Aid for farmers, pride for country

Since the 1980s, farmers in the country have been applying Guti urea to their crops for increased yield and low production cost. They have been successful in this endeavour, but for that they have to bear high labor cost and suffer agonising back pain, as farmers need to bend down, at times for hours, to apply Guti urea.But all that seems to be over now, after a Bangladeshi scientist has developed a fertiliser applicator that will reduce both the labour cost and farmers’ woes in applying Guti urea (granular urea).Easy to use and a time saver, the injector-type tool has already earned reputation in the global market.“This device can apply some 60 Guti urea briquettes at a time, allowing a farmer to place briquettes on a 10-decimal paddy field in an hour,” said Dr Abdul Wahab, innovator of the 1.5kg plastic device.“It is light and easy to handle. I used the applicator in Aman field this year,” Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, a farmer at Avaynagar in Jessore, told this correspondent by phone.It is also cheap, Tk 450 a piece.
Zulfikar said a labourer used to need two to three hours to manually apply Guti urea on a 10-decimal paddy field, but with the applicator the same job is now done in an hour. One does not need to bend down, an act that often causes back pain.

US President Barack Obama listens to USAID Administrator Rajib Shah briefing on Guti applicators at an exhibition in Senegal late June.

Its innovator Wahab is an agriculture engineer working for the International Fertilizer Development Centre’s (IFDC) Dhaka office in lien from BARI. He developed the tool at the Rangpur Foundry Ltd’s (RFL) factory in Ghorashal late last year.Ishrat Jahan, resident representative of the US-based organisation IFDC’s Dhaka office, said unlike broadcast fertiliser, Guti urea is applied 7-10 inches deep in the soil. It ensures 70 percent of nitrogen, which is more than double that of regular urea.Guti urea was also invented by Bangladeshi scientists, and it cuts urea requirement by 40 percent, but increases 15 percent paddy yield, she added.“But as the labour cost was high and farmers have to bend down to manually place the Guti briquettes, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury had been persistently asking us to develop an applicator to ease farmers’ sufferings,” Jahan said.The IFDC, with funding from USAID, then took research initiatives and gave grants to Bangladesh University of Engineering of Technology (Buet) and Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU). The government also asked Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) to develop the applicator.BARI and BRRI developed push-type applicators, while BAU developed an injector-type one. Those, however, were not handy enough for the farmers.The IFDC then hired Abdul Wahab, who along with some other RFL engineers made the plastic applicator in four months, Jahan said, adding: “Then we went for trial in the field and found it to be working fine.”Early this year, an African delegation on a visit to Bangladesh was very excited to see the device and took along 10 applicators, which were on display at an exhibition in Senegal in late June.“US President Barack Obama visited the exhibition and appreciated the tool,” said Jahan.Lokman Hakim, operations manager of RFL Plastic Ltd, said the firm was selling about 2,000 applicators a month locally. He expects sales to go up to 10,000 by the middle of next year.“Now, we are selling the applicator at Tk 450 with no profit,” he said, adding that the firm has already exported 100 pieces to Kenya, 20 pieces to South Africa and 10 pieces to Nigeria and India each.“We hope for a large local and global market of the applicator in the near future,” Hakim said, expecting further improvement of the applicator.

Take Bangladesh ahead

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday called upon the new generation to shoulder the responsibility of taking the country ahead, which is the spirit of the Liberation War.“You will build a new and modern Bangladesh. We are looking up to you,” he told a reception organised by Green University in the capital’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium for 7,000 GPA 5 achievers in this year’s HSC exam.Nahid advised the youth to nurture honesty, values and the sense of respect towards others to become self-sufficient persons.The political turmoil was responsible for the overall poor performance in this year’s HSC exam but “you achieved great results”, he said.Former adviser to a caretaker government Rasheda K Choudhury said, “You are lucky that you could come to the ceremony. But do not forget persons who could not.”
She advised the attendees to join hands with those who were lagging behind in efforts to build the nation, to be respectful towards females and to say no to drug abuse and acid attacks.Prof M Kaykobad of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology hoped that the students would be able to turn human resource, which was the country’s potential wealth, into assets through their merit and by acquiring skills.Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, advised the students to give priority on four matters — the country, love for the country, education and building up of oneself, which was a prerequisite to build up one’s future.No one’s future is settled until the country is developed, for which affection for the motherland is essential, he said.He said development was not possible without education, knowledge and creativity. “Now-a-days the resourcefulness of a country measures on the magnitude of the countrymen’s knowledge and skill.”Following a lottery among those who achieved GPA 5 in all subjects, 10 were awarded medals while colleges with the highest number of outstanding results were presented crests.Green University Board of Trustees Chairman Mohammed Abdullah Al Mamun and Vice-Chancellor Prof Golam Samdani Fakir also addressed the programme.

Ban imposed on BNP, AL rallies

The Patuakhali district administration imposed Section 144 indefinitely at Hatalia bazar area in the sadar upazila where the BNP and the Awami League called meetings at the same time yesterday.Police said the ban was slapped to prevent any clash between the two parties.
BNP’s Kalikapur union unit announced on Thursday to hold the rally at 4:00pm for opening a new party office at the union, while the ruling AL declared yesterday noon to organise a meeting of party activists at that venue at the same time.

