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Prices of major essential commodities, particularly imported, marked fresh increase in the city markets in the past week due to steep fall in value of taka against dollar and four days of blockade.
   Suppliers pushed up prices of some import commodities citing that the appreciation of dollar has inflated their import costs while the blockade disrupted supply of local products.
   Prices of the major essentials that shot up in the past week include power milk, vegetable oil, eggs and meat. Prices of vegetables, which went up abnormally earlier in the week due to the squeezed supply, however, started declining with the supply becoming normal following the suspension of blockade by the Awami League and allies.
   Prices of packed powder milk of different brands increased between Tk 10 and Tk 20 per kilogram in the week. On Friday, a one-kg pack of major selling Diploma brand of milk was selling at Mohammadpur Town Hall Bazar between Tk 316 and Tk 320 against Tk 300 and Tk 305 a week back.
   ‘The distributor of Diploma milk told us that increasing dollar prices pushed up their import cost, forcing them to re-fix the milk price,’ said Kamal Ahmed, a grocer at the bazar.
   The US dollar, main exchange for Bangladesh’s trade, had appreciated by more than 6 per cent in a week and one dollar was traded for up to Tk 73.9 on Thursday.
   Market sources said price of bottled soybean oil was selling up to Tk 67 per litre registering an increase of Tk 1. Shop owners at different kitchen markets in the city said marketing executives of the edible oil refiners hinted further hike on oil price for the appreciation of dollar.
   Winter price hike on crude soybean oil in international market also pushed up oil price a couple of weeks back with the retailers increasing the price of per kilogram bottled soybean by up to Tk 8 per litre and non-packed soybean by up to Tk 10.
   Price of egg increased by Tk 6 per dozen and it was selling between Tk 54 and Tk 57 per dozen at different city markets on Friday. The egg price, however, remained between Tk 57 and Tk 66 per dozen during the four days of blockade.
   Market sources attributed increased demands of eggs in the winter to the increase of egg price at farm level.
   Beef price was also increased by Tk 10 per kilogram and it was selling at Tk 160 on Friday. Broiler was somewhat stable and it was selling between Tk 84 and Tk 90. Prices of fishes also remained stable in the week.
   Prices of vegetables that increased between Tk 2 and Tk 20 per kilogram during the four days of blockade (Sunday to Wednesday) continued to decline from Thursday following normal supply of winter produces due to the restoration of transport services.
   At Mohakhali kitchen market, per kilogram of old verity of potato was on Friday selling at Tk 24, newly harvested one at Tk 40, radish at Tk 12, bean up to Tk 32, aubergine at Tk 24 and tomato at Tk 50.
   Onions of different grades was selling at the market between Tk 18 and Tk 24 while a medium size cauliflower between Tk 15 and Tk 20.
   Prices of rice remained quite stable in the week with per kilogram fine najirshail selling between Tk 25 and Tk 28 and medium coarse variety paijam between Tk 22 and Tk 23.
   Among other major commodities, per kilogram of packed coarse flour was selling between Tk 24 and Tk 26, sugar between Tk 40 and Tk 42 and red lentil of different varieties between Tk 58 and Tk 72.

A good number of schools and colleges in the capital remained open on Friday to make up for the losses the students suffered due to the political instability, sources in the school and college said.
   The authorities kept the Wills Little Flower School and College, Kakoli High School, Salvation International School and College and Moghbazar High School open for taking classes while the Government Laboratory School remained open for holding test examination for the students who will take the Secondary School Certificate examination in 2007.
   Many English medium schools, including Maple Leaf School and College and Sunbeam School in Dhanmondi and Southbreeze School in Uttara, were also open on the day.
   Apart from regular weekly holidays, according to the academic calendar formulated by the education ministry, schools will be closed for a maximum of 84 days on different occasions.
   Political unrest and month-long strike of enforced by the teachers of non-government educational institutions across the country have, however, surpassed the number of holidays, causing serious loss for the students.
   Mohammad Yasin, principal of Salvation International School and College, said, ‘Keeping the strike and blockade in mind, we have abridged the syllabus and decided to keep the institution open even in public holidays.’
   Professor Harun-ur-Rashid Sikder, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka, said students would suffer a lot this year due to the political unrest and month-long teachers’ strike.
   Referring to the academic calendar, which instructs the government and non-government secondary schools and junior secondary schools to take monthly tests to improve the quality of education, the chairman said the school authorities could not follow the academic calendar completely due to the political unrest.
   The ministry on January 8 had also asked the schools to follow the dates fixed for giving terminal, pre-test and test examinations and publishing the results, he said adding that none of the instructions could be implemented properly due to the same reason.
   Appreciating the move to take classes and examination in holidays, he said, ‘The move for taking classes and holding examinations in holidays will help the students a lot to make up for the losses they suffered due to the political crisis and teachers’ agitation.’

