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Head lines
Indian river-linking plan to intensify water crisis in Bangladesh: Bhuiyan BSS, Dhaka, The
Daily Star Expressing his deep concern, the LGRD minister said, "If India deprives Bangladesh of its rights to the just share of transboundary water defying international laws by implementing its river-linking project, the water problem in Bangladesh will take a serious turn." Inaugurating a daylong national seminar on "Mitigation of arsenic problem through Rural Development Academy (RDA) -- developed multipurpose low-cost deep tubewell water (DTW)," he said the country is facing scarcity of safe-drinking water due to the Farakka Barrage and unplanned use of groundwater. Bhuiyan said over 35 million people are affected by arsenic contamination. The contamination of water is creating several complex diseases including skin infection, skin cancer, blindness and physical disability, he added. Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development and Cooperatives Division Hedayetul Islam Chowdhury chaired the seminar, organised jointly by the Rural Development and Cooperatives Division and the Rural Development Academy (RDA), Bogra, at the CIRDAP auditorium here. RDA Director General SM Zahurul Islam and Bangladesh Agriculture University Professor Dr LR Khan also addressed the seminar. Experts on water resources management, government officials concerned, and representatives of institutions working on water management and non-government organisations participated in the seminar. Bhuiyan said 70 per cent water for irrigation is being used from groundwater while 97 per cent for drinking water. He said the government is pledge-bound to strengthen rural economy as it would ultimately boost the overall economy of the country. Describing the supply of safe-drinking water as one of the major components for strengthening the rural economy, he expressed hope that the newly-developed technology of the RDA would help increase water management. Joint Director (Irrigation Engineering) of the RDA M A Matin presented the keynote paper. Objectives of the seminar were to introduce the RDA developed low-cost deep tubewell (DTW) and the safe-drinking water supply model, and their multiple uses in the rural areas. M A Matin said installation cost of the low-cost DTW will be minimum and it will help ensure supply of fresh water. "The newly-developed DTW has got the superiority over the traditional DTW in respect of cost and amount of water supply on regular basis," he added. Farmers, students join anti-WTO protest
Staff Correspondent, The Daily Star Hafiz Uddin, a farmer who came from Tangail to join the protest, was sceptical about the outcome of WTO meeting. "I have heard about so many meeting in my 70 years of life but these did not bring any positive change in the life of lakhs of farmers like me," he regretted. The view was echoed by Khorshed Alam, a student of Dhaka University. "We have nothing to expect from the WTO meeting as history proves that such meetings only serve the interest of developed nations." "But our government should try to reap maximum benefit from the WTO meeting," he added. The entire Shaheed Minar was dotted with various banners like 'No patent on life' and 'Junk WTO' and 'Put people over profit'. Addressing a rally there, President of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal Nur-E-Alam Ziku said the developing nations are under tremendous pressure from the rich nations to withdraw subsidy from the agriculture sector. He blamed the United States for applying double standard on agriculture sector. The US has been pressing the developing nations to withdraw subsidy from the agricultural sector while the farmers in the US are being paid subsidies, Ziku said. He urged Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, who is attending the WTO talks, not to sign any agreement that goes against the interests of Bangladesh. "We don't want to import any hybrid seeds. Rather, we want to produce crops from our own seeds," said Rezaul Karim Cowdhury of SUPRA, a non-governmental organisation. Presided over by language movement hero Abdul Matin, the rally was also addressed by Dr Khaleda Salauddin of Women for Women, Quazi Faruq Ahmed of Consumers' Association of Bangladesh (CAB) and Comrade Morshed Ali.
Campaign against AIDS
Staff Correspondent, The Daily Star Proper coordination is a must for the prevention of AIDS epidemic as the resources for the purpose were not being utilised properly, they said on the last day of the three-day workshop. Representatives from different government, non-government and international organisations took part in the workshop on 'Advocacy on UNGASS Declaration and Commitment', organised by the STI/ AIDS Network Bangladesh. On the last day, the workshop came up with a set of recommendations on preventive measures which will be submitted to the government and the UNAIDS. Dr. Shahnewaz Khan, chairperson of STI/AIDS Network, presented the recommendations divided in four themes care and support, preventive measures for vulnerable groups at high risk, preventive measures for young people and stigma and discrimination. The recommendations included incorporating care, support and treatment protocol into the strategy, increasing promotional activities of using condoms and framing laws and guidelines to eliminate discriminations facing the people with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups. The workshop also suggested involving stakeholders and civil society members in the anti-AIDS campaign and disseminating information among the vulnerable groups through the media. Marten Giersing, representative of Unicef, Everisto Marowa, country coordinator of UNAIDS, and representatives from Europe, Malaysia and the Philippines were present. Filmmakers urged to make real-life movies
The Bangladesh Observer
Rewarding good performance in the
tinsel-town, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Wednesday urged the filmmakers
to make real-life movies to use the medium positively in building a
healthy society, says UNB.
