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Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has been swamped with objections against its new detailed area plan for the capital city and under pressure from various quarters including real estate companies to redraw the expansion map.
   The Rajuk has finalised the draft expanding the Dhaka city area by 699 square kilometres up to Gazipur pourasava to the north and Dhaleshwari river to the south.
   The total city area would now be 1528 sq km which covers the total Rajuk’s jurisdiction area that stretches from Bangshi and Dhaleshawri rivers to the west up to Shitalakkhya and Meghna rivers to the East.
   The detailed area plan was drafted in 1995 for the first time since the 1959 master plan that gave the shape of today’s Dhaka city.
   One of the major components of the 20-year Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan is scheduled to be submitted by December and the objections to the draft are being heard from last month.
   The plan, better known as DAP, will provide more detailed plans for specific sub-areas compliant with the Structure Plan and the Urban Area Plan.
   Explaining the objectives of the DAP, its project director Tapan Kumar Nath told New Age that the DAP was aimed at regulating the private sector development for ensuring sustainable environment for both inhabitants and investors to keep the city liveable.
   The DAP will provide a complete guideline for development considering the opportunities and constraints, he said, adding, ‘The DAP has nothing to do with the existing structures of the Dhaka city. The draft plan has kept sufficient open space amounting to 40 per cent in the city outskirts, for instances, Savar, Gazipur and Narayanganj.’
   Meanwhile, Rajuk officials alleged that they were under pressure from different influential quarters ranging from government high-ups to the housing companies to redraw the map.
   ‘Though we are hearing regularly the objections of the aggrieved groups, there is a tremendous pressure not to announce the wetlands as protected water bodies, where different housing companies have already started earth filling,’ one of the officials said.
   RAJUK held a meeting on Saturday to sort out the avalanche of objections pouring in from individuals, associations and housing companies.
   ‘We have drawn our map according to the previous records and also keeping the future trend of development in mind,’ said Joyanl Abedin Bhuiyan, Rajuk member development.
   Urban development experts are now in doubt whether Rajuk would at all be able to implement their detailed area plan.
   ‘The DAP should have been completed much earlier since the master plan was undertaken in 1997. Now it would be a big challenge for the authorities to implement their plan,’ said Professor Nazrul Islam, a city planner who now chairs University Grants Commission.

Controversial class IV employees of Rajshahi University on Saturday confined the acting vice chancellor at his office for an hour demanding regularisation of their jobs.
   The agitating employees laid siege to the VC’s office and demanded his resignation for failure to regularise their jobs within the deadline set by them earlier.
   They also held a rally and urged the chief adviser and the University Grants Commission chairman to take necessary steps for confirmation of their jobs. They threatened to foil the upcoming admission test if the university authorities failed to regularise their jobs.
   The employees vowed to continue with their sit-in programme unless their demand was met.
   Later, a seven-member team of fourth class employees on behalf of the agitators held talks with the RU authorities at the VC’s office.
   Treasurer Professor Mozammel Haque, registrar Professor Mohammed Shafi, proctor Enamul Haque, students’ adviser Faridul Islam Pintu and high ups of law enforcing agencies were present at the meeting.
   Campus sources said VC Mamnunul Keramat assured the agitating employees that they would meet the UGC chairman today and request him to take necessary steps to regularise their jobs.
   Following the assurance, the employees withdrew their programme at around 3:00pm.
   Earlier, they brought out a procession on the campus and paraded different streets.
   A huge contingent of police was deployed on the campus to avert untoward incident.
   When contacted, the acting vice chancellor said, ‘We will hold talks with the higher authorities to confirm their jobs as early as possible.’
   The university authorities appointed 544 class III and IV employees against 255 vacant posts in 2004 in gross violation of the university rules. Jobs of about 300 employees were regularised during the rule of the BNP-Jamaat. Later, the High Court stayed the recruitment following a case.

Speakers at a workshop on Saturday emphasised the need for research-based quality education for the development of the country.
   They also stressed the need for improving the standard of life of the country’s people for sustainable development in education sector.
   The speakers were addressing the inaugural session of the function on ‘Short Time Board Education System’ at the lecture theatre of Dhaka University.
   DU vice-chancellor Professor SMA Faiz inaugurated the workshop as the chief guest. Former secretary Serajuddin Ahmed was present as special guest.
   Faiz said, ‘Being one of the pioneer educational institutions of the country, Dhaka University is continuously pursuing to implement its pious goal of ensuring sustainable development in education to address socio-economic issues.’
   He said the universities should impart contemporary knowledge consistent with up-to-date curricula and moral values which will help ensure quality education and develop intellect among the student.
   He laid stress on ensuring development in education sector to improve the quality of life of the people and underscored the need for ensuring quality education for the students as they are the future of the nation.
   The daily Khabarpatra editor Gias Kamal Chowdhury said educational institutions, particularly the universities, are the prime movers of producing human resources and they have great role to play in providing quality education to the students so that they can make themselves worthy enough to face the challenges.
   He also emphasised the need for research-based education in the country’s public and private universities.
   Serajuddin Ahmed said the elders should take care of students and provide all kinds of cooperation to groom them as worthy citizens.
   Advocate Delwer Hossain presented a keynote paper in the workshop.