Green

Green is the most salient colour of our land. It appears in numerous varieties and has influenced our lives, our thinking, our emotions and our creativity from time immemorial. Our poets, story-tellers, painters, singers and photographers have all partaken from this green splendour. Unlike the Eskimos who have numerous words for snow, Bangla and its dialects have a small set of words for green. One of these, in Sylheti, is “kochua” – referring to the colour of kochupata.Green is also one of the three   primary colours, the others being red and blue. That means any colour can be made by mixing appropriate amounts of green, red and blue; it also means there is a little bit of green in almost all colours that we see. When we look at something, the eye passes this visual information to the brain which processes and recognizes the scene; green contributes the lion’s share of information passed to the brain. Put another way, 60% of the information of any scene comes from green, the other 40% from red and blue.Green plays an important role in nature because it is the colour of   chlorophyll, the substance in all plants and grass that converts the sun’s energy into plant food and changes carbon dioxide to oxygen. But today, the  popular meaning of green has come to encompass everything friendly to nature and ecology. This meaning has extended to all spheres of language and increasingly connotes the fragility of our planet and our efforts to save it from destruction. Green denotes not just beauty but our attempts to save the earth from ourselves.But has green always enjoyed this overarching exalted status? Note that humans have appreciated the beauty of flowers and birds for centuries. So much so that in psychology, not  appreciating and enjoying flowers is considered a sign of clinical        depression. But green has not been a symbol of beauty in historical times. For example, forests and mountains were    considered hostile places in the    imagination of our forefathers. In any number of fairy tales – recall Hansel and Gretel – the green, dark forest hides dangers, demons and death.Green has other meanings, too. For example, it is tied to envy, as in “When Mrs. Jones saw her neighbour’s new car, she turned green with envy.” If someone appears sick or nauseous, we say they are looking green. Being the colour of the American dollar bill, green is also linked with money. And in the land of science fiction, aliens are often “little green men.”Be that as it may, there is something extraordinary about the green we see in the Bangladesh countryside. It soothes me with its infinite variations, its  richness and its calming effect       (perhaps because of a subconscious association with food.) In particular, the sublime green of our rainy season reminds me of life’s continuous renewal, and how generous and    forgiving our planet is and how urgent it is we take every step to save it.

Bangladesh ready to show path

More than two dozens of well-known and promising researchers have gathered in Dhaka for a week-long brainstorming session to understand better how to cope up with the changing climate.Learning from Bangladesh, the researchers will make academic papers focusing on how to strengthen resilience activities and build a network among researchers, policymakers and development workers, and apply the strategies to other vulnerable areas in their local context.“We are proud to host the scholars from around the world. We call it Resilience Academy,” said Saleemul Huq, director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCAD) told The Daily Star.He said the researcher would spread across the globe the experiences they gathered in Bangladesh about tackling climate change.ICCAD of Independent University in Dhaka; RE Foundation of Munich, Germany; and United Nations University, Institute of Environment and Human Security (UN-EHS) have jointly organised the Resilience Academy.Beginning on September 15, the first session of the academy ends today.
Asked whether it was possible to use the adaptation knowledge of one region in another given the differences of culture, geography and economy, David Lewis, professor of Social Policy and Development at London School of Economics and Political Science, replied in the positive.
He said, “One of the examples is, microcredit of Bangladesh is now being practised in other countries. But it had to be adopted in local context.”The Resilience Academy would highlight its practical experiences and brief policymakers at the coming climate change summit and seek political actions based on that experience, said Prof Koko Warner of United Nations university.She said despite environmental challenges, Bangladesh was making good progress.Many countries would face what Bangladesh is facing now and Bangladesh can show them how to deal with those environmental challenges, she added.The resilience Academy is being implemented under a five-year project called ‘Gibika’, which is to end in 2017.Participants from this year would meet again in Munich in next year and present their research findings. In 2015, a fresh group of researchers will attend a session in Dhaka for the third Resilience Academy, which will again meet in Munich on 2016, said organisers.

Lower courts get 124 new asst judges

President Abdul Hamid has recently appointed 124 assistant judges as per the recommendations from a, increasing the total number of lower court judges to 1,660.The commission made the recommendations after selecting them through due examinations and tests, Zahirul Kabir, assistant secretary to the law ministry, told The Daily Star.He mentioned that the recruitment of 127 more judges will be made soon and the commission has started administering the necessary exams for the posts.The law ministry would seek approval from the Supreme Court for posting the newly appointed judges, Zahirul said, adding that their appointments would help reduce the backlog of cases and ensure justice expeditiously.The Judicial Service Commission started the process of recruiting the 124 judges in August last year, and they were appointed last month.The commission needs to make new appointments to cope with the shortage of judges, since more than 24 lakh cases are pending with lower courts across the country, said sources in the Supreme Court.On December 4, 2010, the then chief justice ABM Khairul Haque told a function in the presence of Law Minister Shafique Ahmed that the number of judges should be doubled to reduce the backlog of cases and the sufferings of litigants.The present government has so far recruited 308 judges to lower courts through the commission.Earlier in May 2008, the past caretaker government appointed 394 assistant judges through the commission, following the separation of the judiciary from the executive in November 2007.

