The New Nation - Internet Edition

Centenarian Dadu : A role model at Charukala Institute

Visitors at the photography exhibition at Zainul
Gallery of the Institute of Fine Arts yesterday Centenarian
Dadu (middle). NN photo

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

He is familiar as 'Dadu' to all. For this reason he has lost his real name. His real name is Momin Ali Mridha. He came to Charukala with Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. Already he has passed 50 years at the premises of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. Be became a role model of for many eminent artists. Now this centenarian person has been passing his days on the corridor of the institute, singing a song or playing flute or.

To memorise his lifestyle and activities at the Institute of Fine Arts a photography exhibition titled 'The Journey of a Legend' has been organised by Dhaka Heritage.

A week-long solo photography exhibition by photo journalist Shahadat Parvez began at the Zainul Gallery-1 of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University yesterday.

Eminent artist Quaiyum Chowdhury, Muhammad Jafar Iqbal, writer and Professor of Shahjalal Science and Technology University, Sadat Salim, President of Dhaka Club, Kaniz Almas Khan, Managing Director of Persona and Momin Ali Mridha jointly inaugurated the show.

Farukh Ahmed, President of Dhaka Heritage, chaired the inaugural function.

A total of 40 photographs of Shahadat Parvez are on display at the gallery The exhibition remains open from 12:00 noon to 7:00pm till October 16.

Over the years during his involvement with the Charukala, Momin Ali Mridha has seen the evolutionary cycle of art and culture in Dhaka. In this course he had the chance to interact with some of our nation's most famous and talented artists.

Sitting on the walkway in front of Charukala with multihued bead-necklaces and earrings, 'Dadu' can attract anyone and everyone quite easily. He is one of the oldest models of artists pursuing art at the Fine Arts Institute. In the early 19th century, following the freedom of choice sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, modelling for artists started gaining prominence as a profession. However, as the realm of art started shifting away from realism to the surreal or avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century, modelling as a profession started ebbing away as art required less and less presence of a model in the studio. In our country too, the trend caught on and modelling for art was only limited to the art institutions.

Mirdha, who was born in Shariatpur, first came to Dhaka in 1955 and his transformation from a gardener to an artist's model is quite fascinating. the, break was given to him by none other than the eminent artist Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin. At the time, Mridha used to work in the house of the then Magistrate of Dhaka as a gardener and Zainul was so fascinated with his garden work that he habitually visited the place for sketching.

In his life, he has posed for many other famous artists including Quamrul Hasan, SM Sultan, Rashid Chowdhury, Hamiduzzaman Khan, Jamal Ahmed, Shishir Bhattacharya and others. Mridha's eyes have a sense of poise through which one can feel his long journey of life and a face that delineates a character that spellbinds people. There is a duality, however: he can be himself and something else at the same time. That's why some even call him 'Sadhu' or saint.

Arson attack in Satkhira: Several houses burnt

Angry people of Senegati and Krishna Nagar villages
of Tala upazila under Satkhira district yesterday set ablaze
the houses of a UP member Abdul Lalu and Juba Dal leader
Ruhul Quddus for their alleged involvement in the killing of
a UP chairman. FocusBan

Satkhira Correspondent

Several thousand agitated people of Senegati and Krishnanagar villages under Dhandia Union at Tala Upazila yesterday burnt the houses of a UP member and a Jubo Dal leader suspecting their involvement in the murder of Arifuzzaman Chanchal, chairman of Dhandia Union Parishad, on Wednesday.

Over three thousand angry people set fire to the houses of Dhandia UP member Abdul Malek Lalu of village Senegati and Jubo dal leader Ruhul Quddus of village Krishnanagar and burnt them to ashes.

Zobeda Khatun, one of the arrested accused, in her confessional statement before a magistrate on Thursday said chairman Chanchal was killed as per directive of Abdul Malek and Ruhul Quddus.

BNP sources said Abdul Malek Lalu is the secretary of Dhandia Union BNP and Ruhul Quddus is the president of Dhandia Union Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal.

Police rushed to the troubled spots, but failed to control the situation initially. Later, riot police rushed there and brought the situation under control.

The fire fighters from Satkhira extinguished the fire, but by this time all the houses and belongings were burnt to ashes.

Chairman Arifuzzaman Chanchal, son of Asir Uddin of village Sharsha, was also a member of district BNP convening committee. He was abducted by the miscreants and strangled to death on Wednesday morning.