Residents of different areas of the Dhaka city met immense suffering for 10 hours till Friday 6:00am because of disruption of gas supply caused by repairing of pipelines of the Titas Gas and Distribution Company network.
   Though the company made a prior announcement about the disruption through national newspapers, the city people, especially the housewives and drivers of compressed natural gas-run vehicles, could hardly manage the situation.
   The announcement said 15 city areas would face disruption in gas supply from Thursday 8:00pm to Friday 6:00am.
   On Friday, a number of CNG-run auto rickshaws were found to charge extremely high fare from the commuters.
   Abdur Rahim, a CNG auto-rickshaw driver, said after waiting for more than three hours in a long queue, he recharged his vehicle but failed to fill the gas tank fully.
   Rahim charged from a commuter Tk 150 for a distance from Mohammadpur to Jatrabari.
   Another driver Shafiq said he had failed to recharge his vehicle last night even after attending a half dozen of gas filling stations.
   The areas which were out of gas network are Sabujbag, Khilgaon, Motijheel, Paltan, Ramna, Tejgaon, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Gulshan, Badda, Kafrul, Mirpur, Pallabi, Shayamoli, Mohammadpur and Adabor.
   People of different areas complained that though the company had declared to restore the supply at 6:00am, they had to wait till noon to get the full pressure supply.
   Shahid Choudhury, a resident of the Mirpur area, said he had to buy bread from restaurant for his family members. He said after knocking at all stores in his locality, he found no loafs they were finished early in the morning.
   Abdur Rahman, a resident in Gulshan, said as he did not notice the announcement in the newspaper, his family could not take any preparation to manage food during the time.
   His family, however, managed their meals by buying fast food and dry food.

Local people and leaders of different political parties and citizens’ bodies demanded resumption of flights of both the national flag carrier Biman and privately-owned GMG Airlines which was closed since October 28, 2006.
   The leaders vented their frustration on the state-run airline as the air communication of Barisal city with the capital city Dhaka has been disrupted due to its’ closure of flights on this route.
   ATMG Mustafa, station manager of the Biman, Barisal office, said the flight on Barisal route was grounded following the decision of the higher authority of Biman and ministry concerned.
   On other hand flights of the GMG, a privately-owned airlines operating on this route, also remained closed since October 28, 2006.
   Local GMG officials said due to expansion of international sector GMG is facing aircraft crisis and suspended some domestic sectors.
   The GMG flights likely to resume operation on this route after 23 November, if carrier scarcity solved, the local officials hoped.
   The Barisal City Corporation Mayor, Majibur Rahman Sarwar, and also district BNP president and 4 party alliance convener, expressed his unhappiness over the closure and demanded resumption of Biman flights.
   The Biman flights on this route were introduced in April, 2003, he said.
   Advocate Shawkat Hossain Hiron, the city Awami League convener and district coordinator of the AL-led combine, said people will start movement to resume Biman flights in Barisal sector.
   Advocate Enayet Pir Khan and Mintu Bose, president and secretary of the Nagarik Parishad, Dr. Mizanur Rahman, secretary of the Nagarik Samaj, also demanded the resumption of the flights which were grounded earlier.

More than 100 shops in Rajshahi city, mostly groceries, are selling highly flammable fuels without safety measures, amid high risk of fire.
   Though sale of petrol, octane and diesel in open places is prohibited, the number of such shops has mushroomed in and around the city as the law enforcers and the Rajshahi City Corporation have been showing laxity in launching drive against such traders.
   The shop owners, neighbouring such fuel selling shops, expressed concern apprehending that they would be burned if any fire breaks out from the shops.
   As per rules, the highly flammable oils like petrol, diesel and octane should be sold after government approval through pumps and far from public places.
   More than 100 shops, mostly groceries, are selling those in plastic jar at open places. The shop owners have no licence from the authorities concerned and even trade licence from the city corporation.
   Around 25 crowded areas of the city including Bhadra, Debsingpara, bus terminal, Bindur more, Barnali Cinema, New Market, Salbagan, Laxmipur, Binodpur, Kazla, Talaimari and Kanthakhali have become highly vulnerable to fire incidents as the many of such shops are located in the areas. Even many betel leaf traders are selling patrol and diesel under the open sky.
   A fire, originating from such an unauthorised shop, took place in city’s Dingadoba area on November 13.
   Firefighters said, at around 11.00am rushed to the spot and were able to put out fire. Dozens of shanties escaped catching the fire as the firefighters could reach the spot and doused the fire immediately, the sources said. The shops have no safety measures including fire extinguisher.
   A year ago, a fuel shop owner, his son and an employee were burnt alive in Bhadra areas as fire engulfed the shop on the night.
   An unauthorised fuel oil factory was also set up in Talaimari areas, said the local people adding that after the fire year, they could weed out the factory.
   Talking to New Age, Rajshahi City Corporation chief engineer Sarit Dutta Gupta said, ‘Though we only look after the trade licence of the shops, we cannot ignore the risk of fire involving the sale of fuels. We cannot launch eviction drive and mobile court anytime due to shortage of manpower.’ We have planned to launch drive against the unauthorised shops soon, Gupta said.

