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Mosquito menace continues unabated at different parts of the Rajshahi city due to lack of anti-mosquito drive for about three months.
   The Rajshahi City Corporation has yet to take any initiative to combat the mosquito menace because of fund constraints. ‘We are not in a position to launch the anti-mosquito drive at the moment due to fund crunch,’ said an official of the RCC.
   Although the authorities concerned started the anti-mosquito drive at 30 wards of the city corporation on January 22, they had suspended the drive just after one week as insecticides and fuel were finished, RCC sources said, adding that the drive was conducted with 16 fogger machines.
   Former mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu had procured 43 fogger machines and 37 of them had gone out of order, an employee of mosquito department. ‘Some sprayers are also lying idle for several months,’ he added.
   A section of officials alleged that they were not getting help from ward commissioners in carrying out the drive.
   ‘Mosquito menace can be reduced if ward commissioners extend their support to the employees for spraying larvicide in their respective areas,’ said an official of mosquito department.
   Dibakar Chakraborty, a resident of Sagarpara, said it is not possible to stay in a room without mosquito net after the evening and sometimes during daytime.
   Sohel Ahmed, another resident of the same area, said mosquitoes started taking off from nearby drains in the evening and rushed towards homes.
   Rawnak Jahan, a housewife living in Shalbagan area, was worried about her daughter, a class VIII student of Government PN Girls’ High School, as she could not concentrate properly on her study due to mosquito menace.
   While visiting Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, mosquito coils were seen burning in several wards, including paediatrics ward.
   Mosquito menace has also increased alarmingly in the kitchen markets of the city. Traders said drains were ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes as they were not cleaned properly by the employees of the city corporation.
   The police, however, in a drive seized a drum of insecticide from the house of an employee of the city corporation and arrested him along with his assistant in this connection.
   Abul Hasnat, chairman of the health standing committee of RCC, told New Age that as they have ran out of insecticides, they cannot launch anti-mosquito drive in the city. ‘We have planned to buy insecticides worth about Tk 2 lakh on return of mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton from Dhaka.’
   He said they were trying hard to combat mosquito menace by cleaning all the drains in the city.

The police recovered the body of a housewife on Wednesday, four days after she had gone missing from her paternal home in the Barisal city.
   As bad odour was being sent out from a septic tank, local people informed the police of it. Later, the police recovered the body and sent it to the Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.
   Locals said Rabeya Akhtar Nupur, 18, had love affairs with three youths but she was married off to one Nannu Majhi at Ramchandrapur under sadar upazila in Jhalakati eight months ago.
   Rabeya’s father had filed a general diary on Monday with the Kotwali police station after she went missing on Sunday.
   Assistant commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police Hayatul Islam said the GD would be turned into a murder case after the recovery of the body.
   Locals said Rabeya went to her husband’s house several times but never stayed there permanently.

The Jahangirnagar University students who completed their secondary school certificate exams in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and higher secondary certificate exams in 2003 formed a human chain on Wednesday, demanding letter-grade equivalence with the previous and subsequent batches.
   The protesters brought out a procession at about 10:30am from the New Arts faculty building and formed a human chain on the Dhaka-Aricha link road after parading the campus.
   More than four hundred students took part in the human chain and kept the road blocked for half an hour to press their demand.
   The agitators said the first three batches under the latter-grade system were deprived as even the teachers did not understand the system. Points of the optional subjects were not added to the main Grade Point Average.
   But now, when students of these batches are entering the job market, 4.00 and somewhere 4.50 is being regarded as equivalent to first class.
   The students demanded that point 3.50 should be made equivalent to first class and 2.50 to 3.49 as equivalent to second class. They also threatened to go for a fast-unto-death programme if the demand was not met immediately.
   Arifur Rahman, a fourth year student of English department and also a victim of the system, told New Age, ‘This is sheer discrimination towards us. We are always made the Guinea-pig for any kind of experimental evaluation.’
   Another student Rakhal Russel who passed his SSC in the division system told New Age, ‘Are my friends all third-classes? This is not fair.’
   Later on at about 12:00pm, the students submitted a memorandum to the acting vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Muniruzzaman. He assured the students that he would discuss the matter with the authorities concerned.

Rapid Action Battalion-7 in Chittagong will ensure law and order in Greater Chittagong in line with the present government’s firm stand against any violence, anarchy and militancy.
   ‘The present government has already taken bold steps against terrorism, militancy and anarchy and we are pledge-bound to act accordingly for the sake of peace and stability in the country,’ Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Zahidur Rahim said while exchanging views with reporters at the RAB-7 headquarters in Chittagong on Wednesday.
   Lt Colonel Zahid, who recently joined as Commanding Officer of the RAB-7, also said that criminals and militants, whatever are their political identities, would not be spared from any lawful action.
   The jurisdiction of RAB-7 stretches from Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar district to Brahmanbaria district. ‘Notorious criminals and listed terrorists will never get any sympathy while facing legal actions,’ he asserted.
   On a query, Lt Colonel Zahid said arrest of the ringleaders including a woman member of a notorious certificate fraudulent gang and seizure of huge fake academic and vehicle fitness certificates in the city’s Mehedibagh area was their significant achievement in the recent past apart from vigorous efforts to maintain law and order.

