Main Page «
Front Page «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The Rapid Action Battalion began patrolling the Dhaka–Chittagong Highway on Saturday to check robbery of inter-district transports.
   The unit 7 officials of the Rapid Action Battalion, stationed in Chittagong, said their personnel had been deployed on the highway from the morning at three temporary outposts — at Baroiyarhat and Mahipal, and in Comilla.
   The decision on RAB deployment was made at a meeting on Friday following an alarming increase in robberies on the highways in recent times, the officials said.
   The battalion officials said the state minister for home affairs after a meeting on May 24 had asked the battalion to intensify its vigilance to stop ‘silent extortion,’ highway robberies and mugging.
   Businessmen, transport owners and other professional bodies earlier made an appeal to the government to check highway robberies.
   The battalion members will gather information on robbery syndicates and take necessary measurers to ensure security on highways.
   The RAB 7 commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Emdadul Haque, told New Age that the authorities had deployed the battalion members on a temporary basis.
   He said on Saturday that the patrols would initially be conducted for a week. The period may be extended, if required.
   Business organisations and the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry have been demanding immediate steps to ensure safe transport on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
   Robberies of goods trucks, covered vans and buses increased sharply in recent times; but the police failed to address the situation.
   Sources in the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Transport Owners’ Association said Tk 400 crore were looted on the way in valuables and cash and more than 30 people were killed by the robbers in a decade.
   The situation worsened with at least 20 robberies reported in two weeks; but the police failed to either arrest the robbers or recover the looted goods, said sources in the chamber.
   The chamber leaders also alleged that the police even harassed the victims when they went to the police station for help or to lodge cases.
   The government has, meanwhile, formed highway police that will begin functioning in the second week of June.
   The highway police will check crimes on highways, especially robbery of buses and extortion of goods trucks.
   The police outposts will be set up at 72 points on more-than-4,000-kilometre highway stretch, said sources in the home affairs ministry.
   The distance between two outposts will be 40 kilometres, the sources said. Each outpost will have a patrol vehicle for starters.
   The deputy inspector general of police, Shah Jamal Raj, will head the highway police. Morshed Alam and Shah Golam Mahmud will be superintendents-in-charge.
   The state minister for home affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar, earlier said the ministry had planned the highway police three years ago.
   Each outpost will be manned by 20 to 25 personnel, he said. ‘A strong communication network will also be set up so that no one can escape after committing a crime.’
   A home affairs ministry official said the existing police patrol was inadequate to ensure safety and security on highways.

Robbers in separate incidents took away Tk 21 lakh in gold and cash worth from a jeweller’s and a mobile handset shop at It was just noon. The boys and girls swarming at Dhaka Medical College Hospital did not bother about the scorching sun. All waited to see their friend for the last time.
   Their friend, Shammi Akhtar Happy, died after a bus had ran over her at Shahbagh in the Dhaka city on Saturday. She died on the spot.
   But the morgue attendants denied the group viewing of the body as it had been severely mutilated.
   Anamika, a senior fellow of Shammi, did not bother about the restriction and entered the morgue and came out in tears. ‘It was difficult to recognise my little Happy.’
   Happy, the youngest of the three children of Mazharul Haque, a retired supervisor of a sugar mill, went out of Room 85 of the extension building of Roquiah Hall in the morning. She, along with her friends, went to a hospital to see her only brother, Akhtar Hossain Bakul.
   Happy’s sister, Sharmin Akhtar Mala, also resident of the hall, in an emotion-choked voice, said, ‘Father was asking about the preparations of Happy’s examinations.
   ‘He always dreams that his youngest child would do better in her life,’ Sharmin said. ‘She was among the best ten students under the Rajshahi board of education in her secondary examinations.’
   ‘What shall I say to father? Happy was a piece of his heart. How shall I get back home with my little sister draped in shroud?’ a wailing Sharmin said. ‘I told my father that I would take Happy home after her viva voce exams.’
   Happy was popular among her classmates. All the boys and girls at the morgue wept. Some remained silent.
   ‘She was one of the best girls in the class. She was taking preparation for her course-final exams scheduled to begin from June 1,’ said Taniya Afrose, another fellow.

