BANGLADESH

SUBHANALLAH

The annual Hajj pilgrimage started early on Wednesday with more than two million Muslim believers beginning their trek in buses, cars and on foot for the nearby tent city of Mina.

White-clad pilgrims from nearly 150 countries are taking part in this year's Hajj in what is the largest gathering of Muslims in the world. Some 125,000 Bangladeshis are performing Hajj this year.

According to Arab News, hundreds of thousands of believers chanting "Labbaik Allahumma Labbaik" ("Here I am, O Allah, here I am"), began their trek Tuesday night to Mina.

The weather was moderate with a mild and cool breeze blowing across the Mina valley.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency said all of the pilgrims took position in Mina by Wednesday noon.

Saudi Arabia has left nothing to chance to ensure that pilgrims perform the arduous rituals with ease and comfort. Prince Ahmad Bin Abdul Aziz, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, is personally following up the security plan.

Thursday is the climax of the Hajj pilgrimage when pilgrims ascend Mount Arafat, some 10 kilometres (six miles) southeast of Mina, to spend the day in prayer.

The hilltop and the surrounding plain is where Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his final Hajj sermon before his death.

After sunset, the pilgrims head to Muzdalifah, between Mina and Arafat, where they collect stones to throw at the devil, one of the last rituals which takes place Friday and marks the first day of Eid-ul-Azha, the annual feast of sacrifice.

The symbolic "stoning of the devil" is followed by the ritual sacrifice of an animal, usually a lamb.

During the remaining three days of the Hajj, the pilgrims continue the ritual stoning before performing the circumambulation of the Kaaba shrine in Mecca and heading home.

All Muslims are required to perform Hajj at least once in their lifetimes if they have the means to do so.

The government has announced to provide food support for the victims of a storm that rolled through the southern districts on Wednesday.

Disaster Management Minister A H Mahmud Ali on Sunday told a conference at the Press Information Department that each victimised family will get 20 kilograms food grains a month for three months.

The government also allotted Tk 200,000 to build houses urgently in Bhola and Noakhali, he said.

More help will be provided to rehabilitate the victims of the storm, if they need, he added.

At least 27 people died in the storm. Many went missing and are yet to be found.

The government has launched an investigation to find out as to why the weathermen failed to forecast the storm.

French scientist Serge Haroche and American David Wineland have won the 2012 Nobel Prize for physics for work in quantum physics, the prize committee said on Tuesday.

"The Nobel laureates have opened the door to a new era of experimentation with quantum physics by demonstrating the direct observation of individual quantum particles without destroying them," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in a statement on the award of the 8 million crown ($1.2 million) prize.

Physics is the second of this year's crop of awards. The prizes, which reward achievements in science, literature and peace, were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of Swedish dynamite millionaire Alfred Nobel.

($1 = 6.6125 Swedish crowns)

State-run oil-gas exploration company BAPEX has found fresh reserves of oil at Kailashtila and Haripur oil fields in Sylhet.

Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Mansur made the announcement at a press briefing at his office at Karwan Bazar on Sunday.

The reserves have a combined 137 million barrels of oil but according to primary estimates, about 55 billion barrels can be extracted a year, Chairman Mansur said.

The current market value of new oil has been put at Tk 420 billion to 450 billion.

BAPEX submitted its report on exploration of the fresh reserves to the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation or Petrobangla on Sunday. The oil reserves were found using 3-D seismic survey.

Kailashtila alone has a reserve of 109 million barrels, of which 44 million barrels can be lifted.

The Haripur oil field is believed to have a reserve of 28 million barrels of oil including 11 million barrels extractable in one of the two layers of the reservoir.

"It will take some more time to learn about the oil reserve in the other layer at the Haripur oil field," said Hossain Mansur.

Asked who may be given the job to lift the oil, he indicated that 'a local company' may get the job.

The latest discovery has brought new hopes for Bangladesh's energy-starved economy, added the Petrobangla Chairman.

According to Petrobangla officials, the reserve is enough to meet the country's oil demand for two years as the annual oil demand is around 25 million barrels.

