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Number of drug addicts and drug peddlers has increased alarmingly in the Sylhet city in recent days due to easy availability of contraband drug items and lack of effective steps by the authorities concerned.
   There are more than 50 spots in the city where the drugs including heroin, Phensidyl, natural cannabis and different brands of liquors are selling every day.
   These spots are located at the Railway Station, Bharthakhala, Kujarkhala, Sadhurbazar, Telirai, Mandirkhala, Jhalopara, Central Bus Terminal, Gotatikar BSIC area, Akhalia, Kumargaon Bus Terminal, Bagbari, Baluchar, Majortila, Jharnarpar of Dargah Mahalla, Electric Supply road, Mendibag, Tilagarh, Baluchar, Shahi Eidgah, Lakkatura Tea Garden, Tarapur Tea Garden, Kewachhara Tea Garden areas in the city.
   A good number of drug selling spots are also on the outskirts of the city including Salutikar, Morarbazar, Saliya, Saheb Bazar, Pirerbazar, Manglabazar, Goalabazar and Tukerbazar areas, some drug peddlers said.
   According to drug peddlers, more than 300 drug peddlers under some 60 drug traders are engaged in selling the drugs to the drug addicts in the city.
   Some 10 traders, who are the members of a drug trafficking syndicate of the country, mainly supply the drugs like heroin, cannabis and Phensidyl to the peddlers in the city.
   Most of drug peddlers are women and children who come from very poor families. They are involved with the illegal trade in order to maintain their families.
   ‘There are some 20,000 drug addicts, mostly teenagers, in the city and its suburbs. They regularly buy the drugs from the particular spots of the city,’ said one of the drug peddlers.
   A number of spoiled teenage boys of rich families have been involved with various criminal activities like snatching and carjacking in the city, said Humayun, a member of the district bar association.
   Abdul Khaleq, deputy director of the Narcotics Control Department in Sylhet, said they were conducting drives at different places to check the drug peddling in the city.
   ‘We cannot always carry out the drives due to shortages of manpower and lack of logistic supports in this regard,’ he added.
   Israil Hawladar, deputy commissioner of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police, told New Age that the police were continuing with their drives to check different unsocial activities in the city.

Jurist, litterateur and theatre activists have called for a united movement to rid the country of religious fanatics and war criminals for good.
   They also urged the democratic political parties to include the trial of war criminals in their election manifestoes.
   The call came from the 6th national conference of Bangladesh Gram Theatre at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka on Friday.
   Former chief adviser to the caretaker government justice Habibur Rahman inaugurated the event as chief guest by hoisting the national flag amidst a chorus of the national anthem.
   The Gram Theatre president, Nasir Uddin Yousuff, also hoisted the flag of the organisation.
   ‘They (fundamentalist) will be in our society as enemies. We want to face them through cultural activities, and people involved in politics will face them politically’, said Habibur Rahman.
   ‘Villages foster our rich cultural heritage for years. The organisation has its own heritage and will protect it through a united movement’, he said
   Recognising the contribution of the late dramatist Selim Al-Deen, he said human being like him is born rarely.
   ‘What he did in his lifetime is amazing. If he were alive now, he might have written another play based on the current situation’, he said.
   Litterateur Hasan Azizul Haque, also an adviser of the organisation, said, ‘We are passing a hard time as the religious fanatics are after our core values to destroy them.’
   ‘The rajakars and al-badrs have started roaring again and forced the government to dismantle the baul sculptures at the airport roundabout,’ he said.
   Criticising the government for playing a poor role, he said, ‘Does the government afraid of the fanatics…if it happens, the government should quit the power immediately’.
   ‘The nation is in deep crises. We have to go for united movement and have to raise our voices for the political, economics and social rights’, he said.
   The speakers urged artistes and cultural activists to spread out across the country and step up campaign through more performances in order to unite the people against the plot of the fanatic forces to turn the country into a theocratic state.
   Yousuff urged the political parties for the trial of the 11,773 war criminals.
   ‘The political parties should include the trial of war criminals in their election manifestoes,’ he said adding, ‘Selim has shown us the way of light. If we follow the path, social and political change shall take place.’
   Ramendu Majumdar, Pijush Bandopadhya, Shimul Yousuff, among others, also spoke on the discussion, which followed a procession from the Shilpakala Academy to Central Shaheed Minar.
   The organisers outlined a 24-hour programme to mark the day. About 15,000 activists from across the country attended the programme featuring discussions, musical shows, film screening and theatre shows that would run till Saturday morning.

