Banner Advertiser

Monday, January 24, 2011

[ALOCHONA] Attempt-to-rape case 'politically motivated' : Charges against AL lawmaker dropped



 
An attempt-to-rape case filed more than nine years ago against ruling Awami League lawmaker Kamal Ahmed Majumder has been dropped, as the government found it "politically motivated".

In the case statement, it was alleged that on December 30, 2001, some eight men forcibly took a 35-year-old woman to Kamal's Pallabi office in the capital where he tried to rape her. He was not a parliament member at that time.

The victim filed the case with Pallabi Police Station accusing Kamal, his brother Monwar Hossain Majumder and Nazma Hossain.Police submitted charge sheet against the three on April 9, 2002 and the Third Special Tribunal for Prevention of Women and Children Repression, Dhaka, framed charges against them on October 7, 2004.

On May 6 last year, Judge Bimal Chandra Sikder of the tribunal granted a government petition for withdrawal of the charges. On July 6, 2009, the home ministry and sent a letter asking Dhaka district magistrate for steps to scrap the case.The letter read the government decided to have the case withdrawn, considering it "politically motivated" and "meant for harassment".

The district magistrate on July 23 the same year asked the Dhaka metropolitan public prosecutor (DMPP) for necessary action in this regard. On May 2 last year, DMPP Mohammad Abdullah Abu submitted before the tribunal the petition along with the home ministry recommendations.Hearing the petition, the court acquitted all the defendants of the charges.

Contacted, DMPP Abdullah Abu told The Daily Star he does not remember withdrawal of the attempt-to-rape case.He said there are no guidelines for identifying any case as "politically motivated". They do it [the withdrawal] after analysing case documents and recommendations from political leaders.The DMPP even does not recall whether a court framed charges against the lawmaker.
 


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Re: Public Letter Of Support For Dr Yunus and the Grameen Bank

Does anyone have the email address of the gentleman Munir Quddus who sent the email below? I could not find the letter in any newspaper. Thanks. Ezajur

--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, Isha Khan <bdmailer@...> wrote:
>
> *Public Letter Of Support For Dr Yunus and the Grameen Bank *
>
>
> Fwd By Munir Quddus
> <munirtasmina@...>
> Dear Professor Yunus and the Grameen Bank Family,-As academics and
> professionals working at home and abroad, we write to express our gratitude
> and support for the enormous contributions made by micro-credit, by you and
> by the Grameen Bank (GB) to the task of poverty alleviation in Bangladesh
> and worldwide.
>
> The GB, micro-credit as a poverty alleviation strategy, and you personally -
> have come under criticism in recent days. Although, no idea, person or
> institution should be above criticism or the law, we believe many of these
> criticisms are ill-informed and wanting in context and perspective.
> We must not allow any minor administrative lapses to cause the nation to
> lose sight of the enormous good that has been achieved through micro-credit;
> nor should we float a political balloon on the issue in order to enable
> naysayers to deny Bangladesh's most innovative solutions in the struggle
> against poverty. The world is watching to see how we treat one of our finest
> institutions, and its founding leader.
>
> We are happy to see that you have welcomed an inquiry, and have responded,
> publicly and frankly, to questions from the media. Further, many esteemed
> citizens, including Professor Rehman Sobhan, have spoken eloquently and
> judiciously in support of your lifework and the institutions you have built.
>
>
> Your work has received international acclaim, and also much scrutiny. As
> Bangladeshis, and citizens of the world who care about a better world, we
> are proud of these achievements. Over three decades you have served the
> cause of the poor and disenfranchised, especially women, at home and abroad.
> Your uplifting messages - every person is born an entrepreneur; just because
> one is poor does not make one unworthy of credit; believe in yourself and
> create your own employment and the future you wish to have - have impacted
> the lives of many. Your books and speeches, and the many awards, including
> the 2006 Nobel Prize for Peace, have done much to bring the problem of
> global poverty to the forefront of the UN agenda and governmentefforts.
>
> Your partnerships with President Bill Clinton on extending the scope of
> philanthropy, with Bill Gates and other business and political leaders on
> the concept of Social Business, have brought exciting new ideas,
> technologies, talent and resources to bear on this most difficult challenge
> faced by the civilization today. You have presented and implemented
> innovative solutions. From the 27 borrowers in Jobra, Chittagong, your
> modest experiment in banking has become a global movement lifting millions
> out of poverty. The work of the GB and the microcredit model you pioneered
> has stood the test of time, culture, and geography. There has been a silent
> revolution uplifting millions of poor, and the status quo has been upended
> for the better.
>
> Sir, you are a dreamer who has demonstrated the courage and genius to
> realize your dream of ending the misery of extreme poverty. We salute you
> for staying the course. Although much has been achieved, there is much more
> that needs to be done. Millions of people in Bangladesh and billions across
> the globe remain mired in poverty with no access to institutional credit,
> education, clean water, or health care. Through a network of companies and
> partnerships – Social Businesses – you are trying to employ the power of
> markets to alleviate poverty. We applaud these efforts. We also note with
> great satisfaction that your work has inspired the young in many societies
> to dedicate their time to serve the poor. We wish you and the Grameen Bank
> family all success in the future, and look forward to assisting this noble
> cause in any way we can.
>
> Sincerely,
> 1. Dr. Munir Quddus – Dean, College of Business and Professor of Economics,
> PVAMU,
> USA (contact person: muquddus@...)
> 2. Dr. Salim Rashid – Professor of Economics, University of Illinois,
> Urbana-Champaign,
> USA
> 3. Dr. Ruhul Kuddus – Associate Professor of Biology, Utah Valley
> University, USA
> 4. Dr. Farida Khan – Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Center for
> International
> Studies, University of Wisconsin, Parkside, USA
> 5. Dr. Faizul Islam – Faculty, University of Maryland University College,
> Washington DC,
> USA
> 6. Dr. Halimur Rashid Khan – Professor of Business Administration, Eastern
> University,
> Dhaka
> 7. Dr. Zahid Hussain, Banani, Dhaka
> 8. Dr. Mahmudul Anam, Professor of Economics, York University,
> Toronto,Canada
> 9. Dr. Farhad Ameen - Professor of Economics, Westchester Community College
> - State
> University of New York, Valhalla, NY, USA
> 10. Dr. Rahim Quazi, Associate Professor of Economics, Director, Center for
> International
> Business Education, PVAMU, USA
> 11. Dr. Ahsan Habib, Professor and Chair Economics, Adrian College,
> Michigan, USA
> 12. Dr. Tanweer Akram, Private sector (asset management), Atlanta, GA, USA
>
> PS: The views expressed in this letter solely reflect the opinions of the
> authors, and not of the
> organizations they are associated with.
>
> E mail : munirtasmina@...
>
> v
>


