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The Rajshahi City Corporation has planned to sell bottled water by using all of its four idle water treatment plants when the city’s one-third population, mostly poor, are out of its water supply network.
   The RCC circulated a notice on March 2 in this regard, seeking proposals from interested persons and organisations for implementing the plan under a public-private partnership scheme, RCC sources said.
   Under the scheme, the city corporation will install modern machines at the water treatment plants to purify water, which will be marketed in bottles, said RCC chief engineer Sirajum Munir.
   The official also said the RCC had taken the plan as the four water treatment plants had remained idle since 2006.
   The city corporation now supplies water directly to around two-thirds of its population through pipeline after extracting groundwater using pumps.
   Under a project of the Public Health Engineering Department, the water treatment plants were constructed at a cost of Tk 22 crore during the tenure of the previous BNP-led alliance government for supplying pure drinking water in the city through pipeline.
   Official sources said operation of the water treatment plants remained suspended since 2006 as no alternative pipelines had been set up to supply the purified water.
   ‘Around Tk 12 lakh is needed per year for treating water at the plants. But pure water mixes with untreated water when it is supplied through the same pipeline of untreated water,’ said the RCC chief engineer.
   According to the RCC records, 5.77 lakh people out of 7.50 lakh city dwellers are provided with water. Of the total population, 69 per cent are provided water through pipelines while 20 per cent get water from tube-wells and the rest 11 per cent from open water sources. But according to an unofficial count, around 10 lakh people are now living in the city.
   The city corporation can now supply 710 lakh litres of water daily against the city’s daily demand for 1,030 lakh litres.
   The corporation has earned Tk 386.15 lakh from the water sector in the 2007-08 fiscal against its annual expenditure of Tk 300.12 lakh during the same period.
   ‘The corporation has plans for expanding its water supply network. The public-private partnership scheme has been undertaken for making good use of the water treatment plants,’ said an RCC official.
   Commenting on the RCC move, Jamat Khan, convener of Rajshahi Rakkha Sangram Parishad, a platform of cross-section of people, said bottled water would remain out of the poor people’s reach even if it is sold out at lower price.
   ‘The corporation must try to supply pure water to all without any discrimination,’ he said, adding that the quality of water supplied by the RCC was not also satisfactory.

Robbers looted cash, gold ornaments and other valuables worth over Tk 17 lakh from a house at Uttar Khan, on the outskirts of the capital, early Saturday.
   The police, quoting family members, said about 15 robbers entered the house of businessman Humayun Kabir at Chamur Khan under the Uttar Khan police station after breaking the collapsible gate at about 3:00am.
   The robbers held the family members hostage at gunpoint.
   The robbers looted Tk 4,15,000 in cash, gold ornaments weighing about 45 tolas and other valuables, breaking open the cupboard, and left the house at about 4:30am with the booties.
   The police visited the house but none was arrested till Saturday evening.
   Uttara police officer-in-charge Nazmul Islam told New Age that they were on the hunt for the robbers.

Khulna Nagarik Samaj on Saturday formed an hour-long human chain at Picture Palace crossing in the Khulna city on Saturday from 10:30am, protesting at the electricity price hike.
   The gathering at the human chain, presided over by KNS member secretary Firoz Ahmed, was also addressed by Greater Khulna Development Coordination Action Committee vice-president Sheikh Ashrafuzzaman, Mominul Islam, civic group leaders SR Faruque, FM Iqbal, Alamgir Islam Lavlu, Mahfuzur Rahman Mukul and journalist Mahendranath Sen, among others.
   The speakers expressed their dissatisfaction that the government had increased the electricity price instead of solving the severe power outage problem.
   They said that the people are now suffering from price hike of daily commodities and the electricity price hike would add to their woes.
   The speakers demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision to increase power price.

Participants in a daylong discussion in Barisal on Saturday stressed the need for introducing unitary, science-based, standard and pro-people primary education for the balanced development of the nation.
   They also made a call to minimise the gap in the teacher-student ratio and ensure the respectful status of the teaching profession.
   The Conscious Citizen Committee, Barisal of the Transparency International Bangladesh organised the discussion on problems in primary education and their solution at BDS auditorium in the city.
   Manabendra Batobayal, convener of the CCC, Barisal, presided over the function attended by Talukdar Md Yunus, AL lawmaker and member of the parliamentary standing committee on primary education, as chief guest.
   Jibon Krishna Dey, retired government primary school headmaster and child rights activist, presented the keynote paper in the discussion.
   Among others, CCC members, officials of district and upazila primary education, leaders of government and non-government primary school, kindergarten teachers, local elites, participated in the discussion.
   The speakers said success in primary education would never be achieved without unitary, pro-people, scientific, discrimination-free primary education system.
   At least eleven types of primary educational institutions such as government, non-government, Bangla and English medium primary schools, kindergartens, madrassah are running in the country.
   These differences are creating discriminations, which should be eliminated, they said, suggesting immediate implementation of the proposed education policy.
   They also suggested introducing regular mid-day meal, increasing stipend in all primary schools without any discrimination to check drop-outs in primary education.

