Arms, ammo seized in Khagrachhari: Three robbers held with arms in Gopalganj

Army personnel seized firearms and ammunition, raiding a house in Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari district yesterday afternoon.

The seized arms and ammunition include two rifles, four pistols, 228 bullets, three grenades, six walkie-talkies, a wireless set and 19 sets of military uniforms, our correspondent quoting army sources said.

Acting on a tip-off, an army patrol team raided the house of Bidhu Bhushan Chakma at Rupchandra Karbaripara at around 1:30pm and seized the firearms and ammunition, said Major Hassan of Khagrachhari region.

He said no one was arrested during the raid as the criminals fled the house, sensing the presence of the army personnel.

Our Gopalganj correspondent reported that Police on Saturday night arrested three robbers in Moksudpur area on Dhaka-Khulna highway and recovered a pipe gun, two bullets and a knife from them.

The arrestees are Babu Sheikh, 42, of Rupsha upazila in Khulna, Afzal Molla, 25, of Sadar upazila in Gopalganj and Nur Mohammad, 35, of Sadar upazila in Khulna.

Moazzem Hossain, sub-inspector of Gopalganj district detective branch of police, said a gang of robbers barricaded the highway with a truck in Sharifpara area under Sadar upazila and while they were returning after a drive in Kashiani upazila at around 11:00pm.

He said the robbers blocked the road in a bid to rob them. Sensing the presence of the law enforcer, they left the scene with the truck, he added.

Police chased them and arrested three of the gang near Moksudpur area while the rest managed to flee.

Source : The Daily Star

Bailey bridge with stone laden truck collapses: Road link between 2 areas in Faridpur town snapped

A bailey bridge collapsed in the Kumar River here due to heavy pressure of a stone laden truck early yesterday.

Police arrested truck driver Nantu Rahman,25, of Allar Darga village under Doulatpur upazila in Kusthia but the helper managed to flee by swimming ashore. The driver's leg was locked in the seat, police said.

Police sources said that at about 5:00 am a truck coming from Rangpur was crossing the bridge when its western part totally collapsed into the river along with the truck.

The driver told this correspondent that he was coming from Rangpur with 36 tonnes of stones in truck for delivery to Faridpur railway authorities. He tried wrongfully to enter the town to make a short cut way by avoiding Alimuzzaman bridge.

The bailey bridge connects Hazi Shariatullah Bazaar with Titumir Bazaar in the town.

Hazi Shariatullah Bazaar secretary Nur Islam Molla said the bridge was too old for crossing. 'We were demanding its repair for a long time, but in vain', he said.

Contacted, SI Nikhil Odhikari, also invetigation officer (IO) of Kotwali police station said, the bailey bridge collapsed as the truck driver was crossing it carelessly.

Source : The Daily Star

Floods wreak havoc on fish farming in Satkhira

The ongoing floods have caused extensive damage to cultivation of fishes, especially shrimp, in Satkhira district that contributes greatly to foreign exchange earning from fish export.

According to official sources, fishes worth over Tk 194 crore 7 lakh have been washed away by floodwater in the district while unofficial sources said the loss would be over Tk 215 crore.

The estimated loss may rise further when correct assessment will be made after recession of floodwaters.

Floods have washed away most of the shrimp enclosures, hatcheries, canals, creeks and ponds in Tala, Shyamnagar, Assassuni, Debhata, Kalaroa, Kaliganj and Sadar upazilas, said sources of district fisheries department.

Floods have washed away around 3400 shrimp enclosures covering 58,306 acres of lands and 8,539 freshwater fish farms, ponds, hatcheries, tanks, creeks and canals in the district, Satkhira District Fish Traders Association sources said.

The worst affected upazilas are Tala, Sadar, Assassuni and Shyamnagar upazilas.

According to preliminary estimate, shrimp worth Tk 144 crore 36 lakh 80 thousands from shrimp enclosures, shrimp fry worth Tk 1 crore, 75 lakh 80 thousand from hatcheries and white fish worth Tk 36 crore 65 lakh 50 thousand have been washed away. Floods have caused infrastructure loss worth Tk 11 crore 30 lakh, sources said.

When asked, several shrimp traders told this correspondent that fishes and shrimp died due to eating rotten things and bad odour in the water.

"The deluge has made fish traders in Satkhira district economically crippled. It will be difficult for them to repay the huge bank loans that they took for fish cultivation. Foreign exchange earning from fish export will be badly affected due to the situation," said Khairul Mozaffar Montu, a renowned shrimp farmer and trader.

On contact, Abdul Wadood, acting district fisheries officer of Satkhira, confirmed the situation.

Source : The Daily Star

Ten hurt as BCL men clash with Rab, police

At least 10 people including a policeman sustained injuries as Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police charged baton on Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists who locked in a clash with the law enforcers' trying to clear barricade on busy Sylhet-Tamabil Highway yesterday.

The BCL men of Sylhet MC College led by district BCL President Pankaj Purkayostha put the barricade at Tilagarh on Sylhet-Tamabil Highway at 12:30pm in protest against the arrest of a fellow activist on Saturday night, locals said.

As police asked them to clear the road, the BCL men locked in a clash with them and chase and counter chase took place for about half an hour. When a Rab team reached the scene, the agitators pelted them with bricks.

The Rab and police then resorted to baton charge, chased the agitators to MC College campus and cleared the road.

Ten people sustained injuries and law enforcers picked up three people during the incident.

With injuries on the head, Assistant Sub-Inspector of police Jalal Hossain was admitted to the Police Hospital. The other injured, all students, took first aid.

Asked about the matter, Pankaj Purkayostha said, "We were protesting against the arrest of BCL man Moshahdi Ali, but the police swooped on us without any reason."

Sources of Hotel Metro International at Dhopadighirpar in the city said six of their staff were injured as armed BCL men attacked the hotel Saturday night after a heated argument between hotel security men and students over parking of motorbikes in front of the hotel. The hotel staff caught Moshahid Ali, one of the attackers, and handed him over to the police, they said.

Source : The Daily Star

Abdur Rahim

Abdur Rahim, a freedom fighter, passed away due to brain hemorrhage at Bogra Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital on Saturday at the age of 62.

He left behind his wife, four sons, three daughters and host of relatives.

Rahim, of village Baushi, was buried at Fulchhari Shaheed Minar graveyard with state honour.

Source : The Daily Star

4 cops snatch money

Hours after allegedly snatching Tk 8,700 from a poultry trader in Bogra town last night, four policemen returned the amount to its owner after senior police officials got to know about the matter.

