BANGLADESH

Guinness World Records on Tuesday recognised a feat by a Bangladeshi, Abdul Halim, for walking 15.2 kilometres with a ball on his head.

Magura man Halim is the second Bangladeshi to set a world record after Table Tennis star Zobera Rahman Linu, who had entered the records by becoming national champion 16 times.

Halim performed his record breaking exploit on Oct 28 last at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

The Guinness authorities inspected the video of Halim's walk, read newspaper reports in English and Bangla published the next day, obtained the venue's international standing and recorded five witnesses' accounts.

The old Guinness record for longest walk with a ball on their head was by E Ming Lu of Malaysia, who had walked 11.12 kilometres at the Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya stadium on Aug 21, 2009.

Halim is exhilarated with his extraordinary achievement. "I always believed one day I would get recognition for my achievements. I am delighted to see my name on the Guinness book. I do not have wrds to express my happiness.

"I am very grateful to the Guinness authorities," he said on telephone.

The 12th session of the ninth parliament, to begin on Wednesday, will end on March 8.

The Business Advisory Committee of parliament took the decision on the length of the session in a meeting on Tuesday, law minister Shafique Ahmed, who took part in the meeting on special invitation, told reporters.

Committee member Khaleda Zia, the opposition chief, skipped the meeting chaired by speaker Abdul Hamid.

The opposition MPs, who are absent in parliament for 53 working days on average, are not in risk of losing their membership of parliament in case of not attending the session with 27 working days.

According to law, membership of parliament is cancelled if an MP remains absent in parliament sessions for 90 consecutive working days.

The opposition MPs have been absent in seven of 11 sessions of the ninth parliament.

Their last attendance in parliament had taken place on Mar 24 last year. After a 74-day hiatus, BNP had joined the eighth session on Mar 15 the same year.

Earlier on Tuesday, chief whip Abdus Shahid expressed his hope that the boycotting opposition MPs will return to parliament to keep their membership.

Opposition chief whip Zainul Abdin Farroque said the opposition will consider returning only after a 'congenial atmosphere' is created by placing the caretaker government bill.

In line with rules, the president addresses parliament in the first session every year and MPs take part in discussion welcoming the president's speech.

The virus that killed five people at Jaipurhat in the last four days has been identified as Nipah.

The Institute of Epidemiology Diseases Control and Research (IEDCR) confirmed on its website on Tuesday that the five had indeed died from Nipah. A team from the institute are now working in the affected area.

The IECDR said human infections took place in Joypurhat municiplatiy and Khetlal Upazila.

Of the five deaths, two are from Khetlal and the others from the municipality. They died in Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogra and Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.

On Jan 21, a five-member IECDR expert team went to Bogra and Rajshahi to collect blood and other samples.

Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital said it had launched a separate unit for Nipah-infected patients.

Nipah virus causes severe illness characterised by inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), respiratory disease, seizures, vomiting and fainting.

Experts advise against drinking unprocessed date extracts, as fruit bats, the natural host of the Nipah virus, could contaminate the juice.
They also advise not eating partially eaten fruits, wash them before eating and washing hands after coming into contact with patients.

Bangladesh can earn around $12 million a year through waste management, according to environment minister Hasan Mahmud, who believes that the annual income is possible through carbon-trading.

Statistics revealed at the signing of a memorandum of understanding for an urban waste management project on Tuesday show that roughly 4.8 million tonnes of waste are produced daily in the 288 towns in the country.

Organic wastes make up 78 percent of the total daily produce, decomposition of which leads to the emission of 2.01 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over a year.

"Processing the organic waste through the method approved by UNFCCC could lead us to lowering that high carbon emission. Bangladesh can sell carbon credit at $6 [per tonne of carbon emission] in the world market and earn $12 million a year," the minister said.

According to the Kyoto protocol, each country is given the scope to emit carbon in ratio to its population. So if any country emits less, they can sell carbon credit to other countries.

The project, named Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), aims at tackling the effects of climate change and lowering emissions by urban waste management.

The Department of Environment (DoE) will implement this project with assistance from Denmark. DoE director general Monowar Islam and Danish ambassador to Dhaka Svend Olling signed the memorandum.

The North European country will provide Bangladesh with technical and specialist support in drawing up the project's concept paper and its implementation. In return, the Danish government will be given priority to buy, at the international market rates, the carbon credit put up by Bangladesh for sale.

Bangladesh will only be able to sell to other countries when Denmark declines.

Hasan Mahmud said, "Waste management is the responsibility of the city corporations. However, they and the local government organisations can only manage half of the wastes produced. The remaining half is unmanaged and emits carbon, which is harmful."

