17-07-2019

WEDNESDAy, DHAKA, July 17, 2019, SRABON 2, 1426 BS, JIlquAD 14, 1440 HIJRI
On Tuesday, Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Mohammad Sayed Khokon visited Dhaka Medical
College Hospital to visit the Dengu patients.
Photo: TBT
Work to retain the glory
of PGR: President
DHAKA : President Abdul Hamid on
Tuesday emphasised the need for
strengthening the President Guard
Regiment (PGR) and said efforts to turn
it into a well-integrated one will continue,
reports UNB.
He said this while delivering his speech
at the Darbar of PGR at Shaheed Capt
Hafiz Hall at the PGR Headquarters in
Dhaka Cantonment, marking its 44th
founding anniversary.
"The responsibility entrusted to you
isimportant and glorious ...the purview of
your responsibilities is expanding day by
day," he said, adding that he hoped the
PGR will continue to discharge their
duties sincerely.
President Hamid said the organisational
structure of the PGR has been expanded.
"Efforts to further consolidate this
regiment will continue in future," he said.
"Properly discharge your duties by having
complete faith in the chain of command,"
the President told PGR members.
"[I hope] everyone will play a strong role
in upholding the glory achieved by this
regiment."
Hamid said he was impressed to see the
integrity, devotion and, above all, the
sense of discipline and professional efficiency
of PGR members while discharging
their duties.
He praised the PGR members for
working day and night under any circumstances
and even during inclement
weather.
"I'm fascinated by your patriotism,
sense of duty, superior discipline and
devotion while discharging [your] sacred
and important duties," he said.
President Hamid noted that the PGR is
another special part of Bangladesh's
proud army which has a very good reputation
in the national and global arena.
He said the army has earned the appreciation
of people and a worldwide reputation
for standing by the distressed people
during any kind of natural calamity.
Mentioning the involvement of the
forces in development works, the
President said: "Bangladesh Army has a
special contribution towards developing
the communication system. The construction
of the Padma Bridge is going on
under the supervision of the army and it
(the bridge) is visible now."
Hamid said many PGR members made
sacrifices in the past while performing
duties. "I firmly believe that you'll remain
loyal to your dutifulness and devotion in
the coming days."
He also recalled the greatest Bangali of
all time, Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,
who established the PGR on July 5, 1975.
The Army Chief was present on the
occasion. General Aziz Ahmed and PGR
Commander Brig Gen Md Jahangir Alam
greeted the President at the PGR headquarters.
President Hamid visited the quarter
guard and signed the visitors' book. He
also planted a sapling.
Secretaries concerned to the President
were also present at the function.
Spl cell to be
formed at AG
office: Anisul
DHAKA : Law, Justice and
parliamentary Affairs
Minister Anisul Huq yesterday
said a special cell will be
formed at Attorney General
(AG) office to inform deputy
commissioners (DCs) about
High Court cases related to
government's interest.
"We would form the cell
with five to seven assistant
attorney generals, which
would play an important role
in increasing contact between
AG office and DCs and to
ensure quick disposal of
cases," Anisul told newsmen
at the secretariat yesterday
afternoon.
The law minister earlier
addressed fifth session related
to his ministry at the ongoing
DC Conference 2019 at
the at the cabinet division
conference room.
While replying a question
on killing of a man inside
courtroom in Cumilla, Anisul
Huq said he has talked to
superintendant of local police
after the incident and asked
him to increase security of
courts.
"Not only Cumilla, security
of courts across the country
would be raised," he said.
Presided over by Cabinet
Secretary Mohammad
Shafiul Alam, the session was
attended by Law and Justice
Division Secretary Abu Saleh
Sheikh Md Zahirul Haque,
senior officials of cabinet division
and law ministry and all
divisional and deputy commissioners.
Ecnec clears 8 projects
involving Tk 5,142 cr
DHAKA : The Executive Committee of the
National Economic Council (Ecnec) on
Tuesday approved eight projects involving
Tk 5,142 crore, including Tk 2,606 crore to
improve important roads under various
unions and upazilas of Dhaka division,
reports UNB.
The approval came from the weekly Ecnec
meeting held at the NEC conference room
with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
"Today's Ecnec meeting cleared eight projects
involving Tk 5,142.06 crore," said
Planning Secretary Muhammad Nurul Amin
while briefing reporters after the meeting.
Of the total cost, Tk 4,129.81 crore will
come from the government fund, while Tk
1,012.55 crore from foreign sources as project
assistance, he said.
