The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Chitagong

Rapid Action Batalion (RAB) and Chitagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) have taken tight security measures at all the Eid shopping malls in port city for the convenience of shoppers.

Officials in the CMP said, a total of 2120 police and Ansar personnel comprised of 204 teams have been deployed at 188 important places and 81 shopping markets across the port city since the beginning of holy month Ramadan.

Besides, the CMP authority will also deploy more police personnel ahead of the Eid and Durgapuja. CMP authority set up at least 34 checkposts in the city to keep vigil or to tackle any untoward situation particularly on the eve of the biggest religious festival of the Muslim community, sources added.

District Police sources said, they have taken decision to deploy over one thousand 500 police and Ansar personnel in addition to regular police personnel on-duty at police stations in 15 upazila headquarters on the eve of shopping spree and Eid to maintain law and order.

RAB-7 here have also taken tight security measures by engaging over 450 RAB members side by side plainclothes RAB men in Chitagong, Comilla and Cox's Bazar zone to check the crime and maintain peace during the month of holy Ramadan and on the occasion of Eid and Durgapuja.

The authority will deploy 350 RAB members at the different vintage points and markets of the port city, 80 in Comilla and 40 in Cox's Bazar zone. The anti-crime elite force will also set up 21 check posts including all the city entry points of port city to prevent the safe movements of the criminals and illegal arms.

BSS, Rangpur

The post-flood rehabilitation works with priority on the agriculture sector were further intensified in greater Rangpur through gearing up distribution of T-Aman seedlings and seeds of other crops in the region.

Officials told BSS here yesterday that the government had already strengthened its efforts with free distribution of T-Aman seedlings and seeds of other crops among the flood-hit farmers in five districts of greater Rangpur.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Horticulture Centres and NGOs including Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) have been distributing huge quantity of seedlings. Principal Scientific Officer of BRRI, Rangpur, Dr Abdul Mazid said he had distributed BRRI-11 and other varieties of T- Aman seedlings including the flood-tolerant one invented by him among the farmers.

The DAE has been distributing T-Aman seedlings developed on 91 acres at different places of Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari districts among the flood-hit farmers of the area.

The BADC has also been distributing T-Aman seedlings developed on 22 acres to enable the farmers cultivate their crops on 440 acres in Rangpur.

RDRS already distributed T-Aman seedlings grown on 12 acres in Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts among the affected farmers to help them transplant T-Aman on 240 acres, officials said.

They said many other government and non-government organisations with the assistance of the army have been distributing crop seeds and T-Aman seedlings among the farmers as part of the post-flood agriculture rehabilitation.

With the recession of flood waters, the government started distributing quality seeds including high yielding and hybrid varieties seeds of Boro, potato, maize, wheat, vegetables and fertilizer with required agri-inputs among the farmers of 10 flood-hit northern districts.

Abdul Muqit Chowdhury

Dishonest businessman hoard necessary commodities and exploit the buyers by creating artificial crisis in the market that causes price hike. This happens often during Ramzan. This is a crime and goes against the socio-economic concept of Islam. It is strictly prohibited. Dishonest businessman should try to judge their activities in the light of Islam. They should abstain from such heinous crime. Otherwise, their fasting will not be acceptable to Allah.

The owners of mills, factories and farms should not deprive the workers. If the workers are deprived of their due rights, the income earned from the concerned organisation will be unlawful and the fasting of such owners will not be acceptable.

Rasulullah (SM) said, "Pay the wages to the worker before his sweat gets dried." (Ibne Mazah, Tibranee)

Rasulullah (SM) said, " I shall complain against three classes of people on the Day of judgement One among them is : The man who employees a worker on wages, takes the full measure of work from him ; but does not pay him wages". (Bukhari Sharif)

These hadiths should also be read in the context of fasting. Lawful (halal) earning should be given top priority.

Similarly, the workers should also see that they discharge obligations duly and render full service to the concerned organisation they serve. Otherwise his fasting will also meet the same fate.

BSS, Jessore

At least four persons were killed and 30 others injured in a road accident at Regaritala under Monirampur upazila of the district on Thursday night

Police said the accident occurred when a bus and a tempo collided head on killing four passengers of the tempo on the spot

Three of the dead were identified as Shahjahan, 30, Nagar Ali, 11, and Zahura, 25. The injured were admited to Jessore General Hospital, the police said.

