BANGLADESH SUBPOLICE CHIEF ORDERED TO SHOOT TROUBLEMAKERS OPENLY

OUR FARIDPUR CORRESPONDENT:
Amid a public outcry over deadly police firing on protesters in Tangail, the Dhaka range police chief has told his men they should open fire to contain troublemakers. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) SM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman at an interaction in Faridpur on Sunday told policemen to do “everything necessary” to stave off people who pose a threat to people’s lives or try to damage public property. “Open fire, if necessary,” he said. “I’ll shoulder responsibility.” Police fired on protesters in Tangail’s Kalihati on Friday, killing four and injuring many more, while they were demonstrating against the alleged rape of a woman in front of her son. A day later, DIG Nuruzzaman visited the spot and ordered the withdrawal of the policemen who opened fire. Seven policemen were suspended. Rights groups have been criticising what they perceive as an excessive use of force by the law enforcers. The BNP has blamed the government of ‘using’ police to suppress any opposition. While on Saturday Nuruzzaman took action against policemen who had opened fire at the Tangail agitators, he ordered policemen on Sunday to clamp down on extortionists during Eid to the extent of shooting, if needed. Earlier, in February, he had given similar instructions to open fire to protect public property during the blockade and shutdowns being enforced by the BNP-led alliance and had promised to own responsibility. “Your salaries come from public money and so do your weapons. It’s your responsibility to provide them security,” he reminded his men Sunday. Nuruzzaman said the Hifazat-e Islam’s attempts to loot banks and carry out sabotage at the Secretariat had been thwarted by prompt police action. He expressed his grievances against the country’s past regimes. “I had been denied promotions because I was a freedom fighter and a man from Gopalganj. Had my promotions come when they were due, I would have become the IG by now,” he said. The interaction, chaired by Faridpur district’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Jamil Hossain, was also addressed by Rajbarhi’s SP Zihadul Kabir and Gopalganj’s acting SP Zahid Hasan. Among those present were Shaltha Upazila Chairman Md Wahiduzzaman, Boalmari Upazila Chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain Musa Mia and Salkha Upazila Executive Officer Biswas Russel.