Due to political rivalry, Abdul Malek Lalu and Ruhul Quddus hired the killers to murder him , police said.

Soon after the killing, police arrested four people including Zbeda Khatun and recovered four fire arms from their possessions.

Satkhira Police super (SP) Abu Sufiyan and other police officials visited the spot yesterday.

From the Foreign Press: The End of an Era?The financial crisis has undermined not just the US’s economy-but also its authority

Michael Elliott

These days, that's not a great attribute to have. In the past two weeks, as the financial crisis has developed, I've been traveling in Europe and Asia, talking to business leaders, bankers and academics. It has been a sobering experience. I can't remember a time when so many were so disturbed by what was happening in the U.S., or so worried about what the next few months might hold. Even in China, the post-Olympics, post-spacewalk euphoria has been tempered by the appreciation that the contraction of the U.S. market for its exports will put one of the key drivers of China's economic growth into neutral.

Everywhere, I've faced questions about what's going on in the U.S.: about who will win the presidential election and what he will do when he takes office; about why the House of Representatives voted down the financial rescue package; and about whether U.S. leaders have the combination of skill and guts to get to the far side of the crisis. What I've not found, anywhere, is a sense of glee at America's misfortune. Things are too serious for that. But there is a palpable sense that the financial crisis, and Washington's stumbling reaction to it, represents a defining moment. The days when the U.S. could lecture other nations on the correct way to run their affairs are gone. The British philosopher John Gray put the case at its starkest in the Observer: "The era of American global leadership, reaching back to the Second World War," Gray wrote, "is over."

Gray is an interesting man to make that point, because in the 1970s he was one of the intellectual godfathers of Thatcherism, the belief that free markets and red-in-tooth-and-claw capitalism were the essential underpinnings of successful modern societies. Granted, he has been moving away from such neoliberal fundamentalism for years. I remember a conversation with him precisely 10 years ago - after the collapse of Long Term Capital Management and Russia's default, the last time when it looked as if the market revolution were in peril - when he lamented that neoliberals had "underestimated the revolutionary nature of global capitalism," with its power to upend the familiar landscape and turn it into a churning place of impermanence. But I doubt that even Gray would have predicted that the U.S. itself would be revealed as being unable to cope, at an economic, political or indeeds intellectual level, with the consequences of modern financial capitalism.

Outside the U.S., that failure is being widely noted. These last days, it has been common in the commentariat to deplore an absence of American "leadership." But the issue today is really one of followership - in other words, whether nations outside the U.S. would take their cue from New York City and Washington even if both those cities were inhabited by latter-day Solons.

I do not think they would. The U.S. no longer has a monopoly on modernity, as it did in 1945. There are now too many examples of successful economies that are not organised on American principles. There are other models for aspiring policymakers to follow; they do not all have to go to Harvard's Kennedy School for enlightenment.

That was brought home to me at a World Economic Forum conference in China last weekend, when I found myself (these things happen) at dinner with three Swedish entrepreneurs. They were, as you would expect, fun, clever, technologically up to the minute. And I thought: What do Sweden and China have in common? Just this, perhaps: one already rich, one rapidly becoming richer, neither nation is in thrall to American verities on the ways in which societies should be organised.

-Time

Container scanner installation: Export activities to enter new era soon

UNB, Dhaka

Country's export activities will enter a new era end of this year, as the National Board of Revenue (NBR) expects to complete the installation of its container scanners at the Chittagong seaport within next two months.

"Yes, we expect to complete the installation of the four container scanners by end of this year," NBR chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid told UNB over telephone on Thursday night. He said that they had already given the work order to supplier company, SGS Bangladesh.

The recently started automation system at the Chittagong port will witness a big advancement with the installation of the NBR container scanners.

The EU countries made it mandatory to install container scanners at the ports by 2009 while the USA deadline is 2010 for importing any consignment from another country.

The government financed the much talked installation of container scanners at Chittagong seaport after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) refused to provide funds on the ground of a re-tendering plan by the government.

The ADB was supposed to fund the scheme, but later changed its mind following a government move to call fresh tender by scrapping the deal with a previous bid-winner for the job.

The scheme, which was initiated in 2003 by the BNP-led alliance government, envisages installation of scanner machines, computerisation of operational system and construction of a flyover to ease traffic congestion in the port area.

As the lowest bidder, pre-shipment inspection company M/s Cotecna Inspection SA had won the contract of the installation job. But the government cancelled the previous tender due to the cancellation of its agreement with Cotecna on charges of irregularities.