“The country, time, society and practical life, livelihood, struggle and culture should be correctly reflected in the celluloid,” the Prime Minister told her audience from the filmdom.
She was addressing a function
arranged to give away the ational Film Award for 1999, 2000 and 2001 at
the Osmani Memorial Auditorium this afternoon.
The function was also addressed by Information Minister M Tariqul Islam, Chairman of the Jury Board M Mofazzal Karim, Information Secretary Nazmul Alam Siddiqui and Managing Director of the Film Development Corporation Wasimul Bari Rajiv.
For 1999 best film: Chitra Nadir
Parey; Best story : Tanvir Mokammel; Best script writer : Kazi Hayat; Best
dialogue : Tanvir Mokammel; Best Direction : Tanvir Mokammel; Best Music
Director maksud Jamil Mintu; Best Actor : Zahid Hossain; Best Side Actor :
Golam Mostafa (posthumous); Best Comedian : ATM Shamsuzzaman; Best Actress
: Shamsun Nahar Shimla; Best Side Actress : Roushan Jamil (posthumous);
Best Vocal : Shubir Nandi; Best Lyricist : Rashid Uddin (posthumous); Best
Musician : Alam Khan; Best Colour Photography : Mahfuzur Rahman Khan; Best
Sound Recordist : Mofizul Huq; Best Art Direction : Uttam Guha; and Best
Make-up Man : Dipak Sur.
For the year 2000: Best film :
Kitton Khola; Best story : Selim Al Din; Best script writer : Abu Sayeed
and Nurul Alam Atiq; Best dialogue : Selim Al Din and Abu Sayeed; Best
Direction : Abu sayeed; Best Actor : Riaz Ahmed; Best Side Actor : M
Wasimul Bari Rajiv; Best Actress : Gulshan Ara Akhtar Champa; Best Side
Role : Tamalika Karmakar; Best Vocal (Male) : Andrew Kishore; Best Vocal
(Female) : Sabina Yasmin; Best Colour Photography : Mahfuzur Rahman Khan;
Best Sound Recordist : Nasim Reza Shah; Best Editor : Sujan Mahmud; Best
Art Direction : Tarun Ghosh; Best Makeup Man : Khalilur Rahman.
For the year 2001 : Best film : Lal
Shalu; Best story : Syed Waliullah (Posthumous); Best script writer :
Nargis Akhtar; Best dialogue : Tanvir Mokammel; Best Direction : Tanvir
Mokammel; Best Music Director : Ahmed Imtiaz Bulbul; Best Dance Director :
Amir Hossain Babu (Posthumous); Best Actor : Raisul Islam Asad; Best
Villian : Shahidul Alam Sacchu; Best Comedian : ATM Shamsuzzaman; Best
Actress : Arifa Parveen Zaman Moushumi; Best Side Role : Mahbuba Mahnur
Chandni; Best Vocal (Male) : Monir Khan; Best Vocal (Female) : Rumana
Morshed Kanakchapa; Best Lyricist : Gazi Mazharul Anwar; Best Musician
Satya Shaha (Posthumous); Best Colour Photography : Abul Khair and Anwar
Hossain; Best Sound Recordist : Ratan Kumar Pal; Best Editor : Mojibur
Rahman Dulu; Best Art Direction : Mohiuddin Faruk; Best Child Artists :
Shovon; Shipu, Shantanu, Twinkle, Rini and Rajiv.
The Prime Minister in her speech
said, “Our history, culture, nationhood and religious values are to be
maintained in making films.”
She recalled the role of Shaheed
President Ziaur Rahman in development and modernization of films in
Bangladesh, particularly his role in creating a healthy trend in film
industry and in building a film village for making films of international
standards.
Besides entertainment, the
silver screen can also be used in spreading non-formal education, the
Prime Minister said.
HYV crops to face rising
population
Staff Correspondent, The Bangladesh Observer
Scientists have developed forty
eight improved varieties of rice and Bangladesh produced about 38 million
tones of rice in 2000-01. Over 66 per cent of the rice area have been
covering by the High Yielding Varieties.