------------------------------------

[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.comYahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
alochona-digest@yahoogroups.com
alochona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
alochona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

[ALOCHONA] The looters



Investors taken for ride 'directly'
 
Dhaka, Jan 24 (bdnews24.com)—As efforts are on to find out the real reasons why the small investors are on a roller coaster, direct listing is being discussed as one that gave them a raw deal.

The direct listing of companies that gave the overheated market some of the most overpriced stocks has been one of the mistakes that the ministers and regulators now admit.

"Of course, the SEC [Securities and Exchanges Commission] had made mistakes while handling the market, or else, the situation would not have come to such a pass," AMA Muhith, the finance minister, said on Friday.

"I must have made some mistakes too," Muhith said.

So far, 10 companies have enjoyed the privilege of being listed directly.

Seven — five state-owned and two private—were directly listed on the DSE during 2006-08 period.

The five government-run companies were Desco, Powergrid, Jamuna Oil, Meghna Petroleum and Titas Gas. The two private companies were Shinepukur Ceramics and ACI Formulations.

For the eighth company that was given the privilege—in one glaring instance of irrational behaviour from the stakeholders—investors paid 20 times the face value.

In the last two years of the Awami League-led government, three companies have been allowed to list directly. The first, in 2009, was Navana CNG at an average price of Tk 200 per share of Tk 10 each at a PE Ratio of 50.

The sponsors of Navana CNG raised a staggering Tk 363 crore from the market.

The instance drew strong criticism from different quarters— including the parliamentary committee on the finance ministry—because of its high price and the consequent high PE Ratio.

The reaction forced the SEC to announce that no more direct listings would be allowed.

At the time of this notification, there were three direct listing applications awaiting SEC clearance. These were Khulna Power (KPCL), Ocean Container Line (OCL) and Westin Hotel.

Later, SEC allowed KPCL and OCL to directly list in violation of its own notification; the two raised nearly Tk 1600 crore. Westin was not cleared.

A former DSE president Rakibur Rahman, who was at the helm then, says that the DSE had nothing to do with allowing the direct listing of the two entities owned by energy giant Summit Group.

"We banned direct listing for private sector companies after the Navana CNG experience," said Rahman.

The DSE was, however, in favor of allowing state businesses for direct listing.

"That way, the money raised remains with public or the government. But, in case of private sector it goes to the pockets of the directors of the companies," the top broker told bdnews24.com.

Summit Group chairman Muhammad Aziz Khan sought to defend the exorbitant prices fixed at the time of direct listing.

"I don't think they were overvalued," Khan said, responding to bdnews24.com. "KPCL grew by 150 percent in the last one year," he claimed.

The Summit chief, younger brother of commerce minister M Faruk Khan, was not ready to discuss OCL when bdnews24.com correspondent Abdullah al Muyid finally reached him early Monday afternoon.

Aziz Khan revealed he had "applied" to SEC on Thursday, the day the market plunged to new depths, to let him "buy back" some of these shares from those who would feel they had been short-changed by very high initial prices.

Sponsors of KPCL and OCL raised Tk 1560 crore from the market at an average price of Tk 225 and Tk 325 per share of Tk 10 each at PE Ratio of 98 and 81 respectively.

The figures far exceeded those for even Navana CNG which had resulted in such a hue and cry only a few months earlier.

On Jan 20, when the market shed 600 points in less than six minutes, KPCL stocks were last traded at Tk 85, OCL at Tk 106 and Navana CNG at Tk 132.

