The Bangladesh Today (18-02-2018)

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NATIONAL SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2018 6 Additional Depty Inspector General of Police of Sylhet Range, Joydeb Kumar Bhadra speaking Open House Day and View Exchaning meeting yesterday in Kulaura of Moulvibazar district yesterday. Photo: Sakir Ahmed State Minister for Textile and Jute Mirza Azam speading specila extended meeting of Kulia Union Awami League of Melandah Upazila under Jamalpur distirct yesterday. Photo: Ruhul Amin Razu Strawberry farming gains popularity in Rajshahi RAJSHAHI: Strawberry farming has been gaining popularity in Rajshahi region for economic prospect of the cash crop, reports BSS. Abul Kalam, a farmer of Darusha village under Paba upazila, said strawberry, a succulent fruit popular in different parts of the globe, is also gradually becoming popular among the local people. Farmers' level extension of strawberry farming can bring a new horizon to the agriculture sector in the region. Prof Dr AKM Rafiul Islam of Department of Botany of Rajshahi University says strawberry cultivation is as easy as growing potato or eggplant. Saplings can be planted in rows during the period between November and December every year. Illustrating salient feature of strawberry, a high-value cash crop, he said the plants start flowering within one month of plantation and fruits can be collected till March. "Each plant bears around 250 to 300 grams of fruit and some 6,000 plants can be grown on one bigha of land," Dr Islam said, adding with farmer-level price of around Taka 600 per kg, the commercially potential fruit will have a bigger market locally and globally and benefit farmers enormously. Now, a large number of people, mostly unemployed youths, have become dependent on strawberry farming to earn a living, as its cultivation is easier and more profitable than other crops, he said. The youths are supplying strawberry to different markets across the country as the soft fruit is being used in preparing icecream, jam, jelly, pickles, chocolates and biscuits. Prof Dr Manzur Hossain, who is a pioneer in the country's strawberry research, variety innovation and growers' level farming expansion, said Bangladeshi strawberry variety has been adjudged as the world's best strawberry. "We have innovated three varieties of strawberry through applying tissue culture 5 Ctg power plants in pipeline method," he said. "In the demonstration field, all those were found adaptive to the region's soil and environmental conditions," Prof Dr Hossain, another teacher of Botany, added. He has been multiplying the variety on his own horticulture farm for the last couple of years. The new variety of strawberry can be harvested within two and a half months of its plantation and a farmer can earn around Taka 1.5 lakh by farming it on one bigha of land with expenditure of only Taka 30,000, he said. With farmer-level price of around Taka 300 per kg, the commercially potential fruit will have a bigger market locally and benefit farmers enormously, the pioneer said while talking to BSS. In 2003, three varieties yielded encouraging results and were found suitable in local climate. Strawberry farming is already in motion in many districts under the region. With the average price of a kilogram of the fruit standing at Taka 700, the commercially viable fruit presents great export potentials and ushers in economic prospects for those who wish to get high and fast returns from limited land resources. ATM Rafiqul Islam, Deputy Manager (Agriculture) of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority, said there has been a bright prospect of farming strawberry everywhere in the country excepting the coastal districts. The red juicy and nutritious fruit produced by him is now being supplied to posh markets in the capital Dhaka. The country can earn huge foreign currencies from strawberry export if its commercial farming starts at national level, he hoped. "The fruit will no doubt be a profitable crop for farmers. If it is grown on a large scale, the highly nutritious fruit will come within the reach of the common people. There will be no need for imports," said Agriculturist Rafique. Banner torched in Rajshahi, 3 held RAJSHAHI: Police nabbed three persons reportedly belong to Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal for their alleged involvement in torching a campaign banner ahead of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit here, reports BSS. The arrested were identified as Papon, 32, Rabbul, 35, and Utthpal, 37. They are the residents of Gushpara area under Rajpara Police Station in the city. Hafijur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Rajpara Police Station confirmed the matter. Quoting witnesses, the OC said a young man torched a roadside campaign banner pouring patrol on it on Friday night at Ghoshpara crossing and managed to flee the scene. The Prime Minister is likely to address a rally at Madrasha Moidan in the city as the chief guest on February 22. One held with 61 yaba tablets in Netrakona NETRAKONA: Police arrested a drug trader with 61 pieces of yaba tablets from West-Bazer area under Kalmakanda upazila of the district the day before yestaerday night, report BSS. The arrested was identified as Rezaul Karim, 28. On a tipoff, a team of the Kalmakanda Police conducted a