e_Paper 27-11-2016

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4 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 DT Mayor shuts down Shyamoli Shishu Mela • Abu Hayat Mahmud The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) authorities yesterday shut down the lone children’s park in the northern part of the capital over dodging lease payment and not renewing the contract, announcing that soon it will be demolished. The authorities sealed off the park during a drive in presence of Mayor Annisul Huq but assured that it had been closed for the time being. It would soon be reopened as a public park, they said. The drive was conducted to recover the park from its operator Via Media Limited on allegation of dodging the lease payment, and for operating the park without renewal of contract for more than a decade. The Via Media Limited had leased the Gulshan public park also from the then undivided Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and established a highly commercial Wonderland Amusement Park there. In 2012, the Rajuk demolished the Wonderland for breaching the contract, Annisul told reporters. “We have recovered this city corporation land [1.4 acres] after a long legal battle with the Shishu Mela authorities,” he said, adding that the DNCC would reopen the park soon for the people of all ages including children since it is a public property. The mayor said: “The operator, Via Media Limited, filed a case against the city corporation although they were continuing business without paying the dues. “Finally, after a long legal battle the court passed its verdict in favour of the city corporation; that is why we have come here to recover the public property. The authorities of the Shishu Mela have been asked to pay their 12 years’ dues and shift their rides and equipment within the next seven days, otherwise it will be demolished.” In reply to a query, he said that the DNCC would recover its 50 illegally occupied parks, playgrounds and open spaces across half of the capital within the next two years. Of them, three more parks are to be recovered very soon. He also warned that no one would be allowed to grab any public land in the city. DNCC public relation department sources said that the then undivided DCC leased the park to Via Media at Tk1,45,756.05 in 2002 for three years under the condition that once the term is over the contract had to be renewed. The Public Works Department (PWD) handed over the public park to the city corporation in 1985. After the departure of the mayor from the spot, Via Media’s General Manager Nurul Huda claimed to the media that the park had been shut down without any prior notice. “We have filed two writ petitions with the High Court. Verdict has been pronounced in one case but the other is still pending. So we will take legal step against the city corporation’s move,” he said. Nurul, however, kept mum when asked about the dues. • News PM flies to Hungary today • BSS Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left for Budapest for a 4-day long bilateral visit, on invitation from Hungarian President Dr Janos Ader yesterday. During her stay, she will take part in different sessions of the Budapest Water Summit 2016 (BWS), a two-day long event. Furthermore, she will have a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Obran and call on President Janos. It is expected that Sheikh Hasina will use the trip to inaugurate the Bangladesh-Hungarian Business and Economic Forum. As a member of the UN and the World Bank high level panel on water, Sheikh Hasina will be in attendance at the inaugural BWS with the Hungarian President and she is also set to visit a Sustainable Water Solution Expo along with other Hawkers’ leader speaks at an exchange-opinion discussion with the Dhaka Tribune publisher, director and editor yesterday, (Below) a partial view of hawkers from the Hawkers association RAJIB DHAR dignitaries on Monday. On the next day she will attend a high level meeting of the summit and a working lunch to be hosted by President Janos. She is set to meet with Obran in the morning in a ceremony for the signing of a number of agreements, to be held at Kossuth Square. The MoUs address consultation between the respective foreign ministries as well as cooperation with regard to water management and agriculture. According to Mahmood Ali, an MoU will be signed between the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commmerce and Industry (FBCCI) and their Hungarian counterparts. The two prime ministers are set to hold a joint press conference following the bilateral talks. She is scheduled to return home on Wednesday night. • Khaleda calls for talks on EC again • Tribune Desk BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has again made a call for talks on reconstitution of the Election Commission. To protect everyone’s vote an EC on the basis of discussions isn’t trivial or only BNP’s issue. Talks are essential, not a unilateral EC,” the twitter message posted on Saturday reads. Earlier on November 19, a day after making recommendations about forming a new election commission, Khaleda twitted that her proposals on the formation of new EC could be a foundation for initiating a dialogue for holding an acceptable national election with the participation of all political parties. • ‘Indigenous people need land rights’ • Afrose Jahan Chaity Reazul Haque, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), said that one of his long term goals was to solve the land disputes that have plagued ethnic minorities, and he will take steps to this regard. He made the statement at a national seminar on the Rights of Indigenous Human Rights Defenders, organised by the Indigenous People Development Service (IPDS). The seminar was held in