The New Nation - Internet Edition

Tigers-Kiwis 2nd Test ends in draw

New Zealand Cricket team, the winners of the
two-Test series between New Zealand, poses for a photograph
with the champions trophy at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium on Wednesday. Banglar Chokh

Sports Reporter

The second Test match of the BRAC Bank two-Test series between Bangladesh and New Zealand ended in a draw at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.

New Zealand clinched the Test series 1-0 as the Kiwis beat the Tigers by three wickets in the nail-biting first Test match in Chittagong, the port city of the country on October 21.

Three days of the second Test was abandoned due to heavy rain.

Later, Mohammad Ashraful won in the coin-session on the fourth day and decided to field first.

Batting first New Zealand made 262 for the loss of six wickets and declared their first innings.

In reply, Bangladesh were 13 for the loss of three wickets at the close of the fourth day's play.

Opener Tamim Iqbal and Mehrab Hossain (Junior ) resumed the first innings with the overnight score of eight and nought respectively. But Jeetan Patel removed Mehrab's wicket for seven. And Daniel Vettori struck again as he dismissed Tamim Iqbal for 24 when the host's total was 44 for the loss of five wickets off 25.1 overs. Vettori played extremely well and finished his spell as 19-6-66-5. Vettori was adjudged the man of the match and also man of the Test series.

Iein O'Brien, the other successful bowler of the day, struck first as he dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim for seven. Mushfiqur Rahim, the wicketkeeper-batsman was caught behind by Brendon McCullum off O'Brien when the board was giving a reading of 44 for the loss of six wickets.

Later, Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Bin Mortaza rescued their team adding together 78 runs in the seventh wicket stand before Shakib was trapped lbw by Vettori when the team's total was 122 for the loss of seven wickets. Shakib was deprived for a half century for just one run. He knocked a painstaking 49 off 87 balls. He hit six boundaries in his 112-minute innings.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was caught by Daniel Flynn off O'Brien scoring 48 off 89 balls and led his team to avoid folloe-on.

Mashrafe hit seven fours and two sixers before he returned to the pavilion when Bangladesh's total was 155 for the loss of eight wickets.

Abdur Razzak was not out with a run-a-ball 16.

Bangladesh declared their first innings scoring 169 for the loss of nine wickets after Shahadat was dismissed by O"Brien for just four.

O'Brien bagged three wickets for 31 runs.

Then, New Zealand scored 79 for the loss of one wicket.

Jesse Ryder and Aaron Redmond were on 39 and 30 before the two captains agreed for a draw with 40 minutes remaining to play for the fifth and final day's game.

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza had to be satisfied with one wicket. He dismissed opener Jamie How for just 8 runs.

Shortage of teachers affects Barisal SBMC

Barisal Correspondent

Education of students and treatment of patients at the Barisal Sher -E- Bangla Medical College and Hospital are being seriously hampered for a long time due to shortage of teachers..

Already five out of total 32 departments of the college have been closed down in the absence of teachers and six other departments are likely to meet the same fate soon, college sources said.

The departments which have been shut down for want of want of teachers are physical medicine, dentistry, urology, psychiatry and metabolic.

The departments facing closure for lack of teachers include forensic medicine, radiology, nephrology, plastic surgery and blood transfusion. These departments have been facing dearth of teachers for long. Some of professors and assistant professors of these department often remain absent from duties for mysterious reasons and some others are away from the college with long leave, the sources added.

In the absence of professors, associate professors and assistant professors these departments are often run by junior doctors. As a result, students are being deprived of proper of education.

Besides, seven other departments have been limping in the absence of required number of teachers. Classes in each of these departments are now conducted by a single teacher. Moreover eleven other departments have only two teachers each at the moment.

When contacted, Dr Zahid Hossain, principal of the colleges, admitted the shortage of teachers in almost all departments. He said he informed the higher authorities time and again about the shortage of teachers in most of the departments , but to no avail. The sources further said that SBMC has been accredited to impart post graduation level education. But it has not yet been possible to start post graduate courses for lack of senior level teachers.

