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The project for a proposed elevated road from the Tongi Diversion Road to the Pragati Sarani/Gulshan Avenue Link Road has been gathering dust for about six months for approval of the executive committee of the National Economic Council.
   The revised project concept paper, which was prepared as per suggestion of a pre-ECNEC meeting held on December 27, 2004, was submitted to the Planning Commission by the Local Government Division on January 12, 2005.
   A meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in February 16, which was chaired by the principal secretary to the prime minister, also requested the commission to place the project at the next ECNEC meeting, but it was not placed, sources in the Dhaka City Corporation said.
   The proposed 3.5km elevated road will be implemented by the city corporation between July 2005 and June 2008 at an estimated cost of Tk 530.34 crore. Of the cost, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation will give Tk 300 crore.
   If project is kicked off immediately, there is a possibility to get rest of the fund, said an official of the city corporation.
   The chief of the bank’s representative office, Kiyoshi Amada, issued a letter to the Planning Division secretary in January 27, requesting him to expedite the approval of the project, along with some other projects, to facilitate them to start operation immediately and inform them of the carry-over framework in detail as soon as possible, the official said.
   According to the proposed project concept paper, about Tk 420 crore will be spent on physical infrastructure and Tk 80 crore on land acquisition. Of the total land to be acquired, 31.39 acres of government land is expected to be obtained free of cost.
   The elevated road will connect the Tongi Diversion Road with Rampura, allowing vehicles from the western part of the Dhaka city to the eastern side through Panthapath (now Bir Uttam Quazi Nuruzzaman Road) and Sonargaon Road, avoiding the congested routes via Moghbazar or Mohakhali, said an official of the corporation.
   As Panthapath has no direct link with Rampura, commuters have to take the longer routes of Moghbazar-Malibagh-Mouchak or Mohakhali-Gulshan to reach Rampura and other places in the eastern part, causing severe traffic jam.
   ‘It will ease the persistent traffic congestion, especially on the Moghbazar-Mouchak road, which costs the city dwellers several hours a day,’ said the official.
   The corporation took the initiative to construct the Panthapath-Rampura Link Road in June, 2003, and construction work was expected to begin in October of the year.
   But due to administrative logjam and the planning ministry’s objection to some parts of the project concept paper, they could not begin the construction work, the official claimed.
   The government has finally planned to construct an elevated road linking Panthapath-Rampura on the Hatirjheel, following a recommendation of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
   The university urban planning department conducted a survey of the entire area and suggested that an elevated road should be constructed to ease traffic jam and to preserve Hatirjheel.
   The government had earlier planned to acquire 200 acres of land in the Rampura-Hatirjheel-Begunbari wetland to launch the controversial development project, which proposed to fill up the water body and build a connecting road.
   The survey report says if Hatirjheel is filled up, the city will undergo severe water-logging and even a short spell of rain will flood the entire area around Hatirjheel.

The German ambassador, Dietrich Andreas, lauded the Bangladeshis for their efforts to face natural calamities, terming it an ‘example’ for the Germans.
   He said whenever there is economic stagnation in Germany, people make complaint and express their frustration. ‘But I tell them, look at Bangladeshis! Despite natural calamities, they don’t lose hope. They try to survive through struggle and united effort.’
   Dietrich was addressing the prize distribution ceremony of student design competition ‘Dwelling in the Delta’ on Thursday at the Goethe-Institut in Dhaka.
   Stressing on Bangladeshi young architect students’ talent and enthusiasm, he said they were capable of offering high quality and sustainable dwelling plans for the nation no less than the quality of foreign experts.
   The competition, sponsored by Scan Cement of Heidelberg Cement Group, was aimed at developing innovative design for a four-member family in flood-affected rural areas.
   In the competition, 43 design proposals were submitted by 62 participants from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Khulna University, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, BRAC University, and University of Asia Pacific.
   The five-member jury board headed by architect Muzharul Islam awarded 1st prize to Khondokar Abdal Hossain of BUET, 2nd prize to Zinia Shameem and Samia Jahan of Ahsanullah University, and 3rd prize to Sharfin Afroze and Amin Ahmed Arif of Khulna University.
   They received Tk 25,000, Tk 15,000 and Tk 10,000 respectively and crests and five other participants got consolation prizes.