The Armed Forces Division on Saturday proposed a comprehensive post-disaster rescue plan for the Dhaka city in a workshop joined in by government and non-governmental organisations to review options for urban disaster risk management.
   In a keynote paper read out by Brigadier General Nizam Ahmed, the Armed Forces Division divided the city in eight zones and suggested distribution of operational responsibilities and alternative responsibilities of different units of the army, navy and air force and the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles based in different parts of the country during or after disasters like earthquakes.
   The workshop, joined by the minister for disaster management, Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, as chief guest, was told that the armed forces units would carry out post-disaster rescue operations by setting up control centres in specific buildings in each of the zones.
   According to the proposal, the eight zones are Uttara and Cantonment; Zia International Airport; Pallabi, Mirpur and Mohammadpur; Kafrul; Gulshan; Badda, Khilgaon, Tejgaon Ramna and Dhanmondi; Motijheel, Sutrapur, Sabujbagh, Shyampur and Demra; and Lalbagh, Kotwali, Hazaribagh and Kamrangirchar.
   A comprehensive disaster management programme of the ministry and the Thailand-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre organised the workshop, chaired by the cabinet secretary, Sadaat Hossain.
   ‘Bangladesh is in the process of integrating a strong disaster risk reduction culture in both rural and urban disaster managements,’ Yusuf said. The experts said it is time the country changed its disaster management paradigm from post-disaster rescue services to pre-disaster preparedness measures.
   Yusuf said his ministry is working to achieve ‘a paradigm shift in disaster management from conventional response and relief to a more comprehensive risk reduction culture.’
   But he said that the reinforcement of agencies concerned for post-disaster operations remained a crucial factor and his ministry had proposed an allocation of Tk 120 crore to procure disaster management equipment in 2005 and 2006.
   Sadaat stressed an intensified regional cooperation, particularly for post-disaster rescue services, saying, ‘No one could be self-reliant in terms of equipment and resources in facing disasters.’
   He particularly suggested measures to reinforce the fire department with extra resources, equipment and elevated status because of its crucial role along with other agencies during disasters.
   The BRAC University vice-chancellor, Jamilur Rahman Chowdhury, also a disaster management expert, said the two major cities, Dhaka and Chittagong, are categorised as ‘medium risk zone’ but cautioned that any tremor of a relatively high intensity might claim thousands of lives and result in the collapse of all city systems.
   He suggested government measures to reinforce or demolish weaker buildings as much as possible in the Dhaka city to minimise loss of life and property.
   The Thai preparedness centre director, Loy Rego, said reinforcement of all buildings to withstand major disasters could be very expensive; but it is necessary to ensure safety of the dwellers. ‘Identify the buildings which should be reinforced immediately.’
   The Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre director, Saidur Rahman, said despite resource limitations, 17 agencies have formulated their contingency plans for earthquakes.

The parliamentary standing committee on public undertakings on Saturday at a meeting suggested exemption of interest for the realisation of outstanding electricity bills.
   The committee suggested formation of a research cell to resolve the problems of the power sector.
   The meeting was told that 40 per cent subscribers of the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority had been provided with meter cards till date and that the installation of electric meters would be completed within three months.
   The meeting was also told that the implementation of power projects at different levels through short-, mid- and long-term plans are under process to fulfil the future demand and to reach power to all by the year 2020. These projects will be able to meet the rising demand of power at 8 per cent rate every year on an average, said an official handout.
   The meeting detailed discussions on the overall power management.
   The meeting advised all power-related organisations to follow identical systems through mutual coordination of all power cells to resolve the problems arising out of different circumstances.
   It also advised them to consider interest waiver to accelerate the process of realising arrears.
   The meeting was assured that an additional 1675MW electricity would be added to the national grid by 2006-07 through various short-term projects.