raid in the area and nabbed Rezaul with the contraband drugs, officerin-charge (OC) of the Kalmakanda Police Station AKM Mizanur Rahman said. A case was filed with Kalmakanda Police Station in this connection. GD-273/18 (5 x 3) CHITTAGONG: Construction of five new power plants having a total generation capacity of 716 megawatts (MWs) under the private sector in Chittagong is under process, reports BSS. Power Development Board (PDB) sources said preparatory work on the proposed projects has been completed. The PDB will supervise the implementation of the plants. The sources said the projects included one 300- MW plant beside Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Factory at Anowara , one 116-MW plant at Sikalbaha under Patiya, two power plants with 100- MW generation capacity each at Sikalbaha under Karnaphuli thana on south bank of river Karnaphuli in the port city. Meanwhile, another proposed 100-MW plant at Julda in Patiya upazila is in the pipeline. Project director of the under construction 300-MW PDB plant at Anowara Engr. Golam Haider Talukder told BSS that United Group is implementing this power project . He said the first phase work on the project is progressing fast and it is expected that the project will be completed by 2019. He further disclosed that all equipments for this project will be imported from Finland very shortly. Meanwhile, the project director of 116-MW Sikalbaha plant Engr Kamruddin Ahmed said two other power plants with the generation capacity of 100- MW each will also be built in the same area. It may be mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the Sikalbaha 225-MW combined cycle power plant in December last. The prime minister inaugurated this cycling power plant simultaneously with other 3 power plants across the country through video conferencing. PDB Chief Engineer Probir Kumar Sen said the work on the duel fuel run 225-MW Sikalbaha combined cycling plant began in 2015. Production of electricity at the project started from November 6 last. "After implementation of these power projects there will be no load-shedding in the region," he added. He said a total of Tk. 2,018 crore with foreign assistance of Tk.1375 crore was spent for this plant. Professor Dr. Habibe Millat Munna, Member of parliament from Sirajganj Sadar constitrency speaking Triennial Conuncil of Sirajganj Mohila Awami League in the upazila yesterday under Sirajganj distirct. Photo: Badrul Alam Dulal GD-268/18 (6 x 3) Boro cultivation progressing fast in Netrakona NETRAKONA: Boro cultivation, a high-yield crop, has been going on in full swing in all the 10 upazilas of the district, which is widely known as "grain vowel" of the country, during the current season, reports BSS. Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) office sources said the cultivators have already brought 1, 81,500 hectors of land under the cultivation in the district exceeding the target fixed at 1,81,238 hectors of land. Of the total land, the farmers cultivated hybrid variety of paddy on 13,065 hectors of land, high yielding variety (HYV) on 1, 67,978 hectors of land and local variety of the paddy on 457 hectors of land. Deputy Director of the DAE Bilash Chandra Paul said the cultivation of Boro is progressing fast in the district as the cultivators were provided with financial and logistic support by the government. He said, following the instructions of the government, different state-run agencies including BADC and BCIC have taken different farmers-friendly programs to ensure proper supplying of improved quality Boro seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural equipments to the door steps of the farmers. Besides, different commercial banks including Bangladesh Krishi Bank have already disbursed agricultural loans among the farmers to make them capable to run their cultivation cost. Dinajpur Police Super, Hamidul Alam and Dr. Musfiqur Rahman, convener of voluntary organization "Lumalisa" among others distributing blanket among destitute as part of joint ventre with Jacks Foundation yesterday in Fulbari upazaila of Dinajpur district. Photo: Courtesy Manikganj municipality mayor Gazi Kamrul Huda Selim and 1 no ward concilor Abul Kalam Azad master distributing educational materials among poor and meritorius students in Manikganj yesterday. Photo: Monirul Islam Mihir
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAy, FEBRUARy 18, 2018 7 Demonstrators celebrate the release of political prisoners in Adama, Oromia. A national state of emergency has been declared in Ethiopia just one day after the unexpected resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, A statement by the state broadcaster said the move was necessary to stem a wave of anti-government protests. Hundreds of people have died in three years of unrest in the country. A 10-month state of emergency that ended last year failed to stop the protests, as did the release from jail of thousands of opposition supporters. Africa Live: More on this and other stories What is behind Ethiopia's protests? Find out more about Ethiopia No details were given of how long the latest state of emergency will last or what the restrictions are. The government has been under pressure because of continuing street protests. In recent weeks it has released hundreds of prisoners including opposition politicians but the protests have shown no sign