The New Nation - Internet Edition

Ensure overall dev of women: CA

Bangladesh Mahila Parishad brought out a rally in
the city in observance of the International Women's Day
yesterday. NN photo

UNB, Dhaka

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed has called upon all, irrespective of their professions and positions, to put in their best efforts for creating an appropriate political and socioeconomic structure to ensure overall development of women as well as the nation.

He made the call while addressing a function marking the International Women's Day 2008 organised by Women and Children Affairs Ministry at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. The theme of this year's Women Day is 'Investing in Women and Girls'. Women and Children Affairs Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury presided over the function. Women and Children Affairs Secretary Begum Rokeya Sultana also spoke on the occasion.

At the function, the Chief Adviser formally unveiled the cover page of National Women Development Policy 2008 that suggested setting aside one-third of parliamentary seats for women and arranging direct election to the reserved seats. It also suggested appointment of an adequate number of women, if necessary under the related section of the Constitution to the highest-level of Cabinet Division and the policymaking level of the administration.

On health and nutrition part, it called for formulating and implementing a law for providing maternity-leave to working women for five months. "On the International Women Day," the Chief Adviser said, "The country needs to think about such a social structure where women would get the full opportunity to express and show their capabilities and efficiencies.

"For this, it's necessary to change social attitude towards women first. If we can build a liberal and real democratic system through combined efforts then certainly there will be a remarkable change in Bangladesh's women sector," he told the function. Advisers, diplomats, noted personalities, senior civil and military officials and girls and women were present at the function. The CA said a committee formed by the present government on strengthening and infusing dynamism into local government institutions has recommended direct election on rotation for having 40 percent women members and councilors in all tiers of the local government.

He said if it is implemented women participation will be increased to a large extent to ensure good governance at the grassroots level. Referring to various progarmmes taken by the government for the welfare of women, he said a new programme regarding maternity allowance for poor mothers to reduce the maternal and child mortality rates has been launched. "Some 45,000 mothers have already been included under the programme," the CA told the function. He said the national women development policy has also been updated. Citing some successful stories on women development, he said participation of girls at the secondary level is higher than that of boys and now 44 percent teachers in the country's primary schools are women. "The participation of women in the administration, judiciary, armed forces and all professions are gradually increasing," he added. According to different information and statistics, the Chief Adviser said, it has been learnt that a negative attitude towards daughters at the family and social levels is now changing fast. Later, a colorful cultural programme, staged by the children of Bangladesh Shishu Academy, was held. The Chief Adviser witnessed the cultural show.

100 years of Int'l Women’s Day: Anti-Corruption concert enthrals audience

Audience and artistes run wild at an anti-corruption
concert held at Gulshan Youth Club yesterday. NN
photo

Staff Reporter

Some 30 thousand people including youths with the slogan of 'Jago Manush - Nari Odhikare Jago' participated a concert held at Gulshan Youth Club ground in the city yesterday.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) jointly organised the concert to observe 100 years of International Women's Day. Audience became enthralled with the music where participants including artistes raised their voice against corruption.

Veteran woman baul artiste Kangalini Sufia, 'guru' of pop music Azam Khan, artistes Fahmida Nabi, Kafil, Mehrin and Krishnakoli and band groups Souls, Renaissance, Maksud O Dhaka, Dalchhut, Aurthohin, Black, Shahed, Yatri and 'Awaz,' a band formed by garments workers, enchanted the audience in full-fledged.

The concert started at 2:00pm, while gate was opened from 12:00 noon. Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of TIB, inaugurated the concert. He said, "Women are vulnerable for corruption. We should take the anti-corruption movement forward."

After the performance of baul artiste Kangalini Sufia, popular band group Renaissance entered the stage and performed some popular old numbers. At that time the concert ground had already filled up with crowds.

Then solo performers Kafil, Krishnakoli, Shahed and Mehrin presented their popular numbers.

When veteran band artiste Azam Khan entered the stage with the song 'Rail Line er bostite jonme chilo ekti chhele' crowds including youths became so enthralled that their mixed the performance of Azam Khan.

Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, Chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), came to the concert ground after evening to encourage the raising voice against corruption. He said

TV performer Dilara Zaman, M Hafizuddin Ahmed, former adviser of the Caretaker Government, woman activist Rokeya Kabir, Dr Sonia Nishat Amin and Khushi Kabir, among other celebrities and performers were present at the concert. The concert became a gathering of people of all walks of life with a solid combination of rock, hard rock, fusion and folk songs. The concert was live telecast in a web-link www.metrobd.net/tib2008 .

