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The Ministry of Education on Saturday issued show-cause notices to six sub-standard private universities, as a last warning before closure, for their bad performance and violation of private university rules, sources in the ministry told New Age.
   ‘Six universities have been asked to reply to the ministry within ten days of issuance of the show-cause notices,’ sources said.
   The universities that were issued notices are Green University of Bangladesh, Queens University, America Bangladesh University (Amban), Central Women’s University, Pundra University of Science and Technology and Comilla University.
   The ministry, however, did not issue notices to Southern University and BGC Trust University, which were also listed for closure.
   ‘It is the last step before closing down these sub-standard universities,’ said a high official of the ministry. ‘The show-cause notices have been served to give them a chance to defend themselves.’
   Earlier, in October, 2004, eight private universities were listed for closure by a high-powered evaluation committee on the universities in the private sector.
   Following the recommendations, the ministry in November 2 formed a one-man committee of a retired judge of the Supreme Court to probe into the allegations against eight private universities.
   Article 16 (1) of the Private University Act (amended), 1998 suggests formation of such a judicial body if there is any allegation against these high-level academic institutions.
   The judicial probe body of Justice M Fazlul Huq, formed in November, submitted its 43-page report to the ministry on January 16.
   The judicial body, however, recommended closure of seven universities named above and BGC Trust University.
   The University Grants Commission’s evaluation committee was formed on July 15, 2003 following a directive of the prime minister, amid widespread allegations of poor educational quality and non-compliance with the UGC rules against several private universities.
   The committee in its report, submitted to the prime minister on October 17, recommended that the government close down eight of the 52 private universities it had evaluated.
   The committee, headed by UGC Chairman Professor M Asaduzzaman, found seven gross flaws and irregularities including poor academic standard, absence of students and faculty, temporary and overcrowded campuses, false statements by students and faculty, and almost a total lack of administration in the black-listed varsities.
   It found these universities had opened departments and enrolled students without the obligatory approval of the UGC.
   The universities were found to have submitted false statements to the committee about their faculty members — both the full- and the part-timers — and their salary structures, said the committee in its report.
   They also gave false information about their executives, governing boards, audit reports, and their latest income and expenditure.
   They do not also have adequate space as stipulated in the law and have failed to develop their own campuses within five years after their establishment, as is mandatory.
   ‘I see no reasons behind the immunity of the two private universities,’ UGC chairman Professor Asaduzzaman told New Age. ‘We are standing by our recommendations for closure of eight private universities.’
   The minister or state minister for education could not be contacted to give the reasons behind exemption of the two sub-standard private universities.

The commuters of the Dhaka city on Monday experienced unprecedented traffic congestion mainly due to the political programmes by the two organisations.
   Thousands of people from different parts of the country gathered the capital to join the national council of the Jatiya Party (Ershad) at Paltan Maidan creating a nagging traffic jam at various points.
   Besides, holding of a rally by the Juba League, youth front of the Awami League, on Bangabandhu Avenue in the afternoon stuck the city commuters in the traffic jam.
   The traffic jam, especially at Gulistan, Zero Point, DIT Road, Paltan, Dainik Bangla, Kakrail, and Mohakhali begun at around 10:00am when the activists of the Jatiya Party from outside of the capital started arriving to attend the council.
   Over one hundred buses carrying the party activists from different districts reached the capital.
   On the other hand, holding of the rally by the Juba League on Bangabandhu Avenue also caused traffic congestion especially adjacent areas, commuters said.
   A traffic sergeant at zero point said they were forced to control the traffic manually instead of automatic signalling system as the pressure of transports was very high than the normal day.
   Sagar Ahmed, a resident of Sutrapur, said he had to spend half an hour more to reach his destination at Banani in the morning due to traffic jam.
   Mohammad Babul Mian and Iman Ali, both the bus drivers, said they had to spend extra 35 minutes to reach Gulistan from Kakali because of traffic congestion.

