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Dhaka Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka on Thursday directed all private and public service providing organisations to complete their respective beautification within October 25 before the ensuing SAARC Summit.
   The directive came at a meeting at Nagar Bhaban chaired by Khoka ahead of the two-day SAARC summit scheduled from November 12-13.
   A joint team comprising representatives of all the service organisations will carry out an inspection on October 13 to find out any lapses in the beatification at different spots beginning at the airport at 10:00am.
   Khoka directed the government and private organisations concerned to complete their respective beautification works including road and footpath repairs, tree plantation on the medians and repair of drainage and sewerage lines by October 25.
   Khoka also directed the utility services to complete their digging works by October and asked the officials concerned not to issue any new permission of road digging till the summit is over.
   He asked the authorities of Dhaka Electric Supply Authority, Dhaka Electric Supply Company, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority and Titas Gas to take proper initiative to ensure uninterrupted power, gas and water supply during the summit.
   Khoka asked the authorities concerned to finish painting trees at important places, removing posters and banners from trees and electric poles, removing illegal billboards, whitewashing commercial and public buildings adjacent to the VIP roads and organising the electric and cable lines in a systematic way.
   The meeting decided to issue letters to owners of private residential and commercial buildings to whitewash their respective buildings on and adjacent to VIP roads.
   All the important structures and buildings will be lighted and every important private hotel on the VIP roads will be directed to have decorative lighting during the summit.
   Khoka asked the authorities concerned to take initiative to light all street lights within one week.
   He directed to detain the vagabonds and beggars of the city from the second day of Eid-ul-Fitr and put them in vagabond shelter centres for the duration of the summit. He also directed withdrawal of hawkers from different footpaths from November 8-15.
   A special cleanliness drive will be carried out from October 25 to 31 and routine drives will continue.
   Among others, chief executive officer of the corporation Saifuddin Ahmed, Rajuk chairman Shahid Alam, additional secretary of foreign ministry Moniruzzaman, DC Riot division of DMP Rokon Uddin, Rajuk chief engineer Imdadul Islam, DCC chief engineer Idris Miyan and representatives of utility agencies and other government bodies attended the meeting.

Thirty mobile courts on Thursday conducted drives in Dhaka and realised Tk 8.53150 lakh in fines and filed 200 cases. The courts also sentenced six persons to imprisonment between 2 days and one year.
   The mobile courts of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police began operations on Tuesday under 28 police stations in view of Durga Puja and Ramadan to check fitness of vehicles, vehicle papers, and ensure enforcement of traffic laws.
   The courts are also checking for food adulteration and use of chemicals and artificial colours. They have been monitoring sale of foodstuff at open spaces.
   A mobile court led by magistrate Rokon-ud-Doulah conducted a drive at the ARK filling station at Hatkhola and three restaurants at Hatkhola, Dakkhin Jatrabari and Demra. The court filed two cases and realised Tk 13,000 in fines.
   During the drive, the ARK filling station was found cheating on weight.
   The court found that the filling station provides 40-70 millilitres less fuel for every 10 litres, said a member of the team.
   The court realised fines of Tk 10,000 from the general manager Jafar Ahmed of the filling station.
   The court also conducted a drive at three restaurants — Café Nizam at Demra, Jyothsna at Dakkhin Jatrabari and Mohoshiniya at Doyaganj and found adulterated food, harmful colours and rotten food.
   The mobile court arrested two owners and a manager of the restaurants and fined the owners and manager of the establishments Tk 1,000 each. They were released after three hours of imprisonment.
   The mobile courts functioning from Tuesday will keep watch on puja pandaps and adjacent areas on October 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
   The drives will continue up to Eid-ul-Fitr.

The sales programme of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has failed make life easier for the city dwellers of Rajshahi. Most of the city dwellers were unaware of the government’s programme even two days after the sales began because the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, the government wing in charge of the sales did not make publicise the programme widely.
   The corporation officials claimed that during past two days they sold a good quantity of lentils and sugar in the city. But sales were low on Thursday.
   The corporation’s regional office chief Mofizul Islam told newsmen that from 9:00am to 2:00pm on Thursday, the corporation sold only 1,000 kilogrammes of sugar and lentils.
   But nobody at Shaheb Bazaar and its neighbouring areas saw the mobile truck selling the foodstuff. The corporation officials said, on the first day, they sold out 206kg of lentils, 243kg of chickpeas and 313kg of sugar at Barnali.
   Locals of Mohisbathan, Mahisalbari alleged that on the previous night trucks loaded with essentials were taken and sold out in the black market.
   On Thursday, the godown at Mohisbathan was locked.
   Mofizul denied the allegations and said goods were being unloaded on the previous night from the truck.
   The mobile market sales have had no impact in the city markets. Prices of essentials remained unchanged and prices of cucumber, aubergine, green chilli increased by up to three times their normal level.

