Villagers besiege Barapukuria power plant

Thousands of people from different villages besieged Barapukuria 250MW power plant in Parbatipur upazila of Dinajpur on Tuesday to realise their two-point demand including smooth power supply.
Nearly 3000 villagers under the banner of "Dudhipur Pani and Bidyut Sangram Committee" brought out a procession and marched towards the power plant in the morning and laid siege to it around 10:45am.
Their demand also include stop lifting of excessive water from underground for the power plant as the villagers are not getting drinking water through tube-wells due to fall in water-level.
The villagers launched the agitation programme in the morning as the authorities concerned failed to meet their demands within their given deadline.
Earlier on September 4, they gave the September 13 time limit to fulfil their demands. They also threatened to besiege the power plant and cut electric supply lines to 14 pumps, which are lifting underground water for operating the power plant, on September 14 on the day.
Additional police and army personnel have been deployed around the power plant area to avoid any untoward incident.
Md Anwarul Haque, general secretary of the committee, earlier alleged that hundreds of tube-wells at Dudhipur, Ishabpur and Sherpur villages have remained inoperative for long as water level has fallen due to lifting of excessive water by the 14 pumps.
The villagers have to collect drinking water from far-flung areas and use tainted water released by the power plant for bathing and washing their clothes, they claimed, adding that skin diseases are spreading at the villages.

They said though the government has set up a 250MW power plant in the area, they are not getting smooth power supply. "We appealed several times to the authorities concerned to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the villages, but to no effect," they said.
Chief engineer of the power plant Bishwanath Haldar earlier told the correspondent that the ministry concerned and the Power Development Board are authorised to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the villagers.
According to the officials of Dinajpur public health department, the water releasing by the power plant was harmful to public health and widely spreading skin diseases. But the power plant authorities claimed that they were releasing water after treating it inside the plant.
-Daily Star

DSE turnover hits 4-month low

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange dropped to its four and a half month low on Monday as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest directive barring netting facilities for non-marginable securities came into effect on the day, the first trading day after a four-day Eid vacations.

 

Market operators said the suspension of netting facilities on the trading of non-marginable securities pushed down the turnover at the market.
Turnover at the DSE was Tk 1,028.36 crore on Monday, down by Tk 576.3 crore from the previous trading day on September 8.
Monday’s turnover was the lowest since April 20 when the turnover at the DSE was Tk 1,053 crore.
On September 5, the SEC suspended netting facility for non-marginable issues effective from the first working day after the Eid vacations to squeeze inflow of funds into the stock exchanges.
Stock prices also fell on Monday.
The benchmark general index of DSE decreased by 10.76 points, or 0.15 per cent, to close at 6,796.47 points.
Salahuddin Ahmed Khan, a former chief executive officer of the DSE, said the new directive of the SEC suspending netting facilities on trading of non-marginable securities -- against which investors are not entitled to get loans --mainly pulled down the market.
Market operators said net asset value-based margin loan evaluation policy and September 30 deadline for the adjustment of margin loans in line with the new policy prompted a selling pressure at the market.
DSE president Shakil Rizvi said at the opening trading hour index fell 120 points because of a selling pressure, but it regained some ground at the closing hour.
The downtrend would not last long, he added.
The broader DSE all shares price index decreased by 12.62 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close at 5,701.60 points on Monday.
A total of 250 issues traded on the market, 150 advanced, 91 declined and nine remained unchanged.
Beximco topped the turnover leaders with more than 1.95 lakhs shares valued at Tk 63 crore traded on the day.
The other turnover leaders were BSRM Steels, Al-Arafah Islami Bank, AB Bank, IFIC Bank, Bextex, Aftab Automobiles, National Bank, Titas Gas and One Bank.

700 projects to get EEF aid

The government has decided to assist about 700 firms from its Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund (EEF) including one for crocodile farming in Mymensingh.
Under the EEF terms and conditions, a project worth at least Tk 2 million, may receive 49 per cent financial aid if it invests the remainder from its own funds.
Projects in agriculture, fishery, agriculture and food processing, and information technology sectors are eligible. The financial assistance, in the form of loans, is repayable within eight years.
The government has approved 183 such projects since January and 500 others are now in line for similar assistance, Mohammad Iftekhar-Uz-Zaman, currently in charge of running and managing the EEF, told the news agency.
Of the 183 projects, there are 16 IT projects, each of which will receive between Tk 20 million and Tk 100 million, said Zaman, also the general manager of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh.
Asked if the financing had already begun, he said, ‘Eight firms have so far received the loans. But many parties are yet to complete 51 per cent investment and complete the full registration procedure of the land that will house their projects.’
‘Financial help will be provided to them once these formalities are completed.’
Around 1,000 firms have approached the government for assistance, for which there is around Tk 30 billion will be needed, however, the government has confirmed that there would be no problem with financing, said Zaman.
Most of the projects are related to agriculture, fisheries, and food processing while others are in the IT sector, he informed.
The government formed this fund in December 2000 to finance risky but promising projects. The Bangladesh Bank was then assigned to run and manage the EEF.
The charge was handed over to the ICB in June 2009, by which time the EEF had disbursed Tk 5.08 billion to 251 projects, of which 34 were related to information technology.
The ICB has since financed Tk 44.2 million for eight projects, of which two were IT and the others agriculture and food processing.
Iftekher-Uz-Zaman said, ‘We have taken a long time just to ensure efficient EEF financing.’
Before handing over EEF to the ICB, Bangladesh Bank had received 3,150 applications, of which 150 were for IT projects.
Between 2,000 and 3,000 projects were short-listed.

