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Mohammad Nazrul is a cattle trader at Demra. He has bought a goat for Tk 2,200 for a feast with 50 relatives.
   They will all pray for Argentina’s success in the World Cup. Nazrul lives Langolbandh in Narayanganj.
   He has decided to spend up to Tk 200 everyday on food during the time his family watches the matches.
   Nazrul told New Age at Sharulia cattle market in Demra on Thursday that he had bought the goad a few days ago.
   ‘My family and some close friends will have a feast praying for Argentina.’
   As in other cities across the globe, city dwellers in Dhaka from all strata of life have joined the countdown till the World Cup kicks off today.
   Members of every cross section of the society are gripped with excitement. They are only divided in terms of team loyalty. In most cases it is either Argentina or Brazil.
   Mokhtar Hossain, a floating hawker, sells candy bars at Gulistan and Paltan.
   When asked which team he supported, he took off the piece of cloth covering his head and proudly exhibited the shaved scalp. ‘I am all for Brazil,’ he said beaming.
   Gopal, a 32-year old cobbler sitting at his regular spot beside the shrine of Golap Shah at Gulisthan, said he loved watching the World Cup. He also turned out to be a Brazil fan.
   Being a resident of Narayanganj, Gopal was worried over load-shedding which is quite severe there.
   ‘I hope to watch the matches but I am not sure whether I would be able to. There is too much problem with electricity supply.’
   Jahangir, a bus conductor in Jatrabari-Mirpur route said, ‘I will watch the matches. I support Brazil.’
   Anisur Rahman, student of Dhaka College said, ‘I have been an Argentina fan since I was a teenager.’
   Abu Taleb, chief estate officer of the Dhaka City Corporation was in a fix. One of his children supports Brazil, while the other one supports Argentina.
   ‘One would think that I am siding with the other if I root for my favourite.’ But he admitted that he was a staunch Brazil supporter.
   Amena Mahmuda, a government employee said, ‘I have no interest in football. I would rather watch cricket.’
   The Dhaka City Corporation and the National Sports Council have taken an initiative to set up big screens at 30 locations in the capital for resident to World Cup matches.

Around Tk 54 crore worth of power bills under the Rajshahi Power Development Board remain unrealised from at least 50 government and semi-government institutions. The Rajshahi City Corporation is the highest debtor among the defaulters.
   A source in the Rajshahi power board said, the total credit of Tk 53.90 crore is in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and parts of Natore under distribution divisions 1, 2 and 3. The aggregate amount will increase if the arrears till June 2006 are taken into account.
   The Rajshahi City Corporation is the highest defaulter with Tk 22 crore. Seven municipalities under the circle are second on the list. Their arrears stand at Tk 3.34 crore. Rajshahi Jute Mills are in third position with arrears of Tk 1.99 crore.
   Various religious institutions owe Tk 1.67 croreand the Rajshahi Circle police department owe Tk 48.51 lakh.
   Most of the debtors being state-owned, there is little urge for prompt payment.
   Outstanding bills of government organisations combined stand at Tk 47.44 crore. Sources said, in 2001 Rajshahi City Corporation was also the highest power bill defaulter with Tk 13.25 crore in debts.
   Sources in the district education office said the government allocates a poor amount of money for power.
   Meanwhile, the Rajshahi City Corporation executive engineer, Sarit Dutta Gupta said, ‘We pay power bills now and then depending on collection of land and other taxes.’
   He the power board did not pay land taxes and other taxes to the corporation. ‘We tried to negotiate several times over the matter but the dispute is yet to be settled.’ Outstanding land taxes of the power board stood over Tk 20 crore.
   On the other hand, power officials said considering public interest the power board did not initiate strong measures against the corporation and other defaulters. They only issued letters asking for payment several times but there were not responses.

The Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has been virtually inactive for about a year, although law and order in the capital city has progressively deteriorated meanwhile.
   The authorities are paying very little attention to the branch, which has a workforce of nearly 300 people, many officials of the branch said.
   Involvement of some of its officials in crimes, including murder, has also put a dent in the branch’s credibility, they added.
   Besides, the formation of the Rapid Action Battalion and the Highway Police, and the subsequent focus on their facilities and equipment, has left the branch, which used to be a major force in anti-crime operations, almost ignored, the officials said.
   Formed in 1997 with a view to combating city crimes and bringing the criminals to book after expeditious investigations of sensational cases, the branch has an increasingly limited role to play.
   Presently, it is run under the leadership of a deputy commissioner. Apart from him, there are two additional deputy commissioners, eight assistant commissioners, 34 inspectors, 132 sub-inspectors and 20 assistant sub-inspectors.
   The branch earned acclaim by bringing the perpetrators of different sensational cases such as the robbery at Guinea Jewellers, killing of two people at the Bangabandhu Avenue branch of the Sonali Bank and murder of Ratan Sheth in Old Dhaka.
   Its image was badly hampered after the killing of a private university student, Rubel, and one of its informers, Jalal.
   It regained some ground after unravelling the murder of Shihab, BUET student Sabequnnahar Sony, schoolteacher Swapan Goswami and wife of former deputy speaker Humayun Khan Panni.
   DB officials also made significant achievement by nabbing some of the 23 most-wanted criminals for whom the government had announced cash rewards.
   At the moment, their activities are restricted to file work. More than 200 cases have been pending with the branch, including at least a dozen sensational ones.
   According to police reports, criminal incidents have been on the rise in the capital since February.
   More than 80 people have been killed in the period, including the double murder at Sutrapur, the killing of three Monipuris at Uttara, a madrassah teacher at a travel agency at Paribagh and business leader Hanif.
   Robbery, mugging and theft are also on the rise. At least four jewellery shops were looted within a span of little over a month but no breakthrough has been made so far and the jewellers have staged demonstration against the rising incidents of robberies.
   The branch has detained only 20 people, who have criminal records, since February. They have also seized 19 firearms with ammunitions during the period, according to a police press release.
   A DB official said the department has become a transit station for police officers who are either waiting for a suitable post or for promotion.
   ‘Most of the officers, posted in the DB, are doing their regular duties only in patrolling different places in the capital,’ he said.
   The government has recently taken an initiative to restructure the branch by upgrading its top position to a joint commissioner. The unit will be reorganised into two divisions and its strength will also be increased.

