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Installation of closed-circuit television cameras at different points in the capital is yet to see any significant progress although the deadline for completion of the project expired more than one year ago.
   The Dhaka Metropolitan Police authorities claimed that the CCTV camera installation work, part of the DMP control room modernisation, would be completed within three to four months.
   The government in November, 2006 issued work order of Tk 26 crore to Folec Communications (B) Sdn Bhd of Brunei Darussalam and the work was scheduled to be completed by June, 2007.
   Automatic vehicle location surveillance system, digital database map, mobile command post, four channel-tracking wireless and closed-circuit television cameras are some of the features of the planned modern control room for DMP.
   After getting the work order, Folec Communications brought all necessary equipment, but the CCTV camera installation as well as the control room modernisation work could not be completed due to the indecision over setting up of a self supported tower, a senior official of DMP said.
   ‘Now the prices of the equipment have increased in international market and the government would have to review the price, which may result in further delay of the installation of CCTV cameras,’ he said.
   Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of DMP headquarters, however, said it would take three to four months to complete the work.
   As per the work order, a total of 155 CCTV cameras will be set up at 59 traffic crossings, including the entrance and exit points of the Dhaka city to facilitate constant surveillance of the happenings, and there will be message boards at 31 spots on the roads to divert traffic movement. ‘In case of any emergency, like VIP movement and traffic congestion, instructions will be sent through the boards.’
   The photographs taken by the CCTV cameras will be monitored in 35 panels in the control room by a group of professionals. The monitoring officers will be imparted training in this regard. The recording capacity of the cameras is unlimited, said a police officer.
   Once the DMP control room is modernised, it will be easier for the police to act promptly to combat crimes, and also maintain discipline and control vehicular movement smoothly, the official said.
   The digital data-base map will bring the entire metropolis under a network that will help locate and communicate with the forces on the ground.
   With the four-channel wireless, law enforcers will be able to communicate with other forces like the Rapid Action Battalion or intelligence agencies, which will enable them a maintain a successful coordination among them.
   ‘The objective of the control room modernisation is to ensure prompt and effective steps for checking crimes, safeguarding VIPs, maintaining discipline and controlling vehicular movement by upgrading the overall standard of police service,’ said an official of the home ministry.
   Home ministry officials said the initiative for setting up a modern police control room was taken in 1997, but reasons like lack of coordination among the concerned authorities and land-related complications delayed its finalisation.

The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, said action would be taken against the contestants of city corporation elections set for August 4, if they violate the electoral code of conduct during the election campaign.
   ‘Candidature will be cancelled, if anyone provides wrong information or conceals information of wealth in the statement submitted to the returning officers,’ he said.
   The CEC made the comment in Sylhet Tuesday night while inaugurating the two-day ‘electoral dialogue’ for mayoral candidates in the Sylhet city corporation election at the city’s Jalalabad Gas Building auditorium.
   Requesting the voters of the Sylhet city to cast their votes for honest and competent person in the mayoral post, Shamsul Huda said the Election Commission had taken the initiative to hold the electoral dialogue so that the voters could pose their questions directly to the candidates.
   ‘This programme will help you to select the appropriate candidate for the mayoral post,’ the CEC said, adding that such programmes will also be held in Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal.
   Election commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hussain also attended the programme, jointly organised by the BBC Bangla Service and the Election Commission.
   Seven candidates out of 15 for the mayoral post in the SCC election participated on the first day of the two-day programme. They were AFM Kamal, Abdul Mukith Khan, Abdul Haque, Abdus Samad Nazrul, Mawlana Sirajul Islam, Kutub Uddin Ahmed and Kazi Kamal Ahmed.
   The city dwellers present at the programme asked questions related to the development and future plan for the Sylhet city and to which the candidates answered.
   ‘The programme has failed to satisfy its audiences because of the role played by the moderator, Kamal Ahmed of BBC Bangla,’ Ranjit Roy, a city dweller present at the programme, said.
   Rest of the candidates, except Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, for the mayoral post will participate in the electoral dialogue Wednesday night.
   Kamran, incumbent mayor of the SCC, is now detained under the emergency power rules.

