Spain suspect says bigger attack planned

A suspected member of the terror cell that unleashed carnage in Spain last week admitted to a judge on Tuesday that the jihadists had planned to hit monuments in an even bigger attack.

Mohamed Houli Chemlal, 21, said he knew of the plans two months ago, as he, and three other suspects, appeared in court for the first time since twin attacks killed 15 people and wounded more than 100.
The four are the only surviving suspects from what was believed to be a 12-man terror cell that rammed a van into pedestrians on a tourist-packed boulevard in Barcelona on Thursday. Hours later, members of the group committed a similar attack in Cambrils further south.
After a full day hearing before the judge, Chemlal and another suspect, Driss Oukabir, 27, were remanded in custody and charged with terror related offences.
But the third man who owns the car used in the Cambrils attack, Mohamed Aallaa, was granted conditional release, with the judge saying evidence against him was weak.
The judge gave himself three more days to decide if the fourth suspect, Salh El Karib—who manages a store that allows people to make calls abroad—should be remanded or released from custody.
Chemlal, a Spaniard, told the judge the cell was planning “an attack on an even greater scale, targeting monuments” using bombs, a judicial source told AFP.
He had known of the plans for an attack “at least two months ago”, he added.
‘Imam wanted to blow himself up’
Chemlal, dressed in hospital pyjamas and with his right hand bandaged, was brought in after a doctor said he was fit for interrogation, a court spokesman told AFP.
He was injured in an accidental explosion at the group’s makeshift bomb factory on Wednesday evening. One of those killed in the blast was an imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, who is thought to have radicalised him and other young suspects.
Chemlal only survived because he was out on the porch when the blast occurred.
He told the judge the imam had wanted to blow himself up. The judicial source said that among the four suspects, “two blamed the imam for the plot while another two denied knowing him”.
Earlier, police had revealed that the suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for “one or more attacks in Barcelona”.
Details on their plans were outlined in the 14-page ruling issued following Tuesday’s preliminary hearing.
Police clearing the rubble in Alcanar found “a large quantity of butane gas canisters, acetone, oxygenated water, bicarbonate, a large quantity of nails ... and detonators to spark the explosion,” said the court papers.
These are among key ingredients of TATP—the explosive of choice of the Islamic State group, which has claimed the attacks.
In the rubble, police also found a sheet of paper slipped into a green-coloured book, which said: “A brief letter from the soldiers of the Islamic State on the territory of Al Andalous to the crusaders, the sinners, the unjust and the corrupters”.
Al Andalous is the name of the territories governed until 1492 by Muslims better known as Moors.
But the accidental explosion in their bomb factory—a house in Alcanar, south of Barcelona—forced the suspects to alter their plans.
Plan B
After losing their bombs and two of their members in the blast in Alcanar, the jihadists decided a day after to rent a van.
But they once again suffered a false start as its driver was involved in an accident, not far from Cambrils.
A second van rented by Driss Oukabir was used two hours later in the Barcelona rampage.
In court on Tuesday, Oukabir admitted renting the van but said he did so for moving purposes.
Aallaa, freed conditionally and the owner of the Audi used in Cambrils, said it was registered under his name for insurance reasons but that his brother Said, 19, used it.
The court hearing came five days after the twin vehicle assaults.
Spanish police on Monday shot dead Younes Abouyaaqoub, the suspected Barcelona van driver, the last fugitive member of the cell.
While Catalan police say the cell has been dismantled, investigators are trying to determine if it had support from other individuals.
Questions are also arising about the group’s possible international connections.
Audi in Paris, imam in Belgium
In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told AFP that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen—next to the city’s airport—between January and March 2016.
And in France, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb told BFMTV that the Audi used to kill people in Cambrils had been detected by speed cameras in the Paris region while making “a very rapid return trip” days before the Spanish attacks.
Collomb is due to host Spanish counterpart Juan Ignacio Zoido on Wednesday for talks due to include anti-terrorism cooperation.
At least one of the suspects also spent a night in Zurich in December, according to Swiss police.

People’s princess still in hearts of people

From TV documentaries and the private memories of her sons to a slew of new “revelations” and renewed theories about her death, Britain’s princess Diana is once again front page news 20 years after she died.

