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All the six incubators in Dhaka Medical College Hospital have been lying inoperative for over six months, causing sufferings to the parents of premature children, particularly the poor.
   Six incubators in a hospital like DMCH are insufficient and inoperativeness of all the six incubators has now made the situation appalling, physicians at the paediatric department of the hospital said.
   Sonia, mother of a neonatal that was born three months before the expected delivery date, came to the hospital from Sherpur after physicians had asked her to keep the premature baby in incubator, but she was at a loss to hear that all of the incubators at DMCH were out of order.
   ‘Physicians have asked me to immediately keep my baby in incubator, but how could a poor like me afford the charge of incubator in private clinics or hospitals that ranges between Tk 1,000 and Tk 3,000 a day,’ Sonia, also the wife of a day labourer, told New Age in front of the DMCH children’s ward-12 on Friday.
   ‘I came to DMCH hearing that no charge is applied here for the incubator. But now it’s not possible for my husband to bear the charge of incubator for even a day,’ continued Sonia, who is now staying at a slum house of one of her relatives at Khilgaon.
   Incubator is essential equipment in the children’s ward as it provides the environment and facilities of the mother’s womb to premature babies.
   Physicians and nurses at DMCH said two of the incubators had gone out of order six months back while four others were completely useless for more than two years.
   According to the DMCH brass shop employees, who are responsible for the maintenance and repairing of the hospital equipment, the four incubators that have been remaining out of order for about two years can never be used as these, procured about 20 years ago, have already crossed their longevity. ‘The remaining two, one of which was procured one year ago, is repairable and it should be done by the manufacturer under the after-sales service offer,’ said an official of the brass department.
   The physicians held the DMCH Central Medical Store Depot responsible for what they claimed buying the crap one at high prices. ‘The incubator, procured one year and a half ago, went out of order six months ago,’ said a doctor at the department.
   ‘As the manufacturer was committee to give after-sales service for at least two years, we asked the CMSD to take step to repair the incubator by the manufacturer, but they [CMSD sources] informed us that the manufacturer could not be contacted even after repeated attempts,’ he said.
   ‘Actually, the CMSD bought second-hand incubator and that is why they are unable to get after-sales service.’
   It is alleged that a syndicate of middlemen in the hospital having links with the authorities do not want these life-saving instruments repaired. Allegation is also there that a few doctors at the department are also involved in this business. ‘The doctors take opportunities to send babies to be kept in incubators to clinics where they get a commission and is done with the help of the middlemen,’ said a source in the ward. The doctors, however, termed baseless the allegation.
   ‘We formally informed the matter of the authorities and requisitioned for incubators six months back. The DMCH director had forwarded it to the CMSD and we have been waiting for their response,’ said another doctor.
   The head of the paediatric department, Abid Hossain Mollah, however, said two incubators were already repaired, but they were waiting for the completion of the renovation work of the Neonatal Ward located on the first floor of the hospital building.
   The doctors in the department said in the absence of the incubators, they supply oxygen to the premature children from cylinders and keep them warm using warmers when needed.
   ‘It’s not the solution. If oxygen cylinders and warmers could save life of the premature children, incubators would not be invented,’ said a doctor.