Energy expert Prof Badrul Imam told . "Bangladesh requires oil from 22 million to 25 million barrels every year on average. According to the estimate, Bangladesh may fuel its operations for more than two years with the fresh oil reserves."

Earlier, about 650,000 barrels of oil were extracted from an oil field in Haripur after the field was discovered in 1986. But extraction from the field came to a halt on the grounds that it had not been done following proper procedures.

Nishat Mazumder has climbed to the fearsome and unforgiving peak of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain at more than five miles high, as the first Bangladeshi woman.

She ascended to Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035-foot-high) summit from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal on Saturday morning with M A Mohit, the second Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest.

An accountant by profession, Mazumder was accompanied by Mohit, a veteran climber who made it to the top of Everest, Manaslu and Cho-Oyu-3 summits higher than 8,000 metres.

"We found out from her Sherpa that Nishat and M A Mohit have made it to the top around 9:30am," Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club founder Inam Al Haque told  on Saturday.

Both Mazumder and Mohit are members of the club.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated Mazumder on her success.

Mazumder, the second child of her parents, was also the first Bangladeshi woman to have conquered three Himalayan peaks higher than 6,000 metres. She conquered Himalaya's Mera Peak (6,653.78 metres) in 2007, Singchuli Peak (6,501 metres) in 2008 and Makalu Peak (8,493.3 metres) in 2009.

Born in Laxmipur, Mazumder completed her secondary education at Bottomley Home Girls High School and higher secondary education at Shahid Anwar Girls College. She did her bachelors and masters in accounting from Dhaka City College and currently works for Dhaka WASA.

Mazumder dedicated her ascent to Plan International's 'Because I am a Girl' campaign. NGO Plan Bangladesh co-sponsored her expedition that began on Apr 9.

Musa Ibrahim, member of Bangladesh's North Alpine Club, was the first Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest on May 22, 2010.

Weather conditions on the mountain have been challenging this year, prompting several expeditions to cancel their plans to try to reach the summit.

May is considered the best month to climb Everest, when climbers get about two windows of good weather for their bid for the summit.

'Because I am a girl'

When Plan Bangladesh launches its 'Because I am a Girl' campaign this October they plan to urge everyone to raise their hands, 'Hands Up!' they call it, in support of women's empowerment.

Nishat Mazumder, their champion, will have already raised her hand on top of the Everest. "Now that has got to be the highest raised hand in the world, right? You couldn't get any higher than the Everest," said Nova Shams, Plan's spokesperson in Dhaka.

Given her unprecedented feat as a Bangladeshi woman, Mazumder will naturally feature prominently in the campaign that will be launched on the global Girl Child Day on Oct 11 globally.

"And this ties in really well with our theme," Shams told  She has shown that woman too can overcome daunting odds with the family support and mental resolve.

Kill again,BSF don't stop their kill in bangladeshi.India's Border Security Force has killed another Bangladeshi citizen on Dinajpur border despite the Indian government's promise to stop killing along the border.

The incident occurred early on Friday morning at the district's Daudpur border in Birampur, Commander of the 40th Battalion of the Border Guard Bangladesh Lieutenant Colonel Tayebul Haque told .

The deceased has been identified as Saidur Rahman Chiku, 50 who is the son of Abdul Gafur of Birampur Upazila's Poli Mahmudpur village.

He used to rustle cattle from India, Haque said.

The BGB Commander said Saidur and his companions were on their way to India when members of BSF's Gobindapur camp threw grenade at them near pillar no. 289/25 (a).

Saidur received wounds from the grenade and fell to the ground. The BSF members then opened fire at him and killed him, he said.

The BSF has taken Saidur's body, Haque said.

The BGB Commander said they tried to communicate with their Indian counterparts to get the dead body back. "The BSF is yet to respond."

In 2011, the international human-right outfits Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International had severely criticised the Indian government for continuous killing of unarmed Bangladeshis along the border.

Human Rights Watch found numerous cases of indiscriminate use of force, arbitrary detention, torture, and killings by the security force, without adequate investigation or punishment.

The BSF chief, Raman Shrivastava, after a four-day visit to Dhaka on Sep 30 last year said his forces had introduced non-lethal weapons in many places to bring border killings down to "zero level".

