More rice will be imported later, food minister Abdur Razzaque said.

Just days ago, Razzaque told a seminar on food security that Bangladesh was moving toward self-sufficiency in production of rice and other crops.

“We have taken this decision to reduce the rice price. More rice will be imported later on,” the minister told reporters Sunday after the purchase committee meeting.

Concerning the amount of the rice to be imported, the minister said, “It is not fixed yet. But we have an offer of another 25,000 MT.”

The food ministry on Jan 25 invited tenders for import of 50,000 MT rice.

Among the competing companies, Singapore-based Indo-Sino Trade Private Limited got permission to supply 25,000 MT rice to Bangladesh at a cost of Tk 68.73 crore. The price is $395 per tonne.

Asked why Atap rice is being imported, Razzaque said, “Other kinds were not available.”

Food directorate chief Pius Costa told bdnews24.com the rice would arrive in a month. He said that more will be imported from Myanmar or Pakistan.

Source: bdnews

The murder caused a media sensation five years ago. Brother of noted actress Shampa Reza, Azam Reza’s initial death sentence was commuted to a life imprisonment by the High Court in 2008.

A four-member Appellate Division bench, headed by chief justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, on Sunday dismissed a leave to appeal by the government against the High Court order commuting the death penalty.

It also dismissed a leave to appeal by Azam Reza challenging the High Court’s sentence.

Azam Reza married Jayanti, daughter of journalist M Sadekin in 2000. On Jan 9 2004 Jayanti was found murdered in their Banani home.

Jayanti’s mother Nusin Sadekin filed a murder case with Gulshan Police Station the next day. Police immediately arrested Azam Reza.

A Dhaka speedy trial tribunal handed down the death sentence to Azam Reza on Jan 14 2005. The High Court commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on July 21 2008.

At Sunday’s hearing, advocate AK Bodrul Haque stood for Azam Reza while deputy attorney general ASM Mubin stood for the government.

source: bdnews

Iran

Ahmadinejad’s comments, made during an address to Intelligence Ministry staff, come amid escalating tensions between the West and Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. They show that Iran has no intention of toning itself down even with tighter sanctions looming because of its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

“September 11 was a big lie and a pretext for the war on terror and a prelude to invading Afghanistan,” Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by state TV. He called the attacks a “complicated intelligence scenario and act.”

The Iranian president has questioned the official U.S. version of the Sept. 11 attacks before, but this is the first time he ventured to label it a “big lie.”

In 2007, New York officials rejected Ahmadinejad’s request to visit the World Trade Center site while he was in the city for a U.N. meeting. The president also sparked an uproar when he said during a lecture in New York that the causes and conditions that led to the attacks, as well as who orchestrated them, still need to be examined.

At the time, he also told Iranian state TV the attacks were “a result of mismanaging and inhumane managing of the world by the U.S,” and that Washington was using Sept. 11 as an excuse to attack others.

He has also questioned the Sept. 11 death toll of around 3,000, claiming the Americans never published the victims’ names.

On the 2007 anniversary of the attacks, the names of 2,750 victims killed in New York were read aloud at a memorial ceremony.

source: yahoo news

The alliance was formed to fight together against the then government, take part in the election and also to form government in coalition.

But AL having won a land slide victory in December 2008, could not keep its promise. Sheikh Hasina formed her cabinet unilaterally without discussing with any alliance partner.

Only Dilip Barua of Shyamabadi Dal was made a minister. But Leaders of Workers Party (WP), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), Ganotantri Party (GP) and others were not accommodated.

Hasina rewarded Jatiya Party presidium member and younger brother of Ershad as a minister in her cabinet according to her own decision, without discussing it with JP.

The 14-party did not nominate candidates jointly in the last election, rather Awami Legue took decisions about choosing candidates though it offered four seat to JSD leaders and three seats to WP leaders.

Mistrust and discontent are growing day by day as the partners of AL are becoming disillusioned and feeling ignored.

The left-leaning parties are now actively considering to review their position in the alliance and act accordingly. But, as some of the leaders of JSD and WP are still hopeful of getting ministerial posts in the government they are not making any harsh comment in public.

Virtually, the leaders of other parties are eagerly waiting for blessing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the same way the AL leaders are giving the test of patience.

But it has become almost difficult for them to keep their position and individual party characters intact. Some of the parties might be integrated with AL.

Some leftist parties might even consider break away with the alliance to retain their own identity. WP broke away twice on issue of participation in election in alliance.

AL is rather trying to swallow some of its allies, it is alleged. Political analysts are not finding anything different in Dilip Barua’s party.

