BANGLADESH

Environment and Forests Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Friday said the entire Bangladesh will go under seawater if the ice layer of Antarctica melts fully due to global warming.
‘There is, on average, two-kilometer thick ice layer in the Antarctica. If the ice layer melts due to global warming, the sea level will rise 72 metres and the whole of Bangladesh will go under seawater,” he told a seminar at National Press Club in the city in the morning.
Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan (Bapa) organised the seminar, titled ‘Ice Melting in Antarctica and Climate Change Impact on the Earth and Bangladesh’.
Chaired by Bapa president ASM Shahjahan, the seminar was addressed, among others, by former chairman of the University Grants Commission Prof Nazrul Islam, Prof M Firoz Ahmed and Bapa general secretary Dr M Abdul Matin.
In his power-point presentation, Hasan Mahmud said a total 32 percent area of the earth was covered by ice in the ice age, but at present it declined to only 10 percent land of the planet (1.6 million square kilometres).He observed that the threat of ice melting will rise in Antarctica due to global warming and the earth has to face more frequent climatic events in the future.The Environment Minister said the world climatic order has already been changed and the events of natural disaster have increased in recent years.
Referring to his recent visit to Antarctica, he said the melting ice of Antarctica not only contributes to the sea level rise, it has multiple impacts on the global climate.
“If the seal level will rise one meter by 2030, 17 percent of the country’s costal land will be inundated by seawater and 30 million people will be displaced.”
Hasan Mahmud said although Bangladesh is not responsible for global warming, it becomes the worst victim of climate change.
“The western countries are historically responsible for global warming; so, they should come forward to help the climate vulnerable countries like Bangladesh to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change,” he said.

The immediate past acting managing director of the Grameen Bank yesterday refuted the claims that the microcredit lender has never paid dividends to its shareholders.
Dividends were paid to all the shareholders, said Nurjahan Begum who had taken over the charge of acting managing director of the Grameen Bank after Dr Muhammad Yunus stepped down from the bank in May last year.
The bank gave 100 percent dividend in 2006 and 20 percent in 2007 and 30 percent in 2008, 2009 and 2010, she said in a statement.
Nurjahan, who also retired last year, had been with the bank for 35 years since its inception.
Her comments came a day after Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said Grameen Bank founder and Nobel laureate Prof Yunus did not pay dividends to its shareholders.Of the 84 lakh borrowers of the bank, 55 lakh borrowers have so far bought shares of the bank, Nurjahan said.
The borrowers bought shares of Tk 55 crore to become owners of 97 percent shares of the Grameen Bank, whereas the government owns the rest 3 percent as it bought shares worth Tk 1.80 crore.
The Grameen Bank has so far paid Tk 2.52 crore to the government as dividends and Tk 63 lakh each to Sonali Bank and Bangladesh Krishi Bank.
Nurjahan said the Grameen Bank could not pay dividend until 1996 as it did not earn enough profit to do so.
She said dividend could not be given between 1997 and 2005 to meet the government’s conditions.
To obtain income tax waiver, all profits were deposited in the rehabilitation fund as per government condition. As a result, the board did not give any dividend.

Consumers are likely to see a further increase in both bulk and retail power prices as the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is all set to announce the new tariff within a week.

BERC Member Selim Mahmud told bdnews24.com on Saturday evening that the new power prices were likely to come into effect from Saturday (Sep 1). "The official announcement may come on Sep 7 or 8."

The regulator called a press conference for July 26 on announcing new power tariff, but later postponed without showing any formal reason.

The government raised power tariff several occasions after it assumed the office in January 2009.

In June, the Power Development Board (PDB) sent a proposal to BERC, asking the energy watchdog to increase retail power prices by an average of 56 percent and bulk power prices by 50 percent per unit (each kilowatt hour).

BERC held a public hearing on the proposal on July 16.

Finance Minister A M A Muhith has already hinted at increasing power tariff to cut subsidies in the power and energy sectors.

Bulk and retail power prices were hiked for the last time by Tk 0.28 and 0.30 per unit respectively with effective from Mar 1.

Households now pay Tk 3.05 for per kilowatt of power consumption if their total monthly usage is below 100 units.

However, they have to pay Tk 4.29 per unit for electricity usage above 100 units and below 400 units a month. Households consuming more than 400 units have to pay a hefty Tk 7.89 per unit.

BERC official Mahmud also said that a decision was taken to put in place seven slabs for electric billing for household consumers. He said that the new structure of household electric billing would be more rational for consumers and avoid consumers being charged higher even in the case of exceeding the slabs by a small margin.

The provision will be effective with the billing for September, he said.

The new slabs are 0–75KW-hour (unit), 76–200 units, 201–300 units, 301–400 units, 401–500 units, 501–600 units and 701 units and above.

Palli Bidyut Samiti's household consumption are now divided into four slabs: 0–100 units, 101–300 units, 301–500 units and 501 units and above.

Household consumers under the Dhaka Power Distribution Company, the Dhaka Electric Supply Company, the Power Distribution Board and the West Zone Power Distribution Company now pay bills in the three-slab system : 0–100 units, 101–400 units and 401 units and above.

PDB purchases power from rental and IPP power plants, Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) Ltd and Ashuganj Power Station Company Ltd (APSCL).

It sells the electricity to its bulk consumers – Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO), Rural Electrification Board (REB) and to its retail consumers – in its own distribution regions at the price fixed by the BERC.

As many as 39 people were sued on Saturday in a case filed in connection with the murder of Shariatpur district unit Awami League leader Abdul Mannan Sarder.

Police have so far arrested four for their alleged involvement in the killing.

Mannan, Organising Secretary of Shariatpur municipal unit of the AL, was killed in an attack by assailants at his residence in the district town on Thursday night. The attack also left at least 15 others including his wife Farida Begum and son injured as they tried to resist the assault.