The natural

There was a natural actor in Anwar Hossain. Or you could say that in him came a spontaneous presentation of life as it is generally lived. Be it the story of an ill-fated monarch or an elder son trapped in helplessness wrought by misplaced marriage, Anwar Hossain successfully persuaded everyone into taking him for who he was. And in that special way he gave to Bengali movies in our part of the world an essence that was to stand it in good stead, given particularly the competition from across the frontier.
Of course, it was his defining role in Nawab Sirajuddoulah that gave Hossain an all-time perch in the annals of Bengali cinema. He was every inch a king; and watching him in that role, all these years after 1967, when the movie was released, you tend to forget that he was one of us. In that portrayal of Sirajuddoulah’s role, in that articulation of thoughts crowding into the mind of a hapless nawab, he was certainly not one of us. But — and this is important — when he declaims of the Bengal skies falling under the spell of darkness, he speaks for a people, for an entire race. Anwar Hossain, in that movie, was our voice of despair as evening descended in our lives. We have not known the real Sirajuddoulah, but we do understand that Sirajuddoulah was somewhat in the form of Anwar Hossain.
Anwar Hossain, as we have it from the record, was initially reluctant to don the role of the nawab. A sign of the humility, of an awareness of his own abilities or the lack of them came when he advised Khan Ata that the latter approach Ghulam Mustafa, another powerful thespian, for the role. In the end, an insistent Khan Ata persuaded Hossain into accepting the role. The rest, as the old cliché goes, is history. Anwar Hossain went on to perform other and varied roles in the world of celluloid.
For all his success as an actor, Anwar Hossain did not permit an intrusion of ego into his view of himself. Not for him a strutting about on the stage. Not for him any conscious attempt to inform the world around him, even in subtle manner, that he was around. He would not want to be regarded as a celebrity, though he was much more than that. The movies that bear his name — before 1967 there were Palanka, Tomar Amar, Shurjo Snan, Jowar Elo, Kancher Deyal, Shutorang, Dui Digonto and others and after Nawab Sirajuddoulah there were Poroshmoni, Neel Akasher Neeche, Jibon Theke Neya, Ato Tuku Asha and a wide range of others — remain a testimony to the versatility which he brought into Bengali filmdom. Remember his state of helplessness as the elder child of a rural family suddenly caught in marriage to an arrogant, urban woman in Ato Tuku Asha? When the physically challenged younger sibling — in this case Altaf — sings ‘tumi ki dekhechho kobhu jiboner porajoy’ — Hossain’s predicament in his role takes on greater poignancy.

(Left) “Shurjo Snan” and “Palanka” (Right).

Anwar Hossain brought a sense of purpose, an absolute comprehension of realism in his playing out of the many roles in his cinematic career. Not a hint of a strain was there in him; no sign of immaturity or artificiality in acting was to be detected in him. In that sense, he belonged to the world of men who made the camera live and thrive but by his leave. His deep voice, his piercing eyes and his stately gait gave his personality a dimension you do not spot in many of the actors you see around you.
It was an age that Anwar Hossain symbolized, along with his peers — Mustafa, Syed Hasan Imam, Khalil. It was a time that will not return. And because it will not, it is the timeless in Anwar Hossain that will be a metaphor for him, now and always.

Upholding right to freedom of expression through Internet

In Bangladesh, like in many countries of the world, the Internet has fast become one of the key instruments for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression. It combines within one medium the means to receive as well as express and disseminate information, ideas and opinions, be it in the form of writing or multimedia.
Freedom of expression and privacy are fundamental human rights guaranteed in our constitution. More than ever, technological advances, particularly the Internet, make it easier for people to publish and respond to news, information and opinions. It is now the common view shared by many legal intellectuals around the world that the governments should cooperate to improve respect for international human rights principles and to fashion regulations that take account of the Internet’s global scope.
There are few countries like Bangladesh which have adopted laws to control Internet’s content. From the human rights perspective, any regulation of Internet ought to balance between privacy and freedom of expression. The privacy issues at stake so far have been (i) how to ensure the privacy of personal data and (ii) how to balance the privacy of communication against law enforcement’s need for interception and access to online communications. The content issues have been (i) how to control illegal content and (ii) how to control legal but potentially harmful content without unduly infringing on the right to freedom of expression.
In Bangladesh, the laws relating to the operation and blocking of websites/putting restriction on internet access are contained, inter alia, in the ICT Act 2006, the relevant provisions of which are as follows:
* Section 46 of the Act provides powers for the government to block any website on the grounds of sovereignty, integrity, security of the state, public order and safety and ‘the prevention of incitement of any offence under the Act.’
* Section 57 establishes several offences under the Act including among others acts whereby any person who ‘sees, hears or reads any website or electronic communication and is thereby encouraged to become immoral or dishonest,’ or ‘any harm is caused to the image of the country or of any person.’

