The New Nation - Internet Edition

Holy Ramzan: Orphans should be treated well

Rasulullah (Sm) said, "The children are the butterfly of Garden of Paradise." In this Hadith, affection and responsibility of a Muslim towards a child is stressed. In the background of such a soft and beautiful attitude of the Messenger of Allah towards the children, the position of an orphan (who is also a child and left helpless without parents) may be viewed.

The Holy Quran commands about orphans: "Give unto orphans their wealth. Exchange not good for the bad (in your management thereof), nor absorb their wealth into your own wealth. Lo! that would be a great sin!" (4:2)

The Holy Quran reveals: "Be kind to your parents and relatives and the orphans, and those in need; and speak nicely to people." (2:83) "And (show) kindness to (your) parents and to near relatives, orphans, the needy t "(4:36),.

Helpless orphans should be provided with all humanitarian support by the believers of Allah. The Holy Hadith says: "The best house among the Muslims is the house in which an orphan is well treated and the worst house among the Muslims is the house in which an orphan is badly treated." (Ibne Maja)

The merit of observance of fasting greatly depends on a person's treatment of an orphan, as he is a Muslim first and then he is a worshipper. The worst Muslim, because of his ill treatment of an orphan, cannot be a good 'rozadar'. Humanitarian consideration is the subject of prime importance in Islam. So, the Holy Quran and the Hadith proclaim responsibility towards orphans. It cannot be separated from the message of fasting.

-Abdul Muqit Chowdhury

Remittances from Malaysia mark record rise

BSS, Dhaka

Remittances from Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia have marked a record rise in recent times, a spokesman for the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment said on Friday.

"In the year 2006-2007, it was US$ 11.8 million. During 2007- 2008, it rose to US$ 92.44 million which is nearly a nine fold increase," the spokesman stated.

In addition, during the past year, 370,000 Bangladeshis have found employment in Malaysia.

"It has been learnt that a further 100,000 may also be able to go within this year, according to information received informally," the spokesman added.

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, who is also In-charge of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, said, "This is a very good news on both countries."

"During a recent transit stop-over in Kuala Lumpur, I have instructed the High Commissioner that apart from such increases in numbers and remittance amounts, workers' welfare must be accorded the highest possible priority," he said.

A senior Malaysian official, Suhakam Commissioner Datuk N. Siva Subramanium, recently said all embassies, including the Indian mission, should follow the example of the Bangladesh High Commissioner in welfare activities, particularly "in setting up a camp to help their citizens who are looking for employment and facing problems in the country."

WB, IFC report Progress achieved in three specific business areas

BSS, Dhaka

Bangladesh has achieved tremendous success in three specific areas of business during the last one year despite the country's position marked low in the 'Doing Business' index of the World Bank (WB) this year.

The success areas are: reducing the cost of launching business, property registration and shortening the tax payment period, said a WB report published from Washington on Wednesday.

The report jointly published by the WB and International Finance Corporation (IFC) said about 50 per cent cost has been dropped after waiving the mandatory provision for appointment of two lawyers to attest the documents before launching a business in Bangladesh.

Besides, entrepreneurs can save 43 per cent time for registering their property and 25 percent time during payment of the taxes, the report said.

It also said that the total time to start a business has been declined maximum in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka during June 2007-June 2008. It was possible due to reforms in some official rules, it noted.

Syed Akhter Mahmud, Chief Coordinator of Bangladesh in preparing the report, told BSS today that there are some external reasons of declining the position of Bangladesh. But, in actual term, Bangladesh has achieved enormous success in doing business.

Last year, the position of Bangladesh was 107th and this year it dropped to 110th, he said adding that three countries- Bahrain, Bahamas and Qatar emerged newly in this year's list. And, he added, the positions of these countries are far better than Bangladesh.

Moreover, 16 countries with improved success secured their positions over Bangladesh in the list, Syed Akhter Ahmed said, "whatever is the position of Bangladesh, it is undoubtedly progressing in creating a better business friendly environment."

The WB and IFC prepared the report based on ten business- related issues and taking the existing business climate in 181 countries into their consideration.

According to the report, Bangladesh has given more attention to institutional reforms through constitution of 'Bangladesh Better Business Forum and Regulatory Reforms Commission.

In future, Bangladesh would be able to attain more progress if the reform programmes in the pipeline are executed without interruption, the report observed.