The Dhaka International Trade Fair drew a poor turnout of visitors on the second day of the month-long show on Sunday due to the fourth round of the non-stop blockade enforced by the Awami League-led alliance.
   The participants said if the political turmoil persisted, people would not come to the fair and they would fall short of their sales target.
   The president and chief adviser to the caretaker government, Iajuddin Ahmed, inaugurated the fair on Saturday amid a volatile police situation that forced the organisers to defer the fair twice.
   The event was first scheduled to begin on November 11 and the date was deferred till November 18 and fixed the new date on December 02.
   The DITF is the largest business extravaganza of the country where a good number of local and foreign companies take part every year for seeking new business. The Export Promotion Bureau and the commerce ministry organise the fair every year.
   A total of 418 local and foreign companies from India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Iran and USA are participating in the fair this year. Participants are facing an uncertain future about the fair and they do not know whether they would be able to avoid loss in the fair.
   The marketing manager of a fashion house, Monir Hossain, said they hesitated to participate in this year’s fair as the political outlook was uncertain.
   ‘In the previous occasions, the fair drew huge crowd in its first week, but this year the fair got off to a shaky start due to the political instability,’ said Monir.
   Other participants also feared that if blockade that resumed on Sunday and confrontational political programmes continue, the city dwellers would remain confined to their houses.
   Most of the foreign pavilions were almost empty as they could not able to come on the opening day and now they are waiting for withdrawal of the blockade.
   An official at the Malaysian pavilion, said their pavilion is almost empty because the participants were scheduled to come to Bangladesh on Sunday but they cancelled their flight for the time being.
   The official said the company men have contacted them and said that they would come when the blockade programme ends.
   However most of sellers were seen busy with decorating their pavilions and stalls on Sunday. Some companies or organisations have set up their stalls and pavilions with innovative and colourful decorations.
   The pavilion of Akij Beverage has introduced innovative which involves if one buys one of their products, will receive a coupon to watch the magic show and play basketball.
   They also appointed some models to boost their sales in the fair.
   The participating companies are displaying exportable goods including machinery, equipment and materials for agriculture and gardening, carpets, chemical, cosmetics and beauty aids, dairy products and equipment, electrical and electronic items, food stuffs and groceries, tableware, melamine and plastic goods, handicrafts, furniture, home appliances, leather goods and footwear, sports goods, building materials, sanitary ware, textile and garments, jute products, toys, watches and jewelleries etc.
   There are 10 premier pavilions, 14 premier mini-pavilions, 35 premier stalls, 46 pavilions, 40 mini-pavilions, 246 stalls and 10 restaurants in the fair. The fair will remain open from 10:00am to 8:00pm on official days and 10:00am to 10:00pm on holidays.

A Chittagong mobile court levied fines worth Tk 4 lakh and 15 thousand on a restaurant, two community centres, two brickfields and seven cargo ships on various charges on Sunday.
   The court, led by special metropolitan magistrate Mohammed Munir Chowdhury, fined owners of Rajmukut and Shpala Community Centres, Chandrima Restaurant and multi-storey building Jahin Complex Tk 90,000 on charge of using WASA water illegally.
   The court also snapped water connections of the installations alongside seizing their water pumps, pipes and other equipment used in water pilfering.
   The court fined owners of two brickfields — Bengal Brick Industry and Musa Bricks — Tk 1.5 lakh on charge of manufacturing bricks without the BSTI approval and seized two trucks laden with 14 tones of brick.
   The court, while conducting a raid at the Chittagong port channel, fined seven cargo ships — MV Nazimuddin, MV Shahajahan, MV Aga Nagar-2, MV Jahangir-2, MV Master Riden, MV Three Star and MV Golap-2 — Tk 1.75 lakh for lacking radio communication equipments.

Eight persons were injured in a clash between the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Jaityatabadi Chhatra Dal at Government Barisal College on Sunday.
   The activists of student fronts of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party fired gunshots and blasted handmade bombs and pelted brickbats at each other to establish their respective control on the campus. Both the groups blamed each other for the incident.
   The injured include Miraj, Pappa and Sohel of the BCL and Mehedi, Chhoto Rubel of the JCD.
   Witnesses said a group of BCL activists, led by former vice president of the college students union Farhad Bin Alam Zakir, tried to enter the college campus at about 11 am Sunday morning.
   At that time a group of JCD activists led by former general secretary of the college students’ union Hafiz Ahmed Bablu attacked the BCL activists with lethal weapons and brickbats creating the trouble.
   The BCL activists launched counter attack on their rival groups leaving eight persons injured.
   Both the groups later brought out processions and blamed each other for teh clash.
   The college principal, Professor Satya Ranjan Das, said he held meetings with the leaders of both the organisations who agreed to uphold educational atmosphere and discipline on the campus.