More than two-thirds of the value of KPCL and OCL had simply vanished.

One only wonders if the sponsors of KPCL & OCL could have raised such sums of money at these ridiculously inflated prices without cooperation from SEC, DSE and finance ministry officials.

Only an independent enquiry can find out those responsible for reversing the direct listing decision allowing these companies to take the small investors for a ride.

Fingers have been pointed time and again at senior SEC officials who allegedly connived with sponsors or directors, big time brokers and high net worth investors to manipulate some of the prices.

Only two days ago, a former central bank governor went public criticising the SEC for its failure to protect the investors' interests.

There have been instances when SEC issued directives and reversed those within days and in one instance within hours. The point for those probing would be to see who bought shares of these companies just before and after these regulatory steps.

http://www.bdnews24.com/details.php?cid=2&id=185403&hb=1



__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] BAKSL: 4th Amend. passed in 11 minutes



BAKSL: 4th Amend. passed in 11 minutes
 
 
 



__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] A Letter to India…



A Letter to India…

Frank Domenico Cipriani
 
Dear India,
Recent killings of children in both the United States and Bangladesh have moved me. When I can't wrap my mind around what can happen in this world, the order and structure imposed by verse can help clear my mind. Therefore, I have enclosed a poem at the bottom of the write-up.
 
We Americans have about one image that we can keep in our head about a country at a time. The one many of us have of India is that of Gandhi, peacefully leading a march to the sea to make salt. We tend to think of India as a spiritual, non-violent land. Perhaps that's why so many people I've mentioned it to here are shocked by India's border killings of innocent Bangladeshis, especially the girl, Felani. It doesn't fit with the image we in America have of India.
 
How can any nation justify such abuses of basic human rights, especially a nation that, because of its colonial history, should understand the sufferings of the oppressed? I suppose you can counter, "Well, how can the United States, alleged proponent of liberty, ever support repressive regimes?"
Granted, we are guilty of our own forms of hypocrisy. Our hands aren't clean either. Still, we the individual citizens of any nation have the right and the duty to stand up and say something when we hear of atrocities, wherever they occur. First and foremost, I am a father and a family man. I have a 15-year-old daughter. That gives me an emotional bond with Felani's father that I can't dismiss silently. I must respond, and perhaps keep responding, until this senseless slaughter is just an unfortunate chapter in the history of India. A father of one child is the father of all children. The sons and daughters of Bangladesh are my sons and daughters as well.
 
I know India and Bangladesh are going to address these matters. India promises within the next few months to "resolve these matters". This is a positive step forward, but it does not bring back the dead, or answer the question as to how a government steps over the line from a misplaced sense of superiority into a callous disregard for human life. No high-level talks should have to be conducted for governments to prescribe to some very basic level of human decency, especially among friends and neighbours. Those who perpetrated and ordered these acts are criminals, and those who, to this point, condoned these acts should be brought to justice. Felani was not the first innocent child to die.
 
The Killing of 15-year-old Felani by Indian Border Guards… An American Father Responds.
 
Mahatma, help me make some sense
Of slaughtered children on your fence
Your nation stained, your image scarred
By Sahib Death, the Border Guard.
On the wire, mournful cries
Of parents rise into the skies
The bullets steal a nation's youth
While politics obscure the truth.
If madness and mistrust increase
If we can slay our men of peace
Can killing children be that hard,
For Sahib Death, The Border Guard?
I hear a father's cry of grief
Of agony beyond belief
And wonder what a monstrous thief
Could snuff a light so bright, so brief?
Our tears and rage won't make us blind
We can't be violent, kill in kind
For we'd grow soulless, damned and hard
As Sahib Death, the Border Guard.
Back here, we've suffered tragic ends
The work of madmen, not of friends.
My nation mourns the rare events
That happen daily on your fence.
At least we know each precious soul
Has eluded death's patrol,
Has reached a land which can't be barred
By Sahib Death, the Border Guard.
Descendants of the dead who fell
Into a distant Martyr's well
Belay the murd'rous disregard
Of Sahib Death, your border guard!
 
Beloved readers, I have said it before. Bangladesh, from this "Martian" perspective, to quote aladin's article of last week, is a nation of colour and energy. I could do a whole piece on how people use colours to decorate that which is most important to them, our street signs are colourful, our advertisements are colourful, our cars are colourful. Even our gas stations are colourful. In Bangladesh, looking at the photographs of the election queues, it seems that the people themselves are the most colourful element on the landscape. Everyone is so brightly, so lavishly dressed. What this means to me is that yours is a nation that subconsciously understands and celebrates its people above all else. When any of this colourful number, especially children, has her life brutally cut short, I feel it a world away.
 