the capital, at the CBCB Centre. The seminar was organised in order to increase awareness of the indigenous people, where National Coordinator of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Alexius Chicham gave a presentation informing the Idigenous Human Rights Defenders of their rights, duties and practices. The United Nations declaration on Human Rights Defenders 1998, which outlines the protections and duties afforded to human rights defenders and organisations, took a central part of discussions. Rezaul claimed the failure of the ILO’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention 1957, which was adopted by bangladesh in 1972, was to blame for some of the problems being faced by indigenous ethnic minorities. “It was integrated, but never implemented, and that’s why indigenous people face violence in this country” he said. The NHRC boss also urged for decisive action against those resposible for attacks against minorities, as well as heavy punishment in order to discourage future atrocities. The Indigenous Human Rights Defenders also called for ethnic minorities to be included in the constitution and for them to receive land rights. Dr Meghna Guhathakur, a member of the NHRC, also spoke on the role and importance of human rights defenders, emphasising Chicham’s presentation. The President of IPDS Sanjeev Drong presided over the national seminar. More than 250 young indigenous human right defenders were in attendance. •
News 5 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 Santal files GD against Gobindaganj MP, UNO • Md Tazul Islam Reza, Gaibandha A Santal man has filed a general diary against 32 individuals, including Gobindaganj lawmaker Prof Abul Kalam Azad and Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Abdul Hannan, with Gobindaganj police station yesterday. Thomas Hembrom, resident of Harinmari village in Gobindaganj upazila and one of the Santals who were violently evicted from their ancestral land in Shahebganj-Bagda sugarcane farm of Rangpur Sugar Mill Ltd, filed the general diary (GD) around 2pm yesterday. Gobindaganj police station OC (investigation) Al Md Nazmul Ahmed registered the GD, in which 400-500 unidentified individuals were also listed as suspects in the attack on Santals. Thomas was accompanied by a 10-member delegation comprising representatives of Association of Land Reforms and Development, Ain O Salish Kendra, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and Nijerai Pari when he went to the police station to file the GD. Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Gobindaganj OC Subrata Kumar Sarker said Rangpur Sugar Mill Managing Director Abdul Awal, Sapmara Union Parishad Chairman Shakil Ahmed Bulbul who is also the president of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Gobindaganj unit, Katabari Union Parishad Chairman Md Rezaul Karim, local Awami League leader Md Hossain Fuku, and a few workers of the sugar mill are also among the accused listed in the GD. This is the second case filed by Santals over the incident. The first one was filed on November 16 by Swapan Marmu, from Moalipara village in Gobindaganj, accusing 500- 600 people, but none of the accused were named. Santal leaders claimed that the first case was not filed by affected Santals. “Police have tactfully made a Santal who lives outside of Madarpur and Joypurpara communities [the affected villages] and file the case to save the real culprits,” said Jatiya Adivasi Parishad President Rabindranath Soren in an immediate reaction. OC Subrata said 20 people had been arrested in connection with the case filed by Swapan Marmu. “Today’s [yesterday’s] complaint has been registered as a general diary and will be filed as a case after we receive the court’s order in this regard. Since a case has already been filed on the incident, we will take further action in accordance with the court’s directive,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. Around 2,000 Santal families from 15 villages in the Shahebganj-Bagda farm area were evicted by police and RAB on November 6 and 7. Local Bangalis loyal to the local lawmaker also took part in the eviction drive, looting and torching the Santal houses. At least three Santals were killed during clashes and at least 30 people were injured, including nine policemen. Police filed at least three cases against the local Santals – the last one lodged after the November 6 eviction drive for obstructing the law enforcers from performing duties. Four Santals were arrested in this connection and are currently out on bail. The land in question, originally owned by local Santals and some Bangalis, was acquired by the then- East Pakistan government in 1962 for the sugar mill. In 2014, some found that the contract for acquisition had been violated by the mill authority. As the contract stated that any violation would transfer the land’s ownership back to the original owners, the Santals along with some Bangalis built 600 homes on 100 acres of the 1,842-acre farmland and started living there in July. DT However, the evicted Santals told the Dhaka Tribune that both Sapmara UP Chairman Bulbul and Gobindaganj MP Azad had urged them to start living on the land. Santals receive 67 more sacks of paddy The sugar mill authorities handed 67 more sacks of paddy over to the Santals yesterday, sources said. The paddy, originally sown by the Santals, was harvested by around 100 employees of the sugar mill who volunteered to harvest and package the paddy. A combined harvester machine was also used in the process. Around 10 acres of paddy was harvested yesterday, said the mill’s MD Abdul Awal. The authorities started harvesting the paddy on Thursday and has given 149 sacks of paddy – amounting to 298 maunds or around 11,123kg – to Santals