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The government with support from the World Bank Monday launched a Tk 487 crore mega project to improve the air quality of the densely populated Dhaka city.
   The five-year project, the Clean Air and Sustainable Environment, will be implemented by the Department of Environment, Dhaka City Corporation and Dhaka Transport Coordination Board.
   This is the first project that integrates the environment and transport under one common objective to improve the air quality of capital Dhaka, a sprawling city of 12 million people.
   ‘The CASE project will improve the air quality in Dhaka city by addressing two main air-polluting sectors, the brick manufacturing and the transport sectors, Roads and Highways Division secretary Mozammel Haque Khan told a project-launching workshop.
   The Ministry of Environment and Forest and the World Bank jointly organised the programme at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
   The transport policy adviser to Panning Commission, Dr Rahmatullah, the director general of Local Government Division, Swapan Kumar Sarkar, Professor Hoque of BUET, senior urban transport manager of World Bank Hubert Nove Jessrerand, CASE task team leader Maria Sarraf of WB, CASE project directors of environment component Dr Mohammad Nasiruddin and Traffic Management DCC component Eng Shehab Ullah, and DTCB traffic engineer Anisur Rahman, among others, attended the function.
   Mozammel Haque said the project would introduce cleaner technologies in the highly polluting brick manufacturing sector, reduce energy consumption and lower air pollution.
   ‘In urban areas, the project will introduce low-cost measures to reduce conflict between motorised and non-motorised vehicles, reduce congestion and provide safer and cleaner mobility for pedestrian in pilot areas of the city,’ he said.
    DTCB traffic engineer Anisur Rahman said the project would improve the traffic flow and pedestrian mobility and safety, build 25 foot over-bridges, 70 km of new sidewalks, 80km of one-way streets.
   ‘It’ll improve bus route network and introduce Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on at least one corridor,’ he added.
   About traffic component of the project, Eng Shehab Ullah said the project objectives are to improve traffic flow in project intervention locations by increasing 10 per cent of vehicular traffic and decreasing 10 per cent of accidents.
   Dr Nasiruddin said if the exposure to urban air pollution could be reduced by 20 per cent to 80 per cent it would result in saving 1,200 to 3,500 lives annually and avoiding 80 to 230 million cases of disease.
   Sarraf said the CASE project will include some 25 brick kilns using cleaner technology to reduce air pollution and strengthen the DCC and DTCB.
   Nasiruddin said the project will help decrease emission by 20-30 per cent per brick kiln that will adopt a cleaner technology from a baseline of more than 1,000 mg/m3.
   ‘There will be reduction in greenhouse gas emission per brick kiln adopting cleaner technology by 15-20 per cent compared to a baseline of about 760 tonmes per year for the production of 2 million bricks,’ he added.
   Acting Operations Advisor of the World Bank in Bangladesh Mohamed Toure said the Bank is particularly happy to be able to support the government to tackle Dhaka’s environmental, transport and traffic challenges through the innovatively designed CASE project focusing on reducing air pollution and safe mobility under a co-benefit approach.

Substandard food-supplementary items of unknown companies are being sold in different pharmacies in Sylhet city in the absence of proper monitoring by the Drug Administration and the Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution.
   According to sources at different medicine markets in the city, the physicians suggest their patients, irrespective of their ages, to take food-supplementary items in the name of different vitamins, forcing the pharmacy owners to collect the substandard items of different companies.
   Most of the physicians randomly prescribe food-supplementary items to their patients for extra-earning in the forms of various gifts from the sales agents of different companies, the sources said.
   Ehteshamul Haq, assistant director in the Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital and president
   of the Swadhinata Chikithsak Forum in Sylhet, said a physician can prescribe some high-standard food-supplementary for the old and pregnant patients.
   ‘But such items should not be prescribed to patients of all ages,’ he added.
   A good number of pharmacy owners claimed that there were about fifty institutions in the country which import some low-standard and adulterated vitamins from different countries that includes China, Thaiwan, Germany and USA and market them as food-supplementary after labelling attractive trade name.
   Even the companies, which are marketing such food-supplements, do
   not bother to have approval of the Drug Administration and the BSTI before marketing their products, the pharmacy owners said.
   They said the companies also fix the prices of such products at their whims and each file of 30 to 60 tablets of such food-supplements is being sold now between Tk 320 and Tk 2,200.
   Such food-supplements of Biocare Pharma, Bibs Pharma, 3-M Enterprise, Estrone, Uni-aid Enterprise, Zansing Health Product Private Limited, A&D International, MD Trading International and Elic Marketing Company are available in the pharmacies in Sylhet, sources concerned said.
   Being contacted, the divisional superintendent of drug, Shafiqul Islam, told New Age that launching drive against substandard products of food-supplementary is out of their jurisdiction.
   The director in the regional office of the BSTI, Rezaul Karim, said they would soon take steps to conduct drive against such substandard food-supplements and seize them.

