The New Nation - Internet Edition

Raising voice of ulema to establish women's rights

BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a seminar here on Sunday urged the ulema to raise their voice for establishing the rights of woman in the society. They said the ulema should also engage themselves in mobilising the people's opinion for eliminating pre-Islamic practices like dowry from the society.

"There are many pre-Islamic culture and social practices still exist in the society due to ignorance," said the noted Islamic scholar Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at the seminar on "The role of Islam in resisting violence against women", at the Jatiya Press Club auditorium.

Maulana Azad, who chaired the seminar, said Islam has awarded women with their right to property, right to inheritance and dower (a security either in cash or kind to be handed over to the bride by the groom).

"But due to prevalence of pre-Islamic practices here, the husbands are being treated like a god and the rights to property of women are denied frequently. The wives are being treated as 'Charan dasis'," he said adding none of these are either Islamic or legal.

Organised by Masjid Council, the seminar was addressed, among others, by former secretary and noted Islamic scholar Shah Abdul Hannan, Professor, Department of Political Science, Dhaka University Dr. UAB Razia Akhter Banoo, News Editor of BSS, Rasheda Amin, Associate Professor of National University Dr Mohammad Abu Yousuf and Lecturer of Darul Ihsan University Nasima Hasan.

Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies Department of National University Dr. Mohammad Manzur-e-Elahi presented the keynote paper while. Shah Abdul Hannan said it is true that Islam has given equal honour both to a man and to a woman. But it is also true that women in many cases are not getting their full rights in a country where 90 percent of the population are Muslim.

Dr Abu Yusuf urged the ulema for delivering Khutba highlighting the Islamic tenets on violence against woman.

President shocked at death of Gen (Rtd) Mustafiz

BSS, Dhaka

President Professor Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed on Sunday expressed his profound shock at the death of former Chief of Army Staff, General (retd) Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, Bir Bikram.

In a condolence message, the President recalled the contributions of Mustafizur in the War of Liberation and said, 'The people of the country would remember with gratitude his contributions to the development of the Army and the country'.

The country has lost an experienced military leader at his death, he said.

Prof Iajuddin prayed for peace of the departed soul and conveyed his deep sympathy to the members of the bereaved family.

Rly officials asked to improve passenger service

BSS, Dhaka

Adviser for Communications Major General (retd) Golam Quader today directed the officials of Bangladesh Railway to improve the quality of passenger services.

"The lost glory of the Bangladesh Railway must be revived through improving the passenger services," he said while presiding over a meeting with railway officials at the Rail Bhaban here, an official Handout said. The meeting was held to review the progress of the ongoing development projects of the railway.

The adviser said the railway is a service-oriented organisation and the officials need to be more conscious in providing better services to the passengers.

He gave directives to the officials to strengthen the vigilance activities for improving the passenger services of the railway. He also said that the government has been providing subsidy in order to serve the people of the country.

The meeting was informed that during the last fiscal year the railway had achieved 84 percent progress in its development projects. During the current fiscal 29 projects were undertaken involving a total of Taka 890 crore, he added.

Secretary of the Roads and Railways Division of the Communications Ministry Dr Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman and Director General of Bangladesh Railway M Belayet Hossain and other concerned officials were present at the meeting.

BB Repo auction of BB held

BSS, Dhaka

The Repo Auction of Bangladesh Bank (BB) for commercial banks and financial institutions was held here on Sunday.

Five bids of 1-day tenor amounting to a total of Taka 1,138.00 crore were received and these bids were also accepted, a BB press release said.

On the other hand, it said, two bids of 1-day tenor amounting to a total of Taka 115.00 crore were accepted for providing liquidity support facility to the primary dealers.

The rate of interest of the accepted all bids was 8.50 percent per annum, the press release said.

Security printing co to be launched this month

BSS, Dhaka

Japan-Bangladesh Group (JBG), a joint venture company, is to launch a modern security printing and packaging industry this month with a total investment of $7.80 billion at Rupganj in Narayanganj district.

Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, JBG Chairman Selim Prodhan said Security printing, offset printing, pre-press and post-press systems are the main components of the whole project.

"We have already invested $1.30 billion in the project with employment opportunities for nearly 400 Bangladeshis," he said adding that the country would earn huge foreign currencies from exports after its completion by 2012.

JBG Vice presidents Masamichi Taniguchi and Tadao Komatsu, former Bangladesh ambassador to Japan Rashed A Chowdhury and JBG members Abdul Quddus, Syed M Lutfullah and Enamul Kabir were present on the occasion.

Selim Prodhan said two Japanese companies-PCK Printing Company Ltd and Naigal Ink Chugoku Hanbai-are also investing in this project. The main objective of this project is to provide the best service to the nation, he said.

"Finer quality bank cheque, demand draft, certificate, mark sheets, pay-order, share certificates, security printing matters and valuable documents of academic institutions will be produced in this industry," he said on queries.

Mobile court realises Tk 2.19 lakh as fine in city

BSS, Dhaka

Mobile courts in separate drives realised Taka 2,19,500 as fine and filed 27 cases against a number of restaurants and departmental stores in the city for selling essentials without BSTI certification on Thursday.

The mobile courts conducted their drives under the initiative of Dhaka District Administration, a press release said on Sunday.

The drives were conducted in Gulshan, Khilkhet, Cantonment, Tejgaon and Tejgaon Industrial Area, Lalbagh, Kamrangirchar, Kotwali, Sutrapur, Shyampur, Uttara, Uttarkhan, Dakkhinkhan, Airport, Turag, Demra and Jatrabari of the city.

Chinese Vice FM meets Iftekhar

BSS, Dhaka

Chinese Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei, who is attending the current SAARC Summit as an observer, met Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury in his hotel suite Saturday evening in Colombo.

Mr. Dawei told the foreign adviser that China considered Bangladesh as a strategic friend in SAARC and sought Bangladesh's help in order to be able to play a greater role in SAARC, according to a message received here on Sunday.

Dr Iftekhar Chowdhury said that Bangladesh warmly welcomed China in the SAARC framework and would be very pleased to support a greater China role in the regional organisation as Bangladesh considers China "a true all-weather friend."

Mentioning Bangladesh's development efforts Wu Dawei termed the recent agricultural production, particularly cereal production in Bangladesh, as the world's "eighth wonder". He said the Chinese people admired Bangladesh's success in it and other development sectors.

They also discussed a possible visit by the Chief Adviser to China in future.

Flood situation in five districts improve, more

BSS, Dhaka

The flood situation in the districts of Munshiganj, Manikganj, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and two upazilas of Dohar and Nawabganj in Dhaka district is likely to improve gradually, Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) reported on Sunday.

The major rivers Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Ganges-Padma are also expected to maintain their falling trend, the FFWC noted.

The Brahmaputra-Jamuna, which had been retreating steadily is expected to maintain the trend for the next 2-3 days. The Ganges- Padma remaining steady is also likely to fall slightly for couple of days and is likely to follow the trend for the next 3-4 days.

The flashy rivers like the Teesta and the Kangsha are flowing below their danger level (DL). Reports from India received by the FFWC said their forecast suggest the Ganges-Padma at Farakka point may rise a little today. But it would not affect the situation downstream, a FFWC source told BSS.

The report from India on the Brahmaputra-Jamuna said it was falling at all the points upstream in Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Dhubri.

Another report by the Indian authorities said the Teesta at Domohoni may rise a little. The river was flowing below its DL inside Bangladesh.

The Brahmaputra-Jamuna at Noonkhawa, where it enters Bangladesh, recorded a fall by six cm today. Further downstream at Sirajganj, the river was flowing at 13.34 metres against its DL of 13.75 metres yesterday, the sources added.

ACC pleas seeking stay of bails for Bhuiyan, Shamsul, Mosharraf referred to Appellate Divn

UNB, Dhaka

The Supreme Court Sunday did not entertain pleas by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to stay previous High Court orders granting bails to ex- ministers Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, M Shamsul Islam and Engineer Mosharraf Hossain.

