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The newly elected mayor of the Chittagong City Corporation, ABM Mohiuddin, on Tuesday said that all necessary steps would be taken soon to implement his 40-point election pledges.
   ‘As per the election manifesto, I will start the project of introduction of a city government by the next two months,’ Mohiuddin said while addressing a grand victory rally organised by the Nagarik Committee at Laldighi Maidan in the afternoon.
   Presided over by secretary of the committee, Professor Dr Abu Yousuf, AL leaders Motia Chowdhury, MA Mannan, Obaidul Kader, Bir Bahadur MP, Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury Babu, Mosharraf Hossain, and CPB leader Saifuddin Manik, addressed the rally.
   Several thousand people from different parts of the city rushed to the Laldighi with several hundred processions.
   Supporters of the BNP candidate, Mir Nasir, pelted a procession with stones in front of Enesel building, and chase and counter-chase took place among the supporters of Mohiuddin and Nasir.
   Later, the police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
   Speakers at the rally termed the victory of the Nagarik Committee candidate a revolution against the communal forces of the country, and said that the unity of the non-communal forces would have a positive impact on the process of establishing democracy in the country.
   They also said the port city’s people, through the CCC elections, have protested against the indifference of the alliance government to the needs of Chittagong.
   The AL leaders also castigated the government for its failed initiatives to capture the mayoral post forcibly.
   ‘The people resisted the government’s move to capture the post of mayor forcibly, which proved that people can foil any ill-motivated move if they are united,’ Mohiuddin said.
   He also thanked the people of Chittagong for electing him for third consecutive term.

Residents relaxed
Mohiuddin’s win dispels fears of post-poll tension
KHADIMUL ISLAM, Chittagong

The Chittagong people on Tuesday shed off all their fears and tension at the news of ABM Mohiuddin’s win in the Chittagong City Corporation elections.
   The Awami League-backed Nagarik Committee candidate, Mohiuddin, defeated his nearest rival, the four-party ruling alliance candidate, Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin, also state minister for civil aviation and tourism, by about 91,000 votes.
   Mohiuddin won the mayoral election for a third consecutive time by bagging 3,50,891.
   A number of residents earlier feared that trouble might ensue if Mohiuddin lost the polls held on Monday.
   But most of the residents on Tuesday became jubilant, taking to the streets, celebrating the win with processions all over the city. The city was calm throughout the day.
   ‘But a number of people remained indoors in the early part of the day, as they passed an anxious night eagerly waiting for the results and fearing tension,’ said Shafiqur Rahman, a resident of Jamal Khan, said.
   ‘I feel relaxed after hearing the news. Now there is no change of agitation and general strikes,’ said Abdul Salam Sabur, a businessman at Kazir Deuri.
   Before the elections, the Awami League leaders, including its president, Sheikh Hasina, directed the party leaders and activists to be prepared for a tougher movement if the elections were rigged.
   In the afternoon, people in tea-stalls at different places chatted about the reasons for the debacle of Mir Nasir.
   ‘What did the BNP leaders do when there was a low turnout of voters in the strongholds of the party?’ was one of the questions the people asked.
   ‘Why was the BNP standing committee member, Oli Ahmed, holidaying in Bandarban on the election day?’ was another question.
   People also took stock of the achievements of Mohiuddin during his two terms.

