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Picking and dropping of passengers here and there on the Dhaka city roads continue unabated as most of the bus drivers are defiant of using marked bays for lax monitoring.
   Almost all the bus drivers pick and drop passengers on the city roads at their will despite having marked bays for them, according to sources at the traffic police.
   Lack of proper enforcement of traffic rules puts the city’s thoroughfares into a total chaos everyday, causing immense sufferings of the people, the sources said.
   The Dhaka City Corporation and the Roads and Highways Department have marked some points on the major roads for the buses to stop there for picking and dropping of passengers.
   But the bus drivers barely stop at the marked bays, hampering movement of other vehicles and ultimately causing severe traffic congestion in the city.
   Despite the government’s efforts to ensure smooth traffic, bus drivers continue to flout traffic rules for lack of proper monitoring by the agencies concerned, a DTCB official said.
   Haphazard parking, lifting of passengers here and there, unskilled driving, competition and rapid change of lane without installing any signal are mainly responsible for the city’s traffic congestion, officials concerned said.
   Almost all the bus drivers stop their vehicles at the busy intersections instead of marked bays for lifting and dropping of passengers.
   ‘We have marked some points on major roads for the buses to ease traffic congestion but bus drivers barely stop there,’ the DTCB’s additional executive director, SM Salehuddin, said.
   The law-enforcing agencies were supposed to force the bus drivers to use the marked bays, DTCB sources said.
   A traffic sergeant said they had not enough manpower to properly monitor plying of buses.
   When asked about the allegation of flouting traffic rules, a bus driver said, ‘We cannot stop our vehicle at the marked points as passengers stand near the bays.’
   The total road network of the city is around 2,200 kilometres including lanes and by-lanes, with main roads stretching only 210km of the total road stretch, according to sources at the Dhaka City Corporation.
   Over 4.7 lakh vehicles including bus, minibus, car, jeep, taxicab, CNG-auto-rickshaw, truck and human haulers have been registered with the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority in Dhaka till 2008, according to BRTA statistics.
   Of them, there are over 2 lakh cars, jeep, microbus and station wagons and over 15,000 public buses and minibuses.
   The statistics also show that nearly 2 lakh motorcycles and 27,000 trucks and 25,000 human haulers are plying the city roads.

Speakers at a discussion meeting on Friday said all concerned should work together to make the people aware of the causes for cancer especially breast cancer.
   They said a countrywide mass campaign is a must to make females aware of breast cancer so that they don’t feel shy in disclosing their health problems including breast cancer to their family members and relatives.
   If breast cancer is detected at early stage, lives of thousands of women in the country can be saved, they said at the discussion titled ‘Let’s move together to build a life free from breast cancer’.
   Young Women’s Christine Association and the daily Prothom Alo jointly organised the meeting at Shishu Academy auditorium.
   Former adviser to the caretaker government Rasheda K Chowdhury addressed the discussion as the chief guest while executive director of Nari Pakkha Shirin Akhter, assistant professor of radiology therapy department of Dhaka Medical College Golam Mohiuddin Faruk and feature editor of the daily Prothom Alo Sumana Sharmin as the special guests.
   Chaired by former president of YWCA Rina Das, the discussion was also addressed by vice-president of YWCA Janet Mary Gomage, national general secretary Joyce Mormita Das and TV presenter Sharmin Lucky.
   Rasheda K Chowdhury said all in the society should be motivated so that they stand beside anyone suffering from breast cancer. Members of the family, especially male members, should be more caring in this regard, she added.
   She urged the government to ensure cancer treatment at district and upazila levels. The private sector entrepreneurs should serve the people suffering from cancer with more humane point of view rather than only commercial attitudes, she added.
   Shirin Akhter said the people at all levels should be aware of their food habit and do physical work so that the risks of cancer could be reduced or eliminated. They should be informed of the treatment facilities, she said, adding that cancer is no more a deadly disease if it can be detected at early stage.
   Women and girls should be given education about breast cancer and its treatment and also the ways on how to detect the disease by their own, she said. Open discussion on the disease is a must for proper management of treatment, she added.
   ‘People with cancer, has no answer’ is no more a reality now, rather people with courage and consciousness could fight against the causes for breast cancer and the disease also, she said.
   Earlier, a procession from National Museum marched towards the Dhaka University campus and ended at Shishu Academy. About 1,500 people took part in the procession. Later, a cultural function was organised with the participation of students of YWCA.

