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The fibre-optic telecommunications cable from Dhaka to Chittagong was severed for at least 21 times in two years till February, isolating the port city from other parts of the world for 365 hours, said telephone board officials.
   The Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board has so far incurred a loss of Tk 50 for such disruptions in telecommunications, said a high telephone board official.
   Such incidents have been on the rise in recent times as the Roads and Highways Department employees often cut the cable during road digging and burglars steal pieces of cable at places, the board officials said.
   Telecommunications with Chittagong was snapped early Friday after burglars had cut off the cable at Sitakunda in Chittagong.
   The telephone board carrier department officials said the burglars had stolen a piece of the cable at Sitakunda Magpukurpar, some 36 kilometers off the city. The telelink was however restored partially through alternative circuits.
   Telelink was snapped again Monday morning when Roads and Highways Department employees cut off the cable at Chauddagram in Comilla. The carrier department said the cable was cut some 155 kilometres off Chittagong.
   The carrier department officials said the cable was severed during road digging at the Kanan Restaurant at Chauddagram. The officials again claimed that connections were partially restored through alternative circuits.
   As for incidents caused by the Roads and Highways Department, a telephone board official said, ‘We do not receive any notice when the department digs roads. During digging, the cable is often cut which causes telelink disruption.’
   The authorities concerned claimed they had lodged cases for every incident of the burglary of cable, but the police had failed to take action against the burglars.
   The telephone board divisional engineer, Shah Alam, said every such incident had only been reducing the tolerance and durability of the cable.
   ‘If such incidents continue to take place, the cable may lose its tolerance in future,’ he said.
   The telephone board installed the 256-kilometre fibre-optic cable between Dhaka and Chittagong at a cost of more than Tk 250 crore.
   The fibre-optic cable project director, Nur Mohammad, also a general manager of the Dhaka telephone board, said they needed to repair the joints very carefully after every such incident. ‘And this is expensive.’

Scores of people have been visiting a miniature Bangladesh at the Bangladesh Tourism Festival 2005 going on at the Shishu Academy.
   The week-long festival created a face of Bangladesh to attract local tourists and to encourage them to discover their own country.
   The theme of the festival is ‘to unveil the splendour of our homeland before the countrymen,’ the organisers said.
   The state minister for civil aviation and tourism, Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin, opened the festival as chief guest on February 25.
   Jubak Tourism has organised the festival in cooperation with the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.
   The festival promises to provide detailed information on holiday packages to places around the country. Information on visit to other countries is also available.
   Each of the festival days has a special theme — Rajshahi Day on February 25, Sylhet Day on February 26, Foreigners’ Day on February 27, Chittagong Day on February 28, Khulna Day on March 1, Barisal Day on March 2 and Dhaka Day on the closing day.
   Each of the days project historical places and natural beauties of the division, its culture, heritage, traditional food items and ethnic diversity.
   The festival also features divisional cultural evenings with cultural programmes such as folk songs, theatre and dance.
   The themes of Rajshahi Day were bhawaiya song, gambhira, and Santal dance, and the performance by Sabina Yesmin.
   Sylhet Day was celebrated with the local artistes performing Manipuri dance and Dhamail. Chittagong Day’s attractions were dhak playing by a local artiste and tribal songs.
   The main features of Khulna Day and Dhaka Day are face-to-face with noted intellectuals.
   Foreigners’ Day presented cultural performances by the foreigners living in Bangladesh.
   Festival committee member Sayed Rashedul Huda said, ‘Hundreds of people have been visiting the festival every day, mainly to enjoy the cultural shows. There is no entry fee.’
   The festival also features some outdoor shows such as traditional plays and bioscope exhibition. There are some food stalls.
   Six divisional pavilions present local flora, arts, handicrafts, handlooms, heritage, fruit, cuisines, garments, sweets, etc.
   The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation, Jubak Tourism, Panorama Tourism, Saint Martins Tourism, Evergreen Tourism, Hotel Owners Association and some other tourism service providers have been offering packages both at home and abroad on special discounts.
   A handout on tourist spots in Bangladesh and a catalogue of private tour operators are on sale in the festival.

The University of Dhaka department of computer science and engineering began a three-day festival of information technology on Tuesday marking its 12th founding anniversary.
   The festival features programming contests, debates and quizzes on computer issues, and an exhibition of software and computer accessories.
   There are also seminars on various aspects of computer and information technology, and publication of IT magazines.
   Teams from 40 public and private universities and institutes, offering at least graduation courses in ICT, have joined the festival.
   Some of the participants include the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Jahangirnagar University, North South University, and the East West University.
   The minister for science and ICT, Abdul Moyeen Khan, opened the festival at the Teachers-Students Centre.
   The vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, chaired the opening ceremony, also attended by the pro-vice chancellor, AFM Yusuf Haider, the founder chair of the department M Lutfur Rahman, and the present chairman, Hafiz Hasan Babu.
   The minister said the science and information technology sector remains undeveloped for lack of adequate investment and patronisation.
   The festival will end on March 3.