The accused Sub-Inspector Alamgir Hossain, Habilder Tipu Sultan and constables Jahangir Hossain and Nazrul Islam of Fulbari Police Outpost stopped Jamal Uddin, 30, of Gabtoli and his employee at Brindaban Para around 9:00pm, said the victim.

"The policemen searched us and found the amount in my pocket. They forced me to give the money, threatening to implicate me in a Phensidyl peddling case," said Jamal.

Jamal said they returned the money around 10:00pm after he informed the incident to officials of Bogra Sadar Police Station.

OC (Investigation) Atiur Rahman of the police confirmed the incident.

Source : The Daily Star 

CCI&E holds mourning day discussion

Office of the Chief Controller of Imports & Exports (CCI&E) organised a discussion at its office in the city yesterday marking National Mourning Day.

MA Sabur, president of BCS Trade Association and CCI&E, M Shamsul Alam, Mahmudul Hassan Khan, Nandan Kumar Banik, Shafiqul Islam, Zia Rahman, AS Imran, Md Borhan Uddin and Rabiul Haque spoke on the occasion.

Special prayers were offered seeking divine blessing for the departed souls of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members, who were brutally killed in the fateful night of August 15, 1975.

Source : The Daily Star

Domestic help found dead

Police recovered the hanging body of female domestic help from her employer's house at Mohammadpur of the city yesterday morning.

The victim Roksana Akhter, 15, daughter of Nasir Uddin of Charjabbar in Noakhali was found hanging from balcony grill of the house.

Roksana had been working at Shah Alam's house since last six months. Police detained Shah Alam for interrogation, said police.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Mohammadpur Police Station Mahmudul Islam told reporters that the house owner claimed that the girl committed suicide at any time of the night while they were asleep.

The incident was mysterious, as the legs of the victim were on the ground while they recovered the body around 8:00am.

The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy, the OC added.

One cousin of the deceased, Abul Kalam Azad, said that Rokasan called her mother Hosne Ara over phone around 9:00pm on Saturday saying that her employee beat her up now over a trifling matter. She requested her mother to come and take her home, he said.

Source : The Daily Star

CU Eid vacation begins tomorrow

The month-long vacation at Chittagong University (CU) will begin tomorrow on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the two biggest religious festivals of the Muslims and Jonmastomi, the birthday of Hindu God Sri Krishna.

All the classes of the university will remain closed from August 16 to September 15, said Deputy Registrar Md Forhad Hossain Khan.

Resident students have already started leaving the campus for home, campus sources said.

Source : The Daily Star

Non-govt teachers' registration exam Aug 25

The Non-government Teachers' Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) has extended the date of submitting application of seventh Non-government teachers' registration examination 2011 through online by nine days.

Now the last date for submitting application through online is August 25 instead of August 16, says a press release of NTRCA.

The last of submitting hard copies to NTRCA office is September 7 instead of August 25. Detailed information can also be found at its website www.ntrca.gov.bd and http://ntrca.teletalk.com.bd.

Source : The Daily Star

Female Student's Suicide: 'Punish JU teacher'

Students and teachers of Jahangirnagar University (JU) formed a human chain yesterday demanding expulsion of the teacher allegedly responsible for the suicide of Majria Jannat Sumi, a master's student of history department.

Speaking at the programme organised by students of history department in front of the administration building, Sumi's classmates said, "The ongoing movement will continue until the guilty is punished."

Later, the students submitted a memorandum to JU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Sharif Enamul Kabir in this regard.

Sumi was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her university dormitory room on August 9. Her friends and family alleged that she committed suicide after the teacher refused to marry her.

Source : The Daily Star

Tragedies written on the wall: Reckless overtaking on a highway full of curves leads to frequent accidents; experts want speed reducers at risky bends

Reckless driving, blind curves, and little or no speed reducing measures on the Dhaka-Aricha single carriageway have led to many fatal accidents, said an expert, locals and traffic police of Manikganj.

They said even though this very important highway connects the capital with the southwest, the authorities concerned have not converted the entire road into a dual carriageway or install central reservations through out. The problem is made worse by reckless driving and fearless overtaking on the crowded road.

The Roads and Highways Department, however, does not see any fault in the design of the 80km highway.

The spot in Joka village where five people, including filmmaker Tareque Masud and ATN News CEO Ashfaque Munier Mishuk died Saturday, was a blind curve. Large trees block motorists' view of oncoming traffic.

"You cannot see any oncoming vehicles from one part of the road," Hatem Ali, a resident of the village, told The Daily Star at the spot yesterday.

There are no measures at that portion of the road to force drivers to reduce speed.

Vehicles often fail to remain in their lanes while taking the curve at speed and if they are not very cautious, collisions happen, said Mohammad Babul, another villager. "This is a very dangerous curve. Just last week a cow trader was killed in an accident here."

Boamkesh Sarker, another villager, said on an average they witness at least one accident a month on that stretch of road and they are largely caused by reckless driving.

Tareque's Toyota Hiace was found wrecked in the middle of the road, nearly half of the vehicle was on the wrong lane. Police and locals speculated that the bus heading for Chuadanga could have hit the microbus that strayed from its lane to overtake another vehicle.

Accident Research Institute of Buet in an earlier research identified 22 dangerous spots including blind curves on the highway.

Assistant Prof SM Sohel Mahmud of the institute visited the spot yesterday. He told The Daily Star that there are no speed reducers at any end of the curve. Speed reducers, if not speed bumps, at both ends are imperative to slowing down vehicles for the curve.

"There are no speed bumps at most of these curves," said Murad Mahmudur Rahman, traffic inspector of Manikganj. On Dhaka-Aricha highway there are 28 speed bumps and most are near schools or bazaars, not near curves, he said.

Speed bumps are put in place at a spot only after major accidents, he said, adding that a speed bump was put in place at Mulzan Turn around four months ago after five people died in a crash there.

A local journalist said, "At that time drivers could not see oncoming traffic due to large trees. The tree branches obstructing view were chopped down after the accident."

Last year, two high-ranking government officials were killed in an accident near Paturia-Uthulia intersection on the highway. The Roads and Highways Department built three speed bumps there afterwards, said traffic inspector Mahmudur.

Manikganj Superintendent of Police Mohammad Ali Mia said after the tragic deaths of the two officials last year, his office asked the Roads and Highways Department to put speed bumps before and after every curve and turn, but things have not gone accordingly.

Between Dhaka and Nabinagar of Savar, the highway is a dual carriageway with a central reservation that prevents head-on collisions. Widening of the rest of the road is a must, he said.