Demand of alternative power supply devices remains high in the local markets even in these days of full monsoon due to frequent power outages.
   Retailers of different electric appliances said the demand of IPS and generator, for both household and commercial uses, had gone up during the summer and they were still of high demand.
   They said sale of small and medium IPS was higher than that of larger one as people were buying IPS for their homes.
   Sales at Nawabpur and Stadium markets of electronic and electric appliances in the city at present are higher than usual, with the retailers saying that at least one generator or IPS is being sold in each shop a day while a generator or IPS is sold in every two or three days during this period.
   Nasimul Hossain, working for a non-governmental organisation, said despite limited income, he bought an IPS to get some respite from hot and humid during power outages.
   Mannan Hossain, who lives in the city’s Mohammadpur area, said they experienced power outages for 7-8 times a day and it was seriously hampering preparation for examinations of his son, a HSC candidate, alongside causing sufferings to them. ‘The situation compelled me to buy an IPS,’ said Mannan.
   Some people are giving generator service to the households with a monthly charge of Tk 150 for per light, Tk 200 for one fan and Tk 100 for television in many areas including Mohammadpur, Shyamopli and Adabar.
   The demand for charger lights is also high in the markets for frequent power outages, sellers at different markets said.
   Mohammad Ibrahim, a Rahimafrooz authorised dealer who sells batteries and IPS, said people were buying mainly medium capacity IPS (650 watt to 800 watt) having two-hour back-up for three lights and four fans.
   ‘Radiant 350, a brand of Rahimafrooz IPS, is selling for Tk 17,700 and Radiant 550 for Tk 24,700 and these IPS can be use for medium to large
   households and another
   brand Compuverter VLX 600, priced at Tk 30,400, can
   meet the demand for extra-large households and offices or business enterprises,’ said Ibrahim.
   He also sells IPS of Powergen Company having two-hour back-up capacity for four fans and three lights at Tk 19,000 and at Tk 23,000.
   Md Akter, owner of a battery and IPS shop, said he sold the Grameen Power IPS, demand of which was very high. Akter said he had IPS of different capacities, prices of which range between Tk 14,000 and Tk 75,000.
   ‘The price of each IPS has increased between Tk 500 and Tk 1,500 in the past few months because of its high demand caused by frequent power outages,’ he said.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority in their special drive on Wednesday filed 79 cases and seized seven vehicles for not having proper documents.
   The BRTA in its regular mobile court drive in the capital also filed 10 cases and realised Tk 22,200 in fines for not having necessary documents.
   The special drive team comprised BRTA inspectors, technical assistants, traffic sergeants and constables.
   The DMP in association with the BRTA launched the
   special drive on February 26 to stop plying of unfit vehicles and take action against drivers having fake licences, officials said.
   On Wednesday, the drive was conducted at Mirpur section-12, Kolabagan, Motijheel and Jatrabari. One hundred and seventy three vehicles were checked during the drive. The drive, which started on June 23, will continue till July 17, BRTA officials said.
   The BRTA court, led by BRTA executive magistrate (deputy secretary) Abdur Rashid, filed 10 cases and realised the fine from buses, minibuses, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, taxicabs, trucks and covert vans during the drive at Sharat Gupta Road, Doyaganj in Old Town of Dhaka.
   The court also seized a minibus at the area for not having any documents.
   All the cases were filed under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance against vehicles and drivers for not having documents like driving licences, updated route permits, registrations, fitness certificates and tax tokens and also for violation of traffic rules.

The police have arrested six persons in connection with the July 7 killing of Billal Hossain, an employee at the Military Engineering Service of Armed Forces, by muggers in Dhaka.
   The muggers also stabbed Billal’s friend Abdul Latif in a bus at Staff Road on their way to Zia International Airport to receive the latter’s son coming from Oman, and looted cash and mobile phone sets from them. Latif is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   The arrestees were identified as Sabuj, 20, Kabir, 20, Mohammad Rony, 20, Aminul Islam, 20, Shahin, 21 and Billal Gazi, 20.
   The first four were involved with the killing while Shahin and Billal bought the snatched mobile phone sets from them, the police said at a news briefing on Wednesday. They all were arrested on July 12, the police said, adding that the first four were transport workers and had long been making people the victims of mugging at the dead of night.
   The police arrested bus helper Sabuj from North Badda area on July 12 and later arrested bus drive Kabir and his accomplices Rony and Aminul from different areas. After snatching the mobile sets, the muggers sold the handsets to Shahin and Billal of Badda, who were also arrested the same night, they said.

Amra Dhakabasi, a platform of the people in Old Town of Dhaka, on Wednesday organised a henna festival at Azimpur Ladies Club.
   Special assistant to the chief adviser for fisheries and livestock Manik Lal Samaddar inaugurated the festival organised to mark 400 years of the Dhaka city.
   With Amra Dhakabasi chief adviser Enam Ahmed Chowdhury in the chair, the function was addressed by Azimpur Ladies Club general secretary Sabiha Khanam, Amra Dhakabasi president Shukur Salek and secretary general Sheikh Khoda Box.
   The landscape of Dhaka city has changed to a great extent with the passage of time, the special assistant said and called upon all to be more aware about planned urbanisation, removing waterlogging and checking pollution.

