The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

The telephone bills of the digital phones of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) in Dhaka city was made available on internet from May 2007 through computerized ledger management system.

The system has also been introduced across the country from October 7 and BTTB subscribers can avail the service by downloading their bills from website: www.bttb.gov.bd and pay to the respective branches of the commercial banks, said a press release.

Besides, the paid BTTB telephone bills would automatically be entered into the bank ledgers to the branches of the banks those already introduced online banking.

BSS, Dhaka

A delegation from Bang-ladesh Bar Council on Sunday called on Chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Abdul Majid at his office here, said a Bar Council press release.

The Bar Council delegation urged the NBR Chairman to keep lawyers' fee free from Value Added Tax (VAT) and requested him not to enforce right now the government decision.

Vice Chairman of the Bar Council Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, chairman of executive committee Shafik Ahmed, chairman of finance committee Abdul Baset Majumder, chairman of relief committee Fakir Delowar Hossain, chairman of house committee AY Moshiuzzaman were included in the delegation.

BSS, Joypurhat

The preparation of voter list with photographs and national identity cards has begun in Joypurhat Paurasabha and Sadar upazila in the district yesterday.

District administration and district election office jointly organised an inaugural function at the auditorium of Joypurhat Sugar Mills.

With deputy commissioner of Joypurhat Netai Pada Das in the chair, the function was attended by Brigadier General Ibrahim Jamal as the chief guest.

Commander of local army camp Lt. Colonel Zahedur Rahim, RAB camp commander Major Shah Ali, police super Moniruzzaman, district election officer and other government officials were also present, among others.

BSS, Rangpur

Police arrested 17 persons from different places in the district during the last 24 hours till Sunday noon, Police sources said.

Of them, Kotwali police picked up seven persons, Gangachara police one, Taraganj police one, Badarganj police five, Mithapukur police one, Pirgachha police one and Kawnia police one person in the drives.

The arrested persons include absconding warrantees, accused in different cases, drug-peddlers and traffickers, anti-social elements, thieves and suspected criminals.

Police also seized good quantity of smuggled ganja, fermented wine and phensidyl, stolen goods and other illegal items during the raids.

The arrested persons were sent to jail hajat when police produced them before the concerned Rangpur courts yesterday, the sources said.

BSS, Rajshahi

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested six alleged criminals including three drug-peddlers from different areas in six northern districts in the last 24 hours ending yesterday afternoon.

RAB sources said, acting on a tip-off, a team of the elite force conducted a raid at Lakkhipur area under Gurudaspur upazila of Natore district and seized a country made shutter-gun in an abandoned condition.

The elite force picked up drug-peddlers including two females identified as Rita Khatun, 25, Hasina Khanom, 18, and Selim Reza, 30, along with 535 bottles of phensidyl and a bottle of foreign wine during separate drives at different places in Rajshahi, Joypurhat, Kurigram and Rangpur districts.

In two other raids at Naodapara truck terminal area in Rajshahi city and at Ranigonj Bazar under Ghoraghat upazila of Dinajpur district, the RAB members seized 20 kilograms of copper and brass scrap materials and smuggled goods. However, none could be arrested in these connections.

The RAB personnel also picked up three absconding accused of different criminal cases including two convicted ones identified as Jahangir Hossain, 30, Abdur Rahman, 31, and Mojibur Rahman, 46, during separate drives in Rangpur and Joypurhat districts.

The arrested persons and the seized goods including the contraband drug items were handed over to concerned police stations after filing separate cases.

BSS, Dhaka

The well marked low over southeast Bay and adjoining areas moved slightly northwestwards and intensified into a depression over the same area.

The depression was centered about 1,415 km south of Chittagong port, 1,325 km south of Cox's Bazar Port and 1,450 km southeast of Mongla Port at 12 noon yesterday, a special weather bulletin of Met office said.

Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla have been advised to keep hoisted distant cautionary signal number one rpt one.

All fishing boats and trawlers in the north Bay and deep-sea have been advised to come close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice. They are also advised not to venture into the deep sea.

The bulletin also said the depression is likely to intensify further and move in the northwesterly direction.

Maximum sustained wind speed within 50 km of the storm center is about 50 km per hour and rising to 60 km per hour. Sea will remain moderate, it said.

BSS, Dhaka

The first SAARC Youth Camp will be held at the National Youth Centre in Savar on December 10 to promote mutual cooperation among the youths of South Asian countries.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is expected to inaugurate the four-day camp to be participated by 150 youths of 16 to 22 years of age from eight SAARC member countries. Of the participants eighty will represent Bangladesh and ten from each of the seven other fellow SAARC countries, an official handout said here yesterday.

This was disclosed on Sunday at an inter-ministerial meeting at the conference room of the Ministry of Youth and Sports ministry. Adviser for Youth and Sports Tapan Chowdhury chaired the meeting.

To make the holding of the youth camp a success, a national steering committee was formed, with Youth And Sport Secretary Dr M Golam Mostofa Talukdar as chairman and an organizing committee was also formed with the Director General of Youth Development Department M Ismail Hossain as the chairman.

The idea of arranging the first 'SAARC Youth Camp' was proposed by Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed during the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi which was supported by heads of government and state of SAARC member countries. The youth camp will be held each of the member country every year.

