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Almost all kinds of prepared iftar items put on sale in the city are adulterated or mixed with artificial colours, exposing consumers to serious health hazards, members of mobile courts operating anti-adulteration drives in the capital said.
   A section of traders are engaged in such malpractices cashing in on the high demand of such items during the month of Ramadan, they said.
   On Monday, a mobile court, led by magistrate Rokon Ud-Doula, unearthed a company, Moushumi Food Products at 60, Monir Hussain Road at Narinda, producing and marketing spurious noodles and vermicelli.
   The court, also accompanied by Rapid Action Battalion-10 members, destroyed a large consignment of noodles and vermicelli after finding that the food items were made of stinking rotten atta.
   The court also jailed its owner, Abdus Sattar, for three years and fined him Tk 1 lakh as penalty under the BSTI ordinance.
   Rokon told New Age that they would conduct the drive during iftar to check use the hazardous colour into iftar items like jilapi, piaju, lassi vermicelli, noodles, juice, beguni and fruits that are largely consumed for iftar.
   Such drives are going on in all the cities and major towns in the country, he said.
   Consumers alleged that the law enforcing agencies and DCC officials entrusted to monitor and check adulteration had failed to do their jobs.
   A section of dishonest officials of the concerned agencies are allegedly sparing the guilty traders after taking hefty bribes, they claimed.
   Artificial colours are commonly applied to iftar items that are being consumed by thousands of city residents, ignorant of the hazards of the artificial colours.
   A large number of the food shops and vendors are using fabric dye instead of food colour in brightening the iftar items while many of them are using substandard oil and beson in preparing the food items, sources said.
   Artificial colours are also being used in restaurants to sale broilers as local chicken, they said adding that the additives used in sauces are also mostly substandard.
   Cheating also goes on with bottled water and juices with a section of people doing a brisk business by refilling the used bottles cans of mineral waters with unsafe ones, sources in the mobile courts said adding that the same thing happens for juices.
   Such waters and juices are sold on the streets and at bus and launch terminals and at railway stations, they said.
   Artificial colours and chemicals are also applied to fruits and vegetables to make them look ripe and fresh.The sources said artificial colours are applied to tomato, bitter gourd, cucumber, banana and red pumpkin to make them look fresh.
   Usually, the ethylene group of chemicals is applied to vegetables and fruits by the suppliers from different districts, the sources said.
   Artificial colours are also used in rice and flattened rice. Waxing is a common practice to whiten rice and flattened rice, said a rice seller adding that even urea is mixed with puffed rice to make it white.
   The tendency of adulteration goes up during the month of Ramadan, sanitation and health inspectors of the Dhaka City Corporation said.
   Medical experts say these chemical substances can adversely affect health, starting from mild intestinal upset to severe allergic reaction.
   Some of them may even cause acute poisoning and chronic exposure, which may lead to cancer, they said.
   Consumption of such foods may cause serious health hazards — instant sickness to long-term infection, said FM Siddiqui, a professor of medicine at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   Professor Aminul Haque Bhuiyan of the Institute of Food and Nutrition of Dhaka University said, ‘Some of the additives approved by the Food and Drug Administration of USA are used in different kinds of foods. These are not harmful to health, but the low-cost colours that are used in the country might pose a serious health hazard.’
   Experts demanded proper enforcement of the law to curb food adulteration.
   The enactment of the Consumers’ Rights Protection Act has been in the process a long time.

The International Committee of the Red Cross will provide financial assistance to the students and teachers of the Dhaka University’s mass communication and journalism department for writing stories focused on humanitarian issues.
   The fund will be for senior students of the department , who will work as interns with different media houses and coordinating teachers of the department.
   A memorandum of understanding to this effect was signed between the journalism department and the International Red Cross on Monday, said a press release.
   Other programmes under the deal include organising editor’s conference and discussion meetings.
   The DU vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, and the head of Bangladesh mission of the International Red Cross, Finn Ruda, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations at the VC’s office.
   Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, acting dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Abdus Salam, chairman of the mass communication and journalism department, International Red Cross communication officer Surinder Singh Oberio and its communication and cooperation officer Rumana Binte Masud were present on the occasion.
   United News of Bangladesh adds: Under the MOU, the International Red Cross will provide financial supports to the DU mass communication and journalism department to arrange 3-month internship for 30 senior students in various media houses. The students, who will be selected for the internship, will get Tk 3,000 as monthly remuneration.