GRAMEENPHONE ACCUSED OF CHEATING CUSTOMERS

BY LEMON
Bangladesh’s top mobile phone operator Grameenphone stands accused of going back on promises they made to lure customers and then refusing to explain its fraudulent act. The operator promised its tens of millions of subscribers a minute’s free talk-time to compensate for frequent call drops and then discontinued it without letting them know, regulators were told by clients. Grameenphone’s high-spending marketing communications machine went to town big time over the ‘one-minute compensatory talk-time’ to rope in new subscribers and then the service provider reneged on it, something that consumer rights campaigners say is ‘nothing short of cheating’. Grameenphone, majority-owned by Norway’s state-owned Telenor, has more than 50 million subscribers in Bangladesh — the largest subscriber base among mobile phone operators in the country. “Grameenphone has made its subscribers suffer after promising them a good network. In a word, this is cheating,” said Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) General Secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, spe Grameenphone denies the charge, asserting customers were indeed informed of the compensatory talk-time being discontinued, but cannot say when and how it was done. Nor could Grameenphone’s Head of External Communications Syed Talat Kamal say how much talk-time they offered to subscribers to make up for the call drops. Industry estimates suggest a major operator such as Grameenphone makes billions of takas in extra revenue when millions of callers have to make repeated new calls in an on-going conversation. Grameenphone is the most expensive of the six mobile operators in Bangladesh and traps tens of millions of pay-as-you-go callers into accepting 10-sec pulse billing system rather than the usual one-sec pulse offered to post-paid subscribers. Grameenphone officials refuse to divulge details about the postpaid-prepaid ratio, but industry insiders say the number of post-paid (on contract) customers is less than 2.5 million, which means as much as 95 percent of its customer base is pre-paid or pay-as-you-go users. A Grameenphone user, on a post-paid package, pays Tk 1.20 plus VAT and other taxes per minute, much costlier than other operators. The regulators’ repeated failure to meet its own deadlines to introduce number portability has made it easier for the big company to exploit its huge customer base. “They cannot move to another operator offering much cheaper options because they want to retain the number,” said the CAB general secretary. Call drops have become a huge problem in neighbouring India too and consumers rights groups there have blamed the government for not moving firmly against the ‘massive rackets’. They say it is as much due to failure of networks to take the load of a fast growing subscriber base as to a desire to profit on the sly. Grameenphone announced this special ‘compensatory offer’ last October as it celebrated the milestone of achieving 50 million subscribers. A day before that, a rival operator had begun a similar service describing it as ‘a minute back on a call drop’. Grameenphone’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Allan Bonke had then promised a 60-second compensation for customers facing call drops each time, so that they retained faith in “our powerful network”. The Grameenphone network is massively powered by the state-owned fibre optic network of Bangladesh Railway in a cross-sector infrastructure sharing, hailed as the first of its kind in this region. Launched in 1997, Grameenphone claims to have 99 percent surface coverage in the country. The call-drop compensation scheme, starting Oct 1, 2014, was offered to anyone in the Grameenphone network – but for a maximum 300 seconds or five minutes a day. The Grameenphone advertisement said the customers would be sent an SMS notifying that they have received the compensation. The lost talk-time would be credited to the monthly bill in case of post-paid subscribers, the advertisement said. But subscribers have a different story to tell. Many of them say they were compensated ‘once or twice’ after the announcement but Grameenphone did not inform them about discontinuing the scheme. They said they received no SMS at any point of time, nor did they see any media announcement. Senior officials at BTRC, the regulators, spoke of the abnormal rise in call drops on the Grameenphone network. “They did not put enough emphasis on network to match the large and growing number of subscribers. And now you can see how this call drop menace is growing,” one BTRC official told bdnews24.com, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Grameenphone had told BTRC about the issue of compensation for call drops. But there is no information forthcoming about when it stopped or how were customers notified, if at all they were,” the official said. BTRC has made it mandatory for operators to inform the regulator and the customers of any new ‘offers’ or cancellations. Afsana Raihan, a loyal Grameenphone customer for more than 15 years, told bdnews24.com the call drop frequency has risen sharply since June. “In many cases, the call drops soon after it is received. In one instance, I got cut off four times on a three-minute call.” Afsana said only twice after the announcement did she get compensated – and for two minutes. Sohel Rana, a resident of Dhaka’s Kuniparha, complained his calls dropped at least 100 times in the last one year and he was compensated not even for a minute. When post-paid subscribers started facing the call drops since June last year, Grameenphone put it down to “systems upgrade”. bdnews24.com has received numerous calls from subscribers about being let down by the service providers. BTRC’s outgoing chairman Sunil Kanti Bose is out of the country and could not be reached. Vice- chairman Ahsan Habib Khan was unwilling to comment. Of Bangladesh’s more than 120 million mobile phone subscribers, as on January 2015, Grameenphone boasts more than 50 million or 41.6 percent, according to BTRC. The company, the only telecom operator which has gone public with roughly 10 percent of its shares traded on stock market, is the biggest money spinner in the industry in Bangladesh. Norway’s Telenor, which runs businesses in several other countries but makes more money in Bangladesh than from its other subsidiaries including India’s Uninor, owns 55.8 percent share in Grameenphone