Amina Ahmed, wife of National Awami Party (NAP) President Mozaffer Ahmed, is now an MP of Ruling AL. But, she is still a presidium member of NAP. The party, having a historical background, may fade away in AL.

AL also tried to swallow GP. It promised a seat to its late leader Nurul Islam who was a candidate for Chatkhil-Sonaimuri constituency in the last election. But, after his mysterious death GP did not get any nomination.

However, the AL made late Nurul Islam’s wife Prof Rubi Rahman an MP from its reserve women seats’ quota, without bothering to discuss it with the leaders of GP. Rubi Rahman is also a central committee member of GP and was supposed to contest in Chatkhil-Sonaimuri seat following the death of Nurul Islam.

WP president Rashed Khan Menon told the New Nation that they are not commenting anything about their early declaration of forming government of 14-party alliance as the time is yet to come.

He said, “We hoped that the question of alliance will be considered while forming the government. But it did not happen. But, we still hope that it will be considered.”

JSD president Hasanul Huq Inu said, “This government does not reflect the totality of our alliance. The mohajote is in the midway of forming the government.”

GP presidium member Dr Md Shahidullah said, “AL should recognise the importance of other partners of the alliance. It would be difficult to keep the alliance intact unless other partners get their recognition.”

Source: New Nation

Talking to The Daily Star, Mohalchori Army Zone Commander (Acting) Major Mamunur Rashid said the process for withdrawal of the camp at Manikchari in Mohalchori upazila began this morning and will be completed by 5:00pm, reports our Khagrachhari correspondent.

In a major development, the government late last month decided to withdraw one brigade of troops and 35 temporary security camps from CHT areas by this September.

As many as 40 army personnel were engaged at the camp to ensure security in that area.

Mohalchori upazila Chairman Sona Ratan Chakma, UNO Saiful Arif and officer-in-charge of Manikchari Police Station were also present during the army camp removal process.

According to the peace accord, the government is supposed to withdraw all military camps and security forces from CHT areas excepting the three cantonments in Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati district headquarters and those in Alikadam and Ruma upazilas of Bandarban and Dighinala of Khagrachhari, police and border security.

Two hundred security camps have so far been withdrawn in phases since the accord was signed between the then Awami League government and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity on December 2, 1997 to bring an end to two decades of insurgency and unrest in the hill districts.

After signing the accord, members of the Jana Sanghati Samity surrendered arms to the then AL government.

However, implementation of the accord lost momentum after the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance government assumed state power in 2001. The alliance had opposed signing of the accord.

After assuming power in January, the AL again initiated steps to implement the CHT Peace Accord to bring normalcy in the region and in May made Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury the chairperson of a national committee for implementation of the accord.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters in Islamabad that intelligence showed Mehsud had been killed in Wednesday’s missile strike on his father-in-law’s house in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area, but authorities would travel to the site to verify his death.

Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials said the CIA was behind the strike. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

“I confirm that Baitullah Mehsud and his wife died in the American missile attack in South Waziristan,” Taliban commander Kafayat Ullah told The Associated Press by telephone. He would not give any further details.

Mehsud’s demise would be a major boost to Pakistani and U.S. efforts to eradicate the Taliban and al-Qaida.

However, Mehsud has deputies who could take his place. Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Taliban commanders were already believed to be meeting in the lawless tribal areas Friday to choose a replacement.

Three Pakistani intelligence officials said the likeliest successor was Mehsud’s deputy, Hakim Ullah, a commander known for recruiting and training suicide bombers. Two other prominent possibilities, the officials said, were Azmat Ullah and Waliur Rehman, also close associates of Mehsud.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Whether a new leader could wreak as much havoc as Mehsud depends largely on how much pressure the Pakistani military continues to put on the network, especially in the lawless tribal area of South Waziristan.

Mehsud has al-Qaida connections and has been suspected in the killing of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Pakistan views him as its top internal threat and has been preparing an offensive against him.

For years, the U.S. considered Mehsud a lesser threat to its interests than some of the other Pakistani Taliban, their Afghan counterparts and al-Qaida, because most of his attacks were focused inside Pakistan, not against U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.

That view appeared to change in recent months as Mehsud’s power grew and concerns mounted that increasing violence in Pakistan could destabilize the U.S. ally and threaten the entire region.

The Pakistani intelligence officials said Mehsud’s body was buried in the village of Nardusai in South Waziristan, near the site of the missile strike.

One official said he had seen a classified intelligence report stating Mehsud was dead and buried, but that agents had not seen the body since the area is under Taliban control.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Islamabad he could confirm the death of Mehsud’s wife but not of the Taliban leader himself, although information pointed in that direction.

