14-01-2021

Thursday, dhaka, January 14, 2021, Poush 30, 1427 bS, Jamadi-ul Awal 29 , 1442 hijri
Hill tribes crying out for water even
after 50 years of independence
Sayed Nurul Amin Rupok, Netrokona
Correspondent: The cry for water of the
hill tribes has not stopped even after 50
years of independence. They have to rely
on mountain springs as their natural
source for drinking water, washing and
bathing. During the dry season, from
December to April-May, when most of
the springs have stopped flowing, they
have to collect their water from the
muddy water of the hills, or from the
shallow wells made under the tillers.
Onehas to wait for a long time to fill the
pitcher by pouring water from the shallow
well into the bowl.
In this way, a small ethnic group of
Garo, Hajong inhabited by Durgapur-
The photo shows a resident of a hill tribe fetching drinking water
from mud in Netrokona. Photo: Sayed Nurul Amin Rupok
Country's
municipality
polls being held
in fair manner:
CEC
SAVAR : Expressing satisfaction
over the election system of the
country, Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) K M Nurul
Huda yesterday said that the
municipality elections are being
held in free, fair and neutral manner
and as such the upcoming Savar
municipality polls must also be held
in fair manner.
"Elections to all municipalities of
the country including Savar must be
free and fair . Usually, after defeat
in the election it was said that there
was vote rigging . this trend not
only noticeable in Bangladesh, but
globally too. " he said.
He said this while addressing a
coordination meeting on law and
order in the hall of Savar Upazila
Parishad ahead of Savar municipality
elections.
The CEC said there were allegations
of vote rigging in the global
elections and after defeating to the
elections, there have been same
allegation even in America.
Urging the opposition to have
trust and confidence in the Election
Commission (EC), he said :"At present,
there are no election irregularities
in Bangladesh. The present EC
is working independently and
impartially."
About security in polling areas, he
said actions will be taken if any person
stands anywhere with illegal
arms.
Expressing his firm conviction
Nurul Huda said there is no room
for vote rigging in Electronic Voting
Machines (EVMs), and stringent
measures will be taken against anyone
who will create untoward situation
during voting.
EC Secretary Alamgir Hossain,
Dhaka Divisional Commissioner
Khalilur Rahman, Deputy Inspector
General (DIG), Dhaka range
Habibur Rahman and
Superintendent of Police of Dhaka
district Maruf Hossain Sorder were
present, among others.
Kalmakandarupazila bordering
Netrokona, goes on a regular struggle to
collect water.
Mallika Micheng, 60, of Badambari
village in Durgapur upazila, has to walk
30 minutes every day to fetch water
from a small hole dug in the dead
rhyme. Water drips out of the hole.
Many others like Mallika Mitchengfills
the jug with the water little by little.
Residents of Badambari, Dahapara,
Gopalpur, Naluapara and Bhabanipur
areas of Durgapur upazila said that even
though they had installed tubewells and
deep wells on their own initiative, the
use of water was unsuitable due to
excess arsenic. Which is a serious risk to
the health.
Residents of TengraTilapara, Bang
Chakua, Batangri, Kankona and
Dhaldhala Para of TilagheraChengni in
Lengura Union of KalmakandaUpazila
said they used to drink the dirty water of
ChengniChhara coming down from the
Meghalaya hills on the other side. They
don't even get that opportunity now.
The poor residents of the neighborhood
are collecting the required water by placing
a shallow well under the tiller of the
forest department.
According to the District Public
Health Engineering Department, it is
not possible to install deep tube wells
like other areas as there are hard rocks
40 to 50 feet below the ground in
Durgapur and Kalmakanda hills of
Netrokona. The feasibility study is
underway to introduce production and
experimental water supply schemes by
installing deep tube wells in the surrounding
villages as an alternative
source of piped water supply to the
backward communities living in the
hills. They ensured to take effective steps
to solve the problems of the backward
people living in the hills by implementing
the project in a short time.
Alt. Farming
How women in Kurigram
augment their households'
incomes
KURIGRAM : Amina Begum of Sadar
upazila's Shuvarkuti village had to take
shelter in her father's home as her husband's
house got destroyed by the flood.
She managed some loans and planted
apel kul, papaya, chilly and eggplants on
60 decimals of her father's land. This
season she had to count a hefty loss for
cultivating crops. Amina took up farming
vegetables and fruits to recoup the
loss and hopes to make enough tobuy a
piece of landto build her own home.
Kurigram farming families were facing
huge losses caused by consecutive
5thphase of floods. To recover the loss
male members have set out in search of
work in different districts. Meanwhile
female members started alternative
farming. Housewives of Kurigram are
now becoming farmers to meet up the
demand and poverty of their family.
On a recent spot visit to Kurigram
sadar upazila's Holokhana union, in the
village of Shuvarkuti, UNB correspondent
witnessed the extensive farming
activities of the female .
