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In and out of Ukraine: Expats' families in Bangladesh live on prayers
As Bangladesh accelerates efforts to evacuate its distressed nationals stranded in war-torn Ukraine, families here are scrambling to get in touch with their loved ones.
"For God's sake, stop the war. I want my brother to come back home," Avishek Chowdhury, a civil engineering student from Chattogram, said about his brother Rohan Chowdhury, a medical student at the Kharkiv Institute of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences located in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city where Russian soldiers entered Sunday.
In the fog of war, Ukraine's capital Kyiv was eerily quiet after huge explosions lit up the morning sky and authorities reported blasts at one of the airports.
Read:Over 400 Bangladeshis enter Poland, Hungary and Romania safely
As a strict 39-hour curfew kept people off the streets, only an occasional car appeared on a deserted main boulevard.
There have been major attacks in Kyiv that have created greater fear and panic among the population.Terrified residents hunkered down in homes, underground garages and subway stations in anticipation of a full-scale Russian assault.
During the dramatic escalation of East-West tensions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, over 400 Bangladeshis have so far safely crossed the Ukrainian border and reached its neighbouring countries, including Poland.
Forty-six Bangladeshis are in temporary shelters arranged by the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw. The rest of them made their arrangements although they were offered shelter by the embassy, says the government.
However, Bangladesh's Mir Hassan Naim said: "I came to the Poland border from Lviv, but it was a long and rigorous journey mainly because of the distance. To reach Poland, people from Kyiv have to come to Lviv or any other border town first. It is not too easy."
The Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw is working to rescue and relocate 28 Bangladesh nationals as of now through the International Committee of the Red Cross, Ukraine.
It is also working to evacuate Bangladeshis who are in jail or detained in Ukraine through the International Organization for Migration, Ukraine.
Meanwhile, around 15 Bangladeshi students have arrived in Hungary and are now being looked after by the Bangladesh Embassy in Vienna.
So far, three Bangladeshis have entered Romania and are now being taken care of by the Bangladesh Embassy in Bucharest. Seven more are expected to enter Romania soon, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).
The number is likely to go up in the next few days, said the ministry, as these Bangladesh nationals want to return home now.
"We are in touch with about 700 Bangladesh citizens," said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam Saturday night.
The government's efforts are going on to help Bangladesh nationals get into Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, all bordering Ukraine, said officials.A team from the Embassy of Bangladesh in Warsaw is working near the over 500km-long Poland-Ukraine border to assist Bangladeshis wishing to enter Poland.Amid the worrying development in Ukraine, a Bangladeshi ship has got stuck at the Port of Olvia, located in the Mykolaiv region on the left bank of the Dnipro-Bug estuary on the northern Black Sea coast. All 29 crew on-board are Bangladeshis.Ukrainian authorities have reported fighting near Mykolaiv, Odessa, and other areas.
Read:Around 200 Bangladesh citizens reach Poland, Romania from Ukraine: ShahriarThe bulk carrier Banglar Samriddhi, had been anchored at the port before the Russian invasion began on February 24, Omar Faruque Tuhin, a crew member of the ship, told UNB over the phone Sunday."All activities at the port came to a screeching halt immediately and we got stuck on the ship. Panic has gripped us. We hear the sound of explosions and gunfire in the distance. Fortunately, the port has not yet come under direct attack," said Omar."However, it is dangerous for our ship to move around as there can be planted mines in the sea," he added.Russian forces had blocked the cities of Kherson on the Black Sea and the port of Berdyansk on the Azov Sea, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said.
The pressure on strategic ports in the south of Ukraine appeared aimed at seizing control of the country's coastline stretching from the border with Romania in the west to the border with Russia in the east.Cutting Ukraine's access to its seaports would deal a major blow to the country's economy.
