Main Page «
Front Page «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The Dhaka City Corporation incurred a loss of over Tk 7 crore in the last six years as it failed to collect tolls from the city’s abattoirs as per the directives issued by the local government ministry in 2002.
   The ministry issued a Statutory Regulatory Order in 2002 asking the city corporation to raise the fees of slaughtering cattle for the commercial purposes.
   According to the SRO, the fees for a single goat or sheep increased to Tk 10 from Tk 5, followed by a single cow to Tk 50 from Tk 15 and a single buffalo to Tk 75 from Tk 20. Apart from a good number of small abattoirs situated at different parts of the capital, the DCC has five big slaughterhouses at Hazaribagh, Kaptanbazar, Mohammadpur, Mirpur 1 and Mirpur 11.
   On average, 4,000 cattle are slaughtered every day in the capital. Of them, around 3,000 are goats and sheep, approximately 700 cows and 200 are buffaloes.
   Sources in the DCC said a nexus between the meat traders and some unscrupulous officials did not let the increased fees be implemented in a bid to gain their vested interests.
   The meat traders used to give a lump sump amount of money formally to the DCC by managing the high officials through unfair means, they claimed.
   The sources also said the DCC would have got more than Tk 45,000 as the fees of slaughtering cattle every day while it was getting only between Tk 12,000 and Tk 15,000, causing a loss of around Tk 7 crore in the last six years.
   When it came to the notice of the task force recently, it held a meeting with the DCC officials. Against this backdrop, the DCC secretary Golam Mostafa on June 9 issued an office order asking the people concerned to exact the tolls as per the SRO of 2002.
   When asked about for not collecting tolls as per SRO, Golam Mostafa said, ‘I know nothing about the issue. I only carry out the order of my boss.’
   When contacted, Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka declined to make any comment on the allegations brought against the officials concerned.
   Acting president of the Meat Traders’ Association Golam Mortaza also rejected the allegations brought against the meat traders. ‘If the fees of slaughtering cattle would increase, the prices of meat would also go up,’ he said.

Renovation work of the Sylhet Central Bus Terminal at Dakkhin Surma in the city is progressing fast.
   ‘We hope that the project work will be completed by the end of this month as it is going on smoothly,’ said Syed Hossain Jamal, acting chief engineer of the SCC. ‘We visit the site regularly to check on whether the construction firms use any low quality materials.’
   Under the supervision of the city corporation, eight construction firms began the work at the beginning of this year and the project involving about Tk 3.81 crore is scheduled to be completed by June this year, sources in the SCC said.
   The government approved the Sylhet Central Bus Terminal Development Project under the annual budget for the fiscal year 2007-08. SCC is providing one-third of the cost from its own fund while the government under Annual Development Programme has allocated the rests of funds.
   The project includes construction of terminal ground on 7 acres of land, passengers’ restrooms and bathrooms for both the ladies and gents on the terminal compound.
   Besides, footpath on about a one kilometre stretch from the terminal to Humayun Rashid Square, main entrance of the city, would be constructed under the project, the sources added.
   Some local people, however, alleged that the construction firms were using substandard materials in the work due to soaring prices of construction materials. But the acting chief engineer brushed aside the allegation.