The Dhaka University along with the LGRD ministry and Dhaka district council have undertaken a project to beautify the gravesides of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and some other eminent personalities beside the university’s central mosque.
   Dhaka University vice-chancellor SMA Faiz said the Tk 1.51 crore project features construction of mausoleums over the graves of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, Patua Quamrul Hasan, former DU vice-chancellors Abdul Matin Choudhury and Mozaffar Hossain and some intellectuals, who embraced martyrdom during the war of liberation, as well as beautification of the gravesides.
   ‘The local government ministry and district council showed their interest in such a project showing honour to the great sons of the soil and the university accepted the offer. The university authorities eight years back had planned for such a work designed by architect Mazharul Islam, but it could not be implemented for various reasons,’ he said.
   ‘As the government now offered help, we welcomed it,’ Faiz said. ‘It will be the most beautiful construction of Dhaka University and we hope that it will be completed within December.’
   Faiz and the government employees visited the graveyard Saturday noon.

Ethnic minority people and green activists observed a token hunger strike in the Sylhet city on Saturday, demanding cancellation of the government decision to cut 4,000 trees at village Nahar Pan Punji in Moulvibazar.
    The Sylhet Paribesh Andolan, an environmental organisation, arranged the token hunger strike programme from 10:00am and 2:00pm on the premises of the Central Shaheed Minar in the city.
   More than 500 ethnic minority people from different areas of the region and activists of 13 environmental organisations and human rights groups participated in the programme.
   Later, a rally was held with former vice-chancellor of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Professor Sadar Uddin Ahmed, in the chair.
   The divisional coordinator of the Adivasi Paribesh Raksha Committee, Father Joseph Gomez, delivered inaugural speech at the rally.
   Representatives from different socio-cultural organisations and political leaders attended the rally.
   Lawyers EU Shahidul Islam, Bedananda Bhattacharjya, Dr Abdul Awal Bishwas, Sharif Jamil, Abdul Karim Kim, Gouranga Patro, Jubel Lusai, Joseph Haui, Jesmin Lamin and Michel Dandala, among others, spoke.
    The speakers condemned in the government move to cut down 4,000 trees in the at village Nahar Pan Punji near the Nahar Tea Garden in Shreemangal.
    They termed the government move a mockery to the ethnic minority people to destroy the trees in the ethnic minority, while the government is continuing plantation programme across the country.
   The ethnic minority people threatened to continue movement pled expressed their pledge to continue their movement against the government order until its cancellation.

The disciplinary committee of Barisal Education Board has taken action against 42 HSC examinees for adopting unfair means in the examinations held in 2007.
   Shah Alamgir, member secretary of the committee and controller of the examinations of Barisal Board, said the decision was taken at a meeting of the committee on Thursday.
   Of the total, 25 examinees were expelled for one year while 15 for two years and two others for four years.
   Registration of the HSC students is valid for three years and those who will have valid registration can sit for the examinations again after expiry of the punishment term, said the controller.

The Khulna Metropolitan Police held a rally at Shaheed Hadis Park in Khulna city on Saturday aiming at creating awareness among the people about drug abuse.
   The speakers at the rally urged the common people, elites and law enforcing agencies to work together to fight against drug abuse.
   The rally was addressed by deputy commissioner Shahadat Hossain, additional divisional commissioner Abdus Samad, Khulna narcotics control department deputy director Parvin Akhter, Khulna Press Club president Wadudur Rahman Panna and Professor Zafar Imam.
   Earlier, a procession led by KMP commissioner Helal Uddin Badri was brought out from Zia Hall that ended at Hadis Park after parading main roads. About five thousand people including divisional and district officials, community policing committee members, members of professional and socio-cultural organizations took part in the procession.

