The New Nation - Internet Edition

Aziz for inter-linkage between small and large enterprises

Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam inaugurating a
micro-credit fair at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Centre
being held under the aegis of PKSF yesterday. Focus
Bangla

BSS, Dhaka

Finance and Planning Adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday stressed the need for inter-linkages between small and large enterprises to help propel overall national economic growth.

" The small entrepreneurs can produce well but their marketing capacity is limited" he said while inaugurating micro credit fair at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center here organised by Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation (PKSF).

PKSF chairman Professor Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud presided over the function also addressed, among others, by PKSF MD Dr Kazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed.

The adviser pointed out that uses and characterstics of micro credit were changing sharply and said once micro-credit was known for only generating self-employ ment but, now a days, it was also creating wage employments across the country.

He also underscored the need for changing food habit in the face of current food crisis and asked for exploring the windows of micro-credit in this regard.

Dr Aziz also mentioned the contribution of micro-credit in the aftermath of hurricane Sidr and two consecutive floods especially in combating poverty in the country by raising the community people's resilience to face the disasters.

The adviser went round different stalls of the fair which will be open from 10 am to 8 pm every day till April 29.

Choked rivers push up temperature of Dhaka city

Staff Reporter

The temperature of Dhaka city remains 1.5 times higher than that of other cities in the country as its surrounding rivers have been choked with garbage and toxic wastes, speakers said at a discussion meeting in the capital yesterday.

The dumping of garbage and toxic wastes everyday into the river Buriganga and other rivers flowing around the capital has virtually turned them into ' dustbin', they noted.

The discussion meeting on "Our immediate duty to save Buringanga and other rivers" was jointly organised by Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA), Buriganga Bachao Andolon and Puran Dhaka Paribesh Unnayan Forum at the Dr. Shahidullah College auditorium at Bakshibazar.

Among others, Abdul Alim, principal, Dt.Shahidullah College, Md Mahbubuzzaman, member of governing body of the college and Mihir Bishwas, joint secretary, BAPA, Tusar Rehman of BAPA took part in the discussion.

Mihir Bishwas said temperature around the Dhaka University Campus and the Ramna Park area is relatively lower because of many trees. The temperature in the entire capital would come down if trees are grown in a large number along the Buriganga and other rivers, he opined.

He pointed out that the industrial units are dumping toxic effluents and dwelling houses household wastes into the rivers regularly and thus polluting the water alarmingly. The

Government should take measures to stop these practices, which are posing a serious threat to public health, he added.

He also pleaded for dismantling all illegal structures along the rivers for saving our environment. The sooner it is done, the better, he added Tusar laid importance on containing the population explosion saying that rapid growth of population was responsible for occupation of lands, river banks and rivers illegally and degradation of our environment.

Shrimp enclosures affected by virus from Indian fry

UNB, Satkhira

Shrimp enclosures in the country are being widely affected by virus as low quality and virus- affected fry are smuggled into the country from India through the border of the district, causing huge loss to the shrimp cultivators.

Sources said every day huge quantity of shrimp fry are being smuggled into the country through the five bordering upazilas of the district.

Smugglers bring in the low quality and virus-affected fry through various border points. These include Kakdanga, Daudkhali, Borali, Goira, Chandanpur, Bhadali, Chanduria, Madra, Keragacchi and Charabari of Koloroa upazila; Reioo, Taluigacch, Banshdaha, Bhomra, Satani, Jhaudanga and Jugibari of sadar uapzila; Chhutipur, Basantapur, Bhatshala, Sakhra, Komorpur, Char Sreepur, Town Sreepur, Kulia, Patlia and Gazirhat of Devhata uapzila; Banshtola, Khanjia, Uksha, Nurnagar and Nazimganj of Kaliganj upazila; and Paranpur, Noikati, Kultoli and Koikhali of Shyamnagar uapzila.

The smugglers sell the fry to the owners of 'Bagda' nurseries and 'Galda' hatcheries of the border areas from where these are sold as locally produced fry to shrimp cultivators of various districts.

Shrimps get affected by virus in enclosures across the country after the shrimp cultivators release their smuggled virus-affected fry in the enclosures.

While talking to the UNB correspondent, some shrimp fry smugglers of Kaliganj uapzila said locally produced shrimp fry (Galda) costs Tk 2,000-2,500 per 1000 while Indian fry costs only Tk 1,200 per 1000. They said they could earn profits of Tk 1,000 from 1000 fry brought from India.

