The New Nation - Internet Edition

Cycle rally, campaign against drugs in city

A cycle rally organised by North Alpine Club
Bangladesh was held in the city yesterday. NN photo

Sheikh Arif Bulbon

A Bangladeshi mountaineering and adventure club has fixed its goal to reach the Mount Everest by 2010. As a part its first mission, the North Alpine Club Bangladesh (NACB), the club, will start to climb Langsisa Ri Mountain (21,081-feet height) in Nepal on October 26.

Expedition expert Musa Ibrahim will lead the team. The other five members of the team are Mir Shamsul Alam Babu, Rafeh Uddin Siraji, Rimon Khan, Afrin Khan and Touhid Hossain.

It will take 25 days to complete the expedition. As a part of the programme, the NACB organised a cycle rally and a campaign separately yesterday to increase interest of the youth about mountaineering and adventure and also raise awareness against drugs.

The cycle rally started from front of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University at 9:00am.

About 100 cyclists participated in the rally, which ended in front of the Institute of Education and Research (IER) of Dhaka University.

Chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation Shafique Alam Mehedi was present as chief guest at the rally. Film actor Riaz, world tourist Ashrafuzzaman Uzzal, 'Best model in advertisement' in 2007 Kazi Jamaluddin, among others, were present on the occasion.

A campaign against drugs was held at 12:00 noon at the IER of Dhaka University yesterday where President of Bangladesh Cycling Federation Zobera Rahman Linu was present as chief guest.

Chief Executive of Future Leaders Kazi M Ahmed, team leader of Langsisa Ri Mountaineering group Musa Ibrahim, among others, were present. This rally was open for all and about 70 cyclists took part in the rally.

A number of campaigns against drugs will be held in various schools, colleges and universities till October 23. Musa Ibrahim, Kazi M Ahmed and Mir Shamsul Alam Babu will conduct the campaigns, said the organisers.

Destiny Group will sponsor the Lagsisa Ri mount expedition. Channel i, Radio Foorti, Bangladeshinfo and Parjatan Bichitra are media partners of the event. Insighta Tourism, Delta Outdoors, Future Leaders, Safe, LabAid Group, Nitya Upahar, IER of Dhaka University and Professionals Systems were event partners of the event, they said.

Mayor Mohiuddin's daughter dies in Bangkok

Chittagong Mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury left Shah
Amanat Airport yesterday to see his daughter Tumpa at
Bangkok hospital where she was declared dead.
FocusBangla

Chittagong Correspondent

Fauzia Sultana Tumpa, eldest daughter of Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, died at a hospital in Bangkok yesterday afternoon.

A 6th semester student of English Language and Literature at Premier University in the city had long been suffering from acute leukemia. She was taken to Foteh Hospital in Bangkok nearly two months ago.

Tumpa breathed her last at about 2:00 p.m. BST before arrival of her parents in Bangkok.

Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury reportedly notified about Tumpa's death slightly before boarding the aircraft in Dhaka. The Mayor and his eldest son finally flew to Bangkok.

Her body is expected to be brought to Chittagong on Saturday.

NBR creating level playing field for all investors

UNB, Dhaka

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) from their part is engaged in rationalizing the investment atmosphere in the country and creating a level playing field for all investors, including foreign ones.

With this objective, the NBR has already cut some facilities for the factories in the export processing zones (EPZs) across the country for their alleged misuses.

"We stopped duty-free import of car and liquor for the factories (in EPZs) and their employees, and exemption of tax payment for foreign technicians for three years," NBR chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid told UNB over telephone.

He said that the NBR had detected a considerable number of misuses of the facilities in the recent times and had at last decided to cut those facilities.

After the independence, the government established the EPZs in order to stimulate rapid economic growth of the country, particularly through industrialization after adopting an 'Open Door Policy' to attract foreign investment to Bangladesh.

The primary objectives of an EPZ are to provide special areas where potential investors would find a congenial investment climate, free from cumbersome procedures.

An EPZ is defined as a territorial or economic enclave where goods may be imported and manufactured and re-shipped with a reduction in duties and/or minimal intervention by custom officials (World Bank 1999).

The EPZs provide plots/factory bldg in custom bonded area, infrastructural facilities, administrative facilities, and fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.

According to the BEPZA official website investors from 33 countries, including Bangladesh, so far invested in eight EPZs. The countries are: S. Korea, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, USA, U.K, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Br. Virgin Island, India, Sweden, Singapore, Pakistan, Panama, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Australia, Nepal, Mauritius, Ireland, UAE, Turkey, Ukraine and Marshall Island.