Section 46 of the Information and Communications Technology Act, 2006 (Act 39 of 2006),  purports to grant wide and unfettered powers to the government  to direct any law enforcing agency by issuance of an order with written reasons to restrict imparting of information through any computer resource if in their opinion such prevention is necessary and reasonable on a wide array of  grounds, including  sovereignty, integrity and security of the state, maintaining friendly relation with other states, public order and security and to prevent incitement of any offence under the Act.Section 57 of the ICT Act 2006 is framed in vague and uncertain terms and purports to penalise the intentional publication or circulation of any information which is false, obscene or of such nature that in a given context any person reading, hearing or viewing the same may be caused to suffer a moral lapse or become dishonest, or which results in defamation, or causes or is likely to cause deterioration of public order, or hurt the image of the state or any person, or hurts or is likely to hurt religious sentiments, or creates any incitement to violence against any person or association.Section 46 read with Section 57 of the ICT Act confers upon the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), respondent no. 3, a wholly unfettered discretion to restrict and prevent access to websites and to penalise the dissemination or communication of information through websites, based solely on his/her subjective satisfaction, which is arbitrary and capricious, and violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 38, 39 and 43 of the Constitution of Bangladesh.On May 29, 2010, the social networking website ‘Facebook’ (www.facebook.com) was blocked wholesale by the  Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on the basis that some “unethical” pictures of Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina had been uploaded on Facebook by someone.Thereafter, a writ petition (No. 4719 of 2010) was filed on June 6, 2010, challenging the ban then imposed on access to Facebook, and also challenging the constitutionality of Sections 46 and 57 of the ICT Act. As Facebook access was restored at 11pm on the day before the writ was filed, the petitioners did not pursue the issue of the ban in the hearing. They, however, continued their challenge to the ICT Act provisions, comparing it to similar, but far less draconian, legislation from other countries. They asked the Court to strike down these provisions as being unconstitutional, focusing on it being a breach of the fundamental right to freedom of expression.Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression. It clearly provides that while this right may be restricted, any such restriction must be ‘reasonable,’ ‘prescribed by law’ and further have a nexus/connection to specific constitutionally permissible grounds (for example, that it does not amount to defamation or incitement to an offence).Analysing the challenged sections, the petitioners pointed out that these provisions are vague and uncertain in their terms, and incapable of definition; they provide the government with arbitrary powers as there is no objective standard or guideline to ascertain when these offences have been committed; they are unreasonable and there is no objective basis or guideline for determining when these provisions would apply; the penalties prescribed are disproportionate to the offence; they violate fundamental rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association, the right to be treated in accordance with law, guaranteed under Articles 39, 38 and 31 of the Constitution, and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.After hearing the petitioners on July 26, 2010, the High Court directed the Ministry of Information & Communication Technology among others to show cause as to why Sections 46 and 57 of the ICT Act 2006, allowing for blocking of websites and electronic communications, and providing for prosecution of certain offences, should not be held to be ultra vires (beyond the authority) of the Constitution, and in violation of fundamental rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association.Recently, the cabinet approved the draft of the ICT (Amendment) Ordinance-2013 proposing to empower law enforcing by transforming the bailable offences to non-bailable, the non-cognisable offences will become cognisable and the highest punishment will go up from 10 years to 14 years imprisonment. As a result, this new amendments will make the law even more draconian and curtail freedom of speech and expression even further.Any content regulation must not fall below the standards set by international human rights law, and must take into account the special nature of the Internet.While states can legitimately take action to regulate Internet content, under international human rights law any limitations on expression must remain within the strict parameters set by Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
[Restrictions on the right to freedom of expression] shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals.This means that any restriction must meet a strict three-part test, as recognised by the Human Rights Committee. Any restriction must (a) be provided by law; (b) be for the purpose of safeguarding one of the legitimate interests listed; and (c) be necessary to achieve this goal.However, any legislation aimed at regulating Internet content should furthermore recognise that the Internet is not like any other medium. In many cases, it will not be possible to extend general norms to the Internet, or to apply the standards that are normally applied to, for example, broadcasting, to Internet content. The special nature of the Internet will need to be taken into account.The Internet offers great potential for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of information. However, like any tool for expression, it can be used in good and in bad ways. Therefore, attempts to regulate Internet content as well as access to the Internet have tended to focus on restricting the availability of certain content and, in some cases, restricting access to the Internet altogether. While it is acknowledged that freedom of expression is not an absolute right, but that does not means that the Internet should be used by governments as an excuse for curtailing existing liberties.Bangladesh has taken no initiative yet to provide policy guidelines for internet governance and monitoring the compliance of internet governance in the country. It is high time for the government to take urgent initiative to work on this. Internet governance requires national guidelines on interoperability issues. However, there is no agency working towards building guidelines for solving interoperability issues.Although the right to freedom of expression can be restricted, the circumstances under which this may be done have to be narrowly defined. It is necessary that national mechanisms give a clear indication of the extent to which regulation of the Internet is compatible with the international legal guarantee regarding freedom of expression.

ENDANGERED HERITAGE

While roaming around in the lanes of Chawk Bazar, Old Dhaka have you ever discovered an ancient, almost broken yet very majestic gateway? If you have, you know what I am talking about- it’s the Mughal Bara Katra.
And if you haven’t, go visit it before it gets lost in the pillage of time.
“The beauty of heaven even fades if it is compared to that of this katra. One can enjoy the complete taste of heaven here!” this is how the inscription on the relic describes its beauty.
According to history, Shah Shuja, son of Emperor Shahjahan built this katra with the purpose of using it as his palace during 1644-46. “The katra was built on the northern bank of Buriganga in such a way that the reflection could be seen on the river,” says Nurul Huda, Assistant Professor of JahangirNagar University.
This once-stunning structure was equipped with most of the significant features of Mughal style architecture like the massive gateways (one three storeyed and the other two storeyed), a quadrangular courtyard, octagonal towers and 22 rooms on all four sides.

