The New Nation - Internet Edition

EU for full withdrawal of emergency before polls

European Commission Ambassador Dr Stefan Frowein
speaking at a discussion on 'Scrutiny of 2008 Parliament
Elections: The EU's Role' at Sonargaon Hotel on Thursday.
Focus Bangla

UNB, Dhaka

European Commission Ambassador Dr Stefan Frowein yesterday said the European Union wishes to see the full lifting of the state of emergency as they think it will affect the election-observation process.

Although a 7-member core European Union (EU) election assessment team arrives today from Brussels, the EU will refrain from wholesale observation if the legal and practical circumstances conducive to free, fair and credible elections are not in place.

"Following substantial easing of the emergency that took place this week, our Headquarters are reflecting on whether the conditions are now in place for the full redeployment of the observation team," the EC Ambassador, Dr Stefan Frowein, said at a discussion on 'Scrutiny of 2008 Parliament Elections: The EU's Role' at Sonargaon Hotel.

The Ambassador welcomed the pullout of the army and relaxation of some emergency rules as one step forward. "Ideally, we wish to see full lifting of emergency because emergency will affect the observation process," he said during question-answer time.

Frowein said apart from the core team, 12 long-term observers will be deployed in mid-November to the six divisions. "Full deployment of the Election Observation Mission (EOM) hinges on a convincing relaxation of the state of emergency."

The European envoy said the EU identified the 9th parliament election as priority for EU election observation in 2006 due to size and importance in regional terms of Bangladesh, relative youthfulness of democracy and potential for EU engagement to help bring stability to a country with a history of political confrontation.

He said the election observation can contribute to strengthening democratic institutions and building public confidence in electoral processes and help deter "fraud, intimidation and violence".

The Ambassador said election observation also serves to reinforce other key European Union foreign policy objectives like peace-building.

Since 2000, he said, over 60 EU EOMs have been deployed to all continents. In 2008, Guinea Bissau, Ecuador, Angola, Rwanda, Cambodia, Nepal and Pakistan are amongst the countries which have been identified as priorities for EU missions.

Frowein noted that successful holding of credible elections is only one indicator of the health of democracy in a given country. The readiness to accept outside scrutiny of polls as well as permit such scrutiny by domestic civil-society organizations is an essential element in fostering confidence at home and abroad.

The Ambassador observed that Bangladesh has an enviable record in facilitating outside scrutiny of national elections, and cooperation which the EU received from both the government and the election commission has been exemplary.

"This speaks to the outward-looking nature of Bangladesh and to the country's readiness to engage in multilateral instances, including in key bodies such as the UN Human Rights Council," he said.

ICT facilities to be expanded to 30 more unions

BSS, Dhaka

Against the backdrop of tremendous success in two unions, ICT facilities will be expanded to 30 more unions in the country by this month.

According to sources in the National Institute of Local Government (NILG), 52 unions have been primarily selected for setting up union information centres (UICs) where information and communication technology facilities (ICT) will be available for the grassroots people.

Of them, 30 unions will be selected finally through a workshop to be held in the middle of this month, the sources said, adding Access to Information (A2I) Programme, the Chief Adviser's Office, and the NILG will organise the workshop.

The primarily selected unions are Purnimagati, Hatikumrul and Barahar under Ullapara upazila and Deshigram under Tarash upazila in Sirajganj district, Bashimoil, Ghashigram and Duroil under Mohanpur upazila, Kamargaon, Saranjai and Pachandar under Tanor upazila, Maria under Bagmara upazila, Mohanpur under Godagari upazila in Rajshahi district, Naihati, TS Bahirdia and Shrifaltala under Rupsa upazila, Bajua, Lawdor and Kamarkhoda under Dakop upazila, Bhandarpara and Rangpur under Dumuria upazila, Lasker in Paikgacha upazila, Maheswarpur under Koira upazila and Jalama under Batiaghata upazila in Khulna district, Rashidpur and Dikpait under Jamalpur Sadar upazila in Jamalpur district, Durgapur and Jagannathpur under Comilla Sadar upazila in Comilla district, Chachra, Diara and Arabpur under Jessore Sadar upazila in Jessore district, Patarbhata and Kalmegha under Patharghata in Barguna district, Sheelkhali and Pakua under Pakua upazila, Baraital under Chakaria upazila in Cox's Bazar district, Garmitala under Dhobaura upazila, Fulpur under Fulpur upazila, Dhara under Haluaghat upazila, Masakhali under Gafargaon upazila in Mymensingh district, Dadpur under Boalmari upazila in Faridpur district, Tarail Sachail under Tarail upazila, Chowganga under Itna upazila, Astagram under Astagram upazila, Kiraton, Dehunda Gundhar and Kafrabad under Karimganj upazila in Kishoreganj district, Balara under Harirampur upazila in Manikganj district, Narandia, Paikora, Balla and Kokdhara under Kalihati upazila in Tangail district.