Weather is likely to remain dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country during the next 24 hours till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Saturday.
   Night temperature may remain nearly uncharged over the country, the Met Office added.
   The country’s highest temperature on Saturday, 33.6 degree Celsius, was recorded at Sitakunda and the lowest, 16.2 degrees Celsius, at Srimangal.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 5:15pm and rises tomorrow at 6:10am.
   The Met Office has predicted a little change in the outlook for subsequent two days and fall in the night temperature for the extended outlook for another five days.

The national committee to observe the 25th death anniversary of Manabendra Narayan Larma announced the programmes to be observed on November 10 to mark the anniversary.
   The organisers announced the programmes at a news conference at the Dhaka Reporter’s Unity on Saturday.
   The programmes include placing of flowers at the portrait of Manabndra at 3:30pm, and a discussion in the National Press Club auditorium where journalist Kamal Lohani will give a commemorative speech on Manabendra. The discussion is also likely to be addressed by educationist Serajul Islam Choudhury, writer Selina Hossain, politician Manjurul Ahsan Khan, Haider Akbar Khan Rano, Pankaj Bhattacharya and Dipu Moni.
   To observe the anniversary, a 100-member committee has been formed with national professor Kabir Chowdhury as convener and Ajay Roy as member secretary, the organisers said. Dalem Chandra Barman and Sanjeeb Drong have been made joint member secretaries of the committee.
   Presided over by Ajay Roy, the conference was attended by Kamal Lohani, Rashid-e-Mahbub, Sanjeeb Drong, Chaitali Chakma, Mamtaj Latif, Sourav Sikder, Mangal Kumar Chakma, Ishani Chakrabarty and others.
   Speakers at the briefing put forward a charter of demands to the government, which includes renaming of the Chittagong-Rangamati Road after Manabendra Larma, setting up of his statue in either Dhaka or Chittagong and inclusion of his life sketch in national curriculum.
   Born on September 15, 1939, at Mawrum in Rangamati, Manabendra began an armed movement as the founder of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti after 1975 and he was killed in an attack by a group of activists on November 10, 1983.

The 131st birth anniversary of great poet and philosopher Allama Iqbal will be observed today.
   The Allama Iqbal Sangsad has chalked out an elaborate programme to celebrate the occasion, according to a news release.
   The organisation will hold a seminar on ‘Iqbal’s philosophy and contemporary issues’ in the conference lounge of the National Press Club at 4:00pm.
   The organisation president, Mujibur Rahman, will preside over the function while Dr Mahfuz Parvez of department of political science of Chittagong University will present a keynote paper.
   The Iranian ambassador to Bangladesh, Hassan Farazandeh, will attend the function as chief guest while the charge d’affaires of Pakistan embassy, Iyaz Muhammad Khan, will be special guest.

A Bangladeshi candidate has been elected a member to the 12-member United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
   Monsur Ahmed Choudhuri, a visually-impaired development practitioner and managing director of the government’s Jatiya Pratibondhi Unnayan Foundation, won the election as the lone candidate from South Asia held at the UN headquarters in New York on November 3, said a press release.
   Monsur secured the highest number of votes to head the committee for four years from January 1, 2009.
   The committee will work as a monitoring body on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, an international human rights instrument of the UN intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
   The committee will work in close cooperation with and support from the UN office of the High Commission of Human Rights in Geneva.
   The text of the convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006 and so far 41 countries are parties to the convention while a further 98 have signed but have not yet ratified it, said the release.
   Monsur, who has served for more than three decades in development sector and different NGOs working for disable persons, is the chairman of Bangladesh Blind Cricket Council, founder trustee of Impact Foundation Bangladesh, secretary of Board of Trustees of Sir John Wilson School and member of executive committee of the National Council of Social welfare, said the press release.

RU admission form sales begin Nov 11
Rangpur University will start selling admission forms for first year honours courses for the 2008-09 academic session from November 11, officials concerned said on Saturday. Three hundred students will get admitted in six departments with 50 in each of the departments of mathematics, computer science and engineering under Ka unit, Bangla, English and economics under Kha unit and business administration under Ga unit. Admission seekers have been advised to collect forms with prospectus at Tk 250 from Sonali Bank Ltd, Rangpur Katchari Bazar Branch during office hours in between November 11 and November 24. The filled in forms should be submitted to the office of the departments under two faculties on the temporary campus on Rangpur Teachers’ Training College premises in between November 12 and November 25. The one-hour written tests for the admission seekers of Ka unit will be held at Rangpur Carmichael College at 10:00am while for Kha unit at 12:00 noon and for the applicants of Ga unit at 3:00pm on November 30. Results of the written tests will be published on December 6 and viva voce for the passed candidates will be held on December 13, the officials said.
— BSS