The authorities would divide Dhaka into ten zones and carry out the survey on a single day to prepare the database to ascertain the exact number of beggars and their origins and reasons for begging.

The database is essential for rehabilitation of the beggars whose number is growing at a fast rate throughout the country, specially in capital Dhaka, the NFDDP chief said.
Finance ministry officials said Tk 12.47crore has already been allocated for the project titled ??Beggars Rehabilitation Programme??. Half of the project fund would be spent on survey while rest on rehabilitation.

Although there is no specific data on number of beggars in the capital and others major cities, different government agencies estimate it would be one million countrywide.
The number of beggars in the capital would be around 600,000 who are always found seeking alms at bus stands, railway stations, markets and at traffic signals.

The survey on beggars in Dhaka city would be followed by similar surveys different divisional headquarters, said officials.

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On being a member, Bangladesh has achieved the voting power to make necessary additions of Bangla letters to be used in various devices of science, information and communication technology (ICT) and to develop the language standard.

Unicode is an internationally recognised system by which any language can be used in different digital devices like mobile phone and computer.

Earlier, only India had the voting right in the consortium about the Bangla language.

The ICT ministry with the personal interest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the initiative of being a member of the consortium last year.

Bangladesh was declared an institutional member on June 30 this year following an application by the ministry on March 18, 2009.

The Unicode Bangla text has already been initiated in many government offices under the supervision of `Accesses to Information (A2I)’ programme, operated by the Prime Minister’s office.

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Hartal : Strike !!!Virus of politics:

Time changed. we were under different political culture ,so at the beginning of independence -?we also needed Hartal as political demand.?Now?from my core observation. AFTER39 years THE NATION LOOKING FOR THE ALTERNATIVE AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO DIFFER WITH GOVERMENT. NO MORE HARTAL IS EXPECTED.

HARTAL IS A STRAIGHT VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS !!!!

HARTAL : STRIKE REVIEWS .

26/06/2010DHAKA: Security has been beefed up in the Bangladeshi capital today ahead of the anti government general strike called by the main opposition BNP, amid fears of violence as the supporters of the ruling Awami League plan to thwart the day-long shutdown tomorrow.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party has announced a nationwide anti-government general strike tomorrow to oppose the ruling coalition’s policies, including “compromising national interests” by inking deals with India earlier this year.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia, the chief of the BNP, announced the anti-government campaign on May 19 for “compromising national interests?? by signing deals with India during prime minister Sheikh Hasina??s New Delhi tour in January, oppose “tender-grabbing and extortions by government cronies?? and deteriorating utility services in the country.
The authorities and the supporters of the Awami League have said they were determined to crackdown on those creating “anarchy and disorder” in the country.
Dhaka metropolitan police has banned processions on the main roads in the capital and stepped up security to prevent any violence.
Dhaka police chief AKM Shahidul Haque told mediapersons that an additional 10,000 force will be deployed in the capital to maintain order.
He said police would not prevent the BNP from its planned strike, but actions would be taken if they try to create anarchy by vandalising vehicles or setting those on fire.
Pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) today announced that it would thwart the dawn-to-dusk general strike of BNP, triggering fears of violent clashes.
“So BCL will be on the field to prevent the strike by any means,” Mahmud Hasan Ripon, the BCL president, was quoted as saying by the bdnews24 online.
He expressed fears that the radical Islamist groups, including ‘Jamaat-Shibir’ could take advantage of the strike to create chaos in a bid to halt the trial of the war criminals accused of genocide during the 1971 ‘Liberation War’.
He asked the leaders and activists of BCL to stay on the alert tomorrow.
Law minister Qamrul Islam told reporters yesterday that the government had no plans to confront the protesters, but warned: “We will not tolerate anarchy or disorder during the hartal”.
BNP chief Zia has warned the government against creating any obstruction during the countrywide shutdown.
“The government will have to bear the responsibility of the consequences if it tries to obstruct our peaceful programme,” she warned.
BNP secretary general Delwar Hossain alleged today that the government had been arresting and harassing BNP leaders and activists across the country to disrupt the strike.
BNP-led four party alliance, including the Islamist Jammat have already declared their support to the strike.
During Hasina’s New Delhi visit, Bangladesh and India signed three agreements to jointly combat the terror menace while New Delhi announced a one-billion dollar line of credit to Dhaka.
India decided to give 250MW of power to Bangladesh from the central grid while they signed a power-sharing agreement. Bangladesh also promised not to allow its territory to be used for terror against India.
Political parties have frequently resorted to shutdowns and general strikes in Bangladesh to pressure the government, often leading to violence, political deadlock and seriously crippling its economy.
An earlier UNDP report calculated that the net loss in one day’s shutdown to around Taka 500 crore while it cost the country 3 to 4% of its GDP on an average every year between 1991 and 2000.

