The New Nation - Internet Edition

Our Correspondent, Barisal

A day long workshop organised by Mass-line Media Center in assistance with 'XIX Article 19 Global Campaign' held in Barisal NGO Development Network auditorium on Wednesday stressed on adopting effective information strategy for reducing climate risk.

Dr. Habibur Rahman, district president of human rights alliance, presided over and Shamim Reza, teacher of journalism department of Dhaka University and Rabiul Islam, senior coordinator of MMC, worked as resource persons in the workshop.

Mir Maniruzzaman, district contributor of MMC, conducted the programme.

Anisur Rahman Swapan and Swapan Khondokar, president and secretary of Barisal Metropolitan Journalist Union, G M Babor Ali and Liton Bashar, president and secretary of Barisal journalist Union, Nazrul Biswas of Barisal Reporters Unity, Hemayetuddin Himu, secretary of Jhalakati Press Club, Saifur Rahman Miron and Mintu Bose, cultural activist, Enayet Hossain Chowdhury of Nagorik Parishad, Ranajit Dutta and Jebunnesa Begum, NGO organisers and 15 others participated in the discussions.

The speakers stressed on changing weather cautionary signaling systems to be unitary for all regions and easier for understanding to the mass peoples. Coordinated and interactive local government and administrative channels functioning round the clock in pre and post disaster period would also be activated properly for giving accurate and speedy information to all sectors.

Expansion of radio frequency and community radio services and making local committees of disaster management, volunteers of cyclone preparedness programs of Red Crescent well equipped and repeatedly giving weather signals by voice messages in Bangla over mobile phone also suggested.

A sustainable system should be introduced in combination of wide wireless and radio networks in remote areas and floating vessels to face emergency needs of information during power and communication disruptions and it should be a part of disaster management, the participants opined.

UNB, Kishoreganj

A tribunal here on Tuesday convicted a man in absentia and sentenced him to 14 years rigorous imprisonment for abducting his neighbour's son in 2002.

The court also fined the convict M Abu Saleh, 30, Tk 10,000, in default, to suffer three months more in jail. According to the prosecution, Abu Saleh, private tutor of Mashiur Alam Shovan, 12, son of Shahidul Alam of Jamalpur village of Bhairab upazila, abducted Shovan on November 8, 2008. Police after a hectic search rescued Shovan from Abu Saleh's aunt's house at Bubunti village in Brahmanbaria district a day after his abduction.

After examining the records and witnesses the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge GMS Farid awarded the punishment.

Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) with Intercooperation (IC) of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation is trying to improve livelihoods of rice farmers through training and participatory variety selection programmes in haor areas of Sunamganj district.

A three-day-long training course ended at the BRRI in Gazipur recently to reach this goal. Twenty-five local service providers took part in it, a BRRI press release said on Thursday.

BRRI Director General Dr Nur-E-Elahi said, "It is a part of the recent activities of the institute to disseminate modern rice technologies in the remote areas." Prior to this, BRRI has been conducting advocacy and participatory variety selection programmes in the areas for the last three years. BRRI Director Research Dr M A Salam said, "We are trying to change the existing cultivation scenario to improve livelihoods of the rice farmers.", says a press release.

Although BRRI technologies have been extended throughout the country, six upazilas---Taherpur, Jamalganj, Bishamberpur, Shalla, Dirai, and Darmapasha---of Sunamganj district have been remained comparatively less focused mainly because of unfavourable conditions, the release said. Boro rice is being cultivated in these areas and most of the cultivable areas remain fallow during Aus and Aman---the other two rice seasons of the country.

Most of the time in a year farmers of the areas remain partially unemployed.

Farmers of the localities, where agricultural extension service is limited, cultivate rice, following age-old traditional method. Flash flood in mid-April caused huge losses to the only boro crop of the year, as the farmers use long duration rice varieties instead of short duration ones. Little or no care is being taken in terms of tillage, weeding, fertilization and irrigation. As a result per unit productivity of rice in the areas is also very low and it is one of the obstacles to livelihood improvement, the release added.

BSS, Rangpur

Bumper production of mustard in the northern region of the country is expected this year as the farmers have brought more land under mustard cultivation than the target. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a target to produce 1,56,262 tonnes of mustard with one tonne of the crop per hectare in 16 northern districts during the rabi season and taken necessary steps in making the programme successful. Sources said the farmers have completed sowing of mustard seeds timely after harvesting the early variety of transplanted aman crop and vegetables everywhere in the region.

