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Passenger launch service in the circular waterway around Dhaka is yet to function effectively.
   The first phase of the waterway, stretching about 29 kilometres from Sadarghat to Ashulia, was opened on March 3, 2005.
   The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority on April 12, 2005 took an initiative to run inter-district service along the way. But the service was stopped 45 days after it had been introduced as there were hardly four to five passengers for a single trip.
   Fourteen privately-owned motor vessels ran from Gabtali and Shinnirtek landing stations on four inter-district routes along the waterway.
   Four launches plied the Gabtali-Patuakhali route, two the Gabtali-Amtali (Barguna) route and six the Gantali-Sureshwar-Wapda (Shariatpur) route every day. Two more launches plied the Shinnirtek-Dahri (Munshiganj) route.
   The Bangladesh Inland Waterway Passenger Carriers’ Association vice-presidnet, Badiuzzaman Badal, said they had stopped the service as they had to count huge losses because of the insignificant number of passengers.
   He said as the authorities had not made any campaigns to attract passengers and as the road stretches leading to the landing stations were in a bad shape, they could not find enough passengers to run the services.
   He rather suggested that service between Ashulia and Sadarghat should be run with small motor launches.
   ‘About 15 small launches are now plying between Sowarighat and Kholamora every day. These launches can also ply between Ashulia and Sadarghat,’ he said. ‘The authorities are to take any initiatives in this regard.’
   An inland water transport agency official said the government should first run the service with its launches which would encourage the private operators to put their vessels in service.
   People also prefer the road communications as such vessels take double, or even triple, the time to travel the distance in comparison with motor vehicles, he said.
   The launches which left Gabtali at 3:00pm had a two-hour stoppage at Sadarghat, which also discouraged the people to travel by launch.
   Badal said it was not possible to run the service without a stoppage at Sadarghat, as it is a big landing station, involving a large number of passengers and loading and unloading of goods of a large quantity.
   The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation is planning to construct two 24-seat water taxis, which are faster than normal vessels, by June, said a BIWTA official.
   A large number of cargo vessels are in service along the waterway to carry especially construction materials, he said.
   He said the inland water transport had leased eight landing stations, out of the 10, along the waterway for Tk 1.7 crore for 2005–2006.

Novels usually top the sales in book fair. But readers’ interest in buying translations of titles from other languages in this year’s Ekushey book fair has interested many publishers in the job.
   The subject of such translations varies from poems to prophesy and they are on high demand, especially among the youngsters.
   The publications trend shows publishers are more interested in award-winning books or any books that are much-talked-about. Translations of many Nobel or Booker titles arrived in this year’s fair.
   The translations of Covering Islam by Edward W Said, Barabbas by Par Lagerkvist, and a novel by Robert Payne on the Bangladesh independence war, the Tortured and the Damned, have drawn the attraction of readers.
   Translations of poems are also on high demand. Hayat Mamud has translated a bunch of poems from other languages and the work was published as Bao Hawa Deshantari.
   The translation of poems by Indian poet, Kaifi Azmi, has been published by Mawla Brothers. Banglayan published a compilation of translations of Palestinian poems, Ekti Manchitrer Kurbani.
   Although most translations are done from the English version, some titles are translated from the original, especially Arabic and some languages of India.
   Popular thriller writer in the west, Dan Brown, has also won the heart of Bangla readers.
   The translations of his Da Vinci Code and Deception Point, both by Mohammad Nazim Uddin, are selling well in the fair.
   The sellers at the Oitijjhya stall said science fictions in translation were hot items at the stall. Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke are the most popular authors of science fiction, they said.
   The translations of some less known titles are also selling well. ‘The translation of famous novels or any popular titles are on high demand and it has interested the publishers in bringing out more such titles,’ said Robin Ahsan of Shraban.
   The popular titles by writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, VS Naipaul, Vikram Seth, or Salman Rushdie are popular among the readers. But the translations of serious titles are on similar demand, he said.
   Azizul Huq, a student of Dhaka University and involved in little magazine movement, said a few of the translations were up to the mark. ‘Many people have translated Marquez, but few of them are worth buying.’
   Poet and critic Abdul Mannan Syed praised an increased number of translations coming out. ‘It is good as people get to know of other literatures.’
   ‘But there are many people who simply rewrite the translations published in India, he said.
   Mannan Syed also stressed the need for reprint of the titles which are now out of print.
   Sixty-eight titles arrived in the fair on Wednesday. Sixteen of them are volumes of poems, 14 novels, and six of them are stories.
   The Bangla Academy held a seminar on Kazi Nazrul Islam as part of its regular programme.
   Shahabuddin Ahmad read out the keynote paper. Asadul Huq, Hosne Ara Shahed, and Abdul Hye Sikder joined a discussion on the subject. Rafiqul Islam chaired the programme.