Twenty-five persons died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome in Chittagong division in eight years. Sixty others are still suffering from the disease.
   It was disclosed in a discussion on ‘Human Rights Issues and HIV-AIDS’ at the Chittagong Press Club jointly organised by the Bandhu Social Welfare Society and the press club Tuesday morning.
   The discussants said AIDS-infected persons have been facing discriminations from the families and society which make it difficult for them to lead normal life.
   AIDS is not contagious and there is no chance for its transmission without sexual intercourse. So persons infected with HIV should be socially accepted,’ they said.
   Terming the Chittagong and Sylhet divisions as the most vulnerable areas, the discussants stressed awareness of the disease among the people, especially the migrants, to check its spread. They also urged the media to play a role in this regard.
   The Bandhu programme officer Gorkey Gourab read out a research paper on ‘exploration of violence against MSM (men having sex with men)/MSW (men sex worker): a way to reach safer sex environment.’
   Gourab said hermaphrodites and gay sex workers who have sex with men are the most susceptible to AIDS.
   He also held the police and local musclemen responsible for harassing sex workers, including hermaphrodites and urged the government to take measures for the protection of the human rights of sex workers.
   Skin, sex and AIDS specialist Dr AQM Sirajul Islam, chairman of the Human Rights Council, Chittagong, Mahfuzul Haque Chowdhury, regional coordinator of Human Rights Journalists Forum, Chittagong, M Nasirul Haque, special public prosecutor of the tribunal of woman and child repression, Advocate Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan, divisional health education officer Khairul Bashar, the CPC general secretary, Kalim Sarwar, journalists, NGO activists and development workers took part in the discussion.
   The event was presided over by the press club president, Abu Sufian.

The Dhaka Zoo will go for birth control of tigers and lions check animal population.
   Five cubs of lion and one adult lion are now in the quarantine, as the zoo fails to provide them with cages.
   The crisis of accommodation, food and management has become so acute that they are now thinking of animal population control through castration of lions and tigers, the Dhaka National Zoo authorities told New Age on Friday.
   Seven tigers are now placed in a moat that can accommodate only one pair of tigers. The same is the case with python, Rhesus monkey and Chitral, the zoo officials said.
   The Central Zoo of Kathmandu, Nepal, contacted the Dhaka Zoo through the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to take one pair of tigers in exchange of two Black Bucks and two Golden Pheasants.
   The Nepal zoo agreed to bear the transport cost for taking the animals from Nepal to Dhaka and the other way round.
   ‘The Nepal zoo authority is waiting for our response and they telephoned the Dhaka Zoo in the past week to inquire about our decision,’ said a zoo official.
   The livestock ministry has been working on the process of animal exchange. The Nepal zoo placed the proposal a year ago and it has been delayed because of bureaucratic tangles.
   The authorities, hard pressed to provide the additional animals with adequate accommodation, are contacting specialists and foreign organisations to learn the latest method of animal birth control, said Dr Selim Iqbal, veterinary surgeon of the Dhaka Zoo.
   There are various contraceptive methods such as the use of devices, agents, drugs, sexual practice, or surgical procedures for animal birth control. The Dhaka Zoo authorities are thinking of vasectomy, the popular surgical method.
   Gender separation, use of birth control pills and birth control vaccines are other ways; but they are difficult for application and are not possible in the Dhaka Zoo, the officials said.
   There has to be a legislative provision for birth control methods for the zoo animals, Selim said. He said they had been planning a law with provisions for birth control for animals.
   ‘Such a move might spark off debates as the worldwide population of wild animals is under threat. But we are facing problems with the population of captive animals,’ he said.
   Contraceptive methods are now used in India and Pakistan to control the population of street and domestic animals.
   The zoo needs to spend about Tk 25,000 a month on each of the lions in the zoo, the officials said.
   The Dhaka Zoo has 15 lions and seven lionesses. There are nine tigers and five tigresses.
   Four tiger cubs were born on December 4, 2004. On August 29, the zoo sent two pairs of tigers to the Dulahazra Safari Park in Cox’s Bazar and the Chittagong Zoo.
   The zoo at the time also planned to send one tiger to the Comilla Zoo and a pair to the Banabilas Zoo at the Jahanabad Cantonment in Khulna. But the animals could not be sent as the destination zoos are yet to build cages.
   The Dhaka Zoo curator, Mafizur Rahman, told New Age that animal population boom in the zoo has put the authorities in trouble regarding the quality of life of the animals.