POWERFUL QUAKE HIT CHILE

REUTERS/JAHIRNEWS
A magnitude 8.3 earthquake hit off the coast of Chile on Wednesday, shaking buildings in the capital city of Santiago and flooding some coastal areas under a tsunami warning. At least three people were killed by the quake about 280 km (175 miles) north of Santiago, the biggest earthquake since 2010 to hit the world’s top copper producer. Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet said in a televised statement, “Once again we’re having to deal with another harsh blow from nature. Unfortunately we’ve received information that as of now we are certain three people are confirmed dead.” The quake, which was felt as far away as Buenos Aires in Argentina, also damaged homes, buildings and injured several people. A 26-year-old woman was killed by a collapsing wall and another person died from a heart attack, according to media reports. The coastal town of Coquimbo was hit by waves of up to 4.5 meters (15 feet) after the earthquake, Chile’s navy said. “We’re going through a really grave situation with the tsunami. We have residential neighborhoods that have flooded …. the ocean has reached the (Coquimbo) downtown area,” said Coquimbo Mayor Cristian Galleguillos. The inland city of Illapel, about 46 km (28 miles) from the epicenter, was without electricity or drinking water. People fled their damaged homes and poured into the streets, the mayor said. State copper miner Codelco said it had suspended mining operations at its Andina mine and that it had evacuated workers from its Ventanas smelter. Antofagasta Plc said it had halted operations at its flagship Los Pelambres copper mine and would wait until daybreak to assess damage. Tsunami advisories were issued for parts of South America and as far away as Hawaii, California and French Polynesia. Tsunami waves of 1 meter to 3 meters (3 to 10 feet) are possible for French Polynesia starting at 0800 GMT, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. Waves of 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches) hit the Peruvian coast, and waves of less than 1 meter were expected in Hawaii around 3:06 am. Hawaii Standard Time (1306 GMT) on Thursday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Less than an hour after the initial earthquake, three aftershocks all greater than magnitudes 6.1 struck the region and smaller quakes continue to shake the area, USGS reported. In April 2014, an 8.2-magnitude quake struck near the northern city of Iquique. In February 2010, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in central-southern Chile triggered a massive tsunami, and more than 500 people were killed. In the hours following that quake, President Michelle Bachelet and other government officials misjudged the extent of damage and declined offers of international aid. That delayed the flow of assistance to disaster areas, leaving many survivors feeling they had been abandoned by the government. Compounding matters, the Chilean navy’s catastrophe-alert system failed to warn the population of impending tsunamis, leaving hundreds who survived the initial quake to be engulfed by massive waves that followed. Bachelet´s government was also slow to prevent looting following the quake.

TARIQUE MET KHALEDA IN LONDON

KAYES FROM LONDON
Tarique Rahman has met his mother and driven her to her hotel after she arrived in London. A regular Emirates flight carrying her touched down at the Heathrow Airport at 7:15am local time on Wednesday. Tarique, along with BNP’s UK unit chief MA Malek and Secretary Koysor Ahmed, received her at the VIP lounge, while hundreds of her supporters gathered outside the airport. On the other hand, activists of the Awami League’s UK unit held a demonstration outside the Heathrow Airport. Khaleda left Dhaka for UK on Tuesday night for a health check-up. She will return after spending the Eid-ul-Azha with Tarique’s family. Tarique drove her to hotel SOFITEL. She will move to another hotel later. Khaleda would interact with the Bengali media and attend meetings of her party’s UK unit during her stay, Malek said. She will meet community leaders at an Eid reception, he added. Awami League’s UK unit Secretary Syed Faruk told, they would stage protests “whenever Khaleda has a meeting” and “specially is she tries to lobby with the British authorities”. This is Khaleda’s second visit to the UK after 2006. She dropped by in London in 2011 to visit Tarique while returning from the US. BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique has been living in London since 2007. He is wanted for an attempt on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life in the Aug 21, 2004 grenade attack. Tarique met Khaleda last year when she went to Saudi Arabia for UMRAH.