The days of typists, who sit in groups in areas of commercial areas typing legal documents and official papers for clients, are numbered.
   They have thin presence at few places, especially in Old Town or its bordering areas in the Dhaka city, as many of them switched to other professions after they had found their demand waning because of fast-catching computer technology.
   The typists who sit in front of Nagar Bhaban, around the judges court on Johnson Road and behind the now-defunct Dainik Bangla office said the number of typists reduced to two-thirds in six years.
   People these days are more interested in having their biographical data for jobs, legal documents and other such papers wordprocessed in computers, as they look smart.
   And the commercial typists find it hard to get works. Many of such typists said they used to type between 150 and 300 pages a day, earning enough to make a decent living.
   The volume of work for a single typist in a day has come down between 20 and 40 pages, with an earning between Tk 50 and Tk 100.
   In view of the technological advancement, many typists have already switched to computer processing of documents. Many are to follow suit.
   Shafiqur Rahman, 58, who has been sitting with his typewriter for 40 years in front of Nagar Bhaban, said the largest place for typists once had 50 to 60 people working. The number of typists came down to about 30 now.
   He learnt to type both Bangla and English and also shorthand for two years at France Commercial College. The training centre on Tipu Sultan Road has wound up the business.
   Earlier, he got the jobs of typing theses and reports, along with documents of other sorts, of the Dhaka University students. The offer has narrowed for him. ‘I type only biographical data, documents and letters.’
   The typists and the clients, on an individual basis, got on good terms. Many of them had regular clients, who chose to get jobs some other day than by someone else around if the typist of their choice remained absent, said Shafiqe.
   Another typist, Mohammad Harunur Rashid, 51, who sits at the Dainik Bangla crossing along with 24 others, said typing is an art, with English easier as Bangla has a large number of letters.
   In the trade for about 15 years, Harun learnt typing after his matriculation in 1970 so that he could get a better job. Giving up trying for government jobs after few years, he took a typewriter and began to sit at the place. Both electronic and ordinary typewriters are available at the place.
   The places at the Dainik Bangla crossing and near Nagar Bhaban have sheds to save them from being drenched in the rains. The government put up the sheds in 1982.
   The typists in front of Nagar Bhaban have requested the government to allow them to use computer at the place. They made the appeal to the mayor in 2002 and are still waiting for response.
   The place at the judges court, the busiest of such places, has about 350 typewriters. Abu Mohammad Nurul Islam, 38, who began the work at the place after completing a six-month course at Sonali Commercial College at Tongi 15 years ago, said 60 to 70 pages is the highest volume of work they can get in a day. Their charges vary, between Tk 5 and Tk 20 a page, depending on the job and the client.
   He has a regular client, a lawyer, who has been visiting him for 14 years. He said the typists at the place find it hard to work during the rains as they have no sheds overhead.
   The other areas where typists sit regularly are the High Court, National Press Club, Bangladesh Biman office at Dilkusha, Farmgate, Mirpur Section 1 and Tejgaon.
   There were once scores of commercial colleges in the city, where job seekers could learn typing and also stenography, looking for jobs as shorthand typists. With the profession gradually becoming obsolete, except in the courts where there are handful of stenographers, most of such colleges ceased to function.
   In a few years, where there will be no centres to train people in typing, the last remaining folks of Christopher Latham Sholes, a US mechanical engineer who invented the first practical modern typewriter in 1866, will be a rare sight. And the people willing to reach out to the computer technology will need to fend for themselves, especially in learning how to use the keyboard.

Only 0.2 per cent of hermaphrodite sex workers are HIV positive, 17 per cent use condoms, and 86.8 per cent are not aware of the health risk from their profession.
   This was disclosed at a media advocacy programme on hermaphrodites and HIV/AIDS organised by the Bandhu Social Welfare Society, and the Bangladesh Human Rights Journalists’ Forum in collaboration with UN Population Fund at the National Press Club on Tuesday.
   ‘We are forced into prostitution as we have no other option, and we are compelled to behave as our clients want, even if they do not want to use condoms, said Pinky Shikder, a hermaphrodite leader of Badhan Hijra Sangha.
   Bakul, another hermaphrodite sex worker, said their traditional dance ‘badhai’ is losing popularity because of the satellite culture.
   Because of social vulnerability, they are deprived of social services, including healthcare and education, the community leaders said.
   They said media can play a role in helping them to be recognised as a different gender other than male and female, and be provided with basic needs and care by the government.
   The community people urged the media to write on their basic human rights issues before providing them with other civic rights.
   Journalist Nadeem Qadir, the organisation’s assistant manager Mamunur Rashid, Dilruba Aftabi of the Bangladesh Bar Council, and the forum’s executive director Khairuzzaman Kamal also spoke.

The number of the students of the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Barisal came down by 18.46 per cent to 27,858 in 2005 from 34,165 in 2001, sources in the board said.
   But the number of the examination centres increased by 8.75 per cent to 80 from 73 during the period.
   According to sources, 30,760 students sat for the examination at 78 centres in 2004 which was 2,902, higher than the number of the examinees in 2005.
   The HSC examinees under the board will take the examinations, beginning tomorrow, at 80 centres this year.
   Two of the centres are opened this year. Only 91 examinees will take the examinations at the Akhter Hossain Chowdhury Memorial College centre at Mirzaganj in Patuakhali, and 201 at the Karimunnessa Hafiz Memorial College centre at Lalmohan in Bhola.
   The board chairman, Professor Anwarul Huq, examination controller Piaruddin Ahmed said the number of the centres has been increased to help the examinees.
   This year the highest number of examinees, 3,158m will take the examination at the Amrita Lal Dey College centre in the Barisal city, and the lowest, 91, at the Akhter Hossain Chowdhury Memorial College centre in Patuakhali.
   The officials said 40 teams of the board would visit the centres to smoothly hold the examinations. There is no vulnerable centre under the board, they added.