Arifur Rahman, superintendent engineer of the Roads Safety Circle of the Roads and Highways Department, however, said, "The road width is alright and the curve is not a problem. It is the speeding and drivers' carelessness that led to Saturday's accident."

Poor visibility due to heavy rain could also have had contributions, said Arifur during a spot visit. He is the chief of the committee formed by the communications ministry to probe the accident.

Additional SP of Manikganj, Zakir Hossain Majumder, who is leading the local probe committee in Manikganj, said they identified heavy rain, the problematic curve, speeding of both vehicles as the primary reasons for the accident.

Source : The Daily Star

Zia was the key shadow man: Says Lifschultz

Noted journalist Lawrence Lifschultz has said he believes former president Ziaur Rahman was the "key shadow man" behind the August 15, 1975 putsch.

"I believe many more details about Ziaur Rahman's involvement in the August 15th events will emerge in the future. It is my assessment at this point in time that Zia played perhaps the most crucial of all roles," Lifschultz told BSS in an interview ahead of the National Mourning Day.

Zia had his own reasons for not leading the coup himself but "without his support, I do not believe the coup d'état could have moved forward", he added.

"Zia was the key shadow man. Had he been against the coup he could have stopped it. Of course, it was his constitutional duty to do so.

"Ziaur Rahman is a very complicated character. We need to understand in much greater depth how he operated in the shadows during these crucial times," said the US journalist.

He was the Bangladesh correspondent of Far Eastern Economic Review in the early 1970s. The Review later appointed him as its New Delhi-based South Asia correspondent.

Lifschultz documented the tumultuous coups and counter-coups of the 70s in Bangladesh: An Unfinished Revolution.

He is also acclaimed for his reports on India-Pak relations and Bosnian issues.

Source : The Daily Star  

Twin blasts kill five Iraqi troops

Two roadside bombs killed at least five Iraqi soldiers in Baghdad yesterday in one of the most serious attacks on security forces in recent weeks, military and hospital officials said.

One bomb exploded in a public square and then a second blast went off nearby as an army patrol arrived in the mostly Sunni neighborhood of Adhamiya in the north of Baghdad, security officials said.

Source : The Daily Star

He was our Caesar

As he effusively welcomed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the United Arab Emirates in 1974, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahiyan remarked how wonderful it was for one sheikh to come in contact with another. Bangladesh's leader smiled mischievously as he replied, "But, brother, there is a difference. I am a very poor sheikh."

Both men laughed.

There was forever the human about Bangabandhu, about his dealings with people. He was never a stickler for protocol and often appeared to be saying things out loud which to others might appear blunt. It was in that spirit that he directly asked Indira Gandhi, in Delhi on his way back home from London in early January 1972, when she planned to take Indian soldiers back home from Bangladesh. Mrs Gandhi was equally unequivocal. It would be by his next birthday, in March. She was as good as her word.

There was a thorough political being in Bangabandhu. He had his detractors, but he never looked upon them as his enemies. It was a healthy attitude, one which clearly allowed him to discuss grave political issues with Ayub Khan, ZA Bhutto and Yahya Khan. Ayub offered him Pakistan's prime ministership in 1969, only days after his regime had withdrawn the Agartala case against the Bangalee leader. Mujib predictably declined the offer. It was his moment in the sun. Earlier, arriving in Rawalpindi to attend the Round Table Conference, he mused, "Yesterday a traitor, today a hero." He was, of course, speaking of the vilification he had been put through, which also reminds you of his supreme courage in the face of adversity.

In the course of the Agartala case proceedings in Dhaka, he told stunned western journalists, "You know, they can't keep me here for more than six months." In the event, he was freed in the seventh month. On the first day of the trial, a Bangalee journalist known to Bangabandhu pretended not to hear Mujib calling out to him from the dock. At one point, the newsman whispered that intelligence personnel were around, meaning it was not safe for a conversation. Bangabandhu exploded: "Anyone who wants to live in Bangladesh will have to talk to me." Momentarily, the entire tribunal lapsed into silence.

In January 1972, at his first press conference in Dhaka as prime minister, Bangabandhu spotted Indian journalist Nikhil Chakravartty at the far end of the hall. "Aren't you Nikhil?" he asked loudly. Chakravartty, who had last met Mujib when they were both students in Calcutta in 1946, was surprised that a quarter century later Bangladesh's founder had not failed to recognise him. Having long trekked through muddy village paths in his pursuit of politics, Bangabandhu remembered faces, recalled names, especially those of simple peasants and workers years after he had first come in touch with them.

The father of the nation was never willing to take nonsense from anyone. When Saudi Arabia's King Faisal wondered why Bengalees needed to break away from the Muslim state of Pakistan, Bangabandhu bluntly asked him where the Saudis and other Middle Eastern nations were when Pakistan's Muslim soldiers systematically indulged in murder and rape in occupied Bangladesh in 1971. Faisal said not a word. Neither did Nigeria's Yakubu Gowon when he heard Mujib's response to his own query. Would Pakistan not be a stronger Muslim state had Bangladesh not broken away from it? Bangabandhu's cool, firm response: "Mr president, you are right. Then again, if the subcontinent were not divided, it would be a stronger India for all of us. Asia undivided would be even stronger. Indeed, if the world were not fragmented into myriad states, we would all be stronger than we are. But, Mr president, do we always get what we want out of life?'

In late December 1971, when ZA Bhutto told Bangabandhu that he was now Pakistan's president, the Bangalee leader retorted, "But that position belongs to me. I won the election." Bhutto then went on to give him details of the war that had humbled Pakistan.

On a personal note, Bangabandhu gently reprimanded this writer, who had a habit of wanting to see him go by every day, on a drizzly late evening before the old Gono Bhaban in 1973 thus: "Go home and finish your studies. You don't have to be here to see me every day." Three years earlier, on a warm July evening in Quetta, he had put his signature in this writer's autograph book, patted him on his cheeks, and asked him, "Deshe jaabi na (won't you go to your country)?' He was already referring to a future Bangladesh!

Here was a Caesar, as Shakespeare would have said. When comes such another?

Source : The Daily Star 

Mamata showed haste on Singur: Says Kabir Suman

Singer turned Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman Saturday said the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee acted in haste in the Singur land return case and accused the chief minister of issuing diktats.

'I think the Singur land issue has been approached somewhat hastily. It would have been better had it been done through a gradual process,' said Suman in an interview to a Bengali news channel Chobbis Ghanta.