Explaining the recent move of the NBR to short-list the facilities provided by his organization, the NBR chairman said: "We have to develop our domestic industries and protect those… already the second generation entrepreneurship is working in the country."

He said that the establishment of the EPZs was based on some core objectives: promotion of foreign (FDI) and local investment, diversify export, development of backward and forward linkages, employment generation, transfer of technology, upgrading skill and development of management.

"But what has happened in the last 37 years, Bangladesh must draw a balance sheet on FDI in the EPZs."

Replying to a query, Mazid said that after the withdrawal of the facilities, the government would not get a huge amount in its national exchequer. "This is an indication from our part that all investors are very much the same in our eyes."

He also said that the employment in the EPZs is very much insignificant compared to the amount of investment and the facilities provided to them.

As per the BEPZA website, in eight EPZs only 17,130 local persons were employed (cumulative employment was 218,299) in 2007-08 fiscal year whereas the investment was $ 302.19 million (cumulative $ 1434.45 million). In the same year, factories in the EPZs exported $ 2429.58 million (cumulative $ 16333.04 million).

Referring to the figures, the NBR chief mentioned that the repatriation of the money was significant. "We never look to those figures."

He said that the factories in the EPZs are not labor intensive and that was the reason these factories failed to generate any substantial employment.

"All we want to say that from our side we want to facilitate the local investment, that's all," Mazid said.

Over 750,000 suffer from blindness

UNB, Dhaka

Blindness is a major public health threat in the country, with over 750,000 people suffering from the malaise while 120,000 new incidences occurring every year mostly for lack of eye care resources and awareness.

"Of the sufferers from blindness, 80 percent (650,000 people) have cataract problem that can be cured using intra-ocular lens through a simple, cost effective surgery," said Dr Wahidul Islam, country director of Sightsavers International, quoting The Bangladesh National Blindness & Low Vision Survey 2003. The survey is carried out every 10 years.

Besides the 750,000 sufferers from blindness, another over six million who have been suffering from refractive error and other eye problems need vision by spectacle and other means, Dr Islam told UNB in an interview today (Friday).

Of the total, approximately 150,000 are 'irreversible blind' that cannot be cured through treatment or surgery but need to be rehabilitated in the society, he said, adding that of the others, 75 percent are curable.

Major causes of blindness in Bangladesh are cataract, childhood blindness, refractive error, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, trauma, age-related macular degeneration, etc.

Dr Islam said that it is of great concern that 80 percent of the sufferers from blindness live in the rural areas, but 90 percent doctors and their assistants live in the towns and cities.

Every year, the number of blind people is increasing for what he said lack of public awareness, coordination between government and NGOs and human resources (ophthalmologists and their assistants) as well as barriers in uptake of eye care services by the poor.

Dr Islam expressed his doubt in achieving the goals of Vision 2020, the National Eye Care Plan, as only a national level V2020 committee and 10/15 district level committees have been formed so far since launching the plan in 2000.

"Vision 2020-The Right to Sight", a global initiative for elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020, was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO), and ratified by Bangladesh in 2000.

Only 626 ophthalmologists and 618 mid-level eye care personnel (MLEP) from government, NGOs and private sector are working in the country for eye care services though four MLEPs (assistant) are needed for each ophthalmologist, Dr Islam said quoting the latest National Eye Care Capacity Assessment 2003.

To control the cataract blindness in Bangladesh, there is need for nearly 380,000 cataract operations annually but currently about 140,000 cataract operations are being done, which represents around 45 percent of the need, says the Assessment.

The government's National Eye Care Operational Plan (revised) (2005-2010) feared that the number of blind population would double by the year 2020 if no intervention is initiated immediately.

It mentions that the blinds are treated as the burden in society, both from economic and social points of view. The estimated cost of blindness in Bangladesh is about Tk 20,000 crore calculated on the wages loss of the blind persons.

Dr Wahidul Islam emphasized on immediate formation of the district level committees under the Vision 2020 and making the existing committees more functional to control the avoidable blindness.

He also stressed the need for creating mass awareness, increasing human resources specially ophthalmologist's assistant along with their training, providing government subsidy to the NGOs, establishing government-NGO collaboration in eye care, including the eye care component of the government's Primary Health Care (PHC) activities to eliminate avoidable blindness from the country.