BSS, Rajshahi

Police during its anti-crime drives arrested 82 alleged criminals including a female smuggler and a drug-trader on various charges from different areas of the city and elsewhere of the district during the last 48 hours till Friday evening.

Of the arrested criminals, 35 persons including the drug trader were rounded up from different areas of the metropolis while 47 others including the smuggler were neted from nine upazilas of the district, police said.

The drug trader was identified as Sirajul Islam, 45, who was arrested with 100 grams of ganja from the Kalabagan area under Boalia thana of the city.

In another operation conducted in a Rajshahi-bound passenger bus at Tanore area, a police team arrested the woman smuggler identified as Belly, 40, with 50 kg of smuggled cumin.

Police also seized 160 kg of silk yarn from Soronjai area under the same thana. The valuable silk yarn were being smuggled to India, police said but none could be, however, arrested in this connection.

AFP, Washington

The United States Thursday dismissed a call by Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden for holy war against Pervez Musharraf's government and pledged to work closely with ally Pakistan to confront extremism.

"He can threaten whoever he wants," State Department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters. "We are going to continue to work with Pakistan, as well as with our other friends and allies throughout the world, to confront him and make sure that we keep ourselves and our friends safe from atack from him and those like him."

In an audio recording released Thursday, bin Laden said Al- Qaeda intended to retaliate for the blood spilled by "champions of Islam."

"It is obligatory on the Muslims in Pakistan to carry out jihad (holy war) and fighting to remove Pervez, his government, his army and those who help him," said the voice in the tape, produced by the terror network's media arm As-Sahab and monitored by the US-based SITE Intelligence Group.

Earlier this month, a bin Laden video was released to coincide with the sixth anniversary of the September 11 atacks on the United States in which nearly 3,000 people were killed.

"I guess it's shocking that Osama bin Laden doesn't like countries working together to confront the kind of radical extremism and perversion of Islam that he represents," Casey said, with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't think it changes at all our cooperation or our desire to work with President Musharraf and the people and government of Pakistan to confront Al-Qaeda and confront extremism in that country," he said. The threat from bin Laden was also dismissed by Pakistan. "We are already commited to fighting extremists and terrorists-there is no change in our policy," chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told AFP in Islamabad.

"If someone is hurling threats at us, that is their view. The whole nation is behind us and the Pakistan Army is a national institution," Arshad added.

ANA, from New York

Representatives of the minority groups who are living in New York will meet the Chief Adviser to the Caretaker Government Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed in New York in the USA.

Representatives of Hindu-Buddhists-Christians communities confirmed the mater to Humayun Kabir, Bangladeshi envoy in Washington DC on September 20.

Leaders of Oikya Parishad, Kalyan Front and different churches and temples will be included in the team.

It may be mentioned that the Chief Adviser is coming to visit New York on September 23 to give his speech in the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Chief Adviser will stay in New York till September 29. The Chief Adviser will also take part in a discussion titled 'Reconstruction of democracy in Bangladesh: Challenges and Scopes' at Asiatic Society Auditorium on September 29. If someone wants to listen his speech, he has to buy a ticket costing US dollar 15. President of Asiatic Society Bishakha N Deshai will preside over the meeting.

AFP, Tokyo

Yasuo Fukuda, who is leading the race to be Japan's next prime minister, is a seasoned veteran and foreign policy dove seen as a safe pair of hands after Shinzo Abe's turbulent year in office. At 71, Fukuda would be the oldest prime minister to take office since 1991, a sharp contrast to Abe, who at 53 was Japan's youngest leader in recent times and was faulted by many in the ruling party as too inexperienced.

Fukuda, a former oilman who nearly always sports a grey suit and classic-framed glasses, admits he lacks the charisma of Abe's popular and flamboyant predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. "I don't think I will be able to demonstrate the kind of leadership premier Koizumi showed," Fukuda said at a recent news conference. But Fukuda is expected to make up for it with popularity within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which is seeking a smooth, stable leader after Abe's government was embroiled by incessant scandal.

A campaign last year supported by business interests sought to draft Fukuda to run to succeed Koizumi, fearing that Abe's ideology was too right-wing. Fukuda declined, saying he was too old and acknowledging he could not beat Abe. But some observers suspected he was simply shrewd and had calculated that Abe would fall.

Like many Japanese politicians, Fukuda comes from a political dynasty. His late father, Takeo Fukuda, was prime minister from 1976 to 1978 and was known for the "Fukuda Doctrine" that Japan will never again be a military power and would build ties with Asia.