Begum lodged the murder case with the Palong Police Station accusing 39 people including Shariatpur Bus Workers Union President Faruk Chawkider and General Secretary Elim Pahar.

Officer-in-Charge of the police station Rabiul Alam told reporters that they arrested four accused for their alleged involvement in the murder.

They are Dulal Pahar, Noor Mohammad Pahar, Noor Islam Pahar and Sujon Pahar.

The slain leader's wife told reporters that some local extortionists might have commited the murder since they had been demanding money from her husband but he had refused to pay.

Tension was running high in the area on Saturday, a day after the killing. Additional policemen have been deployed in the area to prevent any unpleasant incident.

The body of a Bangladeshi man, who was killed by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) along the border in the district, was handed over to the local battalion of the Border Guard Bangladesh on Saturday evening.

The killing took place early Saturday at Nagorvita border adjoining Baliadangi upazila in Thakurgaon district. The man has been identified as Mohammad Ajirul, son of Potla Mohammad of Dakkhin Doari village in the upazila.

Officer-in-Charge of the Baliadanga Police Station Shahabuddin told bdnews24.com that BSF handed over the body to BGB at 6pm after a flag meeting between Thakurgaon BGB-30 and BSF-14 battalions held at Nagorvita border.

Later the BGB handed over the body to the police.

BGB-30 (Thakurgaon) battalion Operational Commander Lt Col Towhidul Islam told bdnews24.com that a patrol of BSF-14 battalion opened fire when Ajirul allegedly tried to make his way across the border near pillar 376/4 of the border around 3:30am.
He was hit in the head and died on the spot, he said.

Railway Minister Obaidul Quader slapped a Mahananda Express staffer on Saturday when a passenger complained that he demanded extra money from him at Ishwardi Railway Junction.

The minister was visiting the junction around 10:30am when he heard the complaint about the staffer, Balram Das, in presence of a gathering.

Earlier in the day, he visited the railways' divisional office at Pakshi in Pabna and Chaatmohar Railway Station.

He ordered to transfer and issue show-cause notices to Pakshi Rail Land (Estate) office's Kanungo Amirul Islam and Chaatmohar Station Master Gazi Golam Ferdous for alleged corruption and irregularities.

Later, he told a short press briefing at Ishwardi Junction: "The rail sector has been filled with corruption. A quarter of corrupt officials are suffocating the railways."

"They are looting money by stealing tickets and sleepers, and selling them in black market," he observed.

The Anti-Corruption Commission would be used to stop corruption in the railways, Quader said.

According to him, only 113 of 1,850 acres of Pakshi Railway was being controlled by the authorities. "The grabbed lands will be recovered within a month."

Quader also ordered an investigation into alleged irregularity in the Lalon Shah Bridge toll plaza while going to Pabna.

Having already become a 'talk of the town' for his productions like Khoj-The Search and Most Welcome, actor M A Jalil Ananta has now become the 'voice' of student movement.

Demonstrating BUET students seeking ouster of their vice chancellor and pro-vice chancellor, laid siege to the VC residence with their placards with Jalil's taunting words.

The businessman turned actor, whose movies have become an unequivocal source of entertainment for cinemagoers, himself became a source of bemused discussion.

Reopening after a 44-day closure, the stalemate at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology persisted as teachers and students resumed their protests from Saturday refraining from classes.

Jalil Ananta had appeared on a talk show of Somoy Television where he recounted an anecdote with much gusto about how he had strived to dispel the common misconception about Bengali movie stars.

Conspicuous with his face-painted sideburns, Ananta said on the show – broadcast over the long Eid vacation – that he had been to a restaurant where a bunch of 'unsavoury' youths called out to their fellows that there was a Bengali movie star in the restaurant.

Jalil had taken serious exception and recounted how he had put them in their place.

The Dhallywood action movie star told the audience that he had instead, asked them, "(Are) you pom (from) Gana (Ghana)?", "You think Bangla chhobi (films) hero means they are uneducated?". He continued, "You are living in Bangladesh, ok, man, you have to respecting Bangladesh because you are eating food from Bangladesh."

On Saturday, the BUET students taunted their VC and Pro VC with the same questions. They laid the siege around 1pm and left the place two hours later with more demonstrations in the offing.

The video of that programme with Ananta's questions became an instant hit when it found its way to Youtube and Facebook.

Health Minister A F M Ruhal Haque will sit with aspiring medical students on Sunday 9:30am at his office to discuss the medical admission test issue.

Responding to a demand of the agitating students, the minister told bdnews24.com that he would discuss the matter with students at his office in the Secretariat.

Aspiring medical students began protesting the government decision to scrap medical and dental school admission test.

They have been demanding that the minister agree to sit with them and discuss the matter while the minister has been blaming the examinees' movement on coaching centres that risk losing substantial business.

Meeting with reporters at Dhaka Reporters' Unity, the health minister on Saturday said he was ready to talk, but had little to do as the issue went to the court. He urged them to withdraw the writ petitions and discuss the row with him.

Following his request, the protesting students said they would sit within 24 hours 'if time is given'.

The health minister told bdnews24.com in the evening that he would sit with them to discuss the issue. "I'll brief journalists after the meeting," he said.

Experts had earlier told bdnews24.com that such a rushed decision should be revised.

Opposition BNP also sided with the protesting students as they believed that only GPAs could not be the deciding factor for getting into university.

Altogether there are 8,493 seats in all medical and dental schools in Bangladesh.

The number is 2,811 in the 22 government medical colleges and 4,245 in the 53 private ones.

The nine public dental colleges and medical colleges' dental units have 567 seats while 14 private dental institutes have 870 seats.