According to reports, over 900 Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by the BSF over the last decade, many of them when they crossed into Indian territory for cattle rustling or other smuggling activities.

An overseas telephone call was made to the Rapid Action Battalion on Friday afternoon asking it to release the large shipment of the banned club-drug Yaba tablets seized from Asadganj in Chittagong.

Acting commander of RAB-7 Maj Ziaul Ahsan Sarwar told  that the call was made from an 'unknown' number on the mobile phone of Cox Bazar camp unit commander of RAB-7 Captain Rashid around 4pm.

"The person on the other side asked him to release the Yaba shipment that was seized in the morning. He then hung up the phone," he added.

Maj Sarwar said after they were informed of the matter, they tried to contact the phone number, but found it switched off.

"The (phone) number is not from any of the mobile phone operators of the country. We're looking into issue," the RAB official said.

RAB-1 and RAB-7 in a joint drive seized 270,000 banned Yaba tablets and arrested drug peddler Abdur Rashid along with his three accomplices at Asadganj in Chittagong.

RAB personnel claim that it is so far the largest Yaba seizure. The estimated value of the banned drugs is around Tk 90 million.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will lead a mass hunger strike of the 18-party opposition alliance on Sunday at the capital's Mahanagar Natya Mancha in Gulistan.

BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan on Saturday confirmed the hunger strike at a rally held in front of the party's Naya Paltan headquarters.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Motijheel zone Deputy Commissioner Anwar Hossain told  that the opposition was given the approval to hold the protest programme at the Natya Mancha.

The main opposition had requested the government to allow them to use one of the three places – the Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) premises, or any vacant place at Mahanagar Natya Mancha or Ramna Green – as the venue for protest programme.

Nazrul at the rally said, "We will protest the government's repression through this peaceful mass hunger strike. Our leader Khaleda Zia will be with us there."

The hunger strike would he held from 10am to 4pm. BNP last staged any similar programme on July 13 last year at the Institution of Engineers premises.

The decision to stage the hunger strike was taken at an 18-party opposition alliance meeting at Khaleda's Gulshan office on Thursday night following a countrywide dawn-to-dusk general strike that day demanding release of top opposition leaders held in cases over violence during a shutdown on May 29.

The programme has also been called demanding withdrawal of cases against top opposition leaders, election under a non-party and neutral government and return of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali.

Protesting a trial court verdict to jail 33 senior leaders of the opposition alliance on Wednesday in connection with an Apr 29 arson case, the opposition had enforced Thursday's general strike.

Language movement hero Saiful Islam Bahauddin Ahmed Chaudhury has passed away. He was 81.

Chaudhury, a former information secretary, died at the Dhaka Community Hospital at Maghbazar in the city on Wednesday.

His body has been kept in the BIRDEM Hospital mortuary. His burial will be held after his two sons return from the UK and the US, according to his relatives.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condoled the death of Chaudhury, who along with Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been charged in the historic Agartala Conspiracy case by the then Pakistan government in 1968. In the case, they had been accused of plotting to separate the East wing of the then Pakistan and form a new country, Bangladesh.

Chaudhury also played a very significant role in the historic Six-Point Demand in 1966.

Born in Dhaka in Oct 31, 1931, Bahauddin Chaudhury was member of famous Chaudhury family of Ulania village under Mehendiganj Police Station of Barisal.

He graduated from the Dhaka University and later joined journalism as an assistant editor of the daily Insaf.

He had also worked for other publications, including Sangbad, Morning Sun, Barta of Rajshahi, Azad, Dinkal and Lal Sabuj.

Train link with Ishwardi snapped as unidentified people uprooted the lines and slippers in the early hours of Thursday have been restored after around a seven-hour break in operations.

"The connection was restored by setting up a by-pass route around 1:15pm," Railway Eastern Zone Traffic Engineer Sujit Kumar Biswas told .

The rail communication snapped when two bogies of a Dhaka-Ishwardi local train went off-track around 6am near the station's loco-shed. At least 20 passengers have been injured.

Officer-In-Charge of Iswardi Police Station Israil Hossain told  that an unknown number of miscreants pulled off around 20 feet of the track sometime around dawn just before the opposition enforced nationwide shutdown begun.