PM’S SON JOY UNVEILS JAMAAT FACE

In a clear reference to the Jamaat-e-Islami, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy has said ‘Bangladesh is grappling with a resurgent, radical, terrorist organisation that is masquerading as a legitimate political party”. Joy said this in an article published in the opinion section of The Washington Times website on Tuesday. The information and communication technology affairs adviser to the prime minister also said the US should declare the Jamaat an international terrorist organisation. To explain the links between the Jamaat and the terrorists, Joy cited the recent arrest of 13 Jamaat leaders and activists, including two of its former MPs, at a house in Dhaka with explosives and other weapons. On Sep 7, during the arrest of former Jamaat lawmakers Mia Ghulam Parwar and Mujibur Rahman and the others, police recovered 20 handmade bombs, bamboo sticks and extremist literature. Quoting police, Joy said “the devices were specifically designed to inflict severe injury on innocent citizens who work for humble wages in the readymade garment industry”. “The timing of the attack, police said, was, ironically, the Islamic holiday Eid-ul-Azha, the Festival of Sacrifice.” Attacks on peace-loving civilians was nothing new for the Jamaat, which, he said, had been striking at political leaders, Hindus and law enforcers ever since the Liberation War in 1971. The Jamaat had opposed the Liberation War and sided with the Pakistani forces. “During that bloody conflict, members of Jamaat collaborated with Pakistani soldiers to slaughter an estimated 3 million people, rape 200,000 women and force the exodus of tens of millions,” Joy said. The foiled Jamaat sabotage plan was part of a series of extremist violence that had taken place over the past few years, the prime minister’s son has said. He writes, “The hacking deaths of four secular bloggers made international headlines and many close observers of Bangladesh were not surprised to learn that most the slain bloggers had written in favour of capital punishment for Jamaat-e- Islami leaders convicted of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). “In recent years, Jamaat-e-Islami has ramped up its terror activities in response to the ICT’s rulings, setting off hundreds of bombs across the country. Children as well as adults have been killed as a result.” Quoting local media reports, Joy said the two arrested Jamaat leaders were running the party. “If true, the incident provides additional evidence that Bangladesh is grappling with a resurgent, radical, terrorist organisation that is masquerading as a legitimate political party.” He sees a link between international terror organisation al Qaeda’s announcement of expansion of activities in the Indian subcontinent and a surge in terrorism in Bangladesh. In a 55-minute video speech circulated on the internet in September last year, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had appealed to Bangladeshis to raise the jihadi flag in South Asia. Joys says the Jamaat leadership had never tried to hide its intentions. “It and its partners have enticed young ‘student’ recruits and seek to establish an Islamic theocratic state in Bangladesh. Like al Qaeda, with which it continues to collaborate, Jamaat has proven that it will do so by any means available.” At the very outset of his article, Joy draws attention to the Islamic State’s declaration establishing a Caliphate by occupying large tracts in the Iraq-Syria region. He says, “To confront and defeat these international terrorists, top US lawmakers and executive branch officials have been working overtime to find new allies and strategies. “One Muslim nation, Bangladesh, can be relied on to stand tall against home-grown and foreign- produced terrorists,” says Joy. Describing Bangladesh as a “proud ally of the United States”, he says the country is “widely viewed as a secular, democratic model for all of South Asia and a stalwart in the war against the scourge of terror. A primary perpetrator of terrorism in Bangladesh is the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami”. He concludes by saying: “The United States and other western nations need a stable, terror-free South Asia. Bangladesh stands as a beacon for the region in this regard — peaceful and democratic, governed by secular laws. “A strong, thriving Bangladesh should be central to US foreign policy in the region because it enhances national security and economic interests.” “As a result, the United States should not hesitate to call Jamaat-e-Islami what it is — a foreign terrorist organisation.”