On March 19 this year, the government cancelled the agreement with Cotecna as PSI agent after the NBR found out that the company was involved with irregularities that hindered revenue collection.

The NBR said the certificate of Cotecna was cancelled for violation of the Pre-Shipment Inspection Rules 2002.

After scrapping the previous tender, the NBR wanted to re-tender the installation of four container-scanners and thus sought permission from the ADB. But the ADB refused to do so.

Later, the NBR prepared a summary of the project and sent it to the higher authorities, suggesting that the project could be implemented from domestic resources.

Another PSI company, SGS Bangladesh won the re-tender of the container scanner installation as the lowest bidder.

The NBR had moved years ago to upgrade the container-handling facilities in the country's prime seaport that handles more than 80 percent of the imports and exports.

The BNP-led government initiated the scheme in 2003 after security agencies seized a huge quantity of arms and ammunition from the port area.

S Asia’s first crocodile farm at Bhaluka

BSS, Dhaka

A man who had been in quest of a profession with a difference finally had his passion landed in a commercial crocodile farm at Bhaluka, the first in the South Asian region.

A university graduate, Mushtaq Ahmed, had browsed different professions, including one in UNHCR, but could not settle down anywhere.

He along with Mesbahul Huq, a pharmacist, then set up the croc farm, the Reptiles Farm Ltd (RFL), at Hatiber village under Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh district on a land of 15 acres.

While the project is Mushtaq's brainchild, it was Haque's investment that helped turn the dream into a reality.

The two entrepreneurs were aided in their maiden venture with technical assistance from South Asian Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) and with financial support from the equity and entrepreneur fund (EEF) unit of Bangladesh Bank. RFL also got assistance from Southeast Bank Ltd.

The duo brought 75 reptiles ranging from seven to 12 feet from Malaysia for commercial breeding of crocs for Taka 1.25 crore. Of which, eight died on the way to the farm established in October 2004.

Talking to BSS at their Lalmatia head office in the city on Friday, Mushtaq, Managing Director and CEO of RFL, said, "We have set up the farm with an aim to export over 5,000 pieces of crocodile skin annually and create a base for earning up to US$ 5 million by 2015."

Different countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, have shown keen interest in importing crocs from their farm, he said, adding the farm is likely to export skins, meat and bones of 140 saltwater crocs next year.

"We are very much hopeful of exporting skins, meat and bones of at least 140 crocs from Bangladesh by December, 2009," Mushtaq said and hoped that the number would go up to 500 by the next two to three years.

He said there is a huge demand for croc skins, meat and bones in Europe, America and other developed countries like Australia, Japan, Singapore and China, and charcoal made from crocodile bones is indispensable for the global perfume industry. To meet this demand, more croc farms could be set up in Bangladesh, Mushtaq opined. But, he said, there should be a policy on launching this unconventional business, otherwise its future could be disastrous like our shrimp industry.

"We hope the government will formulate an exotic wildlife farming policy to facilitate exploration of this field, as the sector can make valuable contribution to our export basket," he added.

Mushtaq said the international price of per kilo croc meat is about US$ 200, while a baby crocodile is expected to fetch US$ 700 to 1,200.

He said the number of crocodiles at their farm now stood at 447 from 68 through rearing in the last four years.

There are now 32 ponds at the farm with 447 saltwater crocodiles (scientific name: crocodylus porosus). Of them, 380 are small and 67 big in size and the length of the biggest crocodiles is 14 feet and the smallest is eight feet, he added.

"In the last four years, we have built special incubation facilities and other infrastructure for hatching eggs and raising baby crocodiles," Mushtaq said.

Currently, he said, the farm employs 10 full-time staff, who have been trained locally and internationally. As part of its human resources development programme, RFL encourages all its employees to pursue higher studies at local universities, he said.

RFL also hired Geoff McClure, an Australian crocodile expert, in designing state-of-the-art infrastructure for the company. Besides designing, he is helping the company replicate Australian reptile farming protocols, Mushtaq said.

He said the employees are bound to follow strict safety protocols, and have been instructed not to allow any visitor on the farm premises for safety and commercial reasons.

The calm and quiet atmosphere of the farm has proven to be beneficial not only for crocodiles, but also for local birds, since they can roost there undisturbed, Mushtaq said.

He said RFL also planted over 5,000 trees of 40 species of fruit, wood and medicinal plants at the farm.