Among the approved projects, six are new
and the rest two are revised ones.
The Planning Secretary said the
'Expansion and Strengthening of Important
Upazila and Union roads under Dhaka
Division Project' will be implemented by
June 2024.
According to Planning Commission officials,
the Local Government Division will
implement the project in 67 upazilas out of
88 in 13 districts under the Dhaka Division.
The main project operations include development
of some 1001.51 kilometres of road
and 240 intersections, construction of 5,857
metres of bridges and culverts, 30 kilometres
of drain and some 12,000 square metres of
slope protection.
The Planning Secretary said Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina at the meeting
issued some directives to the authorities concerned,
including formulation of a 'master
plan' by the Cox's Bazar Development
Authority before taking any development
project there. She put emphasis on creating
more 'jhao bon' (coastal forest) in the coastal
areas of Cox's Bazar to protect the tourist
town from natural disasters.
Sheikh Hasina also directed the Deputy
Commissioner of Cox's Bazar to frame a separate
'master plan' so that buildings and
other infrastructures cannot develop haphazardly
in Cox's Bazar.
Referring to the approval of the construction
of supporting infrastructures for the
Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City-2 Project with
Tk 344.93 crore, the Prime Minister directed
the authorities concerned to incorporate
sports and entertainment facilities as well as
shopping mall inside the city.
The Planning Secretary said a project on
constructing six stadiums in selected upazilas
placed by the Ministry of Youth and
Sports was withdrawn from the meeting
since mini stadiums are being constructed at
upazila level across the country.
Sheikh Hasina directed the authorities
concerned not to construct such upazilalevel
stadiums using lands of schools and
colleges rather choose separate places for the
stadiums.
She also said these stadiums will have galleries
on one side while the three other sides
will remain open.
The Prime Minister also asked the
Railways Ministry not to launch Diesel
Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) trains but go
for other trains while introducing train services
from Dhaka to Bangabandhu Hi-Tech
Park.
The Legend of Bingen’s
Mouse Tower
INTERESTING NEWS
On a small island in the Rhine river, outside
Bingen am Rhein, in Germany, stands
a 10th century stone tower with a macabre
legend associated with it.
The story goes that in the year 970, there
was a terrible famine in Germany, so severe
that people devoured cats and dogs just to
stay alive, yet thousands died of starvation.
At this time, the archbishop of Mainz was a
cruel and wicked ruler named Hatto II, a
despicable miser, whose dominant idea in
life was to increase his treasures by fair
means or foul.
Hatto II had his barn full, but he did not
spare a single grain for the starving poor,
instead tried to sell them at such inflated
prices that most could not afford it. The
peasants became angry and were planning
to rebel, so Hatto II devised a cruel trick. He
promised to feed the hungry people and told
them to assemble at an empty barn and wait
for him to come with food. The peasants
were overjoyed and made their way to the
barn to await his coming. Once the barn was
full, Hatto II ordered the barn's doors shut
and locked, and then set the barn on fire.
When Hatto II returned to his castle, he
was immediately besieged by an army of
mice. To escape the rodents, the bishop fled
his castle and sought refuge in the tower
that stands on an island on the Rhine, hoping
that the mice could not swim. But the
mice followed him, pouring into the river by
the thousands, and while many drowned
even more reached the island. The swarm
ate through the tower’s doors and crawled
up to the top floor, where they found Hatto
II and ate him alive.
The apocryphal story that has maligned
the poor Bishop has no historical evidence.
Bishop Hatto II was by no means a hardhearted
and wicked ruler. While in office, he
built the church of St George on the island
of Reichenau, donated heavily to the abbeys
of Fulda and Reichenau, and was a patron
of the chronicler Regino of Prüm.
Case filed over
killing of accused
in Cumilla court
CUMILLA : A case was filed
here on Tuesday over the
killing of an accused by
another accused in a courtroom
during hearing on
Monday, reports UNB.
Assistant sub-inspector
Firoz of Bangara Police
Station, who was present at
the court during the incident
in connection with another
case, filed the case with
Kotwali Model Police Station
against lone accused Hasan in
the morning, said Inspector
(Investigation) of the police
station Mohammad
Salauddin.
The case was later shifted to
Detective Branch of police for
investigation, he said.
Meanwhile, DB Inspector
Pradip Mondal has been
appointed investigation officer
of the case.
Hasan, a murder case
accused, stabbed another
accused Faruk, son of Ohid
Ullah of Monaharganj in the
district, to death in front of
the Judge in a courtroom
here during hearing on
Monday.