The police arrested two suspected frauds along with huge fake documents of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority at Baisteki in the Dhaka city early Monday.
   The arrested were identified Kabir Chowdhury, 70 of Bayesteki and Foyez Alam Rabbani alias Foyez, 27, of Section-13 in Mirpur.
   Tipped off, the Kafrul police raided house 24/4 in Bayesteki area and arrested Kabir. They seized huge fake rubber stamps, road permit, tax token, insurance, fitness certificates, blue books and other counterfeit BRTA documents.
   Based on his statement, the team raided House-67, Section-13 in Mirpur and arrested Foyez.
   They also seized a computer, a printer and fake BRTA documents, including road permits, tax tokens, fitness certificates, blue books and 63 seals of different banks and post offices.
   The police said teh arrested had long been involved in illegal trade of counterfeit documents. They would take Tk. 500 for each tax token and blue book, Tk. 300 for fitness certificate and Tk. 200 for road permit from their clients.

Open Market Sale of rice failed to attract people in the city as the price in the local market is almost equal.
   According to the local dealers, buyers are reluctant to buy OMS rice due to short gap of price between OMS and local markets. At present IRRI variety of coarse rice is being sold at Tk 20 in the local market.
   In this situation, many dealers did not lift rice from the godown apprehending loss.
   The food controller, M Monirul Islam, said OMS programme started in Khulna on September 10 with 23 dealers in the city and 91 dealers in nine upazilas of the district.
   Dealers of the city lifted 23 tonnes rice while dealers of the district 54 tonnes in last one week.
   The sources said 31 dealers kept themselves away from lifting rice from the warehouse till Sunday.
   Dealers of Paikgachha, Koyra and Batiaghata upazilas said price of rice under the OMS programme was Tk 13 last year and the government fixed it at Tk 19 this year.

The Baridhara Park on the Park Road at Baridhara is well managed and maintained offering almost all recreational facilities to the visitors.
   The park located in the diplomatic zone area is one of the few best places of recreation as it is properly taken care of by an association of local residents.
   The association called Baridhara Society has developed the park and takes regular care keeping it attractive and inviting the visitors to it.
   A large number of people including diplomats and foreigners visit the park every morning and evening for walking or jogging.
   The park remains open from 5:00am to 10:00am and from 2:00pm to 5:00pm everyday for all. It is kept open for the members of the Baridhara Society from 5:00pm to 10:00pm.
   However, there is no time bar for foreigners as they are always allowed to visit the park, an on-duty staff of the society said.
   There are 18 benches, five cradles and two sleepers for children in the park. The park has proper lighting facilities.
   The walkway of the park is cleaned regularly. There are four gates but only the main gate is kept open for the visitors.
   There are a good many notice boards posted at the entry gate. Rules and regulations for the use of the park are pasted on a noticeboard inside the boundary.
   Several security guards have been employed to ensure order in the park and they perform their duty round the clock.
   Smoking and eating groundnut, ice cream, chips and puffed rice are prohibited inside the park, the noticeboard reads.
   The only problem of the park is that it gets clogged with rainwater during monsoon due to lack of proper drainage, a security guard said.
   Former mayor Mohammad Hanif handed over the park to the Baridhara Society in 2001. Since then the Society has been looking after the park.
   The Society has grown various kinds of plants, including garden and flower plants mostly taken from aboard.
   Abdur Rauf, convener of the park management sub-committee of the society, told New Age that the park has been developed with the donation provided by the members of the society.
   There is no involvement or assistance from the Dhaka City Corporation in this regard, said Rauf, also the secretary general of the society.
   According to a DCC estimate, there are 47 parks in the capital and most of them remain in a shabby condition.
   The Dhaka City Corporation has allocated Tk 8 crore in its current budget for 2007-2008 fiscal year for development of city parks.