The injured were given primary treatment at the Ishwardi Upazila Health Complex.

A Dhaka magistrate court on Thursday granted bail to the Baisakhi Media Ltd and Destiny 2000 Ltd Managing Director Rafiqul Amin and two others in a case over submitting fake stamp papers to the Joint Stock Company.

The defendants surrendered to the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Saifur Rahman as arrest warrants were issued against the trio on Monday.

The other two accused are Irfan Ahmed Sunny and Syed Sajjad Hossain, also directors of the media company.

The defendant's lawyer Ehsanul Haque Samaji told  that the court had granted his clients bail until June 10 which is also the next date for the case hearing.

On Monday, M N H Bulu, Chairman of BNS Group of Companies, filed a fraud case accusing the trio of falsifying an annual financial statement.

Bulu claimed that he was the owner of 64,000 shares of Baisakhi Media Limited which the accused transferred to Destiny 2000 Ltd through forgery.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants submitted fake stamp papers to the Joint Stock Company on June 29, 2009 and transferred the shares to Destiny 2000 Ltd.

It further said the plaintiff had signed an agreement with Destiny 2000 Ltd to handover his shares on condition that the company would payoff his bank loans. But as the Destiny did not fulfil the condition the agreement was cancelled, the plaintiff said.

Various graft allegations have recently been raised against Destiny Group including conducting illegal banking operations following a report by the central bank, the Bangladesh Bank. The parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry has asked the government to investigate the allegations after reports by Bangladeshi media.

The National Board of Revenue has already asked banks to freeze the accounts of Amin, his wife and top five officials of the Destiny.

Opposition chief whip and BNP leader Zainul Abdin Farroque has said that the arrest of top leaders of the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance was a proof that the government wanted to eliminate the opposition.

"Our agitation cannot be subdued through such arrests and false cases. Shutdown will continue," Farroque said.

He was talking to journalists on Thursday at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters, which law enforcers cordoned off since the early hours.

The measure has been taken as a countrywide shutdown is being enforced by the opposition demanding release of the senior leaders.

The opposition alliance declared the day-long shutdown on Wednesday after a Dhaka court denied bail of 33 top opposition leaders and sent them to prison in a case over torching a vehicle during the Apr 29 shutdown.

Police detained three including BNP's Education Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokan at around 9:30am on Thursday from the party headquarters.

"We have enforced 13 shutdowns over the last three and a half years. Awami League had enforced 33 lockdowns in a year and 175 in the five years during our tenure," the opposition chief whip said.

"We are enforcing the shutdown to free democracy."

Farroque added that the opposition would continue its movement demanding reinstatement of the caretaker government, 'return' of missing M Ilias Ali, one of BNP's organising secretaries, and release of the detained senior leaders.

BNP Joint Secretary General Mizanur Rahman Minu said, "We do not want to enforce shutdowns. But the government is forcing us to do so."

"They have arrested nearly all senior leaders, including Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, of a major political party like BNP in a false case," he said adding that in such a situation they had not other option but to enforce lockdowns.

Former and current BNP MPs will stage a token hunger strike for two hours on Saturday demanding release of arrested leaders and whereabouts of missing M Ilias Ali, a party statement said.

The statement signed by opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque said on Thursday that the programme would be held on the pavement of the Parliament's South Plaza from 10am.

Farroque told reporters at the party's headquarters, "Our current and former MPs will protest against the government's oppression and failures through the programme."

He said BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed would be present as the chief guest at the programme.

One of BNP's Organising Secretaries M Ilias Ali and his driver Ansar Ali has been missing since Apr 17 midnight. The opposition enforced five day-long shutdowns last month to press for his 'release' alleging that law enforcers picked up their leader.

On Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The opposition alliance is enforcing a nationwide shutdown on Thursday protesting the court decision. Six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka in a spell of pre-hartal violence.

BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan has said that the government would not be able to quash the opposition movement even if they made more arrests.

He was talking to reporters after the party's Education Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokon and two others were detained from the party headquarters during the countrywide day-long shutdown on Thursday.