Speakers at a divisional workshop in Khulna on Wednesday called for strengthening the local government bodies to provide more effective services to the people.
   Arranged by the Khan Foundation with the help of the USAID, the workshop on ‘local government’s funding: present situation’ at the Khulna Divisional Museum was attended by local government representatives, civil society members, NGO personnel and journalists. Omor Khoiam of the Foundation presented the keynote paper.
   Chaired by the foundation director (programme) M Monwar Hossain, the programme was addressed, among others, by SM Rois Uddin Ahmed, Kaniz Fatema Amin, Sardar Mominul Islam Parvez and Nani Gopal Mandal and Binoy Krishna Roy.

Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at most places over all the six divisions — Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet — with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today, the Met Office said.
   The day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, it said.
   The country’s highest temperature on Wednesday, 32.4 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Bogra and the lowest, 22.6 degrees Celsius, at Sandwip.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:48pm and rises tomorrow at 5:21am.

The BNP secretary general, Khandaker Delwar Hossian, said on Wednesday he expected that party chief Khaleda Zia would be released soon from jail.
   Delwar also expected his party would form a government under the leadership of Khaleda who has been in jail since September, 2007 on charge of corruption.
   ‘Our leader Khaleda Zia will hopefully walk to freedom soon in line with the expectation of the people, and we will establish a government of the people under her leadership,’ Delwar told the BNP leaders and activists of the Mirpur, Pallabi and Kafrul areas at a meeting at his NAM apartment in the evening.
   The BNP leader accused the interim administration of trying to cling to power through various means, and holding the local government elections first instead of the national ones was one of those tricks. He said the demand for holding the national polls first had turned into a national demand and warned that this government would have to face a tough time in case of failing to meet that demand.
   ‘If you (the government) fail to show respect to the people’s demand, you will have to face a serious situation,’ he said.
   He said all needed to work for unity to restore democracy in the country and asked the workers to strengthen the party for that national cause.

A defence counsel on Wednesday apprehended in the trial court that if former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was indicted for Mig-29 warplane-purchase scam, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence would retain its supremacy over the future elected government.
   ‘It will be an acid test for the court whether or not it would allow the supremacy of the DGFI by framing charges,’ Shafique Ahmed, the defence counsel for Sheikh Hasina, told the court of Dhaka Divisional Special Judge relocated to the parliament complex.
   Making his supplementary arguments he urged the court to ask the ACC prosecution counsel to submit the allocation of business of DGFI for judicial scrutiny whether it has power to interfere with the decision of the Armed Forces Division and action of the prime minister, also in charge of the defence ministry.
   ‘If it is found that the DGFI encroached upon its limit that amounts to insubordination, then the acts of the DGFI should be brought to justice. Otherwise, the whole democratic system in Bangladesh will be in jeopardy,’ Shafique said, harping on this score in his argument.
   He submitted that the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Mig-29 purchase-scam case based on a report of the DGFI. On October 27, 1999, the Armed Forces Division approved the proposal of the Air Force to purchase eight Russian-made warplanes of this type to ‘consolidate the sovereignty of the country.’
   But, Shafique told the court, the defence intelligence opposed the approval on the plea that Mig-29 was too expensive and not useful for Bangladesh Air Force. He said this opinion was given based on informed quarters without quoting their names. ‘This amounts to insubordination,’ he said, adding that the question arises as to whom the DGFI is accountable. ‘Are they immune in their acts when the prime minister is accountable to parliament?’
   The defence lawyer argued that the forces intelligence has no business with the defence purchases, while it involves the country’s foreign policy as the aircraft were bought under a state-to-state negotiation under the Bangladesh-Russia Defence Technical Cooperation Agreement.
   Shafique questioned whether the DGFI could dictate country’s foreign policy or if they had any link with other foreign countries or companies. ‘All these questions must be looked into judiciously before taking cognizance of the alleged offence against a former prime minister and three top brasses of the Armed Forces, including ex-army chief Mustafiur Rahman Bir Bikram.’
   During the hearing, Syed Rezaur Rahman, the counsel for Mustafiz, pleaded for discharging the case against his client as it was a long-delayed case with a ‘malafide intention’.
   The hearing was adjourned till July 21. When the court resumed Wednesday morning, five accused now on bail appeared in court. Principal accused Sheikh Hasina and co-accused Mustafiz were represented by their lawyers as both had been dispensed with personal attendance.
   According to the case filed with the Tejgaon police station, the purchase of the Mig-29 aircraft caused a loss of Tk 700 crore to the state coffer.
   Shortly after the BNP-led four-party alliance came to power, the now-defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption filed the Mig-29 scam case in December 2001.
   The incumbent caretaker government revived the stalled case through legal battle, as a clean-up drive against corruption is now underway.