of ending. On Thursday, Mr Hailemariam said he had made his decision to stand down in the hope that it would help end the years of unrest and political Photo: Reuters Ethiopia declares national state of emergency Anti-fascist demonstrators clash with police in Bologna Italian police have turned water cannons on anti-fascist protesters in Bologna who were trying to disrupt a planned campaign appearance by the head of the neo-fascist Forza Nuova. Clashes broke out Friday afternoon and evening when police intervened to prevent anti-fascist protesters from occupying a square in the traditionally left-wing city of Bologna where the Forza Nuova leader was scheduled to speak. The news agency ANSA said four students and one police officer were injured. The protests come amid fears of a revival of neo-fascist sentiment ahead of Italy's national election on March 4. Pierluigi Bersani, a former government minister who is running for a small left-wing party, joined the demonstration, saying the way to fight "regurgitated fascists and terroristic phenomenon" is to "go into the streets, and go there together." Mexico City priest arrested on sex abuse charge Prosecutors in Mexico City say a Catholic priest has been arrested on charges of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor. The 58-year-old priest, who was not named, allegedly abused a 12-yearold girl after her mother left her at church to study catechism. In a statement Friday, the Mexico City prosecutor's office said the priest tricked the girl into going to the church office Wednesday where he sexually abused her. The girl fled and her mother contacted police. Prosecutors did not identify the church, but say it is in the Buenos Aires neighborhood. The Archdiocese of Mexico City says that it will fully cooperate with authorities. It says it condemns the incident, if confirmed. The priest will not perform any of his duties until the case is resolved. upheaval. "I see my resignation as vital in the bid to carry out reforms that would lead to sustainable peace and democracy," Mr Hailemariam said. The political demonstrations in Ethiopia began in Oromia in November 2015. Protests later sprung up in the Amhara region. Oromia and Amhara are the homelands of the country's two biggest ethnic groups. Many people in these communities feel they have been marginalised since the current government took power in 1991. FBI pressure increases with failure to avert school shooting The revelation that the FBI botched a potentially life-saving tip on the Florida school shooting suspect is a devastating blow to America's top law enforcement agency at a time when it is already under extraordinary political pressure. Even before the startling disclosure that the FBI failed to investigate a warning that the suspect, Nikolas Cruz, could be plotting an attack, the bureau was facing unprecedented criticism from President Donald Trump and other Republicans, who have accused it of partisan bias. The agency and its supporters had been able to dismiss past criticism as just politics, but this time it had no option but to admit it made a disastrous mistake. The FBI's acknowledgment that it mishandled the tip prompted a sharp rebuke from its boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and a call from Florida's Republican Gov. Rick Scott, a Trump ally, for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign. Wray, on the job for just six months, had already been in a precarious position defending the bureau from relentless attacks by Trump and other Republicans. They are still dissatisfied with its decision not to charge Hillary Clinton with crimes related to her use of a private email server, and they see signs of bias in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe of possible Trump campaign ties to Russia. As evidence, they've cited the former deputy director's connection to Clinton allies, and they've publicized anti-Trump text messages exchanged between an FBI agent and a bureau lawyer. Democrats have said the accusations are aimed at damaging Mueller's investigation and protecting Trump. Through it all, Wray has repeatedly stood up to Trump, defending the bureau's independence and publicly praising its agents in implicit rebuttals to the president's criticism. Wray unsuccessfully fought to block the release of a classified Republican memo accusing the FBI of abusing its surveillance powers in the Russia probe - a document Trump wanted aired. Wray also publicly contradicted White House accounts of how it handled recent domestic abuse allegations involving an aide. The shooting provides fresh grounds to criticize the FBI. First it was revealed that the FBI failed to delve into a YouTube comment posted by a "Nikolas Cruz" that said, "Im going to be a professional school shooter." The FBI said it could not determine who made it. On Friday, the bureau said it had failed to act on a tip that Cruz had a "desire to kill people," disturbing social media posts and access to a gun. Cruz is charged with killing 17 people in the school he once attended. Sessions, a Trump loyalist who has at times seemed to welcome criticism of the FBI, called the massacre a "tragic consequence" of the FBI's failure. He ordered a review of the Justice Department procedures. The House Judiciary and Oversight committees, whose Republican leaders have been some of the strongest FBI critics, demanded Wray brief them on what went wrong. Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, said it was "inexcusable" the FBI did not follow protocols and urged Congress to launch its own investigation. Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch of Florida promised to be in "close communication with the FBI so we can get to the bottom of this." Wray apologized in a rare statement admitting the FBI's missteps. But Scott, the governor, said that "isn't going to cut it." South Korea joins US, Thailand in military landing drill Troops from South Korea joined their Thai and U.S counterparts on Saturday in an amphibious vehicle landing drill as part of Southeast Asia's largest multinational military exercise. The 300 soldiers from South Korea who joined 2,000 U.S. Marines and Thai soldiers in eastern Thailand marked the highest numbers participating from the East Asian country since it joined the Cobra Gold exercise in 2010, and comes at a time when tensions are particularly high on the Korean Peninsula. Tensions in the Koreas primarily involve concerns over North Korea's nuclear capability, which has led to saber-rattling declarations in Washington and Pyongyang. "Our friends in the Republic of Korea, South Koreans, we stand by them. We work with them," said Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. "We are allies. We continue to coordinate and keep pressure on. Hopefully through diplomatic means we would be able to come to some successful resolution of the problem."Some 11,075 service members from 29 countries are taking part in this year's exercise, with Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia the seven main participants. There are 6,800 U.S. troops attending the exercise. Ships taking part in Saturday's exercise included the U.S. amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and the South Korean landing ship Cheon Ja Bong. The weeklong exercise, centered around the Sattahip Royal Thai Marine Corps Base in the eastern province of Chonburi, includes humanitarian components such as evacuation drills, as well as traditional military exercises such as the amphibious landing. The aims of the exercise are to enhance security cooperation, develop peacekeeping forces. German foreign minister pushes for return to strong US ties Germany's foreign minister says that as China's influence on the world stage rises, the U.S. and Europe need to return to historical bonds and work together or risk getting left behind. Sigmar Gabriel told world leaders and defense officials at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that the U.S. needs Europe as much as Europe needs the U.S. and said now is not the time for "just pursuing individual national interests." He said that since World War II Germany benefited from a strong relationship with the U.S., learning democracy, multilateralism, international law and free trade principles from Washington. Gabriel said "maybe this can explain why we Germans in particular are so perturbed when we look across the Atlantic - because we no longer recognize our America." Kurdish doctors report suspected Turkish gas attack in Syria Syrian Kurdish news outlets and Syria's state-run news agency say six civilians have suffered breathing difficulties after what they say was a poison gas attack launched by Turkey on the Kurdishcontrolled enclave of Afrin. The news outlets quote local doctors in Afrin as saying the hospital treated six cases of people who suffered shortness of breath, vomiting and skin rashes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also quoted local doctors in its report. The claims could not be independently confirmed. SANA on Saturday said Turkey fired several shells containing "toxic substances" on a village in Afrin on Friday night, causing six civilians to suffer suffocation symptoms. The Turkish military did not immediately comment on the reports Saturday but has previously stated that it does not use chemical weapons. Pakistan: Zainab Ansari’s killer gets four death sentences U.S. charges Russians with 2016 U.S. election tampering to boost Trump A Russian propaganda arm oversaw a criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign to support Donald Trump and disparage Hillary Clinton, said an indictment released on Friday that revealed more details than previously known about Moscow's purported effort to interfere. The office of U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller charged 13 Russians and three Russian companies, including St. Petersburgbased Internet Research Agency known for its trolling on social media. The official who oversees Mueller's work said the investigation was not finished. The court document said those accused "had a strategic goal to sow discord in the U.S. political system, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election." The indictment said Russians adopted false online personas to push divisive messages; traveled to the United States to collect intelligence, visiting 10 states; and staged political rallies while posing as Americans. In one case, it said, the Russians paid an unidentified person to build a cage aboard a flatbed truck and another to wear a costume "portraying Clinton in a prison uniform." The surprise 37-page indictment could alter the divisive U.S. domestic debate over Russia's meddling, undercutting some Republicans who, along with Trump, have attacked Mueller's investigation. "These Russians engaged in a sinister and systematic attack on our political system. It was a conspiracy to subvert the process, and take aim at democracy itself," said Paul Ryan, Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives. The indictment is silent on the question of whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin, which Mueller is investigating. In a tweet on Friday, Trump gave his most direct acknowledgement that Russia had meddled in the election, which he has frequently disputed. "Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President. The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong - no collusion!" Trump wrote. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the allegations as "absurd" and ridiculed the notion that so few Russian nationals could undermine U.S. democracy. "13 against the billions' budgets of the secret services?" she asked in a Facebook post. The accused Russians are unlikely to be arrested or to appear in a U.S. court on the charges, which include conspiracy to defraud the United States, wire fraud, bank fraud and identity theft. There is no extradition treaty between the United States and Russia. The indictment broadly echoes the conclusions of a January 2017 U.S. intelligence assessment, which found that Russia had Zainab's rape and murder sparked outrage in Pakistan. meddled in the election, and that its goals eventually included aiding Trump. In November 2016, Trump won a surprise victory over Democratic Party candidate Clinton. Mueller's indictment did not tie the meddling effort to the Russian government. But the earlier U.S. intelligence assessment said Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign to influence the U.S. election. Trump has never unequivocally accepted the U.S. intelligence report and has denounced Mueller's probe as a "witch hunt." Some of those charged, posing as Americans, "communicated with unwitting individuals associated with the Trump campaign," the indictment said. Last year, Mueller charged Trump's former campaign manager and his deputy with money-laundering and other crimes, and accepted guilty pleas from two former foreign policy aides for lying to the FBI. Friday's indictment of the Russians, coupled with the FBI disclosure that it failed to heed a warning about the Florida high school shooter, were blows to the White House, still reeling from the fallout of a scandal involving a former aide accused of domestic abuse by two ex-wives. UK leader seeks ‘deep’ EU security partnership British Prime Minister Theresa May is calling on her country's European Union partners not to let "rigid institutional restrictions" get in the way of a wide-ranging post- Brexit security partnership and warning that there will be "damaging real-world consequences" if none is agreed. May told the Munich Security Conference that "the U.K. is just as committed to Europe's security in the future as we have been in the past." May said the challenge is to put together a "deep and special partnership" with the EU to retain cooperation. She said: "This cannot be a time when any of us allow competition between partners, rigid institutional restrictions or deep-seated ideology to inhibit our cooperation and jeopardize the security of our citizens." Britain is due to leave the EU in March 2019. Germany's foreign minister says that as China's influence on the world stage rises, the U.S. and Europe need to return to historical bonds and work together or risk getting left behind. Sigmar Gabriel told world leaders and defense officials at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday that the U.S. needs Europe as much as Europe needs the U.S. and said now is not the time for "just pursuing individual national interests." A court in Pakistan has given a 24-year-old man, Imran Ali, four death sentences for raping and murdering a six-year old girl last month. Zainab Ansari's body was found in a rubbish dump in the city of Kasur, south of Lahore, on 9 January. Her murder triggered outrage across the country, including riots against alleged police incompetence in which two protesters died. The victim's father was in court to hear the verdict, amid heavy security. Zainab's killer has also been linked by police and the chief minister of Punjab province to the murders and assaults of other girls in the area. Ali's alleged crimes stretch back at least a year and angry residents say authorities should have been quicker to identify him as the perpetrator. Ali will be tried over the rest of the cases later, government prosecutor Ehtisham Qadir Shah told Reuters news agency. Dozens of witnesses testified against Ali in the trial, where forensic evidence including DNA and polygraph tests was also presented. It was family members - not police - who recovered CCTV footage showing Zainab being led away Ali was handed death sentences for kidnapping, rape, murder and an act of terrorism, a life sentence for sodomy and a large fine. He now has a 15-day window in which he may appeal against the verdict. The news of his sentencing sparked strong reactions on social media, including by Hamza Ali Abbasi, a Pakistani actor, model and director. Photo: BBC
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The Bangladesh Today (18-02-2018)

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