Again, 1,000 Indian fry (Bagda) costs Tk 150 against Tk 250-Tk 300 in case of locally produced fry, they said.

The shrimp fry smugglers also said that they have to bring the fry into the country after managing the law enforcers along the border.

Some shrimp cultivators of Asassuni upazila, including Moniruzzamna, Amin and Bari, said they could not earn profit in the last few years due to virus attack in their enclosures.

They said they are worried whether they would be able to recover the production cost this year.

Besides, the shrimp cultivators are being deceived by the hatchery owners as they also secretly buy the sub-standard shrimp fry from the smugglers and sell those to the unsuspecting cultivators as locally produced fry at high price.

District Fisheries Department sources said the cultivators would require 186.38 crore Bagda fry and 8.21 crore Galda fry to cultivate Bagda shrimps on 54,503 hectares of land and Galda shrimp on 5,805 hectares this year.

Fisheries Officer Hasanuzzaman Chowdhury said the shrimp cultivators opt for low-priced Indian fry due to high price of the locally produced fry.

He also said that the smugglers bring in the low quality and virus affected Indian shrimp fry through the border to earn windfall profit though it is prohibited to bring all kinds of fry from India.

He also mentioned that the Fisheries Directorate recently warned the local Bagda nurseries and Galda hatcheries not to sell the virus-affected Indian fry.

The Fisheries Directorate also requested the BDR to strengthen surveillance along the border to halt the smuggling of shrimp fry, the Fisheries Officer said.

Satkhira 41-Rifle Battalion operations officer Major Kamrul Hasan said BDR jawans of various border posts have been altered so that no shrimp fry could enter into the country from India.

He informed that the BDR recently seized smuggled fry worth Tk 100,000 from the border areas.

Rice farming potential to help achieve food security

UNB, Dhaka

Rice-fish farming has huge potentials to help the country achieve food security and reshape its agro-landscape, as it has enabled many farmers in three districts to earn 218 percent higher net return than that of single Boro cultivation, according to a survey.

The farm household survey conducted in Kishoreganj, Comilla and Chandpur districts found that farmers earned a net return of Tk 49,714 per hectare for integrating fish culture with Boro rice against the net return of single Boro rice of Tk 11,179. This shows a 218 percent higher net return from rice-fish farming than that of single Boro rice cultivation.

"It (rice-fish farming) also reduced 77 per cent and 51 per cent pesticide and weeding costs respectively. Similar trend was also observed in case of Aman rice and rice-fish farming," the study says. Rice-fish farming is an organic method that combines rice and fish production while maximising labour and rice-field resources. A three-member team of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Gazipur conducted the survey, 'Adoption and Productivity of Rice-Fish Farming in Bangladesh', to assess the productivity and profitability of rice-fish production at the farm level and determine the factors affecting rice-fish output.

The study says with a population of 137 million and growing at 1.48 percent a year, Bangladesh faces an uphill battle in meeting the food needs of its huge population. "Therefore, increased food production in the flood-prone ecosystem from rice-fish culture could play a vital role in reducing malnutrition, increasing household income and helping the country achieve food security."

In Asia, China boasts a history of 1700 years in rice-fish-farming practice. As rural areas in China have been industrialised in recent years, rice-fish farming has drawn attention. In China, rice-fish farming is no longer limited to the household economy and to production for personal or family consumption. It is now part of farmland improvement, soil improvement, and environmental protection, according to available information.

Rice-fish farming is no longer a sole agro-production practice, but an agro-cultural pattern. Therefore, it has been listed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the Globally Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).

This integrated system of farming has huge potentials in Bangladesh. It can enable the country to produce an estimated 400,000 tonnes of fish a year worth US$300 million on 40,000 hectares of land, says WorldFish Centre.

According to experts, rice-fish farming provides a sustainable alternative to rice monoculture, if farmers can take full advantage of the natural productivity of the rice field ecosystem. They said the aim should be to reduce the resource use, avoid overuse of agrochemicals and improve production efficiency through increased recycling of nutrients and matter. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies should thus be adopted as a necessary complement to fish farming practices.

About environmental protection, the experts said fish wastes and the extra feed given to fish, including vegetable waste and rice bran, increase the amount of organic fertilizer in the field. As a result, farmers need less chemical fertilizer, leading to an improved environment.