When the UICs are set up, the sources said, a huge number of people will get offline and online facilities such as different government forms and information about agriculture, health, education, legal aid and human rights and employment, computer and other training, composing, printing, photo, scanning, email, internet and multimedia.

Earlier, community-based e-centres (CECs) were set up in two unions under a pilot project of Democratic Government Thematic Trust Fund (DGTTF) in May last year with a view to reaching the ICT facilities to the doorstep of rural people. Later, the CECs were included in the Driver Project of A2I Programme with the financial assistance of the UNDP.

The unions were Madhainagar under Tarash upazila in Sirajganj district and Mushidhat under Setabganj upazila in Dinajpur district.

About 50,000 people of the unions are being immensely benefited from the CECs that are now renamed as UICs following a revolution that took place in agriculture, health, education, legal aid and human rights and employment, computer training and other fields.

Relief houses not properly distributed: Alleged Priojpur dist victims

Staff Reporter

The people of the cyclone Sidr ravaged areas yesterday alleged in the city that the relief houses provided by the Saudi government were not properly distributed to the victims and they also demanded to punish the relief grabbers.

Shakawat Hossain, representative of Sidr-affected people of the Bhandaria in Priojpur district told journalists at the Dhaka Reporters Unity yesterday that the Chairman and the Ward Commissioners of the areas take money on different pleas amounting to Tk 3,000 to Tk 20,000 to provide Sidr victims relief house of the affected vulnerable families.

He claimed that Saudi Arab in has already constructed 1,000 houses. But the Chairman of Ekri and Talikhali Unions and seven ward commissioners of these areas were taking bribe on the very nose of the law enforcing agencies. But they are not providing the houses to Sidr affected people.

Cyclone Sidr ravaged the country's south and southwestern region in November last year and left more than 4,000 people dead and millions homeless, he added.

Sidr-affected people in eight districts in the country will have their homes built under the project funded by UNDP, IDB and many NGOs of home and abroad. They constructed at least 15,000 houses for most needy and vulnerable families but most of the victims were not getting relief houses due to corruption of the Chairmen and the ward commissioners, he claimed.

Cyclone Sidr ravaged people prayed to the concerned authority for fair investigation in to the matter and to provide the relief houses to the real victims.

More fund for state-run laboratories urged

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a seminar yesterday urged the government to allocate more fund for state-run laboratories to detect contamination in food items.

They were speaking at a seminar on "Dictation and Qualification of Melamine in Milk by LC-MS/MS Method" at Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) auditorium.

Prof Dr Akram Hossain,chairman, BCSIR, presided over the meeting. It was jointly organised by the Applied Bio System and the Bangladesh Scientific and Chemical Mart.

Dr Akram Hossain said that the recent experiences from the fake drugs and presence toxic melamine in baby milk powder have heightened public concerns in Bangladesh, where testing labs are neither adequately developed nor internationally accredited.

The controversies over milk contamination could have been solved much earlier provided the local laboratories were adequately equipped, he said.

The government should take urgent measure as the quality control machines are very expensive, the BCSIR Chairman added.

"We don't want to say any result is false or bad. All results are good, but people are being confused," Prof Mir Misbahuddin of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) said.

It is important to remove confusions from the public mind first, he said adding, a committee should be formed to integrate all the results.

Director of Institute for Food Science and Technology Fahmida Rokshana and Director of Bangladesh Scientific and Chemical Mart and Scientific Solutions Ltd Eng Rashed Chowdhury, among others, addressed at the seminar.