Banerjee had got an act passed for return of land to farmers from whom land was allegedly acquired forcibly by the erstwhile Left Front government for setting up an industrial unit in Hooghly's Singur. The act has been challenged for being unconstitutional.

Source : The Daily Star

HC orders probe into early road damage: Transport strike continues on Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Tangail highways

The High Court has directed the government to immediately form a committee to find out why the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway has become so damaged so soon.

The order comes as bus service providers took their vehicles off the Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways indefinitely protesting the dilapidated condition of the roads.

The court order was issued as Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed a writ in this connection following The Daily Star report "Impossible ride stop" on August 12. According to the HC directives, the committee would be comprised of professors of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).

The court also asked the government to submit an investigation report in six weeks.

In addition to the miserable road conditions, the strike has put passengers into serious trouble ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.

However, buses to the northern districts from Gabtoli in Dhaka and Tangail are operating. Bus services from Mohakhali in Dhaka to 12 districts have been disrupted due to the ongoing strike which entered its fourth day yesterday.

Bus owners' association and workers union of Tangail jointly suspended the bus service to Dhaka on Saturday. Transport workers in Mymensingh called their strike on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Tangail yesterday held a meeting with the association and union leaders and requested them to resume bus services on local routes.

"Now we will operate bus services on local routes in Tangail," said Mir Lutfor Rahman, general secretary of Tangail District Transport Workers Union.

Bus services to the northern districts from Mohakhali and Mymensingh through Tangail have been suspended due to the horrible road conditions, he said.

"Almost the entire Dhaka-Tangail highway is damaged and the situation is even worse in the Ashulia-Baipail stretch, in Konabari of Gazipur and Elenga in Tangail," said Lutfor.

Inter-district buses run from Mohakhali to Kishoreganj, Netrakona, Mymensingh, Sherpur, Jamalpur, Gazipur, Tangail, Sirajganj, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Bogra, Naogaon and other routs, he added.

Of the 23 routs, vehicles to and from 16 northern districts use the Dhaka-Tangail highway.

"We demand immediate repair of the damaged road," he said, adding, "The road not only damages vehicles but also cause frequent accidents."

The associations in Tangail went on strike saying vehicular movement has become impossible on the 90-kilometre Elenga-Baipail road.

The Dhaka-bound passengers from Mymensingh are facing great trouble due to the strike, reports our Mymensingh correspondent.

The rush of passengers at Mymensingh Railway Station continued for the fourth day yesterday. The railway authorities are trying to tackle the situation with only four additional compartments added to trains.

Mymensingh District Citizens' Movement, a body of civil society, formed a human chain at Shaheed Firoj Jahangir Square in the town demanding immediate repair of the highway.

Source : The Daily Star

Mourners bid bye in tears

The Central Shaheed Minar premises turned into a grieving ground yesterday with hundreds of mourners pouring in to pay their last respects to Tareque Masud and Ashfaque Munier Mishuk.

Internationally acclaimed filmmaker Tareque and ATN News chief executive officer Mishuk were killed along with three others in a road crash on Dhaka-Aricha highway on Saturday.

They were on their way to meet the Manikganj deputy commissioner for permission to shoot for Tareque's new film Kagojer Phool after visiting a shooting spot.

The Shaheed Minar ground was almost filled with people from all walks of life before the scheduled start time at 10:30am. Many had to wait on the adjacent street to pay their tributes.

Friends, co-workers, teachers, intellectuals, lawyers, politicians, academicians, journalists, cultural personalities, civil society members, rights activists, students and diplomats were among those who placed wreaths on their coffins.

Representatives of President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also placed wreaths on their behalf.

"This is something you just cannot accept," said Aly Zaker, media personality and a close acquaintance of Tareque.

"Masud had an outstanding talent in filmmaking. And Mishuk's talent in the technological know-how in the field is rare in Bangladesh.

"I hope Masud's wife Catherine and his colleagues will complete what he started. This cannot be the end of it," he told reporters.

Born in 1956 in Faridpur, Tareque Masud directed a number of acclaimed films including Muktir Gaan (The Song of Freedom) in 1995 and Matir Moina (The Clay Bird) in 2002 which won a FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival of the year.

He spent 10 years researching for Kagojer Phool (The Paper Flower), his friends said.

"My journey to make some epics starts with the Kagojer Phool," Aly Zaker quoted Tareque as saying during a conversation.

With the loss of Tareque and Mishuk, the nation lost not only two great artists but also two complete human beings loved and respected by all, said Dhaka University Prof Asif Nazrul.

"I can't accept their departure like this," said noted media personality Asaduzzaman Noor.

Their bodies were later taken to Dhaka University Central Mosque, where the first namaz-e-janaza was held after Zohr prayers.

The second namaz-e-janaza took place on Zahir Raihan Laboratory premises of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC).

Their bodies were taken from there to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University mortuary.

Masud's body will be kept there until Catherine Masud makes a decision about his burial, family members said. Catherine, who was injured in the accident, was discharged from hospital yesterday evening.

Mishuk will be buried after the arrival of his brother Ahmed Munier Bhashan from the United States tomorrow.

A reputed cinematographer, Mishuk is the son of Munier Chowdhury, a 1971 martyred intellectual. He taught broadcast journalism at Dhaka University and worked with Canada-based TV channel The Real News.

Source : The Daily Star

Of anger, agony

Stunned at the tragic deaths of Tareque Masud and Ashfaque Munier Mishuk, eminent citizens reminded everyone that Saturday's car crash is one of thousands of accidents that turn the country's road network into virtual death traps.

They blamed the government for stomaching this "road terrorism" that "murders" thousands every year and demanded immediate resignation of the communications minister for his inaction.

"This is humiliating that we had to lose [Masud and Mishuk] in such a way," lamented Kamal Lohani, a journalist and noted cultural personality.

"He [the communications minister] should be embarrassed by the incident and should resign immediately."

Kamal Lohani was speaking to journalists at the Central Shaheed Minar premises yesterday. He was among hundreds who gathered to pay their last respect to Masud, an internationally renowned filmmaker and Mishuk, a noted media personality, who died in a fatal road accident on Saturday.

The two were among some 4,000 people who die in around 20,000 road crashes across the country every year, according to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) statistics.

In addition, a quarter of a million people sustain minor and major injuries in road accidents, adding to the increasing number of people without limbs.

Some mourners at the tribute-giving ceremony said if the carnage of this scale were the result of terrorist atrocities, the entire country would be in an uproar. They demanded that the government and the police do something immediately.

