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Academic and administrative activities are being badly hampered in the district's 41 high schools, which are running without headmasters.
   Education officials said the post of headmaster remained vacant for long at 41 high schools in sadar, Shibchar and Kalkini uapzilas in the district, resulting in declines in standard of education.
   The schools which are running without head teachers in sadar upazila are -Kulpaddi High School, Al-Jabir High School, Char Muguria Merchants' High School, Mostafapur High School, Razzak Howlader Academy, Julio Curi High School, Itakhola Bajitpur HMP High School, Magura Girls' High School, United Islamic Government High School, Sheikh Shahidul Islam High School, Dhurail Ideal High School, Chila Char Balikandi Shiekh Fazilatunnessa Junior High School, AC North Kalagachia High School, Bolairkandi Union High School and Adittyapur Sonalru Hamid Master Junior High
   School at Madaripur sadar upazila.
   Schools at Shibchar upazila are Siruyail High School, Bhadra-shan YC Academy, Takerhat High School, Haji Baser Moulvi High School, Sikderhat High School and Abdus Satter-Ibn-Halima Siraj Academy.
   Sahebrampur Hakimunnessa Girls' High School, Kaliganj High School, Gopalpur Multilateral High School, Sahebrampur High School, Nabogram High School, Kroker Char High School, Laxmipur United High School, Koyaria Eidgah high School, Ander Char High School, Enayetnagar Junior High School and Biddyabagis Ideal High School, Takerhat Pullar High School, Shahid Sarder Shahjahan Girl's High School, Rajoir Gopalganj KGS High School, Amgram High School, Hossainpur High School, Kabirajpur Shihab High School, Bajitpur Girls' High School, Esibpur High School and Ullabari United High School at Kalkini upazila have running with out headmaster for long.
   Guardians said students of these secondary schools are not getting proper education due to absence of headmasters.
   Besides, the teachers working as acting headmasters are mostly inefficient and as a result, they cannot properly carry out their administrative duties, they alleged.
    Most of the acting headmasters lack knowledge about administrative work as they are ignorant of the rules and regulations of the education board, some teachers of different schools alleged.
   'They (acting headmasters) are destroying the educational atmosphere in the schools as general teachers could not function properly as they are frequently harassed by them on false excuses,' said a teacher of Esibpur High School at Kalkini upazila.
   He further alleged that a good many acting headmasters indulge in misappropriation of school funds including coaching fees, transfer certificate (TC) fees and the money collected for SSC candidates.
   They are involved in the irregularities in collusion with the managing committees, the teacher pointed out.
   'If the vital post like that of headmaster remains vacant, it is very difficult for the school authority
   to run the academic activities as well as adminis- trative jobs there', said district education officer (acting) Syed Atiur Rahman.
    He said they had informed the education ministry of the matter.
   'We are hopeful that the higher authority will take immediate mea- sures to appoint tea- chers in this schools', he added.

VGF card holders staged a sit-in in front of the Harinakunda municipality office on Wednesday protesting at distribution of rotten rice among them.
   They also brought out a protest procession.
   Agitators said they had come to receive VGF rice to be distributed among 2,000 card holders on the Harina-kundo municipality complex Wednesday morning.
   But to their surprise, during distribution, the beneficiaries found the rice to be rotten.
   Contacted, Bulbul Aktar, mayor of Harinakundo municipality, said she had asked No. 3 ward councilor Anisur Rahman to withdraw 20 tonnes of rice and distribute the same among the VGF card holders.
   She heard that the VGF card holders raised a protest alleging that the rice brought for distribution was rotten.
   She instantly reached the spot and found their allegation true.
   She later went to godown and learnt that normal rice had been delivered to Anisur.
   Bulbul said that Anisur who was a rice trader had removed the good rice and distributed the bad one instead.
   The mayor filed a case with Harinakundo police station against Anisur in this connection.
   Anisur Rahman went into hiding after the incident.
   Contacted, Harinakunda upazila nirbahi officer Abdullah-Al-Mamun confirmed the incident.
   He said, on information, he reached the spot and sealed the rotten rice.
   Contacted over cell phone, Anisur Rahman denied the allegation.
   The officer-in-charge of Harinakundo police station confirmed filling of the case against Councilor Anisur Rahman.

Two persons died from electrocution at Bhatpara in the Savar municipality Thursday morning.
   The deceased were Shahidul Islam, 30, a rickshaw-puller of Sonatola in Bogra, and Abdur Rahman, 45, a driver of Palong in Shariatpur.
   The police, quoting witnesses, said rickshaw puller Shahidul died as he came in touch with a snapped live electric wire lying on the ground at about 7:00am.
   Rahim was electrocuted when he tried to save Shahidul.
   The police handed over the bodies to the families as they wanted to bury them without post-mortem examinations.

A Sirajganj court on Thursday sentenced two persons to life-term imprisonment for killing six years ago.
   District and the sessions judge Biplab Goshwami handed down the verdict against the convicts.
   The court also fined the convicts Abdul Kader, 35, son of Zuran Ali, and Maula Box, 37, son of Omar Ali, of village Charharipur under sadar upazila of the district Tk 10,000, in default, to serve two years more in jail.
   Of the convicts — Abdul Kader was present in the dock during the trial while Maula Box is absconding.
   According to the prosecution, the convicts stabbed Md Abdul Hanif, 38, son of Billat Sheikh, of the same area to death following a previous enmity on 24, July 2003.

Assets worth Tk 30 lakh were burnt in a fire that broke out at Fakirhat of Raujan in Chittagong Wednesday morning, burning 15 shops.
   The fire service and civil defence said the fire originated from a short circuit in a grocery shop at about 10:00am and soon spread to other shops.
   Sources also said two fire fighting units put out the blaze after an hour’s effort.