The Bangladesh Chemical Society on Friday arranged the 2nd National Chemistry Olympiad to make chemistry popular among students across the country.
   A total of 771 students of HSC level and A level from different Bengali and English medium colleges across the country participated in the Olympiad.
   At the central level, 295 students from 26 colleges participated in the final exam at the Curzon Hall of Dhaka University where the students faced sixty-mark set of chemistry question of HSC level.
   Professor Kazi Ali Azad of Jahangirnagar University chemistry department and BCS executive committee member said that they were organising the Olympiad to remove the fear of chemistry from the mind of the students and make it popular to them.
   A total of 100 students will be selected from this examination and they will be given few practical training in different chemical experiments at the Dhaka University chemistry department laboratory, Kazi Ali Azad said.

Five activists of Ulamaye Anjumane Al Baiyyiat, who were arrested Thursday afternoon from Dhaka University Teachers Students Centre, were released in the night after taking undertakings.
   Police picked them up when they were being attacked by students of the university when they were distributing leaflets against Udichi Shilpy Goshthi.
   The police said they released the activists as no case was flied against them. They are Sohel, Mamun, Nayeem and Nijam, students of JU, and the other is the student of soil, water and environment at DU.

The Dhaka City Corporation and Japan International Cooperation Agency will arrange a workshop for
   the cleaners tomorrow at Osmani Udyan in the city aiming to create awareness among them about safety and sanitation.
   A release issued by DCC said the objective of the workshop is also to prevent work-related sickness and injury of waste management workers.
   DCC’s chief waste management officer Commander Maksudur Rahaman Chowdhury, assistant health officer Nishat Parvin and other officials of the DCC and JICA Bangladesh office will attend the programme.
   Different sessions have
   been planned to explain the importance of using safety gears, masks and first aid
   kits and to give clear idea on how they should be used properly.
   Besides distribution of manuals and safety gears among the cleaners, several committees styled ‘Safety and Sanitation Committees’ will be formed in the workshop.
   The city corporation had decided to distribute safety gears, first aid kits and manuals among the cleaners in various wards which will help them to prevent injuries and sickness related to waste management, the release said.
   Safety and Sanitation Committees will be formed comprising the members
   of conservancy officer, conservancy supervising inspectors, conservancy inspectors and cleaners to investigate and identify issues related to
   safety and sanitation of the cleaners’ working environment and to discuss issues and implement plans to improve the present safety and sanitation situation.
   DCC has been working to improve the overall solid waste management of the city with the assistance of JICA since 2000.
   Though a master plan ‘Clean Dhaka Master Plan’ had been designed in 2005 aiming to achieve 100 per cent sanitation coverage by 2015, the authorities concerned have yet to make any significant progress in this regard.

Activities at the blood transfusion centre of Sylhet Red Crescent Hospital have remained stalled for over a week as the centre in-charge doctor has been transferred without appointing new doctor, causing sufferings to thalassaemia and cancer patients who take blood from the centre.
   The voluntary blood donors, who went to the centre, became agitated at the news and held demonstration on the hospital premises, the hospital sources said.
   The persons who donate blood voluntarily for the patients, especially for the thalassaemia and cancer patients, at Red Crescent Hospital, said why the patients are being deprived, while the donors are giving blood regularly free of cost.
   A voluntary blood donor, Arun Sen Bappi, said the standstill in the centre was created because of the irregularities by the hospital authorities.
   The hospital sources said the in-charge doctor of the blood transfusion centre went to Dhaka on leave for a week on November 8 without making any alternative arrangement during his absence.
   But later on it was known that the in-charge has been transferred to Dhaka, the sources said.
   ‘Each bag of blood is provided to the patients by the hospital authorities in a minimal service charge of Tk 700 only,’ an employee of the hospital said, adding that the patients have to pay at least Tk 4,500 to Tk 5,000 if they buy it from any commercial blood bank.
   The hospital sources said almost all the patients, who take blood from the centre, are from poor families and cannot afford to buy blood from commercial blood banks.
   At least 12 to 15 patients come to the centre in every working day according to the previous schedule given by the hospital authorities, the hospital insiders said.
   ‘But they are being forced to go back without taking blood because of the doctor’s absence,’ an employee claimed.
   Imran Chowdhury, governing body secretary of the Sylhet Red Crescent Hospital, said the blood transfusion centre in-charge went on leave taking permission of the Bangladesh Red Crescent higher authorities.
   ‘We came to know about his transfer later on,’ he said adding that they knew nothing about the transfer order.

Green groups Green Voice and Sheba jointly formed a human chain in Dhaka on Friday, protesting at local and international move to break a toxic ship at the Chittagong port.
   Speakers from the human chain said a group of local and international conspirators, including some bureaucrats and port officials, are trying to bring the SA Holderbourgh ship, blacklisted by international environment related organisation Green Peace, at the Chittagong port.
   The ship is supposed to start for Chittagong in next February from Bali under Indonesia while the L/C has almost been completed. The name of the ship has also been changed as SA Holderbourgh from Asia Express.
   The ship is containing toxic asbestos, oily waste, lead colour, heavy metal like cadmium and arsenic and also radioactive substances. Toxic asbestos has been identified to cause deadly cancer, they said at the rally.
   These toxic elements are harmful for the biodiversity and that is why the Green Peace has blacklisted some 50 ships in the world, they said.
   Treasurer of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan Mahidul Haq Khan, executive director of Sheba Nuruddin and engineer Enamul Haq, among others, spoke at the rally while co-ordinator of Green Voice Alamgir Kabir presided over the meeting.

