BANGLADESH

bdnews24.com and Unicef have agreed a partnership to launch a Children's News Service to promote causes affecting 45 percent of Bangladesh's population.

The two organisations will enter an agreement at the newspaper's Mohakhali office on Thursday and the service will be launched later on.

"This will give us a unique opportunity to take the children's stories from across Bangladesh to a huge number of audience," Toufique Imrose Khalidi, Editor-in-Chief of Bangladesh's first Internet newspaper, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Being part of our already-popular http:// kidz.bdnews24.com, the Children's News Service will get some natural advantage," he believed.

"We will train them, teach them the basics of journalism, create a manual for them to follow, hoping that many of them will become professional journalists in future."

Khalidi said such training would be organised in at least 20 districts initially and that bdnews24.com correspondents would be sensitised to the children's issues through workshops so that they could work as effective coordinators in their respective districts.

He added that bdnews24.com will continue the programme even after Unicef's partnership ends.

Unicef is considering the initiative as an opportunity for children to contribute in making a child-friendly news industry and for strengthening their rights.

"Around 45 percent of the population in Bangladesh are under 18. Unicef in partnership with bdnews24.com is keen to create a 'space' for children where they will be able to raise their concerns, share their aspirations for the future and contribute to decisions that affect their lives by suggesting solutions while playing an active role in mainstream media," said Unicef's Acting Representative for Bangladesh Michel Saint-Lot.

"We are hopeful that through this unique initiative, we will be able to hear the unheard voices of this nation, enable children to make a contribution to the news agenda and accelerate the process of upholding child rights for children in Bangladesh," Saint-Lot added.

The children will be responsible for the gathering of information, editing and publishing news under the supervision of bdnews24.com journalists.

The National Shishu Park will remain free for autistic children for two hours every Wednesday.

Dhaka City Corporation's (South) administrator Jillar Rahman announced the incentive for special kids with the support of Parents Forum for Differently Able, a forum of autistic children's parents.

He said autistic children would be able to enjoy the park between 3pm and 5pm.

The administrator said such initiatives should have been taken when this park started its journey but they are happy to announce it now, even if it was late.

Sajida Rahman Danny, President of the Forum, said they had been working for the last one year. "Now we also feel happy to be doing something for our kids. They have rights to enjoy like other children."

Autism encompasses a wide spectrum of disorders, ranging from profound inability to communicate and mental retardation to relatively mild symptoms.

It appears in the first three years of life and affects brain's normal development of social and communication skills.

As there is no national survey on autism, estimations suggest 8 per 1000 children are autistic in Bangladesh.

Global studies suggest boys are more likely to develop autism than girls. However, experts cannot pinpoint the reason.

Scientists are yet to identify the reason of the autism disorder.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said lack of efficiency in public administration is the main reason behind the deficiency in good governance.

"Lack of efficiency in public administration, and often weak financial management and irregularities are the main reasons behind the overall deficit of good governance in the country," she said in her question-answer session in Parliament.

Ruling party lawmaker Bazlul Haque Harun of Jhalkathi-1 constituency put forward the question.

"It's also true that the issues related to good governance and real democracy are long-term challenges," she said. "Long-term and combined efforts are needed for their proper implementation."

Hasina said her government had already taken numerous steps to ensure good governance and 'real democracy'.

Bazlul Haque had asked Hasina what sorts of steps her government had taken to establish a discrimination-free society and proper democracy.

The Prime Minister said the present government was implementing the Sixth Five-Year Plan and Perspective Plan 2010-2021 taking effective strategy to curb corruption, improve skills in the public administration and make reforms in various institutions for putting democracy on a stronger footing.

In response to a question from female member Faridunnahar Laily, Hasina said that the government embarked upon implementation of a long-term 'Perspective Plan (2010-2021)' which has a focus on poverty reduction, improvement of per capita income, proper monetary management, increasing revenue income and higher economic growth.

During the period of Perspective Plan, the she said total revenue earning of the country would be 20 percent of GDP, and national savings would be 39.1 percent and internal investment would be 38 percent.

Answering ruling party MP Abdul Latif from Chittagong-10 constituency, Hasina said the government took a slew of measures for the development of law and order. "Now, people celebrate their festivals spontaneously without fear," she added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said she asked the Power Division to effect a two-hour daily outage to remind the people how much they had suffered earlier
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"I have ordered the Power Division to enforce load-shedding for an hour in the morning and another hour in the evening so that people do not forget the suffering caused by loadshedding," the Prime Minister said in Parliament. "It helps in a way--it cuts power bill," she joked.

She made the comment during her question time.

Asked by Jatiya Party MP Mujibul Hoque, she said Ramadan was free of power crisis and stressed minimising power use for boosting production.

