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The owners of CNG-run auto-rickshaws have reduced driving hours for the drivers to maintain the daily deposit amounting to Tk 450 fixed by the government.
   The government on April 8 announced the new deposit rate along with an increase in CNG auto-rickshaw fare with effect since May 1. The fares for the first two kilometres had been increased to Tk 13.50 from Tk 12 and to Tk 5.5 from Tk 5 for subsequent kilometres.
   Passengers will have to pay minimum Tk 15 for any distance, according to the revised chart.
   As the authorities concerned didn’t mention any time-limit on the fixed daily deposit which was raised from Tk 300 to Tk 450, the owners capitalised on reduction in the driving hours.
   ‘Some of the owners are planning to introduce two shifts by reducing the driving hours,’ said a driver Ali Hossain who now gets five hours less than the time when he used to pay Tk 600.
   He said that the drivers would be affected seriously for reduction in the driving hours but the owners would ultimately gain as now they would be able to collect more money from two shifts than their earlier income of Tk 600 from deposit for the whole day.
   The government warned that the registration of the CNG-run auto-rickshaws would be cancelled, if the owners violated its order.
   A number of auto-rickshaw drivers on Sunday complained that their owners asked them to stop plying and bring the vehicles back to the garage by 5:00pm with paying Tk 450 as daily deposit.
   ‘My owner allowed me to ply from 7:00am to 5:00pm for the daily deposit of Tk 450, though the time-limit was up to 10:00pm or so earlier when I used to deposit Tk 600 per day,’ said another driver who wanted the law enforcing agencies to take necessary steps against the owners.
   Dhaka City Auto-Rickshaw Owners’ Association general secretary ATM Nazmul Hasan admitted the fact, saying, ‘I have also received such allegation which is unjust and unlawful.’
   He said that they were trying to deal with the issue. ‘But now we are not in a position to hold a meeting of the owners to abide by the government order keeping the driving hours as before.’
   He said that the law enforcing agencies should take legal action against the owners who were unwilling to take Tk 450 as daily deposit and to allow the drivers for plying the auto-rickshaws as before.
   About the change of memory software of CNG-run auto-rickshaw meters, Nazmul said to his knowledge, about 7000 meters had been so far upgraded in line with the increased fare.
   ‘Some CNG drivers are yet to update their meters and charging at will,’ he said, hoping that the change in memory software of the rest meters will be completed by this week.
   A total of 13,000 CNG-run auto-rickshaws run in the capital.

An employee of a garment factory was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Pallabi in Dhaka city on Sunday.
   The victim was identified as Salahuddin Chowdhury alias Sona Miah, 48, marketing director of Rex Composite Knitwear Ltd.
   Witnesses said Sona Mia came under gun attack near Proshika office at about 9:30am while he was going to his office at Milk Vita road of section 7 from his Shah Alibagh residence in a rickshaw.
   The assailants fired shots at Sona Mia and then hacked him with sharp weapons resulting in his death on the spot, they said. The gang fled the scene after confirming the death.
   On information, the police went to the spot and sent the body to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. They recovered four rounds of used bullets.
   None was, however, arrested in connection with the killing.
   Family members of the victim said Sona Miah usually used his official car to go to office but he did not do it on Sunday. There was also no rivalry with anyone in the locality, they added.
   The victim’s only son, Aminul Islam Amin, a class IX student of the Mirpur Government High School, said his father had talked with one Babu, a press owner, of Kalwalapara before taking breakfast at about 8:30am.
   Later, his father was seen talking with a local youth, Mamun in front of a restaurant while he was on his way to his office, Amin said.
   The owner of the garment factory, Mahbubur Rahman, said there was no allegation against Sona Mia in his factory.
   The motive behind the killing could not be known. The police started investigation into the incident on the basis of a general diary filed by the victim four months ago.

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has postponed its two-day drive to demolish illegal structures along the bank of the Buriganga River.
   The demolition drive was scheduled to begin on Sunday at Charkaliganj along the river bank under Keraniganj.
   ‘We have postponed the demolition drive due to lack of preparation, said Motahar Hossain, director (port and traffic department). He, however, hopes that the drive will start soon.
   The water transport authority has identified 150 illegal concrete structures at Charkaliganj along the Buriganga bank. It has already sent notice to the owners of the structures in this regard.
   The authority in its last eight-day drive that started on January 28 bulldozed 800 illegal structures along the banks of Buriganga, Turag and Shitalakhya rivers.
   ‘We could not start drive at Charkaliganj at that time as it was difficult to take bulldozer there. Now we are planning to take a bulldozer there thorough a barge,’ said an official.