One of the gateways of Chhoto Katra loaded with commercial shops. 

Interestingly, after completion of the edifice, Shuja, our whimsical prince decided not to live there even for a day. “Some believe that he anticipated (or got a note in his dream) that those boastful words might bring a bad omen to his upcoming future,” says Md Nasir, a 70-year-old local trader. Experts orate something different.  “Actually other Mughal palaces were mostly built with expensive elements like limestone, sandstone and marble whereas Bara Katra was a brick-built structure. So he thought this palace did not qualify to accommodate a Mughal prince and decided to abandon it,” says Professor Huda.
Shuja donated the palace to its chief architect Dewan Mir Mohammad Abul Kashem and asked him to use it as a sarai or inn upon some conditions. The executive body was asked not to collect rent from the poor travellers. The 22 shops were also endowed in the name of God and the officials were supposed to look after the place with the earnings coming from the shops. Whatever was left from the fund was supposed to spend for the welfare of the poor.

Having read this 400-year-old tale, you might now have a hard time to relate it back to the Mughal era. Instead of the original 22 shops, a myriad of stores and warehouses have taken their place, turning Bara Katra into a dingy bazaar. The southern gateway is still there standing though dilapidated; the northern gateway has disappeared due to lack of maintenance and negligence. The upper floors and terrace are used as a madrasah called Jamia Husainiya Ashraful Ulu Madrasah. Md. Shahjahan, a madrasah teacher confirms that the madrasah was there since 1931 and Hafej Hussain Ahamad was the owner. Then Pir Abdul Wahab donated the property to the Madrasah authority. At present it accommodates 700-800 students. A madrasah-cum-market place- this is the image you could have of the Bara Katra now.
Two hundred yards east to Bara Katra and you will see two more gateways – gigantic, but not as much as the Bara Katra. Both the katras share the same architecture, but built in two different sizes. Established in 1663 by Subehdar Shayesta Khan, Chhoto Katra was built to serve as a roadside inn for the officials and travellers. This too consists of two gateways in the North and South. The three-storied Southern gateway served as the main entrance. In between these two gates, is the tomb of Champa Bibi. Historians have tried to find out more about her but her identity remains a mystery.
“All my life I have heard about Champa Bibi’s Mazar, but neither my father nor I can exactly say who she was. I heard she was Shayesta Khan’s mistress while some say she was his wife,” says Jahangir, an Old Dhaka resident.
In history as well it has not been confirmed whether she was indeed Shayesta Khan’s wife, daughter or mistress. But whoever she was, her tomb signifies that she was very dear to him. The lane Champatali has been named after this Champabibi. A group of local people chatting in the adjacent store to the mazar confirms that these days, the mazar remains locked most of the time of the week and every Thursday it is opened for the devotees.

The splendour of this brick-built Mughal structure has been lost over time. 

The condition of Chhoto Katra is not any better. Starting from plastic supplies’ storehouses, tailor shops and homeopathy stores to eateries what is not there! A 15-year-old worker who makes plastic toys on the upper floor of Katra says, “We use this place to run our small scale business and for living too.”
Both the North and South gateways are still standing boastfully in the middle of the busy, narrow, congested lanes. But little remains of its past grandeur due to complete neglect and encroachment by the influential. The delicate ornamentations of these colossal gateways are long gone; instead, they are now adorned with political campaigns or some posters advocating which plastic rope you should use or which shemai is the best (there are quite a few shemai factories in the area)! Modern day Thai aluminum windows on the body of a Mughal monument will surely jar the sensibilities of heritage lovers, but that is how the people, who now occupy these heritage sites, have altered them.

So what now? What are the master plans of our authorities regarding these historically significant structures?
Dr Atauar Rahman, regional director of the Department of Archaeology says, “It was never easy on our part to take the requisition and have them officially documented as an archeological site in government records as local people have taken over them since the British period.”
According to the Department of Archeology, over the course of time the local community has altered and extended the katras according to their needs resulting in the present derelict condition. A committee working on this project till 2012 set a value of Tk 410 million for this asset. Since the recovery of the site involves a large amount of money allocation for the project was halted. “Very recently  we have reopened the renovation project with a set of new committee members and we are planning to revisit the site and propose a monetary estimation to protect this heritage as soon as we can”, says Dr Rahman.

The southern gateway of Bara Katra standing dilapidated. 

One of the most intriguing questions is why the government should readily spend this large amount on this sector. Prof. Kabir gives three reasons: “Firstly, it is an excellent example of delicate Mughal craftsmanship and Mughal brick-built monument. Secondly, Mughal religious architectural structures like mosques and tombs are quite evident but these katras are the pioneer examples of secular architecture found in this area. And thirdly, our neighbouring country is booming in their tourism sector by preserving the splendour of Mughal heritage. Then why can’t we? The money spent on this project can be proved as an efficient investment for Bangladeshi tourism too,” he opines optimistically.
Also we should not forget how these monuments give us a glimpse of Dhaka life in that time frame. It depicts the caravanserai culture and shows us how the Mughal court used to help traders by providing accommodation fit for royalty but offered at subsidised rates.
The Bara and Chhoto Katras are treasures of the past that demand care and preservation. They are priceless remnants of a heritage that we must safeguard and honour for ourselves and our future generations.