The shocking incident took
place in front of Judge Begum
Fatema Ferdous of Cumilla
Sessions Judge (third) court
in the courtroom.
The deceased and the
attacker happen to be
cousins.
Cumilla Police Super Syed
Nurul Islam said accused
Hasan started stabbing Faruk
with a knife indiscriminately
while the hearing in the murder
case was going on in the
court around noon, leaving
him critically injured.
In Kurigram district around 4 lac people marooned by flood .The photo was taken from
Chilmari on Tuesday.
Photo: Star Mail
No import of cattle ahead
of Eid-ul-Azha
DHAKA : The government has decided not
to allow any kind of cattle to enter the country
through the border areas ahead of the holy Eidul-Azha
to ensure fair prices of the sacrificial
animals.
The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial
meeting held at the conference room of the
Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock yesterday
with State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock
Ashraf Ali Khan Khosru in the chair.
"The import of the Indian cattle has significantly
been reduced as the country is now selfsufficient
in meat production," the state minister
said in the meeting, said a press release.
In previous years, it said, around 24-25 lakh
cattle were annually brought to the country,
but the number came down to only 92,000 in
2018.
The meeting noted that the country has nearly
1.18 crore eligible sacrificial animals and the
ministry has taken all out initiatives to ensure
supply and security of the healthy sacrificial
animals to the people ahead of the Eid-ul Azha.
Meanwhile, the Department of Livestock
Services (DLS) has ensured the availability of
some 45.82 lakh sacrificial animals like cow
and buffalo across the country.
Besides, the country has 72 lakh goats and
sheep, according to the DLS. A total of 1.10
crore animals would be required for sacrifice
during the upcoming Eid-ul Azha.
The veterinary medical teams would be
involved at all 24 hats under the two city corporations
areas, said the DLS.
The DLS added that it along with the city corporations
and concerned department will work
to encourage healthy fattening and preventing
cattle fattening through providing steroid and
unhealthy hormone injections.
Additional Secretary Kazi Wasi Uddin,
Director General of the DLS Hiresh Ranjan
Bhowmik, Livestock Research Institute's DG
Nathuram Sarker and officials of other ministries,
among others, attended the meeting.
Writ filed seeking directive to
provide security to judges
DHAKA : A writ was filed with the High
Court seeking a directive to provide proper
security to judges and courtrooms
across the country, reports UNB.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan, a Supreme
Court lawyer and the wife of a judge, filed
the petition.
The writ was filed a day after a gruesome
killing in a courtroom of Cumilla.
The shocking incident took place on
Monday in front of Judge Begum Fatema
Ferdous of Cumilla Sessions Judge (third)
court while the hearing in the murder case
was going on. A hearing on the writ is likely
to be held at the bench of Justice FRM
Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul
Kader on Wednesday.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan, said, "As the wife
of a judge, I'm worried at the grisly murder
inside the courtroom and that's why I've
filed a petition seeking a directive to provide
security to all the judges and courtrooms
across the country."
6 people die as
flooding worsens
in Kurigram
KURIGRAM : Six people
drowned in Ulipur and
Roumari upazilas on Tuesday
as the Brahmaputra and
Dharla rivers continue to flow
above the danger level, leaving
thousands of people
stranded.
Manzil Haque, deputyassistant
director of Kurigram
Fire Service and Civil
Defense, said five people died
after a boat sank at Natun
Anantapur in Ulipur.
The deceased were identified
as Runa Begum, 28, wife
of Rezaul Islam; Rupa Moni,
8, daughter of Mohsin Ali;
Sumon, 8, Ruku Moni, 8, and
Hasibul Islam, 7, son of Aynal
Haque.
Besides, Saiful Islam, 25,
from Roumari's Kartimari
area drowned after coming in
contact with a live wire in the
morning. His body was later
recovered.
According to the district
control room, worsening
floods and river erosion
affected about 4,00,000 people
until Tuesday.
The Brahmmaputra and
Dharla rivers were flowing
125cm and 117cm above the
danger level respectively at
Chilmari and Bridge points.
Meanwhile, in Roumari
upazila, 10 villages were
flooded after the Wapda Dam
in Kartimari Chaktabari area
collapsed on Monday night.
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Advisory Editor: Advocate Molla Mohammad Abu Kawser, Managing, Editor: Tapash Ray Sarker, News Editor : Saiful Islam, printed at Sonali Printing Press, 2/1/A, Arambagh 167, Inner Circular Road, Eden Complex, Motijheel, Dhaka.
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