The younger Fukuda has also stressed mending tense relations with China and South Korea.

He openly criticised Koizumi for his annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine, which Beijing and Seoul see as a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Abe was a supporter of the shrine but shunned it in order to repair relations with the neighbouring countries.

But despite his mild demeanor, Fukuda has also encountered controversy in the past Earlier expectations he would be a frontrunner to succeed Koizumi were dashed in 2004 when he resigned from the powerful post of chief cabinet secretary after he, among other politicians, admited failing to pay pension premiums.

UNB, Keraniganj

Four people were arrested on charge of producing adulterate medicines and cosmetics at Choto Kushierbagh here early Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of RAB-2 raided a factory at about 2:30am and recovered adulterate medicines and cosmetics worth about Tk three lakh.

Four people, Akram Hossain, 25, Ekram Hossain, 21, Rocky, and 18, Tuhin, 17 were held during the raid.

A case was filed with local thana against four people under the Special Powers Act-1974. RAB sources said a gang has been engaged in producing the adulterate medicines and cosmetics and selling those in the market using brands of different established company in the last seven years. Later, the elite force sealed off the fake factory.

AFP, Kabul

Soldiers led by the US military struck militant hideouts in southern Afghanistan Friday, killing about 40 rebels and destroying one of the largest caches of weapons it has ever found, the US-led force said.

The operation took place in the southern province of Helmand, Afghanistan's top opium-growing area, which has seen some of the worst fighting in an insurgency led by the extremist Taliban since their ouster in late 2001.

About 40 "anti-coalition militants" were killed, the US-led force said in a statement It was one of the deadliest strikes in weeks. More than 20 rocket-propelled grenades, as well as significant amounts of ammunition and landmines, were uncovered, the statement said.

"This was one of the largest caches of weapons found to date," said coalition spokesman Major Christopher Belcher. "Several rooms were found filled with small-arms, explosives, rocket propelled grenades and large calibre ammunition."

The statement said US-led forces had used "precision munitions" in the operation, but Belcher could not give further details. The weapons caches were destroyed. The statement said there was some damage to the surrounding area but no non-combatant casualties.

UNB, Kurigram

An official of the district Narcotics Control Department was arrested from his office while taking briber on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, joint forces raided the office of the Narcotics Control Department at noon and arrested deputy assistant inspector Jamal Hossain while he was taking Tk 10,000 in bribe from a local businessman.

Earlier, a team of the Narcotics Control Department, led by Jamal Hossain, recovered some 500 gms of spirit from New-cycle Enterprise, owned by Tajul Islam, during a drive in Ulipur Upazila Bazar on August 27.

Later, Jamal Hossain demanded Tk 10,000 from Tajul with a promise not to implicate him in the case.

UNB, Chitagong

Muslim devotees Friday demanded banning of daily Prothom Alo and 'Saptahik 2000' and arrest of their editors and publishers for hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims by publishing blasphemous cartoon and write-up.

After Juma' prayers, Muslim devotees under the banner of 'General Musalli Parishad' held a rally on the Andarkilla mosque premises with its convenor Kazi Fazlul Karim in the chair.

Addressing the rally, the speakers accused the two publications for showing extreme audacity to Muslim Ummah through their "unpardonable" acts. Though they had apologised for the sacrilege, but they cannot be forgiven, the speakers said.

After the rally, the devotees numbering about 2,000 tried to bring out a procession, but abandoned the plan at the request of police officials.

A huge number of policemen were deployed in and around the mosque to prevent any untoward incident

Meanwhile, police guarded the local office of Prothom Alo today apparently to provide security to the vernacular daily.

BSS, Dhaka

The well-marked low over west-central bay and adjoining northwest bay off north Andhra-Orrisa coast intensified into a depression over the same area.

It was centered at 9 AM yesterday about 715 kms southwest of Chitagong Port, 660 kms southwest of Cox's Bazar Port and 585 kms south-southwest of Mongla Port (near Lat 17.5 degrees N and Long 87.5 degrees E.), a Met Office bulletin said.

It is likely to intensify further and move in a northwesterly direction. Under its influence, steep pressure gradient lies over north bay. Squally weather may affect the maritime ports.

Maximum sustained wind speed within 44 kms of the depression center is about 40 kph rising to 50 kph in gusts/squalls. Sea will remain moderate. Maritime ports of Chitagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla have been advised to keep hoisted local cautionary signal number three (rpt) three.