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BSS, Dhaka, The Daily Star Results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations under seven education boards of the country are likely to be announced in the first week of July. Minister of State for Education A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon told BSS yesterday. He said, we have already fixed July 3 to formally announce the SSC results after taking approval of the Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia. Meanwhile, the authorities concerned in principle have taken a decision to give grace number due to complicated examination in Mathematics in Dhaka Board. The state minister said grace number will be given in two separate methods one for those who will secure up to 50 marks and the other for those who will get above 50 marks. DOWN TO EARTH ASM Nurunnabi,The Daily Star The rivers flowing past most of the towns in the country are polluted. This is particularly true of the Dhaka city. The main cause is the dumping of waste from mills, factories and clinics. The rivers Buriganga, Turag, Dhaleswari, Banghi and Balu flowing throughout the capital have been polluted for long, endangering fish and the ecology. According to officials of the Department of Environment, dumping of solid and liquid wastes from various industries is raising the riverbed and hindering the free movement of vessels. The people of Lalanhati, Nasirabad, Dasarkandi, Trimohini and Barogram in the Khilgaon area, and Rayerbazar, Gabtali, Katasur, Bansibari, Basila in the western part of the city, all hold this opinion. People in these areas lead a subhuman existence due to the stench emanating from chemical wastes. Many people suffer various water-borne and skin diseases following the use of river water. A survey carried out in 1999 on the Karnaphuli showed that the offshore area and the confluence of the river were the most polluted regions in the country. Fishermen failed to make any catch within 30 kilometres of the Karnaphuli due to the discharge of effluents from over one hundred mills and factories in Chittagong. The spilling of various pollutants, including used oil and other wastes from motorised boats, launches and ships, have also polluted the river. Experts of the Environment Department said the rate of pollution of the rivers flowing through the Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna regions is all too high. There are four water treatment plants in the country. However, most industries discharge liquids and solid wastes without treatment. Only two industries, the Bata Bangladesh at Nayarhat and the Apex Tannery at Savar, discharge wastes into the rivers after treatment at their own plants. The Ghorasal Fertiliser Factory usually discharges liquid waste into the nearby Shitalakhya after separating it from solid wastes in its reservoir. The authorities in the Department of Environment say tannery, cement, pulp, paper, sugar, textiles, food processing, engineering and chemical industries as well as fertiliser and pesticide factories are mostly responsible for polluting the rivers. Sources in the Dhaka WASA say some 10.40 lakh tonnes of waste accumulate in the capital every day, of which the WASA treats only 20 per cent. Twenty-five per cent waste spills into the rivers through different channels. The Dhaka WASA has so far brought only 262 square kilometres of the capital under its drainage system. But 162 square kilometres in the eastern part of the city remains out of the drainage system. The sources said some 16,000 tonnes of waste accumulates in the Hazaribagh tannery zone alone and another 12,000MT in the Tejgaon industrial area. The accumulated waste spills into the Buriganga and the Turag through the WASA spillways in Rayerbazar and Gabtali, severely contaminating the rivers. Although there is a specific provision for waste treatment before the installation of any industry under the programme of the Department of Environment, the provision is hardly followed, complained water experts at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Shibganj being used as main
route of trafficking in women BSS, Rajshahi, The Daily Star Border areas under Rajshahi district and Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj were serving as major routes of trafficking in women and children towards different destinations in India and Pakistan, official sources said. A Unicef report on trafficking in children claimed that around two lakh girl children were trafficked to various destinations in Pakistan last year and Shibganj was the main route of this trade. The report observed that girl children from various parts of Bangladesh were brought together in Shibganj and later they were trafficked towards India and Pakistan. The government has launched extensive programmes to halt such migrations. A committee was formed with Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Rajshahi as convenor to bolster campaign against trafficking and raids on the traffickers. Deputy Commissioner of Chapainawabganj, Sector Commander BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) of Rajshahi, Police Superintendents of Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, and representatives of NGOs were members of this committee that took some important decision in its 3rd conference last week. District administration officials said massive public campaign will be launched apart from police and BDR drives. Surveillance will also be bolstered in the bordering areas to halt trafficking in children and women. Director of Association for Community Development (ACD) Salima Sarwar told BSS that the new government has taken efforts to curb trafficking through Shibganj route. The previous government ignored the issue for long, she added. Sources said influential trafficking networks were engaged in the bordering areas of Rajshahi and Shibganj in Chapainawabganj. According to an ACD report, some five lakh girl children were sent to different brothels in India and hundreds of girls and women were also sold in Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries. Sources in the trafficking networks told BSS that girls and women were collected from different parts of the country. The traffickers lured the innocent victims with good jobs and marriage abroad. Asma Begum, a woman who had association with the trafficking networks, said the international clients placed demands for girl children and women for the brothels, homes and mills and factories in India, Pakistan and Middle Eastern countries. She said some requests for sending teenage girls also came from India. The teenage girls got appointment in Indian cities to entertain the visitors from Europe, the USA and Middle Eastern countries. She said false marriages were also taking place frequently at bordering areas of Rajshahi and Shibganj upazila. She alleged that Indian young men were being used as bridegrooms. They mentioned false permanent addresses, took the newly wedded brides to India and later sold them to brothel managers. The ACD report alleged that international trafficking network used some houses in posh Gulshan-E-Iqbal area in Karachi, Pakistan, for selling girl children and women from Bangladesh. People want politics of security, not politics of hartal: Tarique BSS, Keraniganj, The New Nation