The 10th conference of the Bangladesh Philosophical Association begins at the Dhaka University tomorrow.
   The minister for education, M Osman Faruk, will open the annual conference.
   ‘We want such a world where everybody will be imbued with three things — truth, beauty and goodness,’ the association president, Aminul Islam, said at a briefing Tuesday.
   Kazi Nazrul Islam, Fazlul Wahid, ABM Abdus Salam, PRE Akhter and Nazma Hasim were present.

The American Life Insurance Company and the Vanik Bangladesh Limited recently signed an agreement, CreditShield, for providing insurance coverage for the Vanik credit card holders.
   The card holders will be insured against their outstanding balance with the card accounts in case of death or permanent or total disability, said a release.
   Vanik credit card head Ahmed Zafrul Hasan and ALICO business development deputy director Rumi Ahmad signed the agreement.
   Managing director Sayyed Husain Jamal and credit card operations assistant vice-president Khurshed Alam, of the Vanik Bank and regional vice-president M Nurul Islam and group manager Alamgir Hossain of the ALICO Bangladesh were present.

The British Council will celebrate World Book Day on Thursday to encourage children to explore the pleasure of book reading. The day will be celebrated in more than 30 countries.
   The British Council will organise different activities such as art display, book display, reading competition, fun and game competitions and story telling session on the day.

The Saudi Bangla Fish Feed held its annual marketing conference in a hotel in Dhaka on Thursday.
   About 100 agents of the company attended the conference, said a release on Monday.
   The company is a joint venture project of the governments of Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
   The project’s managing director and chief executive officer, Mohammad Minhaz Zia, as chief guest distributed prizes among the agents.

As part of sales campaign, the HRC Tea arranged a distributors’ competition in its office in the capital. The tea company marketing general manager, Abu Syed Raza, distributed awards among the winners.
   More than 200 distributors took part in the competition.
   The awards comprise a Pentium 4 computer, 21-inch colour television set, microwave oven and hi-fi music system.

The Rapport Bangladesh Limited chairman, M Mosharraf Hossain, also the managing director, has recently been awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree in management by the Untied States-based University of New Castle.

AIPE starts three-day IPE Day programme
The Association of Industrial and Production Engineers begins a three-day programme today to mark IPE Day 2005. The programme will be organised in association with the industrial and production engineering department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and the South Asia Enterprise Development Facility. The education minister, M Osman Farruk, will attend as chief guest while the BUET vice-chancellor, Alee Murtaza, as special guest. Head of the industrial and engineering department, Professor Mohiuddin Ahmed, will chair .
— New Age

HP campaign for children’s welfare
The Hewlett-Packard recently launched a campaign ‘your contribution will make a difference’. The company will donate Tk 50 on each sale of HP LaserJet print cartridge (toner) and Tk 25 on HP Inkjet print cartridge. The fund will be donated to organisations working with child education and development.
— New Age

Leadership programme begins
The first day of the Third Leadership Programme on Corporate Governance was held at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute on Tuesday. Thirty chairmen, directors and members of senior management of listed companies took part in the programme opened by the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, Mirza Azizul Islam. The institute president, Farooq Sobhan, was present.
— New Age

EWU holds
discussion
The East West University held a discussion and a cultural function in the university auditorium on February 28, marking International Mother Language Day. Professor Anisuzzaman attended the programme as chief guest. A flow chart on multimedia screen, describing some important events of the independence war was also held. The president of the university board of directors, Professor Farashuddin, was also present.
— New Age

RU law alumni reunion
A reunion of the Rajshahi University Law Alumni Association will be held at Nuhash Palli in Gazipur on March 11. The decision was made at a general meeting of the association at the Supreme Court Bar Association in the capital on Monday with the association president, Rabiul Alam Budu, in teh chair. The members are requested to contact the general secretary, M Shahbaz Hossain, in this regard.
— BSS

Viva-voce of assistant judges March 14
The viva-voce of remaining candidates for the posts of assistant judges of judicial service (BCS-judicial) cadre under the 24th BCS will be begin at 3:00pm on March 14 in phases at the secretariat of Judicial Service Commission on the second floor of the Old High Court building. Admit cards have already been sent to the addresses of the qualified candidates, an official handout said.
— BSS