The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority has reclaimed 14 canals in the Dhaka city since it launched a drive on March 29, said the sources concerned.
   The drives by the water agency to reclaim the network of canals from encroachers to prevent water logging will resume soon. The drive began with the reclamation of the Kalyanpur canal.
   A couple of canals have been reclaimed partially, the remaining work will be completed soon, the sources said.
   The drive will resume as soon as possible. The forthcoming Higher Secondary Certificate examinations have interrupted the drive for the time being as police personnel will be on examination duties, the agency’s managing director ANH Akhter Hossain said.
   The canals had an extended network of 155 kilometres. Of them, some 26 had a length of 100 kilometres, still recognisable as they had been the city’s fabled waterways that flushed out rainwater during the monsoon. Only 19 of the canals have survived.
   The canals were the principal means of navigation and carrying sewage and rainwater since the Mughal era.
   The canals were gradually filled up to make room for the increasing demand for housing. As the major canals such as the Dholai Khal have become narrow, the streets become canals during torrential rain.
   Dhaka witnessed rainfall equal to its monthly average rainfall of 315mm in a single day on September 14, 2004. The city was almost floating on water.
   After that incident the government decided to initiate a drive against encroachment of government land and wetlands.

Nearly one crore trees, mostly indigenous, will be planted in the current season to make the concrete-filled Dhaka city green and more habitable.
   Trees such as krishnachura, radhachura, bougainvillea, Indian cotton, bakul, date, pine and cactus will be planted this monsoon, said the officials concerned.
   The decision was made on Tuesday at a high-level meeting after the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, had sent letters to heads of different organisations stressing the need for green patches in and around Dhaka.
   The meeting at the International Conference Centre, attended by secretaries and heads, or their representatives, of all government and semi-government organisations, was presided over by the principal secretary to the PMO, Kamal Siddiqui.
   At least two staff members from every government department will be trained in developing nurseries for growing saplings.
   The beautification cell of the Dhaka City Corporation has been given the responsibility to draft a manual by June 30 of the implementation of the tree plantation programme.
   The city corporation will also introduce an annual award on tree plantation to encourage such activities.

The RB Group of Companies Ltd, an electrical, electronics and automobiles importer, assembler and distributor,
   was selected for the Star Award given by the Dhaka Cultural Reporters’ Association.
   The company was given the award for its Walton remote control motorcycle advertisement.
   The company’s media manager, Humayun Kabir, received the award and said the advertisement realistic.

Former joint secretary MA Halim, father of actress Tarana Halim, died of old-age complications in Samorita Hospital in Dhaka on Tuesday. He was 78.
   Halim is survived by a son and two daughters.
   He will be buried in the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard today after his janaza at Dhanmondi Lake mosque after the asr prayers.
   The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, expressed her shock at the death.

Killing of housewife condemned
The Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights at a news briefing on Tuesday expressed its concern about and condemned the killing of a housewife at Manirampur after rape. The organisation’s general secretary Sigma Huda and executive director Elina Khan at the briefing said women are killed after rape to destroy evidence. They demanded punishment for the accused.
— New Age

2 held, firearms seized
A Detective Branch team arrested two alleged miscreants in possession of two firearms and a large quantity of ammunitions at Jurain in the Dhaka city early Tuesday. The arrested have been identified as Mohammad Alamgir Gazi, 28, and Anwarul Haque Liton alias Gandar Liton, 26, of Purba Jurain in the Shyampur police area. The police said the team raided a house in the area at about 12:45am and arrested Alamgir and Liton, who the police claimed are wanted in criminal cases.
— New Age

Two killed in road accidents
Two persons, including a bus helper, were killed in two separate road accidents at Kakrail and Gabtali in the Dhaka city on Tuesday. The deceased have been identified as Moktar Hossain, 45, a day-labourer, and Abdur Rahim, 22, a helper of bus operator Ababil. A truck ran over Moktar in front of the Gabtali bus terminal at around 3:30am. Moktar is from Matlab in Chandpur. In the other incident, a bus ran over Rahim at about 8:30am in front of the Razmoni Cinema after he had fallen off an Ababil Paribahan bus. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examinations.
— New Age

Painting show begins in Rajshahi
A 10-day painting exhibition began at the Shilpakala Academy in Rajshahi Monday night. Organised by the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the exhibition was opened by the Rajshahi mayor, Mijanur Rahman Minu. The mayor distributed prizes among six artists. The recipients are Abdur Rahim, Abdul Al Mamun Khan, Shabil Shahrier, Naznin Akhter, Ziaul Hasan and Motiul Islam.
— BSS

Tk 52 lakh agreement on boat project
An agreement of Tk 52.5 lakh was signed on Tuesday between the German embassy in Dhaka and non-governmental organisation Friendship for a cultural heritage project, ‘renovation and restoration of traditional Bengal boats.’ Boat carpenters from across Bangladesh will work with the project. The hulls of sea-going Sampan and river-going Patham will be restored under the project, said a news release. The boats will be the very first contribution to a full-fledged ‘Living museum of traditional boats of Bengal.’ Friendship executive director, Runa Khan, also spoke. French sailor Yves Marre, who will oversee the project as an expert, and the German embassy cultural attaché Guido Genrich were present.
— UNB