Saturday, January 31, 2009

Helpless Teachers

From the political conflicts, teachers are not also safe here.

Awami League (AL) activists have allegedly forced a schoolteacher in Sharsha upazila in the district to sign a resignation letter at gunpoint.

The victim, Saheb Ali, a teacher of Sharsha Dhanyokhola High School, also a local BNP leader, said he faced the situation due to political reasons.

He was taking class at the school at about 11:00am on Wednesday when a group of armed men led by Awami League's Bahadurpur union unit General Secretary Mofizur Rahman Mofiz appeared and asked him to sign on a resignation letter prepared by them. They also brought his son Shibli Sadik Tushar, a class nine student of the school, to confine him in a bathroom. At this stage, Shaheb signed the letter, he said.

Later, BNP leaders informed Jessore deputy commissioner of the matter.

However, local AL leaders denied the allegations and said Shaheb was appointed a teacher at the school through political influence during the BNP-led four-party alliance rule.

When contacted, Benapole Port Police Station officer-in-charge Nurul Amin expressed his ignorance about the incident.

Mustard

They grow mustard but it was huge this year.

Farmers and Agriculture Extension Department (AED) officials are hopeful to get bumper production of mustard in the district this year following good yield of the crop.

Good yield of mustard in last year inspired Pabna farmers to cultivate the crop in a large scale this year, AED sources said.

This year farmers have cultivated mustard on over 30 thousand hectares of land in the district, which is a little more than the cultivation target fixed by the AED while filed reports show that the rate of production will be much higher than expectation.

“Earlier we expected production of 30 thousand 65 tonnes of mustard in the district this year as there was target of one tonne production per hectare of land. Following the recent field report, we are hopeful to get bumper production of mustard. Now we are hopeful to get 1.2 tonnes of mustard in each hectare of land and the total amount of production in the district would be over 36 thousand tonnes,” said Agriculture Official Shahin.

Of the 30 thousand 65 hectares of lands that was brought under mustard cultivation in the district this year, 5600 hectares are in Pabna Sadar upazila, 2355 hectares in Atghoria upazila, 800 hectares in Ishwardi upazila, 5400 hectares in Chatmohar upazila, 5520 hectares in Vangura upazila, 5740 hectares in Faridpur upazila, 2500 hectares in Bera upazila, 1300 hectares in Santhia upazila and 850 hectares in Sujanagar upazila, AED sources said.

“Although untimely rain hampered mustard farming in the beginning of the cultivation season, farmers in the district braved all the obstacles and cultivated mustard on 30.06 thousand hectares of land in the district,” Md Shahin, a development officer of Pabna AED office, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The area of cultivation would be more if untimely rain during the cultivation period of the crop did not hamper mustard cultivation at the primary stage, AED officials said.

During this correspondent's visit to a few mustard fields, farmers also expressed hope to get bumper production of mustard this year.

Aeroplane


India is trying to save planes from attach.

The Indian government has warned authorities in western Maharashtra state to step up security against a possible hijack attempt on a civilian aircraft, a government minister said Thursday.

State home minister Jayant Patil said he received the federal "advisory" Wednesday, asking security agencies to tighten security at airports in state capital Mumbai.

The "advisory received by Maharashtra government directs authorities to keep a watch on private aircraft at Mumbai airport," the Press Trust of India quoted Patil as saying.

Federal home ministry officials confirmed that an alert had been sent to Mumbai, the site of the massacre of 165 people last November by 10 gunmen, who India says came from Pakistan.

The national government also put federal troops guarding civilian airports across Maharashtra on high alert, the official who did not wish to be named, told AFP in New Delhi.

IPL

IPL is in second auction now .

The IPL has announced an exhaustive list of 110 overseas players who will be considered for the second auction in Goa on February 6. Not surprisingly, Australians dominate the list (27) while the big difference from last year's edition is the addition of 21 England players.

Twelve Bangladeshi players have also been included in the list; up from the two that were selected last time. Last year, skipper Mohammad Ashraful and vice captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza were placed on an open bid but failed to break into a team. However, this year the IPL organizing committee have confirmed that the twelve Tigers will be featuring in the second auction. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak was the sole Bangladeshi representative in last year's tournament, but is now barred from international matches due to a suspect bowling action. He played for the Vijay Mallya owned Bangalore Royal Challengers although he was signed externally without being slated in the auctions.

Each franchise has a maximum of US$2m to spend on their overseas signings in the auction, which gets underway on February 6, and it is likely that only about 16 players - or two per franchise - will be chosen out of the 110.

The England players will be available for a three-week window in the tournament for the next two years, with Kevin Pietersen the star attraction. Pietersen's base price has been pegged at $1.35m, and it is expected that he will top Mahendra Singh Dhoni's $1.5m salary, currently the highest in the league. Veterans like Dominic Cork and Darren Gough also figure in the list.

"We are extremely happy with the interest the league has garnered globally," said Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, "and look forward to the action at the second player auction in Goa".

