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Drugging incidents have increased in Rajshahi, creating panic among the people in different areas of the district.
   Sources in the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police said at least three people were killed while more than 50 people fell victim to drugging gangs in the district in October.
   Most of the victims were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital while the rests to different health complexes, they added, saying that druggers also managed to take away cash and valuables from the victims.
   Drugging gangs known as agyan party took away few number of rickshaws in the city after they had drugged the rickshaw-pullers, the sources said.
   Due to absence of the drive against the drugging gangs for long, such incident is increasing day by day, some city dwellers claimed.
   Two students aged about 25, who were travelling by Padma intercity train from Dhaka cantonment railway station, fell victim to drugging gang at night on October 19.
   The drugging gang took away handsets, cash and bags from them after they had lost consciousness. Later, the government railway police at Rajshahi railway station rescued the two and took them to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in the morning on October 20.
   On October 25, an unidentified man drugged by miscreants was found lying in front of the Bangladesh Bank in the city at about 5:00am.
   Later, local people took him to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where he died on the same day as he never regained consciousness.
   Earlier, another unidentified man who lost consciousness was found lying in the Shiroil bus terminal area in the city. On arrival at RMCH, doctors declared him dead.
   On Sunday, local people rescued one Babu from Aleker crossing in the city. He was found lying near a pond.
   After recovering his consciousness, Babu said a gang of criminals drugged him and took away cash, handset and other valuables.
   Mahfuzur Rahman, assistant police commissioner of the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, acknowledged that drugging incidents had recently increased in Rajshahi. ‘We have taken necessary measures to nab the criminals engaged in drugging the people.’
   He also said most of the drugging incidents took place outside the city. ‘The criminal gangs usually drug the victims on their way to the city,’ Rahman added.

The formulation of a set of supporting laws, removal of the restrictions in the right to information act and an autonomous Information Commission are essential to ensure people’s rights to information and transparent governance, said participants in a daylong workshop on Wednesday.
   The Mass-line Media Centre on Advocacy for RTI organised the programme with the assistance from the United States Agency for International Development under Promoting Governa-nce, Accountability, Transpa-rency and Integrity project at Barisal BDS auditorium.
   Barisal mayor advocate Shawkat Hossain Hiron and more than seventy people, including journalists, government and non-government organisation officials and socio-cultural-human rights associations of the division, took part in the programme.
   The programme, featuring audio-video presentation with panel and group discussion, was conducted by SM Iqbal while Shameem Reza, a mass communication and journalism department teacher at Dhaka University, presented the keynote paper.
   Shameem Reza, in his paper, acknowledged that the law had many shortcomings, which might hinder people’s right to information affecting accountability and transparency.
   He said people’s access to information is essential for developing ‘political citizenry’, vis-à-vis apolitical citizenry, in a democratic dispensation, as without informed opinion people cannot effectively intervene in the political process of a country to alleviate poverty or to ensure human rights.
   He, however, hoped the law would eventually be an effective one with the formulation of proper rules of the law and autonomous Information Commission.
   Among others, journalist Anisur Rahman Swapan, NGO organiser Hafizur Rahman and children right activist Suvangkar Chakrab-orty as panel discussants and Mahmuda Akhter as PROGATI programme coordinator attended the workshop.
   The participants, quoting the imposed restrictions on sections 7 and 32 of the RTI act barring free flows of information, said they ‘inclined to restrict’ information rather than making it public.
   Until these restrictions are not removed, the RTI act will not ensure the free flow of information and thus it will not ensure good governance as right to information goes hand in hand with freedom of expression in a democratic dispensation, they said.
   They said the law would never be an effective tool for ensuring people’s right to information unless information delivery units are set up in the offices.

Speakers at a view-exchange meeting have stressed the need for increasing awareness among the grassroots people to stop repression on women.
   They said it is possible to remove discrimination against women in the country by creating awareness among the people of the issue.
   They also underscored the need for imparting education to the people aiming to promote the status of women in the society by eliminating the negative attitude towards them.
   The speakers said this while addressing the divisional meeting on repression on women held at the district council auditorium on Tuesday.
   ‘Multi-sectoral Programme to Resist Oppression Against Women’ of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry arranged the meeting to prepare the report on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against women.
   The meeting also urged the authorities concerned to ensure the health services, legal assistance and social safety for the victims of women repression and to take effective steps for bringing the perpetrators to justice.
   Acting divisional commissioner Tazul Islam addressed the function as the chief guest with deputy commissioner Sazzadul Hasan in the chair.
   Joint secretary of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry Md Munsur Ali Sikdar, chief executive officer of the district council Syed Nurul Islam addressed the programme as the special guests.
   More than one hundred professionals, academics, lawyers, journalists and officials from different government bodies participated at the meeting.
   Abul Hossain, project director of the Multi-sectoral Programme to Resist Oppression Against women, moderated the meeting.

