The New Nation - Internet Edition

Garment workers stage demos

Staff Reporter

Hundreds of garment workers yesterday demonstrated at Shyamoli in the city following death of a worker without treatment due to negligence of the factory authority.

Vehicular movement through the main Ring Road and adjacent roads was disrupted for about four hours from 5.00 pm.

One of the demonstrators said that Rasel, 25, worker of RM Sweater Ltd in the Shyamoli fell unconscious while working in the washing section. Security guards did not allow him go out for treatment.

The poor worker died at the factory gate at 4:30pm.

The death of Rasel angered the factory workers who took to the street with the body.

They demanded punishment for those responsible for his death and adequate compensation to his family.

Police and RAB rushed to the spot and quelled the angry demonstrators with assurance of addressing their grievances.

Mother, child commit suicide

UNB, Jhenidah

A woman allegedly committed suicide along with her three-year-old son jumping under a train at Barobamundia village in Kotchandpur upazila on Monday midnight.

Police said the Syedpur-bound train from Khulna crushed Tanjia Khatun, 22, and her son Santo, 3, leaving them dead on the spot.

Reason behind the suicide could not be known immediately.

Hasina's counsel says: IG (Prisons) playing to the tune of remote control

UNB, Dhaka

Detained former premier Sheikh Hasina's lawyers yesterday termed the statement of the IG (Prisons) to the media on her discharge from the Square Hospital "untrue, baseless, concocted and motivated", claiming that she was whisked away to her trial court.

'The behaviour meted out by the jail authorities to the daughter of the father of the nation and president of the largest political party Awami League that led the War of Liberation is unpardonable," says a joint press statement by Barrister Shafique Ahmed, Adv Shahara Khatun and Adv Qamrul Islam.

They said the whole nation is aggrieved at such 'inhuman' behaviour and the public anger against it cannot be defused through "falsehood".

On March 11 when she was admitted to the Square Hospital, the lawyers said Vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Prof Dr Mohammad Tahir along with six other specialized physicians examined her and observed that her treatment of damaged ears is not possible at any place other than America.

The lawyers deplored that it is a painful fact that after March 11 no specialist physician was allowed to examine her. They said due to 'unseen interference' her personal physicians and the doctor under whom she was admitted at the hospital were not given access to her hospital cabin.

They pointed out that 25 percent of her left-eye vision was already damaged and she lost totally the hearing in her right ear while her left ear is gradually losing the hearing power following the grenade attacks on her public rally on August 21, 2004.

Quoting doctors, the Hasina counsel said although the allergy problem and instable blood pressure are causing different new symptoms, she is not being given appropriate treatment. Besides, she has developed a growth in her thyroid gland.

They said Hasina was discharged 'on request' from the hospital on March 30 and "dragged" to the court.

The panel of lawyers alleged that despite court orders, they had not been allowed to meet Hasina for long to consult about the cases against her. It was only on March 29 that they got the permission to meet her at the hospital.

"We did not meet Sheikh Hasina on any mission to convince her to appear before the court," the lawyers said, adding, "On that day her health condition was so bad that we had to meet her at her hospital cabin instead of guestroom."

After the meeting, the lawyers requested the DIG (Prisons) to arrange specialist physicians to examine her and complete all medical tests quickly.

Barrister Shafique also assured the DIG (Prisons) that he would explain in detail her health condition to the court and request the court to see its previous order about her appearance before the court leniently.

On March 30, they said, Hasina was discharged on request from the

hospital and produced before the court "forcibly", which was narrated

by Hasina herself at the court.

They alleged that a "heinous conspiracy is on to politicize her treatment process by remote control, which is now crystal clear to the people".

The IG (Prisons) is "playing like a puppet under remote control of the unseen quarters", the troika counsel alleged.

The lawyers urged the authorities to refrain from what they called falsehoods and arrange Hasina's proper treatment. Otherwise, they said, the authorities concerned would be held responsible if anything (wrong) happened to Hasina.

Fellowships for women scientists

BSS, Dhaka

UNESCO invites candidates for the 2008 UNESCO-L'OREAL Co-sponsored Fellowships for Women Scientists.

The fellowships will be given to fifteen (15) women Scientists carrying out research in Life Sciences from five geo- cultural region of the world. The financial contribution of the each fellowship is US dollar 40,000.

Interested women scientists, no more than 35 years of age, have been requested to collect application form from the office of the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO (BNCU), BANBEIS Bhaban (3rd floor), 1, Asian Highway, Palassy-Nilkhet, Dhaka-1205 and submit the filled in application form along with research proposal by 15 May.

Bangladeshi company to invest $2.5 m in Chittagong EPZ

BSS, Dhaka

Bangladeshi company in the name and style M/s. Delmas Apparels (Pvt.) Limited will set up a garments manufacturing industry in the Chittagong Export Processing Zone.

This 100 percent local owned company will invest 2.5 million US dollar and will produce 3,60,000 dozens Woven garments items. The company will create employment opportunity for 718 Bangladeshi including 17 foreign nationals.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the

Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and the M/s. Delmas Apparels (Pvt.) Limited in BEPZA Complex here on Tuesday.

General Manager (Investment Promotion) of BEPZA and Managing Director of M/s. Delmas Apparels (Pvt.) Limited have signed the lease agreement on behalf of their respective organization.

Prices of essentials lower at BDR-run sale centres

BSS, Dhaka

Prices of essentials were lower in the BDR-run sale centres and markets than those in the city's ordinary markets on Monday, according to a BDR market report released here on Tuesday.