Cordoned by law enforcers, the BNP leader said, "The government would make a mistake if they think that the movement and the BNP can be weakened by making arrests and filing cases."

"Rather, arrests and oppression would give the agitation more momentum," he added.

Nazrul claimed that the people have been observing the shutdown spontaneously.

He criticised government's 'oppression' and said, "The government activities indicate that it has been weakened and feeling insecure. That's why it has resorted to oppressing opposition."

Criticising Khokon's detention, he said, "He was detained from in front of the party office. He was talking there and was chanting slogans. He did not set alight any vehicles or vandalise anything. Why was he arrested?"

Asked about the future course of the opposition, the BNP leader said, "It will depend on the government's behaviour. Party and [opposition] alliance chief [Khaleda Zia] will decide."

On Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The opposition alliance is enforcing a nationwide shutdown on Thursday protesting the court decision.

Police on Thursday detained BNP Education Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokan and two others near the party's headquarters at Naya Paltan as the opposition enforced a day-long nationwide shutdown demanding release of senior leaders.

Paltan Police Station Officer in Charge Shahidul Haque confirmed  that the trio was picked up around 9.25am. "They have been taken to the Detective Branch office."

One of them has been identified as BNP activist Manjurul Haque, while the third is yet to be named.

Security personnel cordoned off the BNP' headquarters from Wednesday night. A large number of police have been deployed in the area and they have stopped anyone entering the office since morning.

Law enforcers took control of the streets in Dhaka from dawn keeping the opposition supporters away.

On Wednesday, six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka on the eve of the nationwide shutdown demanding release of top opposition leaders jailed in a case over arson during a similar general strike.

Earlier, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other opposition alliance leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The general strike on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries, M Ilias Ali.

The daylong general strike called by the BNP-led opposition alliance got off to a casual start on Thursday amid tight security in the capital Dhaka.

Law enforcers took control of the streets in Dhaka from Thursday dawn keeping the opposition supporters away. However, explosion of five crude bombs were reported in Mirpur during the beginning hours of the shutdown.

Traffic was thin but all sorts of vehicles were seen plying the streets of Dhaka. Long-route buses remained off the streets but trains were running on schedule.

Meanwhile, security officials cordoned off the BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters from Wednesday night. A large number of police have been deployed in the area.

A number of BNP leaders, including standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan spent the night at the office. Police have not allowed anyone to enter the office since morning.

On Wednesday, six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka on the eve of the nationwide shutdown demanding release of top opposition leaders jailed in a case over arson during a similar general strike.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The hartal on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries M Ilias Ali.

Police arrested a youth in Jessore on Wednesday on charges of chopping off four fingers and an ear of a schoolgirl who declined his proposal.

The arrestee, 18-year-old Ibrahim, would harass the 10th grader on her way to and from the Narangali School, Kotwali Model Police Station Officer in Charge Abdul Jalil told reporters.

The victim was admitted to the Jessore Medical College Hospital after the attack when she was once again headed for her home from the school in the afternoon.

Ibrahim fled the scene when local people rushed to the spot on hearing the shriek of the girl.

JMCH physician Noor Kutubul Alam told  that the girl had lost four fingers of her left hand and the right ear in the attack. "She has some other wounds, too."

The OC said the process to file a case in this regard was underway.

Six buses and a taxi have been torched in Dhaka on the eve of a nationwide shutdown called by the BNP-led 18-party alliance demanding release of its top leaders jailed in a case over arson during a general strike.

A bus was torched at Karwan Bazar and another in front of the Rajarbagh Police Lines around 3pm on Wednesday, Fire Brigade control room in-charge Qazi Nazmuzzaman told .

Local people doused the fire in a Dwip Bangla Paribahan bus at Panthapath around 6pm, he said.

Another bus was torched at Malibagh and a cab at Tikatuli in the afternoon, Qazi said.

Two more buses were set ablaze in Mirpur around 7:30pm.

"Fire fighters reached the sites and doused the flames," he said and added that no casualty was reported.

Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching a vehicle in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The opposition called a countrywide general strike for Thursday demanding release of the leaders.

The hartal on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries M Ilias Ali.