"Though
farmers are benefited from the adoption of most modern varieties, 44 per
cent of the countries population live under poverty. The marginal farmers
have slided down to ultra-poor landless and stood at 67 per cent in
thirteen years against 57 per cent in 1987". Speakers told at a seminar
organsied on the occasion of Poverty Elimination Through Rice Research
Assistance Project (PETRA) Communication Fair-2003 held at a local hotel
on Wednesday.
Starting from 1999, 9.5 million
pound starling PETRA Project aims at enhancing the productive potential of
rice based farming systems in Bangladesh.
The International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) and the Bangladesh Rice Institute (BRRI) jointly
organised the fair titled "Tomorrows Technology for Food and Nutrition
Security" coinciding with the first ever holding of the IRRI board of
trustees meeting in Bangladesh. The three-day meeting participated by some
30 members from 12 countries began at BRRI, Gazipur.
In his speech MK Anwar laid emphasis
on pursuing of crop biotechnology to face the challenges of rising
population and declining arable land.
Dr Centrell noted that to ensure a
balanced diet for Asian rice consumers and also to ensure more
profitability to Asian farmers, "the challenge is to grow more rice on
less land and release the rest of the land, currently under rice
cultivation, to other crops."
As part of the two-day fair
programme which will be concluded today (Thursday) at 9 am, a seminar on
'Petra and the Poor' was held in the evening. Professor Abdul Bayes
presented the keynote paper while Director General of the Bangladesh
Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Dr Qazi Shahidullah was in the
chair.
The fair comprising of 47
stalls showcased rice research and technological development achieved over
the years in Bangladesh which attracted a huge crowd on the first day on
Wednesday.
Cancun amid protests
CANCUN, (Mexico), Sept 10:–Police
set up chain-link barricades and warships patrolled off Cancun's famed
white-sand beaches as the city braced for massive protests at a weeklong
meeting of the World Trade Organization ,reports AP
Thousands of protesters were camped out downtown, preparing to march to demand protections for farmers in developing countries. Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has urged rich countries like the United States and Europe to reduce aid to farmers, to inaugurated the meeting of trade ministers later Wednesday.
On Tuesday, a group of 21 developing nations banded together to pressure their wealthy counterparts to make deeper agricultural reforms. The United States and the European Union have put forth a more moderate proposal. Police have steadily increased security throughout Cancun and two naval ships were stationed offshore.
Protesters have been a force at every major WTO meeting since 1999, when street riots disrupted delegates in Seattle. Activists, who include farmers, union leaders and students, argue that current free trade rules benefit big business at the expense of poor nations and the environment.
In a taste of what was expected Wednesday, some 1,000 anarchists and leftists marched Tuesday through downtown Cancun, banging drums and chanting anti-WTO slogans. They were forced back before reaching the meeting site. Activists say free trade has hurt small farmers and other workers around the world. They want limits on the exchange of agricultural products and preferential treatment for small farmers in the developing world.
Trade ministers from the WTO
are largely deadlocked over the thorny issues of agricultural trade and
investment and most have said the best they can hope for from the Cancun
meeting is a loose framework.
U.S. Trade Representative
Robert Zoellick said success at the WTO was important for the world
economy.
"We want to open markets because that is key to both growth and development," he said. About 2,000 farmers–including a few from the United States and Canada–were gathered at the protest camp.
"U.S. farm policy does not benefit the U.S. family farms," said George Naylor, an Iowa farmer who leads the National Family Farm Coalition. "It's just for the benefit of big exporting companies, and the industrialization of the food system." Also Tuesday, Zapatista rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos urged protesters to shut down the meeting.
"This is a war," Marcos said
in a taped message to the protesters played Tuesday. "Let's hope that ...
the train of death driven by the WTO will finally be derailed in Cancun."
Other protests were held across the southern state of Chiapas, where
protesters closed highways and backed up traffic for hours in some cases.
Despite disagreement within
the WTO and the attention from protesters outside, WTO Director-General
Supachai Panitchpakdi said Tuesday he was optimistic an agreement would be
reached in the next five days.
"At least we have paved the way for some options to be put on the table," he said.
He made the comments after accepting a petition from the British rock group Coldplay. The petition, signed by more than 3 million people, asks WTO members to ensure free trade is used to benefit developing nations. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez, who will serve as chairman of the meeting, has lobbied for free trade efforts that allow small and poor producers to succeed in a global economy.
He made his point by sending every
delegate a special basket of Mexican products, including a pound of Fair
Trade coffee. Mexico is one of the top producers of Fair Trade certified
coffee, which guarantees producers living wages. Ministers also are
considering whether to open their economies to more foreign investment,
which some have argued will drive local producers out of business.
The talks are supposed to lead
to a binding treaty before the end of next year. |
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