Diana was killed at age 36 on 31 Aug, 1997 along with her lover Dodi al-Fayed when a limousine carrying them crashed in a Paris tunnel as it sped away from paparazzi giving chase on motorbikes.
The first wife of heir-to-the-throne prince Charles, Diana was the glittering princess at the centre of a royal soap opera played out in the glare of the media, making her probably the most recognised woman around the world.
Her passing prompted the biggest public outpouring of grief seen in Britain in recent times, and few since have captivated the world like she did.
“There’ll never be anyone else like Diana,” said Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of “Diana: The Last Word”.
Previous anniversaries of her death have gone by with little fanfare, suggesting that the “People’s Princess”, as she was dubbed by then-British prime minister Tony Blair, had perhaps lost some of her allure and relevance.
But, with her sons Prince William and Harry to the fore, the 20th anniversary has seen her dominate front pages of newspapers as she did in her prime as the world’s most photographed woman.
“There was a period in the early 2000s where very little was heard of Diana,” commented Ken Wharfe, her ex-royal protection officer. He said her two sons’ desire to continue her work by supporting causes such as helping Aids sufferers, the homeless and combating landmines, had made her relevant again.
The princes have also been increasingly willing to speak about the trauma of her death and its lasting emotional impact.
In broadcasts aired over the last six months, William, 35, said the shock of losing his mother still lingered while Harry, 32, revealed he had sought counselling in his late 20s to help deal with the grief.
“She still is our mum,” Harry said in an intimate TV documentary entitled “Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy”. “Of course, as a son I would say this, she was the best mum in the world. She smothered us with love, that’s for sure.”
Ashley Gething, the documentary’s director, told Reuters he was impressed with Diana’s achievements. “What amazed me was what she’d actually done... All these enormous issues like championing the homeless, often in the face of criticism of politicians and editors of national newspapers.”
DARK DAYS
Almost 10 million Britons tuned into that documentary, while another TV programme “Diana In Her Own Words”, aired earlier this month, was watched by 3.5 million Britons, giving broadcaster Channel 4 its highest viewing figures for a year.
That programme featured videoed conversations, never shown before on British TV, of Diana speaking candidly with her speech therapist about her sex life with Prince Charles and her sorrow at the spectacular collapse of her marriage.
Similar shows have been aired or are planned in the United States, where many have been gripped by Diana’s story, from her fairytale marriage to Charles in 1981 to their subsequent separation and bitter divorce. More than 33 million Americans tuned in to watch her funeral in September 1997.
The days after her death were some of the darkest in Queen Elizabeth’s 65-year reign and some monarchists fear the attention lavished on Diana will rekindle resentment towards the House of Windsor.
Many Britons were angered at how Diana was ostracised by the royal family after her 1996 divorce from Charles, with Camilla Parker Bowles, Charles’s lover who later became his wife, a particular focus of enmity.
With renewed focus on the popular Diana, an ICM poll for the Sun newspaper this month found that just 22 percent of respondents wanted Charles, 68, to be the next king while more than half wanted the next monarch to be his son William.
It also showed that 36 percent of the 2,000 people questioned felt Camilla, 70, should be Princess Consort and not queen. Only 27 percent backed her having the regal title.
“Anything retrospective can open old wounds and does open old wounds,” Seward said, although she believed the impact would soon wane. “People forget quickly and I don’t think it has any long lasting effect.”
Instead she and other royal commentators say Diana’s lasting impact was a royal family more in touch with the public.
“This programme of bringing the royal family into the 21st century is being continued by her two sons who, for my part, are the future of the British monarchy,” Wharfe said.

Govt forms body to coordinate work of capital’s civic amenities providers

The government has constituted a committee for smooth coordination of the services and development activities of Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation as well as other organisations and institutions.

"Prime minister's principal secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and director general (administration) of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Kabir Bin Anwar will act as the convenor and member secretary respectively of the 19-member body," a PMO source told BSS on Tuesday.

Other members of the committee are: the senior secretary of the water resources ministry, the inspector general of police (IGP), the senior secretary of the Bridges Division, the secretary of the housing and public works ministry, the secretary of the Local Government Division, the secretary of the Power Division, the secretary of the Information and Communication Technology Division, the secretary of the Post and Telecommunication Division, the secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, the chairman of Dhaka WASA, the representative of Dhaka North City Corporation mayor, the representative of Dhaka South City Corporation mayor, the executive director of Dhaka Transportation Coordination Authority, the chief engineer of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), the managing director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, the vice-chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and the deputy commissioner of Dhaka.