BNP Joint Secretary General and eldest son of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, Tareq Rahman today said people want politics of security and not politics of hartal, seize and destruction. Addressing a huge public meeting at Hazratpur under Keraniganj Upazila, the newly appointed BNP Joint Secretary General-1, who is also the eldest son of Prime Minister Begum Zia, made a clarion call to all irrespective of caste, creed and party affiliation to come forward to work untidily for the wellbeing of the masses. The meeting was organized to mark the formal inauguration of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman College at Hazratpur, an educational institution founded by local parliament member and Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Amanllah Aman. Tareq Rahman formally inaugurated the collage by releasing multi-coloured balloons and pigeons in the open sky amid cheers of thousands of audiences. Presided over by BNP Keraniganj Upazila President Haji Nazimuddin, the function was also addressed, among others, by Amanullah Aman, MP. Besides, party central leaders including Nadim Mostafa, MP, Khairul Kabir Khokan, Mofiqul Hasan Tripti and Giasuddin Al-Mamun were present. Tareq Rahman sought blessings of the people so that Begum Khaleda Zia and the alliance government could translate into reality all of its election pledges to the nation before completion of their tenure. " This land belongs to us and as such we have to work for it and dedicate ourselves for its development," he said amid cheers of the huge crowd who assembled to listen the first public meeting here of the new generation leadership of BNP. He said the country was liberated 30 years ago and during this long journey we have received many things from the country. "It is now our turn to give something to the country itself. Otherwise, the future generation will curse us", he added. He reminded that the people voted the four-party alliance to power as the past AL government had failed to give the people peace, security and development. Now we have to honour the verdict of the people by translating into reality their hopes and aspirations, he said. The result of last general elections is a testimony that the people want peace and development, not destruction and anarchism. He expressed his deep gratitude to the people of the locality for establishing a college after the name of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman. Mr. Amanullah Aman said he would devote his whole life for the well-being of the people being imbued with the ideals of Shaheed President Zia. Meanwhile, defying incessant rainfall thousands of people gathered at the venue much before Tareq Rahman's arrival. People listened to Mr Tareq attentively standing on mud. People - men, women and children- crowded there to have a glimpse of Tareq Rahman, the son of their beloved leader Shaheed Zia. More than 200 tastefully decorated arches were erected from Nayabazar to Hazratpur and people sanding on both sides of the road along this 25 kilometer road gave warm ovation to Tareq by showering petals and chanting welcome slogans. People came to see him in precessions, carrying posters, banners and portraits of Shaheed Zia, Begum Khaldea Zia and Tareq Rahman- many of them came by beating drums and singing chorus. A big ceremonial motorcade numbering over 100 followed the young leader who was given a spectacular reception on Buruganga bridge from horse backs. by Special Correspondent, The Independent The national budget for 2002-03 is scheduled to be passed in Parliament today with revision of taxation proposals on a number of items including computers and reconditioned cars. Parliament Secretariat sources told The Independent last night that time has been earmarked for an address by the Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina (who instead would address a news conference) and the Leader of the House Begum Khaleda Zia before the winding up speech by Finance Minister Saifur Rahman. The Taka 45 thousand crore budget was presented in Parliament on June 6. The main opposition Bangladesh Awami League is not taking part in the passage of the budget on the ground that its MPs were not given adequate time to discuss the annual statement of income and expenditure of the government. The Awami League MPs joined the session of Parliament for the first time on June 24 ending their seven-month-long abstention to protest what party leaders termed repression on their workers. They took part in the session for three days and then announced their decision not to take part in the discussion on the budget anymore. Informed sources said that the government was considering the question of revising some taxation proposals, considering the opinions expressed about and reactions given to those from different segments of the society. UNB adds: On the occasion, Saifur Rahman has invited parliament members to a dinner at 9:30 pm. Finance Ministers have hosted traditional dinners after getting budgets passed. Khagrachhari Hill District Council budget announced from Our Correspondent, The Independent KHAGRACHHARI, June 28: A Tk 33,12,66,000 budget for Khagrachhari Hill District Council for the fiscal year 2002-2003 was announced yesterday (Thursday) giving priority on transportation and communication sectors. On behalf of the Chairman of the Hill District Council, its Chief Executive Officer Faruque Ahmed Khan announced the proposed budget at the conference hall of the Hill District Council. The highest allocation was proposed in the transportation and communication, agriculture-irrigation and education sectors in the budget. Of the total 15 sectors, Tk 12,45,32,000 was allocated for normal ADP (Annual Development Programme) and Tk 20 crore as special allocation in the proposed budget while Tk 67.34 lakh was fixed as revenue income of the council for the current fiscal. Chairman of the Council Nakkhatra Lal Dev Burmon replied various questions of the newsmen and said that the transportation and communication sectors were given priority in the budget to ensure fair price to the farmers and facilitate marketing of their produce for socio-economic development. He assured that the council would play a more responsible role than before for expansion of education in the hill district.
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Tarique
Rahman, Joint Secretary General of BNP (second from left) waving at the
crowd on the occasion of the inauguration of Shahid President Ziaur Rahman
College at Keraniganj on Friday. New Nation photo