P-3 (11-11)Final

NN-14

Staff Reporter

PRAN Group yesterday signed US$3.5 million contracts with importers of Saudi Arabia and Jordan to export its food products to those countries.

One agreement was signed with Messrs Lanka Rose Company of Amman, Jordan to export PRAN products worth US$ 0.50 million (BDT 3.50 crore) to Jordan market for the next one year, while two agreements worth US$ 3 million (BDT 21 crore) were signed with two Saudi Arabian companies.

The agreements were signed at a simple ceremony at National Press Club in the city.

This is the first export agreement between Jordan and any Bangladeshi food processing company.

Tariq Al Natsheh, General Manager of Messrs Lanka Rose Company signed the agreement on behalf of his company.

Signing the contract, Tariq Al Natsheh said, "Many people have got the misconception that the Bangladeshi food products are only consumed by expatriate Bangladeshis. But, in fact, Bangladeshi food products are getting more and more popular among the people of foreign countries gradually, because of their quality."

On the other hand, agreements were signed with two Saudi importers Messrs BR Marzooq Al Harbi Al Moulid Trading Est, Jeddah and Messrs Al-Qusour Al-Fakhirah Trading Est, Dammam.

Md Omor Faruk Mia, Representative of Messrs BR Marzooq Al Harbi Al Moulid Trading Est, and Md Abul Hossain, Representative of Messrs Al-Qusour Al-Fakhirah Trading Est, signed the agreements on behalf of their respective companies.

Abdullah Ali Al-Hadabi, Director of Messrs BR Marzooq Al Harbi Al Moulid Trading Est, was present during the contract signing ceremony.

Under the agreement, Messrs BR Marzooq Al Harbi Al Moulid Trading Est will import PRAN products worth US$ 2 million (BDT 14 crore) for the Saudi Arabian market for next five years.

Messrs Al-Qusour Al-Fakhirah Trading Est will import PRAN products for the Saudi Arabian market for one year.

On behalf of PRAN-RFL Group, the agreements were signed by Chief of Export Hasan Mahbub.

In his speech, he informed that PRAN products are not being exported to only Middle East, but also to 71 other countries of the world, including the African, American and European countries.

The contracts signing ceremony was attended, among others, by PRAN-RFL Group Senior Manager (Exports) Maj (Retd) Paramuddin Hossain, Manager (Exports) Md Ferdush Hasan, Md Munirul Islam, Assistant Brand Manager Md Arifur Rahman and other high officials of the group.

DU Correspondent

'Anirban,' a TSC based so-called cultural organisation, forged the signature and letterhead of Dhaka University Vice-chancellor Prof SMA Faiz to collect advertisement from Grameen Phone (GP).

Alarmed at the wrong spelling of the VC`s name, GP authority informed the matter to the university and sent a copy of the letter sent and signed by Shamim Ahmed, editor of 'Anirban.'

On the basis of the information, university authority filed a general diary with Shahbagh Police Station against the organisation and asked the GP authority to take action on their own.

The letter read: "The organisation is going to arrange a seminar on "Drugs Free Society-Perspective Bangladesh" in cooperation with the Prothom Alo, a bangla daily and Save the Children……."

Sources said the organisation is not a listed organisation of the TSC.

DU Correspondent

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Dhaka University and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday for five-year.

Treasurer of the university Prof Dr Syed Abul Kalam Azad and Chief Executive officer of the BCB on behalf of their respective institutions signed the MoU.

BCB will make a modern cricket pitch, gallery, dressing room, media centre, toilet and two exercise pitches in the university's gymnasium playground as per the deal.

Vice-chancellor Prof SMA Faiz, Pro VC Prof Yusuf Haider, adviser of the university`s Physical Education Centre Diderul Alam, Syed Alamgir Jafar, Imran Abedin of BCB and Director of the Centre Shawkatur Rahman were present during the signing ceremony.

Staff Reporter

The country needs honest leaders like organiser of the liberation war and workers leader Shamsuddin, said Language Movement veteran Abdul Matin yesterday.

He said at a memorial meeting, Shamsuddin was a brave leader in Tongi labour movement. We should work for the welfare of the workers for implementing his ideology, he added.

The organising committee of the memorial meeting of former president of Bangla Sramik Federation late Shamsuddin organised the event with its convener Alamgir Majumder in the chair at the National Press Club.

Abdul Matin was as chief guest while Haider Akbar Khan Rono of Bangladesh Workers Party, former minister Mostafa Jamal Haider and Adv Mia Sadikur Rahman, among others, spoke.

UNB, Dhaka

Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Masayuki Inoue visited Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) in Comilla on Sunday.

During the visit, the BRAD officials apprised the envoy of its activities on research, training and experimental projects. He remarked that BARD has been playing important role in developing socio-economic condition of the poor people of Bangladesh. BARD Director General M Qamrul Islam, Additional Director General M Khairul Kabir, Director (Training) and Programme organiser M Mir Kashem, Joint Director Dr Masudul Haque Chowdhury and Assistant Director Anwarul Azim were present on the occasion. Later, the Ambassador went round the classrooms, conference rooms, library and cafeteria to gain practical experiences of BARD infrastructure, said a press release.