The committee will coordinate the work of the service providing agencies and all related organisations for smoothly implementing the development plans taken in Dhaka city by the government.
It will also coordinate the activities related to easing traffic jam, water-logging and sewerage water as well as management of water and power supply in the city, the source said.

Iconic actor Razzak laid to rest

Legendary actor Razzak, who passed away at a city hospital on Monday, laid to eternal rest at Banani Graveyard on Wednesday morning, reports UNB.

He was buried around 10:20am.
Earlier, his two namaz-e-janazas were held at Azad Mosque in Gulshan and Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) respectively on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people from all walks of life paid their last tributes to iconic actor Razzak at the Central Shaheed Minar.
Politicians, cultural personalities and activists converged on the area to say goodbye to Nayak Raj [the king of heroes] Razzak while Sammilita Sangskritik Jote arranged the tribute programme.
Information minister Hasanul Haq Inu and road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader paid tributes to the iconic actor at the FDC in the morning when a lot of artistes, his co-workers and fans from across the country paid their respects to him with teary eyes.
Popular film actress Babita said, "Razzak was an institution for our film industry. He was unique as a friend, philosopher and star. He'll ever remain everywhere at the FDC."
President of Bangladesh Chalachitro Shilpi Samity Misha Saudagar said, "He was our inspiration. His long-term acting career is source of lessons for us."
Earlier on Monday, the actor was taken to United Hospital around 5:30pm after he had suffered a cardiac arrest and doctors declared him dead around 6:13pm.
Razzak, the founding president of Bangladesh Film Artistes' Association, was born on 23 January, 1942 at Nagtala in Taliganj of Kolkata.

IU expels teacher over sexual harassment

Islamic University (IU) authorities have expelled one of its teachers from the university permanently over the allegation of harassing female students sexually, reports news agency UNB.

The decision was taken at its 236th syndicate meeting with IU vice-chancellor M Harun-Ur-Rashid Askari in the chair.
IU acting registrar SM Abdul Latif said that the VC issued the suspension order against Asaduzzaman, an assistant professor of Finance and Banking Department of the university under the University Act 4 (1).
On 16 April last, the authorities suspended Asaduzzaman and formed a nine- member probe body, headed by Public Administration Department professor Nashim Banu, chief of the university's sexual harassment prevention cell, to investigate into the sexual harassment allegation.
The IU authorities also demoted M Ruhul Amin, an assistant professor of the same department from his yearly increment for three years for his alleged involvement with bribery scam and collecting candidates for recruiting them as teachers in different departments in exchange of money amounting to Tk 1.2 million to 1.5 million, he added.
Following the incident, on 2 April last, the university authorities formed a three-member probe body, headed by Ruhul KM Saleh, professor of Islamic History and Culture Department, against Ruhul Amin to investigate into the matter and suspended him from all the academic and administrative activities of the university.

Tree Plantation Program Under the Joint Auspices of Green University of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Air Force