"Using modern technology to manage wastes would also allow us to generate power," he added.

The project will initially be implemented in Narayanganj City Corporation, Gazipur, Mymensingh and Cox's Bazaar municipalities. The project will later be implemented at all 64 districts over the next eight years.

Funds worth a total Tk 139.1 million have been disbursed from the climate change fund for the project's implementation, which will be used to set up compost plants, buy waste transport vehicles and meet transport costs.

In its move to digitalise Bangladesh, the government on Tuesday decided to reach internet facilities to people of 1,006 union councils through optical fibre cable.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) cleared a project in this regard in a meeting chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The project's objective is to extend reliable, cheap and easily accessible facilities of information and communication technology, planning minister A K Khandker told reporters after the meeting.

The project styled, Developing Optical Fibre Cable Network in 1000 Union Parishad, will cost Tk 7.19 billion, he said.

A total of 11,060 kilometre optical fibre cable will need to be laid to connect the 1,006 council, the minister said.

The top economic policymaking body also approved five other projects, including one to give internet facilities to rural people through post offices.

Rural people will be able to communicate with their relatives abroad through web cameras and receive money from them quickly once the Tk 5.41 billion-project, titled Post-E-Centre for Rural Community, is implemented.

The four other projects cleared are to develop Jahangirnagar University at an estimated cost of Tk 790 million, create employment opportunities in upazilas or sub-districts with Tk 1 billion, secure food and livelihood with Tk 2.23 billion and set up farms to produce seeds in coastal districts of Barisal and Patuakhali with Tk 1.45 billion.

Finance minister A M A Muhith, agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury, shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, among others, attended the meeting.

Home minister Shahara Khatun on Tuesday dismissed a report of Human Rights Watch that said forced disappearances in Bangladesh increased sharply last year.

"The report is not correct," she told journalists following the 51st meet of the National Smuggling Prevention Committee at the Secretariat.

The New York-based human rights organisation in its World Report 2012 said the number of extrajudicial killings by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has dropped following criticisms at home and abroad.

However, 'enforced disappearances' increased sharply last year in Bangladesh as security agencies replaced one form of abuse with another, it said.

"The accusations against the law-enforcing agencies are not right. They are carrying out their duty properly and are working to protect, not to force disappearances," Shahara said in her first reaction to the report.

The organisation had also claimed that the government took no significant steps to investigate and prosecute torture in custody and extrajudicial killings in 2011 and showed an increasing intolerance for criticism.

But Shahara said the government was investigating such disappearances and will search out those responsible.

Debates were sparked about the role of law enforces after a number of incidents of people were taken away by people identifying them as law enforcers, especially Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel. In most cases, bodies of the victims of such 'forced disappearances' were later 'recovered' by law enforcers from rivers, forests or isolated locations.

After National Human Rights Commission chief Mizanur Rahman urged the government to clear the confusion over such forced disappearances, Shahara had told journalists last month that she learnt about such incidents from newspapers.

Human Rights Watch said it thinks human rights organisations, journalists, trade unions, and civil society activists remain at risk in the country, with some suffering attacks.

The World Report assessed progress on human rights during the past year in more than 90 countries, including popular uprisings in the Arab world that few would have imagined.

BORDER INCIDENTS

The home minister criticised the recent torture of a Bangladeshi by the Border Security Force and added that India suspended eight BSF members after the incident.

BSF's atrocities along the border recently came under the spotlight again after a video showing 22-year-old Habibur Rahman, being stripped, kicked and beaten by them, was aired by NDTV and some other Indian TV channels.

Habibur told that he was tortured by the BSF while returning to Bangladesh with cattle through Khanpur border of Paba upazila in Rajshahi district on Dec 9 last year.

The Indian border forces said that an investigation was ongoing.

State minister for home Shamsul Hoque Tuku told journalists, "The prevention of such untoward incidents requires awareness of the people living in the frontiers. The neighbouring country will also have to be aware."

"This problem shall be solved through discussion," he said, referring to the upcoming meeting between India and Bangladesh in March.

CENTRAL ANTI-SMUGGLING MONITORING CELL

The home minister, briefing journalists on the meeting, said that the ministry will form a central monitoring cell to combat smuggling. "Anyone can give information to the cell and help in preventing smuggling."

Admitting that many drug- and weapon-smugglers are going free after being detained, Shahara said, "Officials have been instructed to be more careful to ensure punishments are served."

She added that the government was conducting regular drives and that mobile courts were being deployed to prevent smuggling.