Obama stays steady: Poll

AP, Washington

When it comes to the U.S. public's image of John McCain, it's as if somebody dialed the electricity down in the past month. For Barack Obama, it's still flowing. Americans' regard for the Republican presidential nominee has deteriorated across the board since September, an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll showed Friday, with McCain losing ground in how favorably he is seen and in a long list of personal qualities voters seek in White House contenders.

Perceptions of Obama have improved or remained steady. Beyond views of the two rivals' character traits, McCain faces another problem - Obama is more trusted on the economy, the contest's commanding issue, including a 15 percentage-point edge for better grasping how the raging financial crisis is affecting people. Obama's image has been sturdy even as voters' views of the overall campaign have tumbled since September. The portion of people saying the contest excites them has sunk to 32 percent while those calling it frustrating have grown to 41 percent - and in both cases, six in 10 of those whose feelings have worsened are McCain backers. Negative campaigning and a month of intense public focus on collapsing global economic and financial markets have not been kind to McCain. The new AP-Yahoo News poll of likely voters, conducted this month by Knowledge Networks, shows more people viewing him favorably than unfavorably by just 5 percentage points, down from a 21-point difference in mid-September.

During the same period, Obama went the other way, increasing a 5 percentage-point net favorable rating to 15 points. Now, Obama is seen favorably by 57 percent and McCain by 52 percent - a close margin that masks the opposite direction the two rivals' ratings are heading.

"He kind of scared me," Leesa Zick, 48, an undecided Republican from Edwardsville, Illinois, said of McCain's abrupt and short-lived suspension of his campaign last month during talks in Congress on a financial rescue package. "We need a president who can deal with multiple tasks. It seemed like it overwhelmed him." For McCain, the poll's good news is that despite a difficult month, his public image is not dramatically worse than Obama's and in several areas remains better. The public still rates him higher than Obama for keeping America safe, working with both political parties and being decisive, experienced and competent. "He's more qualified than Obama, definitely, because of his experience and history, " said Richard Tosti, 67, a Republican from Rochester, New York.

Zick and Tosti are among about 2,000 people the AP-Yahoo News poll has been tracking since November. By repeatedly questioning them, the survey has opened a detailed window on how people have reacted to the campaign's twists and turns.

Less than three weeks from Nov. 4 election day, Obama has taken a solid lead over McCain in most national and swing-state polls. The AP-Yahoo News survey underscores the morale problem McCain faces. Obama supporters are more than twice as likely to say they're excited about the race and significantly more likely to say they're interested and hopeful. McCain backers, meanwhile, more often say they feel frustrated and helpless. Underscoring a period that has seen the rival candidates trade personal attacks, about a fifth of those backing each say they're angry.

"There's a lot of mudslinging, which I've never been a fan of," said Eric Juhl, 27, a Republican and McCain backer from Abilene, Kansas. "And to me, the media seems pretty left-wing oriented. It's kind of frustrating."

A sour public mood is typical late in presidential campaigns as both sides' attacks accumulate, said University of Wisconsin political scientist and polling authority Charles Franklin. This year's disenchantment is probably magnified by worries about how the candidates would handle the economy, he said. Even so, Obama has staked out a clear advantage on economic concerns in the AP-Yahoo News poll. The Illinois senator is trusted more than McCain to improve the economy by 54 percent to 44 percent and to handle the financial crisis by 53 percent to 46 percent. Obama also has a 56 percent to 41 percent advantage for understanding how the financial crisis affects people. Unhappily for McCain, six in 10 voters who may still change their minds, about as many independents and even one in 10 McCain backers prefer Obama on that question.

"To me, his background indicates he'd be a little more sensitive to the middle class" in addressing economic problems, Peggy Chilton, 72, an independent from Los Angeles who hasn't decided on a candidate, said of Obama.

The numbers don't get better for McCain when it comes to personal traits.

Following debates between the two rivals in which the Arizona senator has appeared angry at times, 46 percent consider him hot-tempered, more than triple the 13 percent who say so about Obama.

BNP in touch with Govt for next round of talks

Staff Reporter

BNP Standing Committee member Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui yesterday said that they were maintaining an informal contact with the caretaker administration for holding the second round of dialogue with the government.

" We expect that the government would settle all contentious political issues in the next dialogue with our party to get registered with the Election Commission (EC)," he told journalists at Gulshan in the city.

He claimed that they had been able to make the government understand their demands. But the government is still hesitant about some issues.