They said there is also less use of pesticides and insecticides, as fish can play a significant role in controlling many pests and diseases of rice. They eat weeds and algae that carry diseases, act as hosts for pests and compete with rice for nutrients. There is thus also less need for weeding and plowing. Fish also feed on flies and other small insects.

Self-sufficiency in food is of paramount importance for Bangladesh, as many small farmers cannot grow enough to sustain themselves round the year. One or two bad harvests can plunge a family into debts it can never hope to repay. Raising fish offers a solution to these problems, contributing to income and food.

Fish is a major source of protein in Asia, supplying 46 percent of the total animal protein in Bangladesh and as much as 75 per cent in Indo-China.

In the floodplains of Bangladesh, 70 per cent of households catch fish for income or food. They are poor, largely landless and survive on less than Tk 100 a day. Fish is the major-and often the only-source of animal protein for them.

UN call to eliminate malaria by 2010

BBC Online

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for the elimination of malaria deaths by the end of 2010 as he marked the first World Malaria Day.

The disease causes over a million deaths a year, with 90% of all cases occurring in Africa.

Ban wants all of Africa to have access to basic measures to control the disease such as bed nets and sprays. "We have the resources and the know-how but we have less than 1,000 days before the end of 2010," he said of the goal. More than half a billion people are infected with malaria each year. Despite this, it is preventable and treatable.

In a video message, the secretary general said household sprays and bed nets treated with insecticide would be offered "to all people at risk, especially women and children in Africa".

He called for bed nets for an extra 500 million people, more malaria clinics, more training for community health workers, and encouragement of research into the disease.

Mr Ban described the 2010 deadline as a "bold but achievable vision", saying that several African countries had "made dramatic strides in malaria control".

Malaria still kills more than one million people every yeart The toll it is taking is unacceptable - all the more so because malaria is preventable and treatable

But he added: "The most affected nations remain off track to reach the goal of halting and reversing the incidence of the disease."

Previous efforts to control malaria have proved less than successful.

In 1998 the Roll Back Malaria initiative aimed to halve malaria deaths by 2010 - but halfway through the programme deaths had actually risen.

Reversing the trend of increase in malaria and other diseases is one of the UN's Millennium Development Goals, aimed at reducing poverty and improving the quality of life by 2015.

Irregularities in Biman employees’ retirement

UNB, Dhaka

The committee, formed to review the applications of Biman employees who went on retirement under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and now want their jobs back, found irregularities that included direct or indirect threat from Biman high officials.

The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry formed the three-member committee on January 2 asking for its report within two weeks. Later, the deadline was extended.

Civil Aviation and Tourism joint secretary Fakhrul Islam was made convenor of the committee while Biman finance director Muhammad Tahir Hossain as member and Civil Aviation and Tourism deputy secretary M Majibur Rahman the member- secretary.

The committee was asked to find out whether there were any irregularities in the VRS process.

"We've found that there was direct or indirect threat on some Biman officials to go for VRS," a member of the committee told UNB. In its report, the committee said one or more high officials of the Biman hang a list that mentioned the name of Biman officials for VRS.

"We got indication that one or more high officials of the Biman asked indirectly the persons whose names were on the list to go for VRS, else deprived from their benefits or be sacked," the committee member said.

The Biman authorities last year had planned to cut 1,593 jobs in its eight departments to trim its manpower to 3,400 from about 5,000. The eight departments are Customer Service, Engineering, Project and Planning, Administration, Finance, Store and Purchase, Flight Operation, and Marketing and Sales.

Accordingly, the authorities had invited applications on June 4 last year from its employees willing to go on retirement under the VRS plan.

As of June 20 last year, some 2,267 employees submitted their applications for the voluntary retirement, but most of them alleged that they were forced to sign the printed VRS form of retirement.

As the number of applicants exceeded the number of the planned job cut, the government formed a committee, headed by Biman managing director MA Momen, to make a short list.

The committee finalised a list of 1,877 employees of different departments for the voluntary retirement, a programme that was called 'golden handshake'.

The voluntary retirement-seekers later drew their designated retirement benefits.

Later, over 500 Biman employees who already went on retirement under the VRS made an appeal to the government that they had to accept the VRS amid threats by some high officials.

The Civil Aviation Authority formed the inquiry committee following the appeal.

Meanwhile, on March 25, the High Court issued an interim injunction on contractual appointment of flight stewardesses by Bangladesh Biman Airlines Ltd for its aircraft. A High Court Division Bench, headed by Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, issued the interim injunction following a writ petition challenging the legality of Biman's impugned action on initiating contractual appointment of Flight Stewardesses before submission of its review board report.

