BANGLADESH

Farmers of Sripur in Magura district have alleged that Robi crops on at least 10,000 acres of land have been damaged following early release of water in the Ganges-Kapotakkho Irrigation Project's canal.

Although authorities had comforted them, it has taken no initiative yet to mitigate the disaster, the region's farmers have complained.

Affected farmers of Sripur upazila's Taarazail village say water in the irrigation canal has never been released during this time of the year, as they complain Robi crops of 30 villages in the region have been 'devastated' due to untimely release of water.

Deputy-assistant engineer of Khustia Water Development Board Subir Chowdhury says, "Water in the GK project is released on March 10 every year. But this year, water was released from Jan 20 considering preparations to make seed-beds for Boro crops."

Subir, however, says he is not aware of any devastation of Robi crops in Magura's Sripur upazila.

The GK Irrigation Project was conceived in 1954 to facilitate 1,350,000 hectors of arable land in 13 upazilas of Magura, Jhenaidah, Kushtia and Chuadanga districts during the dry season.

Farmers of Taarazail village say as water in the irrigation canal has suddenly been released, unwanted water inundated fields of 30 villages last week.

Baffled farmers say they went for Robi crop cultivation in the dry season instead of paddy or jute cultivation. They say they manage irrigation with 'shallow machines' for Robi crops.

Agriculture official of Sripur upazila Ruhul Kabir has told that an assessed 40 percent of the total Robi crop will be affected, which will be no less than Tk 150 million in financial estimates.

Kabir says on January 10 Sripur Upazlila Agriculture Office had informed the Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Upazila chairman, district administration and Water Development Board for not releasing water in the canal.

According to the agriculture official, the current situation is the result of untimely release of water in the GK canal from Khustia's Bheramara.

The local upazila agriculture office has said lentil was cultivated in 1,530 acres of land, pulse in 660 acres, mustard in 810 acres, onion in 2,000 acres, garlic in 464 acres, wheat in 3,770 acres, crops in 840 acres, pea in 400 acres, linseed in 245 acres, coriander in 125 acres.

Farmers would have brought home the crops within a month, according to the agriculture office.

Deputy-assistant engineer of Magura Water Development Board Motiar Rahman has told : "Robi crops in some areas of Sripur have been damaged by the water released in advance. The GK project officials have been informed of the matter."

The official says steps will be taken to "resolve" the situation "as soon as possible".

Mentioning that this is the first time water has been released ahead of schedule, he says, farmers who intend to cultivate Boro in the upcoming season will need the water to prepare their seed-beds.

The communications minister says roads are being repaired in a hurry wherever he is to visit, which is why he is planning to tour the whole country.

"They repaired all the broken roads because I was coming," Obaidul Quader told a rally on Saturday at Satkhira after inspecting repair work.

"So I plan to go wherever there are broken roads," he said.

He added that the Roads Division had been asked to repair the roads across the country before next monsoon.

The last communication minister Syed Abul Hossain lost his portfolio two months ago amidst a torrent of criticisms over the sorry condition of roads and highways. He was succeeded by Awami League presidium member Quader.

The communications minister held rallies at Satkhira Sadar Hospital intersection, Atharomile, Noapara, Madanpur and some other places and exchanged views with local leaders.

"We should behave nicely with everyone, otherwise the votes will be zero. If we show muscle when in power, people will not say anything now but will reply with ballot," he told his party colleagues.

He urged them to do less talking and more work. "People want to see development. So the slogan now should be – less talk, more work," he added.

Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League has cancelled its Sunday rally.

The organisation's vice-president Mukul Chowdhury told on Saturday evening that the rally was postponed following a police ban on gathering in the city.

Minutes earlier, BNP rescheduled its procession programme to Monday from Sunday. Awami League Dhaka unit however, did not issue an alternative date for their programme.

After city Awami League announced a rally on the same day as the BNP mass procession, police imposed section 144 in the capital effective from 6am Sunday to 12pm.

"Our Sunday rally has been cancelled since the government has banned processions and gathering," Mukul Chowdhury said.

General indices of both the bourses have plummeted sharply, a day after closing high.

On Wednesday, the index at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) lost 94 points and 155 on the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE).

Asked, CSE president Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed told , "The index fell as the assured steps to keep the market stable have not been fulfilled."

He said, "The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared taking various steps like increasing netting facilities, minimising transaction time, reducing CDBL charges and increasing time to adjust subsidiary loan. But as the implementation is yet to happen, the market has fallen again."

After a meeting with the Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) on Tuesday, SEC spokesman Saifur Rahman said the central bank had decided to give merchant banks more time to adjust their single-party exposure limit in a bid to help the drooping capital market.

The measure triggered the indices at both the bourses, until Wednesday morning, after which it started falling.

Small investors in frustration staged demonstration in front of the DSE.

BMBA president Mohammad A Hafiz in the evening told that shares were being bought from different institutions including merchant banks.

He also urged the investors to have patience, anticipating that the market would rebound within a day or two.

"Assurance has been given to extend time for loan adjustment. Therefore, there's nothing to panic," he observed.