It also could allow Moscow to build a land corridor to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014 and until now was connected to Russia by a 19-kilometre bridge, the longest bridge in Europe which opened in 2018.Earlier, Bangladesh asked its nationals stranded in Ukraine to contact the country's diplomatic missions in the neighbouring European countries while Poland and Romania came forward to provide temporary shelters for Bangladeshis.The government will arrange chartered flights to bring back Bangladeshis from Poland.The country will allow Bangladeshis to stay for 15 days upon their arrival from Ukraine and the government of Bangladesh hopes to bring back its citizens much ahead of the 15-day timeline.Friday, MoFA issued helpline numbers for the stranded Bangladeshi nationals to help them get into Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova, all bordering Ukraine.For Slovakia and Hungary, Bangladesh nationals were asked to get in touch with the Bangladesh Embassy in Austria.Bangladesh citizens carrying passports can secure a travel pass at the border to enter Poland without a visa, but they need to carry two colour passport-sized photos, the Bangladesh Embassy in Warsaw said.Bangladesh does not have an embassy or a consulate in Ukraine. The country's Embassy in Poland only acts as Ukraine's de-facto diplomatic mission.Sunday, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said around 368,000 Ukrainians arrived in neighbouring countries since the invasion started Thursday.The UN has estimated the conflict could produce as many as 4 million refugees, depending on how long it continues.Until Sunday, Russia's troops had remained on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million about 20 kilometres south of the border with Russia, while other forces rolled past to press the offensive deeper into Ukraine.President Vladimir Putin has not disclosed his ultimate plans, but western officials believe he is determined to overthrow Ukraine's government and replace it with a regime of his own, redrawing the map of Europe and reviving Moscow's Cold War-era influence.Meanwhile, Ukrainians have volunteered en masse to help defend Kyiv, and other cities, taking guns distributed by authorities and preparing firebombs to fight Russian forces.The number of casualties so far from Europe's largest land conflict since World War II remains unclear.Ukraine's health minister reported Saturday that 198 people, including three children, had been killed and more than 1,000 others wounded. It was unclear whether those figures included both military and civilian casualties.Russia has not released any casualty information.
Petrobangla close to appointing a foreign firm to revamp Model PSC for off-shore gas exploration
State-owned Petrobangla shortlisted four foreign firms in the process of hiring a consultant for making its Model Production Sharing Contract (PSC) more attractive to foreign investors interested in off-shore gas exploration.
According to official sources, the companies are IHS Global, Gaffney Cline Associates, WoodMackenzie, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers Pvt Ltd.
The four companies, out of eight, were technically qualified in a bidding process followed by Petrobangla.
“Now, we will place the names with their respective proposals to the Petrobangla Board. If it approves, then their respective financial offers will be opened for selecting one of them”, said a top official of the state hydrocarbon corporation.
Officials said that earlier a total of eight firms had submitted their respective Expressions of Interest (EOI) to Petrobangla of which five were from the United Kingdom and one each from India, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through a scrutiny process, four were shortlisted.
The Petrobangla received their proposals on November 21, the deadline for submission of the EOI.
Confirming the latest development Shahnewaz Parvez, General Manager (Contract) of Petrobangla, said that it is not possible to say which one will finally be selected for the job until their financial offers are opened and evaluated.
He said once the consultant is appointed, it will mainly help Petrobangla to further amend the Model PSC 2019, to attract international oil companies (IOCs) amid the volatile international fuel market.
Read: India looking for more foreign investments in Oil sector: minister
He noted that the principal upstream energy body will appoint an experienced foreign consultant to draw up the amendments that would convince the IOCs to invest in Bangladesh's offshore gas exploration.
Official sources said the recent excessive hike in petroleum fuel price, especially that of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so IOCs get interested to bring their money here.
The country has a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located offshore and 22 onshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas.
Read: The 'Future' of Reliance: A mega deal destined to shape future of India;s retain space post covid
Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks -SS-04 and SS-09-are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started.
The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was raised to $5.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from its deep sea blocks.
There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, but that got postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time.
"The recent upward trend in oil and gas price has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC," said another Petrobangla official.
He dropped an indication that gas price might be increased up to $7.25 per MCF for shallow sea blocks while $8.5 per MCF for deep sea blocks considering the upward global trend in petroleum price.
He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early this year.
Recently, the World Bank in its outlook for the year ahead predicted that the petroleum price may not fall until the end of 2022 although recently the price declined by $10.
The latest Russian invasion of Ukraine has further deepened the global market volatility pushing up the petroleum fuel price over $100 per barrel, the highest in the last 7 years.
Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets 40 per cent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 per cent.