The library for visually impaired students at Dhaka University is not properly supported with trained employees and necessary equipments denying the students a suitable environment for a good education.
   The library has no trained employee to operate its lone Braille printer and the students are also deprived of internet facilities.
   Two officers, a third class, and two fourth class employees of the central library are now working here temporarily.
   The Sight Savers International, an international charity fighting blindness, set up the library in a room of the university central library in August 2007 and it was opened in this February.
   Though the library has only a Braille printer for 41 visually impaired students of 11 departments, the machine has remained useless, as no trained employee is there to operate it, said Khondoker Fazlur Rahman, acting librarian of Dhaka University.
   He said the university authorities made a deal with the Sight Savers International for appointing a trained Braille printer operator.
   No such appointment has yet been made as it is a lengthy process, he said adding that the authorities would soon appoint a librarian trained for dealing with the visually impaired students.
   The vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, however, told New Age last week that a Braille trainer and a trained librarian would be appointed soon for the library.
   According to a library official, the library has only 23 text books printed in Braille, which is too low to fulfil the basic requirements of the visually impaired students of 11 departments of the university.
   Printing a book in Braille is so costly that a copy of a 250 page-book would cost several thousand Taka, he said.
   Due to the shortage of books, the visually impaired students mainly depend on audio-records. They record necessary texts with the help of their friends and memorise them listening to the cassettes. But the library has only an audio-recorder that most of the time remains inoperative, alleged the visually impaired students.
   Anwar Hossain, a visually impaired student of political science department said only two text books of political science printed in Braille were available in the library.
   The library has three computers, but they are not connected to the internet. The visually impaired students could have been greatly benefited, if it had the internet there, he opined.
   Naim Ahmed, a visually impaired student of law faculty said the visually impaired students should be allowed to study at the library after completion of their degrees, which would help them get a job.
   The VC said the university authorities would initiate a special training programme soon to make them efficient for getting jobs.

The certificate giving ceremony of the Diploma in Population Science of the Department of Population Science in Dhaka University was held at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate building on Saturday.
   Vice-chancellor SMA Faiz gave away the certificates with chairman of the Population Science department Mehedi Hassan Khan presiding over the function, a DU press release said.
   Pro-Vice Chancellor AFM Yusuf Haider, Dean of the Faculty of Social Science Professor Harun-ar- Rashid and Resident Representative of UNFPA Arthur Erken attended the function as special guests.
   Project Director of the Department of Population Science Professor AKM Nur-Un-Nabi conducted the function. Segufta Sharmin and Abu Taleb Molla spoke on behalf of the students.
   Congratulating the diploma graduates, the DU Vice-chancellor said the graduates would have to play their responsible roles in society and the country. Describing population growth as a big problem for Bangladesh, he said the Population Science department has been playing an important role to solve it.
   He thanked the UNFPA for its assistance and expressed the hope that such help would continue in future.
   A total of 26 students received certificates and five of them by dint of their outstanding performance would get a chance to enroll themselves in the Master’s Course, the press release said.
   They are Ashfaqul Amin Mukut, Nurul Hossain, Zahirul Islam, Asma Aktar and Segufta Sharmin.

A three-day group art exhibition featuring the paintings, made by some fine art students, concludes at Gallery Chitrak in Dhanmondi today.
   Forty fine art students from Dhaka University, Shanto Marium University of Creative Technology, Narayanganj Art College and University of Development Alternative had made the paintings.
   They participated in a workshop on etching and print-making conducted by Shahid Kabir, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Spain. Fine Art Department at UODA arranged the workshop in the last week of May 2008.
   About the artworks put on display at the exhibition, eminent art critic Mainuddin Khaled said, ‘Simple objects became the subject of artworks. These included spoon, broken plate, cup, lock, bunch of keys, face of oneself or of a friend and fallen leaves.’
   UODA initiated the workshop aiming at introducing unique style and technique, used by Shahid Kabir, among the fine art students of the country, said Nasima Haque Mitu, MFA course coordinator at the UODA.
   The participants took part in the workshop free of charge. Some eminent artists also took part in the workshop as guest teachers. They are Nisar Hossain, Nasima Haque, Masud Kabir, Safin Omar, AH Dhali, Nagar Basi, Shabory Roy Chowdhury, Samarjit Roy Choudhury, Jamal Ahmed, Shishir Bhattacharje and Sheikh Afzal.
   ‘I am impressed at getting innovative ideas from the young fine art learners in Bangladesh. Such workshops need to be organised to promote the fine art in Bangladesh,’ Shahid Kabir said.
   Born in 1949, Shahid Kabir who graduated in Fine Art from Dhaka University in 1969 had worked as a teacher at the same faculty for nine years. He has been living in Madrid of Spain since 1980.
   He has won a number awards at home and abroad. These include Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Award in 1975 and 76 and Carmen Arozamena Prize in Madrid in 1984.