Responding to the question posed by Independent MP Fazlul Azim, the Prime Minister spoke about her government's plan to increase power production to 24,000 MW and claimed that the current production was 8315 MW.

"We left office in 2001 when the power production was 4300 MW. When we returned to power in 2008, the production was 3200 MW. Power production has become normal due to our prompt measures," Hasina added.

Currently, there are 51 power plants that are producing 3595 MW daily running on gas and oil.

Hasina mentioned the installation of grid line and sub-stations to import 500 MW of power from India and said, "The power will be available from the middle of next year."

According to the Prime Minister, daily gas production is 2200 mmcf now and power stations get 950 mmcf to 1,000 mmcf gas daily.

She hoped another 420 mmcf to 480 mmcf gas will be added to the supply line by next year.

Speaker Abdul Hamid said 100 KW power was being produced every day using solar power.

Fears of a fresh standoff over medical and dental college enrollment looms large as the lawyers who filed the lawsuits are yet to withdraw them while the government is not starting the admission process.

After weeks of street protests, prospective medical and dental college students called off their agitation for cancellation of only GPA-based admission on Sunday when Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque assured them of considering traditional system if the lawsuits were dropped.

But students say lawyer Yunus Ali Akhanda who filed the petition does not pay heed to their request while Health Directorate officials tell bdnews24.com that they cannot advertise the admission test as long as the lawsuits are pending in the court.

Ashikur Rahman, one of the students who against the government move, says they have repeatedly requested lawyer Akhanda to withdraw the case. "Today (Wednesday) he said he will withdraw the petition on Sunday," Rahman said on Wednesday.

But the lawyer had a different story to tell bdnews24.com. "A third judge will hear my petition. But the government can start taking the examination since there is no stay order."

However, Acting Attorney General MK Rahman tells bdnews24.com that the government can start admission process as it was only a 'verbal' proposal and the court did not give stay order.

The Medical Education's Director of the Directorate General of Health Services Dr Shah Abdul Latif says they cannot do so in the absence of an official note from the Attorney General's office.

Aspiring medical students burst into protest on Aug 13 just a day after the Health Minister announced that GPAs in the SSC and HSC examinations would be the sole yardstick to ensure what he said 'quality' admissions in medical and dental colleges.

The dispute over the admission tests reached the High Court on Aug 14 when its ruling on the matter was sought.

Akhanda filed a supplementary appeal on Aug 27 requesting an order to hold the admission through traditional system, but it drew a split verdict.

Another lawyer Nazrul Islam also filed a petition on behalf of a guardian with the court against the government decision later. The lawyer says he cannot take any decision as he himself did not file the writ.

"But we are not proceeding with the petition. It will become invalid automatically."

Citing the Health Minister's claim 'it's not a decision, it's a proposal', Prof Rashid-E-Mahbub, a former President of Bangladesh Medical Association, said: "So, they can start the process (admission test) right away."

He said students did not file the case and so the government cannot impose condition on them. "It's their (government's) duty to settle the lawsuits."

Dr M Mushtuq Husain, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Chikitshak Sangsad, a forum of doctors, who earlier expressed solidarity with the protesting students, said students went back home and started studying again.

"The government can start the admission process now." He warned of further protests if the issues remained unsettled for long.

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

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Wednesday assured the agitating BUET students of their security and asked them to return to class.

The student representatives returned to the campus and said they would announce their decision on Thursday.

Emerging from a meeting with the minister, they had said they would decide their next move after discussion with fellow protesters on the campus.
Bent on seeing Vice-Chancellor S M Nazrul Islam go, the students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology met Nahid at his Secretariat office at 4:15pm and the talks lasted for almost three hours.

The minister made the call after a meeting with the students, who considered resuming studies would be risky after the authorities had charged them with attack, vandalism, looting and ransacking. Teachers had also urged them to suspend their agitation after being convinced by the minister's assurance of removing the Pro-VC on Aug 3.

The meeting was attended by 16 representatives of the agitating students, accompanied by mechanical engineering Professor Muhammad Ehsan and industrial and production engineering Professor A K M Masud. Education Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser and University Grants Commission Chairman Prof A K Azad Chowdhury were also present in the meeting.

The student representatives and the minister later spoke to journalists.

The minister assured the students of the same steps he had promised the agitating teachers. He also told the students that the cases filed against the agitators would be withdrawn and they would not be harassed.

The teachers called off demonstrations on Tuesday and announced to return to classes following a meeting with Nahid on Monday night. Nahid had said Pro-VC Habibur Rahman would be removed and two cases the authorities had filed with the Shahbagh police against teachers and students would be withdrawn.

But the students remained firm on their position that the VC Islam would also have to be removed and said they wanted to speak to the minister.