BJP pledges to defend 7th Nov

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a discussion titled "Role of the 7th November in forging National Unity and establishing Multiparty Democracy" stated to foil the conspiracy against the believers of 7th November perception in the forthcoming national election.

In the discussion meeting organised by Bangladesh Jatiya Party in the city with party's chairman Dr MA Matin in the chair, Dr RA Gani, member of BNP Standing Committee, BNP chairperson's advisor Brig Gen (retd) ASM Hannan Shah, BJP secretary general Abu Naser Mohammad Rahmatullah, among others, spoke on the occasion.

Speakers urged the believers of 7th November perception to unite forgetting minor differences and to win in the next election. Otherwise, country, democracy and sovereignty will be in serious crises, thy added.

Multi-party democracy cannot be established without 7th November. Conspiracies to wipe out the 7th November perception have been in existence for long time but nobody was successful, stated Dr RA Gani.

ASM Hannan Shah said, no force can stand against us if we are organised. For this reason some quarter is trying to get power through illegal coalition with the government.

Dr Zillur hints talks with BNP to remove mistrust

UNB, Dhaka

Commerce Adviser Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said yesterday the government would put up extra effort in a bid to gain complete confidence among the political parties about holding of free, fair and neutral election.

"We will initiate extra effort to fill up the gap of confidence among the political parties and remove the misgiving, mistrust and doubt," he said in an obvious reference to the lack of confidence of BNP about holding of neutral election scheduled for December 18.

Still undecided about taking part in the fray BNP led 4-party alliance Wednesday night alleged the government was favouring Awami League without naming the party.

Dr Zillur inaugurated the first ever German Trade Show at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre in the afternoon. Later he talked to reporters.

Replying to a question, he said all doubts and misgivings would be removed through dialogue about government's sincerity of holding fair and neutral election. The government is continuously endeavouring to create an environment of confidence.

About the seven-point demand of BNP, the Adviser said some of the demands have been implemented while the others are in the process.

Inaugurating the trade show he it would help boost trade between Bangladesh and Germany.

German ambassador Frank Meyke said his country hoped of a peaceful and successful transition to parliamentary government next month. After the election Bangladesh will achieve sustainable democracy, free from the confrontational politics of the past, with the political parties successfully working for a stable, democratic and prosperous Bangladesh, he added.

He said, "Constructive parliamentary work, the banning of hartals, corruption curbed, maintaining and building on structural reforms and achievements of the caretaker government - these should be important positive signals for German investors and for tapping the full potential of our bilateral trade."

FBCCI president Annisul Huq and BOI executive chairman Kamaluddin Ahmed were also present at the function.

Polls without 4-party won’t be acceptable, says Delwar

Staff Reporter

BNP Secretary General Advocate Khondoker Delwar Hossain yesterday said the forthcoming general election would not be acceptable to the people without participation of four-party alliance.

"No meaningful and acceptable election can be held in the country without the participation of the BNP-led four-party alliance," he said while talking to leaders and activists of Dhaka city BNP and its associate organisations at his NAM flat in connection with the historic November 7.

Khondoker Delwar reiterated his call to the government to fulfill their seven-point demand for creating scopes for the four-party alliance to take part in the December 18 polls.

Terming the BNP an election-oriented party, the BNP Secretary General asked the party men to remain alert so that none can foil the forthcoming elections.

BNP Vice-Chairman Begum Sarwari Rahman, Juba Dal General Secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, Krishak Dal General Secretary Shamsuzzaman Dudu, and Muktojoddha Dal President Principal Sohrab Uddin, among others, were present in the meeting.

US ambassador to meet Hasina today

UNB, Dhaka

US Ambassador James F Moriarty would meet with Awami League president Sheikh Hasina at her Dhanmondi residence today before she sits with her party hierarchy in an important meeting.

Dr Hasan Mahmud, personal secretary to the ex-PM, told UNB that the US envoy would meet with her at Sudha Sadan at about 3:30pm.

Immediate after the meeting, the Awami League Central Working Committee will meet at 4pm at their Dhanmondi office with party president Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The meeting of the AL policymaking body was earlier postponed on Tuesday and would now resume and deal with major matters after the return of the party chief.