This article originally stopped at the end of the poem. My editor emailed me to ask if this was really all I had to say. As I did research on this issue, read the story about that 13-year-old boy shot dead across the border during a shouting match with an Indian border guard a few years back, or this girl who was shot and left to die on the fence, at the age of 15, I had no words. My youngest daughter is 15, and my youngest son is 13. They are the elements of my life that I would dress in bright colours. Every parent worries about their children's futures. I know, only from an American perspective what it is to burrow through the couch to find change to buy milk, or use a newspaper and some sphagnum moss as a diaper, and even how your ears burn when the nice person next to you in church gives you money because they see, as a new and struggling parent, that you need the money. And you face it all, you struggle and you fight, because you are a father and you do it for the sake of your child. Of all the ways to identify yourself: nationality, religion, race, party, or social class, above everything else, parenthood has the power to transform the way you live your life. It is a universal identifier. We, the fathers of the world, belong to a common brotherhood.
 
I struggled in the early years of fatherhood because my wife and I were still students, and students are universally poor. Here in American want is often just a temporary condition for the soon to be middle-class. This is a puddle that evaporates within a few years, and though my family walked the tightrope all those years ago, we were never without the safety net of my own father, if we really needed help. I never had to risk being shot by foreign soldiers, allies at that, to put bread on the table.
 
But I imagine a Bangladeshi father on the day his daughter dressed to go with him and arrange the particulars of a marriage with a husband in India. I imagine how a tear might have caught in the father's throat to see his girl dressed up, grown and engaged to be married, how it would pain him to part with her, especially since he would eventually be separated from her new family and from his grandchildren, by a national border. I imagine the memories Felani's dad would have of his little girl's childhood, the struggles, the dreams, the prayers that all fathers have for their cherished daughters, who, no matter how old they get, we fathers permanently regard as loving, big-eyed seven year olds. I know the thought that sometimes goes through a father's head. "In my youth, I dreamed big dreams that didn't come true, but I have this wonderful child. If this was the trade, my dreams for in exchange for her life, I got the best of the bargain." I know the memory of the soft hand of a ten year old girl, holding her father's own rough, calloused hand, telegraphing through her warm fingers her absolute faith and trust in her father's protective strength. I know the secret prayer of all fathers that God make them worthy of that trust. We see a horrible picture of a girl on a fence, but I see the father, present for her 15 years, for every stroke of the hairbrush, for every wiggly baby tooth, worrying, dreaming of a safer, happier life for his daughter.
I don't know whether Felani's father was rich or poor, or what sort of safety net he had for his daughter. I only know that all of his earthly struggle, love, and concern were erased by a single barbarous act. I only know that now, as this far-off brother of mine walks home from his labours searching for blessings, the absence of his little girl's hand will permanently remind him that he was not strong enough to protect his own trusting little angel from the cruel indifference of this world.
 
Honestly, there are no words.
——————————-
Frank Domenico Cipriani writes a weekly column in the Riverside Signal called "You Think What You Think And I'll Think What I Know." He is also the founder and CEO of The Gatherer Institute — a not-for-profit public charity dedicated to promoting respect for the environment and empowering individuals to become self-taught and self-sufficient. His most recent book, "Learning Little Hawk's Way of Storytelling", is scheduled to be released by Findhorn Press in May of 2011.
 



__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

RE: [ALOCHONA] Why another int'l airport?



emanur rahman....thanks for your brilliant comments.



khoda hafez.







To: alochona@yahoogroups.com
From: emanur@rahman.com
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:20:07 +0000
Subject: Re: [ALOCHONA] Why another int'l airport?



This airport is critically important. I have mentioned before that there is a critical shortage of infrastructure projects to name after the house of Mujib. Whether its 500 crores or 75% of the annual budget, this high priority must be met.

So what if people are dying - they're only ordinary. They are happy to live in misery if it means the continued worship of Mujib, their father and lord.

I wait for Farida Majid's penance for the sin she has committed.

Joy Bangla!
Emanur Rahman | m. +447734567561 | e. emanur@rahman.com

From: Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com>
Sender: alochona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2011 08:00:51 -0500
To: Alochona Alochona<alochona@yahoogroups.com>
ReplyTo: alochona@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [ALOCHONA] Why another int'l airport?


               Let us all protest AGAINST this dubious need for another International Airport.
 
              I am a conservationist.  I see no need to destroy the geologically important wetland of Arial Beel.
 
                  Farida Majid

To:
From: bd_mailer@yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:47:48 -0800
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Why another int'l airport?

 
Why another int'l airport?
 
Shahabuddin Ahmad
 
The State Minister for Housing & Public Works, Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan, in an effort to drum up support, has been haranguing the people of greater Dhaka district and promising a new airport and a new city in the Airal Beel, one of the three leading water bodies of the country, spreading over a few police stations of Munshingonj and Dhaka districts.

   According to newspaper reports supporters of the Government came in to hear the State Minister because he promised them better life, employment and economic activities which the promised airport will bring. It is not his ministerial responsibility, while the Minister for Civil Aviation & Tourism, GM Quader decided not to speak on the matter.
   
   Vehement opposition
   The other side of the picture is that people of Dhaka, Munshiganj and the other adjoining areas, who are going to be affected due to their apprehended eviction, vehemently opposed the setting up of the projects and they have robustly said through organised demonstration that the projects could be built over their dead bodies only. Such opposition to the proposed airport is, however, not new. People of Trishal, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Gopalgonj and Madaripur also agited against the project earlier. Total area of land that the Government has plans to acquire for the airport is far more in access than necessary. Shahjalal International Airport has an area of 2,000 acres whereas for the proposed airport the plan is to acquire 15,000 acres and for the proposed Bangabandhu City an area of 10,000 acres.