The Khulna district jail is crammed with prisoners much higher than its capacity.
   Jail sources said that the district jail, established in 1912 on 5.33 acres of land in the city, has the capacity of 544 but there are now 1,779 prisoners, including 1,691 male and 88 female, in 17 wards, five condemned cells and 30 general cells.
   There are 26 prisoners in the condemned cells as against the capacity of only 15, the sources added.
   Jail officials said that the authorities were keeping the prisoners in different wards considering their age, nature of crimes committed by them, their behaviour and health condition.
   There are wards for the young and old prisoners apart from the disabled ones. Women prisoners are kept in a separate ward while under trial prisoners in nine wards.
   The prisoners, sentenced to life term imprisonment by courts, are kept in two wards while ailing prisoners in another ward.
   The officials said they were providing the prisoners with various facilities, adding that the authorities in October, 2006 opened a canteen inside the jail as the prisoners can buy different kinds of light food with tokens.
   ‘The authorities are also constructing a department store so that the visitors can buy goods for the prisoners,’ said the jail superintendent Mohammad Ataur Rahman.
   ‘Though there are prisoners much higher than the capacity of the jail, we are trying to ensure their rights,’ the superintendent added.

‘Maha rani with spinach roti’ a Euro-Bangla fusion dish prepared by a Bangladeshi woman, Marjina Akter, won the first prize of Euro-Bangla Recipe Competition Sunday at Tommy Miah Institute of Hospitality Management at Mohammadpur.
   Marking the European Union’s Cultural Week 2007, the competition was jointly organised by the European Commission, Tommy Miah Institute of Hospitality Management and National Hotel and Tourism Training Institute of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.
   Among the six finalists, who prepared the dishes combining flavours and culinary traditions of Bangladesh and Europe, Marjina’s dish topped the list of the dishes prepared and served by the competitors.
   Several EU ambassadors including the head of the delegation of the European Commission, Stefan Frowein, was present among the judges.
   Frowein said this competition demonstrated the
   potential of Bangladeshis to respond to international
   trends in cuisine and cater to the tastes of the international communities.
   ‘There are opportunities for the young people in the hospitality business as the new international hotel are opening in the country,’ he said.
   Salah Uddin Chowdhury, who served the dish ‘Florentine a la Dhaka’, won the second prize and Shamima Nasren won third prize by making ‘Bangla ratan with light yeast bread’.
   The prize giving ceremony will be held on May 12 on the Europe Day.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence Week begins today with a cautionary note to the citizens of the country for keeping themselves alert about the devastation of fire as fire incidents and the loss of lives have been increasing gradually.
   Adviser Tapan Chowdhury will formally inaugurate the week at Mirpur while the Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence Brigadier General Rafiqur Rahman will preside over the function.
   President Professor Iajuddin Ahmed and the Chief Adviser to caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed in separate massages wished the success of the week.
   A total of 92 people were killed and the property worth about Tk 238.76 crore was burned in 9,542 fire incidents recorded in 2006, Fire Service sources said and added a total of 54 people were killed in various fire incidents during 2005.
   The fire fighters recovered property worth about Taka 1,148 crore from various natures of fire incidents, Fire Services sources told the news agency on Sunday.
   Fire incidents took place mainly due to faults in electricity supply which were 3,334 in number last year, according to an official statistics.
   The official figures said the number of the incidents of fire jumped to an alarming rate last year from the previous years. The number of the fire incidents was 7,135 in 2005, 7,140 in 2004 and 6,289 in 2003.
   The fire incidents are on increase due to lack of awareness, almost no feeling for following safety measures and practicing fire fighting drills, violation of building codes, non-compliance with the Fire Checking and Extinguishing Law, 2003, said the sources.
   Besides, the poor fire fighting equipments of the Fire Service and absence of infrastructure supports like street hydrants and construction of fire-lanes in busy cities are the important reasons that hamper tackling the emergency situation.
   Besides, the Rajuk and the Fire Service has no statistics about the number of high-rise buildings in the city.
   Brig Gen Rafiq said mass awareness of fire safety measures at individual level is needed as the urbanization has been growing rapidly.

Zinc treatment could save the lives of about 4.5 lakh children in the world, said a medical science researcher in Dhaka on Sunday.
   The researcher also highlighted the importance of zinc therapy in reducing child mortality as a treatment of childhood diarrhoea while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the fourth international conference on ‘Scaling Up Zinc— The Way Forward’ at the ICDDR,B auditorium.
   The adviser in charge of the ministry of health and family welfare, ASM Matiur Rahman, inaugurated the two-day conference as chief guest.
   Chaired by executive director ICDDR,B, David A Sack, national professor MR Khan and director general of health services Shahjahan Biswas were present as special guest at the function jointly organised by scaling up zinc (SUZY) and directorate general of health services.
   Principal investigator of SUZY Charles P Larson delivered the welcome speech.
   Terming the research centre as a learning place, the health adviser in his speech said ‘Zinc treatment is an important milestone for diarrhoea treatment not for Bangladesh only, but for the countries.’
   ‘If successfully scaled up, zinc would substantially contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal that aims to reduce child mortality by two-thirds by the year 2015’, he said.
   The participants in the conference include representatives from Bangladesh, Tanzania, Kenya and India, International Rescue Committee, John Hopkins School of Public Health, USA, the Institute of Child and Mother Health and different non-governmental organisations.