The Bangladesh Centre for Communication Programmes, a non-governmental organisation, launches today a countrywide programme to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS.
   The centre officials at a briefing at the National Press Club on Saturday said the now was the time to ‘break the silence’ about the killer virus.
   More than 7,500 people have been infected and the rate of infection is on the rise, the officials said quoting a recent survey by the government and the World Health Organisation.
   The centre is launching the awareness programme, titled Express 2005 Dhaka Campaign, in association with the Square Group.
   They said the number of HIV-infected people in Bangladesh could be far lower than in the neighbouring countries, especially India, having the second largest number of reported case in the world after South Asia, but it was on the rise.
   All the high-risk sexual behaviours that cause the disease exist in society and immediate intervention is required, the officials said.
   Mass media and textbooks should have intensive focus on HIV/AIDS and there should be discussion on the disease at every level of society, he said.
   The campaign, he said, will put a special emphasis on the middle- and lower-middle-class people.
   The campaign will provide information through counselling sites and printed materials, aiming to dispel common myths and misinformation about AIDS/HIV.
   The campaign team leader, Nazrul Haque, appreciated the government approach.
   He referred to the fifth surveillance report, based on a countrywide survey, the content of which was made public.
   The report says 87 people have been infected with the virus and 44 have already died until 2004, said Nazrul.
   The theme for the campaign is ‘Talk, know and prevent HIV/AIDS’. The campaign will be inaugurated at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre at 5:00pm.
   An open truck with bauls will travel the strees. A mobile video unit will show video footage. Similar events will be organised in Chittagong on June 15, in Khulna on 18 and in Rajshahi on 21.
   The Square Group executive director, M Ashiqul Hoque Chowdhury, senior deputy director of the centre, Yasmin Khan, the Media Com executive director, Sarwat Ahmad, producer Hasan Abidur Reja and singer Kumar Bishawjeet were also present.

The Chairman of Amadi Union Parishad at Kayra in Khulna was arrested on Saturday in connection with the incident in which an eight-month-old girl died from acid burn.
   Miscreants threw acid on the girl, her mother and brother at about 11:00pm Thursday in their house in village Jaigirmahal.
   The girl, Mukta, daughter of one Mostofa Mollah, died in Khulna Medical College Hospital on Friday. Her mother and brother are still under treatment.
   The police said they had arrested union council chairman Shah Ebadat Hossain, also a local Jamaat leader, for his suspected involvement in the incident.
   She had given a statement in the presence of a magistrate in Khulna Medical College Hospital Friday afternoon before she and her son Badsha, 5, were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Social, cultural and human rights organisations in Rajshahi called a half-day general strike in the city from 6:00am for June 2 in protest at the rape and murder of an 11-year-oldl schoolgirl on May 3.
   The organisations earlier called a daylong strike for May 30. They rescheduled the programme in view of the anniversary of death of former president Ziaur Rahman, the organisation activists said at a briefing on Saturday.
   The organisation leaders demanded that the case should be transferred to the speedy trial tribunal.
   They said a section of political leaders had been involved in delaying the submission of the charge sheet.
   The Boalia police earlier arrested three persons in this connection and placed them on remand three times.
   The professional bodies demanded withdrawal of the subinspector, Ahkter Hossain, also investigation officer of the case.
   The rape and murder case was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department on Friday.

Speakers at a pre-budget roundtable on Saturday recommended that the government should increase budgetary allocation for primary education.
   They also emphasised the positive correlation between the gross domestic product and the primary education budget.
   Shusiksha Andolon, a citizen’s initiative, and the Power and Participation Research Centre, a non-governmental organisation, organised the discussion on quality primary education at the National Press Club.
   The speakers said the existing annual development programme for primary education sub-sector is far less than the expectation.
   Economist Atiur Rahman presented the keynote paper and PPRC member Khondakar Shakhawat Ali presented a research paper on the income and expenditure of 83 primary schools.
   Economist Hossain Zillur Rahman moderated the roundtable, also addressed by the Campaign for Popular Education director, Rasheda K Choudhury, a history department professor of the Dhaka University, Ahmad Kamal, and Professor Amirul Islam Choudhury of the North South University.
   In his keynote paper, Atiur said lack of quality teachers was responsible for not ensuring quality education.
   Lack of quality training for the teachers, irregularities in recruiting teachers and weak monitoring are also responsible for the failure in ensuring quality primary education.
   ‘Allocation in the next budget should be increased for recruiting more teachers,’ he said and added ‘adequate administrative personnel should also be recruited in the primary schools so that the teachers can engage themselves only in teaching’.
   The primary education has become more dependent on the state machinery, Zillur said and emphasised the need for increasing dependence on community.
   Despite some shortcomings, the achievement in primary education is remarkable, he said. ‘The ratio of male-female students has become equal’.