Ferdousi Begum Karnaj and six others, who were allegedly forced to retire under the voluntary retirement scheme last year, had filed the writ petition.

The court also issued a rule upon the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd in this regard.

This impugned action of Biman aggrieved VRS staff that prompted them to move to the High Court seeking redress.

Recognition to Adivasi mother tongue a must

Staff Reporter

Speakers at the Adivasi Students' Convention yesterday urged the government to introduce the indigenous children' mother tongue as the medium of their primary education, saying rights to mother tongue can end exclusion of Adivasi students from the country's education system.

Research and development Collective (RDC), with support of Oxfam-GB, Bangladesh, organised the convention at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh at Asad Gate in the city.

Eminent writer Prof Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, Prof Dr HKS Arefin, Anthropology Department, Dhaka University, addressed the convention chaired by Prof Mesbah Kamal.

The convention was held as a part of observation of global action week on education from April 21.

This year, the theme of the week is "Quality Education for All: End Exclusion Now"

They identified that the language barriers are the main problems behind the drop out of the indigenous children from the primary schools.

Prof Zafar Iqbal said after the recognition of the 21st February as the International Mother Tongue Day, our responsibility to ensure the right of others' mother tongues has increased.

Prof Iqbal said only education could solve all problems of the Adivasi.

He said if Bangladesh if there had been more diversity in our community, the society would advance further.

Prof Arefin said many government officials are yet to know the rights of the adivasi and they do not treat them well.

He said if the policy makers in the country could realise that there is no division among human beings, all problems would have been solved.

Bangladesh's culture will be richer through cultural exchange with the indigenous people, he added.

Prof Mesbah Kamal suggested that the government could follow the residential school model in the Indian province of Tripura for the children of the Zoom cultivators.

Students Sohel Chandra Hazong of Dhaka University, Usey Pro Marma of Chittagong University, Pali Tripura of Jahangirnagar University and Manik Soran of Rajshahi University presented four separate keynote papers. Zannat-A- Ferdousi, Director (Advocacy and Publication) of RDC and Abu Naser Babu, Trustee of RDC, among others, were present.

Many indigenous students from the Dhaka, Chittagong, Jahangirnagar and Rajshahi Universities atteneded the convention.

Death of fellow worker: RMG workers block Dhaka-Aricha road

Law-enforcing agency personnel guarding the
Hemayetpur road at Savar yesterday following unrest of
garment workers. Focus Bangla

UNB, Savar

Garment workers went berserk and blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway for two and half-hours Friday morning following the death of a fellow worker in a road accident at Hemayetpur here. The agitated workers also damaged 20/30 vehicles and clashed with police, leaving 20 cops and some workers injured. Sources said when Nasir, 35, was crushed under the wheels of a bus on the road near his workplace, AAKH Fashion, at about 7:45 am his fellow workers protesting the accident took to the street. Workers of some other garment factories also joined with the workers of AAKH Fashion and put up barricade on the road, disrupting vehicular movement for about two and half-hours. "When police tried to remove the barricade the garment workers clashed with police, turning the place virtually into a battle field", said a spot account of the incident.

Later, army and RAB personnel rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control at about 10:15am.

Chinese FM stresses military-military ties

UNB, Dhaka

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi yesterday said military to military cooperation is an important part of overall bilateral relation between Bangladesh and China.

Jiechi, who met Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed in the morning, made the remark to journalists prior to his departure for Pakistan ending a 2-day official visit to Bangladesh.

During the meeting, they discussed exchange of training programmes of military personnel of the two countries. Jiechi conveyed greetings of the Chinese Defence Minister and the Chief of Army to Gen Moeen.

Minor girl killed by lunatic in city

Staff Reporter

Farzana, a minor girl, was killed allegedly by an insane man at Kabarsthan Road in North Badda in the city Thursday evening.

Police said the deranged man, Fazar Ali (30) hit Farzana (3), daughter of Badal Bepari, with a stick on her head when she was playing with her friends in front of her house at about 6:00pm, leaving Farzana grievously injured.

Farzana was rushed to nearby Upasham Hospital where doctors declared her dead at about 8.00pm.

On information, police recovered the body and send it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. Police arrested Fazar. Police said that Fazar was a mentally disturbed man, who used to hit passersby with stick in the area.

The father of Farzana filed a murder case against Fazar Ali with Badda Police Station.