Speakers at a rally and human chain programme on Wednesday urged the developed countries to stop playing an obstructionist role in the current climate negotiations and to support the poorest along with most vulnerable countries.
   They urged all the nations of the world to protect Bangladesh from the devastating impacts of climate change giving particular emphasis on the northern region of Bangladesh which is under acute risk of desertification.
   The Communication for Social Change in Bangladesh, a voluntary organisation, organised the human chain and candle light programme at T-groin on the bank of River Padma in Rajshahi.
   The speakers urged all developing and developed countries to complete agreement with legal supports demanding compensation from the developed countries, which contributed most to the degradation in world climate.
   Chairman of the organisation Professor Dulal Chandra Biswas, also a teacher of mass communication and journalism department at Rajshahi University, said, ‘Developing countries now need all supports they can get, and it is unfortunate that a country among their rank is weakening the position of the developing countries in climate negotiation’.
   He urged all developing and developed countries to play a positive role in the Copenhagen conference.
   Shahidul Islam, an activist of the organisation, said most of the NGOs agree that the main obstacle in the negotiation process is the ambitious and luxurious lifestyle of the developed countries.
   Nevertheless, this ambitious and luxurious lifestyle will continue if developing countries do not work together to compel developed countries to change their lifestyle.
   ‘All of the sufferers of developing countries should stand united for the success of the negotiations,’ he added.
   More than a hundred students of different educational institutions in Rajshahi and young professionals of the region participated in the programme to raise awareness among people of Rajshahi about the adverse impact of climate change.

Barisal Veterinary Institute, the outer campus of Patuakhali University of Science and Technology, reopens today after 35-day unscheduled closure.
   Nirmal Chandra Saha, registrar of PUST, said the decisions were taken in a meeting of the academic council held on October 24 with the vice-chancellor of the university in the chair.
   The institute was closed for an indefinite period on September 2 after the students had started demonstration demanding reinstatement of their one-year internship and scrapping of changes in curriculum.
   The PUST authorities expelled six students and served show cause notices on 10 others.
   A delegation of the students met with Rashed Khan Menon, lawmaker and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on education, in Dhaka on October 6 and sought government’s intervention in reopening the institute and withdrawal of punitive action taken by the authorities concerned.
   Menon over telephone asked vice-chancellor Professor Syed Sakhawat Hossain to take steps for reopening the institute soon as the matter had already been resolved by the University Grants Commission.

UNICEF on Wednesday organised the Meena Media Award ceremony at British Council auditorium for the fifth consecutive year.
   Its aim is to recognise journalists and producers who promoted child rights through their reports and production in print and electronic media, a press release said.
   A total of 19 writers, presenters, filmmakers and producers received the UNICEF Award this year. Meena Media Award is also innovative in that they recognise child journalists under 18 who have written outstanding articles or produced right quality videos.
   Meena Media Award was introduced in 2005 by UNICEF to celebrate excellence in raising awareness of children’s issues in both print and broadcast media. The award is named after Meena, the popular animation character created in Bangladesh.

A two-day training programme on development of skills in energy reporting began at Sylhet Press Club on Wednesday.
   Press club president Muktabis-Un Nur inaugurated the training programme organised by the Bangladesh Centre for Development, Journalism and Communication in association with Chevron Bangladesh, a multinational energy company.
   Field communication officer of Chevron Bangladesh Badrudduza Badar and general secretary of Sylhet Press Club Ahmed Nur, among others, spoke at the opening session.
   Twenty journalists working for different print and electronic media in Sylhet are taking part in the training programme. Oliur Rahman, senior trainer of Press Institute of Bangladesh, attended the inaugural session as resource person.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky over the country having chances of light rain at one or two places over Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions till 6:00pm today.
   Night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, Met Office said.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:17pm and rises tomorrow at 7:08am.
   Country's highest temperature 34.2 degrees Celsius was recorded on Wednesday at Cox's Bazar and Bogra and lowest 18.6 degrees at Dinajpur.