The Dhanmondi Residential Area of Dhaka has been losing its residential character for unplanned educational institutions which causes traffic congestion during the school hours.
   Social organisation Dhanmondi Paribesh Unnayan Jote said there area about a hundred educational institutions — schools, colleges, private universities and couching centres — at Dhanmondi.
   The presence of so many institutions causes traffic congestion in the area just before and after school hours. The residents also complained about the gathering of guardians which disturbs the neighbourhood environment.
   They said the cars that carry the students often stay road sides and rickshaws plying the streets just add to traffic congestion.
   Most educational institutions at the place do not have adequate space, proper toilets and playing fields.
   The green activists said the total population of Dhanmondi is about 72,000 and for this population, five primary schools, three secondary and two colleges are sufficient.
   Most of the institutions have small, unclean classrooms and no playground for children, which are a violation of rules related to educational institutions, said Sultana Alam, the organisation convener.
   She said the authorities of the schools and colleges run business do not pay taxes, water and power bills as business organisations.
   Sultana said residential areas are destroyed because of the violation of city zoning regulations which limit non-residential uses.
   Dhanmondi is one of the posh residential areas, established in the early 1950s to provide accommodation for high and higher middle-income groups in Dhaka.
   The area was planned and developed with large plots, wide roads and good environment, located within five kilometres from the midtown Motijheel.
   With the expansion of the city, Dhanmondi became the midtown. As a result, commercial offices, private clinics, community centres and educational institutions have been set up in the area.
   A study of the urban and regional planning department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology shows that 50 per cent of the total land of the neighbourhood is used for non-residential purposes.
   More than a fifth, which accounts for 21 per cent, of the original one- or two-storey buildings at Dhanmondi have been re-built up to six storeys.

A suspended employee of the Bangladesh Postal Department, who worked with the city north branch, arrested on charge of Tk 2.86-crore misappropriation with fraud statements, was placed on five-day remand on Wednesday.
   The Criminal Investigation Department on Tuesday detained Mansuruzzaman Chowdhury, a former operator of the postal department’s budget unit, two years after a complaint had been received on August 18, 2004,
   Samad, a resident of DOHS Baridhara in Dhaka, was on Wednesday produced in the chief metropolitan magistrates court.
   Postal inspector Abdur Rashed Mollah filed a case against him with the Motijheel police for misappropriating the money between July 2000 and 2002.
   The postal inspector said the accused had made the money with false bills for water, power and municipal taxes in the name of other inspectors.