Proper treatment of a large number of patients suffering from various diseases is also facing setback in the absence of professors and associate professor in many important departments. The poor patients are the worst sufferers as they can not afford to spend sufficient money for better treatment at private clinics, according to the sources.

US, Bangladesh partnership deal finalised

Staff Reporter

Visiting Adjutant General for the U.S. State of Oregon and Commander of US National Guard air and ground forces for the Pacific Region Maj Gen Raymond Rees, yesterday presented a proclamation from Oregon Governor Kulongoski to Lieutenant General Md Abdul Mubeen, Principal Staff Officer, Armed Forces Division. The proclamation aims at affirming a commitment to establish a permanent partnership between the Oregon National Guard and Bangladesh under the National Guard's State Partnership Program (SPP).

According to a pres release, the National Guard's State Partnership Programme links U.S. states with foreign nations to promote and enhance bilateral relations.

The SPP not only promotes military to military relationships but also provides a vast civilian base of professionals for enhanced military to civilian and civilian-to-civilian exchanges. Under the SPP, more than 50 countries are matched with US states, it said.

The partnerships address a wide variety of shared security issues, including border security, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, combat medical training, combating illegal drugs, military support to civilian authorities, peacekeeping operations, and port security.

The new SPP is a continuation of the strong bilateral cooperation between US and Bangladesh Armed Forces, the press release added.

BNP reiterates call for lifting emergency

Staff Reporter

BNP joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan yesterday demanded of the government to withdraw the state of emergency before the forthcoming parliamentary election on December 18.

"We want the state of emergency be lifted and of our party leaders released," he said while presiding over a meeting of Dhaka division organising committee at the party's central office at Naya Paltan in the city.

Khan, who is also leader of the divisional organising team 'b' urged the party leaders and activists to gear up organisational activities for the elections and get ready for movement simultaneously.

The meeting reviewed the reports on the organisational activities of Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Tangail and Mymensingh districts.

It also urged some districts committees of the division that are yet to submit organisational activities reports, to submit the sub-committee soon. The next meeting of the team will be held on October 31.

Khairul Kabir Khokon, deputy team leader, Shah Nurul Kabir Shahin, co-ordinator, Rezabudollah Chowdhury, NI Khan, Noor Jahan Yasmin Bulbul, Khadija Amin, Khodeja Emdad Lata, Khaleda Panna, Laila Begum, Sultan Salauddin Tuku, Fazlur Rahman, advocate Khorshed Alam Mian, Osman Gani Osman, Alhaj Nazimuddin, Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, advocate Mahfuzur Rahman Humayun, Qazi Moshiur Rahman and Mofidul Islam Mohon ,among others, attended the meeting.

Kidnap drama ends, boy rescued: Mother, paramour arrested

Kishoreganj Correspondent

The Rapid Action Battalion-9 in Kishoreganj yesterday rescued a boy, who was missing in a kidnap drama plotted alleged by his mother and her paramour.

Asma Akter Happy, mother of the boy Asaduzzaman Pony (13), in her attempt to break away from her husband Abul Bashar plotted the kidnap drama to grab a lump sum amount from the boy's expatriate father.

She informed Abul Bashar over phone that their only son was kidnapped by unknown miscreants, who were demanding Tk 15 lakh as ransom.

Happy also lodged a general diary in this connection with the local police station. However, Rab-9 was able to unearth the secret and rescued the boy.

A Rab-9 team, led by its deputy commander Ali Ashraf Bhuyian, also arrested Happy, her fiancé Milon Mian and one other Arif Khan, who were involved in the plot, the elite force told journalists.

3 of a family killed in Ctg road accident

Chittagong Correspondent

Three members of a family including an 18-month-old kid were killed, while another suffered critical wounds in a road accident that took place at Monsha Badamtal area on Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway late Tuesday night.

The victims were identified as Joshna Begum (30), her daughter Kana (6) and Pushpa (18 months).