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Chinese Vice Minister for Commerce Chen Jiang and Economic Relations Division Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan signed the deal on behalf of their respective governments.

The deal was signed following an hour-long official talk between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinpeng at the PM??s office in Dhaka Monday afternoon.

The two leaders held “fruitful discussions” about cooperation on trade, commerce, investment, education, culture and defense, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters after the talks.

Xi Jinpeng arrived in Dhaka Monday on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh visit aiming to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Xi Jinping, also a member of the standing committee of the Communist Party of China, is scheduled to leave Dhaka Tuesday afternoon. He will also visit Laos, New Zealand and Australia on a series of trips scheduled through June 24

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Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will pay an official visit to Bangladesh on June 14-15 at the invitation of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina .

Since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1975, the bilateral ties had embraced smooth and healthy development, Ambassador Zhang Xianyi said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

China and Bangladesh established a comprehensive cooperative partnership in 2005, featuring long-term friendship, equality and mutual benefits, Zhang said.

“During Hasina’s visit to China in March, the two sides decided to set up and develop closer comprehensive cooperative partnership from the strategic perspective and on the basis of the principles of longstanding friendship, equality, and mutual benefit,” he said.
Zhang said China and Bangladesh were facing historical tasks of developing their economy, eliminating poverty and improving people’s livelihoods.

“The two countries share the same or similar opinions on many international issues,” he said.

The past 35 years have witnessed frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries as well as exchanges between parliaments, political parties, local governments and non-governmental organizations, he said.

The exchanges between the two countries had contributed to strengthening bilateral ties and deepening the friendship between the two peoples, the ambassador said.

Trade volume between China and Bangladesh increased to 4.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 from 3.1 billion dollars in 2006, but it slipped to 4.58 billion dollars in 2009 due to the international financial crisis.

“Bilateral trade may exceed 5 billion dollars this year,” Zhang said.
Bangladesh had a big trade deficit with China, he said. “To trim the trade gap, China sends purchasing groups every year to Bangladesh to explore potentials of its markets.”

“The Chinese government will cut tariffs on 4,721 Bangladeshi products to zero from July 1, which cover almost all the country’s products with export advantages,” he said.

China had helped Bangladesh build six bridges and one conference center, which had become symbols of the friendship between the two countries, he said.

“The Chinese government has agreed to help Bangladesh to build a seventh bridge, another exhibition center and two primary schools,” he said.

The Bangladeshi government is also committed to improving its investment environment, despite the energy crisis, the ambassador said, adding he was confident of its sound investment environment if the energy shortage was eased.
Meanwhile, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries were very active, Zhang said. “China offers dozens of scholarships to Bangladeshi students every year, and about 100 opportunities for people working in different areas in Bangladesh to be trained in China.”

China and Bangladesh will exchange art groups to celebrate their 35th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations this year, he said.

A group of Chinese medical experts would also visit Bangladesh to offer free medical treatments to the country’s cataract patients, he said.

The two countries were discussing cooperation in the fields of agriculture, health and climate change, Zhang said.

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Digitalised Bangladesh is now a days is common dream of Bangladeshi. No political question!