   Hundreds of thousands of people live in and around the waterbody and earn their living from here. It has an area of 1,66,600 acres and generally goes under 20-25 ft. water during the rainy season and 5 ft. during the dry season. Rice (40,000 MT), fish (700 MT) and vegetables (10,000 MT) grow here and the total estimated value is around Tk. 40,000 (forty thousand) crore.
   The base of the Beel is made up of 'pit coal' according to a satellite picture which was released earlier about the formation of the land mass in Airal Beel and this information is already known.

   Pit coal cannot bear heavy load of widebodied aircraft as a result of which the foundation is likely to sink according to experts.
   A study undertaken a few years back by a Danish Firm for upgrading of Shahjalal International Airport, then known as Zia International Airport, indicates the following projections in respect of aircraft movement and passengers' growth of the airport.




This shows that there is ample scope for Shahjalal International Airport to handle more aircraft every hour and more passengers up to 2025. The study further says that by the year 2030 the airport will be able to handle 1.80 crore passengers with the implementation of some development projects for modernization of the airport.
   
   3 international airports
   There are three International Airports, in Bangladesh now, namely, Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Shah Amanat Airport in Chittagong and Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. All these airports are capable of receiving and sending wide bodied aircraft including Boeing-747. Shahjalal Airport was established in 1979, Chittagong airport was upgraded with Japanese Financial and Technical Assistance in the year 1998 and the Osmani International Airport in Sylhet has been upgraded gradually.

   Shahjalal International Airport, (one runway 10,500 ft. long) formally known as Zia International Airport, due to its overwhelming use, as it handles about 90 per cent of the total air passengers and cargo, has already been expanded by adding a cargo village, multistoried car park, renovation of departure lounge and extension of the terminal building.

   A project was taken up by the CAAB to upgrade Shahjalal International Airport under mixed credit financing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark at a cost of Tk. 41,404 lakh and it was approved by the government in 2008. The components of the project are: i) Re-construction of Taxi-way; ii) Modernization of drainage System; iii) Procurement of Maintenance equipment; iv) Procurement of Visual guidance; v) Procurement of Primary and Secondary Radar; vi) Procurement of Navigational Aids; vii)  Procurement of Radio-Communication equipment; viii) Extension & construction of operation building; Refurbishment of transmitting building etc. The process of inviting tenders are still under inter-ministerial consultations, although the project was supposed to be initiated physically earlier and completed by 2012.
   
   Adverse impact
   The question now arises that since Shahjalal International Airport (SIA) will be able to handle 1.80 crore passengers by 2030 and a plan is already under process of finalisation, why construct a new airport in a wetland area at a proposed cost of Tk. 50,000 crore for which thousands of people will be displaced, agricultural produce worth Tk. 40,000 crores annually will be destroyed and damage the ecology and bio-diversity of the Airal Beel area?
   The cronies of the government who support the establishment of the airport and a new city in Airal Beel --- both in the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman --- often cite well-known airports such as, Osaka Kansai International Airport in Japan and Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong which have been built on islands and say that building the proposed airport in the Airal Beel will not pose any problem.

   Those who advise the Government in this fashion do really live in ivory towers because the level of economic development and technological achievement of Japan and Hong Kong are not comparable with that of Bangladesh. Besides, the agency in Japan and Hong Kong took long time to study the need for expansion, whereas, the present government has not done any serious home work for the project yet, although information is available that foreign firms are lobbying with the high ups of the government for the project.

   Osaka Kansai International Airport was built on an artificial island of 2.5 miles in length and land filling alone took 3 years. It stands on columns which can be adjusted to subsidence. This is one of the most expensive airport in the world and took 7 years for Japan to construct the airport. The Chek Lap Kok Airport is a replacement of the former Kaitak Airport of HK, established in 1925. The completion of this airport also took 7 years from 1991-1998 and the cost was US$ 20 billion. It has been built partly in hilly area, partly on an artificial island.
   
   Danida study
   The Danida study, a work of professionals, says that in the very long run after forecast and the master plan period it may be necessary to add a new runway parallel to the present one, suggesting it to be located on the Western site of the present runway. Alternately, when the traffic in far distant future will exceed the maximum available runway capacity, a relocation of the entire airport to a remote site must be considered. The SIA will take, therefore, another 25 years to reach the suggested stage according to the recommendations in the study.

   As a matter of fact in its study, Danida has said that even though economic and social progress have been achieved by Bangladesh during the last decade, Bangladesh still continue to be one of the poorest country of the world due to prevailing social, political and economic reasons. If, however, for any God-sent boom and due to unforeseen priority yet unknown either to the Government or to the gentry of the country, the number of air passengers increase by leaps and bounds, SIA can be expanded within its existing area as mentioned before by offering efficient management of passenger handling, landing parking, take off facilities, modern control tower, expansion of terminal building and if necessary transferring the domestic service to the old Tejgaon Airport which, most of the time is idle. For emergency services, in case of accidents and temporary closure, alternate airports in Chittagong and Sylhet can help as air bridges.
   
