Thousands suffer for want of a bridge

Thousands of people of eight villages under two unions in Madarganj upazila in the district are suffering for long just for want of a permanent bridge over river Kharka.
Commuters are now using a 120ft long bamboo-made temporary bridge which is built by locals every year since the opening of Gabergram market on the west bank of the river in 2000.
The villages are Sukhnagari, Purbo Tartapara and Paschim Tartapara under Balijuri union, Khilkati, Phuljur, Paschim Gulabari, Atamari and Haatmagura under Jurkhali union on the south-east side of the river.
As a result, people including farmers, students and patients of the villages are facing a troublesome communication as they have to cross the bamboo-made bridge to reach the market, the upazila headquarters, health complex and a number of educational institutions including the lone girls college located on the other side of the river.
High school and college-going students and patients, especially elderly ones and expecting mothers, are the worst sufferers, locals said.
Moreover, as Balijuri union parishad (UP) was set up at Sukhnagari village, the beneficiaries of five villages located on south-west and north-west of the river, are suffering much for want of a bridge, said Manzurul Islam Musa, chairman of the union.
They face troubles while carrying their VGF and VGD food or while coming to visit the parishad to have different local government services, the chairman said. The UP itself also faces problems when food items for the vulnerable group and other materials brought to the parishad by horse carriages through alternative Khilkati-Junail road as it is 7-8km more than the actual distance, he said.
During a recent visit to the villages, a number of locals including farmers and students told this correspondent that they were in dire need of a bridge over the river for carrying goods to the market on haat days and going to school.
Contacted, Jugal Krishna Mandol, local LGED engineer, said his office had sent a Tk. 3.25 crore proposal to the higher authorities concerned for a bridge in 2011, but to no effect yet.
“We will again write with a revised estimate of over Tk. 4 crore to build a 75-metre bridge over the river soon”, the engineer added.

Bangladeshi youth delegation leaves for India tomorrow

As part of the Indian government’s initiative to strengthen people-to-people contact, a 100-member Bangladeshi youth delegation will pay a weeklong visit to India from tomorrow.
The Department of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Indian government is organising the visit for the second time, said a press release of the Indian high commission. The first visit of another 100 youths took place from October 6 to 13 last year.
The delegation comprises young doctors, engineers, management graduates, business people, entrepreneurs, journalists, musicians and students, it said.
The delegation will visit the capital New Delhi, Agra, Bengaluru and Mysore, tour prominent cultural and historical sites and hold interactions in

educational, business, IT and technological institutions.
They are also expected to call on President Pranab Mukherjee.
Prior to the visit, the high commission will organise a pre-departure interaction with the delegation at the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in the capital’s Gulshan-1 today at 4:00pm.
Indian High Commissioner Pankaj Saran will address the delegation while cricketer Shakib Al Hasan and film personality Jaya Ahsan will also be present.

Dhaka-Delhi talks begin tomorrow

The Joint Customs Group of Dhaka and New Delhi will begin a two-day meeting tomorrow in Dhaka aiming to remove customs related complexities for further strengthening bilateral trade.
Sumit Bose, revenue secretary to India’s Ministry of Finance, will lead a high-level Indian delegation at the talks on October 21-22.
The Bangladesh side will be led by Md Ghulam Hussain, chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
“The talks will take place within the established bilateral framework of the Joint Group of Customs (JGC),” said an official. This is the ninth round of the JGC meeting. The eighth round was held in New Delhi on April 25-26 last year.
Official sources said the discussion agenda included 17 topics. At the meeting, Bangladesh will emphasis development of infrastructure of land customs stations, and removal of complexities regarding export of handloom textiles, among others.
The Indian revenue secretary will visit Chittagong Port and the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Chittagong, said a press release of the Indian high commission.
It said that India-Bangladesh trade had expanded after India announced duty-free, quota-free access of exports from Bangladesh in September 2011.
Bangladesh exports to India have grown from US$498.4 million in 2011-12 to $563.9 million in 2012-13, which marks an increase of 13.15 percent, and is the highest ever level of exports from Bangladesh to India, the release added.
In the forthcoming talks, the two sides are expected to review the existing mechanism for exchange of customs related information, infrastructure facilities available at the Land Customs Stations (LCSs) and deal with procedural bottlenecks related to trade such as testing facilities, online processing facilities congestion, documentation etc.