Speakers at a workshop said the hospitals in the country lack proper management plan in facing the emergency caused by earthquake or other natural disasters.
   Not only the limitations of bed, the authorities concerned are unable to face the emergency due to lack of proper training and action plan during the time in need, they said.
   ActionAid, Bangladesh arranged the workshop at Gulshan in Dhaka on Thursday, said a press release.
   The speakers said the hospitals need to make various necessary preparations right now to ensure proper treatment to the patients afflicted by the disasters.
   They also prepared a combined guideline to face the emergency by the hospitals. The speakers said the loss may be lessened to a great extent by taking pre-disaster and post-disaster preparation.

The police recovered the body of an unidentified girl from Sutrapur area in Old Town of Dhaka, and the body of an unidentified young man from Adabar area in the city Saturday morning.
   In Sutrapur, a team of the Sutrapur police recovered a bag containing the head of a young girl aged about 22 from in front of Protishruti Bai Ghar at 3/B Protap Das Lane at around 6:00am.
   The team with the help of local people searched the area for the other parts of the body and found a sack containing eight pieces of her body from an adjoining lane.
   The police suspected the assailants killed the girl after gang rape and the gangsters cut her head in one piece, legs in four pieces, hands in two pieces and the body from neck to lower abdomen.
   The police sent the body parts of the victim to Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.
   A murder case was filed with Sutrapur police. No arrest was made till filing of this report at 7:15pm on Saturday.
   In Adabar, the police recovered a strangulated body of a man from the backside of Nayadiganta Adarsha School.
   The police said, a team of the Adabar police recovered the body of the man aged about 35 from an open plot at around 8:30am and sent it to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.
   The police suspected the assailants might have strangulated the man to death over previous enmity and dumped the body there. A murder case was filed with the Adabar police.

A weeklong training course on ‘research system’ organised by Centre for Advanced Research in Humanities of Dhaka University began on Saturday.
   Renowned educationist Professor Anisuzzaman inaugurated the training course while Professor Aminul Islam chaired.
   A total of 65 researchers are participating in the training course, said a DU press release.
   Dean of the Faculty of Arts Prof Sadrul Amin and ACRH Director and professor of the Department of World Religions of the University Quazi Nurul Islam spoke on the occasion.
   Speaking on the occasion, the participants said the future of Bangladesh depends on research being carried out by researchers of the present generation.
   Professor of Institute of Modern Languages Dr Musa Ansari, Professor of the Department of Accounting Shanti Narayan Gosh and Professor of the Department of Bengali Dr Ahmed Kabir delivered their speeches on ‘correct spelling of research’, ‘definition of research’ and ‘selection of subject of research’.

Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at many places over Rajshahi, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Barisal, Khulna and Chittagong divisions in the next 24 hours till 6:00pm today.
   Moderately heavy to heavy rainfalls are also likely at places, Met Office said. Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, it added.
   Country’s highest temperature 35.0 degrees Celsius was recorded on Saturday at Khulna and lowest 24.0 degrees at Syedpur.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:47pm and rises tomorrow at 5:11am.

Depopulation of erosion-prone areas squeezed the number of parliamentary constituencies from four to three in Manikganj, said the Election Commission during hearings on written objections to the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies for a second day Sunday at the Election Commission secretariat.
   All the petitioners from the newly designed Manikganj-1, 2 and 3 constituencies expressed their frustration over the decrease in the number of parliamentary seats in their district through the delimitation and demanded of the Election Commission to keep intact the old four constituencies instead of the new three.
   They showed different reasons to substantiate their plea through placing many local problems due to the recent delimitation, including communications problem. All of them stood eventually came to a consensus on retaining the old system of constituencies.
   Showing the reason behind cutting off one parliamentary seat in the district, the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, noted that the population took a downturn there because of river erosion. ‘Many people have left Manikganj for shelter in Dhaka and Dhamrai,’ he said.
   He made it clear that the commission did the delimitation following the past system and the provisions of the
   constitution. ‘We didn’t
   make anything new. The delimitation made in the past was followed by us,’ he told the complainants during the day’s hearings.
   Election commissioners M Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hossain and commission secretary M Humayun Kabir were among others present.
   Petitioners under the parliamentary constituencies of Manikganj-1, 2 and 3 and Jamalpur-3 and 4 in the first session and Netrakona-1, 4 and 5, Mymensingh-3 and 4 in the second session and Dhaka-1, 2, 4 and 10 in the third session placed their objections before the commission.
   The hearings would be held in phases at the EC Secretariat and in Sylhet, Comilla, Chittagong, Barisal, Khulna and Rajshahi until the month-end.
   Today’s hearings are scheduled for constituencies Dhaka-20, Gazipur-3, 4 and 5 at 10:00am, Narsingdi-1 and 3 and Narayanganj-2 and 3 at 12:00pm, and Dhaka-11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 at 3:00pm at the EC secretariat.