Mass sackings: Apollo Hospital doctors, nurse on strike

Doctors, nurses and other staff of the Apollo
Hospital demonstrated yesterday at Bashundhara against what
they said mass sackings. NN photo

Staff Reporter

All employees, including doctors and nurses, of Bangladesh origin in Apollo Hospital yesterday went on a sit-in strike demanding resignation of its Chief Executive and withdrawal of termination order against its 150 staffs immediately, seriously disrupting medical services and leaving the patients at bay.

Justifying their demands, the striking doctors and staffs said the hospital authorities terminated their 150 colleagues to create room for recruiting more foreigners.

The Apollo Hospital, situated at Baridhara, has the highest number of foreign staffs, including doctors and nurses, among the private hospitals in the capital.

During the daylong demonstrations, the Medicare systems of the hospital collapsed, putting 142 patients, now admitted into the hospital, into suffering as they did not get the support from its attending physicians who expressed their solidarity with the strikers.

Staff nurse Shafiqul Islam (not his real name) said that they are on strike as the hospital authorities are terminating jobs one after another without assigning any cause. He further alleged that they called in and asked staff members-at a time-to resign without following the Labour law.

They (hospital authorities) have so far sacked a total of 150 employees, including doctors and nurses, out of the around 1,400-member-strong staff since January in the same way. They (authorities) must give its employees prior notice and advance salaries for the next 90 days as per the Labour law if they want to terminate anyone's job," he said.

Later, police and RAB men rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.

The demonstrators went back home at about 5.00pm, saying that their demonstrations would also continue today.

Refuting the demonstrators' allegations, media officer of the foreign-local partnership hospital Giasuddin Ahmed, also former joint secretary of the Home Ministry, said, "Everything is being done under the existing Labour law 2006 of the country. If anyone claims otherwise, then we have nothing to do."

About reason for the job cuts, he said the hospital has some 1,400 employees though it needs over 800 to operate the hospital smoothly.

"Thinking about their future, the hospital has decided to retain 1,050 of the staff members, which is much more than our need, that is, over 800 employees. And the rest are to be terminated following the Labour Act."

He also alleged that they had failed repeatedly to convince the staff to go for a negotiated solution.

Setback for PM in Malaysia vote

BBC Online

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for a big turnout Early indications from the election in Malaysia suggest a setback for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front coalition.

His hopes of winning the only state under opposition control, Kelantan, have been dashed, reports say.

Badawi's large majority in the federal parliament is also expected to be cut.

Analysts are blaming inflation, rising crime and increasing ethnic tensions for a drop in his popularity.

The opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) controls Kelantan by a one seat majority in the state legislature.

But Roslan Shahir, a party spokesman, said it would increase its majority considerably and "form the next Kelantan government."

Bird Flu: Bad days for fast food shops in city

UNB, Dhaka

Sales in the city's fast food shops have marked a sharp fall as customers continued to ignore chicken items out of bird flu fear, hitting hard the booming fast-food business. "We're passing through a very critical time as our sales have dropped by 50 percent. Even our regular customers hardly visit our shops and those who come are scared of taking chicken items," said Sohel Rana, supervisor of 'Chicken King', a popular fast food shop in Dhanmondi area.

While visiting different first food shops in Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Motijheel, New Market, Mouchak and Bailey Road areas, it was seen that customers were mainly taking beef, mutton and vegetable items ignoring chicken ones.

Even if someone wants to go for chicken, s/he is discouraged by others. The only reason: bird flu. But experts say there is nothing to be scared in taking chicken items as the bird flu virus, H5N1, cannot survive in food that is cooked in 70 degrees Celsius temperature.

"I was a regular customer of 'Helvetia', but I had not been there for the last few months as most of its items are of chicken," Faria Hossain, a private university student, said while taking beef burger at another fast food shop, 'Harvest Home', at Rifle Squares, a posh shopping mall of the city.

"I like fried chicken too much but I've stopped taking it since I saw reports on chicken culling because I'm a very health conscious person," Kazi Rafiqul Islam, a businessman, told Abdur Rahman Jahangir while having a fish burger at KFC fast food shop in Gulshan. When reminded about the prescription of experts that bird flu virus cannot survive in the food that is cooked in over 70 degrees of temperature, Islam said, "I know that but I don't trust these experts. I'll take chicken only when the government will officially declare that there is no bird flu in the country."

Farzana Ahmed, a housewife who went to Bamboo Castle fast food shop at Bailey Road along with her minor daughter, said her daughter likes chicken items most but she preferred beef items for them because of bird flu fear. She is even unwilling to buy chicken and egg for her family lest bird flu virus spreads during the processing of those for cooking.