Rather, Chamber Court of Justice M A Matin referred the matters to the Appellate Division for hearing on August 12.

Justice Matin's notion was to apparently uphold the High Court orders.

The ACC sought stay as it prefers leave-to-appeal against the HC orders that also separately stayed proceedings of the corruption cases against the ex-ministers. The High Court also issued separate rules upon the ACC asking it to explain why the cases against them should not be quashed.

Meanwhile, Mannan Bhuiyan and M Shamsul Islam who face Gatco scam case have already been released from jail in line with HC orders, but Mosharraf who faces two corruption cases was rearrested minutes after he was released from jail.

Nazmul Huda's physical condition examined at DMCH

UNB, Dhaka

Detained former communications minister Nazmul Huda returned to Dhaka Central Jail after his routine medical checkups at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Sunday.

Professor SH Khundkar, head of the Department of Plastic Surgery of the hospital, said he examined Huda after he was taken to the hospital at noon.

Huda was later sent back to the prison at about 1:30pm.

"He has been suffering from diabetes, kidney complication and papilloma," the physician said.

He said they would soon operate on his hand to remove papilloma, a type of gentle tumor.

Huda, who has been sentenced to 19 years in jail in two separate cases, was arrested by joint forces at his Dhanmondi home on February 4 last year.

Ex-BNP MP, JCD president get bail from HC

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court on Sunday granted interim bail to former BNP lawmakers Shahidul Islam Master and Abul Khair Bhuiyan, and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) president Azizul Bari Helal.

Responding to separate petitions, a HC division bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad issued separate rules upon the government to explain why they should not be allowed regular bail.

The detained two lawmakers are facing graft charges while the JCD president has been charged with violation of the Emergency Power Rules, court sources said.

The bails are in force until the submission of the police reports against the accused, said the court orders.

Jubo Dal demands lifting of emergency

UNB, Dhaka

Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal Sunday observed a token hunger strike in the city to demand withdrawal of the state of emergency and release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Members of the youth front of the BNP thronged to the party's Dhaka City office in the morning for the protest that ended in the afternoon.

The Jubo Dal activists led by BNP's joint secretary general Gawyeshwar Chandra Roy and city leader Abu Sayeed Khokon also demanded national polls first.

Meanwhile, BNP activists in Germany's Frankfurt rallied in front of Bangladesh mission there to demand release of Khaleda and her son Tarique Rahman.

They demanded that Tarique be sent to Germany for medical treatment after his release from jail.

Dewan Shafiqul Islam, president of BNP's German unit, chaired the meeting while general secretary Masud Reza and vice president Abdul Mannan also spoke on the occasion.

Chhatra Andolan demands release of Khaleda, Tarique

DU Correspondent

'Nirjaton Protirod Chhatra Andolan' a platform of general students of Dhaka University, observed peacefully student strike in all the educational institutions yesterday demanding withdrawal of emergency, cancellation of local government elections and holding of national elections first and release of detained political leaders, including Begum Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.

Some departments of Dhaka University took classes early in the morning and some departments were abstention from classes. But the strike could not affect on examinations, as it was purview from the strike.

The activists of the organisation brought out a procession on the campus, which marched throughout the campus. Later, they held a rally at the foot of Aparajeyo Bangla.

Khomeni Ihsan, Convenor of the organisation, urged the students to take part in their movement if it is reasonable.

He said if the nation has silence in the present situation everybody has to be suffered for this.

The people are demanding to withdrawal of the state of emergency but the government is avoiding the issue, he said.

Nirjaton Protirodh Chhatra Andolan has been holding different types of programmes on the university campus since its interception to drum up support for their demands but the government so far did not pay heed.

Among others, Mahbubul Islam Milton, Al Mehedi, Hafizur Rahman, Vashkar Shaha, Mainul Islam, Shaheed Mallik and Niloy Sarkar spoke in the rally.