till yesterday, he added. • Bangladesh to send 1 million migrant workers in 2017 • Adil Sakhawat Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) Director General Salim Reza yesterday said Bangladesh will send 1 million migrant workers in 2017. Salim speaking at a national consultation programme arranged by Brac ahead of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) in December said: “The Malaysian and KSA manpower market is opening up again to Bangladeshi migrant workers and we had a very fruitful meeting with UAE last month and that market will open to Bangladeshi manpower very soon.” He said they hoping to send the 1 million migrant workers abroad next year. As of November this year, 21, 6,57,632 Bangladeshi migrant workers went abroad for work. While presenting the key note presentation, Head of Brac’s Migration Programme Hassan Imam said the percentage of unskilled labour export is still very high: “50% of the overseas employment from 1976-2015 were unskilled. Even last year 43% of the overseas employment were of unskilled labour.” The BMET DG said they understand the importance of skills development and this is why it was placed in the last national budget this year: “In this regard, we have started a short course at BMET to help develop the skills of migrant workers in 48 different trades and we also have 70 training centres for skills development. We are also constructing 40 training centres with 50 more training centres in the pipeline.” “We have taken these kinds of initiatives to train our migrant workers so that the chances of them being exploited when they reach their destination countries will be zero,” he also said. During the consultation with civil society members and migrants workers, some of them raised concerns over the high migration cost from Bangladesh and the existence of middlemen during the process. Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA)’s Secretary General Ruhul Amin answered: “As most migrant workers feel more comfortable going to a middleman than going a recruiting agency we should work with the middlemen and make them aware of safe migration processes.” Ruhul also said some countries have agreed to take Bangladeshi migrant workers at zero migration cost like Qatar through the Qatar Foundation is working to take Bangladeshi male migrant workers without any migration cost. • President Abdul Hamid, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, receives a guard of honour at the Sixth Corps Reunion and 36th Annual Commanders’ Conference of the Ordnance Corps of Bangladesh Army at Rajendrapur Cantonment, Gazipur yesterday ISPR MP assaults World Bank official • Rafiqul Islam, Feni An official of the World Bank and an engineer linked to a cyclone shelter project were injured as Feni 3 constituency lawmaker Haji Rahimullah carried out an attack on them in Matiganj Kashmir area under Sonagazi, Noakhali yesterday. The injured are World Bank representative Md Mohsin and engineer Ghulam Rabbani. They were admitted to Sonagazi Upazila Health Complex. The independent lawmaker denied having attacked any official, but admitted that he had stopped work of the project since the contractor was using substandard products. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of seven cyclone centers in October this year, funded by World Bank in Sonagazi upazila. SSAI Joint Venture Company got the work of a center in Matiganj Kashmir area. Engineer Dipankar Banik, co-owner of SSAI, said: “MP Haji Rahimullah demanded a huge sum of money before starting of the construction works. After the prime minister inaugurated it, he pressured us to inaugurate it again by him. “Around 3:30pm on Saturday, the lawmaker along with some of his supporters swooped on us and stopped the works as we refused to comply with his demand.” Haji Rahimullah, also the president of Jeddah unit Awami League, said: “I ordered them to stop the construction works as SSAI was building the cyclone center with low quality materials.” Sonagazi police sent a team to the spot after learning about the attack. Ratan Banik, manager of SSAI, said that they were preparing to file a case against the MP and his men. • TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY DRY WEATHER LIKELY SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27 Dhaka 29 18 Chittagong 28 22 Rajshahi 29 17 Rangpur 28 16 Khulna 30 17 Barisal 29 17 Sylhet 29 17 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:10PM SUN RISES 6:23AM YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW 30.4ºC 13.5ºC Bogra Rajarhat Source: Accuweather/UNB PRAYER TIMES Cox’s Bazar 28 20 Fajr: 5:45am | Zohr: 1:15pm Asr: 4:00pm | Magrib: 5:22pm Esha: 7:30pm Source: Islamic Foundation
Page 1 and 2: SECOND EDITION SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27,
Page 3: News 3 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 DT
Page 7 and 8: News 7 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016 Ju
Page 9 and 10: World Fidel Castro and the 11 POTUS
Page 11 and 12: World 11 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2016
Page 13 and 14: Business 13 India’s Modi defends
Page 15 and 16: Advertisement 15 DT SUNDAY, NOVEMBE
Page 17 and 18: The art of winning Feature Five car
Page 19 and 20: Advertisement 15 DT SUNDAY, NOVEMBE
Page 21 and 22: No direction home Opinion 21 Genoci
Page 23 and 24: Opinion 23 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 201
Page 25 and 26: Sport 25 DT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 20
Page 27 and 28: Bairstow helps Eng rally after top
Page 29 and 30: Downtime 29 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 20
Page 31 and 32: Showtime 31 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 20

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