Nahid said he heard the complaints from the students and issues relating to the problems were discussed.

"They have been assured so that a safe atmosphere prevails for education. Teachers and students should not be subjected to administrative harassment anyway. Stern action will be taken against irregularities including tampering with results."

BUET teachers began their demonstration in April accusing the VC and Pro-VC of different irregularities in the administration. The students also joined their cause eventually.

Regarding the demand of VC's removal the Minister said, "Everything required for return BUET its glorious tradition will be done."

Abhipriyo Chakrabarty, one of the student representatives, said, "We have been assured of no harassment."

"We are returning to the campus. Everyone is there. Decision will be taken after discussing issues with all."

The teacher AKM Masud said the issue of removal of the VC was also discussed at the meeting.

A senior Treasury Bench MP said on Wednesday that he believed "a syndicate of officials of the central bank, Finance Ministry and Sonali Bank" had been behind the Hallmark scam and that its target was to taint the government's image.

Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, speaking in Parliament, said those responsible must be given exemplary punishment.

The Awami League Presidium member said the Finance Minister's attempts to shrug off the scale of the scam had "shocked the public".

"It cannot be the work of one individual," Selim asserted, "officials of the Bangladesh Bank, the (finance) ministry and Sonali Bank were all involved."

"The problem is, the Sheikh Hasina government pays the price," Selim, a frontbench MP who was health minister in 1996-2001, said.

Fellow frontbencher MP Tofail Ahmed who also failed to make it to the Cabinet this time lent support to Selim.

"The only way to stop such scam in future is to give them exemplary punishment," said Tofail, industries and commerce minister in 1996-2001 Hasina administration.

Tofail was also critical of "the tradition of forming bank boards with political appointees with no experience in banking". The MP had on Tuesday raised questions about appointment of Supreme Court judges "on political considerations".

Selim said he was surprised that no charges were filed against "those involved" in the Tk 26.68 billion loan given allegedly against forged documents.

AMA Muhith said on Tuesday that given Bangladesh's Tk 400-billion portfolio of commercial bank loans, the Hallmark sum was tiny and that it would in no way affect the entire banking system.

Just two days earlier, the septuagenarian minister had come under fire from Jute and Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui for failing to deal with Padma loan and Grameen Bank crises.


The state-owned Sonali Bank's branch at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel had given out about Tk 36 billion � just below 2 percent of the national budget � to textile firm Hallmark Group and other dubious organisations with no notable collateral.

Recent audits � one internal and another by the central bank � found that there were significant irregularities in the entire process.

Sheikh Selim, a policymaker of the ruling party and a cousin of the Prime Minister, rose on a point of order after the scheduled question-answer period had concluded.

Selim wondered what was behind the long silence since the central bank had detected the irregularities in 2010. "What is the reason behind their silence for over two years?" the MP asked.

He said the ministry was well aware which officials were behind the scam. "But there had been no action."

He said the government's image was being tarnished and alleged that 'a certain quarter' was plotting against the government.

Pointing out that the bank had only Tk 9 billion worth of paid-up capital, the Awami League Presidium member said the bank did not even have the authority to disburse such a large loan to one person.

"But there has been no criminal case for such an instance of loot and plunder."

Dissatisfied with the investigations so far, Selim said, "Anti-Corruption Commission is merely interviewing them. They should be remanded into police custody for interrogation and asked whether the money is still in the country or has been laundered abroad."

An Awami League advisor, MP Tofail began by thanking Selim and said, "I fully agree with him."

He said compared to the worldwide slowdown, Bangladesh's economy is rather steady. "Bangladesh's development would be badly affected without strict discipline in the banking and financial sectors."

He said 'one bank' had given out loans to a businessman without collateral. "The board of directors, central bank and the finance ministry cannot shirk their responsibility in this regard," said Tofail.

He mentioned that certain prime ministerial advisor had already been named as being involved with the scam and demanded proper steps. He warned that if there was not enough action or measures then the blame would have to be shouldered by the government.

This is not just because of a single manager, he said. "Let him be arrested and exemplary punishment meted out."

'The less Muhith speaks the better'

Sheikh Selim said during his brief deliberation that the Finance Minister had surprisingly said the other day there was no need for such hullabaloo over the Hallmark matter.

"What kind of a statement is that?" he asked and continued to say, "Tk 40 billion may not be a large sum to him, but it is big deal for the people of Bangladesh."

Even if there has been an irregularity over Tk 1 or Tk 10, it should not be taken lightly, he said.

"I realise that he has become old," said Selim of the 79-year old Muhith who dismissed the Hallmark scam as nothing significant for the government.

"I request that he does not make such statements. The less he speaks the better."

Tofail also derided Muhith for blaming the media for the hype. "But there is no reason to do so. The media is only doing its job."