A large number of people visited the Ekushey book fair on its last day on Monday. The sale also picked up on the day.
   There was hardly any place for passage at the fairground and sellers found it hard to entertain the pressure of buyers.
   ‘I thought the crowd would be as usual. But I could not take rest for even a few minutes after 4:00pm,’ said a man at the Anyaprakash stall.
   All the publishers and sellers were happy about the day’s sale and the overall sale. Large publishing houses such as Anyaprakash and Oitijjhya met their target.
   The Bangla Academy said 1,395 titles were published on the fair days. Novels topped the chart with 304 titles, followed by 279 volumes of poems.
   One hundred and eighty-two collections of short stories, 108 collections of essays, 48 collections of rhymes, 38 titles on children’s literature and 45 biographies were published.
   The total arrival in 2004 was 1,402; in 2003, the figure was 1,200.
   Complete works of eight writers were published. Titles on the war of independence and science were very few.
   Only 8 titles on independence war and 11 titles on science reached fair. Only four dictionaries were published. Eighteen titles were brought out on the last day of the fair.
   The fair committee member-secretary, Muhammad Nurul Huda, said the total sale at the fair stood at about Tk 4 crore.
   The Bangla Academy pavilion sold books worth Tk 32,31,688. The figure was Tk 36,16,859 in 2004 and Tk 26,00,000 in 2003.
   With his Leelabati and Sedin Chaitra Mas, Humayun Ahmed remained the best-seller, followed by Imdadul Huq Milon, with Eka and Tumi-i and then by Muhammad Zafar Iqbal with Ami Tapu and Nayeera.
   A former Bangla Academy director general, Syed Anwar Hossain, said he did not want to see such a disorganised and panicked fair in future. ‘The problems could easily be solved if there were a little bit of attention.’
   A freedom fighter and writer, Kamrul Hasan, said security measures were necessary. But he felt uncomfortable to wait in long queues.
   The Bangla Academy at the concluding function awarded three best stalls for decoration. The stalls are Samay Prakashan, Agami Prakashani and Ananya

A two-day Bonsai Workshop, Exhibition and Competition-2005, jointly organised by Bangladesh Bonsai Society and the Embassy of Japan, started at the National Music and Dance Centre of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Monday.
   The chief attraction of the Bonsai event is the presence of the 73-year old Japanese Bonsai master Susumu Nakamura. For the second time, Nakamura is participating in the Bonsai exhibition in Bangladesh, besides joining a one-day workshop on February 27.
   Bonsai, as a living art with plants and flora, was first practiced in China over a thousand years ago on a very basic scale and later developed as a nationally-recognised art of Japan in 1934, said Toshi Ukita, Minister in the embassy of Japan. Bonsai is a ‘living art that embodies and epitomises scenery, seasonal moods and natural environment as a whole’, he said.
   Bangladesh Bonsai Society has so far organised eight Bonsai exhibitions in the last six years in Bangladesh. Of them, two were organised in association with the Japanese Embassy, said Shafiq Ahmed Khan, President of the Society. In Bangladesh, Bonsai as an art form came to into practice only recently and has since been encouraged and propagated by the Society that came into being in 1999, he said.
   A total of 125 plants of 20 species from 27 participants were put on show at the exhibition. Trees and plants having high longevity are selected for this art, said Sayeeda Amina Haque, a participant in the exhibition who brought six trees. Mostly rare, indigenous and long living trees, like Banyan, Pakur, Hijal, Jilipi, Kamini and Bougainvillea, were placed at the exhibition.
   The Bonsai pot, with the crafting of the look of the tree, the spread of the leaves and the roots, brings to life the tree, though captured and frozen in time and size. The more natural they look or the closer they are to the natural plant or tree, the higher the gradation of Bonsai on the scale of art.
   Mahmudul Haque, Director General of Bangladesh National Museum, was the chief guest at the Bonsai show.

The police recovered the bodies of two fishermen from the river Sitalakhya on Monday.
   The deceased, Santosh Barman, 50, and his brother Roopchand Barman, 55, of Rupali residential area near the port ferry ghat, went missing on the night of February 25.
   The police said the boat the fishermen were on might have hit a drawler and capsized. They could not, however, retrieve their boat or fishing net.
   A case was filed with Bandar police station in this connection.