Kamal Hossain (40), father of Kana and Pushpa who survived narrowly, has now been undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) till the time of dispatching this report.

Police quoting eyewitnesses said that Kamal Hossain was going to his village home at Kagoria in Satkania Upazila by an auto-rickshaw on Tuesday night.

The auto-rickshaw collided head on with a Chittagong-bound passenger-bus (Saudia Paribahan) near Monsha Badamtal in Patiya at about 7:30 p.m. All the on board passengers of the auto-rickshaw suffered critical wounds.

Locals pulled them out from the badly-damaged auto-rickshaw and sent to CMCH for treatment where Joshna Begum and her two kids succumbed their injures at about 10:00 p.m.

Highway police detained the bus, but its driver and helpers managed to flee from the spot.

A case was filed with Patiya police station in connection with the incident.

Laboratory test of all powder milk products urged

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a roundtable yesterday called the government to bring all powder milk products for laboratory test to protect babies and others from serious health hazards like kidney failure and cancer.

The Ittefaq Group of Publications organised the roundtable on 'Melamine Effects of Milk Products' at the National Press Club.

The discussants said besides powder milk, other foods like candy, bakery food, vermicelli should also be tested if they also contain toxic of melamine.

They also demanded for setting up of an international level laboratory manned by competent experts to test all food items before marketing.

Prof Nilufar Nahar of Dhaka University, Abul Kashem, Fatema Parveen Choudhury, Prof Moazzem Hossain, Borhan Ahmed, among others took part in the roundtable presided by Ittefaq editor Rahat Khan.

Rahat Khan said that the government should intensify the anti adulteration drive of food items because of the future of the next generation was at stake

He criticised the government for its inaction in testing the melamine content of powdered milk in markets, he said, that the concerned authorities should play more effective role in this regard.

Prof Nilufar who has involved on testing melamine on the eight powder milk products at DU Laboratories, said a competent laboratory should be set up to identify adulterated food items. Lives of the youngsters are at stake as mothers are feeding their babies contaminated powder milk as alternative to breast milk. "But powder milk cannot be an alternative to breast milk," she asserted.

About eight brands of imported powder milk tested in the Dhaka University Laboratory under her supervision Prof Nahar lamented that government did not pay heed to the test results.

"It is clear to us that the government is unable to impose ban on the tainted powder milk although we found toxic melamine in eight brands of powder milk", she said.

Fatema Parveen said some 46 brands of powder milk on sale in the market should submit certificate of laboratory test report by November 30.

Prof AQM Talukder said that a total of 245 babies died due to malnutrition in the country.

"We cannot find out how many babies died due to consumption of contaminated powder milk in the country," he said.

FBCCI First Vice-President Abul Kashem pointed out adulterat in food is a major concern in the country and said that the government should establish laboratory for testing food items.

Executive Editor of the Daily Janakanta Borhan Ahmed alleged, that the influential group tried to stop the melamine report on powder milk.

Prof Moazzem Hossian said that some dishonest businessmen have released the adulterated powder milk for making additional profit.

Fatema Pervin Chowdhury of Health Nutrition Department said that the government has taken measures after the publishing of the DU test on of powder milk with melamine.

Executive Editor of the Ittefaq Syed Tosharraf Ali said that the multinational companies took opportunity to release adulterated foods in our market following the lack of vigilance of the government.

Breast Feeding Foundation Chairman Dr SK Roy, Ittefaq News Editor Rashid Un Nabi, Dr Abdur Nur Tusar, Nutrition Specialist SM Shampa, among others, addressed the roundtable.

JS election: AL to select candidates from grassroots list

Staff Reporter

Awami League (AL) Acting General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday said that AL agreed to contest in the long-awaited parliamentary polls under the re-demarcated electoral boundaries.

Ashraful disclosed this while talking to reporters at his NAM flat residence.

Demanding the immediate resolution of electoral boundaries and deferment of upazila polls, he said, " Without immediate resolution of the new electoral boundaries and logical deferment of upazila polls, doubts over the holding of the national elections will linger."