The Detective Branch police on Friday arrested four suspected killers of Ashiqur Rahman Khan Apu, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in front of his Wari residence in the city on May 23.
   The DB police also seized three firearms, five magazines and 64 rounds of bullets from their possession.
   The arrested are Manjurul Abedin Russell, 37, Mahabubul Alam, 34, Mohammad Ali Munna, 33 and Hafizuddin Tulu, 47.
   The police said a team of the DB police led by assistant commissioner Sanowar Hossain had conducted a raid on Sadrataluk village at Kawnia upazila in Rangpur early Thursday and arrested Jaminul, on charge of harbouring three suspected killers.
   Following his statement, the DB team arrested Russell, Mahabub and Munna at the residence of Ferdous Mohammad Babu.
   The arrested persons admitted to their involvement in the killing of Ashiqur and informed that they had kept the firearms with one of their patrons Hafizuddin Tulu of Mirpur in Dhaka.
   Later, the team arrested Tulu and seized the firearms from his possession conducting a raid on his cement shop at Mirpur-1 early Thursday.
   A separate case was filed against Tulu with the Mirpur police station in this connection.
   ‘The arrested persons are professional criminals of Wari, who used to carry licensed firearms for collecting tolls from people,’ the detective branch deputy commissioner (south), AKM Awlad Hossain told newsmen at the DB office on Saturday.
   Quoting the alleged killers, the officer also said that Iftekhar Beg Jhalak, 38, had sought their help in realising the toll of about TK 12 lakh.
   ‘We have arrested seven alleged criminals including four members out of six of the killing group so far’, Awlad said.
   The DB police on May 24 arrested the prime suspect Jhalak from Wari in the capital.
   Jhalak was earlier arrested along with eight firearms in another case filed with the Sutrapur police station and was later released on bail, said the DB police.
   Sub-inspector Mahbubur Rahman, the investigation officer of the case, produced the arrested four in the court on Saturday seeking a 10-day remand but the court placed them on a seven-day remand.