However, the Standing Committee Member of BNP hoped that the government will accept their demands in the interest of protecting democracy and welfare of the people and the country.

When asked on the progress of the party registration, Tanvir Siddiqui said everything was ready to get the party registered with the EC under the modified electoral law.

"EC has put some unnecessary conditions for the registration. We want those unnecessary points to go and we have made our position clear on that. We hope the government will give a decision on the disputed issues in the next dialogue," he added.

He said BNP is ready to contest the forthcoming parliamentary election on December 18.

"We want a congenial election environment. We are ready to cooperate with the government," he said adding that the government must understand that election won't be acceptable at home and abroad if it is held under the state of emergency.

It is mentioned that BNP on Tuesday held its first round of dialogue with Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed at his office and placed a seven-point demand.

BNP wants to hold another round of talks with the government before October 20. The EC has extended the date for party registration till October 20.

Withdrawal of state of emergency and release of detained party leaders and activists are among the demands of BNP to the government.

Cop dies in wrong treatment at CMCH

Chittagong Correspondent

A policeman died at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) yesterday morning allegedly over mistreatment by the hospital workers.

The victim was identified as Humayun Kabir (28), a constable of Dampara Police Line.

Panchlaish police recorded a case in connection with the incident and assigned a Sub-Inspector to investigate the complaint. Body of the cop was handed over to his colleagues after autopsy.

Sources at Panchlaish police said Constable Humayun Kabir died shortly after pushing an injection by a nurse of the hospital at about 7:40 a.m. It could not be ascertained immediately whether the physician looking after him formally prescribed the injection.

Some of his fellows said that he (Humayun) underwent an orthopedic surgery at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital after an accident two years ago. He got admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on October 13 with severe pain in his arm operated upon in Mymensingh.

He reportedly had recovered from the complaints and looking for the release from the hospital. He got fainted immediately after pushing an iv injection and did not return to sense. The injection was directly pushed to his body instead of using iv fluid as the vehicle.

On duty doctors at the CMCH reportedly admitted that the injection was wrongly pushed. They also regretted the incident.

UN officials meet AL leaders

Bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Five UN officials yesterday met Awami League leaders to discuss polls-related issues ahead of a visit by the secretary general.

They included 3 UN staff attached to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh Renata Dessalien.

The meeting, a prelude to Ban's visit to Bangladesh beginning Nov 1, was part of the consultation process the UN staff members had begun with stakeholders on the Dec 18 polls.

"We have made it clear that the Awami League is very much interested in participating in the upcoming polls. The elections must take place on Dec 18," Farooq Chowdhury, an Awami League adviser leading the talks, told bdnews24.com yesterday

"Hopefully, the UN officials would brief the secretary-general on the latest political situation in Bangladesh and holding of the Dec 18 polls," Chowdhury said.

AL's election steering committee chief H T Imam, former minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit and two other leaders attended the meeting at the residence of Farooq Chowdhury.

"We have told them that the government will have to create an election-friendly atmosphere. The Awami League has done its part," said Chowdhury.

Farooq Chowdhury said the UN secretary-general might meet the Awami League leadership while in Dhaka.

Ban Ki-moon will travel to the Philippines on October 29 to attend a global meeting on migration and fly to Nepal on October 30. He is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka from Katmandu on Nov 1.

UN for allowing all parties to conduct poll activities

UNB, Dhaka

United Nations (UN) Resident Representative Renata Lok Dessallien yesterday said all political parties in Bangladesh needed to be allowed to conduct their normal election activities for a free and fair election on December 18.

Renata also said the UN wants the December 18 general election of Bangladesh to be held as per the schedule and the participation of all parties in it is a must for peaceful handover of power.

Emerging with a UN delegation from a meeting with the Awami League's sub-committee on Foreign Affairs at its chairman Faruque Chowdhury's residence, Renata said the UN's main concern is a peaceful election in Bangladesh.

Asked through which process the government can allow the political parties to continue their normal election activities, she said the path has to be found out through talks between the parties and the government.

She also said it is up to the government how it would organize such a facility for the political parties.

Sought comments whether the UN has any doubt about holding of the December 18 election in time, Renata said the UN is fully hopeful and confident that the general election would be held in time and all the political parties would take part in it.

She said the December 18 election might be a historic era for Bangladesh, and the government and political parties must work together to make the polls a success.

About the disagreement between the government and the political parties over some issues like emergency state, she hoped that innovative solutions to the problems would be found as per requirements.