Delwar, a regular customer of Golden Food, said, "I'm here to have my favourite fast food item fried chicken." Asked about bird flu scare, he said, "I'm not at all scared because I know the virus is completely destroyed during cooking."

However, the staff of the fast food shops are not ready to allow their valued customers to go away. They have also invented their own strategies to persuade them. Waiters and mangers in most of the fast food shops were found trying to manage customers showing doctor's certificate that their chicken are bird flue free.

When contacted, manager of Helvetia, Mohsin, said, "We've directed our waiters in our six outlets in the city to convince the customers in every way. We've asked them to show the customers a GrammenPhone message in favour of taking chicken and show doctor's certificate and opinions of the experts. And we also tell them we cook our items in over 300 degree temperature."

Recognising a sharp fall in consumption of chicken items at his shops, Mohsin said, "We're working hard to tackle the situation, but we alone can't overcome it, we need government help." He said the government should take more effective measures to remove the bird flu fear from public mind through media. Sohel Rana, supervisor of 'Chicken King', said they have added new items of fish, beef and vegetable to their menu apart from continuing the advocacy like Helvetia.

He also blamed the media for spreading the bird flu panic among the people. "Watching chicken culling on television and reading those in newspapers, people get panicked."

Chinese restaurants, popular among the urban middle-class people, have also reduced serving chicken and egg items. Besides, many other regular restaurants have taken chicken off their menus, replacing it with various beef and vegetable items. The avian influenza, also known as bird flu, was first detected in Bangladesh on February 22 last year. It has now reached an epidemic form, hitting the poultry industry that accounts for over 1.6 percent of GDP.

According to a government count, nearly 8.5 lakh fowls of 277 poultry farms -- 236 of them commercial and 41 backyard in 43 districts- were culled as of February 20.

Nearly 100,000 poultry farms have been shut down due to the outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus, throwing around 2.5 million people out of jobs.

Biman to have new aircraft on lease soon

UNB, Dhaka

Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited is likely to have in its fleet a Boeing 747 aircraft on lease within a couple of weeks.

"All the necessary procedures in this regard have been completed and we'll come to know by Monday when the aircraft will arrive in Dhaka," a senior Biman official told UNB.

He said Biman has struck a deal with Nigerian origin Kabo Air for taking the aircraft from it on lease.

The aircraft will be delivered under 'wet lease' system under which all the staff and crewmembers will be provided by Kabo Air. Biman will simply supply fuel. Set up in February 1980, Kabo Air started operations in April 1981.

Petrobangla road-show on March 30 : Hydrocarbon block bidding

UNB, Dhaka

Petrobangla is going to hold its planned international road-show here on March 30-31 instead of March 23-24, aiming to attract foreign oil companies to participate in the 3rd round hydrocarbon block bidding.

Official sources said the road-show was originally scheduled for March 23-24, but Petrobangla shifted the schedule responding to requests from the potential bidders due to Ester Saturday.

However, Petrobangla failed to secure permission of the Energy Ministry to hold another two planned international road-shows abroad.

The state-owned hydrocarbon agency had offered to hold one of the overseas road-shows in Singapore and another in either the USA or Canada.

But the Energy Ministry was found reluctant to give its go-ahead as it said that all the previous road-shows held during the 2nd round bidding failed to achieve the target.

Petrobangla invited international bidding on February 15 asking the international oil companies (IOCs) to submit their respective offers by May 7, 2008 for deep-sea oil and gas exploration.

Petrobangla officials said about 20 IOCs have shown keen interest to participate in the road-show to be held in Dhaka. "We've received an encouraging response from IOCs and they're contacting us to participate in the bidding," said a senior official.

The caretaker government approved a proposal and a new model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) in the first week of February.

The government has a plan to complete the bidding by September and award contracts to selected firms by August-October 2008 to utilize the next dry season for offshore exploration work.

Under the Model PSC, the country's maritime area has been divided into 28 blocks for the hydrocarbon exploration. Of the blocks, eight are located in shallow waters while the rest 20 blocks in deep-sea area.

For the shallow blocks, a total of 8 years' time will be given to the contractors and they will have to conduct exploration within 3 years as initial period. Then another 2 years will be given for extended exploration and another 2 years for second-time extension. For the deep-sea blocks in the Bay of Bengal, the contractors will get a total of 9 years to carry out exploration work. Of the time, 5 years will be given for initial exploration and then it will be extended in two phases.

Shipbuilding may create new economic horizon

Chittagong Correspondent

Some of the local entrepreneurs claimed to have earmarked fresh means of bulking foreign exchange by manufacturing marine-vessels, ferries, cruise-ship, fishing-boats and launches here at the country's coastal belt and the off-shore islands.

