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The residents at different areas in Pallabi and Mirpur have been facing problem due to acute shortage of gas supply for the last 20 days.
   A number of residents living on Blocks A, B, C, D and Dha under section-12 of Mirpur, Senpara Parbata and Kazipara complained that they are facing acute shortage of gas from 10:30am to 1:30pm every day.
   The CNG filling stations in the areas are also being forced to stop their stations for a certain period due to low pressure of gas.
   Kahinoor Begum, a resident of Block B under section-12 Mirpur, said they have to start cooking food for their lunch since the morning as the pressure of gas remains almost zero between 11:00am and 1:30pm every day for the last 20 days.
   ‘We have to buy food for our lunch from restaurant almost every day because we do not get supply of gas from 11:00am to 1:30pm,’ Sohel, a resident living on Block C, told New Age.
   Another resident Sajib living on Block D in Mirpur section-12 said he had bought a stove three days back to get relief from the persistent gas crisis.
   Arman, a service engineer of the MCW refilling station and conversion workshop at Mirpur section-12, said they had to close their filling station from 11:30am to 1:30pm almost every day for the last 15 days due to low pressure of gas.
   Siddiqur Rahman, manager of Shahjalal CNG filling station at Senpara, said they have to reduce their supply for some time every day. ‘We have to close the station for an hour every day for the last one week due to low pressure of gas.’ He said they also faced gas crisis in the first week of August.
   Shahadat Hossain, manager of Moni CNG filling Station at Kazipara, said they were compelled to close their filling station from 11:30am to 2:30pm on last Thursday.
   Such crisis will be continuing, if the government does not set up new lines because many CNG filling stations have been set up in the areas, he said.
   An official of Titas Gas Distribution Company said the work to install a 100-kilometre pipeline around the Dhaka city is going on, and the problem will be reduced to such an extent on completion of the work.

The Family Planning Association of Bangladesh has accorded a reception to Dr Halida Hanum Akhter, who received the UN Population Award 2006 on individual category.
   Halida Hanum received the award at the United Nations headquarters in June last for her contribution to the promotion of birth control and protecting reproductive health in Bangladesh, which has reduced the total fertility rate to 3 in 2005 from 6.6 in 1972.
   Every year, the UN Population Fund gives two awards — one in individual category and other on institutional category — for better management of population growth and promotion of reproductive health across the globe. An institute from Haiti received the award on institutional category, says a press release.
   Held at the FPAB Naya Paltan office on Thursday last, the function was addressed, among others, by FPAB president Mohammad Abul Quashem, senior executives Salahuddin Khan, Prasanta Kumar Saha, Professor Shirin Nahar, Meher Afroz Chumki, Dr Zahir Uddin Ahmed, Parvin Billa and Dr Shamsul Alam Chowdhury.
   The speakers said Halida Hanum was the second Bangladeshi national, who received the prestigious award from the United Nations.
   They also urged the government to recognise Halida Hanum’s contribution at home as well.

Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan on Friday demanded immediate formulation of a comprehensive national energy policy to protect the country’s national resources.
   The organisation leaders at a citizens’ rally in the Dhaka city also criticised the proposed coal policy, saying the policy, if implemented, would protect interests of the foreign companies like Asia Energy operating in Bangladesh.
   They also demanded immediate implementation of the August 30 Phulbari agreement signed between the government and the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port.
   The Natural Resources and Environment Programme Committee of the organisation arranged the rally at Shahbagh followed by a human chain.
   A number of organisations, including Green Voice, Juba Nagarik Odhikar Jote, SEBA, Nagarik Udyog, Nagarik Sanghati, Sundar Jiban, PEACE and Bishaw Shanti Sangha, also joined the programmes expressing solidarity with the demand.
   Presided over by BAPA member secretary Zakir Hossain, the rally was addressed, among others, by BAPA leaders Kazi M Sheesh, Taksim A Khan and Meher Biswas, and Mahbubur Rahman, Nooruddin, Alamgir Kabir, Sharifuzzaman, Shahadat Hossain, Firoj Ahmed and Ifma Hossain.
   The lenders always want to gain benefits by dominating the country, the speakers said and demanded formulation of a comprehensive national energy policy that would ensure self-control (without any domination of the lenders) with the participation of local experts as well as the people of the country.
   Criticising the proposed coal policy, they said coal mining method and the environmental and legal aspects in the proposed policy did not go in favour of the national interest.
   Terming mining in open-pit method destructive to the people and environment, they said the proposed coal policy would make a room for the Asia Energy and TATA to go for open-pit mining at Fulbari and Barapukuria coal mines.
   The decision to appoint Asia Energy for coal exploration in Phulbari with only six per cent of royalty by ignoring the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company is ‘suicidal’, they added.
   The people of Phulbari had resisted the Asia Energy’s ‘destructive’ bid to explore coal in open-pit method. The Phulbari people realised their demands at the cost of six lives and compelled the government to sign an agreement with the national committee to protect natural resources.
   They, however, accused the government of not taking any initiative to implement the agreement, and demanded immediate and full implementation of the agreement.