The Khulna mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque at a view-exchange meeting on Wednesday urged city dwellers and organisations concerned to extend their cooperation for building Khulna as a planned city.
   Khulna Nagarik Forum organised the meeting at the Shaheed Altaf auditorium of Nagar Bhaban.
   The mayor who attended the meeting as the chief guest said they were trying hard to provide city dwellers with proper utility services and to ensure accountability in all the works of the city corporation.
   Promising to implement his election manifesto, Khaleque said it had become difficult for the city corporation to complete all the necessary tasks within the shortest possible time due to fund crunch.
   The mayor also sought help from all in demolishing illegal structures on the canals and drains to make the city free from water logging.
   Chaired by the forum chairperson Sheikh Abdul Quayum and moderated by Rupantar director Rafiqul Islam Khokon, the meeting was also addressed by KCC panel mayors Ajmol Ahmed Tapan, Md Moniruzzaman Khan Khokon and Ruma Khatun, KCC chief executive officer Tapan Kumar Ghosh, forum secretary general Sheikh Mosharraf Hossain, KCC ward commissioners Shaheed Iqbal Bithar, Asli Akbar Tipu and Md Shah Alam.

Members of the Rapid Action Battalion arrested eight persons at Stadium Market, known as Doctorpara, in the Sylhet city on Tuesday night on charges of deceiving patients.
   The arrested — Alauddin, 40, Milton Das, 34, Farid Ali, 42, Alamgir, 38, Abdul Hamid, 36, Alam, 32, Khokan Miah, 30 and Anwarul Islam, 35 — were handed over to the Kotwali police.
   A team of RAB-9 raided the market at about 8:00pm and picked them up for deceiving the patients by offering serial numbers of less experienced physicians and telling the patients about visit to expert physicians, RAB sources said.
   The police produced the arrested before a magistrate’s court on Wednesday afternoon and the court ordered to send them to jail.

With a vision to create awareness of noise and air pollution and campaign against traffic snarls in the Dhaka city, a cycle race will be held in the capital city on May Day.
   The Source, an event management firm, with the title sponsorship of the Building for Future Ltd, will arrange the Dhaka Cycle Race 2009 at Uttara in the city, Efaz Rahman Khan, Source deputy managing director, said in a news briefing held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Wednesday.
   With no limitations or conditions, people from any age or occupation, even the foreigners, will be allowed to take part in the race.
   ‘Our major focus is on creating among all awareness of the bad effects of dense presence of engine vehicles in the city,’ he said.
   ‘And that is why one will need not to be a professional cyclist to participate in this race, rather it will accommodate participants of all ages and professions,’ he added.
   The 14-kilometer race will start from the newly built Palal Coronation Market at sector eight of Uttara and will end at the same place after a run through the airport road.
   The winner of the race will be awarded a prize money of Tk 10,000, while the second and the third winner will get Tk 6,000 and Tk 4,000 respectively.
   The organisers are expecting the race will enhance the habit of cycling among the young generation. ‘The practice of cycling is hardly seen among the teenagers these days. So the purpose of this competition is also to make it attractive,’ Source director Qazi Ashfaq said.

The Inter Service Public Relations has invited writings from the newsmen, who went to the United Nations Peacekeeping Missions abroad, on their memories and experience in English and Bangla.
   The armed forces will observe the UN Peacekeeping Day on May 29 and special supplements will be published in three national dailies on that day, said an ISPR press release.
   The writings must be sent to the ISPR directorate along with two passport size photographs by May 7.

A workshop on 'Imams and Pastors Dialogue on Unity in Diversity' was held on Wednesday at the seminar room of the Centre for Advanced Research in Humanities of Dhaka University.
   DU vice-chancellor Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique inaugurated the workshop as the chief guest.
   The Centre for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue of DU, the Episcopal Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue, Bangladesh and the Department of World Religions of Dhaka University jointly organized the workshop.
   Thirty Muslim Imams and an equal number of Christian priests of different denominations took part in the workshop.
   Besides Imams and Christian priests, some Muslim and Christian scholars also attended the programme.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky over the country having chances of rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind at one or two places over Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions and the regions of Dhaka, Tangail, Mymensingh, Jessore and Kushtia in next 24 hours till 6:00pm today.
   Mild to moderate heat wave sweeping over the regions of Jessore, Satkhira, Chuadanga, Patuakhali, Rajshahi, Ishwardi may continue, Met Office said.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country during the period, it said.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:27pm and rises tomorrow at 5:24am.
   Country’s highest temperature 38.6 degrees Celsius was recorded on Wednesday at Jessore and lowest 23.5 degrees at Srimongal.