About sharing of seats the party with its allies, Ashraful said nomination ticket would be awarded to aspirants on the basis of the different criterion. All the issues would be finalised after Sheikh Hasina return home. He said that the aspirants who have credibility and were financially transparent would be awarded the nomination.

He also informed that the party would start distribution of nomination papers after the Awami League Central Working Committee (ALCWC) meeting on November 2.

"According to the party's amended constitution, in line with the new Representation of the People's Ordinance (RPO), the candidates will be selected from the grassroots. We have been working to make qualitative changes in politics" he added.

He reiterated that the grassroots leaders would send five names of candidates and then the central parliamentary board would select one of the five.

"As we have already drafted the method, the process will begin with the approval of working committee," said Ashraful.

He also added that huge number of supporters would be gathered to receive party chief Sheikh Hasina.

Breast cancer kills 15,000 women every year

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a discussion yesterday said that this is high time to prevent the deadly disease breast cancer.

They were speaking at a discussion on "Making the women athletes aware about breast cancer' at the National Press Club in the city.

National Sports Council-Bangladesh and Sanafi Aventis jointly organised it.

The month of October is observed as "breast cancer awareness month" and two organisations arrange discussion to enhance awareness about cancer.

Abdur Rahman, Acting Director of National Sports Council, presided over the function while Dr. Kamruzzaman Chowdhury, a cancer specialist, presented the main article titled "Early detection…best prevention."

Kamruzzaman said that breast cancer has been identified as one of the major causes of death of a large number of women across the world. Nearly 22 thousands women are attacked with this disease in Bangladesh every year. Of them 15 thousands die mainly for lack of awareness and modern treatment, he informed.

Recovery from the disease can be cent percent with popper treatment, he said.

Speakers said, athletes have a responsibility to create mass awareness about this dreaded disease but curable disease.

Cancer specialist Dr. Rezaul Karim Khan, Athlete Jubera Rahman Linu, Athlete Kamrunnahar Rana, among others, spoke at the discussion.

Obama leads in 4 Republican states

AP, Washington

Democrat Barack Obama holds clear leads in four reliably Republican states and is tied in two others as his campaign labors to remake America’s political map with a landslide victory over John McCain on Tuesday, according to a new Associated Press-GFK poll.

The polling shows Obama holding solid leads in Ohio (7 percentage points), Nevada (12 points), Colorado (9) and Virginia (7), all Republican states won by Bush and collectively offering 47 electoral votes.

The poll results, released Wednesday, reflect Obama’s massive allocation of money and campaign staff in states once seen as certain to back McCain, who has been forced to spread his more limited resources in the presidential election across Republican home turf.

The survey shows Americans widely favor Obama as best suited to tackle the country’s accelerating economic decline, the key issue in the 2008 presidential election and a huge drag on McCain as he tries to shed the legacy of unpopular President George W. Bush, a fellow Republican.

The AP-GfK polls show Obama winning among early voters, favored on almost every issue, benefiting from the country’s sour mood and widely viewed as the winning candidate by voters in eight crucial states - Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

"If you believe in miracles,“ said Republican consultant Joe Gaylord of Arlington, Virginia, "you still believe in McCain.“

Despite a mounting chorus of Republicans predicting McCain’s failure, aides to the four-term Arizona senator insist their internal surveys show victory is still within reach.

And polls are mere snapshots of highly fluid campaigns, and this race has been volatile. McCain was written off prematurely last year, and Obama seemed poised for victory in New Hampshire’s Democratic primary just before Hillary Rodham Clinton charged to victory there.

Even this close to election day, racial tensions and the volume of late-deciding voters identified by the AP-GfK polling leave room for doubt. But the surveys confirm what McCain aides acknowledge privately - their chances of winning are low.

The polling shows Obama holding solid leads in Ohio (7 percentage points), Nevada (12 points), Colorado (9) and Virginia (7), all Republican states won by Bush and collectively offering 47 electoral votes. Sweeping those four - or putting together the right combination of two or three - would almost certainly make Obama president.

