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Allowance for the freedom fighters, who are poor or were injured during the war of independence, and martyrs’ families has been increased by 50 per cent in line with the caretaker administration’s decision taken earlier.
   ‘The gazette notification of the increased allowance was issued recently with retrospective effect from July 2008,’ a high official of the liberation war affairs ministry said.
   About one lakh poor freedom fighters and 7,838 injured and families of martyred freedom fighters, including seven Bir Shreshthas, get monthly allowance from the government. Female freedom fighter Taramon Bibi, who was honoured with the gallantry award of Bir Pratik, is also among the allowance receivers.
   Considering the exorbitant living cost, the interim government, in the ongoing national budget, had increased allowance for all categories of freedom fighters and their families, the official said.
   As per the notification, monthly allowance for some one lakh poor freedom fighters has been increased to Tk 900 from Tk 600.
   The government also classified 5,027 injured freedom fighters in six categories —A, B, C, D, E and F. Twenty critically injured A category freedom fighters, who are completely disabled, will get Tk 18,000 instead of Tk 12,000 every month. Twenty-one B-category injured war veterans will get Tk 12,375 from the monthly allowance of Tk 8,250 they would get earlier.
   The allowance for 125 C-category war heroes have been increased to Tk 7,875 from Tk 5,250 and the allowance for 245 D-category freedom fighters have been increased to Tk 6,750 from Tk 4,500.
   A total of 1,325 E-category freedom fighters will get Tk 5,625 instead of Tk 3,750 and 3,291 F-category war heroes will get Tk 1,050 from the earlier of Tk 700.
   Monthly allowance of the families of 2,500 martyred freedom fighters have been increased to Tk 5,850 from Tk 3,900, and families of 303 injured freedom fighters who died after the country’s independence will get Tk 5,625 from the earlier amount of Tk 3,750.
   Each family of seven highest gallantry award receivers (Bir Shreshthas) will get Tk 11,250 instead of Tk 7,500 while Taramon Bibi will get Tk 4,500 instead of her earlier monthly allowance of Tk 3,000.
   Founder trustee of the Liberation War Museum Akku Chowhury demanded further increase in the allowance of the poor freedom fighters, saying the government had increased their allowance to Tk 900, which was too inadequate for them.

The interim government on Wednesday formed an 11-member high-powered committee to add-ress the 11-point demands placed by Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikya Parisad following a threat for countrywide transport strike on October 14.
   The decision came from a meeting held at the communications ministry with communications adviser Ghulam Quader in the chair. Labour and employment adviser Anwarul Iqbal and representatives of transport owners and workers were present at the meeting.
   The transport leaders told the meeting that they would consider withdrawal of the strike at a meeting of the organisation on October 12 after evaluating the government’s decisions about their demands.
   ‘The call for a countrywide strike by road transport owners and workers is illogical although some of their demands are reasonable…The 11-member committee led by the additional secretary of the communications ministry will look into their demands,’ communications secretary Mohammad Mahabubur Rahman told reporters after the meeting.
   He said the committee would comprise members from transport owners and workers, officials from the communications, commerce and home ministries, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and Dhaka Transport Coordination Board.
   ‘We had a fruitful meeting with the government but still stick to our decision for the strike on October 14...We will weigh up the government’s decisions at our meeting on October 12 to decide about the strike,’ joint convenor of the organisation Shajahan Khan told newsmen.
   Shajahan, also a former lawmaker, said the organisation had called the strike to press home its demands put forward to save the transport sector from destruction.
   The demands include holding tripartite (government, transport owners and workers) meeting before making any amendment to the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983, repeal of the amendments made to the Labour Law in 2008, right to trade unionism, reduction in taxes and fees on motor vehicles and modernisation of traffic system.