"When did wholesale deaths by automobile become an unavoidable natural phenomenon?" asked Faruq, a Dhaka University student who introduced himself as a budding filmmaker and avid admirer of Tareque Masud's works.

Yet for some reason the problem draws scant public attention unless it involves a striking case like that one on Saturday, he said.

Columnist Abul Maqsood refused to call these clashes mere accidents.

"These are murders. Tareque and Mishuk were murdered," he said. "We, the nation, have committed this murder. And of course our government is also responsible as it's up to them to make the roads safe."

Road safety remains a grave concern because of an abundance of drivers with fake licences, unfit vehicles and mismanagement in the transport sector, said Asaduzzaman Noor, a popular media personality and lawmaker of ruling Awami League.

"The government should be bold… Any form of compromise in this sector would mean losses of more lives," he said.

At least 34 people were injured and 10 died in road accidents across the country over the last two days, according to newspapers and sources at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Advocate Sultana Kamal, former advisor to a caretaker government, refused to put the entire blame on unruly drivers.

"Everyone starting from the people who provide the driving licences, those who design the roads and the drivers themselves should be brought before the people and tried," she said.

"We demand a stop to this carnage from this very moment," she added.

Source : The Daily Star

Transport boss faces cabinet music: PM rescues him, orders for fund to fix roads

Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain came under fire from his colleagues yesterday for the sorry state of roads and highways across the country.

Most ministers and state ministers pointed to his ministry's lack of supervision as one of the main reasons behind the bad condition of roads.

They were speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The communications minister told the cabinet that his ministry does not have adequate funds to maintain and repair roads and highways.

He said the finance ministry did not release Tk 1,303 crore for immediate repair of roads although the fund was approved by the Ecnec and the prime minister this year. Only Tk 107 crore has been disbursed so far, he said.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith said lack of supervision by the communications ministry is one of the major reasons for the sorry state of roads.

He said the ministry did not take the right project at the right time. Moreover, its projects for maintenance and repair of roads have not been implemented in due time.

LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam expressed dissatisfaction over the communications ministry's role in handling a section of bus operators, who had suspended operating buses on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway.

Ashraf told the cabinet that the authorities concerned were aware of the poor state of highways but did not take any immediate step to repair those, said one of his colleagues present at the meeting.

The prime minister then intervened and asked the authorities concerned to cut down the budgetary allocations in less important sectors and channel the money to the communication sector for repair and maintenance of roads.

She also directed the communications ministry to ensure that BRTC buses ply the highways on which the private operators suspended operating buses for bad condition of roads.

Hasina directed the communications minister to repair the battered roads and highways immediately to ease public suffering and adopt effective measures to prevent road accidents.

The cabinet adopted a condolence motion over the deaths of noted filmmaker Tareque Masud, media personality Ashfaque Munier Mishuk and three others in Saturday's road crash in Manikganj.

The communications ministry submitted a proposal to the prime minister seeking an immediate allocation of Tk 2,803 crore for repair and maintenance of roads and highways across the country.

The prime minister will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow with the ministers concerned in her office to discuss the matter.

Abul Hossain told The Daily Star that there was no need to criticise him over the sorry state of roads and highways as he was aware of the matter.

"The reality is that we don't have enough money."

He said the government now must give attention to the communication sector that did not get as much priority as the agriculture and power sectors.

Source : The Daily Star

DSE turnover hits new one-and-half month low

Dhaka stocks recorded the lowest turnover in one-and-a-half month on Sunday amid cautious trading by the general investors and inactivity of the institutional ones as panic sell-offs continued to haunt the market, a trend that swept through the last two weeks.

The DGEN, or the benchmark general index of Dhaka Stocks Exchange, lost 0.65 per cent, or 40.56 points, to close the day at 6,172.29 points. 

Turnover on Sunday dropped a new low in one-and-a-half month to Tk 439.89 crore which is Tk 96 crore less than the figures of the previous day.

Market operators said that retail investors were still nervous following the rumoured disinvestment by the big fishes who were expected to be brought to book by the market regulators.

They also said that institutional investors, who continued to remain in the sideline, became inactive since the end of July when the index and turnover gained substantially.

'Institutional investors and big market players who bought shares in early July started to sell form middle of the month and left the market for the time being,' said a stockbroker.

'If we see the trend of rise and drop of turnover during July and the sharp fall from August, the equation becomes clear,' he said.

On July 24 the DSE recorded the highest turnover in the year at Tk 1,957.92 crore.

On Sunday, trading at the DSE floor started with a positive note with the DGEN gaining 44 points in five minutes. But the momentum faded fast as the investors started to push their sell buttons, which forced the index to end in a negative territory.

All the major sectors including banks, fuel and power, telecommunication and non-bank financial institutions saw a downtrend on Sunday.

Investors over the last two weeks kept on their edge following the news that the Securities and Exchange Commission is all set to take legal action against some market manipulators for their involvement in the stock market crash in January.

The news also triggered a rumour of large-scale disinvestment of some big investors which prompted the retail investors to go for panic sales.  

The Anti-Corruption Commission last week announced that it would file cases against five individuals, including one executive director of the SEC for market manipulation.

Of the 258 issues traded on Sunday, 60 advanced, 184 declined and seven remained unchanged.

Square Pharma topped the turnover leaders of the day with shares worth Tk 24.99 crore. The rest of the leaders were United Airways, Lafarge Surma Cement, MI Cement, Beximco, Malek Spinning Mills, Grameenphone, RN Spinning, AIMS 1st Mutual Fund and Kaya Cosmetics Ltd.

Source : New Age

Rising trend in manpower exports

Bangladesh's overseas employment sector is showing signs of recovery after two years, according to available statistics.

In July, some 50,307 Bangladeshi men and women left the country for overseas employment, which was the highest monthly recruitment since January 2009, according to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training.

The figure was 24,347 in the same month last year, the data shows.

During January-July, some 301,804 Bangladeshi nationals were recruited across the world, which was up by 24 per cent against the total recruitment recorded during the corresponding period of 2010, the BMET data shows.

'More and more countries are opening up doors to Bangladeshi workers due to their work flexibility,' said Zafar Ahmed Khan, the expatriates' welfare and overseas employment secretary.

He said that pressure on the recruiting agents for minimising the migration cost was responsible for such upward trend of overseas employment.

The ministry had earlier set a target to send 4.5 lakh Bangladeshi workers abroad in 2011 calendar year.

'We could send more than we earlier estimated for this year,' the secretary told New Age.

He attributed the growth in manpower export to the gradual restoration of job market in the Middle Eastern countries, mainly Oman and UAE.