Sheikh Hasina returned home on Thursday morning from America after undergoing treatment following her release from prison on parole.

In a statement, Awami League's acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam requested "all the members of the committee to attend the meeting in time".

Politicians urged to work for marginal people

BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a discussion here on Thursday called upon the political parties to integrate accumulated pains and agonies of the country's marginal people in their election manifesto for their well-being.

Side by side with this, they said the political parties will have to make plan of actions to meet the demand of marginalised people.

Solidarity of Marginal People, an NGO, organised the discussion titled "Demands of marginalised people in election manifestos of political parties" at Jatiya Press Club here.

Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) Dr Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed presided over the function while editor of Bhorer Kagoj Shaymol Dutta moderated it.

The function was also addressed, among others, by general secretary of Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Mojahidul Islam Selim, Shahin Akhter Doli of Nari Moitree, Helal Uddin of Angikar Bangladesh, Advocate Mosharraf Hossain Mojumdar of National Disabled Forum, Dr Dijendranath Sarkar of Joypurhat district and Nazrul Islam of Pabna.

A 10-point proposal was put forward including food security of marginal people, education, health and women's rights at the discussion.

The speakers demanded ensuring availability of agriculture inputs and easy marketing facilities of agriculture products for the marginalised people after being considered the rights of their livelihood as human rights.

BEA Chairman Dr Ahmed said any development efforts will go in vain if socio- economic conditions of the marginal people are not scaled up.

He described the unity and struggle as the key to establish rights of the deprived community and said awareness must be strengthened for ensuring their rights.

The economist suggested continuing the pressure upon the political parties to press home their demands.

Dr QK Ahmed said the current global economic situation and due role of the state and private sector in the economy of Bangladesh needs to be incorporated with the manifestos of the political parties.

Mojahidul Islam Salim said people should be aware of their rights and organised for betterment of the marginalised community.

CPB urges EC to strongly enforce code of conducts

Staff Reporter

The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) yesterday urged the Election Commission to strongly enforce its rules and regulations so that none can get the chance to violate election code of conducts.

"Strict enforcement of rules is urgent to keep the election free from money, muscle power and communal propaganda," the party said in a statement following meeting of its Election Operating Committee.

CPB urged its intending candidates to apply for nomination, alongwith recommendations by concerned upazila or thana committees to the centre by November 10.

Presided over by Morshed Ali the meeting was addressed by party leaders Mahbub Alam, Samusuzzaman Sheli, Ruhin Hosain Prince, Laksmi Chakraborty, Adv Fazlur Rahman, Abdul Malek, Adv Shohel Ahmed, Adv Jead Al Malum, Adv Maksuda Akhter Lily, Chandon Shaha Roy and Abid Hossain.

2 muggers killed in mob beating in Savar

UNB, Savar

Two alleged muggers were killed and two others injured in a mob beating when they were fleeing after snatching Tk 80,000 and injuring three people at a kitchen market at Birulia here early yesterday.

Police said four muggers snatched Tk 80,000 from a businessman at the local kitchen market at Birulia and tried to flee the scene by a microbus at about 5 am. Hearing shouts of the businessman, the devotees, who were coming out from a nearby mosque after Fazr prayers, chased the muggers.

Being chased, the muggers attacked the local devotees with sharp weapons leaving three of them injured.

Later, the devotees along with other people caught the four snatchers and gave them a good beating, leaving two of them dead on the spot.

5 hurt in bomb blast in city's Sutrapur area

Staff Reporter

At least five workers were injured when a homemade bomb exploded at an under-construction market building in city's Sutrapur area yesterday.

Police said, some unknown persons exploded the bomb on the second floor of the under-construction market building at Kaptanbazar where the five workers were working at about 11:45am.

The miscreants fled the scene after the blast that left Nasir, 22, Shakil, 21, Emran, 24, Polash, 14, and Monir, 15 wounded. They were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment of minor wounds, locals said.

Police is investigating into the incident and the motive behind the blast.

Barapukuria coalmine: Open-pit mining better than underground one

BSS, Rajshahi

Experts at a seminar here on Thursday said open-pit mining is better than the underground one for extracting coal in the northern region.