Non-stop blockade programme, enforced by the Awami League-led combine for the fourth time, caused immense sufferings to people in the Dhaka city on Sunday.
   The city-dwellers who came out of their houses to go their destination had to face severe crisis of vehicle as rickshaw and flat-bed tricycle, popularly known as van, were the main mode of transport.
   Sick people and passengers stranded at Zia International Airport were the worst sufferers.
   ‘I took my sister to Dhaka Medical College Hospital at noon by a rickshaw after she fell sick suddenly,’ said Azgar, a resident of Manda.
   A number of ambulances, which are used to carry the patients and dead bodies, were seen busy with carrying passengers.
   Badal, a private ambulance driver standing in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said he earned money as like as other days for the increasing demand of the patients and other passengers due to the crises of CNG-run three-wheelers and taxicabs.
   But some drivers Saleh Ahmed, Shafiq and Rana differed with Badal saying that their income usually falls during the blockade as the number of patients go down than that of the normal time.
   ‘We try to avoid the trips outside Dhaka due to the trouble on long route,’ said Saleh who refused a passenger to go to Comilla few minutes ago.
   An ambulance which was hired to bring a dead body from Mirsarai came under the attack on the street, he said. ‘This is why I refused the passenger to go outside the city.’
   No bus, however, left the inter-district bus terminals — Sayedabad, Mohakhali and Gabtali. The train service was partially disrupted while the launch service was normal at Sadarghat.
   An official of Kamalapur railway station said intercity train, Drootajan, could not leave the Dinajpur station due to blockade programme. All the privately-owned rail services including Mymensingh-bound Balaka and Akhaura-bound Titas also could not leave the Kamalapur station.
   Saiful Islam who arrived in Dhaka from Saudi Arabia at 10:30am said as he failed to go to Jamalpur by road, he went to the Kamalpur station. ‘But I am uncertain till 4:00pm whether any train leaves for my destination.’
   Most schools in the city remained open as the schools were kept out of the purview of the blockade programme while most shopping malls and markets remained closed.

The menace of mosquito biting intensified in the Dhaka city since the last week of October due to various reasons including lack of proper supervision of the activities by the filed level anti-mosquito workers of the city corporation.
   The residents of different areas of the city, including Pallabi, Mirpur, Kazipara, Mohakhali, Jatrabari, Moghbazar, Khilgaon, Mohammadpur, Basabo, Madartek, Shajahanpur, Rampura, Gandaria, Uttara and Lalbagh, complained about continuous mosquito menace.
   The city dwellers are facing the nuisance of mosquito biting at home, offices, business centres, bus and launch terminals and train stations.
   Besides, the security guards, who keep vigil at different establishments, and floating people, who pass their night under the open sky, are the easy victims to mosquito biting.
   The corporation’s chief entomologist, Nasim-us-Seraj, attributed lack of manpower and equipment, insincerity of the anti-mosquito workers, hanging latrines at different slums, hidden places and migratory mosquitoes to the failure of the corporation in arresting the increasing trend of mosquito.
   There are a lot of hidden places in different government offices, factories, mills and industries that remained out of the purview of the activities of the corporation for lack of access to the places, he said.
   Another official of the corporation said drains, ponds and canals in the city that cover over 2000 acres of low-lying areas have become ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
   The residents of these places are highly vulnerable to the growing mosquito biting, he said, adding that the DCC failed to keep clean the city’s water bodies, including derelict ponds, polluted canals and stagnant drains that are the breeding grounds of mosquito.
   Seraj said, ‘We have taken all-out steps to control mosquito breeding and strengthened the activities of supervision but there are many breeding places on the periphery of the city, which are out of the jurisdiction of the city corporation.’
   The areas include Kamrangirchar, Manda, Uttarkhan, Dakkhin Khan, Trimohoni, Nandipara and Kutubkhan.
   ‘Yet, we have already ordered our anti-mosquito crew to spray lurvicide 500 yards into the areas, which are out of our jurisdiction,’ he said.
   Chairman of the CleanTech Limited Sufi Iqbal Ahmed said mosquito menace intensified at Uttara for lack of initiative by the corporation.
   ‘People of this area are coming to us, mistakenly holding us responsible for taking steps against mosquito menace,’ said Sufi, who is now taking initiative to conduct mosquito killing drive in sector-5 on a pilot basis on their own initiative.
   Although Uttara Lake is the major breeding ground of mosquito, no lurvicide was sprayed in the lake, he said.
   A good number of developers companies filled up the surface drains of the city corporation at Uttara by throwing rubbish or other construction materials, he said.
   ‘Against the backdrop of increasing demand for anti-mosquito drive in the area, we have taken initiative to conduct a drive on pilot basis in sector-5, hiring a pesticide company, which may start working within two or three weeks,’ he said.
   Sufi said they would conduct adultiside programe within the boundary of every house of the sector, for which the residents would pay Tk 10 monthly.