Capital Market Investors Council's Mizanur Rashid Khan said there was a rumour that the adjustment time would not be extended.

"We've heard that a circular was supposed to be published, but it did not happen at last," he added.

On Wednesday, turnover stood at Tk 3.79 billion, 225 share prices declined, 25 advanced and seven remained unchanged.

The DSE general index rose 134.32 points or 2.26 percent to 6055.17 on Tuesday.

The local government ministry has initiated a move to amend the Local Government (City Corporation) Bill to extend the deadline for staging elections to the split Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and also to increase the tenure of the DCC administrators.

The effort comes after the Election Commission (EC) expressed its inability to stage the DCC elections, given the paucity of time.

The ministry has forwarded the amendment proposal for discussion in the cabinet. The draft recommends holding DCC elections within 180 days instead of the stipulated 90 days, local government secretary Abu Alam Shahid Khan told on Saturday.

Khan said the amendment is being brought to extend the deadline for elections, as the EC "could not, or did not" stage the polls within 90 days.

"We have sent the bill to the Cabinet Division for approval of the amendment," he said. "In this case, the provision to stage the polls within 90 days will be changed to 180 days, and the administrators' tenure will be the same (180 days)."

The bill would be tabled in parliament after approval of the cabinet, he added.

The divided DCC polls will have to be staged by May if the bill is amended. Khan said he hopes the bill would be presented in one of the next two cabinet meetings.

ELECTION PREPARATION

Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain welcomed the initiative to amend the law that would give EC time to hold the polls within 180 day. He told that though the outgoing EC could not hold the polls, all necessary preparations for a successful election would be done.

He said the government has been informed of the matter.

"EC officials have been asked to be ready for at least 10 pre-election preparatory activities, including (preparing names of) proposed poll centres, the voter list, among others," he said.

Sakhawat Hossain hoped that there would not be any problem in staging the elections within May.

He also expressed disappointment for not being able to stage the polls under the incumbent EC and believes the elections will be a challenge for the new EC.

DCC SPLIT IN TWO

The Local Government (City Corporation) Amendment Bill-2011 was passed in parliament on Nov 30, splitting DCC into North and South zones.

Then the mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka and the councillors had to leave office after president Zillur Rahman approved the bill and a gazette was published.

Subsequently, the government, on Dec 4 appointed Khalilur Rahman as DCC South administrator and Khorshed Alam Chowdhury as his counterpart in DCC North.

The administrators are supposed to hand over power to the elected mayors. As per law, mayoral elections are to be held in the two city corporations within 90 days of appointment of the administrators.

According to the bill to split DCC, administrators of the new city corporations will not be able to hold office for more than 180 days, while those of corporations with expired dates would have to hand over power within 90 days of appointment.

The bill also says an administrator cannot be appointed twice to the post.

PRESENT EC 'UNABLE' TO HOLD POLLS

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Shamsul Huda had earlier expressed the incumbent EC's inability to hold the elections in the scheduled 90-day period. The shortage of time was among the three reasons he had cited for this.

The commission issued a letter to the local government ministry in this regard last December.

Criticising the "contradictory" position of the EC and the government, local government minister Syed Ashraful Islam said elections to the divided DCC would take place under a new commission.

The previous Dhaka City Corporation had ended its tenure in May 2007. There had been no elections since.

Warning that the consequences otherwise will be "unpleasant", BNP chief Khaleda Zia has demanded lifting of the ban on all sorts of gathering in the capital meant for Sunday.

"Awami League announced a counter-programme two days ago to foil the (BNP) mass procession. The government has now imposed Section 144 citing chances of conflict," Khaleda said at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) on Saturday.

Khaleda was addressing a programme on the closing ceremony of diploma engineers' national council.

The Dhaka metropolitan unit of Awami League announced a counter-programme on Sunday, to coincide with BNP's mass procession. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) subsequently imposed a ban on all kind of gathering and procession in the city on Sunday.

According to DMP officials, the ban has been imposed as a pre-emptive move to avoid possible law and order breakdown.

Khaleda had given a call for Sunday's public procession, demanding reinstatement of the caretaker government system, during a rally in Chittagong on Jan 9.

But AL's metropolitan unit on Thursday called for a rally of its own on Sunday in front of the party's Bangabandhu Avenue office.

Khaleda said the government is taken aback at the huge participation in BNP's "peaceful programmes". "Fearing this, they (government) have taken a wicked path," she alleged.

The former prime minister cited her 2001-6 administration's efforts for the improvement of technical education and engineers.

She supported the diploma engineers' slogan, 'Save Rivers, Save Country' and called on them to unite to save the country from the 'current crisis.

The closing ceremony of the 19th and 35th national council of diploma engineers was held in Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh. Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the programme on Thursday.

Around 6,000 diploma engineers from Bangladesh and 30 representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, took part in the programme.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia has sat with her senior advisors, hours after police banned gatherings in Dhaka for Sunday when she was scheduled to lead a procession of her party..

The meeting of the highest policymaking forum, the National Standing Committee, kicked off from 7pm on Saturday at her Gulshan office.

It is aimed at discussing the next course of action in the wake of the changed situation created by Dhaka Metropolitan Police's ban on gatherings, her press secretary Maruf Kamal Khan said.