Airtel to spend $50m on 3G network

Mobile operator Airtel Bangladesh will invest up to $50 million in the next three years to roll out its 3G network, its Chief Executive Officer Chris Tobit said yesterday.The operator has recently signed an agreement with Chinese telecom vendor Huawei to install 3G equipment.Tobit said the company has already invested $125 million for 3G spectrum purchase and to pay other relevant charges including VAT.The company has purchased 5 megahertz of spectrum in an auction on September 8 to launch 3G services.Tobit said Airtel has already covered 80 percent population and around 75 percent area of the country “with a solid foundation for its voice network” in the last two years.The operator, which has around 85 lakh subscribers, plans to launch the 3G services in Dhaka and some areas of Chittagong by October, and cover all the divisional cities by January next year.He said, “3G is not just the access to mobile broadband, it has a cascading role in the economy through e-health, e-agriculture, e-education and employment.”However, Tobit said the 3G services will benefit people only when smartphones or 3G-ready handsets will be widely available.He urged the government to offer tax breaks for the next three to five years for imports of 3G devices such as handsets or modems so that the services can be rolled out fast.At the same time, he also called for bringing down the import duty on 3G network equipment.Currently around 7-8 percent of their users have 3G handsets, but the number will rise to at least 12 percent once the services are launched, Tobit said.It is possible to reduce the prices of 3G handsets to Tk 1,000 or Tk 2,000 if the customs duties are cut, he said.Airtel has developed 3G network in around 15 countries, including India, Sri Lanka and some African countries.

BB to ease rules for foreign banks

The central bank plans to exempt foreign banks from the mandatory requirement of a subsidiary to participate in the stockmarket for the sake of development of the country’s capital market.Bangladesh Bank has already sought opinions of the banking division of the finance ministry in this regard.“If they are not exempted from the related article of the banking companies law, portfolio investment might be hampered,” the central bank said in its letter to the finance ministry.The recently amended law has made it compulsory for banks to form a separate subsidiary if they want to give share-market services—a time-consuming and tricky process for the foreign banks.To form the subsidiary, the foreign banks would require approval from their headquarters, which, in turn, would require authorisation from their regulators.As the size of the capital market in Bangladesh is still small, the headquarters of the foreign banks are unlikely to give permission for separate subsidiaries.A high official of the central bank said among the foreign banks in Bangladesh four have been providing custodian services to foreign multinational banks and financial institutions in the share market.The amount of portfolio investment of the foreign financial institutions through Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank NA, HSBC and the Commercial Bank of Ceylon is more than $1.2 billion.“As these banks account for the lion’s share of the external portfolio investment in the country, the problem caused by the recently amended law should be resolved,” said the central bank letter.“Otherwise, the stability of the stockmarket might be hampered,” it added.The central bank in consultation with the government can exempt any bank from setting up the subsidiary.

Two killed, 3 drivers burnt

Pro-hartal pickets beat an auto-rickshaw passenger to death and inflicted serious burns on three transport workers, while a Jamaat man was killed in clashes between pickets and law enforcers yesterday, the second day of the Islamist party’s 48-hour shutdown.Police said Jamaat-Shibir men attacked a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Chondidasgati in Sirajganj around 1:00pm, leaving one of its passengers dead and another wounded.“The driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to save the passengers from brickbats. The vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a ditch,” said Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sirajganj Police Station.“Showing no mercy to the passengers, the pickets beat them up and vandalised the vehicle,” said Rafiqul.Seriously injured Masud Hossain, 27, of Raiganj upazila was later taken to Sirajganj General Hospital where he succumbed to his wounds around 4:30pm, said the OC.Another injured, Shah Alam, 38, of Solonga upazila is receiving treatment at the same hospital.In Meherpur, a Jamaat activist was killed and at least 45 people were wounded in a clash between Jamaat men and law enforcers at Gourinagar in Meherpur in the morning.The Jamaat called the shutdown protesting Tuesday’s Supreme Court verdict that sentenced Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah to death for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. The hartal ends at 6:00am today.The three seriously injured transport workers are now fighting for life at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.Lying on a hospital bed, bus driver Nazrul Islam Bhuiyan, 35, told The Daily Star that he repeatedly begged for mercy from the Jamaat-Shibir men, saying he was the lone breadwinner of his four-member family.“I begged them not to set fire to the bus. But nothing could pacify the pickets, who got into the vehicle in the guise of passengers. They poured flammable objects on me and set me alight with a match stick when the bus reached Bogra bypass area in Gazipur around 8:15am,” he said.He then desperately tried to get out of the bus. But the pickets prevented him, shouting, “How dare you drive a bus during Jamaat’s hartal,” said Nazrul, who had suffered burns to 60 percent of his body.“At one stage, I managed to jump into a roadside water body and douse the flame,” he said.Another victim, Shamsul Islam, 55, a truck driver, was in a very critical condition, as he had suffered burns on 95 percent of his body.“A group of 15-20 pro-hartal pickets stopped the truck in Sherpur area of Bogra while it was travelling from Sirajganj to Panchagarh, carrying 700 bags of fertiliser. They suddenly threw a petrol bomb at the truck,” said Shamsul’s wife Sabina Yasmin, quoting the truck’s helper Md Shahin.Talking to The Daily Star over the phone, Shahin said, “The pickets stopped our truck around 10:00pm on Wednesday. The driver begged them for mercy. But they ignored his appeal, and started vandalising the truck. At one stage, they threw a petrol bomb targeting us.”Shahin is receiving treatment at the Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College in Bogra.Jamaat-Shibir men also set fire to a truck at Chouddagram in Comilla around 9:30pm on Wednesday, leaving its driver Sekandar Bepari, 42, critically wounded.The truck was carrying electrical goods to Chittagong from Dhaka.“Fifty-two percent of his body, including the face and chest, had been burnt,” said a doctor at the DMCH.Meanwhile, a Jamaat man was killed, as Jamaat-Shibir men clashed with law enforcers at Gourinagar in Meherpur.At least 45 people, including five policemen, were injured in the three-hour clash.Police fired shots, rubber bullets and teargas canisters to disperse the unruly Jamaat-Shibir men, who exploded at least 50 crude bombs in retaliation.Robiul Hossain, officer-in-charge of Mujibnagar Police Station, said activists of the Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir tried to block the Meherpur-Mujibnagar road in Gourinagar area with logs around 7:30am.When law enforcers resisted the pro-hartal pickets, they swooped on police with lethal weapons and sticks, said Robiul.At one stage, Jamaat men caught Sub-Inspector Abdul Mannan and hacked away at him with sharp weapons. Four more policemen were injured, as they tried to rescue their colleague.Mannan was whisked off to the capital for better treatment, as his condition deteriorated.The local administration later called in Border Guard Bangladesh to bring the situation under control.