“Yes, (a) lot of information is pouring in from that area that he’s dead, but I’m unable to confirm unless I have solid evidence,” he said.

Another senior Pakistani intelligence official said phone and other communications intercepts — he would not be more specific — had led authorities to suspect Mehsud was dead, but he also stressed there was no definitive evidence yet.

An American counterterrorism official said the U.S. government was also looking into the reports. The official indicated the United States did not yet have physical evidence — remains — that would prove who died. But he said there were other ways of determining who was killed in the strike. He declined to describe them.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter publicly.

A local tribesman, who also spoke on condition his name not be used, said Mehsud had been at his father-in-law’s house being treated for kidney pain, and had been put on a drip by a doctor, when the missile struck. The tribesman claimed he attended the Taliban chief’s funeral.

Last year, a doctor for Mehsud announced the militant leader had died of kidney failure, but the reports turned out to be false.

In Afghanistan, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi said Mehsud’s fighters would cross the border into eastern Afghanistan occasionally to help out one of most ruthless Afghan insurgent leaders Siraj Haqqani.

“He was an international terrorist that affected India, Pakistan and Afghanistan,” Azimi said without confirming Mehsud was dead.

In March, the State Department authorized a reward of up to $5 million for Mehsud. Increasingly, American missiles fired by unmanned drones have focused on Mehsud-related targets.

Pakistan publicly opposes the strikes, saying they anger local tribes and make it harder for the army to operate. Still, many analysts suspect the two countries have a secret deal allowing them.

Malik, the interior minister, said Pakistan’s military was determined to finish off Pakistan’s Taliban.

“It is a targeted law enforcement action against Baitullah Mehsud’s group and it will continue till Baitullah Mehsud’s group is eliminated forever,” he said.

Pakistan’s record on putting pressure on the Taliban network is spotty. It has used both military action and truces to try to contain Mehsud over the years, but neither tactic seemed to work, despite billions in U.S. aid aimed at helping the Pakistanis tame the tribal areas.

Mehsud was not that prominent a militant when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for the tribal regions. In fact, he has struggled against such rivals as Abdullah Mehsud, an Afghan war veteran who had spent time in Guantanamo Bay.

But a February 2005 peace deal with Mehsud appeared to give him room to consolidate and boost his troop strength. Within months of that accord, dozens of pro-government tribal elders in the region were gunned down on his command.

In December 2007, Mehsud became the head of a new coalition called the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistan’s Taliban movement. Under his guidance, the group killed hundreds of Pakistanis in suicide and other attacks.

Analysts say the reason for Mehsud’s rise in the militant ranks is his alliances with al-Qaida and other violent groups. U.S. intelligence has said al-Qaida has set up its operational headquarters in Mehsud’s South Waziristan stronghold and neighboring North Waziristan.

Mehsud has no record of attacking targets in the West, although he has threatened to attack Washington.

However, he is suspected of being behind a 10-man cell arrested in Barcelona in January 2008 for plotting suicide attacks in Spain. Pakistan’s former government and the CIA have named him as the prime suspect behind the December 2007 killing of Bhutto, the former Pakistani prime minister. He has denied a role.

___

Munir Ahmad reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros, Nahal Toosi and Zarar Khan in Islamabad, and Pamela Hess in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Source: Yahoo! New Service

তিনি বলেছেন, এ ধরনের বিতর্কিত প্রকল্পের প্রেক্ষাপটে টেকসই উন্নয়ন নিশ্চিতে এ অঞ্চরের মানুষকে অবশ্যই সমন্বিত উদ্যোগ নিতে হবে। (বিস্তারিত আসছে)

বরাক নদীর ভাটিতে টিপাইমুখে ভারতের এ বাঁধ নির্মাণ প্রকল্পের সম্ভাব্য বিরূপ প্রভাব নিয়ে মণিপুর রাজ্য ও বাংলাদেশের পরিবেশবাদীরা গভীর উদ্বেগ প্রকাশ করে আসছেন।

স¤প্রতি ঢাকা সফরে এসে পিন্টো বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমকে এক সাক্ষাৎকারে বলেন, মণিপুর এবং ভারতের উত্তর-পূর্বাঞ্চলীয় অন্যান্য রাজ্যের জনগণ এ অঞ্চলে ভারত সরকারের উন্নয়ন কর্মসূচি নিয়ে ‘যৌক্তিকভাবে নাখোশ’।

তিনি প্রস্তাবিত টিপাইমুখ প্রকল্প নিয়ে প্রতিবেশী দেশগুলোর পাশাপাশি আন্তর্জাতিক স¤প্রদায়কে সোচ্চার হওয়ার আহ্বান জানান।

Source: BD NEWS