AkTel, one of four private mobile phone operators in Bangladesh, on Thursday launched ‘Club Magnate’ service for its post-paid customers.
   The service has been introduced as part of a ‘post-paid redefined’ package of AkTel, Nasir Bin Bahrom, managing director of the company, told a news briefing at the Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.
   ‘Club magnate is an experience never before available in the industry, and will reward and pamper AkTel’s individual post-paid customers,’ he said. ‘The objective is to serve those customers who have been loyal to AkTel and have been the pillar of its success.’
   The members-only club will have platinum, gold and silver cards and the memberships are based on loyalty to AkTel and one has to be an AkTel customer for a minimum six months to qualify. Membership is also based on the payment of bills on time and in full.
   Vijay Watson, the chief operating officer, said the post-paid customers with monthly bills between Tk 2,500 and Tk 4,499 will be considered silver members and those with bills between Tk 4,500 and Tk 6,499 gold members. AkTel customers with monthly bills above Tk 6,500 will be considered platinum members.
   The members will enjoy benefits including free SIM replacement in case of loss, damage or theft, free monthly itemised bill, one additional post paid standard connection with nationwide dialling facility, one additional post-paid mobile to mobile connection with Tk 300 voucher and one-stop service at dedicated priority counters of all AkTel customer care centres.
   The members will also enjoy privileges with partner organisations of AkTel that include the Sheraton Hotel, Hotel Seagull, Medinova Medical Service, Rahimafrooz superstores (Agora), Hertz and Malaysian Airlines.
   The club magnate service has initially been launched with 5,000 post-paid customers with the hope that the number will increase every month, Vijay said.
   The memberships are valid for one year.

The six-day mobile mela, organised by the private mobile phone operator Banglalink, begins at the Bashundhara City at 3:00am today.
   The fair, which was slated to start on Thursday, was earlier postponed for ‘unavoidable reason’.

The health and family welfare ministry will implement a five-year plan to control tobacco products as soon as possible.
   The ministry and the World Health Organisation organised a workshop on national capacity building on tobacco control in Bangladesh at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Institute of Administrative Management in the capital Thursday with a view to formulating the plan.
   ‘The ministry will formulate a five year-plan to control tobacco products usage,’ said assistant health secretary Ahmed Hossain Khan at the inauguration.
   The Smoking and Tobacco Usage (control) Act 2005 was passed on March 13 and implemented from March 26 but most of the prohibitions are frequently violated by the citizens, observed the workshop.
   Some recommendations made by the participants will become part of the five-year plan.
   Sohrab Uddin of Work for Better Bangladesh, senior assistant secretary of the health ministry, Md Khaled Hossain and Ataur Rahman were present as facilitators.
   The act prohibits smoking in public places, conference halls, public transports and even in the open spaces to protect health of the consumers and that of the passive smokers.
   The bill also prohibits publication of advertisements of tobacco-products in newspapers, books and magazines, in radio and television broadcasts and in cinema.

The beheaded body of a young man was recovered from his rented room at Meradia under the Khilgaon police station in the capital on Thursday.
   The police said body of the man, aged about 35, was recovered from a room on the ground floor of a five-storey building at Meradia, at around 12:30pm after local people saw the body through the open doors at around 10:30am.
   The local people said the victim rented the room towards the beginning of this month and was not known to any of the neighbors, not even to the landlord.
   The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.
   The hospital sources said the head was separated from the body with a sharp weapon and marks of injury were found in the belly.
   Police suspected that the man might have been killed early Thursday.

Close Up star search in Rajshahi
Four hundred and two artistes from Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore and Chapainawabganj registered in the first day audition of ‘Close Up 1 Tomakei Khujchhe Bangladesh’ at the Rajshahi District Council auditorium on Thursday. Three hundred and ten participants turned out for the competition. The final selection will be held on Saturday.

Memo submitted to DU VC
The Dhaka University vice-chancellor, Professor SMA Faiz, on Thursday assured the Progressive Students’ Alliance, a combine of eight left-leaning student organisations, that an inquiry committee formed by the university syndicate was asked to investigate activities of the university proctorial body during the violence following the death of Shammi Akhtar Happy. The alliance submitted a memorandum to the vice-chancellor, demanding removal of the university proctor, Aka Firoz Ahmed, and punishment for the policemen who had attacked students and teachers of the Institute of Fine Art.

CPB Khulna unit committee formed
The Khulna city unit committee of the Communist Party of Bangladesh was formed for the next three years through a council in Umesh Chandra Public Library conference room in the Khulna city on Thursday with advocate Firoz Ahmed as president and Manoj Das as general secretary, HM Shahadat and Mir Obaidur Rahman as secretary members and advocate Ruhul Amin, Rustom Ali Hawlader, GM Shahajahaan, Tofazzel Hossain, Mizanur Rahman Babu and Sheikh Salim Tito as members.

Protests against budget
Organisations in the Khulna city on Thursday demonstrated in protest at the proposed national budget, which, they say, did not allocate money for development of the greater Khulna region. They also expressed their solidarity with the daylong general strike called by the Greater Khulna Development Action Coordination Committee for June 18.

AIEIB holds briefing at DRU
The Association of International Educational Institutes in Bangladesh, an organisation of more than 40 foreign university/college campuses in Bangladesh, held a news briefing at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Wednesday.

Aristopherma launches new drug
Aristopherma, a pharmaceutical company, has recently launched a drug, Ipec-Super, with supplements for pregnant women and lactating mothers. The drug contains iron polymaltose complex, folic acid, zinc and vitamin B complex.

Sramik League held in Khulna
The biennial conference of the Khulna city unit of the Sramik League, workers’ front of the Awami League, was held at Shaheed Hadis Park in the Khulna city Thursday noon.
— New Age