DSE up for 3rd consecutive week to retain stability

UNB, Dhaka

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed gains for the third second consecutive week that ended Thursday, reflecting a healthy sign of slowly regaining the stability of the market from a nine-week slump.

The DSE General Index (DGEN), the benchmark index, gained 47 points or about 2 percent to close at 2,850 at the closing of the week on Thursday.

The All Share Price Index (DSI) increased marginally by 9 points or 0.37 percent to close at 2,407 points while the DSE-20 index of selective shares 32 points or 1.34 percent to close at 2,442 points.

The uptrend was, however, based on speculative retail investments while the trade concentration was mainly on 15-20 stocks only.

Market players warned small retail investors of losing money if the few shares go through deep price correction. "More than 80 percent of the investment mostly by retail investors went on speculative side," DSE chief executive officer Dr Salahuddin Ahmed Khan told UNB.

He said the country's prime bourse is still dominated by the bank shares, but they received poor investment during the recent uptrend.

A fund manager said the market was slowly regaining the stability with a bit healthy volume of trade giving a good signal to the investors.

But, he said, the concern is that half of the trade was concentrating on only 15-20 shares. "This is not a very healthy sign," he said, adding that it would pull the price of the few shares beyond their intrinsic value.

"The concentration on a few shares may be giving short-term gains, but in case of any deep correction would cause financial losses to the retail investors," said the fund manager.

He added that the market has been retail-driven and consequently the possibility of volatility in the market is quite high.

During the last week, the total turnover increased by 25 percent to Tk 17.30 billion, a daily average of Tk 3.46 billion, from Tk 13.80 billion in the previous week.

The price earning of the stocks increased by about 2 percent in the week to 20.63 as compared to 20.26 of the previous week. Market capitalisation increased by less than one percent to Tk 994 billion last week from Tk 988 billion in the previous week.

The turnover leaders of the week were Titas Gas, BEXIMCO, ACI Limited, ICB 2nd NRB, GrameenS2, Lankabangla Finance Company, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund, Beximco Pharma, S. Alam CRST and Union Capital.

Saleh Carpet has been the top gainer of the week with 59 percent increase in the prices of its shares by closing price, though a DSE investigation revealed Thursday said the company's registered corporate office in Chittagong remained closed since 2003.

Only three "A" category shares-ICB 2nd NRB, Pragati Insurance and AIMS 1st Mutual Fund - were among the top 10 gainers of the week while one from "B" category (Sino Bangla), one from "N" category (GrameenS2) and five from "Z" category ( Saleh Carpet, Shinepukur Holdings, Progressive Life Insurance, BD Luggage and Beximco Fisheries).

Top losers were Rupali Bank, BCIL, Sonargaon Textiles, ICB Islamic Bank Limited, Maq Enterprise, Samorita Hospital, Lexco, Amam Sea Food, Safko Spinnings and Standard Ceramic.

Fazle Hasan Abed selected for Rockefeller Leadership Award

UNB, Dhaka

BRAC founder and chairperson Fazle Hasan Abed has been selected for the "David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award" for his innovate work to empower poor people, help them enjoy their basic human rights and enhance their opportunities to secure a better future.

The award, which will also be presented this year to Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, will be given at an event in New York on September 23, said a BRAC release.

The David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award is presented each year by Synergos, an independent non-profit organization, to extraordinary leaders who have shown vision and courage in bringing people. together to address the most critical issues of our time.

The first such honoree was David Rockefeller, for whom the award is named. Last year, the award was presented to former South African President Nelson Mandela as well as the Co-Chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and William Gates Sr.

Vicious circle behind fake admission in DU

BSS, Dhaka

A 'vicious circle' in connivance with the owners of the coaching centres in the city has allegedly earned huge amount of money by helping students to illegally get admitted at the Dhaka University (DU).

According to the sources, each of the fake students paid the group Taka 25,000 to 1,00,000 for getting admitted into different faculties and institutes of the university.

Abdul Aziz, a fake student of the International Relations Department, said, I have paid Taka 50,000 to department official Abul Hossain through a teacher of coaching centre in the city. Zakia Yasmin, another fake student of the same department said I gave Taka 70,000 to a central leader of a so-called student organisation for illegal admission.

Like Zakia and Aziz many other fake students also paid huge sum of money to the 'vicious circle' which included a section of corrupt officials and leaders of different student organisations to illegally get admitted at the DU, according to the sources.

