The New Nation - Internet Edition

Shakib hauls 6 wkts: Bangladesh in driving seat

Spinner Abdur Razzak and his teammates celebrate
after dismissal of Ross Taylor on the second day of the
first Test match between Bangladesh and New Zealand at the
Bir Sreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong on
Saturday. FocusBangla

BSS, Chittagong

Bangladesh are poised for a rare first innings lead as Shakib Al Hasan with six for 41 spun his web to send New Zealand reeling at 155 for nine in their first innings when stumps were drawn on the second day of the Brac Bank first test at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium here on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, Bangladesh's defiant fifth wicket stand could hardly add runs to their overnight total as the Kiwi bowlers led by skipper Daniel Vettori polished off the Tigers' tail to 245 all out in their first innings just before lunch.

One thought, New Zealand, who have a tremendous record in test against Bangladesh, winning five out of six test by innings and the remaining one by nine wickets, will settle down to another runaway start.

But the 21-year-old left-arm spinner Shakib, who is more known as a batting allrounder with only three wickets in his previous six test matches, had other ideas.

When seamers Mashrafee-Bin-Mortaza and Shahadat Hossain failed to dislodge Kiwi openers Jamie How and Jesse Readings, who put on 27 runs for the first wicket stand and were threatening to take away the game from the hosts, Shakib stepped forward to deliver his first blow.

He beat Jamie How (16) in his flight and bowled him neck and crop to open the floodgate.

Shakib never looked back from that moment as he ripped through the Kiwi innings with a magical figure of 6 for 31 and the New Zealand innings was tattering at 155 for nine wickets, still trailing by 90 runs on the first innings.

Things could have been worse only a brave unbeaten 48 by skipper Vettori saved New Zealand from a total embarrassment.

The Kiwis, who squandered the good work done by the bowlers, were in a serious risk of entering the record books as the team to score the lowest total in the first innings in a test against Bangladesh. Shakib, who pitched most of his deliveries, was on perfect line and length enticing the batsmen on to the front foot making life miserable for each and every New Zealand batsman with his superb change of pace and variation of flight.

Bangladesh's spinners took charge once their new-ball bowlers despite bowling a tight spell could dislodge them. Openers Jamie How and Aaron Redmond found it difficult to score runs against the pacers but scoring was even more difficult against the spinners.

Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram were snapped up by close-in fielders, who hung around them as New Zealand batsmen opted for defensive posture.

Ross Taylor and Redmond were beaten by the flight to be caught in front of the wicket as they were keen on defending rather to force the spinners out of the attack.

As wickets fell like nine pins, a good partnership was desperately needed to stop the rot. Bangladeshi spinners led by Shakib spun their web and the Kiwis simply did not know how to come out of it.

The New Zealand's best stand came from Daniel Flynn's and Brendon McCullum's bat as they added 47 four the fourth wicket. But they failed to capitalize on the start they made as they perished needlessly.

Flynn was caught behind off Naeem Islam for 19 to give the debutant his first Test scalp, while McCullum was deceived by the pace of a delivery from Shakib, spooning a simplest of the catches.

Captain Vettori, who wiped off the Bangladesh tail with 5 for 59, once again came to his team's rescue as he hung on to a priceless 48 with a sensible approach with a mixture of aggression and defence.

Earlier a record fifth-wicket stand had given Bangladesh hopes yesterday but this morning they could crawl to 245 from 183 for 4.

Mehrab and Rahim added a record 144 for the fifth wicket as he departed for 83 adding only four runs to his overnight total.

Rahim and debutant Naeem Islam (14) added 41 for the sixth wicket but Vettori came back to polish the Bangladesh tail off. The Bengal Tigers lost their last five wickets for 16 runs.

The only notable Bangladesh batsman on the second day was Mushfiqur Rahim, who added 20 to his overnight score of 59 before he became another victim of Vettori.

Today, 15 wickets fell with Bangladesh losing six while the Kiwis nine. The most interesting thing to note is that one wicket that of Mehrab was grabbed by pacer O'Brien while the other 14 had fallen to spinners.