If we simplify what is digital Bangladesh ? I answer : A well managed Bangladesh.
To manage well ,we always need to clear about our resources .From my best knowledge i demand a High Powerful Bangladesh Resources Research Centre (BRRC)
To explore the opportunity of the ultimate resources of Bangladesh which grow the potential Bangladesh as a Sucessful contry Bangladesh must should develop a high oppotunity powered Research centre for exploring the resources of Bangladesh , natural resources or human resources or opportunity resources . The Research centre can be co up with the Ministry of planning .

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, acting editor of the Bengali-language Amar Desh and one of the government’s most vocal critics, was arrested after police broke through an improvised barricade set up by the paper’s journalists. ‘He has been arrested on charges of fraud and defamation,’ local police chief Mahbubur Rahman told media.

The arrest came hours after the authorities cancelled the paper’s publication rights, allegedly because the publisher, Hashmat Ali, had filed a case with the police. ‘The publisher has said he was no longer responsible for Amar Desh and it was being printed illegally. He has filed a fraud case with police,’ government official Muhibul Haque told media.

But local media reports quoted the publisher’s family as saying Ali has been picked up by intelligence officials and detained.

Rahman, a stalwart of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), claimed Ali, who also supported the BNP, had been forced to sign the fraud papers prepared by the government’s intelligence services. ‘Police stormed the office and beat several journalists before picking up Rahman on Wednesday morning,’ said Zahed Chowdhury, city editor of Amar Desh.

Rahman has been a vocal critic of the current Awami League government since it swept to power in December 2008 elections.

More from Dairy .Tuesday, February 9, 2010 -The Daily Star
A Dhaka court on Tuesday granted bail to acting Editor of the daily Amar Desh Mahmudur Rahman, its publisher Alhaj Mohammad Hasmat Ali and reporter M Abdullah in a defamation case filed by prime minister’s Energy Adviser Taufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury.

Metropolitan Magistrate SK Tofael Hasan passed the order upon a bond of Tk 50,000 with two guarantors after they along with their lawyers surrendered before the court and sought bail in the case.

The energy adviser to the prime minister on January 19 filed the defamation case with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka.

Metropolitan Magistrate Roksana Begum Happy took the case into cognisance and issued a summons asking the accused to appear in the court on February 9.

The plaintiff, Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, in his complaint said the accused published a false news item linking him and prime minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy in the December 17 issue of the daily newspaper.

The report said Towfiq and Joy took a five-million-dollar bribe from American oil company Chevron promising them to award an oil exploration order, the complainant said.

The news was published with an intention to tarnish the image of the government as well as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her son Joy, he claimed.

The news blemished the complainant’s reputation in and outside the country as well, Towfiq added.

The news was false and fabricated, he alleged.

The complainant also appealed to the court to issue arrest warrants against the three for committing such offences.

AL leaders of different districts across the country had earlier filed a number of cases against them for the same.

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Many of the men were arrested outside girls’ schools as police across the Muslim-majority nation of 144 million continue their month-old campaign, a police spokesman said.

“The police are investigating 558 people nationwide and have arrested 432 of these targets,” senior information officer for the Bangladesh police, Kamrul Ahsan,

“The crackdown has already led to a decline in the reported number of cases of harassment against girls,” Ahsan said, adding that police were taking “stern action” against anyone found to be involved in bullying.

The country is also tackling the “institutionalised” bullying of girls, with a police constable in the southern district of Gopalganj being suspended Monday after he was caught by villagers harassing locals.

“He had been assigned to launch the campaign in his area against harassment and teasing of schoolgirls. But he was himself found to be involved in this crime,” Ahsan said.

In the capital Dhaka, plain-clothed policemen have been stationed at top girls’ schools identified as “trouble spots” for the last month and have been given the power to arrest anyone found to be harassing female pupils.

“Bangladeshi girls get little respect in many families, and often boys grow up believing girls are not human beings but sexual objects,” said Dhaka-based psychology professor Mehtab Khanom.

The recent increase in reported bullying and teenage suicide cases reflects broader changes in Bangladeshi society as mobile phones and the Internet transform the way young people interact, she said.