   Feasibility study
   The government, therefore, should engage itself first to have a feasibility study including a market survey to justify the need for a international airport and if the studies are found to be giving good justifications economically, socially, and politically then only the Government can take up the projects and NOT now. I refer here to a story which Abdul Mannan, a former State Minister for Civil Aviation & Tourism, and who also served as the Managing Director of Biman and Director of Finance of the same organization, wrote in the concluding parts of his commentary "Airal Beel Airport". It says, "In fine we may quote the famous story of the invisible robe, the King and his wise counsels. The master tailor pantomimically dressed the King with the invisible robe. Learned Counsels started praising the robe. The King came to his senses when a little boy cried out, Oh, look, the King is naked". We need a little boy with courage to tell the Government, the unalloyed truth.
   Email: ttw1@live.com
 






__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Re: Zia executed Taher 'under pressure'



Perhaps you are right.

Perhaps Taher wanted one party system under socialism.

Perhaps Taher violated Army code by siding against the Army leadership and thus managed to free Shaheed ZIA.

Perhaps I don't have such a sharp brain to comprehend this simple equation but perhaps I liked the argument.

But perhaps I have a solid brain as I could not place the phrase "Every soldier is a human being with the possibility of fiercely loyal friends.  Same as every soldier killed in the BDR massacre"  anywhere in this context.

And perhaps I should say bye to all now.

Shafiq Ahmad

--- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "ezajur" <Ezajur@...> wrote:
>
>
> Perhaps Taher wanted a one party system under socialism rather than a
> one party system under a general's whims?
>
> Perhaps Taher did violate Army code by siding against the Army
> leadership?
>
> Either way he did not deserve capital punishment.
>
> The only thing I can think of was that Taher had some support in the
> Army and Zia needed to crush the possibility of dissent within the
> ranks. He never did manage to crush dissent permanently. Every soldier
> is a human being with the possibility of fiercely loyal friends.
>
> Same as every soldier killed in the BDR massacre.
>
>
> --- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, shafiq013@ wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > No we did not know about this new revelation. The question is why
> Taher
> > should compel Shaheed ZIA to make one party rule when there was
> already
> > one party rule in the country? How and which Army law he violated
> > because he was already out of Army at that time? Even if he had
> > committed, do these crimes call for capital punishment?
> >
> > Some people have very fertile brain. They can fabricate anything for
> > the sake of their alliance for the political system they support and
> its
> > leaders No wonder if one of them shall say one day that Taher was not
> > hanged but he committed suicide.
> >
> > Shafiq Ahmad
> >
> >
> >
> > --- In alochona@yahoogroups.com, "Md. Aminul Islam"
> > aminul_islam_raj@ wrote:
> > >
> > > Do u know what taher did?he tried to compelled zia to sign the so
> > called 12
> > > points n make one party rule in our country again.
> > > He violated amy law also.He faced a trial, Gajiul haque was his
> > > advocate.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > > From: "haque@" haque@
> > > To: tritiomatra@yahoogroups.com; alochona@yahoogroups.com;
> > > awamileague@yahoogroups.com; bogra@yahoogroups.com
> > > Sent: Fri, January 21, 2011 12:31:53 AM
> > > Subject: [ALOCHONA] Zia executed Taher 'under pressure'
> > >
> > > Â
> > > Zia executed Taher 'under pressure'
> > > Moudud tells HC; court seeks US journo Lifschultz's statement on
> > Taher's trial
> > > Staff Correspondent
> > >
> > >
> > > Col Taher A tremendous pressure from some repatriated army officers
> > had forced
> > > Ziaur Rahman to try and execute Colonel Abu Taher through a military
> > tribunal in
> > > 1976, senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed told the High Court yesterday.
> > >
> > > Col Taher was a victim of the conflict between the repatriated
> > officials, who
> > > did not fight the Liberation War, and freedom fighters in the army,
> he
> > also
> > > said.
> > >
> > > Moudud was reading out excerpts from his book -- Democracy and the
> > Challenge of
> > > Democracy -- as the court during the hearing on a writ petition
> asked
> > him to
> > > make statement in connection with the trial of Taher.
> > >
> > > “The repatriated officers had found a new ally in Zia after
> the
> > killing of Mujib
> > > and removal of Moshtaque [who took over immediately after the murder
> > of
> > > Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib on August 15, 1975],” Moudud quoted
> > from the book.
> > >
> > >
> > > The two sides [the officers and Zia] needed each other in order to
> > survive both
> > > as a class and a force in the civil-military structure of the
> country,
> > the book
> > > said.
> > >
> > > When it came to sentencing Taher, all of the forty-six repatriated
> > officers
> > > summoned by Zia to discuss the issue wanted he be hanged, the book
> > says.
> > >
> > >
> > > Moudud, however, did not go for details about the officials.
> > >
> > > Moudud Ahmed, a former law minister, quoted from the book,
> “The
> > question
> > > remains: why did Zia allow the execution of Taher, the person who
> > freed him from
> > > captivity and installed him in power? During the war they fought in
> > the same
> > > sector and were known to be very close friends for long.”
> > >
> > >
> > > Moudud finds an answer too: “In a difficult post-independence
> > situation, Zia had
> > > to strike a balance with the repatriated officers to strengthen his
> > own position
> > > in the army.”
> > >
> > >
> > > A conflict ensued as under the leadership of Col Taher, Gono Bahini
> > [People's
> > > Army, an underground offshoot of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal in the
> early
> > 70's] had
> > > killed many army officers, he said.
> > >
> > >
> > > He told the court that he had put relevant information about the
> trial
> > in his
> > > book and the HC should reach a decision not before going through it.
> > >
> > > Moudud, however, told The Daily Star his statement was not part of
> the
> > court
> > > proceedings.
> > >
> > > He said his book is based on works of Lawrence Lifschultz, a veteran
> > US
> > > journalist and writer, who had covered the trial of Col Taher.
> > >
> > >
> > > The HC yesterday requested Lifschultz to appear before it at his
> > convenience by
> > > January 26 for making a statement.
> > >
> > > The court also directed Additional Attorney General MK Rahman and
> the
> > foreign
> > > secretary to contact Lifschultz through email.
> > >
> > >
> > > Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Mohibul Haque informed the
> HC
> > yesterday
> > > his office has no document on the trial of Col Taher.
> > >
> > >
> > > An HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice
> > Sheikh Md
> > > Zakir Hossain held the hearing which will resume on Sunday.
> > >
> > > The writ petition, challenging the legality of the martial law
> trial,
> > was
> > > jointly filed by Col Taher's wife Lutfa Taher, his brother Anwar
> > Hossain and
> > > Fatema Yusuf, wife of Yusuf Ali Khan, who was given a life sentence
> by
> > the same
> > > tribunal.
> > >
> >
>