They believed that the potential of the newly earmarked sector had long been left untapped simply for want of visionary entrepreneurs, favorable atmosphere and the state patronization.

It is assumed that the shipbuilding industry will be the driving force of another socioeconomic uplift in the country after the RMG (readymade garment) driven revolution of the 80s by creating many employments at the shipyards and its backward linkage subsidiaries. The annual turnover of the global shipbuilding industry is around US $ 1,522 billion. European shipbuilders stopped taking order until 2010, while the Asian shipbuilders in Korea, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam received adequate export orders.

It is speculated that over US $ 300 billion worth of export is yet to be tapped where native ship-making companies may easily have shares.

The Western Marine Shipyard Limited has so far set an example of huge private initiative by acquiring orders for manufacturing five seagoing cargo vessels from a Danish company.

An official of the shipyard claimed that they would soon enter into fresh agreement of making container vessels and cruise-ship for Dutch company. Two other shipbuilders - Ananda Shipyard Limited and Slipways Shipyard Limited - are also in operation.

Entrepreneurs claimed that acquiring international certification and accreditation from the Germanisher Lloyd and Norske Veritas were a must for growing as a shipbuilding nation.

"In most cases international certification depends on the vessel's design, craftsmanship, interior and exterior decoration, utilities, security and safety features what are again directly linked to the international suppliers of the vessel components," an official of the country's biggest private shipyard said demanding a favorable import policy for the budding industry.

Managing Director of the Western Marine Shipyard Limited Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain alleged that the central bank barred them from sending money to the foreign suppliers. He said that they had to send US $ 100 thousand initially for getting the ship's design done.

"We'll enhance the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by at least three per cent from the projected figure within next six years if we're given a favorable environment," he asserted.

Referring to Vietnamese investment in the shipbuilding yards over the last decade, officials said that Bangladesh had a competitive edge over its Asian competitors because of its cheap and able workforce.

They think it is high time to tap the potential and urged the government to provide the industry required moral and infrastructure supports.

The Western Marine Shipyard Limited has so far built 55 vessels. The vessels acquired certification from the international classification companies.

Power supply to 4 hospitals in city disrupted for 10 Hrs

UNB, Dhaka

Power supply to four major hospitals in the capital was disrupted for about 10 hours on Saturday for technical glitch in the line.

According to official sources, electricity supply to Shishu (Children' s) Hospital, Orthopedic Hospital, Suhrawardy Hospital and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Hospital0-all located in a same block in- between Agargaon and Shyamoli-went off following a technical fault in an 11KV feeder line of Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA).

However, DESA engineers rushed to the spot immediately and started repairing work. It took about 10 hours to mend the fault and they restored electricity supply to the four hospitals at about 3:30pm.

Manpower, equipment shortage hamper anti-mosquito drive

UNB, Dhaka

Plight of city dwellers has aggravated with alarming breeding of mosquitoes that also posed health hazard as the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) could not control the menace due to limited manpower and mosquito killing equipment. People everywhere - at homes, offices, schools or shops - are coming under increasing attacks of mosquitoes. And due to unabated mosquito-reign, prices of anti-mosquito coils and other repellants are on the rise.

The city residents now seemed to have no other option in sight but to spend a substantial amount every month to buy mosquito nets as well as anti-mosquito coils, spray and other repellants. A large section of the city population in the low income group, particularly the slum dwellers, already hard pressed by the abnormal price-hike of essentials cannot even think of spending anything extra to get rid of mosquito menace and always remain susceptible to malaria and other diseases. "I've to spend a big amount of my (monthly) budget to buy aerosol or other repellants, but the DCC did not take any practical step to eradicate mosquitoes," said Shahin Alam, a resident of Bara Maghbazar.

Some residents alleged that the anti-mosquito drive in the city is being hampered for lack of proper monitoring by the DCC.

Tayeb Ahmed, a banker who lives in Eskaton, said he did not see any sprayers and crew spraying pesticide for last three months in the area. Blaming the DCC, he said it was the absence of a proper monitoring system that allow the field level staff to skip work and avoid their duties.

"The DCC must closely monitor the activities of its cleaning staff," the banker said. The entire capital city-especially densely populated areas such as Badda, Shahjadpur, Malibagh, Khilgaon, Basabo, Mugdapara, Gopibagh, Hazaribagh, Mohammadpur, Rayerbazar, Jigatala and some parts of Mirpur-is now heavily infested by mosquitoes, complained residents from all walks of life.