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The summit, which will take place at Cheong Wa Dae, will focus on strengthening bilateral economic and energy ties.It is reported the PM and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will hold crucial talks on expanding Dhaka-Seoul cooperation in varied fields including investment and infrastructure development to shipbuilding and transfer of green technology to environment. It is reported Dhaka and Seoul are likely to sign three agreements on manpower, IT and energy during the visit.

The leaders will also discuss ways to boost their partnership on climate change, the financial crisis and other global issues, the office said.

On May 17, Prime Minister Hasina will participate in the opening ceremony of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) conference in Incheon and deliver a keynote address on the relations between developing and developed nations.

She will also attend a reception in Seoul hosted by Korean economic associations.
The relations between the two nations are excellent and have been strengthened by high-level visits between the two countries. South Korea’s prime minister visited Bangladesh in September 1994, and the then prime minister Kim Suk-soo visited Bangladesh in November 2002. Several high officials of Bangladesh, including ministers, also visited South Korea.

Currently, South Korea’s profile has been raised in many ways. First, it is the host of a G-20 meeting in November this year. Second, it has signed a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union and its economy is gradually being integrated with EU’s economy. Third, the current Secretary General of the UN is a South Korean national.

South Korea, with a per capita income of about $28,000, is one of Asia’s economic tigers. With the restoration of its economy after the global recession, it has both confidence and money to make its own mark. Aid has been stepped up in Asia, in particular to Asean.

Since 1973, Bangladesh and South Korea have concluded eight agreements, which include trade and economic cooperation, cultural exchanges, promotion and protection of investments, and scientific and technological cooperation.

South Korea has been a significant development partner in Bangladesh, and many infrastructure have been built by South Korean contractors. South Korea’s official assistance, as of 2008, amounted to $340 million to be spent on infrastructure development in railways, telecommunication, Sylhet transmission lines and e-government infra-networking sectors. Bangladesh is the second largest recipient country among 45 countries.

By 2009, South Korea had provided $30 million as grant. South Korean aid is directed toward education, health, ICT, rural development and governance sectors. South Korea donated $500,000 in the preparation of electoral roll for the country’s parliamentary election in 2008.

Trade between the two has been growing, and light electronic goods and computers from South Korea are making inroads into the Bangladeshi markets. South Korean cars are also making their presence felt in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s exports to South Korea during 2007-08 amounted to $169 million, and included raw jute, jute products, jute yarn, newsprint, tea, leather goods, tobacco and fertiliser, while South Korea’s exports to Bangladesh during that period stood at $1,095 million, which included chemicals, dyeing materials, tanning, medical and pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, electrical goods and motor vehicle machinery.

South Korea has reportedly invested $1,006 million in Bangladesh in various sectors, such as ready-made garments, textiles, tanning and shoe factories. Many joint ventures in Bangladesh’s Export Processing Zones (EPZ) have been set up by Korean investors. South Korea is reportedly the largest foreign investor in the EPZs, employing nearly 100,000 Bangladeshi workers. It might increase to 350,000 with the present continuing investment. .

In 2008, South Korea opened 75 percent of total tariffs for Bangladesh. In 2009, the coverage was expanded to 80 percent with the addition of 253 products. In 2010, an additional 5 percent will be added so that more Bangladeshi items can enjoy the benefit.

Apart from economic cooperation, Korean painters and art connoisseurs have expressed keenness in Bangladeshi art and culture by their frequent participation in the Asian Biennale held in Dhaka. A Korean painting exhibition took place in 2008 in Bangladesh.

In May 2009, the Bangladesh Embassy in South Korea and Korean Foundation jointly organised an exhibition of eleven Bangladeshi painters at the Korea Foundation Cultural Centre. The exhibition displayed around 100 paintings by eleven renowned Bangladeshi artists.

The exhibition introduced the best of contemporary Bangladeshi art to Korean enthusiasts. It featured abstract, semi-realistic, semi-abstract and folk-themed paintings. All participating artists also had solo and group exhibitions in the country and abroad.

Perhaps the most encouraging development in bilateral relations is the growing relationship between the private sectors of the two countries. South Korea’s investment and business opportunities in Bangladesh are on the increase.