Muggers took away Tk 24 lakh from two officials of a transport company at Kadamtali in the Double Mooring police area in the Chittagong city Saturday afternoon.
   The police said a group of five in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw stopped the officials of Rumana Transport when they, in a motorcycle, were going to deposit money with the Kadamtali branch of the City Bank at about 4:00pm.
   One of the officials, Mohammad Alamgir, also son of the company owner, sustained wounds in the head. The muggers managed to get away.
   Alamgir, with the other, Kamal, were going to the City Bank after withdrawing money from the Agrabad branches of the Uttara Bank, Premier Bank and Standard Bank. The police suspected the muggers followed them.
   A patrol team chased the auto-rickshaw, which went on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, but failed to catch it.
   Alamgir was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital. Filing of a case with the Double Mooring police was under way till the evening.

The Centre for Asian Theatre will organise theatre performances for children along with an interactive session on ‘gender education: theatre for children programme’ at the Experimental Theatre Hall of the Shilpakala Academy at 3:00pm on Monday. The Goethe-Institute Dhaka will assist the programme.
   The Canadian high commissioner, David Sproule, will be chief guest while Dr Markus Litz, director, Goethe Institute Dhaka, special guest.
   Dr Hameeda Hossain, DSHE deputy director Md Shahjahan, CPB general secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim, JSD joint general secretary Shirin Akhter and executive director of Ain-o-Shalish Kendra advocate Sultana Kamal, among others, will take part in the discussion, said a press release.

ATM Nuruzzaman, a former inspector general of prisons, died of old-age complications in Bangladesh Medical College Hospital on Saturday. He was 80.
   Nuruzzaman left behind his wife, one son, six daughters and a host of relatives to mourn his death.
   He was buried in the Azimpur graveyard after namaz-e-janaza at the Baitul Mukarram mosque in the afternoon.

Two suspected muggers held
Two suspected muggers — Ruhul Amin and Kamrul Ahsan — were held when they tried to snatch the purse of a woman, going in a rickshaw, to Shapla Square from the Dainik Bangla crossing at Motijheel in the Dhaka city at about 11:30pm on Saturday. Local people and the patrol police chased the muggers, who were in an auto-rickshaw, and caught them. The two were taken in police custody.
— New Age

Admission fair
at BUBT
The Bangladesh University of Business and Technology began an admission fair on the university campus in Dhaka on May 23. The vice-chancellor, Rahim B Talukdar, inaugurated the fair. Spot admission to university courses is on in the fair, which run till May 31.
— New Age

Saifur opens mosque extension work
The minister for finance and planning, M Saifur Rahman, on Saturday inaugurated the extension work of the mosque and shrine of Hazrat Sahjalal in Sylhet. The minister also distributed sewing machines among destitute women on the occasion.
— UNB

Two jailed for life over note forgery
The Khulna special trial tribunal judge, Mosharraf Hossain, on Saturday sentenced two — Moazzem and Fazlu, both of Daulatpur in the Khulna city, — to life imprisonment for making and keeping forged money. The court officials said the Daulatpur police had arrested Moazzem, Fazlu and Mitun at Kalpataru, Daulatpur, on February 13, 2002 along with machine for printing forged notes. The police lodged a case against the three, but Mitun was released.
— New Age

Inter-univ photography exhibition
The North South University began weeklong International Inter-University Photography Exhibition 2005 at the Shilpakala Academy in the Dhaka city on Saturday. The state minister for education, ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milan, inaugurated the exhibition as chief guest. The university vice-chancellor, Hafiz GA Siddiqi, was special guest in the opening programme. The exhibition will remain open every day between 11:00am and 7:00pm.
— New Age

Beer seized from a club in capital
The Department of Narcotics Control officials raided the Dhaka Billiard Club at Gulshan in the Dhaka city and seized more than 150 cans of beer Saturday night. The club manager, Shah Alam Jewel, and an employee, Mohammad Mithu, were also arrested. In another drive, the department officials seized 265 bottles of Phensidyl from the Chittagong mail train early Saturday and arrested one Alamgir Hossain in this connection.
— New Age