Some 4,75,278 and 3,91,702 Bangladeshi men and women were recruited overseas in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

'Increasing trend of fresh recruitment in 2011 is a positive sign for the overseas employment sector,' said Ali Haider Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies.

In the first month of the new fiscal year (July 2011), monthly remittance inflow showed a substantial rise.

Bangladeshi expatriates remitted $ 1038.132 million in July, which was significantly higher than the remittances received in the same month last year.

The amount was $ 857.31 million in July 2010 while $ 885.38 in 2009, according to the Bangladesh Bank statistics.

At the end of the first six months of the current calendar year (January-June), a total of 250,858 Bangladesh job seekers secured employment in foreign countries.

The six-month overseas recruitment number is

20 per cent higher than what it was in the corresponding period of 2010 and almost the same of the year 2009, the BMET data shows.

Source : New Age

Ministry finalises spectrum charges of mobile cos

The telecommunications ministry has finalised a guideline for the licence renewal fees and spectrum charges of four mobile phone companies based on their usage of bandwidth and 'market competition factor' as per which the companies will have to pay a total of Tk 7,620 crore.

The ministry on Sunday sent the new guideline for renewal fees of 2G licence and other charges for Grameenphone, Banglalink, Robi and Citycell to the finance ministry for approval.

As per the guideline, the companies would pay around Tk 10 crore each as licence renewal fees and their base-fee for using each megahertz of bandwidth would be Tk 150 crore for 15 years. The companies' licences are schedule to expire on November 15.

The guideline, however, set the actual bandwidth charge based on 'a market competition factor' that takes into account the total number of subscribers of a mobile operator and income against each subscriber.

As the Grameenphone has the largest number of subscribers, the company's market competition factor was set at 1.48 which would be multiplied with the charge of each MHz of bandwidth. Based on that calculation, the GP's bandwidth change was set at Tk 222 crore per MHz.

According to the guideline, GP would pay a total of Tk 3,251 crore, including licence renewal fee of around Tk 10 crore, in three instalments by two years. GP has taken licence for using 14.6 MHzs of bandwidth.

The market competition factor of second largest operator Banglalink has been set at 1.06, based on which the company's spectrum charge is Tk 159 crore per MHz.

The total fees and charges of Banglalink have been set at Tk 1,981 crore.

Robi's market competition factor has been set at 0.99 and its total fees and charges would be Tk 1,910 crore while CityCell's competition factor would be 0.30 and its total fees and charges would be Tk 460 crore.

Officials of the telecommunication ministry said that the four mobile companies' fees and charges were finalised as per the decision of a meeting, headed by the prime minister Sheikh Hasina, which was held last week.

The meeting decided that the minimum spectrum charge would be Tk 150 crore per MHz and the market competition factor would be introduced instead of 'utilisation factor' earlier proposed by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority.

The BTRC initially drafted a guideline proposing to reconsider the 'utilisation factor' to determine the fees, according to which the companies were supposed to pay Tk 12,188 crore.

But, because of objection by the four mobile companies, international lenders and various quarters in the government, the fees and charges were slashed, said officials of the telecommunication ministry.

They said that the new guideline which was submitted to the finance ministry would be sent to the prime minister for approval after the finance minister approves it.

'The new guideline will be in force soon so that the mobile companies could start their licence renewal process before the expiry of their licence,' said an official.

Source : New Age

Change in temperature unlikely

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at many places over Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions till 6:00pm today.

Moderately heavy falls are also likely at places, the Meteorology Office said in a forecast on Sunday.

Day temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.

The sun sets in Dhaka today at 6:33pm and rises tomorrow at 5:34am.

The country's highest temperature, 33.0 degrees Celsius, was recorded on Sunday in Tangail and Srimangal and the lowest, 24.0 degrees Celsius, in Barisal, Sandwip and Rangamati.

Source : New Age

Downpour paralyses life in Barisal

Monsoon downpour since Friday noon paralysed normal life in Barisal city.

The monsoon rainfall started in the beginning of this month, and with an interval on Thursday, it is still continuing.

An average of 22mm rainfall was recorded in the last 11 days, which intensified from Saturday, Barisal Met Office sources said.

There were 136mm rainfall in Barisal city and surrounding areas in the last 80 hours till 3:00pm Sunday, including 61mm in last 24 hours, 45mm on August 13 and 30mm on August 12.

Most of the people remained confined at home and attendance in offices, courts, educational institutions and other workplaces was less than other days.

Very few transports plied city roads, bagging higher fare from the passengers.

Rainwater in city roads and low-lying areas lacking proper drainage and sewerage system caused sufferings to the city dwellers.

Makeshift shops and hawker markets remained closed most of the days and kitchen markets witnessed very few customers.

Price of essentials, including rice, eggs, pulses, vegetables and other kitchen market items increased with the intensity of rain.

Kazi Wakil Newaz, Barisal port officer and deputy director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, said water transports were plying with fewer passengers and they urged all to remain cautious in this season.

Road communications with the Kuakata tourist zone were often disrupted as ferry gangways went under water.

Barisal deputy commissioner SM Arif-ur-Rahman said upazila nirbahi officers and disaster and relief management department informed him that water surge in regional rivers had not yet crossed danger level.

Late monsoon and attraction of upcoming full-moon were causing heavy downpours in the region, said Prodip Kumar, official at Kalapara weather radar station.

Low-lying areas, riverbanks and water bodies of the city, coastal and offshore islands and chars have been inundated by 3-4 feet tide coupled with rain water, met officials said.

Source : New Age

BNP wants problems with India to be resolved

The BNP acting secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, has said the outstanding problems between Bangladesh and India will have to be solved to make the Indian premier's visit to Dhaka next month a success.

'Our expectation will be that the problems of Bangladesh with India will be resolved to make the visit a success. We expect that we'll get the due share of the Teesta and Ganges waters, and the construction of Tipaimukh Dam will be stopped,' he told a function.

National Democratic Party organised the function at the National Press Club marking the third death anniversary of its founder Anwar Zahid.

Fakhrul said it would have been better had the government held a national debate over the deals to be signed during the visit of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh.

'If she (PM Sheikh Hasina) goes into talks with her Indian counterpart taking the total support of the nation, it'll strengthen her hand,' the BNP acting secretary general said.

'But', Fakhrul said, 'They (govt) won't do it as they are caught up in many ways. So, no noble thing can be achieved by a weak-kneed attitude and spirit.'