The state minister for home affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar, on Wednesday accused the chief engineer of the Public Works Department of allowing misappropriation of funds during a review meeting on development projects under the home ministry.
   He asked the officials to complete their respective tasks and expedite implementation of the projects, and warned them of disciplinary actions in case of default.
   The progress of some projects, included in the annual development programme, was really poor, he pointed out. ‘Everyone has to work; otherwise, action will be taken.’
   Babar was particularly harsh with the chief engineer of the Public Works Department when he came to know that more than Tk 60 lakh had been spent to repair a wall of the Dhaka Central Jail. ‘Who gave you the permission to do the job? Did you consult with the inspector general of prisons?’
   As the chief engineer remained silent, the inspector general of prisons said Tk 62 had actually been spent on the repair work whereas Tk 6-7 lakh should have been enough. ‘A huge amount of money was spent, ignoring the prioritised tasks.’
   ‘This is too much,’ Babar told the chief engineer. ‘Time and again you have failed to come up with satisfactory performance.’
   He also asked the PWD official to ‘solve your problem’. ‘We have conducted enquiries into such irregularities before and cannot do that once again. Please make sure that your contractors do not misappropriate public money.’
   The chief engineer eventually said he did not know anything about any misappropriation and promised to take necessary steps.
   However, Babar was far from convinced. ‘How many of your people were punished for the misdeed?’ he asked.
   The PWD official had no answer.
   Babar also expressed frustration when he came to know that a project to set up 78 new fire stations had not yet been sent to the executive committee of the National Economic Council.
   ‘I face the committee on government assurance and the lawmakers whom I promised the fire stations,’ he said and asked the Planning Commission representative at the meeting to send the project to the next ECNEC meeting on February 22.
   Babar also blasted the coastguard representative for the failure to purchase speedboats in a year. ‘We have to rent speed boats from other departments to carry out anti-smuggling drive despite availability of fund to buy the vessels. I will not spare you if you fail to do it immediately.’
   Little progress has also been made in the modern police control room project, aimed at dealing with traffic congestion and crime in a coordinated and more sophisticated manner.
   Two floors of the proposed four-storey control room have been constructed in two years while there has not been any step to purchase required equipment.
   ‘I gave you a month to come up with specification at a meeting we had earlier,’ he told police and ministry officials. The officials assured him that the specification would be submitted in a week.
   The control room is being set up beside Railway Bhaban in the capital and Tk 40 crore has been allocated for the required equipment.
   Babar was also unhappy with the slow progress in projects such as the establishment of a high-security prison in Kashimpur, forensic lab for the police and four 20-storey towers for police personnel, and the strengthening of the police.
   He admitted that bureaucratic tangle had caused the delay in implementation of the projects. ‘We are trying to overcome it.’
   Of Tk 238.49 crore earmarked, Tk 96.83 crore will come from the government for 18 projects, Tk 105 crore from the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund for two projects, Tk 30.90 crore from project grants for two projects and Tk 5.76 crore from 12 new non-approved projects.
   The home secretary, officials of the ministries concerned and representatives from the police, the Bangladesh Rifles and the Bangladesh Ansars attended the meeting.

Examinations of witnesses in a case lodged under the explosives act in connection of the killings of two judges in Jhalakati continued at Barisal Speedy Trial Tribunal for the second day on Wednesday.
   Thirteen more witnesses in favour of the prosecution were examined in a five-hour session on the day and two of
   them described a meeting in which they planned to kill the judges.
   Anisur Rahman and Shamim Bahar, two petty businessmen, in their deposition claimed that they attended a meeting which was attended by Shaikh Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai, Awal, Sani, Molla Omar, top most JMB leaders, Amzad alias Khaled Saifullah, Barisal regional commander of JMB, assassin Mamun and other leaders and activists.
   The meeting was held at mid-night of mid-October in 2005 at a JMB den in the Rupatali Lalar Dighir Par area in the Barisal city and in that meeting Jhalakati was selected as more favourable point of operation in the region than Barguna.
   Shaikh Rahman and Bangla Bhai then directed to carry out the operation immediately and all of them left the meeting place within half an hour.
   Till Wednesday, a total of 28 witnesses out of 54 were examined, and the court will continue examining the witnesses today also.
   Munshi Atikur Rahman, CID inspector and investigation officer of the murder case lodged in connection of the judges killing, who was present in the court during the examination of the witnesses, said charge sheet of murder case would be submitted within March.
   Top most JMB leader will not be spared in the charge sheet of the murder case after these statements of the witnesses which are similar to the confessional statements of Awal and Suny given February 8 about their involvement and participation in the judges’ killing plan, he added.
   The other witnesses examined included employee of Jhalakati court and eyewitness of the incident, doctor and other witnesses of seizure list and post-mortem.
   Till this report no witnesses was found against the under trial prisoner of this case, Sultan, who was present in the court.
   The tribunal judge, MA Matin, ordered to issue warrants against the absent witnesses immediately.