PM URGES CAMERON TO FIGHT AGAINST BRITIST JIHADIS

BY RAYHAN,JAHIRNEWS
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked David Cameron to tackle recruiters from the Bengali community in Britain as experts say jihadis are fanning extremism in Bangladesh. Influential ‘The Guardian’ newspaper ran a report on the rise of religious extremists in Bangladesh and the role of those returning home from Europe and the US in fuelling radicalism. The Guardian journalists Simon Tisdall and Anna Ridout spoke to the Bangladesh leader, some other politicians, campaigners against Islamic radicalism and security experts for the report. It quotes Bangladesh security and intelligence experts to say British jihadis are backing an Islamist revival in Bangladesh by training a new generation of young religious radicals sympathetic to ISIS. “Recruiters and extremist funding from Britain’s Bengali diaspora communities are encouraging locals to join the cause of international jihad, and the number of Bangladeshis involved in salafi groups is rising,” says the report, quoting experts. In an interview to the paper, Hasina warned the British government that it needed to take more steps on the ground. “Jamaat has a strong influence in east London. That’s true. They are collecting money, they are sending money.” The warnings follow the arrest of Bangladeshi- origin British citizen Touhidur Rahman in Dhaka last month on charges of masterminding the murders of secular bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das. Links between people from Britain with Bengali roots and extremist groups in Bangladesh and elsewhere, including Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), recently also came to light. In the most recent instance reported, ISIS recruits Ruhul Amin and Reyaad Khan, killed by British and US drone strikes in Syria last month, were of Bangladeshi origin. The Guardian said security analysts, intelligence specialists and former officials in Dhaka warned that Bangladesh was ‘increasingly ripe for radicalisation’. It quoted a former army intelligence specialist, who sought to be anonymous, as saying that “up to 30 Bangladeshis went to Syria and Iraq to fight for the ISIS”. “Bangladesh is becoming a transit route to Isis from India. We also have growing numbers of Bangladeshi diaspora guys coming here from Britain to recruit,” he told the paper. A director of an NGO specialising in security issues, who like others sought anonymity, said there were “very large numbers of young men who don’t have a job or any prospects”. “Their only experience is the madrasa and the mosque… These people want to be used, so they are very easily manipulated,” he told The Guardian. “When Bengalis from the UK come in, they are very easy to lead,” he explained. “These kids will do whatever they’re told. Nobody asks any questions of religious leaders. If the leaders say ‘do it’, they do it,” he added. He blamed the “lack of government services” and Jamaat’s “political exclusion for creating space for the fundamentalists”. Jamaat could not contest the last general election after the High Court cancelled its registration with the Election Commission as a political party. Two of its top leaders have been executed for war crimes and most others are awaiting trial. There is also a growing demand to ban the party that opposed independence from Pakistan. Jamaat’s influence on the Bangladeshi community in east London and other cities is so well- established that the East London mosque states on its website that it is “not affiliated to or controlled by Jamaat”. But it does admit that it hosted Jamaat speakers in the past. They include Jamaat Nayeb-e-Amir and war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee, who had been sentenced to death by a tribunal for his atrocities during the war. The sentence was commuted to life in prison later. Referring to the Jewish-Muslim interfaith organisation, StandForPeace, The Guardian reported: “the East London mosque and the Islamic Forum of Europe are both leading Jamaat organisers in Britain”. It added: “Both institutions heavily promote the writings of Syed Maududi, the founder of Jamaat Islamism, whose book, Let Us Be Muslims, tells followers: “You must strive to change the wrong basis of government, and seize all powers to rule.” Britain and the US are backing the hardline stance that the Hasina government has taken on counterterrorism. But, ‘The Guardian’ that interviewed insiders in Dhaka says these countries are “missing the bigger picture: the below-the-radar, large-scale radicalisation of younger generations”. Hasina defended her zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, which has provoked fierce criticism from human rights groups for its negative impact on civil liberties. She, in the interview to the daily, insisted the security situation in Bangladesh was under control. “[The fundamentalist groups] are trying, no doubt about it, and there are some people trying to encourage them, but we have controlled the situation,” she was quoted as saying. The prime minister also stressed the need of closer international cooperation to stop the spread of radical ideas from the West to Bangladesh. “Certainly we want cooperation from all other countries so that they should be very careful that no illegal money or arms or terrorists should take any chance to create any problem to any other country,” she told the British paper.

KHALEDA REACHED LONDON

BY KAYES,LONDON
BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia landed at Heathrow Airport amid strong demonstration of UK Awami League, Jaba League and Chhatra League. The BNP chief reached termninal-3 A of Heathrow Airport around 12:15 pm on Wednesday by an Emirates Airlines flight. BNP senior vice-chairman and her elder son Tarique Rahman, UK BNP’s president MA Maleque and general secretary Koysor M Ahmed and other BNP leaders welcomed her at the airport lounge. Immediately after Khaleda’s arrival at the lounge, the leaders of UK Awami League, Juba League and Chhatra League started demonstration protesting her tour. A large number of Bangladeshi expatriates took part in the protest programme led by UK Awami League president Sultan Sharif, general secretary Syed Faruk, joint secretary Anowaruzzaman Chowdhury, Maruf Chowdhury, UK Juba League president Fakhrul Islam Modhu, general secretary Selim Khan and joint secretary Jamal Ahmed Khan. Meanwhile, UK Awami League and Juba League leaders said they will stage agitation programmes wherever Khaleda will hold meeting. She has no left to hold programmes in a civilized country as she burnt hundreds of people in the name of movement, they said. According to the sources, the BNP chief will talk to her elder son and also party senior vice- chairman Tarique Rahman about the party’s next strategy and work-plan. Terming Khaleda Zia’s visit absolutely personal, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan told the media that the BNP chief will meet her elder son Tarique Rahman and also go to doctor for her eye problems. Moreover, the BNP chief will try to meet the UK leaders, especially with Bangladesh-origin MP Rushanara Ali. Khaleda Zia is also expected to meet the higher officials of UK foreign ministry.

LUCKY NOW CHHATRA UNION NEW PRESIDENT

BY RASEL AHMED
Lucky Akter has been elected the new president of the Bangladesh Chhatra Union, the left-leaning student body . Akter, who was the Union’s general secretary, was made the 3rd women president at its 37th convention, the organisation said it in a statement on Wednesday. Incumbent Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury was its first female president in the ‘60s. Chowdhury was called ‘Agnikanya’ for her fiery speeches during her time as DUCSU general secretary while Lucky earned the nickname ‘Agnikonthhi’ or her fiery voicing of slogans during the initiation of the Ganajagaran Mancha movement in 2013. Luna Noor was the second president for 2003-4 term. GM Gilani Shuvo has been made Chhatra Union’s general secretary and Sumon Sen Gupta the organising secretary of the organisation.