PM to head all-party interim gov

Environment and Forest Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would head the all-party interim government during the upcoming national election.
His remarks came a day after the premier proposed to form an all-party interim government and a cabinet comprising opposition MPs, among others, to conduct the election.
Speaking at a discussion of Projonmo Bangabandhu at the capital’s Jatiya Press Club, the minister said the opposition’s “ill intention will be exposed if it doesn’t respond to the PM’s call”.
The main opposition BNP has long been saying it will not join any election under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, while Jatiya Party called the proposal “vague”.
Separately, State Minister for Law Quamrul Islam yesterday hinted that the two major political parties might exchange letters for talks soon, reports the BSS.
“At the talks, decisions will be taken on how the Election Commission can be made stronger and which party will be given how much power,” he said, referring to the proposal on an all-party cabinet.
Addressing a discussion of Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote at Dhaka Reporters Unity, Quamrul urged the BNP to sit for talks as soon as possible.
Referring to the USA, India, Japan and Australia, Hasan Mahmud said that in all those democracies, an interim government was always headed by the one who led the immediate past government. “The same way, the incumbent prime minister will head the interim government in Bangladesh.”
He claimed that his party should be credited for its “liberal stance” in inviting the opposition to join the poll-time government though there was no constitutional obligation for this. “If the opposition leader does not respond even after all these, I will assume that you want to hamper democracy.”
Advocate Quamrul said, “Following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s address to the nation on Friday, it’s now the responsibility of the main opposition BNP to decide whether to take to the field with machetes and axes or to choose the path of peace.”
“There shall be discussions on matters relating to the size of the interim government, its responsibilities and the executive power to be exercised by it. But, there are no more smokescreens over the issue following the premier’s realistic proposal,” he said.
The state minister hoped that the BNP would not strike panic and fear into the public mind any more over October 25, when it was supposed to take to the streets demanding restoration of the caretaker government system.
Meanwhile, United National Awami Party, Samprodaikata-Jongibad Birodhi Mancha, and Sammilito Samajik Andolon yesterday issued separate statements welcoming the PM’s proposal.

Khaleda reacts to PM’s proposal Monday

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will hold a press conference Monday afternoon to give their reaction to the prime minister’s proposal for forming an all-party election-time government.

She will also brief the media about October 25 rally and announce their next course of action to strengthen their anti-government movement, said party insiders.

The press conference will be held at 4:00pm at Hotel Sarena in Gulshan of the capital, Sayrul Kabir Khan, a member of the BNP chairperson’s press wing, told The Daily Star.

The opposition leader this evening will meet top leaders of the BNP-led 18-party alliance at her Gulshan office to discuss latest political situation and decide next course of action.

The leaders will also hold discussion on what to do if the government refuses to give permission for holding October 25 rally in the capital, the party insiders said.

Ban won’t affect talks: Quader

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader said he did not think that the ban on political gatherings would be a hindrance to discussions and mutual understanding regarding the election-time government.

The minister came up with the remark while responding to a question from journalists at his office at Bangladesh Secretariat on Sunday.
He however said the ban has been imposed to ensure security of public life and property as a precaution on the basis of information pertaining to sabotage of huge scale.
The minister further said the opposition parties should take the opportunity as the prime minister’s proposal has opened the door for dialogue.

Ershad, Hasina in meeting

A 15-member delegation of Jatiya Party headed by its Chairman HM Ershad started a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this evening.

The JP leaders are expected to seek clarification about her proposal for forming an all-party election-time government.
The meeting began around 7:45pm at the prime minister’s official residence Gono Bhaban, Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, political secretary to the JP chairman, told The Daily Star.
Bablu, also a presidium member of the JP, a key component in the ruling Awami League-led grand alliance, said the latest political situation, prime minister’s address to the nation, next general election and polls-time government issues to dominate the talks.
JP earlier on Saturday termed the premier’s much-talked-about proposal “unclear and vague”.
In a televised speech to the nation, Sheikh Hasina on Friday urged the main opposition BNP to nominate its lawmakers for inclusion in the all-party election-time government and interim cabinet.
She, however, did not specify the number of cabinet members, its area of work or who would head the cabinet. It was also not clear when the interim cabinet would be formed.

Rally ban mars talks prospect: Menon

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s ban on all political gatherings has negatively impacted the possibilities of dialogue regarding the polls-time government, Workers’ Party of Bangladesh President Rashed Khan Menon said Sunday.
“Holding political rallies and gatherings is democratic right of the people. The DMP’s decision to impose a ban (on political gatherings) is a sort of restriction on that right,” Menon said at a press briefing at the party’s headquarters in the capital.
He was giving his reaction a day after Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) slapped an indefinite ban on political meetings, rallies, human chains, demonstrations, sit-ins and processions in the capital from 6:00am Sunday.
Menon said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s proposal to form an all-party election-time government comes with a number of ambiguities.
These ambiguities however can be cleared through discussions with the opposition and different other political parties, he added.
Menon, also a ruling coalition lawmaker, stressed the importance of discussion between the country’s political parties for holding a peaceful and fair election, saying: “It is still possible to reach a mutual understanding in this regard.”
The DMP imposed the ban on political gatherings Saturday five days ahead of an anti-government rally organised by the BNP-led 18-party opposition combine to press home its demand of restoration of the caretaker government system.

Syed Ashraf tasked with holding talks: Muhith

Awami League General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam has been tasked with holding discussions with different political parties to solve the prevailing impasse, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Sunday.

“The prime minister (Sheikh Hasina) has given Ashraf the responsibility to hold talks with different political parties, including the main opposition BNP,” the minister told journalists at the Secretariat.

Reacting to the criticism that the PM did not make clear certain points, including who would head the election-time government, in her speech Friday, he said there is limited scope for discussion in this regard.

“We want Sheikh Hasina as the head of the interim government. However, the possibility of discussion in this regard still remains, albeit in a limited scope.”

For the sake of mutual understanding, the government is willing to let representatives from the opposition in the interim government to take over important ministries like the finance ministry, he added.