"Maximum 90 percent coal could be extracted from Barapukuria and Phulbaria coalmines of Dinajpur through the open-pit method, but only 15 percent is hardly possible through the underground one," said Professor Dr Golam Sabbir Sattar Tapu and Professor Dr Chowdhury Quamruzzaman of the Geology and Mining Department of Rajshahi University at the seminar.

In this context, they viewed that they have around 2,500 million tons of coal reserve in the two mines and said importance should be given to taking urgent steps to extract the coal using modern technology for industrialisation in the northwestern Bangladesh.

They said the extracted coal would help power generation in the region. Quoting different researches conducted at both home and abroad, they said, "Underground method is more harmful than the open-pit for environment and human being."

Not only that, they said the abandoned coal in the underground mining system can cause huge flames at the adjacent areas side by side with landslide.

"Our neighbour India has been extracting coal successfully without affecting environment and agricultural ecosystem," they said adding that the caved area is being dumped with fertile land subsequently and maintaining a sound landscape there with forestation and crop farming.

Rajshahi Bonsai Society (RBS) arranged the seminar titled "Uses of eco-friendly natural resources in industrialisation in Northern Bangladesh" at the conference hall of Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).

With RBS President Mahfuz-e-Towheed in the chair, the seminar was addressed, among others, by RCCI Director Khandaker Hafizur Rahman and Assistant Professors Rabiul Islam and Omar Faruque of Ahsan Ullah University of Science and Technology.

Speakers said the economic activities of the region could not be bolstered without rapid industrialisation and exploration of alternative fuel resources has become essential for the purpose as the natural gas resources is gradually becoming limited.

150 shops gutted in Faridpur

BSS, Faridpur

About 150 shops and many dwelling houses at Bhanga Bazar in the district were gutted in a big fire on Wednesday night.

According to Faridpur Fire Service sources, big sales and retailed markets of rice, grocery and stationery goods, and nearby dwelling houses were completely gutted.

Deputy Commissioner of Faridpur Akhtaruzzaman M Mostafa Kamal, who visited the fire ravaged spot located 20 miles away from here at Bhanga upazila headquarters told BSS that the fire engulfed the whole congested market as a result of some inflammable goods like kerosene and diesel. The DC said immediately after the incident, fire extinguishing vans from Faridpur, Madaripur and Gopalganj rushed to the spot and brought it under control after three hours. But, in the meantime, almost everything was either completely destroyed or damaged.

10 killed in Comilla road accident

UNB, Comilla

Ten passengers of a bus burnt to death and 30 others suffered injuries as it went up in flames following collision with an acid-carrying truck on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Korpai area under Burichong upazila yesterday.

Police and witnesses said the fatal accident occurred as the bus of Unique Paribahan, bound for Chittagong from Dhaka, rammed into a truck carrying acid containers at about 3:30pm.

"A violent head-on collision took place between the two vehicles as the driver of the Dhaka-bound truck from Chittagong suddenly took right turn in a bid to save a female passer-by," police said, quoting witnesses. "Soon the bus caught fire, as acid poured into the bus from broken containers," says a spot account of the accident. Five of the male passengers burnt to death on the spot while 35 others were injured.

The injured were admitted to Comilla Combined Military Hospital and Comilla Medical College Hospital. Five of the injured died after admission to Comilla Medical College Hospital.

Condition of eight of the injured was stated to be critical. The injured passengers also sustained acid burns.

Identities of the victims were not immediately available.

On information, two fire-fighting units from the district town and Chandina upazila rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze after an hour-long frantic fight.

Vehicular movement on the highway remained suspended for about one and a half hour following the accident.

Local administration and police officials also visited the spot.

Int’l Education Fair begins

BSS, Dhaka

The 4th Dhaka International Education Fair began yesterday at Bashundhara city here with a vision to increase enrolments in universities and colleges in Bangladesh and abroad.

Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Professor SMA Faiz inaugurated the fair as the chief guest.

27,000 Hajj visas issued

The Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Bangladesh issued 27,000 (twenty-seven thousand) Hajj visas till Thursday. The Passports already have been handed over to the Government Hajj office and private hajj agencies, said an Embassy press release.