Standing committee members R A Gani, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, M Shamsul Islam, Mahbubur Rahman, Tariqul Islam, M K Anwar, Jamiruddin Sircar, A S M Hannan Shah, Rafiqul Islam Miah, Mirza Abbas, Abdul Moin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan and acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam have joined the meeting.

BNP vice-president, also Dhaka metropolitan BNP convenor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka is participating there on special invitation.

Son Reza Kibria has demanded that investigators question former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar over the killing of former finance minister Shah A M S Kibria.

He also thinks former Habiganj deputy commissioner Emdadul Haque needs to be interrogated in the matter.

Reza made these demands in a statement at a discussion on Saturday on his father's seventh death anniversary at National Press Club.

Former minister and Awami League leader Kibria and four others were killed in a grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Habiganj on Jan 27, 2005. Over 70 people were also injured in the gruesome attack.

Additional investigation is ongoing in the case.

"BNP-Jamaat government tried to manipulate this investigation. They wanted to shield the real conspirators of the crime and punish mere tools," Reza said.

"This investigation needs a brave and skilled police officer," he added, speaking on the family's position regarding the ongoing enquiry.

Reza Kibra remembered that after his father was injured, he had tried repeatedly to ask the then speaker Jamiruddin Sircar for a helicopter to bring him to Dhaka.

"But he bolted his door and stayed home. He did not even pick up phone calls. Later, he said at a press conference that he was sleeping," he added.

"I'm not saying he was involved in the killing, but he knew who was. If it can be found out on whose instructions he was sleeping that evening, the investigation will advance a long way," he said.

"Deputy commissioner Emdadul Haque did not provide police for my father's safety. He had contacted the then junior home minister Lotfuzzaman Babar and many others that day," he said.

Babar, who is in jail, is charged in both Aug 21 grenade attack and Chittagong 10-truck arms case.

A member of parliament who led a mob into Rangpur Medical College Hospital demanding appointment of the locals was injured in the counterattack by hospital employees.

Around 50 people, including policemen, workers and journalists received injuries during the conflict.

Later the injured Rangpur-1 MP Mokbul Shahriar Asif, also the nephew of Jatiya Party chairperson Hussein Muhammad Ershad, was admitted to the same hospital for treatment.

Witnesses said around 7-800 people came in trucks to attack the medical college.

"Angry locals besieged the hospital because it had ensured no quota in recruitment for my election area Gangachharha," Asif told before the chaos began.

The recruitment in 186 third and fourth-class positions of RMCH is underway. Around 4,500 applicants took part in the written examination on Dec 30.

Authorities say Awami League, Bangladesh Chhatra League and Jatiya Party have been demanding quota for their favourites from the very beginning.

At one stage of the clash some of the MP's supporters rushed to the director's room. They started vandalising various establishments inside the hospital when they failed to get the director. The employees of RMC resisted and a large scale clash ensued.

Police arrived and used batons and tear cells to disperse the conflict. "Police fired 20 rounds of tear gas canisters to control the situation," Kotwali Police Station officer-in-charge Altaf Hossain told reporters.

Six journalists including Desh TV Rangpur correspondent Abu Aslam received injuries. According to locals, the total number of injured may exceed 50.

Faced with police onslaught, the rioters dispersed. MP Asif himself rushed to a room in the medical college where he was found with a wound on his head.

He told reporters the attack on him was 'deliberate'. His companions blamed the hospital employees for the injury and Asif threatened a case against them.

The hospital's doctor Saiful Islam said Asif's head required two stitches but he was out of danger.

OC Altaf told reporters in the afternoon the situation had calmed down and additional police had been deployed at the scene. No cases had been filed until afternoon, he said.

The BNP has rescheduled Sunday's procession to Monday after police put an embargo on public gathering fearing lawlessness since that programme coincided with an Awami League rally.

Acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir emerged halfway through a standing committee meet to make the announcement.

"Due to the ban, the Dhaka procession will take place on Monday, starting at 2pm from the party office. Khaleda Zia will lead the procession.

"We hope the government will cooperate with us in this peaceful protest programme," he said.

"But the government should not mistake our tolerance for weakness," the spokesperson emphasised.

Party chief Khaleda Zia had given a call for Sunday's public procession, demanding reinstatement of the caretaker government system, during a rally in Chittagong on Jan 9.

But AL's metropolitan unit on Thursday called for a rally of its own on Sunday in front of the party's Bangabandhu Avenue office.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police subsequently imposed a ban on all kinds of gathering and procession in the city on Sunday.

"Jan 29 rally was announced a long time ago. But Awami League's announcement of its rally was pre-planned. We were sure then that the government would use this as an excuse to bar the mass procession," Fakhrul said.

He said the decision was a reflection of the government's autocratic attitude.

"The government forced a ban on our peaceful programme. We believe in peace. So we have rescheduled our programme to Jan 30," he added.

Earlier, addressing a programme on the closing ceremony of diploma engineers' national council, Khaleda had demanded lifting of the ban on all sorts of gathering in the capital meant for Sunday.