On the one hard, natural disasters, tidal surge, flood, draught, river erosion, excessive ice-melting, huge dunes and on the other hand, man-made kilns, wastage  and smoke from factories, smoke from vehicles, careless dumping of garbage here and there have caused  immense harm to the global environment. Our life is being affected adversely with the rise of greenhouse effect. Water pollution has caused immense threats to the aquatic animals and plants. Reduction of oxygen and increase of carbon-di-oxide have caused adverse effect on human life and civilization. To save our globe from these adverse effects, tree plantation, its preservation and nourishment have no alternative. Trees gives us flowers, fruits, timber and above all, help us survive as the oxygen factory. Different Govt. and non-Govt. institutions NGOs, different samiti for preservation of ecological balance, let alone the Educational Institution, are coming forward with a galaxy of program for tree plantation. With this aim in view, Green University of Bangladesh in collaboration with Bangladesh Air Force organized a tree plantation program on the 17^th day of August 2015, at 10:00 am at Old Airport  of the Capital. Green University of Bangladesh offered Bangladesh Air Force 1400 saplings of Coconut, Lychee, Amrapali, Mehagoni, Nim, Telsur, Amloki, Gamari and Teak as gifts. Prof. Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Fakir, Honorable Vice Chancellor of GUB handed over these saplings to Air Vice Marshal Mr.Abul Bashar, 2^nd in command of Bangladesh Air Force. To inaugurate this program, Prof. Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Fakir and Air Vice Marshal Mr. Abul Bashar Jointly Planted a sapling. The Treasurer of Green University of Bangladesh, Md. Shahidullah, some faculty members, some students of Green University of  Bangladesh and some high official of Bangladesh Air Force took part in this tree plantation program. Afterwards in a discussion meeting organized at Bangladesh Air Force Auditorium, Air Vice Marshal Mr. Abdul Bashar thanked Green University of Bangladesh for organizing and supporting such a noble initiative as tree plantation. He mentioned in his speech that unplanned urbanization and the unsafe disposal of toxic waste by mills and factories are directly causing serious environmental pollution and global warming at present in Bangladesh. In order to save ourselves from the adverse effects of climate change, we have  to encourage different social movements including tree plantation. In remembrance of the memory of Bangladesh Air Force’s glorious contribution during the liberation war of Bangladesh, Prof. Dr. Md. Golam Samdani Fakir stated that Bangladesh Air Force is ever vigilant and untiring in their efforts to safeguard the airspace of Bangladesh, just the way they did during the War of Independence. As the university currently owns no land for planting trees, the Honorable Vice Chancellor paid his gratitude to Bangladesh Air Force for their kind co-operation and hoped that in future it would continue. He added that Green University students are participating in different social works through 17 clubs, along with their academic activities. Especially Green Blood club has built a milestone as they donated blood to almost 2500 people. He also said “From the very beginning of the University, our students are participating in various social activities including tree plantation as they believe in the slogan, 'Where there is nature, there should be trees' and we believe they will implement their knowledge in their life ahead.”

Students of Green University visited Ghorashal Power Station

The final year students of the program of B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) of Green University of Bangladesh took part in a day-long study tour to the Ghorashal Thermal Power Station on 15 June 2015. The prime objective of this tour was to help the students to know about power plant and its operational, maintenance and management. Twenty five (25) students including four (4) female students led by Prof. Dr. Engr. Muhibul Haque Bhuyan, Chairperson of EEE Department participated in the tour. Besides, two (2) other faculty members of the EEE Department, Engr. Robiul Hossain Md. Raffi, Lecturer and Engr. Md. Badruddoja Majumder, Lecturer also joined with the participating students. They guided the students during the day-long study tour. 

Ghorashal Thermal Power Station is the biggest power plant in Bangladesh located at Polash, Narshingdi with installed generation capacity of 950 MW. It has 6 power generating units with power generation capacity ranging from 55 MW to 210 MW per unit. All the generators are run by steam turbines. 

The tour comprised three parts. At first, the students went to observe the power generation units where the Engineers of the power station briefly explained the working principle of the thermal power station and then demonstrated its operation. One unit of the generator was out of order right now. So, both generator and turbines were open and students were able to observe all the opened parts and have huge practical idea about various parts of alternator and steam turbine. After that they visited the electrical control room and then they observed the mechanical control room and boiler section. At last, they observed the sub-station.

At electrical control room, the students observed many control panels, such as, control panels for 230 kV, 132 kV, 33 kV and 11 kV bus bars, switch gears, isolator control knobs, breaker operation knob, ammeter, voltmeter, frequency meter, power factor meter etc. The sub-station can be controlled properly from the control room.

Then the students went to the mechanical control room where they observed how the mechanical parameters like boiler’s flow rate, steam flow to the turbine, flame etc. is controlled. Then they observed the boiler, water treatment plant, steam turbines, governor, cooling system, economizer, super-heater, re-heater and other mechanical components of the power plant. 

At last, the students observed the sub-station that is consist of several electrical equipment like power, auxiliary transformers and distribution transformers, protection devices like isolators, circuit breakers, HV cables, PTs, CTs, earthing and lightning arresters. The generation voltage is around 11-15 kV, which is converted to 132 kV or 230 kV for transmission. In sub-station, there are parallel bus bar systems available. In this sub-station, three types of breakers, such as, vacuum, SF6 and air circuit breakers, are available. 

At the end of the day, students came back to Dhaka with practical experiences of power plant through this study tour. This was a very effective tour for both teachers and students. Their theoretical knowledge is supplemented with this study tour.