The draft of national science and technology policy will be finalised within three months aiming at building science-oriented society to increase production and employment in various sectors of the economy.
   ‘The review of the existing national ICT policy is also at the final stage which is expected to further flourish the ICT industry,’ the special assistant to the chief adviser for science and ICT, Manik Lal Samaddar, told the news agency after attending a seminar in Dhaka as chief guest.
   For the next fiscal 2008-09, he said, the government has allocated Tk 16 crore as special grants for scientists of the universities and private organisations for research.
   The seminar on ‘special grants in different kinds of science and technological research projects and its contribution to fruitful research and development’ was organised by the science and ICT ministry at Bhasani Novo Theatre.
   Science and ICT secretary Sheikh M Wahiduzzaman was present as special guest while joint secretary of the ministry Ahmed Hossain Khan was in the chair.
   Joint secretary of the science and ICT ministry Liakat Ali gave the welcome address while deputy secretary of the ministry Mohammad Ferdous Hossain presented the keynote paper.
   Professor Mesbahuddin and Professor MA Bashar of Dhaka University, Professor Ziauddin Ahmed of Jahangirnagar University, Professor MA Wahab of Agriculture University and Professor Shah Alam of Rajshahi University addressed as designated speakers.
   It was revealed at the seminar that a large amount of money, allocated as special grants for scientific researches, has not been used due to lack of quality project proposals.
   In the current fiscal year, only Tk 5.29 crore was disbursed out of Tk 14.28 crore, allocated for scientific researches under the special grant programme of the government.
   In the last six years, more than Tk 40 crore was disbursed among local scientists under special grants by the science and ITC ministry but outcome from the scientific projects is not satisfactory, speakers told the seminar.
   Manik Lal Samaddar said the government would like to give money for quality research as it could contribute to the socio- economic development.
   Referring to irregularities and misuse of grant money in the name of scientific research in the past, he said, various committees would be formed to further strengthen monitoring and evaluating to bring transparency in the special grant programme.
   ‘We won’t give money to anyone or any organisation under special considerations like in the past,’ he said, adding, ‘We have already taken steps so that no money is granted in the name of fake scientists or organisations or worthless projects.’
   Applied research needs to be prioritised side by side with basic research, Samaddar pointed out.
   ‘We have to identify and prioritise specific research fields as per socio-economic demand of the country,’ he said. Considering global food shortage, the government has allocated an additional Tk 272 crore for agriculture research in the proposed budget, he added.
   Scientists at the seminar called for enhancing funds, saying grants for research in Bangladesh were only 0.005 per cent of the GDP, whereas it was 2-3 per cent of the GDP even in newly industrialised countries.
   They said salary for teachers of public universities should be increased taking into consideration the present socio-economic condition so they could pay more attention to research activities.
   They suggested making a database and a network of local scientists for coordination to avoid repetition of research on same topics as it happened in the past.
   In his keynote paper, Dr Ferdous said grants should be utilised properly, otherwise disbursement of funds would be very difficult in future.

Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus addressed the plenary session of Brazilian Senate on Thursday and briefed it on the activities of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
   Professor Yunus was in Brazil from 11–14 June at the invitation of the Brazilian Senate.
   The Brazilian Senate passed a resolution last year inviting him to address its plenary session.
   On June12, the regular proceedings of the Senate took a break and Professor Yunus was invited to address the plenary session when he briefed on the work of the Grameen Bank.
   The speech was telecast live throughout the country on the Senate TV Channel.
   After the address to the Senate, the Grameen Bank founder was received at Alvorada Palace by the Brazilian president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
   During the 2 hour-long meeting attended by cabinet ministers and senators, they held discussions on development issues ranging from poverty alleviation, healthcare, food crisis, ways of increasing agricultural productivity, climate change and the environment and other common issues facing both by Bangladesh and Brazil.
   President Lula focussed on the poverty alleviation programmes of the Brazilian government.
   He sought assistance from Professor Yunus to develop micro-credit programmes for the poor in Brazil, particularly for the poorest regions of the country.
   Professor Yunus briefed the president on healthcare initiatives of Grameen and sought Lula’s advice and assistance based on Brazilian experience to bring healthcare for the poor in Bangladesh. Later, vice-minister Gerson Pennay briefed him on government healthcare programme in Brazil. Lula promised to send his health minister to Bangladesh in the near future.
   The agricultural minister also joined the meeting and discussed how to increase agricultural productivity in developing countries like Bangladesh.

The legality of the Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008, promulgated on June 8 making provisions for establishment of the Truth and Accountability Commission, is likely to be challenged in the High Court.
   Two Supreme Court lawyers told New Age on Saturday that they were examining the law in order to file public interest litigation writ petitions in the High Court challenging the ordinance.
   ‘We are thinking to file a public interest litigation writ petition in a day or two challenging the ordinance as we feel it violates the constitutional provisions and also contradicts the Code of Criminal Procedure,’ said one of the lawyers, ABM Nurul Islam.
   As the CrPC empowers the court to convict any accused on admission of guilt, no separate authority can be created in the name of Truth and Accountability Commission with the same powers, argued the senior lawyer.
   According to the ordinance, the three members of the commission have to be appointed amongst the former chief justices, former judges of the Appellate Division, retired army officials not bellow the rank of major general and former secretaries of the government and one of the members as the chairman.