Source : New Age

Both drivers responsible: committee

A committee investigating the road accident in Manikganj has blamed the 'unskilled' drivers for Saturday's head-on collision that killed five people including filmmaker Tareque Masud and ATN News chief editor Ashfaque (Mishuk) Munier.

'There is a turn near the (accident site). The bus running over speed limit had been on the right side of the road when it hit the microbus [carrying the victims],' committee chief Arifur Rahman told reporters on Sunday.

'The microbus was also overly speedy. It was running through the middle of the road to overtake another bus,' he said.

The Deluxe Paribahan bus was on its way from Dhaka to Chuadanga while the microbus was coming from Manikganj.

Rahman, supervising engineer (Dhaka circle) of the Roads and Highways Department , is heading the three-member committee.

The team spoke to journalists, witnesses and local residents during its one-hour visit to the scene at Jokha near Ghior in Manikganj.

Ghior police sub-inspector Mohammad Lutfar Rahman filed a case over the accident on Saturday night.

The other deceased in the accident are microbus driver 'Mustafiz', Masud's production manager 'Wasim' and staff 'Kajal'.

Masud's wife Catherine, artiste Dhali Al Mamun and his wife Dilara Begum Joly, Masud's production unit assistant Sayeedul Islam were also injured in the accident.

Doctors at Square Hospital said Catherine was out of danger but Mamun, who was critically injured, would take at least weeks to become stable.

Source : New Age

Stalker arrested after stabbing college girl

A college girl was stabbed by a stalker after she refused his proposal of marriage at a village in Hatibandha of the district on Saturday night.

She was first taken to Hati-bandha upazila health complex and shifted to Rangpur Medical College Hospital as her condition deteriorated.

Hatibandha police arrested the alleged stalker, Shafiqul Islam, 28, a madrassah dropout.

Police quoting the girl's family said Shafiqul Islam along with two of his cohorts went to her house at Goddimari village at around 8:30pm when the male members of the family were out.

After failing to abduct the girl, Shafiq stabbed her in the head, back and face and left the place before neighbours arrived.

The victim's mother identified Shafiqul Islam. Police arrested him and launched a manhunt for the rest two.

Her parents said that their daughter, a student of Hatibandha Alimuddin Degree College, turned down a year ago the proposal of Shafiq to marry her.

Ever since, they said, Shafiq constantly harassed her on her way to college and back home.

Even after apologising for his conduct thrice before a village arbitration Shafiq continued to harass her, they said.

Sheikh Shaheen Kamal, officer-in-charge of Hatiban-dha police station, said a case was lodged against Shafiq and his two cohorts.

Source : New Age

Extortionists halt Kushtia BADC storage construction

Construction works on a potato seed preservation centre of BADC at Amla in Mirpur upazila of Kushtia have been suspended amid repeated threats by extortionists.

Locals said the extortionists halted the works on Saturday, as their demand for hefty amount of toll was turned down.

The extortionists have been demanding toll from BADC officials and

contractors —SR and

Jahin — since the start of the construction works

in July, involving

Tk 40 lakh.

An official said BADC officials did not dare to speak up against the extortionists as they were 'very influential'.

When contacted over cell-phone, Kamruzzaman Sarker, deputy director of the centre, requested the journalists to refrain from writing on the matter, as it will only anger the extortionists.

Source : New Age

Four arrested for robbery

The detective branch of police arrested four men on charge of robbery from Ashulia of Savar early Sunday.

The arrested were Mohammad Amir Hossain, 25, Mohammad Imam Hossain, 40, Mohammad Shamim Sardar, 25,

and Mohammad Wasim Sardar, 30.

Mohammad Asaduzzaman, senior assistant commissioner of DB, said they had arrested them from a warehouse owned by Mohammad Mujibur Rahman at Dewan Market at Kuturia about 5:15am.

The DB police also seized from them a huge amount of Indian sari and clothes worth around Tk 2 crore. 

The arrested had confessed that they had stolen the goods from Biposhnob Saha of M/S Bishal Trade Centre of Isha khan Shopping Complex at Kakrail in Dhaka, the DB police said in a release.

The arrested were involved in a number of robbery, mugging and fraud, the officer said, adding that they would conduct more drives to arrest the ringleaders of the gang.

A case was filed against the arrested.

Source : New Age

United movement after Eid: Khaleda

The leader of the opposition, Khaleda Zia, has warned that a united movement will be launched after Eid if agreements with India go against national interests.

'We definitely favour deals as long as those are in favour of the country. If those go against the country's interest, we'll wage a united movement to protect the country's interests,' she told an iftar party.

Addressing the iftar party organised by Dhaka city BNP on premises of LD Hall of parliament, the BNP chairperson demanded that the agreements should be signed with India during the upcoming visit of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, next month be made public.

Portraying a grim picture  of the country, she said the country was now 'in dire state and people were looking forward to us'.

The former prime minister said the nationalist forces believe in Islamic values and all patriotic forces need to be united to pull out the country from 'this bad state'.

She said they had already got a positive response from various political parties for forging a greater unity for a vigorous anti-government campaign. Khaleda said all these parties had branded the government as 'corrupt, autocratic and oppressive one'.

She said the country had turned into a 'police state' instead of emerging as a democratic state.

The BNP chief said the movement would be waged after Eid to restore democracy and protect people from the present misrule.

City BNP convenor and city mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka and member secretary Abdus Salam received the guests at the iftar party.

Source : New Age

British PM in row over ‘zero tolerance’ strategy

The British prime minister, David Cameron, pledged Sunday a 'zero tolerance'

crackdown after recent urban riots, fuelling a row over plans for the US 'supercop' behind the strategy to advise the government.

Police chiefs in Britain criticised Cameron's decision to hire ex-New York police supremo Bill Bratton to help prevent a repeat of the violence in which five people died, saying a home-grown policy would be better.

'We haven't talked the language of zero tolerance enough, but the message is getting through,' Cameron told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

A four-day frenzy of looting and arson in London and other major English cities has sparked a nationwide debate on the causes and possible responses, with just a year to go until the capital hosts the 2012 Olympics.

The Conservative premier accused some people of over-complicating explanations for simple criminality but admitted that underlying social factors including 'deeply broken and troubled families' had to be addressed.

'They were nicking televisions because they wanted a television and they weren't prepared to save up and get it like normal people. The complicated bit is why are there so many, why is there this sizeable minority of people who are prepared to do this?,' he said.

In a phone call with Cameron, the US president, Barack Obama, commended the 'steadiness' shown by politicians and the police in their handling of the riots, Downing Street said.