The basic course of Bangladesh’s relationship with South Korea has been firmly set and will continue for further expansion. The prime minister’s visit, although a brief one, is a gesture of friendship and will consolidate further bilateral relations for mutual benefit of peoples of both countrie

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Happy Birth day to GuRu Rabindranath Tagore- gurumia.com

Hasina in another statement called Tagore a “lighthouse” for the Bengalis as he wandered in their hearts and said “he was a source of inspiration in all movements, struggles, revolutions, thoughts and creativity of the Bengali nation.”

He is one of the great musicians not only in the subcontinent but also across the world. He reshaped Bengali literature and music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As an author of ‘Geetanjali’ and its ‘profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse,’ in 1913 being the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Tagore was perhaps the most important literary figure of Bengali literature.

He was a mesmerising representative of the Indian culture whose influence and popularity internationally perhaps could only be compared to that of Gandhi, whom Tagore named ‘Mahatma’ out of his deep admiration for him.

Tagore denounced the British Raj and supported independence. His efforts endure in his vast canon and in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University.

Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to political and personal topics. ‘Geetanjali’ (Song Offerings), ‘Gora’ (Fair-Faced), and ‘Ghare-Baire’ (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and contemplation.

Tagore was perhaps the only litterateur who penned anthems of two countries: Bangladesh and India: “Aamar Shonar Bangla” and “Jana Gana Mana.”

Tagore composed roughly 2,230 songs and was a prolific painter. His songs comprise ‘Rabindra Sangeet,’ which is also known as Tagore Song, an integral part of Bengali culture.

Tagore’s music is inseparable from his literature, most of which-poems or parts of novels, stories, or plays alike-became lyrics for his songs. Influenced by the ‘thumri’ style of Hindustani music, they ran the entire gamut of human emotion, ranging from his early dirge-like ‘Brahmo’ devotional hymns to quasi-erotic compositions. They emulated the tonal colour of classical ragas to varying extents.

Though at times his songs mimicked a given raga’s melody and rhythm faithfully, he also blended elements of different ragas to create innovative works.

It is mentioned that there is in Bengal no cultured home where Rabindranath’s songs are not sung or at least attempted to be sung t Even illiterate villagers sing his songs. Bangladesh’s national anthem “Aamar Shonar Bangla” and India’s national anthem “Jana Gana Mana,” making Tagore unique in having scored two national anthems. He influenced the styles of such musicians as sitar maestro Vilayat Khan, and the sarodiyas Buddhadev Dasgupta and Amjad Ali Khan.n

Cultural groups including the apex Sammilita Sangskritik Jote organized colourful street marches and concerts in open air and inside auditoriums across Bangladesh as leading artistes rendered Rabindra Sangit, which the poet himself expected him to keep alive to the posterity, though he earned the credit of being Asia’s first Nobel Laureate for his poetry in 1913.

Special Television programmes including talk shows and newspaper supplements, however, paid rich tributes to the poet, the composer of the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh, reviewing his greatness also as a playwright, novelist, short story writer, artist, educationists, social reformer, nationalist and business manager.

“Our bonds with Rabindranath are getting closer with the passage of time as his literature has become a source of inspiration and courage for us during the days of our crisis or debacle,” President Zillur Rahman said in a statement to mark his birth anniversary.

Her arch-rival main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Khaleda Zia also issued a statement paying her rich tributes to the memories of Tagore.

As part of the national celebrations, the state-run apex Bangla Academy and Shilpakala Academy will organise programmes based on various creative works of the great poet while various programmes at Shilaidah in western Kushtia, Patisar in northwestern Naogaon and Dakkhindihi in Phultola upazila of southwestern Khulna —the three districts that harbour the memories of Tagore were underway to mark the day.

Bangla Academy this year confers veteran Bangladeshi Rabindra Sangeet exponents Kalim Sharafi and Sanjida Khatun with Rabindra Awards.

Octogenarian Sharafi received the award for his contribution in promoting and preserving Rabindra Sangeet, while Professor Khatun received it for her research on Tagore songs.

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