The Election Working Group, a 33-member coalition of local election observers, has opposed the Awami League’s demand for not allowing local observers to monitor the December 18 parliamentary elections.
   The group’s leaders on Wednesday told the news agency that the government could scrutinise the track record of local election monitoring organisations and then debar an organisation from working during elections if its political involvement was found.
   The acting Awami League general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, on Tuesday asked the government to impose a restriction on election monitoring by local observers.
   On Wednesday, a high-profile party delegation met the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, and other commissioners to convey their demand and objection to the activities of Bangladeshi election observers.
   ‘This is the Awami League’s party observation. But we can say one thing categorically that the Election Working Group will monitor the polls with full neutrality,’ the EWG director, Zahurul Alam, told the news agency.
   He said if any EWG member was accused of working for any particular quarter, then it would deal with the allegation organisationally and take necessary steps.
   The chairman of Janipop (national election observation council), Professor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, suggested the government should go through the history and records of local election observers.
   Kalimullah, also a EWG executive member, said, ‘Some organisations might have lack of professionalism in election monitoring, but that does not mean that all are working for a particular party or a quarter.’
   The Fair Election Monitoring Alliance president, Firoz Hasan, said the Awami League’s sweeping allegation against all election observers was ‘unfortunate.’
   ‘The Election Commission has formulated a code of conduct for local and foreign election observers. If anyone’s involvement with any political party is found, then the authorities concerned should ban that election observer,’ he said.

At least 100 villages under Monirampur, Keshabpur, Abhaynagar, Jhikargachha and Sharsha upazilas in Jessore and Tala and Kalaroa upazilas in Satkhira were inundated due to torrential rain for last few days and onrush of water from upstream.
   The River Ichhamati overflowed due to torrential rain and flooded the villages, causing immense sufferings to thousands of people. Crops on vast areas in the two districts also went under water.
   The Jessore district administration had already allocated some 13 tonnes of rice for the flood-affected people.
   Sources in the district administration said 45 villages in Monirampur, Keshabpur and Kalaroa upazilas had been inundated by flash flood apart from nine unions in the region and six wards under Jhikargachha municipality. Some 40,000 people in these areas had been marooned by floodwater, the sources added.
   NDC Jahid Hossain told journalists that the River Ichhamati overflowed and inundated a number of villages in Sharsha upazila. The river was flowing above danger level.
   Abdul Majid Mollah, the executive engineer of Water Development Board, informed journalists that the River Kobadak also marked a sharp rise due to onrush of water from upstream.
   Many villages, including Benapole Putkhali, Bahadurpur and Goga, under Sharsha upazila were submerged by floodwater, he said.
   Almost all the villages under the Sagardari union council in Keshabpur upazila were inundated as the River Kobadak crossed danger mark a few days back.
   Shaheruzzaman Selim, of Sheikhpura village under the Sagardari union, told New Age that his cropland went under water. ‘The authorities concerned should immediately provide relief for the flood-affected people in the areas,’ he said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed 15 cases against 24 people, including the chief engineer and seven other engineers of the Chittagong Development Authority, on Wednesday.
   Shams Uddin Ahmed, a deputy director of the ACC, filed the cases with the Kotwali police station against them for allegedly misappropriating Tk 80 lakh of the CDA in a road construction project involving Tk 2 crore.
   The accused in the cases are chief engineer of the CDA, Iqbal Hossain Majumder, superintendent engineer and also the project director, Kazi Hassan Bin Shams, assistant engineers Mohammed Ilias and Nurul Amin, sub-assistant engineers Golam Sarwar, Jahangir Alam and Hamidul Hoque, and contractors Abul Kalam Mohammed Shamsuzzaman, Khandakar Mohammed Jashim Uddin, Saleh Jahur, Mohammed Ismail, Shamshul Alam, Ishaque Chowdhury, Syed Mohammed Jahurul Hoque, Mohammed Aman, Yakub Chowdhury, Nurul Islam, Mohammed Ali Akbar, Mohammed Iqbal Hossain, Nur Mohammed, Jashim Uddin, Abul Kalam Azad, Manjur Ahmed and Saifullah Chowdhury.
   Julfiqur Ali Majumdar, director of the ACC in Chittagong, said the accused misappropriated Tk 80 lakh from the project, involving Tk 2 crore, to construct six kilometres of road from the Oxygen crossing to Kuaish.
   He also said they had to file 15 cases, as various construction firms were engaged in the implementation of the project and different sorts of corruption were detected.