The Fact Finding Committee on Admission Forgery at DU identified 210 students as fake so far. The Syndicate has cancelled admission of the students under different faculties and institutes, said DU Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof AFM Yusuf Haider. The Fact Finding Committee also identified five university officials and eight outsiders in the forgery.

DU Chief Security Officer Kamrul Ahsan filed a case with Shahbagh Police Station on October 6 last year against the university officials and outsiders for their alleged involvement in the forgery.

The accused university officials are Deputy Registrar (Education-2) AKM Mozammel Haque, International Relations Department official Abul Hossain, Chief Assistant of Admission Section BM Aminul Islam, Economics Department Chief Assistant Bimol Chandra Das, and Public Administration Department Chief Assistant Md Yunus. The outsiders are UNAID Coaching Centre teacher Golam Mostofa Kiron, Mirpur University College teacher Hafizur Rahman Hafiz, Karuta International consultant Obaidul Kabir Swapan, Md Moin, Nishat Ahmed, Sazzadur Rahman Lipon and Jewel Rosario.

Sources said, out of the 210 fake students, highest 92 managed admission to the Department of International Relations, 69 to the Department of Public Administration, 25 to the Department of Economics, nine to the Department of Political Science, seven to the Department of Management Studies, four to the Institute of Social Welfare and Research, three to the Department of Mathematics, three to the Department of Applied Chemistry, two to the Department of Geography and Environment, two to the Department of Botany, one each to the Departments of Library and Information Science and Chemistry.

Sources said, a number of suspected fake students have meanwhile secured court orders to attend their classes and sit for examinations.

A total of 67 suspected fake students have filed writs with the High Court, of which, 42 suspected students of International Relations Department filed 38 writs, 19 suspected fake students of Public Administration department filed 12 writs, four suspected Economics department students filed four writs while two suspected fake students of the Institute of Social Welfare and Research filed two writs.

Prof AFM Yusuf Haider, who heads the committee said, DU authorities have appointed two attorneys Barrister Halim Chaklader and Dr Noyem Ahmed to look into the legal aspects of the admission forgery.

Birth anniversary of Anukulchandra observed

Staff Reporter

The 125th birth anniversary of Sri Sri Thakur Anukulchandra was observed with due religious fervour yesterday.

The Satsanga, the platform of devotees of Thakur Anukul, organised an inter-religion discussion meeting at Dhakeshwary temple in the city yesterday.

They offered special prayers for peace of mankind, sang devotional songs and performed rituals on the occasion.

Thakur Anukulchandra is the fountainhead of Satsanga, a non-communal religious and philanthropic institution working in different countries including India and Bangladesh.

16 Dy secretaries transferred

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

The government has transferred 16 deputy secretaries. The ministry of establishment issued the transfer orders on Thursday. Shawkat Akbar, Secretary of the Privatisation Commission and Sheikh Adbur Rouf of the finance division have been transferred to the home ministry.

Home Ministry's Amjad Hossain Khan has been transferred to the finance division and Jamaluddin Ahmed to the ministry of land.

Akhter Hossain Bhuiyan, secretary of the Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO), has been transferred to the Economic Relations Division.

Fazlur Rahman Bhuiyan, director of the Department of Narcotics Control, has been transferred to the ministry of textile and jute.

Humayun Kabir, secretary of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation known as BTMC, has been transferred to the industries ministry.

Move to free 12 JN Varsity dorms from occupants

BSS, Dhaka

Jagannath University authorities have taken initiatives to recover 12 halls from illegal occupants.

"It is possible to recover six halls, out of 12, soon with the cooperation of the government," Vice Chancellor of the university Professor Abu Hossain Siddiqui told BSS yesterday.

The six dormitories are: Abdur Rahman Hall at Armanitola, Shahid Anwar Shafik Hall and Shahid Azmol Hossain Hall at Patuatuli, Bani Bhaban Hall, Shahid Shahabuddin Hall and Wiseghat Tibet Hall at Banglabazar.

The VC said statistics of all assets of the university for a period of last 40 years, cash deposits with the banks and the occupied assets of the university have been made as part of the initiatives to recover the assets.

JCD cadres assault journalists in DU

Staff Reporter

A group of activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), student wing of BNP on Thursday night assaulted five journalists of different print and electronic media and at least 10 students of Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ) department of the University of Dhaka.