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

Re: [ALOCHONA] A nice story



"Invite to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided."

[Al-Qur'an, Surah an-Nahl (16):125]


-----Original Message-----
From: Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com>
Sent: Sun, Jan 23, 2011 11:06 am
Subject: [ALOCHONA] A nice story

 
A nice story

Every Friday afternoon, after the Jumma prayers, the Imam and his eleven
year old son would go out into their town and hand out "PATH TO
PARADISE "and other  Islamic literature.

This particular and fortunate Friday afternoon, as the time came for the
Imam and his son to go to the streets with their booklets, it was very cold
outside, as well as pouring rain.

The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said, 'OK, dad, I'm
ready!' His dad asked, 'Ready for what' 'Dad, it's time we go out and distribute
these Islamic books.'

Dad responds, 'Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring rain.'
The boy gives his dad a surprised look, asking, 'But Dad, aren't people

still going to hell, even though it's raining?'

Dad answers, 'Son, I am not going out in this weather.'

Despondently, the boy asks, 'Dad, can I go Please'

His father hesitated for a moment then said, 'Son, you can go. Here are the
booklets. Be careful son.'

'Thanks, Dad!'

And with that, he was off and out into the rain. This eleven year old boy
walked the streets of the town going door to door and handing everybody he
met in the street a pamphlet or a booklet.

After two hours of walking in the rain, he was soaking, bone-chilled wet and
down to his VERY LAST BOOKLET. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone
to hand a booklet to, but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to
the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell, but nobody
answered..

He rang it again and again, but still no one answered. He waited but still
no answer.

Finally, he turned to leave, but something stopped him.
Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the
door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front
porch!

He rang again and this time the door slowly opened.
Standing in the doorway was a very sad-looking elderly lady. She softly

asked, 'What can I do for you, son?' With radiant eyes and a smile that lit
up her world, this little boy said, 'Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you,
but I just  want to tell you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU and I
came to give you my very last booklet  which will tell you all about God,
the  real purpose of creation, and how to achieve His pleasure.'

With that, he handed her his last booklet and turned to leave.

She called to him as he departed. 'Thank you, son! And God Bless You!'

Next week on Friday afternoon after Jumma prayers, the Imam was giving some
lectures. As he concludes the lectures, he asked, 'Does anybody have
questions or want to say anything?'

Slowly, in the back row among the ladies, an elderly lady's voice was heard
over the speaker. 'No one in this gathering knows me. I've never been here before.  You see,
before last Friday I was not a Muslim, and thought I could be. My husband
died few years ago, leaving me totally alone in this world... Last Friday,
being a particularly cold and rainy day, I was contemplating suicide as I
had no hope left.

So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my
home... I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on
the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. Standing on
that chair, so lonely and broken-hearted I was about to leap off, when
suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought,
I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.

I waited and waited, but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more
insistent, and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly....

I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this be? Nobody ever rings my
bell or comes to see me.' I loosened the rope from my neck  and started for
the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder.

When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes, for there
on my front porch was the most radiant and  angelic little boy I had ever
seen in my life.. His SMILE, oh, I could never describe it to you! The words
that came from his mouth caused my heart that had long been dead TO LEAP TO
LIFE as he exclaimed with a cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell
you that ALLAH REALLY LOVES AND CARES FOR YOU!'* *

Then he gave me this booklet, Path To Paradise that I now hold in my hand.

