Flower cultivation now a profitable venture

Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan yesterday said commercial flower production is now a profitable venture and that unemployed youths can build their career in this field.

“Now, flower is a symbol of not only purity and beauty but also profitable business. Many unemployed youths can enter the job market through commercial flower cultivation, as flower has a huge demand both at home and abroad,” the minister said while inaugurating the Unesco Club Flower Show and Competition-2009 in the capital.

National Association of Unesco Clubs in Bangladesh organised the flower show at Banbeis Bhaban at Nilkhet in the city where a total of 75 participants exhibited flowers in small bunches into hand-made basket in Japanese Ikebana style and also displayed rare species of flowers.

Appreciating the participants for their interest in gardening, the minister said such initiatives could lead to some economic benefits for both flower growers and sellers.
Referring to the huge demand for flowers at home and abroad, he said every corner of a homestead and rooftops of buildings can be used to grow flowers.

Prof Dr Aminul Islam, Cambrian College Chairman MK Bashar and Unesco Clubs Secretary General Mahbubuddin Chowdhury also spoke at the programme presided over by Adviser to the Unesco Clubs Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron.

The flower growers identified a number of obstacles such as non-availability of seeds and lack of technical knowledge, marketing facilities and preservation facilities.

Flower cultivation can be developed into an industry in the country like in India and Thailand if adequate facilities can be provided for farmers, they added.

Sadia Priyanka won the first prize while Nasreen Chowdhury and Sonia Razzaque obtained the second and the third positions respectively in the competition. Education Secretary Syed Ataur Rahman gave away prizes among the winners.

Source: Internet

Kolkata buys Mashrafee for $6 lakh

Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders has dramatically bought Bangladesh allrounder Mashrafee Bin Mortaza for $ 600000 in an auction, according to crininfo.com.

Mashrafee became the first Bangladeshi player sold from Pool F in the official Indian Twenty20 league.

There were no bids for him initially but just before the hammer went down, Kolkata made a bid at the base price of $50,000. It was the start of the most dramatic sale at the auction.

Kings XI Punjab threw themselves in the fray, locking horns against Kolkata, for Mashrafee. The bids spiralled slowly towards $400,000 and the auctioneer asked Punjab if they want to go $410,000, Priety Zinta nodded.

The raises were slow and the bidding went on and on and on. Kolkata touched the $500,00 mark. Punjab went further at $550,000. The atmosphere in the room grew quieter as the bids rose and the auctioneer attempted to speed up the process.

Kolkata was the first to bid $600,000 for Mashrafee at which point Punjab bowed out of the race. It was the longest lot in the auction, almost as long as a short chess game. A bit similar to Ishant Sharma’s surprise $950,000 tag at fag end of the auction last year.

Bet there are celebrations in Narail, Mashrafee’s hometown. What a moment for Mashrafee, he’s the first Bangladesh player to be bought by the IPL.

Wonder what Shakib Al Hasan is thinking? He’s had such a fabulous year with bat and ball and yet there were no bidders for him. Do the franchises look at ICC rankings?

Mashrafee’s base price was $50,000 and he went for $600,000.

COURTESY: cricinfo.com

Dhaka should be Obama’s first destination among Muslim countries

Dhaka should be Barack Obama’s first destination among Muslim countries.” This was stated by Ms Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow at the prestigious think-tank the Heritage Foundation, according to a message received here from Washington DC yesterday.

Ms Curtis was speaking as a panelist at a briefing on “Implications of the recent Bangladesh election for business” at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC on Wednesday.

She put forward two main arguments in favour of her proposal. First, according to Ms Curtis, Bangladesh society is least susceptible to extremism as proved in the recently held election. Secondly, progress in women empowerment in Bangladesh has provided a solid check on the growing radicalisation prevalent in some other Muslim countries.

Ms. Curtis also said that economic option seems brighter now than earthier and hoped that there will be more tolerance among the political parties so that they can work together for the people of Bangladesh. She also urged the US government to consider lifting of all tariffs and there by allowing duty free access to products from least developed countries like Bangladesh to USA.

Bangladesh Ambassador to USA Humayun Kabir, who also spoke as a panelist, provided a run down on Bangladesh’s recent election and elaborated on how, compared to other economies in Asia.

The economy of Bangladesh has shown strong resilience and thereby acted as a bulwark for the country’s economy in the face of the current global economic and financial meltdown, he said.

Ambassador Kabir give a detailed sketch on how Bangladesh economy maintained its strong resilience and added that the strong growth in three main areas,—namely internal resource mobilisation, agriculture and manufacturing were attributable for this resilience.

Remittance is also flowing strong and the confidence of the business community is growing, he said adding through all these, Bangladesh has emerged as an attractive destination for foreign investment.