The month-long Women Entrepreneurs’ Eid Fair 2005 organised by the Chittagong Women Entrepreneurs began in the Chittagong city on Wednesday.
   The fair was organised with the assistance of IFC and the South Asia Enterprise Development Facilities on the Bangladesh Women’s Association office premises for the fourth time to boost up the marketing of the goods produced by the women investors.
   A total of 110 stalls, including 10 from Pakistan Women Entrepreneurs, are taking part in the fair.
   Women are conducting all the stalls in the fair and they are selling goods such as dresses, handicrafts, food items and jewellery produced by the women entrepreneurs.
   The fair conducting committee president, Gulshana Ali, said small and medium industries established by the women had got huge benefit from their previous three fairs.
   She said the number of visitors in the last fairs was beyond their expectation and hoped that the situation would remain unchanged this year too.
   The Chittagong Women Entrepreneurs president, Monowara Hakim Ali, said women investors in Chittagong were marketing their pro- ducts as they were getting the opportunity to attract buyers of home and abroad throw
   this fair.
   The minister for fisheries and livestock, Abdullah Al Noman, will formally inaugurate the fair today while Rozy Kabir MP, Nuree Ara Safa MP and president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Zabed will be present as special guests.

The prize-giving ceremony of winners of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh essay competition was held at the Institute of Diploma Engineers’ auditorium at Kakrail, Dhaka on Thursday.
   A former member of advisory council of a caretaker government, Syed Manzur Elahi, was chief guest. Daily Amar Desh editor Amanullah Kabir, senior adviser of ATN Bangla Saiful Bari, New Age deputy editor Zayd Almer Khan were special guests at the occasion marking the first anniversary of the university.
   Chaired by the vice-chancellor, Kazi Shahed Ahmed, the function was also addressed by the university treasurer, Kazi Nabil Ahmed and pro-vice-chancellor Rafiqul Islam.
   The university’s academic affairs director, Kazi Anis Ahmed spoke on liberal arts. The university deans, teachers, staff and guardians were present. ATN Bangla, New Age and daily Amar Desh were media partners of the ceremony.
   The first 10 winners of the essay competition titled ‘higher education and our expectation’ were given awards. Prizes were given to a number of invited students who achieved a grade point average of 5 in higher secondary certificate examination.
   In his speech, Manzur Elahi said instead of providing quality education, most of the private universities are busy with making money.
   Some private universities give degrees to some students who will not be able to compete in any part of the world, he said.
   Shahed said the university will provide all facilities to nurture the creative students. The university has adopted liberal arts as its main focus. The liberal arts ensure complete education and include all aspects of education.
   Amanullah Kabir, Saiful Bari and Zayd Almer Khan vowed to continue their media cooperation with the university.

Two persons, including a minor boy were found dead at Sher-e-Banglanagar and Tejkunipara on Thursday.
   The deceased were Nurul Alam, 25, son of Ruhul Amin of Agargaon Taltola Slum and Jahangir Alam, 9, son of Harif Mia of 101, Tejkunipara colony.
   The Tejgaon police recovered the bloodstained body, with multiple stab marks, of Nurul from a bathroom of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University at around 2:15pm.
   Ruhul Amin, father of the victim, filed a murder case with the Tejgaon police on Thursday evening.
   At Tejkunipara, Rehena Begum, the ill fated mother rescued her minor son Jahangir Alam in an unconscious state at a playground at Tejkunipara area at around 10:30am soon after Jahangir along with some of his friends went there.
   The mother immediately took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the attending doctors declared him dead.

Louis-Georges Arsenault has assumed the position of UNICEF representative in Bangladesh on Thursday.
   Prior to the appointment, Arsenault, a Canadian national, was the deputy director of programme division in New York where he provided leadership to the organisation’s efforts in developing a new Medium-Term Strategic Plan (2006-2009), says a release.
   Arsenault, a post graduate in International Public Administra-tion, served as the UNICEF representative in Cambodia from 2001 to 2003.
   In Afghanistan from 1998 to 2001, he managed one of UNICEF’s largest humanitarian operations for over 250,000 women, children and men.
   Arsenault has 28 years of experience in the social development sector in various Asian and African countries including Togo, Senegal, Morocco and Burkina Faso.

Indian dress exhibition slated
The National Crafts Council of Bangladesh on Thursday decried the dress exhibition by Indian designer Pitambari organised at the Spectra Convention Hall, Gulshan. The council protested against the exhibition as it would draw customers’ attention to foreign goods. They wanted stop to such exhibition to save the indigenous cotton industry. The council expressed concern about the authenticity of this foreign organisation as its address was not mentioned in the invitation paper. The council also criticised the government for allowing such exhibition. Narigrantha Prabartana also decried such exhibition.
— New Age

BDR to UN mission in Cote d’ Ivoire
A team of the Bangladesh Rifles for the first time will join the UN peacekeeping mission in Cote d’ Ivoire, an official handout said on Thursday. A 30-member BDR squad is joining the 25-member Bangladesh team comprising the police and ansars. The team will leave for Cote d’ Ivoire on October 8 to work under the Formed Police Unit of the UN peacekeeping force in the West African country. The BDR squad includes one divisional level officer and 29 soldiers of different ranks, said the
handout.
— BSS

3.4kg heroin recovered in
Rajshahi
The Bangladesh Rifles Wednesday night recovered 3.4kg heroin worth Tk 3.4 crore from two buses at the Rajabari check post under Godagari in Rajshahi. None was arrested, however. The BDR 10 battalion raided two buses bound for Rajshahi and recovered two abandoned bags containing heroin from the buses.
— BDNEWS