There, some have cultivated cucumber,
some beans, some jujube, papaya
and many other vegetables on lands
that weredamaged by the flood,but
where thewaters have receded. Amina's
neighbor, Meghna Begum, sowed
cucumber seeds on her land after flood
water drained out in September. Within
3 months, her cucumbers became marketable.
Cultivation of cucumber cost
Meghna Tk 80,000, but she is expecting
revenue from them to touch Tk 120,
000 - allowing for a neat Tk 40,000
profit.
Golzar Hossain, member of
Holokhana Union, Ward no 9
said:'Times have changed. Women of
the family are adept at farming in instalments.
Having prepared the land for
farming,males venture outside their villages
in search of better-paying jobs,
while the women of Kurigram take care
of the instalment farming in theirabsence.'
Eti Begum of Shuvarkuti said her
seedbeds and rice field were damaged 3
times during this year'sfive phasesof
flooding. She had to incur loss of Tk
25,000. Availing the farming rehabilitation
aid and digging into her own savings,
Eti planted beans in 30 decimals of
her land. She is hopeful thatby selling
the beans, she can recoup the overall
loss of Tk 25,000 incurred so far.
The women in the region have
received institutional support, be it
technical expertise or microfinance,
from Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service
(RDRS), an NGO active in the area
since 1972. RDRS has also provided
training to some 13,000 women who
have received their farming rehabilitation
aid packages ranging from Tk
2,000 to Tk 12,000. There are other
microfinance institutions active in the
region as well.
Not only the farmers of Shuvarkuti,
flood affected Panchgachi, Jatrapur,
Ulipur union's Bajra and Begamganj
union farmers are also inclined to
change their fates through alternative
farming.
Tapan Kumar Saha, project co-ordinator
of RDRS, told UNB: "RDRS is
economically developing as well as
empowering 13,000 women and youth
of Panchgachi, Jatrapur, Ulipur union's
Bajra and Begamganj union through
their graduation and financial inclusion
project. International development
organisation Concern worldwide,
Trickle Up and Metlife are supporting
this project."
Umar Faruque, chairman of
Holokhana union, said the involvement
of unemployed women and youth in
this project made them aware of many
aspects in social issues, as well as keento
change their fates. "Already many
women and youth have succeeded in
turning around their lives through their
involvement in this project."
Nephew testifies
in graft case
against former
CJ Sinha
DHAKA : Shankhajit Sinha , nephew
of former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar
Sinha yesterday testified in a case
against him and 10 others for allegedly
embezzling Taka four crore from the
thenFarmers Bank and laundering the
money abroad.
Shankhajit Sinha testified as prosecution
witness (PW)-16 and was crossexamined
by the defence afterwards.
Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of Dhaka
Special Judge Court-4 after that
adjourned the hearing till February 2.
Sixteen prosecution witnesses out of the
total 21 have so far testified in the case.
Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 on
August 13 framed charges in the case.
The court, however, on February 20,
2020, transferred the case to Dhaka
Special Judge Court-4 for further proceedings.
The Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) filed the case on
July 10, 2019, for embezzling Taka four
crore from the then Farmers Bank and
laundering the money abroad.
The other accused are former
Farmers Bank managing director AKM
Shameem, first vice-presidents Swapan
Kumar Roy and Shafiuddin Askaree,
senior executive vice-president Gazi
Salauddin, vice-president M Lutful
Haque, bank's entrepreneur director
Md Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul
Chisty, bank clients Md Shahjahan,
Niranjan Chandra Saha, his uncle
Ranajit Chandra Saha, and Ranajit's
wife Santree Roy.
Baul Rita Dewan
gets bail in DSA case
DHAKA : A special tribunal yesterday
granted bail to Baul singer Rita Dewan
in a case lodged under Digital Security
Act (DSA) for allegedly hurting religious
sentiments.
Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge
Mohammad Ash Sams Joglul Hossain
passed the order as Rita surrendered
before the court through her lawyer
and pleaded for bail, tribunal clerk
Shamim Al Mamun told BSS.
The same tribunal on December 2,
2020, had issued arrest warrant
against three including Rita Dewan,
taking the primary probe report submitted
by Police Bureau of
Investigation (PBI) into cognizance.
Gang rape at Sylhet MC College
Indictment hearing Jan 17
SYLHET : A Sylhet court on Wednesday
fixed January 17 for hearing on charge
framing in a case filed over the gangrape
of a woman at MC College.
Woman and Child Repression
Prevention Tribunal Judge Mohammad
Mohitul Haque fixed the date after taking
the case into cognisance, said public
prosecutor Rashida Syeda Khanam.
Earlier, on Tuesday the tribunal
accepted chargesheet against eight
accused in the case.
The plaintiff did not file any objection
petition against the chargesheet.
On December 3, police pressed
charges against eight accused in the
gang rape case. Investigation officer of
the case Indranil Bhattacharya submitted
the chargesheet before the court of
Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Abul
Kashem. According to police, they
found the direct involvement of six people
in the rape while two abetted in the
crime. The accused who were directly
involved in the crime are: Saifur
Rahman, Shah Mohammad Mahbubur
Rahman Rony, Tariqul Islam Tarek,
Arjun Laskar, Mohammad Ainuddin
alias Ainul and Misbaul Islam Rajon.