Scraps of bulldozer, tractor, crane, motorcycle and rickshaw are featured in a unique structure that resembles an 18th century car and placed in front of a CNG filling station in Tejgaon industrial area.
   Eminent sculptor, mural, terracotta and landscaping artist Mrinal Haque has set up his ‘junkyard family’ artwork to popularise the extra-ordinary modern art among the people.
   ‘An artwork exhibition in a gallery can draw the attention of very limited number of people, but if it is placed in public places it can draw the attention of a mass,’ Mrinal told New Age.
   He said a good number of his sophisticated sculptures had been embellishing the houses of many rich people of the country. ‘The wealthy men bought those artworks for the decoration of their houses, but it is not possible for the common people to buy artworks and know about that.’
   ‘I want to take my artworks to the common people from the living rooms of the elite class, and from that point of view I took the initiative to set up the sculpture,’ said Mrinal who is the country’s first artist to have curved murals on sidewalks and at road crossing for the beautification of the city.
   The sculpture at Tejgaon is a joint venture of Mrinal and the Southern Automobiles and it was placed in front of the Southern CNG-Filling and Conversion Station in 2004.
   Mrinal had collected scarps of bulldozers, tractors, cranes, motorcycles and rickshaws from different places, including Dholai Khal in the Dhaka city to make the sculpture that had cost Tk 5 lakh, said the artist, who has also a plan to set up such sculptures in some other points in the capital. ‘I am looking for sponsors.’
   Mrinal is one of the winners of the Honourable Mention Award in the 12th Asian Art Biennale, Bangladesh. He won the award for his sculpture ‘Come for education ... go for...’
   Mrinal’s works in the city include sculpture of Balaka at Motijheel, sculptures and murals at BDR Headquarters Gate, sculpture and mural at the Rajarbagh Police Lines, murals at the VVIP terminal of Zia International Airport.
   He also made the Subarna Jayanti Tower at Rajshahi University and a sculpture at Chapainawabganj in memory of the Bir Sreshtha Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir.
   His latest work ‘Protirodh Vaskarja’ in Narayanganj is under construction, It will portray how the freedom fighters created resistance during the war of independence.
   Mrinal also worked in New York from 1996 to 2003. ‘I was one of the artists appointed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs in the USA for the beautification of the city,’ he claimed adding that he had around 600 artworks.
   Born on September 9, 1958 in Rajshahi, Mrinal completed his secondary and higher secondary education from Rajshahi Cadet College. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s in sculpture (Fine Arts) from the Institute of Fine Art at Dhaka University.

About 3000 people in Chittagong have found their dreams of owning housing plots shattered as the cooperatives society they deposited the money with did neither give them land nor refund the money even in five years.
   They alleged the Social Savings Cooperatives and Credit Limited, an organisation registered with the cooperatives directorate, pocketed more than Tk 4 crore in the name of giving residential plots at low price.
   The cooperatives organisation received the sum in instalments from about 3,000 members from 2001 promising them plots in three years. But no plot was handed over even after five years.
   Nasima Akhter, a client who deposited Tk 86,000 for a residential plot, said the organisation gave her a cheque in 2004, which was dishonoured for want of the balance required for the payment.
   ‘The organisation later gave me at least 10 dates. But I have not yet received my deposited money,’ she said.
   Mostari Begum, Rafiqul Islam, Jamir Uddin, Ashraf Uddin, Shohrab Hossain, Ahmad Sobhan, Shafiul Alam, and many other clients have similar stories about organisation.
   The cooperatives company admitted they had defaulted on handing over plots and promised they would return the money ‘soon.’
   The company chairman, AKM Fazlullah, said they had bought a hilly land for the residential project at Nandirhat, but failed to develop the project as the Chittagong Development Authority had not allowed them to cut the hill.
   He later said they had bought another piece of land at Anwara for Tk 2.1 crore two years ago. This land could also not be developed for complexities in land registration, he said.
   ‘As we could not hand over the plots to the clients, we have so far returned Tk 2.4 crore to them,’ he said, adding that efforts were on to refund the remaining money very soon.
   The clients said the company had been collecting deposits from them through opening current accounts, saving accounts and pension schemes, making lucrative offers of returns, for eight years. Such kinds of banking activities require approval from the Bangladesh Bank, the banking sector regulator.
   The company chairman said they had collected money from clients through opening different sorts of accounts, but claimed that it was being done lawfully under the Cooperatives Act.
   ‘The Bangladesh Bank and the finance ministry launched several inquiries of our activities, but found no irregularity,’ he said.
   The Chittagong region general manager of Bangladesh Bank Mohammed Harunur Rashid Chowdhury said they were investigating the allegation.