Discussants in a meting held in the Sylhet city on Saturday stressed the need for increasing mass awareness for prevention of tuberculosis in the country.
   They said tuberculosis was a curable disease and proper and timely treatment was necessary for recovery from the disease.
   They also stressed the role of civil society members in developing a massive awareness among all level-people about tuberculosis and in ensuring its treatment.
   The Sylhet regional unit of Jatiya Zakkha Nirodh Samiti organised the meeting styled ‘civil society’s role in identifying TB and ensuring its treatment’ in the afternoon.
   The Sylhet civil surgeon, M Fayez Ahmed, addressed the meeting at a local restaurant.
   The civil surgeon said the campaign against tuberculosis had to be turned into a social movement to check its alarming spread in society. ‘Because, one person gets infected by tuberculosis in every two minutes and one person dies in every 10 minutes from the disease in our country,’ he said.
   The joint secretary of the organisation’s Dhaka unit, Khayer Uddin Ahmed, and project coordinator Segupta Sultana addressed the discussion as special guests while the local bar association president, EU Shahidul Haq, was in the chair.
   The association’s Sylhet district unit secretary, Fazlul Hosen Minar, Bangladesh Chemist and Druggist Association president Mainul Haq Chowdhury, Sukriti Paul, Syed Mujibur Rahman, Abu Taher, Dhurjyati Kumar Basu and Abdul Jalil, among others, spoke at the meeting.

The power supply to the Dhaka University arts building was not restored till Saturday after the system collapsed on Monday, causing sufferings to the students during their classes.
   Most of the classrooms at the building remained dark and the computer labs closed since March 15.
   The power remains off after 2:00pm and students are suffering a lot as practical classes have remained suspended for the past five days.
   Shatila Sharmin, a mass communication and journalism student, said they had a video-journalism practical class on Saturday but it was not held as the camera could not be operated in the absence of enough power supply.
   History department students said it was tough to attend the classes in darkness and heat.
   The authorities sent a notice to all of the departments on March 18 asking them not to use ACs or lift and other electronic appliances because they were trying to set up an alternative line to support the arts building and lecture theatre building.
   KM Abu Musa Choudhury, assistant engineer of the Dhaka University electricity section, told New Age that the authorities were trying their best to repair the snapped line soon but it would take at least two more days.
   ‘We have detected a major fault in the underground cable of arts building and hope to solve the problem soon,’ he said.

The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, on Saturday said students of all educational institutions would have to take part in the winter sports competition from next year.
   The minister said this while addressing the opening ceremony of the 39th national school and madrassah winter sports competition 2010 at Khulna district stadium in the Khulna city in the morning.
   The minister gave a call to the students of the schools to master modern technologies and to practise games, sports and cultural activities for the healthy development of the nation.
   He, however, said as all the institutions did not have adequate playground, the education ministry had taken necessary steps in this connection.
   Arranged by Bangladesh Jatiya School and Madrassah Krira Samity, the inaugural ceremony was also addressed by Khulna city mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque, secondary education (physical education) deputy director Farhana Haque, while secondary and higher education department director general Professor Md Noman Ur Rashid was in the chair.
   Awami League lawmakers Mollah Jalal Uddin, Narayan Chandra Chand, Noni Gopal Mandal and Habibun Nahar, Khulna divisional commissioner Md Eunusur Rahman, chairmen of all education boards and Khulna deputy commissioner NM Ziaul Alam were also present at the inaugural ceremony.
   A total of 516 students of different secondary level educational institutions across the country will participate in 35 events till March 24.

The three-day International Children’s Film Festival concluded in the Barisal city on Saturday with the slogan ‘Future in Frames’.
   On the last day of the festival, five films and documentaries from Austria, Bangladesh and Germany were screened.
   A large number of children, along their guardians, enjoyed the films and documentaries of the festival.
   The Children’s Film Society Bangladesh organised the festival at Barisal Aswani Kumar Hall in the city.
   Thirteen films from six countries including France, Germany, Austria, Iran, India, and Bangladesh were screened during the festival, Sheikh Shazid, convener of the festival committee, said.

Weather is likely to remain dry with partly cloudy sky over the country till 6:00pm today.
   Day temperature may rise slightly over the country, the Met Office said in a forecast on Saturday.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:10pm and rises tomorrow at 6:01am.
   The country’s highest temperature, 38.4 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Saturday in Rangamati and the lowest, 18.3 degrees, at Srimongal.