International financial institution Citigroup will observe Global Community Day today in Bangladesh as in other 100 Citigroup presence countries.
   The daylong programme with around 150 underprivileged children will be inaugurated by Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF representative to Bangladesh. Khondoker Ibrahim Khalid, director of Kochi Kachar Mela, will be chief guest in the concluding ceremony.
   Leading US and local brands like Pepsi, Pizza Hut, KFC, RC Cola, Igloo and Fresh are also joining hands with the Citigroup to make it a great day for underprivileged children in Bangladesh. The Citigroup’s first Global Community Day is a worldwide effort involving over 800 projects in 400 cities with more than 30,000 employee volunteers. 
   ‘Citigroup is committed to mobilising the enthusiasm and talents of our employees for community service,’ said Charles Prince, chairman and chief executive officer of the Citigroup. ‘The Citigroup’s day is a company-wide effort, with tens of thousands of volunteers working in Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North America.

Eleven more female drivers and auto-mechanics were trained by the transport services department of CARE Bangladesh, raising number to 25 in the past three years.
   A graduation ceremony for 15 apprentices, including the 11 females, was held at the CARE’s transport department office at Kawran Bazar in Dhaka on Thursday, says a press release.
   A welcome of 12 new female apprentices was also held at the same occasion in line with continued efforts to improve gender equity in Bangladesh.
   Steve Wallace, country director of CARE Bangladesh, welcomed the 4th batch apprentices while Hasan M Mazumder, deputy country director, handed over certificates to new graduates (3rd batch).
   Stave Zotalis and Andrea Rodericks, assistant country directors, Md Manzurul Haque, general manager of TSD, Munmun Salma Chowdhury, general manager human rights department, among others, were present.
   Steve Wallace said providing training to females on driving was a great initiative and it had changed the TSD culture radically in the past several years.

The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh has taken initiative to secure and protect its lifesaving research data on its network in order to rapidly develop and disseminate effective health and population solutions to the world.
   The Mirage Networks(R), Inc., a leading provider of network access control solutions based in Austin, Texas, announced on Thursday that the centre has chosen Mirage Endpoint Control to secure its research centre network.
   The mirage approach is to endpoint control monitors network users both before and after they attempt to log onto the network, combining pre-admission policy checks with post-admission behavioral monitoring, the announcement said.
   ‘As a global research centre focused on saving lives, it’s critical that our state-of-the-art computing and communications facilities remain up and running and that valuable research data is protected from unknown, infected or out-of-policy devices,’ said Farhad Hussain, head of the computer information services unit at the ICDDR,B.

Weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky over the country till 6:00pm today, the Met Office said in a forecast on Thursday.
   Light fog may occur at night over the south-western and north-eastern parts and the river basin areas of the country, it predicted, saying that the night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.
   The country’s highest temperature on Thursday, 32.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Cox’s Bazar and the lowest, 18.0 degrees Celsius, in Dinajpur.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 5:12pm and rises tomorrow at 6:15am.

Assailants killed a vegetable trader at Amlabo Sahapara under Belabo upazila in Narsingdi Thursday night.
   The police said the assailants intercepted the victim Ahmad Khan, 48, of the village at Sahapara crossing on his way home from Bhairab Bazar and stabbed him to death.

Bhashani Novotheatre to remain closed
for 4 days
Bhashani Novotheatre will remain closed to visitors for four days from Sunday because of editing and technical set-up of a large format feature film ‘Whales’. Screening of the film will start on November 23 and continue till September 26 next year, said a release.
— UNB

DU exams postponed till November 25
All the examinations under course and traditional systems of Dhaka University have been postponed till Nov 25 because of unavoidable circumstances. The schedule for other examinations will remain unchanged, a DU press release said Friday. Fresh schedule for the postponed examinations will be announced in time. — UNB
— New Age

Recording of BBC Sanglap tomorrow
The recording of the 10th edition of the BBC Bengali Service’s Bangladesh Sanglap will take place at Monibazar in the Rajshahi city at 5:45pm today. Rajshahi mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu, leader of the Workers’ Party of Bangladesh Fazle Hossain Badsha, leader of the Kansat electricity movement Golam Rabbani and socio-political psychologist and Professor of psychology at Rajshahi University Shawkat Ara will feature in the panel, said a press release here today.
— BSS