Rabiul Islam Hasan and Mahfuzur
Rahman Masum were indirectly
involved. On November 30, police
received the DNA report of the MC
College gang rape and found the
involvement of some accused arrested
over the crime.
A group of youths tied up a man and
raped his 19-year-old wife at a dormitory
of MC College on September 25.
After police rescued the couple, the
victim's husband filed a case at
Shahporan Police Station against nine
people mentioning the names of six.
Law enforcers arrested eight people
who are now in police custody. On
September 30, the High Court formed
an investigation committee to look into
the incident.
Shakrain: A Fireworks
and Kite Festival
NAkibul AhSAN NiShAd: JNu
Preparations for the Shakrain festival
are going on in the alleys of old Dhaka.
The Shakrain Festival will start on
Thursday after midnight. Which is
known to many as Poush Sankranti. In
the Mahabharata it is called
Makarkranti. It is now celebrated all
over Dhaka, even outside of old Dhaka.
The festival used to be celebrated by
Hindus but now it is celebrated by people
of all religions as a part of Bengali
culture.
There is a buzz of kite selling in old
Dhaka around Shakrain. Colorful kites
have come in the market. Young people
are running kites, pulling threads.
Ghuri-natai shopkeepers are spending
their busy time in Shakhari Bazar,
Lakshibazar, Gandaria area of old
Dhaka. In Shankhari Bazaar there kite,
bat kite, peacock, chantara, punjab,
chokhdar, pandar, kathadar, maladar,
pankhiraj, chalandar, petidar, pandar,
butterfly, dapas, kite and other kite
stalls are decorated.
There are kites of different colors
depending on the size and price. The
price of a kite varies from a minimum
of BDT-5 to a maximum of BDT-350.
Besides, bat kites and big kites are
being sold at BDT-200 and small kite
kites at BDT-100. There are different
types of yarn for kite, including kangaroo,
scorpion, dragon. The yarn is sold
wholesale and retail as yards.
Bangladesh submits 304 genome
sequences of Covid-19
DHAKA : Bangladesh has sequenced
304 genomes of Covid-19 so far and
submitted to Global Initiative on
Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID).
Professor Dr Aftab Ali Shaikh, chairman
of Bangladesh Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research
(BCSIR), said this at a press conference
on Wednesday.
Different international organisations
praised Bangladeshi scientists
for their achievements in genome
sequencing of Covid-19 samples, Dr
Aftab said.
"CNN's senior medical correspondent
Elizabeth Cohen recently said
countries with far fewer resources,
including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and
Suriname, had processed samples
more quickly than the US."
However, when asked about a
BCSIR scientist's comment that a new
Covid-19 strain - similar to the one
recently found in the UK - was detected
in Bangladesh, he said, "We are still
working on it." The UK and South
Africa recently discovered new Covid-
19 strains in their domestic cases.
"The variants were found using
genome sequencing techniques that
analyse the structure of the virus and
discern mutations," William A
Haseltine, a former professor at
Harvard Medical School and
Harvard School of Public Health,
said.
"These genome sequencing techniques
were regularly used worldwide
at the start of the pandemic when we
knew less about the virus."
"Genome sequencingis essentially
determining the order of chemical
'bases' of a DNA molecule. Scientists
use these sequences to identify genes,
regulatory instructions, or in the case
of Covid-19, mutations to a virus,"
Haseltine said. "We will have to step
up genome sequencing in the US and
worldwide. And then new variants
must be identified and isolated. Else,
we may be looking at a very long year,"
he maintained.
Depending on the quality of the yarn,
600 yards are available for 80 to 120
taka.
There are also scales of different sizes
for lifting kites. Usually 2 inches to a
maximum of 10 inches. The price of 1
mat made of bamboo mats ranges from
a minimum of BDT-60 to a maximum
of BDT-600. Silver and iron rods are
also available.
Gandaria resident Likhan Shah and
his friend, who came to Shakhari
Bazaar to buy kites said, "Shakrain festival
is a festival of great joy for us."
Among the festivals of old Dhaka we
the youth enjoy this festival more. This
time there are restrictions from the
family due to Covid-19. So we will fly
kites on the roof of the house with a limited
number of friends. Apart from flying
kites, they also celebrate Poush
Sankranti cake festival, they added.
Anwar, owner of a shop said, "The
business is slowing down every year
due to the Covid-19. Orders are down
but still going well. We sell kites and
knots every months a year. Shakrain
creates a different image in the business.
This time due to the economic
downturn, money is not being given to
the children from the family.
Amit Deb Nath, a kite-spinner from
Shakhari Bazar said, "Every year on the
occasion of Shakrain, kite selling creates
a different feeling among us."The
joy of boys and girls selling kites takes
us back to childhood. I sell kites at a relatively
low price."
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam, Executive Editor : Sheikh Efaz Ahmed, 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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