government is also going to try the war criminals as trial is the only way to console the souls of 30 lakh martyrs of the liberation war and innumerable families who were victimised during the war. "But the anti-liberation forces of BNP-Jamaat, who were in power for a maximum period since the independence through killings and conspiracies, are still hatching deep-rooted plots to destabilise the process of peace and humanity since their defeat in the December 29 elections." "Although the Awami League (AL

Monday, November 2, 2009   Adulterated fertilisers have flooded the markets of Rajshahi and its adjoining districts just before the cultivation of Rabi crops, much to the concern among the growers. Spurious fertilisers are being made secretly at houses and underground factories in different upazilas of the district, said police and officials. A section of dishonest fertiliser dealers of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) are also allegedly engaged in selling spurious fertilisers. A group of unscrupulous traders are manufacturing fertilisers rampantly in many houses of Nandangachhi, Shimulia, Baidyanathtala, Faridpur, Gobindapur and Barkatpur villages of Charghat upazila, locals said. They are selling triple super phosphate (TSP), di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) by mixing smuggled Indian fertilisers with local ones while muriate of potash (MoP) by mixing sand or salt with brick dust and colours, said a number of farmers. Against this backdrop, the Agricult

Sunday, November 1, 2009 Students of Rajshahi Government College enforced a wildcat strike on the campus yesterday demanding cancellation of the transfer order of Principal Dr Ali Reja Muhammad Abdul Mazid. The students under the banner of Students' Movement Council (Chhatra-Chhatri Sangram Parishad) observed a token hunger strike from 8:00am to 1:00pm after putting the administrative building under lock and key. They also locked the main gate of the college and barred the teachers, staff and students from entering different departments and holding classes and examinations. Several students said Principal Abdul Mazid has created a congenial academic atmosphere on the campus and undertook different development activities during the 15 months of his tenure. "We will go for indefinite strike if the transfer order is not cancelled immediately," said Md Badsha Alam, the first joint convenor of the Students Movement Council. Alam, also joint convenor of the col

Sunday, November 1, 2009   Eleven executives of Rajshahi Bar Association yesterday resigned protesting alleged corruption by association's president and general secretary. They are vice-president AKM Mizanur Rahman, third joint secretary Habibur Rahman, audit secretary Shamsul Haque, Library secretary Mahmudur Rahman, press and information secretary Masud Sarder, accounts secretary Nazmul Haque Mintu, magazine and cultural secretary Rajab Ali and members Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Parvez Towfik Zahedi, Aftabur Rahman and SM Mofazzal Haque. The announcement of en masse resignation came from a press conference at Rajshahi Metropolitan Press Club at noon. Some 50 other senior lawyers under the banner of 'Rajshahi Ainjibi Oikya Parishad' were present at the press conference. The lawyers alleged that Bar Association President Muhammad Yahiya and General Secretary Lokman Ali were engaged in distributing forged vokalatnama (power of attorney) among the lawyers and

Sunday, November 1, 2009   Eleven executives of Rajshahi Bar Association yesterday resigned protesting alleged corruption by association's president and general secretary. They are vice-president AKM Mizanur Rahman, third joint secretary Habibur Rahman, audit secretary Shamsul Haque, Library secretary Mahmudur Rahman, press and information secretary Masud Sarder, accounts secretary Nazmul Haque Mintu, magazine and cultural secretary Rajab Ali and members Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Parvez Towfik Zahedi, Aftabur Rahman and SM Mofazzal Haque. The announcement of en masse resignation came from a press conference at Rajshahi Metropolitan Press Club at noon. Some 50 other senior lawyers under the banner of 'Rajshahi Ainjibi Oikya Parishad' were present at the press conference. The lawyers alleged that Bar Association President Muhammad Yahiya and General Secretary Lokman Ali were engaged in distributing forged vokalatnama (power of attorney) among the lawyers and

Friday, October 23, 2009   Uncle of a victim in Rajshahi sued 56 JMB men on charge of killing his nephew while a Khagrachhari court sent a suspected militant of the outfit to jail rejecting his bail prayer yesterday. A case was lodged with a Rajshahi court yesterday accusing 56 JMB militants of murdering Abu Taleb and dumping his body to an unknown place in 2004. Taleb's uncle Amjad Hossain filed the case and the court directed the officer in-charge (OC) of Bagmara to take legal steps in this regard. The accused include two alleged JMB advisers in Bagmara -- Abdus Sattar BSc of Sakoa and Lutfar Rahman of Majhgram -- and the outfit's area commanders Mostafizur Rahman alias 'Killer' Mostak and Mamun Muhuri of Polash. Goalkandi Union Parishad (UP) Jamaat ameer Abdul Majid Khan and his son Anwar Hossain, a Shibir adherent at Rajshahi University are also among the accused. Amjad Hossain alleged that the accused kidnapped Abu Taleb from his home at Sajuria

Monday, October 19, 2009 Twelve councillors of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), including seven from the BNP, have joined the ruling Awami League with a pledge to 'accelerate development of the city'. With their joining the AL on Saturday night, now 22 of the total 30 councillors of the RCC belong to the ruling party. The councillors include panel mayor Shariful Islam Babu, once a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), and four women councillors -- Farzana Haque, Sufia Islam, Kohinur Chowdhury and Anwara Begum. Seven others Meraj Uddin, Siraj Uddin Ahmed Manik, Abul Hasnat, Nizam-ul Azim, Zahangir Alam Alamgir, Akbar Hossain and Zaher Hossain Suja had been adherents of BNP. Earlier on October 12, RCC councillor Rabiul Islam Toju joined the AL along with over a hundred of his followers. Rajshahi mayor and AL leader AHM Khairuzzaman Liton greeted them at a function held at Bhubon Mohon Park in the city where the councillors presented floral wreathes t