The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So, if gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works, said the Petrobangla officials.
They said this is the first time, at least a 15-year experienced foreign firm will be hired to help the government to prepare the amendments in the PSC as foreign companies can give best suggestions as to what kind of incentives be offered to attract IOCs.
Officials said the Energy Division had instructed Petrobangla to hire such a consultant in February this year. But negligence of some top officials delayed the work.
They said Petrobangla now plans to complete the appointment of consultants within the next two months and receive their report by April next. It hopes to complete the amendments by May and invite international bidding for IOCs in June this year to start exploration works before the end of 2022.
Officials said that the foreign contractor, which was awarded a contract to conduct multi-client seismic survey in the offshore sea blocks, also suggested updating the Model PSC to attract IOCs in the changed scenario in the global petroleum market.
Bangladesh's offshore area remained unexplored despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost eight years ago.
It has had no success in the exploration of oil and gas in its offshore areas located within its maritime boundary, said an energy expert wishing not to be named.
Shaky school building in Gaibandha poses risk to students
The students of Asaduzzaman Girls High School and College in Gaibandha district town, have been attending their classes amid fear due to the dilapidated condition of the school buildings, thanks to the negligence of the authorities concerned.
The authorities concerned said the matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities several times but no initiative has been taken yet.
The school was established in 1966 at DB Road in the district town on one acre area and in 1968. The two-story building was built then.
In 2003, the authorities concerned opened a college section in it. In 1996, the government built an one-story building under the Department of Education Engineer. Later, the authorities of the school constructed the first floor over the building.
There are 1050 students in the school and 350 students in the college. Besides, 20 teachers are providing lessons to the school students while only 11 teachers are available at the college.
The school authorities have identified the school building as risky in 2008 and as years passed on, the plasters of the roof and walls often fell off, creating panic among the school students.
During the rainy season, water enters the classrooms from the roof due to swampy walls.
In 2016, two classrooms of the school building, situated in 1968, were abandoned while five classrooms of the building were identified as risky.
Besides, three more classrooms of the school building were declared abandoned in 2008 while six more were identified as risky by the school authorities, forcing students to attend their classes amid fear of collapse.
Ashfia, a class X student of the school, said cracks have developed in many parts of the school building and they are often scared to attend classes.
Rony Mia, a guardian of Munshipara, said “My daughter is the student of the school and I remain worried after sending my child to the school due to its dilapidated condition.
Many guardians don'r allow their children to attend the classes regularly, he said.
Also read: Teacher shortage hampers educational activities at Ramgarh Govt School
Relentless Garai erosion leaves many homeless in Jhenaidah
Villagers in Shailakupa upzila of Jhenaidah district are fighting a losing battle against the onslaught of Garai River.
Over the years the river has swallowed homesteads and croplands of hundreds of families -from well-off to poor- leaving them homeless.
Many have taken shelter in other people’s lands. Some could still buy new lands with whatever money they had.
Abdul Malek Mandal, a resident of Krishnanagar village, is one of them.
In past few years he shifted places for at least seven times to escape serious erosion by the river.
Once he had a tin-shed house, ten bighas of crop land but now he has become a pauper.
Read Dhaleshwari erosion takes serious turn in Keraniganj
“The demonic river has taken all I had,” sighed Malek. “There was a time when I used to help others. Now I seek help from others.”
There seems to be no respite from river erosion as the residents of Uttarpara in Krishnagar village of Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah district have been suffering a lot as the Garai River turned turbulent, rendering several hundred people homeless.
Like Malek, many people have lost their houses and land to the river.
Also read: Riverbank erosion displacees await rehabilitation
Abdur Rahim, another resident of Kerishnanagar village, has to shift his house in six places. Now he is living his life by working as a day labourer.
Once 40 families lived in Krishnagar village but now only five families are living there. The river erosion not only shattered their dreams but also made many people poor.
People living in the villages have been leading a prosperous life as the Garai River was a blessing for them but as years passed on, the river became aggressive and a vast tract of lands was swallowed by it.
Many people have been displaced from their ancestral lands as the erosion takes a serious turn in the village, forcing people to take shelter in another place.
