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Two markets constructed blocking a portion of a major city road and evicting rehabilitated freedom fighters and their families remained untouched despite countrywide drive against unauthorised structures.
   One of the markets on the Inner Circular Road near the Motijheel AGB Colony was constructed by the Dhaka City Corporation, which is among the key authorities conducting the drives.
   The city corporation market comprising 82 shops was constructed in 1986 while the other market that houses 262 shops in the same row of the corporation shops were constructed in June 2003 demolishing makeshift shops allotted to about 200 freedom fighters and their families. The freedom fighters and their families had done business there since 1990.
   It is alleged that the local ward commissioner, Harunur Rashid, a patron of the Motijheel Kitchen Market Small Traders’ Samabay Samity Ltd, in collaboration with another ward commissioner, Mirza Khokon, erected 262 brick built shops in place of the makeshift shops run by the Insolvent Freedom Fighters’ Family Welfare Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Limited.
   The corporation at that time almost completed formalities to lease the land to the cooperative society, but the corporation bid was thwarted with the eviction of cooperative society members by commissioner Harun on May 7, 2003.
   The commissioner, according to the local people, claimed that the market was closed down to do some urgent sewerage maintenance works.
   The cooperative society members alleged that the commissioner, before evicting them, had claimed Tk one lakh from each of the shops, but declined to provide them with any papers of possession.
   The corporation could not earn any revenue from the market as the two commissioners had been realising monthly rent exercising their influence, said a member of the Insolvent Freedom fighters’ Family Welfare Multi-purpose Cooperative society Limited.
   A high official at the revenue section of the corporation said they had given temporary allotment to the shop owners in 2006 on condition that they (occupants) would vacate the possessions if and when asked by the corporation. The monthly rent was fixed at Tk 6 per square feet, he said.
   But the process of temporary allotment was suspended following a High Court order, the official added saying that the court had given the order hearing a petition filed by the cooperative society challenging their eviction by the commissioner.
   According to the order, the corporation has to dispose of the issue of the freedom fighters lawfully before giving any allotment, and no toll or rent can be collected before its disposal.
   ‘We have called the cooperative society members to settle the issue and asked them to prove that they were evicted, but they failed to prove it,’ said a high official the revenue section of the corporation.
   ‘As the society members failed to prove that they were evicted, there is no legal dispute over the issue,’ he added saying that they would soon start revenue collection from the shops. ‘We have also started the process to give permanent allotment.’
   The cooperative samity president, AKM Manjurul Haque, however, said the corporation’s claim of lawful disposal of the issue was ‘false’ as they (corporation authorities) had not seen the documents submitted to prove eviction of the society members.
   He also claimed that the corporation bid to give temporary allotment was illegal as it had taken the initiative after the High Court order issued on August 31, 2005.
   The local ward commissioner on the plea of improving sewerage system evicted the freedom fighters and their families without any lawful authority in 2003, he said adding several reports in this regard had been published in a number of leading newspapers at that time.
   The chief estate officer of the corporation, Quamruzzaman Chowdhury, said they would verify whether the markers were constructed blocking the road and if it was true, they would demolish it.

The CNG-run auto-rickshaws continued plying the Chittagong city streets without meters even three weeks after a police order making mandatory the use of metres.
   The traffic department of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police in a February 11 tripartite meeting with the drivers and owners fixed the charge for first two kilometres at Tk 15 and asked not to allow any auto-rickshaw on the city roads without meter. The owners and drivers also gave their consent.
   After the meeting, according to the police, the CMP initiated a drive against the auto-rickshaws, plying without and disagreeing to use the meters, and filed cases against 300 vehicles in the first seven days.
   The drive prompted the drivers to use the meters, but they went back to their earlier practice as the drive lost its momentum due to unknown reason, the sources added.
   CMP deputy commissioner of traffic, Abu Sufian, however, said that they were conducting drives regularly against the auto-rickshaw drivers who are violating the police directive. ‘The drive will be intensified within a day or two.’
   Delwar Hossain, general secretary of the CNG-run auto-rickshaw owners and drivers’ unity council, said most of the drivers were carrying passengers on meters.
   ‘A few auto-rickshaws are plying without meter, as their meters went out of order due to leaving useless for long,’ he said adding that they had directed all of their members to repair the meters rapidly.
   The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority made the meter use mandatory for auto-rickshaws one year back, fixing up the fare for the first two kilometres at Tk 12 and Tk 5 for following kilometre each.
   The drivers refrained from carrying passengers the meter stipulated fare saying that it was inadequate in comparison with their costs promoting the police allowing them to realise Tk 15 for the first two kilometres.