Unidentified robbers looted properties worth over Tk 20 lakh in cash and kind from a businessman’s house in the city’s Shyampur area Saturday night.
   The police said about ten robbers entered the residence of Mohammad Solaiman on Asgar Ali Lane of Shahidnagar when the inmates opened the door responding to a doorbell at about 8:30pm.
   Immediately, the robbers overpowered the inmates who were gagged, bound and confined to a room. Two of the robbers also remained on guard at the door where the inmates were kept.
   The robbers then looted Tk one lakh in cash, gold ornaments weighing about 100 tolas and other valuables breaking open the cupboards at different rooms.

Weather is likely to remain dry all over Bangladesh till 6:00pm today while light to moderate fog may occur over the river-basins during early morning, said the Met Office in a forecast on Sunday.
   Night temperature may remain nearly unchanged. The highest temperature on Sunday, 28.4 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Chittagong and the lowest, 9 degrees Celsius, in Jessore and Chuadanga.
   The sun sets in the capital city today at 5:11pm and rises on Tuesday at 6:27am.

The Unilever Bangladesh Limited and the CARE Bangladesh signed an agreement on Sunday to create sustainable business opportunities for a thousand rural women in Bangladesh.
   Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, and Hasan M Mazumdar, deputy country director of CARE Bangladesh, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations.
   With the support from CARE, this rural sales project named ‘Aparajita’, the UBL will be able to expand this initiative to 20 more upazilas of the country’s northern and eastern districts.
   Naushad Karim Chowdhury, brands and development director, Amerul Haq, company activation manager, of Unilever and Asif Uddin Ahmed, economic empowerment coordinator, Md Zaheedul Islam Chawdhury, assistant project coordinator CARE Bangladesh, among others, were present at the occasion, said a press release.

Today is the 35th death anniversary of Shaheed Abdullahil Baki Bir Pratik, a martyr freedom fighter.
   Abdullahil, was an unit commander of Baki Unit (North Dhaka) and he was also a student of the department of political science at the University of Dhaka.
   Recitation from the Qur’an and a prayer session will be held in the deceased’s residence, Baki Bhaban, in Dhaka after the asr prayers.

RU staff observe hunger strike
Officials and staff of Rajshahi University under the banner of Officer and Employees’ Unity Council observed daylong token hunger strike for the second day on Sunday to press home their four-point demands, including extension of service age to 65 from 60, refund of 20 per cent pension money and service quota for their dependents in the university jobs. They urged the university authorities to meet their demands within December 8, or they would go for fast-unto-death from December 9.

Admission seekers hold sit-in at Khulna University
The admission seekers observed an hour-long sit-in wearing black cloths on their face from from 10:30am on Sunday in front of Khulna University Central Shaheed Minar, demanding exemplary punishment for the persons involved in admission form forgery. They also demanded chance for taking admission tests for the students who bought forged admission forms from the university, claiming that the students were mere victims. They at around 12:00pm submitted a memorandum to the university vice-chancellor. Forgery was detected in the admission forms of the university for the 2006-07 academic year and the university authorities formed a probe body, headed by life science faculty dean Professor Sanjay Kumar Adhikari. The body found five persons guilty for the forgery.
— New Age