During a recent visit to the river bank villages, in Sarutia, Dhalharchandra and Hakimpur unions of Shailkupa upazila, this correspondent found that fear of being homeless by erosion has gripped villagers of three unions.
Bangladesh’s delayed import of electricity from 1600 MW Jharkhand plant in India may start in November
Bangladesh hopes to get electricity from the 1600 MW coal-fired power plant in the Indian state of Jharkhand from November this year after about a year of delay, according to officials at Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB).
The import of the electricity was scheduled to begin in in January this year, officials at the company confirmed.
But the slow progress in both power plant construction and transmission line installation forced the authorities in Bangladesh and India to revise the commercial operation date (COD) and set a new schedule for August this year.
Read:Subsidy on gas and electricity should end in phases, PM tells an Ecnec meeting
But now the project may take further time to be completed, said the officials of the PGCB which was responsible to build the transmission line for evacuation of power from India.
Golam Kibria, managing director of the PGCB, acknowledged the delay.
“We hope that the transmission line will now be ready by October-November this year to get supply from the project”, he told UNB this week.
He noted that the transformers of the project were supposed to come from China a few months back. “But factory closure in China for Covid-19 situation delayed the supply,” he said.
“The pandemic has forced us to set a new COD”, a senior official working at Adani Group’s Dhaka Office confirmed to UNB.
Currently, Bangladesh imports a total of 1160 MW power from India, of which 1000 MW is coming from West Bengal and 160 MW from Tripura.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Adani Group during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Dhaka in June 2015 to import 1600 MW power from Jharkhand.
After a long negotiation, the two sides signed two final deals—power purchase agreement (PPA) and implementation agreement (IA)—in November 2017.
As per the deals, Adani will set up the 1600 MW coal-fired power plant in Godda, Jharkhand of which the first unit will start commercial operation within 44 months and the second unit within 50 months.
Bangladesh will import electricity from the plant over a period of 25 years at a tariff of 8.612 US cents (Tk 6.890) per unit.
A Power Division document reveals that Bangladesh will pay about $23.87 billion, equivalent to Tk 1,909,75.607 crore, over the next 25 years to the Indian Adani Group to purchase the electricity from the plant.
As per the deadline set in the agreement, official sources said the Adani Group’s both the units were supposed to start commercial operation in 2020. But the Covid-19 situation forced the rescheduling of the deadline.
After missing the deadline of construction, the Adani Group was trying tGovt aims for 10% electricity from renewables by 2025o start the operation of its 800 MW first unit on December 16 in 2021, as part of the commemoration of the Bangladesh’s Victory Day, said an official of the Indian conglomerate who cannot be identified as he is not authorized to speak to media.
Read:
“But the initiative was not successful because of the failure on both the sides—Adani Group and BPDB”, said the top official adding that neither the transmission line nor the plant was ready.
The PGCB took up the project to build a 28-km 400 kV Rahanpur-Monakasha double circuit transmission line at a cost of Tk 225.49 crore to evacuate from the power plant at Bangladesh border point. Indian company Transrail Lighting Limited was appointed as contractor for the project.
As per the annual report of the PGCB, the project achieved Cumulative Physical progress of 91 and financial 87.57 up December 2021.
PGCB official document said the project will facilitate supply of imported power from India to Bangladesh national grid and to meet the growing power demand in Rajshahi and Rangpur regions, the agricultural economic centre of the country, and capital Dhaka.
Adani Group officials said the company has to build a 100 km transmission line on the Indian side to reach electricity from the plant to the Bangladesh border.
Rising food prices despite record stocks defies analysis
The food stock of Bangladesh has reached a new height of 20 lakh tons, with warehouses full of rice and wheat. Despite that, food prices are soaring.
Market analysts and Food Ministry officials are mystified as to the reason behind food prices soaring in the domestic markets.
According to the daily food grain situation report of the Ministry of Food, the total food grain stock in the country on February 9, 2022 was 20.02 lakh tons. Of this, the stock of rice was 16.94 lakh tons, wheat 2.77 lakh tons and 49,000 tons was paddy.
Whereas the secure food stock level for the country is 10 lakh tons, the stock of food grains crossed 20 lakh tons.
Past data shows that there has never been such an official stockpile of rice earlier. At this time last year, the amount of food grains stored in the government warehouses was 7.21 lakh tons. Of this, the stock of rice was 5.37 lakh tons, which was the lowest in a decade.