A housewife was allegedly killed by her husband and his family members over dowry Thursday night.
   The deceased was identified as Rani, wife of Rajib Hossain, at Silinda in Rajshahi city.
   Police, quoting local people, said Rajib and his family members often tortured Rani for dowry.
   The family members tortured Rani Thursday for dowry and as a result, Rani died in the night.
   Later on, the local people found Rani’s body hanging from the roof top in her room.
   Informed, the Rajpara police rescued the body Friday morning.
   Jahura Begum, elder sister of the victim, filed a murder case with the Rajpara police station against five members of the family including Rani’s husband and mother-in-law Asrin Begum.
   The victim’s husband, mother-in-law and other members are on the run after the incident.

The candidates, who qualified in the 27th BCS examinations as per the results announced on January 2007, brought out a procession at Dhaka University where they demanded their quick appointment as the government published the gadget of appointment for the candidates selected by the result of September 2008.
   They held a rally after the procession in the Central Shaheed Minar. Candidates condemned the government decision as it humiliated them.
   They also demanded resignation of PSC chairman Saadat Hossain from the rally. They are continuing their sit-in programme at the Central Shaheed Minar.

Light rain is likely at one or two places over the Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions in the next 24 hours till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Friday.
   Weather may remain dry elsewhere over the country during the period, the Met Office said, predicting nearly unchanged night temperature over the country.
   The country’s highest temperature, 31.2 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Friday at Kutubdia and the lowest, 15.0 degrees Celsius, in Rajshahi.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 5:12pm and rises tomorrow at 6:15am.

An adviser on Friday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to hold parliamentary elections on December 18 and hoped that all impediments standing in the way would be overcome.
   ‘We have reason to assure all that we will be able to hold the elections on the announced date by overcoming all impediments and uncertainties…’, commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman told journalists after inaugurating a scientific seminar on development issues organised by the Engineers and Architects of Soviet Alumni Association, Bangladesh, at Dhaka Sheraton hotel.
   Replying to a question on the possibility of a meeting between the two top political leaders – Sheikh Hasina of Awame League and Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the commerce adviser said the government would take initiatives if the two leaders clearly showed their eagerness about talks.
   About the announced date for the elections, the commerce adviser said that the government had reason to assure all that the polls would be held on the scheduled date.

The Jute-Yarn Textile Mills Workers and Employees Action Council will stage sit-in at the state-run jute mills on November 24-25 to press for their demands.
   The council leaders on Friday announced the sit-in programme at a rally after a human chain formed at Demra on the outskirts of the Dhaka city.
   The demand includes payment of 20 per cent dearness allowance for the workers of the nationalised mills and factories across the country.
   The council joint convener, Sahidullah Chowdhury, said the workers were living in utter hardship due to the soaring prices of essential goods.
   He also demanded allocation of more money to purchase jute for the mills and complete lifting of bars to trade union activities.
   Chaired by Sahidullah Chowdhury, the rally was addressed, among others, by its leaders Azimuddin, Abul Hossain, Tofazzal Hossain and Abu Taher.

A UP member was arrested at Char Sherpur Bazar under Sherpur sadar upazila Friday on charge of misappropriation of a project fund.
   The police arrested Abdul Quddus alias Batas, member of Char Sherpur union, at the market in the evening on charge of embezzling daily wages of the day labourers under the 100-day job creation project.
   Earlier, 19 labourers under the project made the allegation in this regard.

People caught five suspected snatchers and beat them up at Pallabi under Mirpur in Dhaka on Friday.
   The five were identified as Ibrahim, 25, Babu, 23, Shiplu, 27, Tulu Mollah, 25, and auto-rickshaw driver Ismail Hossain.
   According to local people, four youths in a CNG-run auto rickshaw rushed to Pallabi, Section-6, and Block-Ta at around 9:30am and started mass robbery.
   As the victims raised alarm, the muggers started to flee the scene in the auto-rickshaw but local people after a chase caught all the muggers along with the drivers.
   The mob then beat them up until they became unconscious.
   A team of Pallabi police rescued the five suspected muggers in a critical condition. The auto-rickshaw was seized.
   Police took them to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital where they were undergoing treatment till Friday evening. A case was filed with the Pallabi police.