The Sena Kalyan Sangstha on Monday invited applications from the wives and children of ex-servicemen, either released or retired from the armed forces, for stipends for higher studies, said an ISPR press release.
   Eligible applicants include students studying at degree and higher classes like engineering, medical, agriculture, veterinary, textile, leather, ICMA, CA, Marine Academy or Marine and Fisheries Academy, securing GPA-2.50 and above at graduate level and 45 percent and above marks at post-graduate level for the session 2007-2008.
   Not more than two members of a family should apply, at a time, for the stipends.
   Children born after the retirement of servicemen are not eligible to apply, the press release added.
   Prescribed application forms, it said, could be obtained from the district armed services boards and the head office of the Sena Kalyan Sangstha at Sena Kalyan Bhaban, 195, Motijheel Commercial Area, Dhaka-1000, by producing pension or discharge books.
   The application forms may be downloaded from the website http ://www.senakalyan.org.
   March 31, 2008, has been set as the last date for submission of the application to the District Armed Services Boards, said the press release. No application will be accepted after three months, said the release.

Publishing house Oitijjhya on Monday launched its Eid compilation, Rangin Phool, for children.
   National Professor Kabir Chowdhury unveiled the cover of the compilation at a function in Dhaka.
   Writers Abdus Shakur and Bashir Al Helal, Oitijjhya chief executive Arifur Rahman and Dr Iqbal Kabir, among others, addressed the function at the Poet Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum at Shahbagh.
   ‘In our childhood we eagerly used to wait for literary
   compilations like Sandesh, Mashal and Tapurtupr. These literary works had positive impacts on us,’ Kabir Chowdhury said and hoped that Rangin Phool would bring back the tradition.
   Abdus Shakur said, ‘It is our disgrace that we could not go ahead with our tradition in the filed of publications for children. This publication can free us from the disgrace.’
   Arifur Rahman said they had tried their best to contribute to enrich the filed of publications for children through the launch of ‘Rangin Phool’. ‘We will continue our mission in this connection.’
   The price of the 480-page compilation, comprising
   contribution of more than 100 writers on over 40 themes, is Tk 200.

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at a few places over Rajshahi division and at one or two places over Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions in the next 24 hours till 6:00pm today.
   The day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, Met Office said.
   The country’s highest temperature on Monday, 34.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Khulna and the lowest, 24.7 degrees Celsius, at Saidpur.

Cable operator robbed of motorbike at Moghbazar
A cable operator was robbed of his motorbike at Nayatola of Moghbazar in the city on Monday. The victim was identified as Kaysar Rahman, 30, of 371/1, Madhubagh under Ramna police area. The police said a gang of snatchers, including local criminal Mithu, Shovon, Apu and Rana, waylaid Kaysar at Nayatola-Modhubagh crossing at around 12:15pm and snatched away his motorbike, Dhaka Metro-Ha 23-5963, at gun point. The victim cried out for help, but none dared to come forward seeing the gang members equipped with firearms. Kaysar filed a case with the Ramana police.

Mobile court fines 4 shops in Sylhet
A mobile court in the Sylhet city on Monday seized adulterated iftar items and realised Tk 1.10 lakh from a number of shops. The court, led by magistrate Debajit Singha, conducted the drive at the wholesale markets of Kalighat and Mahajanpatti. It seized ifter items at Kamran Store, Sattar Store, Tamim Traders and Messer’s Salam Brothers at Kalighat and Mahajanpatti markets for preparing those by mixing with harmful colours and powdered milk and for not having the production and expiry dates in the packets. The magistrate also realised Tk 1.10 lakh from the shops.
— New Age