Speakers at a citizens’ rally in the capital on Saturday urged the government to take experts’ opinion and avoid political debate about the type of the third Karnaphuli bridge.
   Four organisations—the Green Voice, Nagarik Sanghati, Prajon-mer Chetona and Citizens’ Rights Movement organised the rally at Shahbagh in Dhaka.
   The speakers said the first and second Karnaphuli pillar bridges disrupted normal flow of the Karnaphuli River. If the third bridge is constructed also with pillars it will much affect the river’s flow, they threatened adding that the experts’ opinions were essential in this regard.
   Presided over by Professor ASM Atiqur Rahman the rally was addressed, among others, by engineer Enamul Haq, Sardar Amin, Dr. Mostaq Hossain.

A mob damaged the Power Development Board complaint centre on shab-e-barat night on Saturday protesting at the frequent power outages.
   The local people said the power supply has been disrupted in Sadar Road area under Barisal Electric Supply Division-1 since 1:30am Saturday night.
   The people engaged in overnight prayer in different mosques and houses on the occasion holy shab-e-barat failed to contact the PDB complaint centre on Sadar Road of the city.
   Then agitated mob gathered at the complaint centre which was under lock and key at 4:30am on Saturday morning.
   One sub-assistant engineer and three other staff were supposed to be on duty at that important complaint centre but they were not available at their duty place and the agitated mob damaged the building with brick bats and tried to break open the door.
   Local leaders calm the agitating mob and the power supply resumed at 4:45am after the incident.
   The PDB officials were not available for comment in this connection.

Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student front of the ruling BNP, will hold a grand rally in the Dhaka city on the third week of September apparently as counter programme of the opposition grand rally.
   Leaders of the organisation’s central committee on Friday took the decision saying that the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, also the prime minister, is expected to be present at the rally.
   Chhatra Dal central leaders on Saturday evening sought an appointment of the prime minister preferring any date after the opposition rally scheduled for September 18.
   The leaders said they will hold the rally as the last programme of a series of programmes to streamline their grassroots leaders and activists.
   The prevailing national political situation also made the organisation enthusiasts to hold a grand rally as counter measure of opposition propaganda, the leaders said.
   As it is the fag end of the BNP’s tenure, there will be some instructions for the activists for BNP electioneering, they added.

The information minister, M Shamsul Islam, on Saturday urged both print and electronic media to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS saying there is no alternative to creating awareness against the killer disease.
   He was speaking at a seminar titled ‘Apprising journalists about reproductive health, gender issues and HIV/AIDS’ was organised by the Mass Communications Depart-ment at the Press Institute of Bangladesh. Shamsul said prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh still remained lower than that of in neighbouring countries due to the strong adherence of the people to social and religious values.
   Chaired by the director general of Mass Communication Department, Abdul Mannan, the function was addressed, among others, by the UNFPA country director, Pornchai Suchitta and Maj Gen (retd) Motiur Rahman.
   A total of 40 journalists took part in the daylong seminar.

The government stenographers working outside the Bangladesh Secretariat demanded that their designation be renamed with the status of Class II officers.
   The Bangladesh Stenographer Association raised their demand at a conference of the BSA liaison committee in the capital on Saturday. They asked the government to realise their demand within 48 hours.
   The stenographers announced an elaborate programme including demonstration wearing black badge on September 12 and 13, abstention from work from 11:00am to 1:00 pm on September 17 and 18, forming a human chain on September 20, staging a hunger strike on September 22 and 23.
   ‘If our demand is not realised by that time, we will declare our next course of action through a press conference,’ said the convener of the liaison committee, Mohammad Selim Sheikh, who presided over the conference.
   In 1995, the government renamed the designation of the stenographers working in the Secretariat as personal officer and increased their responsibilities and opportunities through an official order and thereby promoted them to Class II officers.
   This official order caused discrimination between the stenographers in and around the Secretariat, said the committee leaders at the conference.
   Mohammad Ibrahim Khalil, Mohammad A Salam Mian, and Mohammad Golam Mostafa, among other leaders were present.

National Univ examinations rescheduled
All examinations under National University scheduled for today has been re-scheduled due to unavoidable circumstances. According to the new schedule, examinations of BSc honours in computer science Part-3 will be held tomorrow, of MBM first year Term-2 and second year Term-5 on September 19 and the examinations of second year honours-2005 will be held on October 7. Schedule of other examinations, however, will remain unchanged, according to a NU press release.
— UNB

Suspected criminal held with weapons
The police arrested an alleged criminal along with two lethal weapons after he had exploded a bomb at Karwanbazar in the city Saturday afternoon. Raju Hossain, 20, of Gopalpur village under Zajira upazila in Shariatpur and a student of Mirpur Bangla College, exploded the bomb after the police had challenged him for his suspiciously movement in Karwanbazar underpass area carrying a bag on his shoulder, the police said. The police and the local people then chased and caught him along with two chapatis (sharp lethal weapons). Raju, however, claimed that he had started running for shelter as the bomb exploded in front of him. A case was filed with the Tejgaon police in this connection.
— New Age