The wicket on the third day is going to spin more while the cracks appearing on the pitch are going to worsen. Any healthy first innings lead tomorrow for Bangladesh will be priceless and everything will depend on the home batsmen whether they can bring out their best when it matters most.

Govt would hold fresh dialogue with political parties:Hossain Zillur

Staff Reporter

Commerce and Education Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said yesterday the government would hold fresh dialogue with the political parties for bringing about a qualitative improvement in electoral atmosphere and politics.

"We will hold dialogue with the political parties for improving electoral environment and politics. Without any conditions the dialogue will be held on different important issues," he told the media after attending a seminar organised by an NGO on " Quality of Education" in the city.

Primary and Mass Education Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury, Prof Anisuzzaman, Hasanul Haq Inu, President of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Nurul Islam Nahid, education affairs secretary of Awami League and DU teacher Dr Muhammad Ibrahim among others attended the programme.

Dr Zillur made it clear that the necessity of dialogue does not end with the registration of the political parties with the Election Commission (EC) as it is a continuous process.

When asked over the timing of fresh dialogue, he said it would take place soon.

Underlying the necessity of holding dialogue with the political parties, he said the process of talks with the political parties has to be continued when necessary. The election-oriented parties also feel the need for it, he noted.

On his recent meeting with BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, which has created some controversies, the Adviser said that he had gone to meet the BNP chairperson in a flag car and was escorted by police guards. So, there should be no confusion in this regard.

He said the government would continue contact with the political parties both in formal and informal ways.

About confusion on the issue of election he said everything will be clear just after the election.

BNP won’t take part in JS polls under emergency

Staff Reporter

BNP would not participate in the forthcoming parliamentary elections under the state of emergency.

The Secretary General of BNP Kondoker Delwar Hossain informed it yesterday at a meeting with a UN delegation at the party's central office at Naya Paltan in the city.

BNP standing committee members RA Gani, Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, M Shamsul Islam, vice president MK Anwar and joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan, among others, attended the meeting.

The visiting UN team for South Asia, Asia and the Pacific region on political affairs Hitoki Den and UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh Renata Dessalien were present during the meeting.

"We would not take part in the elections on December 18 under the emergency rules," Kondoker Delwar told the journalists after holding meeting with the delegation.

He said that it was not possible to hold a free and fair election amid the state of emergency. If the government wants to stage elections under emergency, BNP would not take part in it.

Replying to a question about what issues have they discussed with the UN delegation, the Secretary General of BNP said "We have stated our position to the UN delegation as they wanted to know from us,".

When asked on their next round of dialogue with the government, Delwar said: "We want to hold another dialogue with the government before Oct 20. But we are not getting any response from the government,".

He, however, hoped that the government would give them the date for next round of dialogue.

"We hope the government will give us a date very soon," he added.

Delwar reiterated that BNP would decide on registering with the Election Commission after an accord was reached in talks with the government.

He also remarked that the foreign diplomats in Bangladesh should not make any remarks that may spoil the electoral atmosphere.

"We hope that they will follow diplomatic etiquette and rules in line with Geneva convention," he said.

After the meeting UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh, Renata Dessalien told the journalists that they were still optimistic that a free and fair election would be held in time with the participation of all parties.

"We hope that the winning and defeated parties would work together after the elections for the sake of restoring democracy in the country," she added.

Wall grafity not yet erased: Poll aspirants ignore EC directive

Rafiqul Islam Azad

Many prospective candidates for the next general elections have not removed multiple colour posters and banners in the city as per the directives of the Election Commission (EC) by October 15.

The candidates pasted posters and hanged banners in the city and elsewhere in the country wishing people "Eid Mubarak," which is a violation of electoral rules of the Commission.

Visiting different areas in the city, this correspondent found that large number of posters and banners are still on display, particularly in front of offices of the two major political parties, the Awami League and the BNP.

When contacted Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) Shakhawat Hossain told The New Nation that the Commission has already directed EC officials at district and upazila levels to identify the violators.

"Photographs of posters and banners still on display are being shot on cameras," he said and added, necessary measures, including cancellation of candidature will be considered.

Political leaders, who termed it an unrealistic idea, made sarcastic comments over such measures taken by the EC.