Renata said they would sit with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) tomorrow (Saturday) with the same agenda.

Renata said today's meeting was part of their series of dialogue with the political parties, civil society and government officials to get a clear understanding about the prospect and problems of the upcoming elections.

She said UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is likely to visit Bangladesh in November next and their ongoing talks with various sections of people is part of the preparation of the UN secretary general's visit.

7 killed in road mishaps

UNB, Dhaka

At least seven people were killed and nine others injured in separate road accidents in Jessore and Bagerhat districts yesterday In Jessore, four people, including two women, were killed and five others injured in a collision between a bus and a human hauler at Manikdehi under Kotwali police station at noon.

Police and witnesses said the accident occurred when a Kushtia-bound bus from Khulna collided head-on with the motorised human hauler (nasiman), killing four people on the spot and injuring others.

Of the dead three were identified as Afroja Begum, 30, Abdul Karim, 35, and Nazma, 4, while the identity of a 22-year old girl could not be known immediately.

All the dead were passengers of the human hauler and hailed from Barobazar in Kaligaon upazila in Jhenidah district.

The injured were admitted to a local government hospital.

In Bagerhat, three people were killed and four others injured when a truck hit a roadside tree and fell into a low-lying land at Fatehpur Amtala in Sadar upazila in the afternoon.

The deceased were identified as Mujibur Rahman, 40, Tafsir Hossain, 27, and Mafizur Rahman, 30.

Police said the accident occurred on Bagerhat-Pirojpur road as the driver of the wood-laden truck from Signboard Bazar lost control over the steering on its way to local CNB Bazar.

The dead and injured were mostly day labourers and residents of CNB Bazar area. They were traveling on the back of the truck, police added.

Separate cases were filed.

GF leaders oppose joining Mahajote

Staff Reporter

Almost all the leaders of Gano Forum are firm against joining the Awami League led proposed grand alliance incorporating Jatiya Party of HM Ershad and some other "communal fundamentalist parties."

But, party chief Dr Kamal Hossain is yet to make his stand clear on the issue. "We are still in the 14-party alliance on the basis of 23-point resolution and those who want to join us will have to endorse it," Dr Kamal said at a press conference at his residence following standing committee meeting of Gano Forum.

Asked whether his party would remain in the grand alliance if Jatiya Party of Ershad, Islami Oikkya Jote of Shaikhul Hadis and some other Islamist and semi-Islamist parties join it after endorsing the 23-point resolution of 14-party, he said, "we will seek public opinion about it."

However, other leaders beside him raised their voice at one saying, "No we will never join."

Apparently indignant with the vague stance of Dr Kamal on the issue senior politician and presidium member of the party Commander Abdur Rouf stood leaving the seat beside Dr Kamal saying, "The question of forging alliance with Ershad and communal parties does not arise at all."

Dr Kamal, however, criticised big political parties for creating confusion about the December 18 general election by threatening to boycott it.

He said their condition of withdrawal of corruption cases against their leaders was ultra vires to the constitution.

He said some caretaker advisers were supplicating too much to political parties blamed for pervasive corruption during their regimes.

Apparently targeting four advisers who are assigned to hold dialogue with political parties, Dr Kamal said they were doing such assignments beyond their constitutional mandate.

He particularly came down heavily on the advisers for the ministries of law and commerce without naming them, saying that they were desperate to ensure participation of some major political parties that are blamed for widespread corruption.

He termed Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman as "Mini Kissinger" for his active efforts to negotiate with the parties.

"The Commerce Adviser has no right to do business with the people's political and constitutional rights. He should concentrate on his ministry," he said.

"The Law Adviser should deal with law-related issues instead of political matters," he added.

He criticised the major political parties for their demands of unconditionally releasing their top leaders who face charges of corruption.

"It's not acceptable when they threaten to boycott elections unless their top leaders are free," he said.

Party leaders Pankaj Bhattachariya, Abdur Rauf, Khatibuddin Ahmed, Altaf Hossain and Kafiluddin Ahmed, among others, were present at the briefing.

DSE tumbles for second consecutive week

UNB, Dhaka

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) witnessed fall for the second consecutive week that ended Thursday, as the opening day (Sunday) trading suffered a setback amid panic generated from the financial crisis-induced global stock market fall.

The country's premier bourse, however, bounced back and continued for the following two consecutive days almost recovering the losses. But, marginal declines during the rest two days of the 5-day week again pushed down the benchmark index.