The Ambassador said through the just concluded free, fair and credible election it was eloquently proved that the people of Bangladesh are decisively in favour of democracy and ready to defend it at any cost.

He said that with a new conciliatory political culture emerging, Bangladesh is likely to remain much stable and investor friendly than other countries in the region.
The ambassador highlighted the government’s policy directions with regard to investment and the potential areas for foreign investment in Bangladesh.
Kabir urged the US companies to come forward and take advantage of the investment opportunities in Bangladesh.

Terming present-day Bangladesh as an exciting one, Donal Camp, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, another panelist, narrated on how warmly the government of US welcomed the outcome of the recent parliament election in Bangladesh.

Camp added that this election has upgraded Bangladesh to a new phase and hoped that the new government will assure international businesses and investors through continuity and follow up of earlier contracts and commitments.
He hoped that the opposition would also fulfil their democratic obligations to advance the causes of Bangladesh.

The session was followed by a lively question and answer session, where high officials of leading US companies like chevron, Boeing, Conocophillips took part and wanted to know about the investment opportunities in Bangladesh.

Some participants also cautioned that any departure from earlier commitments may send a wrong signal eroding business confidence in Bangladesh. The briefing was attended by US government officials, business executives, congressional staffs, academics, journalists and Bangladesh Embassy officials, the message added.

Source: BSS

EC sues minister for violating electoral code of conduct

The Election Commission on Thursday filed a case against the fisheries and livestock minister, Abdul Latif Biswas, his daughter and four other local Awami League leaders for intervening in polling and violating the electoral code of conduct in the upazila elections.

The commission in the case alleged Latif had assaulted polling personnel, snatched ballot papers and captured polling centres at Belkuchi in Sirajganj.

Nitish Chandra Dey, district election officer 1 of Sirajganj, lodged the case on the commission’s behalf with the ‘Kha’ region of the additional chief judicial magistrate’s court. The EC secretariat on February 3 sent a letter to Nitish, asking him to lodge the case.

Others accused in the case are the Belkuchi Awami League candidate for upazila chairman Md Fazlul Haque Sarker, candidate for vice-chairman Gazi Abdul Hamid Akand, Bhangabari union parishad chairman Abdul Matin Pramanik and Md Hilton Rahman, assistant personal secretary to the minister.

In accordance with the electoral rules, the accused may be fined or imprisoned for a term of two to seven years, or both, if they are found guilty of the offences, which are considered criminal offences.

Another case was filed earlier against the Awami League lawmaker for the Cox’s Bazar 4 constituency (Teknaf-Ukhia), Abdur Rahman Bodi, for assaulting polling personnel during the upazila polls at Teknaf.

The commission was forced to suspend polling in four upazilas, including Belkuchi and Taknaf, over intimidation, capturing of polling centres and snatching of ballot boxes.

The first information report of the case claimed Soma Biswas, daughter of Latif Biswas, along with a number of thugs stormed into the Sohagpur Natunpara Government Primary School polling centre at about 9:00am, when balloting was going on, beat up the presiding officer M Masud Karim, headmaster of the Brahmangram Government Primary School, and snatched the ballot papers.

According to the FIR, Latif Biswas along with his assistant private secretary, after casting his vote at the Alhaj Latifa Shahjahan Girls’ High School centre, stormed into the Sohagpur Natunpara Government Primary School centre at about 10:30am when others accused had occupied the centre.

Due to the presence of the minister, an anarchic situation was created, disrupting the voting process. At one stage, the assistant returning officer suspended polling at the centre. News of the minister’s presence in the polling centre spread to all the other polling centres and spoilt the electoral environment.

The FIR claimed the minister had violated Section 14 and 15 of the Upazila Parishad (Election Code of Conduct) Rule 2008 by entering the polling centre illegally and influencing the polling process. According to the rule, ministers, state ministers, deputy ministers and persons enjoying similar status cannot participate in electioneering.

The Election Commission alleged a number of people, led by Fazlul Haque Sarker, Abdul Hamid Akand and Abdul Matin Pramanik, had physically assaulted and injured Mohammad Mosharrof Hossain, upazila election officer of Belkuchi, another officer Touhidul Islam and the upazila education officer at about 2:45pm in the hall of the upazila parishad.

According to the FIR, the witnesses of the case are Sirajganj deputy commissioner Md Humayun Kabir, superintendent of police Md Alamgir Rahman, additional deputy commissioner Md Abdul Qaiyum, Belkuchi UNO Md Nasir Uddin, presiding officer Abul Hashem, assistant presiding officer Md Masud Karim and Bekuchi police officer-in-charge Md Arman Hossain.

The upazila elections, held on January 22, were marked by stuffing of ballot boxes, expulsion of polling agents from polling centres and sporadic violence in which about 200 people were injured.

The commission suspended elections to four, and postponed elections to two, upazila parishads.

Source: The New Nation