United efforts of farmers, government and local administration officials, civil society people and public representatives are essential to preserve local seeds of different crops.
   This was observed at a roundtable on ‘our duties to save local agriculture’, jointly arranged by the Khulna Metropolitan Agriculture Department and An Organization for Socio-Economic Development with the help of Action Aid at Khulna Press Club in the Khulna city on Saturday.
   Government officials, local farmers, development workers, civil society people and NGO personnel took part in the roundtable.
   Chaired by the Khulna Metropolitan Agriculture Officer, SM Ferdaus, and moderated by Professor Anowarul Quadir, the roundtable was also addressed by Khulna Press Club president Moqbul Hossain Mintu, Abdul Quyum and AOSED director Shamim Arefin, among others. Senior journalist Gouranga Nandy presented the keynote paper.
   The paper said among 6.03 corer wage earners of the country, 68.5 per cent are directly involved with agriculture that provides 22 per cent of the national income but they are neglected.
   Due to arrival of hybrid seeds, the farmers are gradually loosing interest of preserving local seeds of different species, and the farmers are getting used to using chemical fertiliser and pesticides, the paper added.
   The paper also suggested to preserve seeds locally, to make a guideline for using chemical fertiliser and pesticide, to provide enough training to the sellers of chemical fertiliser and pesticide, establishing enough infrastructures at the union level for examining soil and crops and to provide agriculture loan on easy term and ensure agriculture insurance.
   The speakers alleged that the agricultural field officers do not go to the filed when the farmers need them.

The police filed 1,237 cases against different type of motor vehicles for violating ban on honking on the VIP road from the Sonargaon Hotel crossing to Shahbagh during the last one week.
   The ban was imposed on honking on the road on February 22 this year, and started taking legal actions against the vehicles those violated the ban.
   The police said they had also taken up a programme for making people aware about the ban, side by side with penalising the persons responsible for the offence.
   They said a total of 446 cases were filed against the vehicles on the first day of imposition of the ban.
   ‘The violators of the ban were fined from Tk 250 to Tk 500, which were fixed from the concerned traffic office on the basis of the cases filed by on-duty police officers,’ a traffic sergeant told BSS.
   Sources said horn-free road would gradually be extended up to Zia International
   Airport. The ban will also be imposed on roads passing by important establishments, including schools, colleges and hospitals.

The three-day information and technology fair at Zia Hall in the Khulna city drew a large number of visitors on Saturday, the concluding day.
   The Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services organised the fair sponsored by mobile phone operator CityCell and supported by development organisation Catalyst.
   Mostly students of colleges and universities visited the fair, which aimed at introducing modern IT products and services to local students, IT users, corporate bodies and government and non-government organisations.
   The fair featured information, programmes and books on information technology, software, e-commerce, job-portal, computer hardware, internet, multimedia and telecommunication.

A solo photography exhibition titled ‘The Hill Children of Bangladesh’ by Mahmud of MAP Photo Agency will begin at the Drik Gallery in the capital today.
   The exhibition, organised by UNICEF in collaboration with the MAP Photo Agency, will be inaugurated by the UNICEF country representative Louis-Georges Arsenault, said a press release.
   An exhibition with a difference, it will not only portray topographical beauty, rich ethnic and cultural diversity of the people of the CHT, but also shed special light on the lives of the CHT children and women.
   CHT, a unique part of Bangladesh, is home to at least 11 different indigenous groups of whom 90 per cent live in rural areas without adequate access to basic utilities and services. Nearly 100 colour images representing most of the groups and communities of CHT captured and collected in 5 years till 2005 will be showcased in the exhibition.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky all over Bangladesh till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast issued on Saturday.
   Rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is also likely at one or two places over the country, predicted the bulletin.
   The day temperature may rise by 1-3 degrees Celsius over teh country.
   The country’s highest temperature on Saturday, 31.6 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Cox’s Bazar and the lowest, 14 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Srimongal.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:02pm and rises on Monday at 6:17am.

DU publishes Ka unit waiting list
The waiting list of candidates in the Ka unit admission test of Dhaka Universality was published on Saturday and the result is available on the science faculty notice board. The candidates, who are up to 2178 on the merit list, are eligible for admission and urged to be present at the dean office between 10:00am and 1:00pm on Wednesday with their admit card and original transcripts of HSC and SSC examinations, said a DU press release.
— New Age