A seminar on 'confronting AIDS challenges in the 21st century: The student community' was held on the North South University campus on Saturday.
   The North South University Social Services Club and the Trust for Social Development jointly organised the seminar sponsored by Standard Chartered Bank.
   The NSU Foundation chairman Iftekharul Alam addressed the seminar as the chief guest while the NSU vice-chancellor Dr Hafiz GA Siddiqi as the chief patron, said a press release.
   Pro-VC Dr SAM Khairul Bashar, The Bangladesh Observer editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, the Trust for Social Development chief executive Luthfur R Choudhury, Dean Dr M Ali Rashid, head of corporate affairs of the Standard Chartered Bank, Shah Masud Imran, chairman of the HIV/AIDS Committee of the Rotary International Bangladesh Ahmed Farooque and NSUSSC faculty adviser Dr Khairul Azam spoke on this occasion.
   Iftekharul Alam said the young people should take up the challenge to eradicate AIDS. 'Awareness programme can motivate the people to take positive action,' he added.

Sri Lankan Women's Association called Seva Vanitha has donated Tk 5 lakh for the construction of Ahsania Mission Cancer Hospital at Uttara in Dhaka.
   Seva Vanitha Dhaka unit president V Krishnamoorthy, also wife of Sri Lankan high commissioner Rajes Krishnamoorthv, handed over a cheque for Tk 5 lakh to the Dhaka Ahsania Mission president Kazi Rafiqul Alam at its Dhanmondi office in Dhaka on Saturday.
   Seva Vanitha Dhaka unit treasurer Dilrukshi Udagedera and its members Dilma Ranatunge, Chathuri Thilakarathne and Ira Fernando were also present on the occasion, said a press release.

One hundred and sixty-seven teachers of the Jahangirnagar University on Saturday demanded immediate and unconditional release of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
   In a statement under the banner of Jatiyatabadi Shikshak Forum the teachers urged the government to send Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman, two detained sons of Khaleda Zia, abroad for proper treatment.
   All the teachers signed the statement, which also demanded the release of all other detained figures.
   The JU Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the BNP, also issued similar statement on the same day.

Vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University Mohammad Muniruzzaman on Saturday described the voluntary blood donors as
   ‘stars of society’ and said their noble tasks can be followed by others.
   He was inaugurating a rally and a programme of identifying blood group free of cost as the chief guest organised in observance of the voluntary blood donation day, a JU press release said.
   Treasurer Syed Abdul Hai and Director of Student Welfare and Consultation Centre Professor ATM Atiqur Rahman spoke as the special guests.

The award giving ceremony of ‘BRAC Media Award 2008’ will be held at the BRAC Centre auditorium in Dhaka Sunday morning.
   Twenty journalists will be given the award this year for their reporting on tuberculosis, said a BRAC press release.
   BRAC founder chairperson Fazle Hasan Abed will hand over the awards among the winners as chair. The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam will be present as chief guest.
   Journalists, donors and TB experts are expected to attend the function.

Classes at IU
resume today
Classes at Islamic University in Kushtia resumes today after a 15-day summer vacation, campus sources said. The examinations of various departments and official activities will also resume on the day. The students have started returning to their halls of residence, the sources added.
— New Age

Robbers kill night guard in Sylhet
Robbers looted Tk 1.79 lakh in cash from a rice mill after killing its night guard on Technical Road in Dakkhin Surma here Thursday night. The police recovered the body of Ful Miah, 50, night guard of Shah Poran Rice Mill, Friday morning and sent it to the hospital morgue for autopsy. The police said the bandits strangled Ful Miah and looted the cash from the mill. The law enforcers arrested the manager of the rice mill Abdul Awal in this connection. Four mill workers went into hiding soon after the incident. Locals said mill owner Afzal Ahmad suspended former mill manager and another employee and filed a case against them on charge of misappropriating Tk 20 lakh from the mill recently. The police suspect that Ful Miah, a witness of the case, might have been killed centring this incident.
— UNB