The DAE, armed forces, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation and some NGOs have distributed quality mustard seeds and the commercial banks disbursed agriculture loans among the farmers to achieve the target of mustard production. Besides, the farmers have cultivated mustard in vast tract of the huge flood- ravaged char areas on the Brahmaputra and the Jamuna basins where the crop is now in full bloom.

The farmers have cultivated the crop in more land than the targeted land area to cover huge losses caused by the floods and vast char areas have been brought under mustard farming this year, DAE officials said.

The farmers got a bumper production of the crop during the last rabi season when the DAE had fixed a target of producing 1,44,443 tonnes of mustard from 1,40,236 hectares of land and the target of mustard farming was exceeded, the sources added.

UNB, Bagerhat

Some 72 students were killed and several hundred others injured in the district in the cyclone Sidr that lashed the south and southwestern region of the country on November 15.

Besides, some 841 educational institutions, including 452 primary schools and 389 high schools, madrassahs and colleges of nine upazilas here were also totally or partially damaged by the violent storm, causing a loss of Tk 11.71 crore, officials said.

District Primary Education Officer Pran Gobinda Nandi told UNB that the storm killed 72 primary school students. A teacher of Sharankhola Southkhali Bablatola Primary School Abdul Khaleque Fakir also died in the wall collapse of his school.

The final examinations of the primary schools in Sharankhola and Morelganj upazilas have been postponed following the storm. Examinations of those schools will be held in January 2008. According to the official statistics, some 814 people, including the 72 students, were killed in the district by the cyclone.

UNB, Shariatpur

At least 10 people were injured in a clash between local people and supporters of a UP chairman at Nawapara in Naria upazila Monday midnight over smuggling of allocated rice under VGF programme. Police and local people said Nawapara UP chairman Jakir Hossain kept some 10 sacks of rice of vulnerable group feeding (VGF) program at the UP office on Monday morning after distribution rice among the local cyclone-victims. At dead of night when the chairman along with his men tried to smuggle the rice from UP office local people chased them triggering the clash and in the midst of chase and counter chase and pelting brickbats 10 people from both sides sustained injuries.

The UP Chairman Jakir Hossain went into hiding soon after the incident. The injured were admitted to a local clinic. A case was filed with the police.

79,000 cattle vaccinated in Chuadanga

CHUADANGA, Dec 16: A total of 79,000 cattle have been vaccinated as part of preventive measures against foot diseases in four upazilas of the district during the first five months of current fiscal year. The four diseases against which the cattle were vaccinated are khora, tarka, badla and mums. Livestock Department sources said of the total vaccinated cattle 15,000 in Sadar Upazila, 22,000 in Alamdanga, 24,000 in Damurhuda and 18,000 in Jibannagar Upazila. District Livestock Department has fixed a target of vaccinating 1,40,000 cattle in four Upazilas in the current fiscal, reports BSS.

39th branch of Mercantile Bank inaugurated

COMILLA, Dec 16: The 39th branch of Mercantile Bank Limited (MBL) was inaugurated here on Wednesday. Chairman of the audit committee of the board of directors of the bank AKM Shahid Reza inaugurated the branch. Among others, vice-chairman of MBL Alhaj Mosharraf Hossain, managing director and chief executive Dewan Mujibur Rahman, former whip Mujibul Hoque, Rotarian Alhaj Omar Faruk, directors Tanjin Aman, Amanullah, Shahebullah and branch manager Golam Sarwar, were present, reports BSS.

13 shallow machine stolen in Monirampur

Monirampur, Dec 16: 13 shallow machine were stolen in a night from a village of Keshabpur upazila, it is learned.

According to the report on Thursday at night thefts state the machine from the field of Agorhati village under Gourighona union parishad.

The thieves took the shallow machine of Abdur Razzaque Mollah, Sultan Hossain, Abdul Mannans Abdul Bari, Abdul Hamid Fakir, Ashadul Hossain, Rouf Hossain, Ali Hossain, Halim Dafodar, Faruq Biswas, Resual Islam, Ahad Ali Khan and Amir Hossain.

The farmers said the price of each machine is Taka 12 to 14 thousand.