Mushtaq said their farm follows the Australian standard and fulfills the criteria of IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) in breeding crocs.

BNP to decide party registration after meeting with govt: Delwar

Staff Reporter

BNP Secretary General Khondoker Delwar Hossain yesterday said his party will decide on party registration after meeting with the government scheduled on October 15.

He also called upon the Election Commission (EC) to extend the deadline for registration for a few days.

"The deadline should be shifted, because that will not hamper the election process in any manner," he told the journalists after offering flowers at the memorial of martyred Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leader Naziruddin Jehad at Dainik Bangla intersection at Motijheel in the city.

JCD leaders also accompanied with Kondoker Delwar and paid their respects by laying floral wreaths at 10 am at the memorial marking the 18th death anniversary of the student leader Jehad killed during the anti-autocracy movement in 1990.

Delwar said the four party alliance will take decision jointly about registration. And in this regard a meeting will be held among the components of the alliance soon after BNP's meeting with the government.

He also said BNP will raise its five points demand including the withdraw at of the state of emergency during the scheduled meeting with the government on October 15 for holding a free and fair election in the country.

Replying to a question on Jamaat-e-Islami's readiness for registration, he said, "We will go for registration all right . We never said we're opposed to registration. But before that, we would like to tell the government about our concerns, which include the RPO Ordinance 2008,".

The EC has said political parties willing to go to general elections slated for Dec. 18 must register by Oct. 15 and the date will not be shifted.

EC guidelines for local poll observers underway

BSS, Dhaka

The Election Commission (EC) has drawn up new guidelines for local observers to monitor polls.

Under the guidelines, the local election observers will need to be registered with the EC to oversee elections, an EC source told BSS on Friday, adding, "No local observer would be allowed to monitor the upcoming general polls without being registered with the EC."

The source said the EC would circulate a notification within the next week requesting the interested election monitoring organisations for seeking registration.

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dr ATM Shamsul Huda said the list of interested organizations would be made public through advertisements and complaints against any organization, if received, would be inquired.

According to the guidelines, an organisation would be able to monitor any polls within one year of getting the registration, said Public Relations Officer of the EC Secretariat SM Asaduzzaman.

After the one-year period, if any organisation wants to monitor elections, it will have to apply again for registration, he said adding that besides monitoring polling activities at centres and booths, the registered organisations can monitor counting of votes.

The EC would allow only two organisations to monitor the elections in an upazila, he said.

EC Secretary Mohammad Humayun Kabir said the EC had taken the initiatives for bringing some changes in the election monitoring rules as there were some questions raised about the observers in the past.

He, however, said the provisions for the foreign observers would remain the same.

According to the new guidelines, the EC would inform the organisations within 15 days of submission of their applications whether they were accepted. If the chief executive of an organisation or any member of its governing body or its managing committee is found to be worker or leader of any political party, the EC will not grant its prayer.

The concerned organisations would be able to appeal before the EC for hearing on the rejection within three days after it receives the notice from the EC. After the hearing the EC would give the final report within seven days.

After giving final approval to any organisation, the EC would issue certificate of approval in favour of the organisation within seven days and the registration would be valid for one year unless the EC cancels it.

The EC would be able to withdraw the registration of any organisation if there is a proof of violation of code of conduct by it. But before cancellation of the approval, the EC would send a letter to the organisation with necessary proofs, and the concerned organisation would get five days' time for requesting the EC to arrange hearing on the allegation.

Within the next seven days after the hearing, the EC would, in writing, inform the organisation about its decision.

The registered organisations would be given the authority of selecting observers, providing them with training, and sending reports based on their monitoring to the EC.

Suicide bomb hits Pak tribal elders: 32 killed

BBC Online

At least 32 people have been killed in a suicide bombing at a meeting of tribal elders in a restive region of Pakistan near the Afghan border.

Dozens were injured in the blast at a council of local leaders in the Orakzai district, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions.

They were meeting to raise a militia to evict Taleban from the region when the attack took place.

Orakzai, near the main north-west city of Peshawar, has been relatively calm.

"We were busy in raising a lashkar [tribal militia] to evict Taleban from the region when this attack took place," Qeemat Khan Orakzai, a member of the council, told Reuters news agency.

The attacker targeted a gathering of about 500 people from the Alizai tribe on Friday, according to AP news agency.

A security official told AFP news agency that the suicide attack came a day after armed tribesmen had targeted two militant hideouts.