Flour in packet was sold between Taka 43 and 48 per kg in the ordinary markets, it said adding, the item was sold at Taka 43 in BDR-run open markets and Taka 35 in the BDR-run sale centres. The price of one-kg flour in Kolkata is equivalent to Taka 22.41.

Coarse rice was sold at Taka 32 to Taka 34 per kg in different markets in the city. The items was sold at Taka 32 in BDR-run open markets and Taka 25 in the BDR-run sale centres. In Kolkata markets, it is being sold at Taka 25.86.

Lentil (import) was sold in different city markets at Taka 80 to Taka 92 per kg which is Taka 73 in BDR-run open markets, the item was sold between Taka 68 and 70 in BDR-run sales centres and Taka 77.58 in Kolkata markets.

Onion (imported) was sold at Taka 13 per kg in the BDR-run open markets. Price of onion was in other city markets ranged between Taka 13 and 16. The item is available in Kolkata at Taka 10.34.

The price of potato was at Taka 12 and Taka 14 per kg in the ordinary markets, while it is Taka 11 in the BDR-run open markets. In Kolkata, the price of the item is Taka 6.89.

Sugar is being sold between Taka 34 and 38 per kg in different markets of the city against Taka 37 in BDR-run open markets. In Kolkata, its price stands at Taka 29.31.

Salt is being sold between Taka 12 and Taka 13 in different markets of the city, while it was sold Taka 10 per kg in the BDR- run sales centres. The item is available in Kolkata at Taka 13.48, the report said.

The price of soybean oil ranges between Taka 105 and Taka 110 per liter in the ordinary markets, while it is available at Taka 106 in the BDR-run open markets. In Kolkata, price of the soybean oil is Taka 124.13 per liter.

Palm oil was sold between Taka 92 and Taka 105 per liter in the ordinary markets, compared to Taka 94 per liter in the BDR- run open markets and sale centres. In Kolkata, price of palm oil is Taka 106.89 per liter.

Hilsa fish was sold in different markets at Taka 260 to Taka 280 per kg on Monday.

Ties with Saudi Arabia to grow more: President

BSS, Dhaka

Outgoing Ambassador of Saudi Arabia Abdullah M Al-Obaid Al-Namlah yesterday paid a farewell call on President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed at Bangabhaban.

During the meeting, the President expressed his satisfaction over the outgoing Ambassador's eight-year long successful and eventful tenure of mission in Dhaka and thanked him for playing a pivotal role in promoting the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.

He also expressed his gratitude to the Saudi government for employing and hosting around 1.7 million Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia and solving the recent problem on exporting Bangladeshi manpower to the kingdom.

Professor Iajuddin sought the ambassador's cooperation through exerting his own influence so that Bangladeshi people could uninterruptedly contribute to the infrastructural development of Saudi Arabia.

He expressed his gratitude for magnanimous assistance by the Saudi government for cyclone Sidr-affected people of Bangladesh and requested the Saudi envoy to convey his complements to the Saudi King Abdullah who is also the custodian of two holy mosques.

President Iajuddin also observed the great potential in promoting bilateral cooperation between Dhaka and Riyadh especially in the economic sector through enhancing Saudi investment in Bangladesh and boosting trade between the two countries.

In this regard he also briefed the Saudi envoy about various facilities given by Bangladesh government to foreign investors.

He hoped that Saudi-Bangladesh joint commission meeting scheduled to be held on April 7 and 8 in Dhaka would help boosting further the economic cooperation between the two countries.

He also sought envoy's cooperation for increasing Saudi food assistance to Bangladesh and expanding education linkage and exchanging programmes between the two countries.

The President briefed the Saudi envoy about the present government's and Elections commission's efforts towards holding a neutral and fair general election by December this year to strengthen the democratic system in the country.

The outgoing ambassador thanked Bangladesh government and people of the country for extending all-out cooperation to him in discharging his duties in Dhaka.

The ambassador also recalled the Bangladesh's armed forces role in Saudi Arabia in 1990 during the Iraq's invasion to Kuwait and said Saudi Arabia always attached great importance of her relations with brotherly country Bangladesh.

He also expressed his satisfaction at the solution of recent crises of exporting Bangladeshi manpower to Saudi Arabia and hoped that Bangladeshi people would take part increasingly in the development of Saudi Arabia in the days to come.

Secretary to the President Md Sirajul Islam and Press Secretary Abdul Awal Howlader were present.

National Day for disabled today

BSS, Dhaka

The 10th National Day for the Disabled along with the first World Autism Awareness Day will be observed across the country today.

The theme of the National Day for the Disabled is "Social awareness about autism".

The Social Welfare Ministry, National Development Foundation for the Disabled, Social Welfare Department and National Forum of Organizations Working with the Disabled have jointly organised a rally and a discussion meeting on the day, a press release said.

The rally will be brought out at 10 am from in front of Bangladesh Betar in Agargaon and will end at the Social Welfare Department. After the rally, the discussion will be held in the department's auditorium.

Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser for Social Welfare Brigadier General (retd) M A Malek will lead the rally and spoke as the chief guest at the discussion, while Social Welfare Secretary M A Hai Hawlader will attend it as the special guest.

Representatives of different organizations working with the disabled and officials of the departments concerned will participate in the rally and the discussion.

The United Nations General Assembly decided that the World Autism Awareness Day will observed across the globe on April 2 every year from 2008.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a message on eve of the World Autism Awareness Day, affirmed the UN commitment to the rights and well-being of people with disabilities.

"As we advance the universal human rights of children with disabilities, let us focus on building enabling environments for them to prosper as future members of their communities, citizens of their countries and as fully-fledged members of the global community," he said.