The incident took place on the day just after the release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Campus sources said a group of 25 to 30 JCD cadres led by Aminur Rahman Amin, President of Sir AF Rahman Hall unit of JCD, viciously attacked on journalists and MCJ students with iron rods, cricket stamps, wood sticks and Chapati (sharp knife) at the Teacher Student Centre (TSC) area on the university campus.

Seriously injured Shah Alam Kiron, a second year MCJ student also a contributing reporter of The New Age, was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) with severe injures in his back, hand and leg. Later, he was shifted to the National Institute for Traumatology and Orthopedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), according to the recommendation by the DMCH doctors.

Injured there other were: Hasan Titol, DU correspondent of television channel ATN Bangla, Soleman Niloy, DU Correspondent of the daily Janata and Biplop Chandra Sarker, DU Correspondent of the daily Bhorer Kagoj.

Other injured reporters and students including Nadim Mahmud, Ork Asif Shawon, Durjoy, Deen Islam Angel, Habibur Rahman and Tarek received treatment from DU medical centre.

Sources said the incident took place while the MCJ students entered into altercation with a shooting team of a drama serial titled 'Aim in Life' over a trifling matter in front of Rokeya Hall on the campus. After the altercation Amin reached the spot and harassed MCJ students for altercation with the shooting team.

Meanwhile, armed JCD cadres from AF Rahman Hall rushed to the spot getting Amin's direction over phone and swept on MCJ students.

"We had nothing with JCD men, even we did not know Amin. The JCD cadres suddenly attacked upon us," said a victim.

In the afternoon, MCJ students at a press conference demanded exemplary punishment of the JCD cadres who attacked them. They also demanded immediate expulsion of Amin and other JCD cadres from the university.

To press home their demands, students have chalked out a programme which include staging demonstration on the university campus and submission of memorandum to the DU vice chancellor Prof SMA Faiz today.

They will also hold a solidarity rally comprising teachers, intellectuals, journalists, lawyers and students on Tuesday to realise their demands.

A case has been filed against JCD men with Shahbagh police station in this connection.

DU unit president of JCD, Hasan Mamun admitted to the reporters that Amin and his team were involved with the incident and said that they would take immediate highest organisational organisational against the responsible persons.

DU proctor Prof AK Firoz Ahmed told the journalists that without previous permission any type of shooting is illegal at the university. University authorities would certainly take strict action against the responsible, Prof Firoz added.

Seeking anonymity, a student of JCD said that during last nine years Amin had been committing hijacking, extortion, assaulting common students and running drug business in the university campus.

He controls drug business in the campus in peace under the shadow of JCD's Senoir Vice President Salauddin Tuku. He is involved in each and every extortion activities on campus, New Market, Nilkhet and Palashi areas.

Source said Aminul did not participate in any party programme. Though General Secretary Jewel and Organizational Secretary Hemel of F Rahman Hall participated in these activities, most members of his cadre group remain inactive at daylight. They become active to commit extortion, snatching, hijacking at night.

A number of extortion and hijacking cases had been filed with Shabagh and New Market Thana aginst him but the law enforcement agencies are yet to take any stern action against him.

BSF returns body of Bangladeshi national to BDR

UNB, Thakurgaon

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday returned the body of a Bangladeshi national, who was shot dead by them on Wednesday.

The body of Rahidul Islam, 30, son of late Shamsul Haque of Chandail village in Haripur upazila, was handed over to the BDR through a flag meeting at zero line of Haripur frontier.

BSF Basantipur Company Commander Pushpakar and SI Nandakumar were present from the Indian side while BDR Haripur Company commander Subeder Shafiqul Islam and Haripur thana SI Jalal Uddin from Bangladeshi side.

Nizami meets Khaleda

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

BNP chief Khaleda Zia met "exclusively" with Jamaat-e-Islami leader Matiur Rahman Nizami at her cantonment home Thursday night, a source close to the former prime minister said.

The meeting between the two top leaders of the four-party alliance followed the former prime minister's statement hours earlier that she would join both electoral dialogue and the general elections planned for December.

"BNP and the four-party combine will fight the elections together and again form the government," she told party colleagues at the Naya Paltan headquarters in the afternoon after her release from year-long detention.

Both parties boycotted the latest rounds of talks with the government and the Election Commission prior to Khaleda's release on bail.

The source, who refused to be named, said the Jamaat chief drove to her Mainul Road villa late evening.

No other aides were known to have joined their meeting, said the source at her Mainul Road home.