Hasina alerts govt high-ups

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday alerted her cabinet colleagues that the opposition might try to destabilise the country within the next couple of months in a bid to foil the upcoming trials of war criminals, according to highly placed government sources.

The premier issued the warning while chairing a weekly cabinet meeting in Bangladesh Secretariat.
Hasina, also the president of ruling Awami League (AL), directed ministers, state ministers, lawmakers and other authorities concerned to alert the people about the threat as well.
"The opposition was saying that they will launch a movement after the Eid. We will have no objection if they do that staying within the legal bounds. But the fear is that they might carry out destabilising activities in a planned way in the name of a movement," the premier was quoted as saying, by a cabinet member.
The sources told The Daily Star that the warning came following information from different intelligence agencies at home and abroad that an attempt on the prime minister's life might be carried out between this month and November.
The intelligence agencies also said simultaneous multiple sabotage might be carried out as well during the period by the anti-liberation war forces, in collaboration with an Indian separatist organisation and different local militant outfits.
They said the opposition might take the chance to mislead the people about some of the government's major initiatives including the move to try the war criminals, according to one of the sources who had talked to the prime minister recently.
AL insiders said before the premier departs for the US on September 18 to attend the UN general assembly, she might brief some of her close aides about the latest situation of the country and their tasks.
Mahbubul Alam Hanif, a special assistant to the prime minister, said Sheikh Hasina's life is under threat at all times.
The defeated forces of the liberation war, the killers of the father of the nation and their collaborators, the masterminds and patrons of the August 21, 2004 grenade attack, and the international arms smugglers who tried to smuggle 10 trucks of arms and ammunition through Bangladesh the same year, might try to assassinate the premier, he said yesterday.
"As she is the leader of the House, the prime minister, and the president of ruling Awami League -- the administration, and the law enforcement and intelligence agencies will take all possible measurers to thwart any attempt on her life," he added.
About the ruling party's preparation to thwart any such attempt, Hanif, also the acting general secretary of AL, said they will organise rallies at district headquarters, and grand rallies at divisional headquarters to mobilise public support for the government's move to try the war criminals, and to counter the opposition's anti-government propaganda.
Welcoming opposition leader Khaleda Zia's statement that they want to help the government, the AL spokesperson urged her to join the parliament to criticise the government.
"But the people won't allow any movement to save the war criminals, and to cover up the corruption and misdeeds of the Zia family including Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko," he said.
He hoped that the opposition leader will understand the pulse of the people, and refrain from engaging in negative and destructive politics.
-Daily Star

Road crashes kill 63 in five days

At least 63 people, including two police sub-inspectors, were killed and 203 others injured in more than 32 road accidents across the country in the last five days.
Of the total accidents, 10 were involving motorcycles colliding with passenger buses or crashing into trucks or microbuses while overtaking.

Also, a good number of people were killed when passenger buses hit small vehicles like CNG-run auto-rickshaws, microbus and pick-up vans. Reckless driving caused most of the accidents.
On and the day before the Eid day, four people including a five-year-old boy were killed in road crashes in the city's Shyamoli, Adabar, Uttara and Kafrul areas.
A woman was killed and another 35 received injuries as a Gopalganj-bound bus fell into a ditch on Dhaka-Aricha highway at Dhamrai in Dhaka yesterday.
Our Kushtia correspondent reports, four people were killed and 30 others injured on Kushtia-Bheramara highway in Kushtia yesterday when a Daulatpur-bound bus turned turtle after its driver lost control over the steering wheel.
The accident occurred around 1:00pm.
In Rangpur, five people were killed and another 20 wounded in two separate accidents on the Eid day. One of the accidents occurred when a Panchagarh-bound bus fell into a roadside ditch near Pirganj bus stand while the other was a head-on collision between two motorcycles.
Two people were killed and four more injured in two accidents at Sitakunda in Chittagong yesterday, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
Meanwhile, a mother and her daughter died after the private car carrying them skidded off Dhaka-Sylhet highway near Osmani Nagar on September 10.
In Gopalganj, three people were killed and two more injured in three separate accidents during the three-day Eid vacation.
Two of the incidents were head-on collisions involving motorcycles. The other accident occurred when a passenger on a bus roof got tangled with an electric wire at Moksudpur on Dhaka-Khulna highway.
In another accident, three people were killed and 50 others injured near the district's police lines intersection on Dhaka-Khulna highway around 6:00pm yesterday. Police said the number of casualties may rise.
Our Faridpur correspondent reports a police sub-inspector was killed when a passenger bus hit his motorcycle on Dhaka-Khulna highway on September 10.
Another sub-inspector was killed when a bus hit his bike from behind near Rupsha Bridge in Batiaghata upazila on Dhaka-Khulna highway yesterday.
At least eight people -- three in Dinajpur and five in Bogra -- got killed in separate accidents in the two northern districts since September 8. Two friends were killed on Lalmoni-Burimari highway in Lalmonirhat when a goods-laden truck hit their bike on September 10.
Our Patuakhali and Barisal correspondents reported eight deaths in seven road mishaps since September 9.
News Agency UNB reports: A minor boy was crushed under the wheels of a speedy bus yesterday near Abdullapur bus stand on Dhaka-Mawa highway.
Meanwhile, three people were killed and 40 others injured in a head-on collision between two buses at Kadampur under Dakkhin Keraniganj thana on September 9 while nine passengers were killed and 15 others injured when a bus and a Leguna pickup van had collided head-on on Dhaka-Sylhet highway on the same day.
An assistant engineer of Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Ltd (BTCL) was also killed in an accident on Chittagong-Bandarban road on the same day.
Drivers of two buses were killed as their buses collided at Abdullahpur on Dhaka-Mawa highway on September 9.
-Daily star