Read: Power transmission from Payra and Rampal plants to Dhaka to wait for another 7-8 months
Citing "current stock is satisfactory", the report said that aman paddy, rice and wheat procurement activities were being conducted from domestic sources and stocks of food grains were recorded due to import of rice from abroad.
Despite good yields of aman and record production of paddy in the last boro season, several markets in the capital were visited recently which showed that the price of rice (old) is rising.
According to the trading corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) coarse rice was sold at Tk 46 to 48 per kg in the capital's markets on Wednesday, February 17. It showed that prices have risen by 4.35 percent in one year. A fine variety of rice (Miniket-Nazirshail) has been sold at Tk 60 to 67 per kg. In a year it has increased by 7.6 percent.
Teacher shortage hampers educational activities at Ramgarh Govt School
Academic activities at Khagrachhari Ramgarh Government Boys High School are being hampered seriously due to manifold problems, including crisis of teachers.
The posts of headmaster and assistant headmaster have been lying vacant for long, disrupting academic activities.
Only 15 teachers are available at the school while there is a need for 27 teachers to ensure lessons of 700 students. As a result, providing lessons to the students in the many subjects in most cases become quite difficult.
Six posts of assistant teachers in English and Bengali are lying vacant and only two teachers are struggling a lot to provide proper lessons to the students.
Read: Language movement hero Dhirendranath Datta's home awaits follow up on assurances
Besides, there is no teacher in mathematics, threatening a risk in the future of the students.
Talking to the acting headmaster of the school, Abdul Quader, said “We have informed the matter of teacher shortage to the Director General of the Department of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) but no steps has been taken yet to recruit a teacher.”
If the situation persists for long then it will be difficult to provide good lessons to the students, he said.
Meanwhile, the local administration did not take any steps to ensure security as some drug addicts often entered the premises, creating panic among the students.
Harunur Rashid, an assistant teacher of Bangla, said it is so difficult to run the classes with one teacher as there are no other teachers in this subject.
Read: Re-excavation of canals giving new hope to Cumilla residents
Expressing concern over the overall educational activities, Belal Hossain, a guardian said “Most of the guardians of the region are so much concerned over the future of their children as they are not able to sent to their children outside the district for education purpose due to financial crisis.
Biswa Pradeep Kumar, Chairman of Ramgarh Upazila, said “Necessary steps will be taken to recruit more teachers at the school as well as resolve other problems.”
Language movement hero Dhirendranath Datta's home awaits follow up on assurances
The ancestral house of Dhirendranath Datta, the unsung hero of Language Movement, remained neglected for long, thanks to the local administration’s ineffectiveness.
Martyr Dhirendranath Datta, a language activist and politician, used to live in Dharmapasha in Cumilla city, but now the house is on the verge of destruction.
In 2010, the then Information and Cultural Affairs Minister visited the house and assured of taking steps to protect the house and transform it into a ‘Language Movement Hero Dhirendranath Datta Memorial Museum’ but no steps have been taken yet.
READ: The forgotten Language Movement hero
However local people demanded to take steps in renovating the house and taking the initiative to open a language museum to share the true history of the language movement to the next generation.
According to history, in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly session held on February 23, 1948, Datta demanded the use of Bangla along with English and Urdu for conducting its proceedings.
He also served time in jail several times for his role in the Language Movement.
Dhirendranath Datta and his son Dilipkumar Datta, were arrested on the night of March 29, 1971 from the house in Dharmasagar in Cumilla and taken to Mainamati Cantonment and was tortured to death.
Since then, the infrastructure of the house has been broken. After seeing the house now, there is no way to tell that a famous veteran politician of undivided Pakistan used to live here.
Ahsanul Kabir, a cultural personality, said “The house of Dhirendranath Datta is not only for the people of Cumilla but also the pride of all people across the country. But it is unfortunate that, the house is lying in a dilapidated condition.”
He also stressed the need for the government’s initiative to protect the house.
Advocate Nazmul Bari Chowdhury, member secretary of Martyr Dhirendranath Datta Memorial Council, said “We have taken so many movements in different times demanding protection of the house. We also submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister through the deputy commissioner but to no avail.”