"I think it's important for world cricket and for the IPL that the English players are participating," he told Sky Sports News. "I think that they are all very, very good players. Some are batting players and some are players who have great experience behind them and I think it will be very good for the second edition of the IPL".

"The prices are based upon the 14 league games. If they play 10 of the 14 games they get paid according to ratio. If they play seven they get half."

Modi said the demand for England's top stars would be high. "If you look at the base price it's close to 250,000 and 350,000 dollars a week for each week he [Pietersen] plays, which is comparable to the top soccer players around the world," he told Setanta Sports News. "Andrew Flintoff has a minimum base price of 950,000 dollars, but he'll probably go for a higher figure. It'll be quite competitive. All the teams can afford it. Everyone's trying to get England's top players in their team."

Golf


Bangladesh open golf has been started.

Nineteen-year-old amateur Jamal Hossain Mollah, extended his lead to two strokes in the third round of the City Bank - Dhaka Bank Bangladesh Open 2009. Leading the pack overnight, Jamal shot a 4 under 68 on Friday to take his total to 13 under 203. The local lad now looks increasingly likely to sew up his maiden triumph in a professional event.

His main challenge comes in the form of Delhi-based professional Shamim Khan who trails behind with 11 under par, 205. Lucknow-based Sanjay Kumar brings up the rear in a top three with a score of 7 under 209.

The rest of the chasing pack are bought up by Gaganjeet Bhullar, Vijay Kumar and Harmeet Kahlon who all share fourth position at five under 211.

Harendra Gupta's total of four under 212 places him seventh. Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman and Shahid Khan share eighth place along with Kolkata's Rahil Gangjee at three under 213.

Australian Open Tennis



Its the day for win and get the slam.

With nine Grand Slams already in the trophy cabinet, US veteran Serena Williams says all the pressure will be on Russia's Dinara Safina when the pair clash in the Australian Open final Saturday.

The American is the bookies' red-hot favourite to win her fourth Australian title in the Rod Laver Arena, while Safina acknowledges she is the underdog in her search for a first Grand Slam crown.

Adding spice to the match, the winner will replace Serb Jelena Jankovic as the number one ranked player in the world.

Williams said she was keen to "leave her mark" and enter the elite group of players with 10 or more majors but felt relaxed going into the 13th Grand Slam decider of her career.

The 27-year-old has struggled with poor form in the tournament but still did enough to reach the final, becoming the biggest prizewinner in the history of women's sport on the way.

"I feel like I have nothing to lose," the reigning US Open champion said.

"If I win, that would be great. If I lose, I'll just leave with the confidence that I can get far in a tournament when I'm not playing my best and go home and work even harder for the next time."

Williams, who came into the tournament as second seed, said she was desperate to win a fourth title in Melbourne, where she has triumphed in every final she has contested.

The American has a 5-1 winning record over Safina, seeded third here, whose only previous appearance in a Grand Slam final was a straight sets loss to Ana Ivanovic in last year's French Open.

But Williams was wary of Safina, who she said had transformed into an intense, tenacious and incredibly fit player whose loss at Roland Garros would spur her on in Saturday's final.

"She's going to be way more hungry for it and want it even more. That's going to be definitely going for her," she said.

For Safina, a win in the final would allow her to finally energe from elder brother Marat Safin's shadow.

It would also create a piece of history, with the siblings becoming the first brother-sister combination to each hold the number one ranking.

The 22-year-old, who admits her combustible temperament sometimes means she is her own worst enemy on the court, expected her French Open experience would help settle any big-match nerves during Saturday's final.

"I hope all the experience, all the pressure, I went through in that match will help me for my next match on Saturday," she said.

She has shed seven kilograms (15.5 pounds) in the past six months and will contest the final in the best physical shape of her life, also crediting coach Zeljko Krajan with adding mental steel to her game.

Her new attitude was on display when she defeated Australia's Jelena Dokic in front of a fiercely parochial crowd in the quarter-finals, a win she said would not have happened 12 months ago.

"I stayed very tough mentally there, I didn't panic," she said. It made me stronger now.

"I hope (the crowd) are going to be behind me, as I'm underdog coming into the final."

While some players concede they feel intimidated against Williams, Safina said she was eager to test herself against the American.

"I can't talk about the other players, how they feel when they play against her, just myself," she said.

"We played three times last year and I beat her once. I'm looking forward to playing against her this time."

Friday, January 30, 2009

Shakib Still on top


Friends , Shakib Al Hasan, the best Bangladeshi cricket player is still No. 1 ODI all-rounder of the world.

Thanks Shakib.

  1. Shakib Al Hasan
  2. J.D.P. Oram
  3. A. Flintoff
  4. Shoaib Malik
  5. C.H. Gayle
  6. J.H. Kallis
  7. Shahid Afridi
  8. Yuvraj Singh
  9. S.T. Jayasuriya
  10. P.D. Collingwood