Tension ran high at Dhankhingaon in the city’s Madartek area on Wednesday following the death of a suspected snatcher, who was beaten by a mob a day ago.
   Mohammad Liton, of 21/2 North Madertek, was threshed by the local people after being caught during a snatching bid Tuesday afternoon. He was admitted to Salvation Specialised Hospital and Research Limited in Dhanmondi and died there at about 9:30am.
   As the news of his spread in the area, a group of criminals, led by Rusel, vandalised six residences and assaulted some people.
   In protest, several hundred of people went to the Sabujbag police station in procession, demanding immediate arrest of and punishment for the culprits. The local commissioner filed a case with the police accusing 10 persons, including Liton.
   The commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, SM Mizanur Rahman, told journalists that he had already instructed the Sabujbag police to go for action against the criminals.

The 22nd death anniversary of General Mohammad Ataul Ghani Osmani, commander-in-chief of the Liberation Forces and of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, will be observed today with due respect.
   General Osmani, who was born in Sunamganj in 1918, died in a London hospital on February 16, 1994. The Bangladesh government in exile unanimously appointed Osmani commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Army and of the Liberation Forces on April 17, 1971.
   Earlier, he had served in both the British Royal Army and the Pakistan Army and was elected a member of the Pakistan National Assembly in 1970 as a nominee of the Awami League.
   On the occasion, the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, and the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, gave separate messages.
   Iajuddin Ahmed said the nation would always remember the contributions of Osmani as a liberation war hero. ‘His proficiency in organising the liberation war has become part of our independence history,’ he said.
   In her message, Khaleda Zia said, ‘We duly remember him for his charismatic leadership, which had brought us a great victory after a nine-month bloody war against the invading Pakistan army in 1971.’
   ‘His protest against establishment of one-party autocratic rule in 1975 is a part of the political history of Bangladesh,’ she said, adding that he also played a very vital role for the revival of democracy in the country.
   Both the president and the prime minister prayed for salvation of the departed soul of Osmani.
   In a press statement, the former president, AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, said Osmani had become the inspiration to the nation. Different socio-cultural organisations have drawn up elaborate programmes to mark the day.

16th death anniversary of Natyaguru Nurul Momen will be observed on February 16.
   Several cultural organisations in Dhaka, Faridpur, Jessore will hold programmes to mark the anniversary.
   Rupantor and Nemesis are the best dramas by Natyaguru.
   He was a teacher at law department of the Dhaka University and wrote law books in Bengali.
   He was also an actor, an orator, an editor and columnist and a legendary broadcaster in BBC, Dhaka Radio and Dhaka Television.
   He was got several prestigious awards for his contribution in Bengali drama.
   He got Bangla Academy Award in 1961, Sitara-I-Imtiaz in 1967, Tenasinas award in1989, Nasiruddin gold medal and Chader Hat award in 1984.

The Dhaka Ahsania Mission director and former joint chief of the Planning Commission, Habibur Rahman, died of cardiac arrest in Suhrawardi Hospital in the capital at 6:30am on Wednesday. He was 63.
   Habibur Rahman is survived by his wife and a son. He was buried at his family graveyard at village Premnagar under Barhatta in Netrokona the same day.

Iranian ship
looted at Ctg port
The pirates looted valuables worth about Tk 4 lakh from a foreign vessel in the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port Thursday night. Sources said Iranian flag carrier Mir Damam reached the outer anchorage at about 7:00pm and a band of about 10 pirates, riding an engine boat, attacked the vessel at around 8:30pm. The robbers looted four mooring ropes worth about Tk 4 lakh, the sources said. The Coast Guard stepped up patrol in the sea, but failed to arrest anyone.
— New Age

Ctg police arrest
120 people
The Chittagong Metropolitan Police arrested 115 people, including an extortionist and three swindlers, in the city in 24 hours till 4:00pm Wednesday. A Detective Branch team arrested Mohammed Mintu Khan, 28, from the SA Paribahan office at Kazirdewri when he was demanding extortion money. Three suspected swindlers —Firoz Ali, 42, Razzak Ali, 32, and Farid Mian, 32 — were arrested at the Alangkar crossing, the police said. The police arrested an accused, Mohammad Abdullah, in the killing case of a police informer at Halishahar. Fifty-five were arrested on different charges.
— New Age