Awami League Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed argued that it would be difficult for the Commission to identity the persons who might stick posters in the name of his/her rivals.

While talking to The New Nation, BNP Chairperson's Adviser Brig Gen (Retd) ASM Hannan Shah expressed his surprise as to how the Commission could take such a measure before the announcement of the election schedule. Posters and banners wishing "Eid Mubarak" pertain to religious matter, said the outspoken BNP leader.

"Posters or banners even did not mention their candidacy. So, it is an absurd idea to take action against the people who greeted other people."

On October 6, Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda had asked the intending candidates to the forthcoming elections to remove their colourful posters, banners and wall writings by October 15; otherwise, he warned their candidatures would be cancelled.

Source said the EC on October 5 issued official notice to the Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police, District Election Officers, Upazila Nirbahi Officers and Upazila Election Officers to take steps in this regard.

Bid to ease power crisis: Accord to set up power plant in Ctg soon

Chittagong Correspondent

The government is likely to sign a deal with Royse Power, a Hong Kong-based company, for setting up a 50-megawatt power plant here in the port city.

Officials concerned said that they would start evaluating the tenders from today (Sunday) and hopefully it would finish within a week.

The evaluation report would initially go to Power Development Board (PDB) and then to the advisory body for final approval. "If it gets nod from the purchasing committee of the advisory board, the deal will be signed within a month," a senior official of the Power Cell said.

The company reportedly offered cheapest rate for the power generated among the six contenders from home and abroad.

According to the informed sources Royse Power wished charging Taka 8.77 for each unit of power while the American Company proposed Taka 18.63.

The Power Development Board (PDB) is currently buying each unit of power over Taka 10 from furnace-oil run Khulna Power Plant.

Earlier, the government in a bid to address generation shortfall here in the port city approved a 50-megawatt private power plant. Once commissioned, it will be the first privately chartered power plant.

The Power Cell, an agency for electricity under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, on September 2 floated international tender in this connection.

Six companies - Elestom Power, America, Agrico International, England, Royse Power, Hong Kong and local companies - Energy Limited, Golden Horizon and Precision Energy Limited participated in the bidding.

Power Development Board (PDB) is supposed to purchase electricity from the plant initially for three years under the lease agreement to be signed with the successful bidder. The lessee will invest for the installation, operation and maintenance of the power plant.

The bidding papers were distributed until October 15 and Thursday (October 16) was the closing date for dropping the quotations.

E-governance can improve govt function

UNB, Dhaka

Experts at a seminar yesterday suggested introducing electronic governance in Bangladesh as they said it would not only improve the process of government work but also ensure transparency and check corruption.

Addressing the seminar, Chief Advisor's Special Assistant Dr Tamim emphasized computer-based skill development of government officials, saying that e-Governance could ease and accelerate the country's development process.

"Government officials must have the knowledge about the information communications technology (ICT) to improve their efficiency," he said while launching at the function a book titled "eGovernment for Bangladesh: Strategy Pathway to Success".

Information systems researcher Ahmed Imran, Australian IT expert Tim Turner and professor of Australian National University Shirley Gregor are the joint authors of the book.

National Centre for Information System Research (NCISR), ANU College of Business and Economics and the Australian National University of Canberra jointly published the book under a project in Bangladesh supported by AusAID.

Dr. Tamim, a former BUET teacher, said country's young generation has to be connected with the internet service to improve their level of efficiency.

The programme at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel was also addressed, among others, by Australian High Commissioner in Dhaka Douglas Foskett, Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council Zabed Ali Sarker and Secretary of the Science and ICT Ministry Wahiduzzaman.

"People will get better service at the earliest if the whole systems were brought into ICT," Wahiduzzaman told the function.

Journalist killed in Narayanganj road accident

BSS, Narayanganj

A journalist was killed in a road accident at Hajiganj near central poultry breeding firm on the Narayanganj-Demra road under Sadar upazila of the district on Friday night, police said.

The dead was Dipu Sikander, 42, of Narayanganj district correspondent of the daily Bangla Bazar Patrika.

He was ran over by a speedy bus on his way to home at Hajiganj at 8:30 pm on Friday night.