Pro-Taleban militants on the Pakistan side of the border have been blamed for a rise in attacks on US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's government has been courting the fiercely independent tribes to persuade them to stand up to the insurgents.

Mannan Bhuiyan won't bother for poll symbol

Narsingdi Correspondent

The expelled BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan yesterday reiterated his willingness to serve for the welfare of the people.

"I have spent my whole life for the cause of people and promise to continue in future," he said at a meeting at Banna Bazar under Sibpur upazila in Narsingdi.

With Sadarchar UP Chairman Morshed Alam Bhuiyan in the chair the meeting was also addressed, among others, by former upazila BNP President Abul Harris Rikatdar and Ariful Islam Mrida, Chokorda UP chairman.

Mannan Bhuiyan said he does not bother at all over election's symbol in which he will contest in the forthcoming parliamentary polls.

Fear grips global stock markets

Agency, Laden

Stock markets across Europe have fallen after dramatic share price falls in Asia.

The FTSE 100 share index was down 8% at 3,964 points. It opened 9.8% lower at 3887 points, below the 4,000-point level for the first time in five years.

There were similar falls across Europe - Paris was down 8.4% while Germany was down 9.1%.

Investors fear a global slowdown, despite interest rate cuts and huge cash injections by central banks.

The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has again called on other countries to follow Britain's bank rescue package.

"What we need now is for other countries to be doing similar things," he told the BBC news channel.

He said he was confident the bail-out would eventually help stabilise the economy.

"Everybody depends on banks. We're trying to get the banks to do what they've traditionally done, to get the flow of money to businesses, to help people with their mortgages, to make sure people's savings are safe," he said.

In other major developments:

The British pound tumbled to a five-year low against the US dollar to trade at $1.6902 at one point, but recovered slightly later. It also fell against the euro to 1.245 euros

Tokyo's shares plunged 24% during the week, double their weekly fall during the 1987 market crash

Oil prices plummeted to a one-year low in European trading, with the price of US crude oil falling below $83 a barrel.

The three-month rate at which banks lend dollars to each other - known as Libor - has risen to 4.8%

Finance ministers from the G7 are to meet in Washington later and President Bush is to make an address to the American people.

Moscow and Jakarta stock markets remain suspended because of excessive volatility

Trading in the Vienna market was suspended until Friday afternoon.Despite concerted government action, investors are increasingly fearful the financial crisis will prompt a global recession.

Heavy falls were seen across Asia's markets as a climate of fear took hold on Friday.

In Japan, the Nikkei index slumped in its biggest one-day fall since the 1987 stock market crash. The crisis also claimed its first Japanese financial institution, with the insurance company Yamato Life going bankrupt.

"Selling is unstoppable in New York and Tokyo," said Yutaka Miura, senior strategist at Shinko Securities in Tokyo.

"Investors were gripped by fear." Elsewhere in Asia was a similar story.

100 migrants feared dead off Somalia

BBC Online

About 100 migrants are feared to have drowned after being thrown overboard by smugglers in the Gulf of Aden, the UN refugee agency says.

The migrants were attempting to flee to Yemen from war-torn Somalia but were forced off the boat about 5km (3 miles) from the coast, a UN official said.

About 47 migrants managed to swim to shore and alert the authorities.

The UN says about 32,000 people have made the perilous crossing to Yemen this year, and 365 have gone missing.

The boat had left Marera in Somalia, close to the port of Bossasso, on Monday with 150 people on board, according to Ron Redmond, a spokesman for UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

"Survivors said they counted a total of 47 people reaching the beach and later saw Yemeni authorities burying five bodies," Mr Redmond said at a press conference.

UNHCR estimates that in addition to those missing, at least 230 people have died attempting the crossing this year.

Last month, the agency said that despite the burden on the Yemeni authorities, they were still maintaining an open door policy towards refugees.

But they said that global action was needed to tackle the problem.

Tarique admitted to a hospital in South London

UNB, Dhaka

BNP leader Tarique Rahman was admitted to a hospital in South London Thursday evening for the treatment of his drying-up leg muscle.

Dr Kazi Mazharul Islam Dolon who went to London with Tarique told UNB Last night that Tarique is receiving physiotherapy at the hospital but the doctor will not name the hospital for security reasons.

He said Tarique is under treatment of British doctor James Turner of Wellington Hospital. "If the physiotherapy does not work, Tarique may need surgery."

Earlier, his medical test was done at three different hospitals-Hammersmith, King's Oak and Wellington hospitals.