The Dhaka City Corporation on Wednesday renamed a city road after veteran politician and freedom fighter Rashed Khan Menon.
   The road stretching from Bangla Motors crossing to Moghbazar crossing has been renamed ‘Rashed Khan Menon Road’ in recognition of his contribution to the education movement in 1962, mass upsurge in 1969, war of independence in 1971 and different democratic movements after the independence of Bangladesh.
   Besides, the road from Malibagh crossing to Kakrail crossing has been renamed ‘Bir Uttam captain (Retd) Shamsul Alam Road’ after the valiant freedom fighter.
   The city mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka on the day unveiled the plaques of the Rashed Khan Menon Road and Bir Uttam Shamsul Alam Road.
   At the ceremony at Bangla Motors crossing, Menon said, ‘The 1952 language movement, the mass upsurge in 1969 and the liberation war in 1971 are glorious chapters of our history. I feel honoured. I am grateful to the countrymen and shall continue my effort until death to uphold my respect for the people and remember their love for me’.
   Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka in his brief speech said, ‘Today we have renamed the road after Rashed Khan Menon so that future generations remember him for his contribution to different pre- and post-independence movements.
   The mayor said, ‘One day none of us present here would be alive. Then this name will help people remember his contribution to the country.’
   Relatives of Menon and Workers Party leaders, including his wife Lutfunnesa Khan Beauty, younger brother and freedom fighter ASM Shahidullah Khan, also the publisher of New Age, Workers Party general secretary Bimal Biswas, politburo members Haider Akbar Khan Rono, Nurul Hasan, Anisur Rahman Mallik and Shafiuddin Ahmed, central committee members Habibur Rahman, Quamrul Ahsan and Mozammel Haq Tara, were present.
   Besides, the left-leaning 11-party alliance leader Dilip Barua, Abu Hamed Sahabuddin, Mahmudur Rahman Babu, Nurur Rahman Selim, Sharafat Ali Hira, Harun Chowdhury, freedom fighter Habibul Alam, Ganasangskriti Front president Haider Anwar Khan Juno, the Daily Star associate editor Shah Hossain Imam, New Age deputy managing editor Mohsiul Adnan and a good number of leaders and activists of Workers Party and its front organisations were present.
   The renaming of the roads is part of the DCC’s initiative to rename the city roads after freedom fighters and other prominent people. DCC officials, including its chief town planner in charge M Sirajul Islam, were present at the ceremony.

At least 25 people, including four policemen, were injured in a clash at Batiakhora of Bera in Pabna Tuesday evening.
   The police said the clash took place between the supporters of the Kaitala and Bharenga union council chairmen. The clash continued for more than three hours. Twenty-one people of both the groups were injured.
   A police team went to the place to tackle the situation and four of the lawmen were injured.
   They are subinspectors Masumur Rahman and Mashur Rahman,  and constables Shariful Islam and  Nazrul Islam.

The finance adviser, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, leaves Dhaka today for Washington DC, USA to attend the Annual Meetings 2008 of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund scheduled for October 11-13.
   As a governor of the boards, he will lead the Bangladesh delegation at the three-day meetings when the boards of governors of the Bretton Woods institutions will discuss their works, officials concerned said.
   Aziz will address the opening plenary session of the meetings on October 13.
   This year’s meetings will focus on addressing the overarching issues of high food and fuel prices, climate change and global financial crisis.
   The annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF are to be preceded by the ministerial-level meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Commi-ttee, the IMF’s policy-guiding body, and the Development Committee, a joint IMF-World Bank forum.

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at a few places over the six divisions of the country with moderately heavy fall at places till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Wednesday.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged. The highest temperature on Wednesday, 33.6 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Patuakhali and Jessore and the lowest, 22.4 degrees Celsius, at Srimangal.
   The sun sets in the capital city today at 5:37pm and rises tomorrow at 5:54am.