Speakers at a discussion on Wednesday said the caretaker government had no right to take a decision on giving India transit facilities which, they said, would jeopardise the country’s security and sovereignty.
   ‘The country’s security may be threatened if we give India transit through our country. We will have to consider the security issues before allowing the transit’, Professor Emajuddin Ahmed told the discussion on ‘transit: independence, sovereignty and security of the state’ organised by Chirantan Bangladesh at the National Press Club.
   Political scientists, politicians and journalists took part in the discussion. ‘We want to maintain friendly relations with India. But India on its part will have to be reciprocal and extend its cooperation. All outstanding bilateral issues must be resolved first’, Emajuddin said adding that Bangladesh wanted transit to Nepal through India which refused the facility after allowing it for a while. Emajuddin said transit issue should be left for an elected government to decide. ‘This is an unelected government. So I think this issue should be settled by an elected government.’
   ‘We do not consider India as an enemy rather we want to see it as a friend, not as a big brother or guardian.’
   Journalist Amanullah Kabir said, ‘The main task of a caretaker government is to assist the Election Commission in holding the national polls besides carrying out routine work of the administration. This government can in no way take a decision on the transit issue.’
   He said the country’s constitution clearly stated that issues concerning the country’s security would be sent to the president who would call a secret parliamentary session to hold debate on the issue before taking a decision.

the New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Limited won the legal battle over the Diploma brand powder milk.
   The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday delivered a verdict barring local company Sanowara Corporation from marketing Diploma milk powder.
   The court gave the verdict after hearing an appeal filed by Unilac Sanowara (BD) Limited against a High Court judgement that had said Diploma brand would go to the New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Limited and Unilac Sanowara (BD) Limited would have no right to use the trademark.
   In the Tuesday verdict, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court judgement. On November 6, 2007, the Appellate Division delivered another judgement, in which the New Zealand Dairy Products Bangladesh Limited obtained the absolute authority to use the Red Cow brand for milk power.

Nazah Zayyan, four-month-old daughter of Zillur Rahman, presenter of ‘Trititiyo Matra’ prograame at Channel-i, died of heart and other complications at Holy Family Hospital Tuesday night.
   Her qul khwani will be held at her father’s residence at 45/1, New Eskaton after asr prayers Friday.

The third anniversary of death of Professor ABM Khaled will be observed today.
   The accounting and information systems department of Dhaka University, where Khaled would teach, and ABM Khaled Memorial Trust will arranged a memorial meeting and doa mahfil in the conference room of the DU Business Studies Faculty at 4:30pm, said a press release.
   The vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, will attend the function and hand over scholarships to meritorious students. The trust will give the scholarships.
   Khaled was the dean of the Commerce Faculty (now Business Studies Faculty) and chairman of accounting department of the university.

The acting Awami League general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, left Dhaka for London on Wednesday night to discuss a number
   of political issues with the party chief Sheikh Hasina,
   now visiting the United Kingdom.
   Hasina is expected to give him a guideline for the party’s course of actions in the changing political scenario, party sources said.
   The party believes the
   government has backed away from its promises made
   at the on-going dialogues
   with the political parties, especially on local government elections.
   The cabinet’s approval of the Representation of People Order 2008 has also annoyed the Awami League.
   Against this backdrop, the AL now ponders over changing its strategy, party insiders said.
   Ashraf will brief the party chief about the present political situation, the latest progress in the trials of detained
   political leaders, especially of the BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her sons Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman, and the release of Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, sources informed New Age.
   Besides the ongoing negotiations, the party will continue to press for smooth transition to democracy through a participatory national election, promised for the end of this year.
   Party insiders said, the AL president would give directives to Ashraf on crucial political issues and the party would finalise its next course of actions after getting Hasina’s instructions.
   Ashraf is expected to meet Sheikh Hasina in London on July 17.
   Talking to New Age before his departure, Ashraf said he was going to London on a personal visit but will meet the party chief and discuss various issues with her.
   Ashraf is scheduled to return home on July 26.
   During his absence the party’s joint-general secretary Mukul Bose will discharge the responsibilities as acting general secretary.

24th BCS Forum to celebrate 3 years in service
The officers of the 24th batch of BCS cadres will celebrate the completion of their three years in service at a function at the BCS Administrative Academy in Dhaka at 3:00pm on July 18. The 24th BCS Forum will organise the programme. Director general of the academy Mohammad Delwar Hossain will attend the celebration as chief guest while Cooperative Registration Department registrar Mohammad Masud Elahi will be present as special guest. All officers concerned are requested to attend the event.
— BSS

Japanese language speech contest held at DU
A Japanese language speech contest was held on Wednesday at the Institute of Modern Language auditorium of Dhaka University. The event was organised by the Japanese language department of the IML to help improve proficiency of the students in Japanese language. IML director Professor Anwar Hossain attended the function as chief guest while head of the department Ansarul Alam presided over the prize-giving ceremony.
— BSS