All the ministries should have to take necessary measures along with the health ministry to check the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country, the health secretary said on Friday.
   ‘This issue will have to be incorporated in the reporting system of the ministries and training institutes concerned for giving a permanent shape to the AIDS prevention campaign,’ Sheikh Altaf Ali said while inaugurating a two-day workshop on incorporation of HIV/AIDS education in ministries of information, home and women and children affairs at BIAM auditorium.
   Padakhep Consortium organised the workshop with the support of Save the Children, USA.
   Information secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury addressed the inaugural session as the special guest while executive director of Padakhep Consortium Iqbal Ahmed gave the welcome speech, said a press release.
   Chaired by programme manager of National AIDS/STD Programme M Abdur Rahman, the function was also addressed by former secretary and adviser of Padakhep Consortium Shahjahan Majumdar, director (HIV component) of Save the Children Nizam Uddin Ahmed.
   Thirty officials from the ministries of information, home, women and children affairs are taking part in the workshop.

Shaheed Hadis Park in the heart of the Khulna city has greatly lost its attraction as a nursery has been set up in a portion of the park land for commercial purpose.
   The park located in front of Khulna Nagar Bhaban has turned into a place of business while city people are deprived of adequate recreational facilities like parks and open spaces, some locals said.
   A gardener of the Khulna City Corporation, Md Abu Hanif, claimed that he was doing business taking the land of the park on lease ‘verbally’ while the KCC officials denied giving the land on lease and acknowledged that the land was being used ‘temporarily’ for making plants for ‘greening’ Nagar Bhaban.
   The first park in Khulna and presently the most important park in the city, Shaheed Hadis Park, earlier known as Municipal Park, Gandhi Park, Jinnah Park and Shaheed Park, was built on 1.3504 acres of land in the city’s ward no 21 in 1884, said KCC sources.
   The park has two parts — the open space and the garden. The open space contains the Central Shaheed Minar and an independence war memorial, Durjoy, on the one side and some worn-out chairs on the other side.
   The garden portion contains a small garden, sitting space and an artificial mound.
   According to witnesses, the nursery was built occupying a portion of the garden while a fence has been erected around the nursery area.
   Referring to the nursery signboard that reads ‘City Nursery, Conductor: Md Abu Hanif; all kinds of plants of fruit and flower are sold here at a fair price, Mobile 01923455863’, the park goers alleged that the KCC, instead of expanding the park facilities, had allowed the place for raising a nursery that has shrunk the real area of the park.
   Advocate Firoz Ahmed, coordinator of the Khulna unit of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan, told New Age that the corporation should not have allowed the park land to be used as nursery for business when there is acute shortage of parks and park space in the city.
   They should develop more parks in the city for the city dwellers and, if needed, they should choose other open places for nursery, Firoz added.
   Md Abu Hanif, who claimed to be the owner of the nursery, said he had taken the part of the park on lease ‘verbally’ from the corporation high ups and had developed the nursery on the condition of providing plants at Nagar Bhaban free of cost.
   The corporation high ups told him that if he could sell plants to others and make some money from the nursery after providing the KCC with the plants, they would have no objection to it, he claimed.
   The KCC chief executive, Tapan Kumar Ghosh, told New Age that the land was not given on lease and said the land is being ‘temporarily’ used for growing plants for greening Nagar Bhaban.
   He said the corporation was keen to preserve the park and that as there was no land near Nagar Bhaban, they had selected the place to grow plants and the nursery will be dissolved just after complete greening of Nagar Bhaban.
   Asked when the greening will be completed, he could give no answer.

The admission test for the first year engineering courses at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology will be held today.
   The test will be held from 10:00am to 12:30pm at KUET, Teachers’ Training College and Government Laboratory High School, official sources said.
   A total of 4,658 applicants will vie for 545 seats in six departments.
   There are 120 seats each in civil engineering, electrical and electronics engineering and mechanical engineering departments while 60 seats each in computer science and engineering, electronics and communication engineering industrial engineering and management departments and 5 reserved seats.

The police recovered the charred body of a female biscuit factory worker from near her workplace in Rajshahi city on Friday.
   The deceased was identified as Mohima, 30, wife of Asgar Ali, a resident of Shiroil Colony in the city. She was an employee of Granary Biscuit Factory at BSCIC industrial area.
   Jasim Uddin, officer-in-charge of Boalia model police station, said Mohima didn’t return to her residence after she had finished works at the factory on Wednesday. Miscreants set her on fire and later dumped her charred body into the pond near the factory, he added.
   On information, the police recovered the body from the pond at about 8:00am.
   They also arrested victim’s husband and six employees of the factory for interrogation.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky over the country till 6:00pm today.
   Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country, Met Office said.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:20pm and rises tomorrow at 7:05am.
   Country’s highest temperature 33.8 degrees Celsius was recorded on Friday at Cox’s Bazar and lowest 16.8 degrees at Jessore.