The New Nation - Internet Edition

Jamaat begins poll campaign

Staff Reporter

The leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e- Islami yesterday started electoral campaign across the country with a call to choose the candidates nominated by the four-party alliance in the parliamentary election on December 29.

Moulana Motiur Rahman Nezami, Ameer of Jamaat begins election campaign after offering fateha at his parents' graves at Monmothour village under Sathia upazila in Pabna yesterday.

Later addressing different rallies at Sonatala Bazar, Aftabnagar Madrasha ground the Ameer of Jamaat underscored the need for electing the candidates of the four-party alliance for the continuation of nation's peace, progress and development.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, secretary general of Jamaat has also started election campaign in his own constituency at Faridpur-3 yesterday.

Victory Day programmes of Liberation War Museum

BSS, Dhaka

To celebrate the Victory day, Liberation War Museum (LWM) has chalked out a four-day programme beginning today.

As part of the programme, Professor Dalem Chandra Barman will speak on "Genocide Convention Affairs" on the inaugural day at 4.00 pm today on the premises of LWM here.

Declaration of human rights will also be announced today at the same venue, a press release said.

Cultural function, recitation from puthi and baul songs will be rendered during the four-day programme.

The grils' students of Begum Rahima Ideal School of the city will render musical soiree in the function.

Bumper potato production likely in N-dists

BSS, Rangpur

Prices of potato start falling following arrival of newly harvested early variety of potato in the local markets in the northern region of the country now, market sources said.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a target of producing 58,99,250 tonnes of potato from 3,37,100 hectares of land during the current season in all 16 northern districts of the region.

The fixed target is higher by 35 percent than that of the previous season when the DAE had a target of producing 44,07,936 tonnes of potato from 2,49,600 hectares land and the farmers achieved the target, DAE officials said.

The farmers still continue sowing of potato seeds at many places after harvesting their T-Aman paddy and more land is expected to be brought under potato cultivation with a huge possibility of bumper production of the major crop this season.

The DAE sources today said that the farmers have already completed sowing potato seeds in almost every area and the process of sowing late variety potato seeds will continue by the end of the next month throughout the region.

The farmers are expected to cultivate the major crop in more land than the fixed target and vast tract of the char lands has been brought under farming of the crop this time.

The government departments including the DAE, BADC, BARI and a number of NGOs have also taken various effective steps for providing potato seeds among the farmers to make the programme a success, officials said.

The concerned departments and administration have taken adequate steps for ensuring smooth supply of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, technical assistances and other inputs to the potato growers for potato farming.

The early variety potato has already appeared in plenty in the local markets as farmers cultivated those much ahead than that of the traditional periods after harvesting short duration BRRI Dhan-33 Aman paddy and summer vegetables, sources said.

The commercial banks and a number of NGOs have been providing easy-term agri-loans among the small and marginal farmers for farming of Rabi crops including potato in more land this season.

PBCP leader killed in gunfight

BSS, Rajshahi

A front-ranking leader of the outlawed Purba Bangler Communist Party (PBCP-ML-Lal Pataka) was killed in a gunfight between some of his accomplices and police at Baroihati village under Bagmara upazila of the district in the early hours of Friday.

Police said the extremist identified as Shajahan alias Tiger, 42, son of Taher Uddin of Koalipara village under the same upazila, was a fugitive in arms cases.

Based on secret information, police arrested Sajahan from the Baroipara area on Thursday afternoon.

Following his confessional statement, he was taken to Baroihati area by police to arrest his accomplices and recover hidden firearms.

When they reached the area at around 3.00 am some of the outlawed opened fire on the police team that led to a gun battle between them, which continued for around half an hour. During the gunfight, Shajahan was hit by a bullet as he tried to escape from the police custody.

Police rushed him to Bagmara Upazila Health Complex where the doctors declared him dead.

Police seized six locally made weapons and three bullets from the spot.

Replica of Taj Mahal draws thousands of viewers daily

BSS, Dhaka

A giant replica of Taj Mahal in suburban Sonargaon opened earlier this week now draws thousands of viewers everyday with its builder saying he constructed the structure out of his respect for legendary Mughal Emperor Shahjahan.

"I took the initiative to pay honour to Emperor Shahjahan and enable the ordinary people of our country including students to have an idea how magnificent the structure is," businessman Ahsanullah Moni, who carried the entire cost of building the life size structure, told BSS.

"I built it as most of our people can't afford to take a trip to Agra to see the heritage despite their dreams to see it."

He said it took several hundred of workers and designers some seven years to build the "Taj Mahal" at a cost of Taka 400 crore, which was opened for all in exchange of entry fees though "it is not built with a commercial purpose".

The replica, located 30 km (18 miles) off Dhaka city, which he called "Banglar Taj Mahal", has been built on over four acres of land while the complex was much bigger in size to accommodate a five-star motel, a huge film studio and an amusement park.

Moni, a filmmaker and hotelier, said the idea of building the structure first stroke his mind when he first visited Agra in 1980 while he made six more trips there to realise his plan to replicate it.

But the initiative simultaneously drew some criticism with several legal experts and architects saying copying of such landmarks keeping the original sizes were contrary to archeological laws.

"It's also not morally acceptable to build such life size structures without permission of the concerned authorities," president of Bangladesh Architects Institute Professor Mobaswar Hossain said.

But Moni rejected the allegation saying despite being huge the "Banglar Taj Mahal" was not exactly the same size of the original while he used different materials including stones for the replica considering their weather suitability.

He said he imported marble and granite from Italy, diamonds from Belgium and used 160 kilogrammes of bronze for the structure built with the help of modern technology.

"Otherwise it would have taken 20 years and 22,000 workers to complete it as the original structure had required," Moni said.

Emperor Shahjahan built Taj mahal in memory of his beloved wife Momtaj Mahal who died during childbirth in 17th century, when Bangladesh was part of the Mughal Empire.