It’s not worth taking the risk

The consultant was drawing a perfect picture. One could easily get swamped by the plan of how big vessels would offload coal at Akram Point off the Sundarbans, how dust would be controlled and how the community would soon prosper.As the Rampal 1320 MW power plant will start churning out electricity 14km off the Sundarbans, a unique mangrove ecosystem of the world, the consultant said mother vessels will come with 80,000 tonnes of coal at Akram Point, a spot tucked in the belly of the forest. Every day, the plant will require 10,000 tonnes of coal, which means two to three lighterage vessels will ply the Pashur river slicing through the forest.The consultant went on to say how a most modern vessel would pump in coal through a funnel into the bottom of the lighterage vessel and how fine water mist would be sprayed to contain any dust pollution. In his view, only 1 percent of the total dust will spill out to the river which will sink to the bottom causing no harm to the forest.He was describing how 60 percent of the mercury produced by burning coal would be captured and the rest would thinly disperse into air and how sulphur would be kept at a minimum.Then he came to that indisputable argument that the Sundarbans is vanishing anyway as dirt poor people will always harness the forest resources. The only chance to save it is by setting up the power plants to generate jobs and to have the multiplier effect of mushrooming industries.However, he put an asterix there. We need a strong monitoring team in place to ensure that everything works as it should be. And then if you just sit back and have a long look, that small asterix turns out to be a big question mark, probably the most important one for the Rampal power plant.Let’s look at what the Sundarbans is. It is a unique mangrove representing an ecosystem found nowhere else in the world. It is the only mangrove system that supports a large cat species — the Bengal tiger. It is home to some endangered species like the masked finfoot. Its beauty is breathtaking and found nowhere else in the world. In other words, we have a place that no other country has. So if this forest is gone, it will be a loss to the world in general.This land was left comparatively undisturbed until a plan was hatched to set up the power plant.The environment management plan that we are talking about is fine — until you look at who will ensure its execution. And also how these plans are drawn up.Paul Fishers of International Rivers has bared his soul this way: “As someone with more than 15 years in the field of development cooperation and as a consultant on ESIA projects for some of the major international banks, I have found myself becoming increasingly disillusioned with the process. I entered the field seeing ESIAs as a tool that could help bring environmental concerns and local people’s perspectives to the forefront of decision-making for infrastructure projects, but over time, have begun to believe the task is often little more than an art of smoothing the way for projects.”Does the same thing apply to the Rampal plant too? Can we recall one single project in Bangladesh that was cancelled because of an adverse environmental impact report? When a project is conceived and area selected, the impact analysis always finds a way of mitigating any bad outcome, as in the case of Rampal.But the dreaded reality is like in most developing countries the agencies in charge of protecting the environment in Bangladesh are not the most powerful institutions and cannot always guarantee the application of national laws.We have thousands of examples before us. We have textile factories that are spewing tonnes of toxic waste into our river system. The environment department is helpless to check it. We have formalin invading our foods. The agencies cannot check it. We have forests logged away everyday. The forest department is powerless. And we have seen the dismal level of environmental standards of our national projects.So what if the Rampal plant does not keep the promise it makes on environment safety? What if we find an environmental disaster happening? Can they just switch off the plant? The answer is No. A power plant is an essential installation that just cannot be switched off because a few hundred tigers are in peril.So why are we playing truant with the most unique ecosystem of the world? Why have we to put the forest at potential risks? In the shadow of the Rampal plant, other industries are already invading the Sundarbans, flouting all laws — shipyards, a smaller private power plant, cement factories and what not — and nothing could be done about them just as nothing can be done if something goes wrong with Rampal.These private entities in all likelihood will then follow the Gazipur forest encroachment model. They will slowly and gradually make incursions into the forest, squeezing the Sundarbans.We understand that the Rampal plant can be operated soundly without any environmental hazard. But it is not worth taking the risk with the world’s unique heritage site.