The DSE management deserves thanks as they succeeded in convincing investors through a hurriedly called press conference that the local capital market has no link with the international capital and financial markets.

Brokers said the setback, in default, might help turn the eyes of the investors from few securities while new issues slowly came to the forefront. "Most of the highly concentrated issues have already been overpriced while many fundamentally good stocks lying undervalued for long," said one of the brokers.

The investors took profit from the overpriced issues and immediately went for taking position over the undervalued items. "This is a very healthy sign for the market," said another broker.

He, however, cautioned investors that dominance of shares having poor fundamentals still hunting the investors, may be giving some quick profits in the short term, but posing risks of losing money.

Meanwhile, the DSE management last week launched a campaign from Chittagong Wednesday to aware investors of the risks involved in running after speculations.

During the week's trading, the DSE General Index (DGEN), the benchmark index, shed 18 points or 0.61 percent to close at 2,919 points while the All Share Price Index (DSI) declined 18 points or 0.73 percent to close at 2,418.

The DSE-20 index of selective shares, however, gained 28 points or 1.15 percent to close at 2,470 points, reflecting investors' hunch for trying undervalued issues.

The total turnover during the 5-day week recorded 39 percent growth to Tk 27.25 billion over the previous 4-day week's Tk 19.64 billion. The daily average turnover of the past week also grew 11 percent to Tk 5.45 billion over the previous week.

The country's premier bourse hit the highest record of daily turnover at Tk 5.91 billion on Sunday and second highest of Tk 5.64 billion on Thursday.

Market capialisation shed 0.54 percent to Tk 1.016 trillion during the week from Tk 1.021 trillion in the previous week.

Beximco Pharma, Titas Gas, Beximco, Square Pharma, ACI Limited, Lanka Bangla Finance, Summit Power, Aims 1st Mutual Fund, DESCO and GrameenS2 were the turnover leaders of the week.

Top gainers of the week were Beximco Fisheries, Shinepukur Holdings, Maq Paper, Metro Spinning, Dulamia Cotton, Golden Son, BCIL, M Hossain Garments, Safko Spinnings and Saiham Textiles.

Top losers were ICB, Delta-Brac Housing, Bionic Sea Food, BIFC, Modern Cement, Prime Islami Life, Meghna Condensed Milk, Progressive Life Insurance, Modern Industries and Meghna Life Insurance.

President urges Lions Club members: Extend philanthropy to make country prosperous

UNB, Dhaka

President Prof Dr Iajuddin Ahmed on Friday called upon the leaders and dedicated members of Lions Club to extend their philanthropic endeavors in making a happy and prosperous Bangladesh.

"Lions Club International has ample opportunities to widen their humanitarian activities in a country like ours," he said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Lions Golden Jubilee celebration in Bangladesh organized by Lions Clubs International, District 315 B-2 Bangladesh at Sonargaon Hotel here.

Appreciating the contributions of Lions club to render relief and rehabilitation activities during natural calamities and disasters in Bangladesh, the President assured the Lion members of extending his all-out support to the cause of humanity.

"The eye-camps being conducted by different Lions Clubs in Bangladesh deserve appreciation," he added.

Over 12,000 Lion and Leo members in Bangladesh have been serving to mitigate the sufferings of the distressed people since 1958.

President Iajuddin said: "I believe you have tremendous opportunities to serve the mankind." Recalling one of the memorable sayings of the founder of Lionism Melvin Jones that "You can't get very far until you start doing something for somebody else," the President called upon the Lion community to demonstrate this spirit in every sphere of their life and activities.

Chaired by District Governor Engr. M Shahjahan Khadem, the occasion was also addressed by International Director of Lions Clubs International Malik Khoda Boksh, Council Chairperson of Lions Multiple District 315 PK Roy and past council chairperson and chairman of golden jubilee celebration Committee 2008 Advocate MA Kashem Bhuiyan.

India 'to guard Somalia waters’

Agency

India says it will send warships to the Gulf of Aden to protect its container vessels from pirates operating off the coast of Somalia.

A defence official said one warship would be deployed immediately and that the number could be increased later. The announcement coincided with protests by families of 18 Indian sailors who have been held captive on a ship by Somali pirates since August.

There has been a recent surge in piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991 and has suffered continuing civil strife.

Warships from several countries are already patrolling the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Eighteen of the 22 crew on the Japanese-owned merchant vessel held since August are Indian. The wife of the captain told the BBC that she had been told that India would not be sending in naval warships immediately.