Under the U.S. system, the national popular vote does not determine the presidential victor. Instead, the winning candidate must amass 270 electoral votes in what amounts to a state-by-state contest. Each state is allocated electors roughly according to population.

Obama can earn 252 electors by merely reclaiming states won by John Kerry in 2004. There are only two Kerry states still in contention - Pennsylvania with 21 votes and New Hampshire with four. AP-GfK polls show Obama leading both by double digits.

Ohio alone has 20 electoral votes. Nevada has 5, Colorado 9 and Virginia 13.

In addition, according to AP-GfK polling, Obama is tied with McCain in North Carolina and Florida, two vote-rich states Bush carried in 2004. Obama is throwing his time and money into Florida, which has 27 votes, part of a strategy to create varied routes to victory and push toward a landslide of 300 or more electoral votes. North Carolina has 15 votes.

Independent polling suggests that New Mexico and Iowa, two traditionally Republican-leaning states, are out of reach for McCain. Other Republican states may be creeping away from him and into contention, including Montana.

Thus, McCain must overtake Obama in the many traditionally Republican states where he is trailing or tied - a tall order. Or he needs to gain some breathing room by winning Pennsylvania, where he trails by 12 percentage points, according to the AP-GfK poll.

Obama was trying to cement his lead Wednesday with a national television blitz and his first joint campaign appearance with former President Bill Clinton at a rally in Florida.

McCain also was taking his campaign to Florida, the state that handed the White House to Bush eight years ago after a controversial recount.

But McCain’s election prospects appear increasingly dim. He now faces a tight race even in his home state of Arizona, where the Cronkite-Eight poll showed him in a statistically tied with Obama. McCain led by only 46 to 44 percent, within the poll’s margin of error of three percentage points.

Nationally, a poll by the Pew Research Center found Obama with a 16-point lead among registered voters. The survey said Obama had 52 percent and McCain 36 percent. Other nationwide polls showed Obama with a lead in single digits.

Obama was blanketing the airwaves on Wednesday to win over teetering voters.

During a stop in Raleigh, North Carolina, Obama will be interviewed by ABC network news anchor Charlie Gibson. Later, in Florida, Obama will tape a cable television appearance on Comedy Central’s irreverent "The Daily Show“ with Jon Stewart.

But the centerpiece of Obama’s TV blitz is a 30-minute ad that will be broadcast during prime-time Wednesday evening.

Flush with cash from its record-shattering fundraising, the Obama campaign bought time on CBS, NBC and Fox for about $1 million per network. The infomercial is also scheduled to run on the Spanish-language Univision; BET, a cable TV channel targeting blacks, MSNBC and TV One.

The Obama ad is expected to be a video montage of typical people talking about the challenges they face, with Obama explaining how he can help. A campaign adviser said the taped ad will feature a live cut-in to Obama, who is scheduled to be at a rally in Florida at the time.

Then, Obama planned to appear with Bill Clinton for the first time at a Wednesday night rally in Kissimmee, Florida, near Orlando, timed to hit the late-evening news.

Bill Clinton was cool toward Obama following the bruising nomination battle between the Illinois senator and Clinton’s wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But both Clintons gave rousing endorsements of Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August. Since then, Bill Clinton has campaigned for Obama on his own, but the two have not appeared together at such an event.

McCain is purchasing loads of ad time, too. But the disparity between Obama and the Republicans is so wide that it has allowed Obama to spend in more states than McCain, appear more frequently in key markets and diversify his messages - some positive, some negative. McCain could only counter the Obama blitz with a Wednesday evening appearance on CNN’s "Larry King Live.“

In Florida, McCain was meeting privately Wednesday with former top military officers who advise him on national security. He was expected to issue a statement afterward outlining his views on security threats to the nation.

Aides said his argument is that he is better prepared than Obama to lead the U.S. in a troubled world because of his military background. The Arizona senator is a former Navy pilot who was shot down during the Vietnam War and held prisoner for more than five years.