The Motiher police in the Rajshahi city filed a case, accusing 300 persons of attacking the police at the university Kajla Gate on Wednesday.
   At least 50 people, including 10 policemen, were injured in clashes between the police and local residents at Kajla as a Rajshahi University bus knocked a CNG-run Mishuk, killing three persons.
   The police, however, also arrested seven agitators from the spot.
   Meanwhile, CNG-run Mishuk passenger Abdur Rahim who received injury also filed another case with the Motiher police against the university bus drive, Saiful Islam, on charge of killing his wife Khodeja.
   Campus sources said the driver managed to escape after dashing a city-bound Mishuk in front of the Kajla Gate on the day.
   Sources said Wednesday night the RU authorities sat in a negotiation meeting with local ward commissioner Monwara Begum and local political leaders at the university vice-chancellor’s house where the VC, Professor Altaf Hossain, was present.
   Local leaders demanded compensation for the victim’s family members and immediate release of arrested persons.

The National Front of Teachers and Employees will go on movement as the government did not meet their 33-point demand, including nationalisation of their jobs and pay hikes.
   They will bring out red-flag processions at all district headquarters today and in the capital Saturday and will announce action programmes from a representative rally on June 23.
   Leaders of the organisation have planned to launch separate programmes, including fast-unto-death, token strike, grand rally and street demonstrations across the country if their demands are not met in the proposed budget.
   Their demands include 10 per cent rise in the government’s contribution to the salaries of non-government teachers and employees and an allocation for 30 per cent dearness allowance with the basic salary.
   Their demands also include enlistment of 6,000 institutions under the monthly pay order, nationalisation of jobs and introduction of higher pay scale for headmasters and assistant-headmasters.
   About five lakh teachers and employees are working with about 30,000 non-government educational institutions across the country. The government pays 90 per cent of their salaries.
   The front, a coalition of seven organisations of teachers and employees of non-government colleges and schools, has been agitating since July 2003 to realise their 17-point demands.
   The Awami League-backed front has been agitating for years to press home its eight-point charter of demands.
   The major demands are 30 per cent dearness allowance and immediate withdrawal of all circulars issued by the education ministry that are against the interests of teachers and employees, and re-introduction of the gratuity that was earlier given from the teachers’ and employees’ trust.

Different organisations observed the 4th death anniversary of Sabequnnahar Sony, a student of the Chemical Engineering Department of BUET through various programmes.
   Sony was killed in a gun-shot on June 8, 2002 when two rival groups were locked in a gun-battle on the campus of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology centring a tender.
   The floral wreaths were placed on Sony memorial plaque on the campus.
   A human chain was formed and the participants in the human chain demanded immediate implementation of death sentence of the killers.

A suspected criminal was killed in an encounter between the police and his accomplices in the Khulna city early Thursday, raising the ‘crossfire’ death count to 573 since June 2004.
   The police said Ashiqul Islam Rinku, 24, of Basupara area, was accused in six cases including one for murder, and picked up by the detective police from his house on Wednesday afternoon.
   Based on his statement, a police team took Rinku out to Culvert area to seize arms and nab his associates. As the team reached the area at around 2:30am, the associates of Rinku opened fire on the policemen prompting them to retaliate.
   While trying to escape, Rinku sustained bullet wounds after being caught in the crossfire, the police claimed. Later he was taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

At least seven persons were killed and 25 injured in a bus-truck head-on collision at Kashimpur on the Nabinagar-Kaliakoir Highway on Thursday.
   The police and witness said the Dhaka-bound bus of Al-Hamra Paribahan from Pabna plunged into a ditch after the accident at about 1:00pm leaving three persons dead and about 30 injured. Four others died after taken to Savar Ganashastya Hospital. Four of the deceased were identified as truck driver Barek Mollah, 48, bus helper Manik, 25, and bus passengers Sona Banu, 30, and Alamgir Hossain, 28. The death toll may increase as condition of most of the injured was stated critical, the police said.

Light or moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely to occur at most places all over Bangladesh with moderately heavy falls at places till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Thursday.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged during the period.
   The highest temperature on Thursday, 34.2 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Jessore and the lowest, 24.6 degrees Celsius, in Cox’s Bazar.
   The sun sets in the capital city today at 6:45pm and will rise at 5:10am on Saturday.

National University masters part-1 results published
Results of all subjects of Masters first part 2004 under the National University have been published. Results of 22 subjects out of 28 were published in the first week of May. Results of mathematics and management were published on May 30, Bangla and Islamic Studies on May 31 and political science and Islamic History and culture on June 6, said a NU issued a press release. The university examination controller, Mohammad Ibrahim, said copies of published results of all subjects have already sent to respective colleges across the country.

DU June 11 exams suspended
Examinations of all courses at Dhaka University scheduled to be held on 11 June have been suspended due to unavoidable circumstances. Fresh date of those examinations will be announced soon, a DU press release said on Thursday.
— New Age