As the little angel disappeared back out into the cold and rain, I closed my
door and read slowly every word of this book. Then I  went up to my attic to
get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them any more.

You see? I am now a Happy Vicegerent of the One True God. Since the address
of your congregation was stamped on the back of this booklet,  I have come
here to personally say THANK YOU to God's little angel who came just in the
nick of time and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in hell.'

There was not a dry eye in the mosque. The shouts of TAKBIR...ALLAH AKBAR..
rented the air. Imam-Dad descended from the Mimbar  to the front row where the little angel
was seated.He took his son in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no jama'at has had a more glorious moment, and probably this
universe has never seen a father that was more  filled with love and honor
for his son... Except for One. This very one...

Don't let this message die, read it again and pass it to others. Heaven is
for His people!Remember, Allah's message CAN make the difference in the life of someone close
to you.


[Quran 5:3]: This day I've perfected your religion for you, and completed my
favor on you, and chose Islam for you as religion..

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dahuk/message/21582


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

Re: [ALOCHONA] AL failure



Immediately after the formation of the current Bangladesh government Selim started showing his real colours both inside and outside the parliament. He started by saying that Ziaur Rahman did not take part in the war of liberation. He compared Ziaur Rahman to a mad man. He told the Parliament that they did not take part in the war of liberation being urged by a pagol-chagol. He was ably supported by Sajeda Chowdhury, Faruk Khan, Showkat Ali, Motia Chowdhury, etc. As always Awami league believes that MIGHT is RIGHT.

>>>>>>>> This 'Crazy" statement does not take anything from one of the leaders of freedom movement--------- Ziaur Rahman. Not only he fought for his country, he lead the fighters from front and risked his life from the start. This statement by BAL leaders only shows how much hate they have for a decorated freedom fighter of our country.

We can all talk about policies of Ziaur Rahman took as leader of the country and one has every right to oppose some of his policies but ignoring Ziaur Rahman for our liberation movement shows how low we are "Able" to go in politics. I think even BAL leaders should have protested more clearly against this smear campaign. As I said we some of us may not like Ziaur Rahman as president of BD but we should be united in honorignt his courage and sacrifice for our country during "Muktijuddho". None of should 'Tolerate" such shameless distortion. That is the bottom line.....




-----Original Message-----
From: maxx ombba <maqsudo@hotmail.com>
To: alochona <alochona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Jan 23, 2011 11:15 am
Subject: [ALOCHONA] AL failure

 



The common citizens of Bangladesh are observing with horror the nefarious activities of Awami Leaguers at all levels. Their actions and words both inside the parliament and outside are raising alarms in the minds of the common citizens. Even some Awami league supporters are confessing that their leaders are doing excesses. They say that they are very scared now thinking of the future of the country. 

Only the other day Sheikh Selim, a cousin Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that Tarek Rahman will be arrested upon return to Bangladesh on murder charges. In his opinion Tarek Rahman was behind the killings on August 21, 2004 (in a public meeting attended by Hasina and other top ranking Awami league leaders). People tend to believe that Selim acts as a spokesperson of Hasina. 

When Hasina says something in the parliament or in any public gathering it is repeated by Selim the next day. It happens the other way round too. In cases when Hasina does not want to utter filthy words Selim takes over.

Immediately after the formation of the current Bangladesh government Selim started showing his real colours both inside and outside the parliament. He started by saying that Ziaur Rahman did not take part in the war of liberation. He compared Ziaur Rahman to a mad man. He told the Parliament that they did not take part in the war of liberation being urged by a pagol-chagol. He was ably supported by Sajeda Chowdhury, Faruk Khan, Showkat Ali, Motia Chowdhury, etc. As always Awami league believes that MIGHT is RIGHT.

 They do not have any sense of decency, any sense of accountability. They do not understand that their statements in the Parliament portray them as street children who follow the directives of their masters.

Then last month both Hasina and Selim said that they believe that Ziaur Rahman's body is not in the grave at the Zia Udyan. They challenged BNP to prove them wrong. Begum Khaleda Zia once said "I do not have the taste to respond to Hasina's statements". I think Khaleda Zia did the right this time as well. Why should she respond to such preposterous claims! But to show respect to the sentiments of millions of common Bangladeshi a widely circulated Bangla daily published a report on the burial of Ziaur Rahman's body (preceded by Janaza attended by lakhs of common Bangladeshi). 

The report cited headlines from different daily newspapers published on the day of burial of Ziaur Rahman, the most honest politician this part of the world has seen. Even after that the AL leaders kept repeating the same words over and over again.

As always Awami league wants people to accept that truth is what Awami League thinks to be true. It was made clear by the actions of some AL members of Parliament a few nights ago: they displayed their true colours. I do not have the taste to dwell on this any more. Awami League is always the same - devoid of tolerance, hostile, violent and detests dissenting voice.

The activities of Awami League activists these days remind us of the dark days they had to endure during 1972-75 period. Only the principal actors are new.

Author:Yasmeen Sultana in Rockville, US




__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___