The members of the Rapid Action Battalion arrested a suspected criminal at Pabla area under Daulatpur police station in the Khulna city Saturday night and recovered a firearm from his possession.
   Acting on a tip-off, the RAB men raided the house of Md Amin Munshi, 25, son of late Lokman Munshi, of Khanpara under Daulatpur at around 9:30pm and arrested him along with a revolver.
   He was handed over to the police later, said a release issued by RAB-6. The Daulatpur police said that they produced Amin before the court on Sunday morning.

The Chittagong Metropolitan Police will set up seven holiday markets in different parts of the city to accommodate the hawkers, who were evicted following declaration of state of emergency.
   CMP sources said they had selected Outer Stadium, Polo-ground, Patenga sea beach, old Chandgaon police station premises, old Railway Station premises, Eidgaon at Sher Shah Colony and Parade Ground for the holiday markets.
   Two holiday markets will be set up at Patenga sea beach and old Chandgaon Police Station premises by one week, CMP sources.
   The CMP commissioner, Mohammed Moinur Rahman Chowdhury, told New Age that they were communicating with the owning authorities of the rest venues for their permission.
   The schedules of the holiday markets would be fixed up in consultation with the hawkers, he added.

The Dhaka University arts faculty held a workshop on ‘guidelines for letter grading and semester system’ for Bachelor of Arts programme on Sunday.
   The workshop was designed in line with the plan to introduce uniform grading and semester system in all faculties and institutes of the university from 2006-2007 session. Last year, the university authorities decided to introduce semester system and publish results under the letter grading system but failed due to lack of operational support.
   The university again took decision on February 18 at an academic council meeting to introduce the system from the current academic year. But only three faculties — social science, arts and science — came forward to implement the decision.
   Of them, the social science faculty first organised a workshop on March 29 and the science faculty another workshop on April 05.

Rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at a two places over the Rajshahi, Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna and Barisal divisions till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Sunday.
   The prevailing mild heat wave over Rajshahi, Barisal, Dhaka, Khulna and Sylhet may continue. Day temperature may fall slightly, it said.
   The highest temperature on Sunday, 38.0 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Ishwardi and Jessore and the lowest, 21.0 degrees Celsius, in Rangamati.
   The sun sets in the capital city today at 6:30pm and rises on Tuesday at 5:20am.

Ramendu Majumdar of the Expressions was elected president and Muneer Ahmed Khan of Unitrend secretary general to the executive committee of Advertising Agencies Association of Bangladesh for the next two years.
   The election was held at the annual general meeting of AAAB at Adcomm office on Saturday, according to a press release.
   The office-bearers of the executive committee of the association are vice-president Aly Zaker of Asiatic MCL, assistant general secretary Fahima Choudhury of Ogilvy and Mather, treasurer Zuhurul Haq of United and members Samrat Das Gupta of Grey and Sarah Ali of Bitopi.
   It may be mentioned here that the immediate-past President of the association, Geeteara Safiya Choudhury of Adcomm is now serving as an adviser to the caretaker government.
   The meeting discussed the ways and means to make AAAB an effective body to safeguard the interests of the advertising agencies and establish professional business ethics for overall development of this industry.

DRockstars’ audition round starts in Barisal
Grameenphone, in search of band singers, started a two-day audition round of DRockstars at Barisal Club auditorium on Sunday. Sources in the cell phone company said 24 bands of Barisal division have registered their names to participate in the programme and three judges including Maksud of Dhaka Band, Biplob of Prometheus and Alif of Bamba acted as judges of the selection programme. Sajedul Islam, project manager of DRockstars, said on the first day of the programme nine bands of Barisal — Sref, Nishan, Nishachar, Orbachin, Lokaloya, Odysseus, New Rainbow, Prachir and Awnish — took part in the audition round. After audition round on Sunday and Monday, a divisional selection list would be prepared for next round and their performances would be aired on Channel-i on May 24 and the final round would be held on May 26 in Dhaka, he added.

Album of Bangla songs released in Ctg
Two local artistes released an audio album of Bangla songs at a function at a club in the city on Saturday night. Shantanu Biswas and Arunima Islam Mamun jointly recorded the album titled ‘Jinuk Jinuk Mon’. Noted writer Begum Mostari Shafi unveiled the cover of the album. She, lauding the efforts of the artistes in releasing the album, said it would cater to the need of the people, who love music.
— New Age