He was buried at Pattan Toli graveyard after Namaz-e-Janaza held at Chashara, in front of Narayanganj press club yesterday morning. The members of Narayanganj press club expressed their deep shock at death of Dipu and conveyed their sympathy to the bereaved family .

5 lakh tonnes potatoes to remain unsold : Govt reluctant to take necessary steps

Staff Reporter

Potato growers have been reeling under frustration due to drastic fall in its price and lack of demand in the markets.

Experts said nearly five lakh tonnes of potato have so far remained unsold adding to the woes of the growers. If the trend continues and the potato growers do not get back their invested capital they will lose interest in its farming. If that happens it will not augur well to the national economy, they noted.

The country's potato production was estimated at 90 lakh tonnes this season.

They pointed out that increased production of potato had saved many marginal people from starvation when prices of rice registered a sharp rise in the recent past.

Being inspired by the government functionaries many people of low income bracket started consuming potato and potato products as the prices of rice shot up beyond their purchasing power.

Sources in the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association said due to dull market of potato, its delivery from the cold storages has slowed down perilously much to the dismay of the cold storage owners.

Huge production of vegetables and their low prices also contributed to the fall in the prices of potato substantially. Its price has now come down to Tk 10/11 per kilogram as against Tk 17/18 a few months ago. The production cost of this commodity stood at Tk 15 per kilogram, sources said.

Experts apprehend that the current low price of potato will certainly discourage the farmers in its cultivation on a wide scale in future. In that event the Government will have to import it spending a huge amount of the hard earned foreign currency, according to the sources.

They called upon the government to take suitable measures to increase its consumption as well as push up its price. The government can prevail on the print and the electronic media to motivate the people to increase its consumption.

Tomtom on wane

BSS, Dhaka

Horse-drawn carriages, popularly known as tomtom, said to be introduced by a local king and once the major mode of transport for the then elite of the historic city of Dhaka, are now limping to survive.

The carriage owners fear that in the near future there will not be a single carriage available in the city as their next generations are not interested in continuing the trade of the traditional transport due to soaring costs and the lure of other professions to earn more.

Once a regular mode of transport, the horse-drawn carriages are now patronised on different occasions like wedding, Eid Day or Pahela Baishakh. Besides, the carts are used in ferrying passengers in the old part of Dhaka city and rented by filmmakers and producers of dramas.

Nizamuddin, a driver of a carriage, told BSS that carrying passengers, they can earn only the feeding cost of the animals and pay remuneration to the drivers. "Our main source of income is letting the carts to filmmakers or drama producers. Giving rent to marriage parties also fetches a good amount," he said.

The city, which stepped into its 400-year, once had about 800 traditional box-type carts which had disappeared, decades back, failing to compete with paddle-rickshaws and mechanised three- wheelers. Now the city has only 26 of the rickshaw-type carriages.

No wonder, conscious of the unequal competition they would face, the horse-drawn carriage drivers had bitterly opposed the introduction of the paddle-rickshaws, still a popular transport mode, when they arrived from an East Asian country early in the 1940s.

The horses are emaciated, as the owners cannot afford to feed them well due to fodder costs, said Abul Hossain, another man in the trade. "You see, price of fodder has gone several times higher. In such a situation we can't afford to offer the animals enough to keep them healthy," he said.

Usually the carriages do not come to new Dhaka and if they come, there are hundreds of onlookers on both sides of streets watching the mode of transport, the body of which are decorated with fauna, film stars and other natural beauties. When asked Joynal Abedin, a man around 80 plus, who has four carriages, said, "So far I know the transport was introduced by the king of Bhawal, who survived a killing plot by his wife, around 45 km north of Dhaka. He used this mode to come to Dhaka often, but I can't say the exact time. Only I can say it was during the British rule."

These carts were out of reach of general people at the initial stage as they were used by the rulers of Dhaka and the elite, said Joynal, who migrated to the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, from India after the British left the sub-continent in 1947.

"It has become very difficult to continue with our forefathers' trade as we have to import the animals from India as they are not available in Bangladesh and as the price of the horses have jumped up several times," he said.

Joynal, father of three sons and five daughters, said only one of his sons is now engaged in their forefathers' trade as the rest are not interested in continuing it because of poor income.