A memorandum of understanding regarding automation of the bill collection process was signed between Banglalink and the Prime Bank Ltd on February 24.
   The automated collection process will help customers to have timely access to billing information.
   The Banglalink chief executive and managing director, Lars P Reichelt, and the bank managing director, M Shahjahan Bhuiyan, signed the agreement.
   Other officials of the bank and the mobile operator were also present.

CityCell awarded the top 55 participants in its Heart-2-Heart SMS competition held between February 7 and February 14 to mark Valentine’s Day, said a release on Monday.
   Shariful Azad, with the highest number of SMS replies, won the first prize of two return tickets to Bangkok and full waiver on messaging charges during the contest.
   The runner up was awarded a CityCell connection with nationwide and international connectivity.
   Other prizes included couple dinner coupon at the Sonargaon Hotel, Hallmark gift voucher and 51 dating coupons at Café Mango.
   The company’s product and business development vice-president, M Farhad Alam, distributed the awards at the Pacific Centre.
   Assistant vice-presidents of marketing communications Taslim Ahmed and of product development Ahmed Arman Siddiqui were present.

Golam Morshed, a ward commissioner of the Dhaka City Corporation, died in Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok early Monday. He was 52. Morshed had worked as commissioner of Ward 63 of Lalbagh for 28 years. He was joint-secretary of the city unit BNP and convenor of the party’s Lalbagh unit. The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, expressed shock at the death. In a condolence message, she recalled Morshed’s contribution to politics and social services.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police held a programme at its headquarters on Monday marking its 30th anniversary.
   The state minister for home affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar, attended the programme as chief guest. The minister for public works, Mirza Abbas, lawmakers, diplomats and elite attended.
   The members of the metropolitan police sang songs in a function in the afternoon.

IT festival at DU
A three-day IT festival organised by the computer science and engineering department of Dhaka University will begin today marking the department’s 12th anniversary. The minister for science and ICT, Abdul Moyeen Khan, is expected to open the festival at the Teachers-Students Centre at 10:00am. The vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, pro-vice chancellor ASM Yusuf Haider, founder chairman of the department Lutfor Rahman, and the present chairman, Hafiz M Hasan, will be present. A seminar, programming competition, IT quiz, debate, and a software and hardware exhibition will be held. The second edition of a research magazine published by the department will also be brought out. The concluding ceremony will be held at RC Majumdar Auditorium of the arts faculty at 4:00pm on March 3.
— UNB

BSMRAU convocation March 6
The second convocation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University will be held on March 6 on the university campus. The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, also the chancellor, will attend, said a release.
— BSS

Prize among rat-killers in Rajshahi
Successful contributors to the recent rat killing drive received prizes in a ceremony at the Physical Training College in Rajshahi. Organised by the regional Department of Agriculture Extension, the function was attended by some 500 people including the department officials, farmers and students of eight districts. The speakers referred to the destruction of crops and other valuable assets by rats and urged all to put in their best efforts to prevent them. Seven farmers got insecticide hand-spray machines, three DAE block supervisors got radios and one educational institution got a crest. The additional director of the department, ML Mahmud, was in the chair.
— BSS

Teachers’ appreciation workshop ends
A two-day workshop on teachers’ appreciation ended at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology on Sunday. The workshop was organised by the continuing education directorate of the university. The vice-chancellor, Md Alee Murtuza, gave away certificates among the participants. The directorate director, Md Imtiaz Hossain, chaired the programme. The workshop had 75 participants.
— New Age

Seminar on web card
The Information Services Network Ltd held a seminar on its ‘web card,’ launched in the BCS Computer Fair 2004, in the ISN office on February 26. The prepaid web card allows people to open web site for personal, professional and business needs. The company managing director, SM Iqbal, chaired the programme. HM Faruque read out the keynote paper.
— New Age