FINANCE MINISTER TO HEAD NEW CABINET PANEL ON PAY

BY RAKIBUL ALAM

Finance Minister AMA Muhith will head the Cabinet committee set up to study and recommend ‘inconsistencies’ and ‘discrepancies’ arising out of the 8th National Pay Scale recommendations. This committee will specially look into complaints by teachers of public universities who allege they have got a raw deal in the pay scale structure. University teachers, upset over Muhith’s remarks, had asked for his removal from this committee. But a Cabinet notification issued Wednesday kept Muhith as the convenor of this committee. Other members of the new committee are ministers of industries, commerce, education and law ministers, minister or state minister from public administration ministry, and state ministers from finance and planning ministries. The order said the Cabinet secretary, principal secretary to the prime minister, senior secretaries to Finance Division and public administration ministry, and senior secretaries, secretaries or acting secretaries to concerned ministries or divisions will assist the committee. The Finance Division will provide administrative assistance to the committee. This committee will make recommendations after reviewing ‘unresolved issues’ and allegations of ‘discrimination’ in the pay scale. In the seventh pay scale, selection grade professors were included under grade-1 category with secretaries. Senior professors were included in grade-2 and professors in grade-3. But the eighth pay scale did not separately mention anything about selection-grade professors, who were put on the same grade with senior professors and secretaries. A special grade has been made for senior secretaries. Public university teachers say the post of selection grade professors has been abolished although the bureaucrats have come up with a special grade for themselves. They allege the professors are being put a step below the bureaucrats. Teachers of 37 public universities have been demonstrating to press for a four-point charter of demand, including a separate pay scale. After the government cleared the eighth pay scale on Sep 7, the Cabinet secretary said a Cabinet committee on removing salary discrepancies has been asked to evaluate the teachers’ proposals and make recommendations. Finance Minister Muhith criticised the teachers when they continued their demonstrations, evoking severe backlash. He later withdrew his comment. The Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers’ Association has since been demanding dropping Muhith from the Cabinet panel on pay.

STAY FREE FROM MOSQUITOS VERY NATURALLY

BY DR.AMINUL ISLAM(BCS)

As the national capital battles one of its worst dengue seasons, experts suggest natural methods like neem and coconut oil concoction or garlic to keep the mosquito-borne tropical disease at bay. Shailesh Mehta, founder and CEO of Joybynature.com, shares a few natural and harmless ways to get rid of mosquitoes in your house: * Neem oil acts as a great indoor mosquito- repellent owing to its smell that wards off mosquitoes. One can make an effective insecticide by mixing neem oil and coconut oil in equal proportion and rub it on the exposed parts of a body. * Another natural method to keep mosquitoes at bay is to plant Tulsi near the window panes. The plant has properties that do not allow mosquitoes to breed. * A mixture of lemon oil and eucalyptus oil is extremely effective in warding off mosquitoes naturally. Both have the active component cineole in it carrying antiseptic and insect repellent properties, which makes them effective when applied to the skin. * Camphor is an easily available ingredient that kills mosquitoes in a house. Made from the extract of a tree, this compound has been found to have the longest mosquito repellent effect as compared to other natural products. Burning camphor in a closed room can be extremely effective in keeping mosquitoes at bay. * Garlic might smell bad, but that is exactly why mosquitoes stay away. All you need to do is crush a few pods of garlic, boil them in water and spray the liquid in the room.

FISHES POISONED TO DEATH IN NARSINGDI

BY MAHABUB ALAM,NARSINGDI
Fishes worth TK 10 lac were poisoned to death in Khonkut village in Shibpur Upazila under Narsingdi district,Bangladesh.Habibur Rahman,owner of a big pond said,some unidentified miscreants poured poison into his pond at around midnight.The following morning he noticed dead fishes floating in the pond,he added.Mr.Asraful Islam afsur,an Upazila(sub-district)Officer confirmed the matter.A case was filed with Shibpur police station in this connection said, MR.Imam Hassain,an officer-in-charge of Shibpur Police Station.He further added that a strong action to be taken.