Cumilla City Corporation Mayor Monirul Haque Sakku, said “It is not possible to do everything from the city corporation. Earlier, we constructed the stadium gate in the name of Dhirendranath Datta at a cost of Tk 22 lakh. If the families of Datta demanded to renovate the house then the Cultural Affairs Ministry will take steps.”
An unauthorized open-air ‘library’ on Dhaka University campus raises eyebrows
Just across the TSC at the western entrance to Suhrawardy Udyan an open-air makeshift ‘library’ has recently sprung up raising some eyebrows.
Tanvir Hasan Saikat, a former member of Dhaka University Central Student Union(DUCSU) and Deputy Social Service Secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League , has got no permission from the university authorities to set up a wooden shelf with about 80 books.
Just a few days ago the DU authorities evicted from the same site a number of tea stalls on grounds of keeping the place clean and get rid of unwanted gathering.
Saikat, however, defended his move saying he has done it as part of his social service, which is a part of his organisation, BCL.
"Doing social service is my organizational responsibility,” he told UNB. “think it will help us develop our reading habit and thinking power."
"This is not only a library. I will arrange debates and poem recitation programmes here. This is the little starting of my big dream", he added.
He did not mind in setting up the book corner without taking any permission from the university authorities.
READ: Route to Central Shahid Minar on 21st February
DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Akhtaruzzaman, however, welcomed Saikat’s initiative launched on February 13.
DU proctor Prof. AKM Golam Rabbani has slightly different view, Asked to comment on it he told UNB "Establishing libraries is not a bad idea but this place does not demand any library because we have Public library, central library and science library in the neighbourhood.”
“On the other hand this place is not suitable for reading too", Prof. Rabbani said adding that only a few days ago the authorities cleared the gate of Suhrawardy Udyan by removing the stalls to make the surrounding peaceful.
“The University does not allow such establishment on the campus area and the library of Saikat, set up recently at the gate of Suhrawardy Udyan, is not permitted by DU authority", he added.
"Tanbir Hasan Saikat has taken a great initiative. His move may make the place really productive. I personally appreciate his work,” said the VC.
READ: DU to resume physical classes from Feb 22
He further said “It’s a library though. It is just a practice of a new culture but if we find anything wrong or any disorder regarding this issue, we will take proper steps", he said.
Explaining his move Saikat said he cleaned the place which was being used by floating shops. “I’ve set up chairs and tables where people can sit and read books for free,” he said.
Asked what kind of response and cooperation he expects from the initiative, he said, "I started the initiative with my own funds. For all intents and purposes, I don't need any money."
The makeshift establishment, called Jhapi, contains more than 80 books in the book shelf placed in three categories: a. Bangladesh, Bangabandhu and Independence. b. Bangla Literature and c. Foreign literature.
"If anyone wants to donate books, he will be welcomed", Tanbir said.
Salman Siddiki, president of Student Front DU unit, said that at first sight it may look like a good job.
“But if you observe this more closely, you will see that it is a plan of destroying an old culture. There were tea stalls, where students used to have various types of political talks and cultural discussions together. Students from different organisations used to gather there,” he told UNB.
"As Tanbir Hasan is an activist of Chhatra league, students of other organizations may not feel encouraged to go there,” he said adding that “This is a plan of grabbing the place and they did it with the cooperation of University administration.”
Re-excavation of canals giving new hope to Cumilla residents
Residents of Chandina upazila and Chouddagram upazila of Cumilla district are dreaming of a new beginning as the re-excavation work of Kazipara canal and Kanail canal is going on in full swing under the supervision of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC).
According to the local farmers and BADC, the authorities concerned will excavate the 3.5 kilometer area of Kazipara canal and 4-km area of Kanail canal.
After the re-excavation work, the crops of 3000 acres of land along the two canals will be protected after removing waterlogging problem during monsoon.
READ: Demarcation of 29 canals started in city
2000 farmers will be benefitted by the re-excavation of the canals as they will irrigate their crops land by the water of the canals during dry season.
During a recent visit at Barera in Chandina upazila along Kazipara canal, this correspondent found that many crops land turned into fallen land due to lack of irrigation.