The Workers Party of Bangladesh president, Rashed Khan Menon, on Friday said the country would face serious political crisis if the parliamentary elections are not held on December 18.
   If the tenure of the un-elected government prolongs for not holding polls as per the schedule, it would not be good for the nation, Menon said at a commemoration meeting on Mintu Sikder at Madhy-Badda in Dhaka.
   The BNP-led alliance would be responsible for foiling the elections and they must bear the responsibility of it, Menon said.
   The people of the country are waiting eagerly for a free and fair election to establish an elected government in the country, he said.
   Chaired by Anisul Haque Mamun, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Workers Party leader Nasimul Hasan Dipu, Abdul Khaleque, Eusuf Hawlader, Awami League leader Syem Sarder and Mahbub Rahman Gama.

The police Friday evening arrested two persons in possession of 4 firearms and bullets at the Magura Bus Terminal.
   The arrested are Shohel, 25, a resident of Sylhet, and Akash, 26, a resident of Shirajganj.
   The police said the arrested were carrying the firearms from Jessore to Dhaka in a bus.

Khawaza Main Uddin, special correspondent of New Age, won prestigious Developing Asia Journalism Award 2008 organised by the Asian Development Bank Institute.
   He is the first Bangladeshi to win this award introduced for the print media of the Asia-Pacific region in 2004, said a message received in Dhaka from Tokyo Friday.
   The award distribution ceremony was held at Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Friday evening.
   Kawai, dean of the ADB institute, presided over the function while presiding judge Anthony Rowley presented judges’ report in which he highly valued the 25 entries of the finalists who were present there.
   A total of 249 entries were submitted for this year’s competition. Entries were submitted in four categories – environment, governance, regional integration and infrastructure.
   Main Uddin became runner-up in the governance category for writing on ‘Bangladesh Agriculture Still Trapped in Ad Hoc Policy-Making’.
   He also won the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Award in 2007 and the best World Food Programme Award 2006 for writing on food security in Bangladesh.

A bank employee was killed and another person injured in a collision between a tempo and a pick-up van at Jalkudhi Bus Stand under Narayanganj sadar upazila on Friday.
   The police said the tempo collided head-on with the pick-up van, killing IFCIC Bank employee Asaduzaman on the spot and injuring another person.

Qul khwani of Professor Abdul Quadir, head of the department of ear, nose and throat department of Dhaka Medical College, will be held in his Dhanmondi residence in Dhaka after the asr prayers today.
   Towhida Bulbul, wife of Quadir and deputy secretary of the finance and planning ministry, has requested relatives, friends and well-wishers to attend the qul khwani.
   Quadir, younger brother of Abdullahhel Bari, chairman of Ananda Shipyard and Slipways Ltd, died of a heart attack at a city hospital on Wednesday at the age of 52.

At least 10 activists of the Sylhet Osmani Medical College unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra League were injured in a clash between two groups of the unit on Friday.
   The college sources said a group of BCL activists attacked Moniruzzaman Kanon, a 4th year medical student, in his room at Abu Sina residential hall Friday at about 2:00pm, leaving him injured.
   He was attacked following a previously wrangle over seniority among the activists of the unit. They also ransacked furniture of the room, the campus sources said.
   Supporters of Kanon also made a counter attack on Suman Majumdar and Shatadal Saha at Madhu Shaheed on Medical Road in the city in the afternoon. The rival groups were locked in a clash and chased each other at that time, leaving at least 10 of both groups injured, campus sources said.

The families of the 10 victims, killed in a road accident at Kansat under Shibganj upazila in Chapainawabganj Wednesday night, were given compensation on Friday.
   Each family has got Tk 40,000 as compensation at a meeting held in Shibganj upazila nirbahi office.
   The UNO Abu Taher Masud Rana, district truck owners association leaders and local elite were present. Ten persons were killed when a truck rammed a road-side tea stall on Wednesday night at Dhobra Bazar under Shibganj upazila.

Two killed in road accident
Two motorcyclists were killed in a road accident in Chittagong on Friday. The dead were identified as Mohammad Mahbubul Alam Samir, 24, son of Abu Taher, of Mandakini area under Hathazari upazila, and Mohammad Jahangir Alam, 37, son of Nurul Alam, of Dhalai area under the same upazila. The police and local people said the accident took place in front of Jhankar Cinema Hall on Chittagong-Khagrachari Road at about 12:30pm when a Nazirhat-bound truck, laden with sand, hit the motorcycle.

Urbashi to celebrate founding anniv on Nov 17
Urbashi Abriti Parishad, a recitation forum in Sylhet, will celebrate its 17th founding anniversary on November 17. A discussion and cultural programme will be held at Saifur Rahman Auditorium in the city’s Rikabibazar on the day, said a press release. Hasan Arif, organising secretary of Bangladesh Sangskritik Jote, Ahkam Ullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Abriti Samannay Parishad, and guitarist Enamul Karim are, among others, expected to attend the programme as guests of honour.
— New Age