World Children’s Day and Child Rights Week 2009 was observed in the country as elsewhere in the world with a view to creating awareness about child rights to ensure sound growth of children.
   Different government and non-government organisations held different programmes including discussion meeting, rallies and processions on the occasion.
   The Women and Children Affairs Ministry organised a programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city with the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, as chief guest.
   Marking the day, Jatiya Ganatantrik League held a discussion meeting at its central office at city’s Kalyanpur.
   The organisation president, MA Jalil, presided over the meeting, also attended, among others, by former secretary and journalist Bahauddin Chowdhury and poet Nahid Roksana.
   The speakers asked the government to upgrade the quality of primary education as, what they observed, only a solid and proper foundation of knowledge can help building a prosperous society.
   They underscored the need for teaching the children a number of languages including Bangla, English and Arabic for the development of the children properly.
   Bangladesh Nari Mukti Andolan held a discussion meeting at its Lalmatia office with its president Fatema Khatun in the chair.
   Bangabandhu Sangs-
   kritik Jote general secretary Tarana Halim MP, Jote’s joint general secretary Arun Sarker and Mohila Awami League leader Shikha Chakrabavarty spoke on the occasion.
   Tarana Halim called upon the people from all strata of life to come forward to ensure their rights as it is not possible for the government alone to address the issue.
   The National Forum of Organisations Working with Disables will hold a rally of disabled children and a cultural programme at Shawkat Osman auditorium of the Central Public Library with social welfare minister Enamul Huque Mostafa Shaheed as chief guest.

Most of the house tutors of the Dhaka University do not carry out their duties regularly, although they are enjoying all necessary facilities and logistic support, some students alleged.
   According to the rules and regulations of the university, the responsibilities of a house tutor include monitoring arrival and departure of residential students.
   They are also supposed to call the roll and seek explanation from the absentees, check leave applications and look after the dining rooms, canteens, furniture and other property of the halls of residence.
   Professor Jahidul Islam, provost of Zahurul Haque Hall, said the house tutors do not visit their respective residential halls regularly.
   ‘They neglect their duties’, he said adding the students would have been more benefited had the house tutors paid more attention to them.
   A residential student of Zahurul Haque Hall told the news agency that the post of house tutor should be upgraded to assistant provost with more responsibilities.
   According to the university budget, the university has allocated Tk 41.43 lakh under the head of allowances for the provosts and house tutors of 19 dormitories for 2009-10 fiscal year.
   The university has about 150 house tutors and 70 assistant house tutors at 19 dormitories, sources said.
   Had the house tutors been regular on duty, they said, the students would not have faced accommodation crisis and the outsiders could not occupy the seats.
   Mansur Alam, a residential student of Zahurul Haque Hall, said he had to wait for months to meet a house tutor to get a seat.
   ‘If the house tutors visit hall canteens regularly, the students could have improved meal everyday,’ he said.
   Sabrina Sultana Toma, a residential student of Rokeya Hall, said they would have been benefited more if the house tutors paid more attention to them.
   The university authorities pay Tk 1,000 as allowance to each house tutor and Tk 800 to each assistant house tutor per month.
   Besides, they get residential accommodation near the dormitory to properly carry out their duties.

The Sher-e-Bangla Medical College on Monday issued show-cause notices to eight persons including its three employees and five security guards over felling and looting of 63 trees from the campus.
   The academic council of the college had taken the decision at a meeting held with Professor Syed Jahid Hossain in the chair, according to campus sources.
   The meeting also decided to file a case with the police in connection with destroying the greenery on the campus.
   The eight facing the show cause are Saheb Ali, Jabbar Molla, Saidur Rahman, Class-4 employees and five members of Prima Contract Security Service entrusted with the job to ensure security on the campus.
   They have been asked to explain within 24 hours why action should not be taken against them for negligence of duty that led to felling of the trees during Eid vacation.
   Earlier on Saturday, Shahjahan, a day-labourer, was arrested and sent to jail under section 54 for collecting leaves and branches of the felled trees.
   Tuhin, a speedboat driver of the Water Development Board, Barisal and also a Awami League-backed CBA leader, had allegedly felled and looted the trees from the college campus during Eid vacation.
   Tuhin was not available for comment, but his elder brother Azizur Rahman Shahin, a Swechchasebak League leader, told New Age that the trees had been planted by their father before the government acquired the land for expansion of the campus.
   The SBMC principal, Professor Syed Zahid Hossain, said none can cut down any tree planted by any body on the campus without the approval of the authority.
   The trees looted from the campus include 17 rain trees, 15 betel nuts, eight mehoganies, seven madars, six date trees, five chambals, three Shishus and two coconut trees.

Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Dhaka divisions and at a few places over Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions with moderately heavy falls at places till 6:00pm today.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, Met Office said.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:41pm and rises tomorrow at 6:52am.
   Country’s highest temperature 32.8 degree Celsius was recorded on Monday at Sylhet and lowest 23.8 degrees at Rangpur.