Unbecoming behaviour of BRUR faculty

We note with dismay that the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR) has been confined to his office for three consecutive days. While the demand of the teachers for arrear salary may be valid, it does not justify the action of the    teachers of BRUR. What is interesting to note is that many of the demands regarding irregularities made by the teachers and staff had occurred during the tenure of the former VC.We wonder if the teachers are justified in demanding the regularisation of those teachers and staff appointed by the previous VC which is far beyond the approved posts of the university. If anything, the previous VC should be called to account for the irregular appointments. We are surprised that such gross violations, that went on during the four year period of the previous VC had escaped the notice of the UGC.It is hardly any wonder that there is huge shortfall in the fund, and the staff has gone without pay for last four months. The university has nearly double the number than its authorised quota. Regardless of the circumstances, we would like to state emphatically that whatever demands the faculty have must be taken up in a manner that is dignified and proper.Solitary confinement of the VC cannot be condoned under any circumstances. It is both inhumane and illegal. Such behaviour is unbecoming of teachers. With teachers setting the standards for unruly behaviour these days, is it any wonder that our campuses are turning into battlegrounds between student factions?

Women engage in farming, outdoor male counterparts

A good number of women in different areas of the district have emerged as successful independent farmers, especially of vegetables, doing better than their male counterparts.“Around five thousand women are independently engaged in farming either on their own lands or leased ones. In many cases, women are doing better than men in agriculture,” said Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila agriculture officer.“Three years ago, I received a 15-day training on vegetable farming from the agriculture office and started farming on four bighas of leased land at the village,” said Monowara Begum, 28, wife of Mizanul Islam at Fulgachh village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.“By selling vegetables, I earned Tk 1 lakh in 2011. I earned Tk 1 lakh 35 thousand in 2012 and the earning from the same venture during the last seven months of this year stood at Tk 70 thousand,” said Monowara, who earlier worked as a farm labourer for Tk 100 to 125 daily.Shahana Akhter, 26, wife of Meher Ali of the same village, said she has been producing vegetables on three bighas of land taken from her husband on lease two years ago.“My husband failed to get profit from the land, but I am earning good profit by producing vegetables here,” she said.Suro Bala Rani, 32, wife of Nagendra Nath Roy of Baro Kamlabari village of Aditmari upazila, said she has been maintaining the six-member family through producing vegetables on their six biaghs of land in the village for the last four years.“Four years ago, I took six bighas of land from my husband on lease and started producing vegetables there. Now I can save Tk 70 to 80 thousand yearly after managing family expenditures including education of three children,” she said.“Women are doing better in agriculture as they are hard working and sincere to work. With proper training and technical support, they can do even better and play very positive role in the agriculture sector of the country,” said Nurul Islam of Baninagar village of Kaliganj upazila, who won the government’s ‘best farmer award’ from Lalmonirhat district this year.Abdul Mazid, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension in Lalmonirhat, said, “Agriculture department provides all kinds of support to women farmers in the district as they are doing better in agriculture, especially vegetable production.”

Mini ‘food bank’ serves as saviour in their hard times

The people of Adarshapara cluster village in Gajaria union of Fulchhari upazila under the district have set up a mini ‘food bank’ to meet hard times like off-crop period.The cluster village set up by the government in a char (landmass emerged from riverbed) of Jamuna basin provides shelter for 60 ultra-poor landless families comprising 750 people. They are virtually dependent on earning from work as day labourers.Inspired by local NGO SKS Foundation and an initial grant of Tk 25,000 from donor agency Oxfam GB, 25 people including several women of the village formed a social organisation with a five-member committee to run it. Besides, two persons were selected as joint custodians to open the locks of the food bank.The members started saving from their little earnings as the mini food bank started in late 2012.Now they have 75 members and the saving has crossed Tk 40 thousand.“During hard time, any member can borrow rice or pulse from here on condition to return it within a fortnight,” said Amirul Islam, secretary of the ‘food bank management committee’.Visiting the food bank on September 2, this correspondent witnessed a meeting of the organisation and the committee at their office-cum bank in a tin-shed house of the cluster village.“A few days ago, our family faced problem as my husband had gone to a different place for work. I borrowed 10 kg of rice from the food bank and overcame the crisis. I returned the amount after 12 days when my husband returned,” said Obiron Nessa, wife of day labourer Eman Ali.The bank does not charge any interest for such services, said several beneficiaries including Kakoli Begum, Amena Begum and Sajeda Begum.“The mini food bank is a laudable example. Now they can solve the problem from their own resource,” said Hasen Ali, local ward member of Gajaria union parishad.The food bank so far provided rice and pulse to 37 families in crisis period and so, they did not have to borrow money from usurers for high interest, said Earon Begum, president of committee.Witnessing the success at Adarshapara, people of more seven villages set up similar food banks in their villages, said Osman Ghani, project manager of SKS Foundation.