But Bratton himself said zero tolerance is 'a phrase I hate', listing instead a raft of measures including understanding how gangs work, using injunctions to curb their activities, and getting former members to help intervene.

'I would not advocate attempting zero tolerance in any country. It's not achievable. It implies you can eliminate a problem and that's not reality,' Bratton, credited for tackling gang violence in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

He is due to come to Britain later this year.

Britain's top policemen — already angered by government plans to cut force budgets as part of wider austerity measures, and by Cameron accusing them of being slow to react to the riots — were in no mood for lectures from anyone.

Hugh Orde, the head of the British police chiefs' body and a leading candidate to take over as head of London's Metropolitan Police after the previous leader was felled by a phone-hacking scandal, criticised the move to bring in Bratton.

'I am not sure I want to learn about gangs from an area of America that has 400 of them. It seems to me, if you've got 400 gangs, then you're not being very effective,' Orde told The Independent on Sunday newspaper.

Acting Metropolitan Police chief Tim Godwin accused the government of 'inconsistency' over how tough the police were expected to be, following allegations of heavy-handedness in the G20 protests in 2009.

More than 2,140 people have now been arrested in connection with the riots, of whom around 1,000 have been charged. Godwin said he expected around 3,000 people to face the courts over the riots.

He said commanders would decide on Monday whether to scale down the surge of officers on London's streets, currently at 16,000.

The first people to be charged over some of the deaths in the riots appeared in court on Sunday.

Joshua Donald, 26, and a 17-year-old male who cannot be named appeared at Birmingham Magistrates' Court charged with the murder of three men hit by a car while defending their neighbourhood against looters in Britain's second city.

Thousands of people were expected to attend a peace rally in Birmingham in Britain's industrial midlands later Sunday.

West Midlands police chief Chris Sims said he had been invited to address the meeting, saying it showed that policing was seen as 'part of the solution' not part of the problem' in the area.

He added that it 'feels a million miles from the debates apparently raging in Westminster.'

That debate shows no sign of letting up.

An Angus Reid poll in the Sunday Express newspaper found that 72 per cent supported the reintroduction of compulsory national service for 18-year-olds, while 70 per cent backed stopping welfare handouts for the parents of rioters.

Source : New Age

HC orders probe into early damage

The High Court on Sunday asked the government to immediately form a committee of experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to find out the cause of the premature damage of the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway.

The committee will also need to identify the persons responsible for the untimely damage and to find out whether there was any negligence by the engineers and contractors involved in constructing the road.

The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore asked the concerned authorities to submit the probe report within six weeks.

The court also asked the government to explain in three weeks why it would not be directed to ensure reconstruction or repair of the Tongi to Gazipur stretch of the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway.

The concerned authorities will also have to explain why they should not be directed to take appropriate legal action against the persons responsible for damage to the highway.

The secretaries to the communications and finance ministries, chief engineer of the Roads and Highways Department, its additional chief engineer and its executive engineer in Gazipur were asked to answer the rule in three weeks.

The order was passed after the hearing of a public interest litigation writ petition filed by the Bangladesh Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, which drew the court's attention to various newspaper reports that owners operating their buses on the Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways had suspended service to press home their demand for repair of the roads without any delay.

The strike will mean lots of inconvenience and suffering for the weekend home-goers and those who have to commute between the capital and the five districts regularly. It will also affect communications between Dhaka and parts of Gazipur district.

Petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid, citing newspaper reports, told the court that the highway, which was last repaired in 2005, had become totally unfit to be plied by any kind of vehicle.

The highways were supposed to be renovated under the Road Sector Reform Programme, a World Bank-funded project initiated in 2005. But the initiative was abandoned in 2009 without any work being done on the highways as the WB refused to provide funds on the grounds of certain anomalies in the project, Manzill added, quoting newspaper reports.

He also said that the usually three-hour journey on the 120km Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway now needs eight to ten hours due to its abysmal condition, which has caused many accidents in addition to the inordinate delay.

Source : New Age

Govt inaction to enforce safety rules challenged

A writ petition was filed on Sunday, challenging the government's lack of action to enforce the laws and rules on road safety, which has resulted in frequent fatal road accidents.

The Bangladesh Bar Council's Legal Aid and Human Rights Committee's chairman ZI Khan, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Supreme Court lawyer Abantee Nurul jointly filed the public interest litigation writ petition.

The petition was filed a day after internationally acclaimed film director Tareque Masud, who won an award at the Cannes Film Festival, ATN News' chief executive officer Ashfaque Mishuk Munier and three others were killed in a road accident at Ghior in Manikganj on Saturday.

The petition is likely to be heard today, said the petitioners.

The petition prayed for directives to be issued

to the government, asking it to investigate all fatal road accidents, and prosecute the perpetrators as well as take preventive measures to check further accidents.

The petitioners called for the concerned authorities to report to the court regularly on the steps taken by them in this regard.

They also called on the government to report to the court on the measures taken so far to investigate the fatal road accidents that occurred between 2010 and 2011.

The government should also be asked to inform the court of the measures taken by it to ensure road safety across the country, and to prevent further accidents, said the petition.

The petition also requested the court to direct the government to provide safety training for all licensed drivers to check accidents, and to disseminate information through the Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar on the importance of road safety.

The petition said that the petitioners are shocked by the alarming incidence of road accidents across the country, which have been reported widely in newspapers and broadcast on the TV channels.

The petitioners are also alarmed by the failure of the authorities concerned to discharge their statutory duty to take appropriate measures to investigate road accidents, take action including prosecution against those responsible, and ensure redress to those affected.

The petitioners observed that road accidents continue to increase in frequency due to the failure of the authorities to enforce the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983, the Highways Act 1925, the Vehicles Act 1927, the Road Transport Corporation Ordinance 1961, the Police Act 1861 and Highway Police Rules 2005.

The failure of the government to enforce the relevant laws and rules is complete violation of the fundamental rights of persons to equality before law, life and personal liberty, which include the right to safety on the roads and highways, as guaranteed under Articles 27, 31 and 32 of the Constitution, said the petition.

Referring to the Saturday's road accident that killed Tareque Masud, Mishuk Munier and three others in Manikganj, the petitioners said they were greatly concerned to learn of the continuing and disturbingly high incidence of road crashes that result in the needless waste of lives and the destruction of families.

They also mentioned a number of fatal road accidents, including the one in which a truck packed with students crashed and flipped over into a ditch in Mirsarai upazila on July 11, killing 43 of them and injuring another 12.

The petition also referred to a report of the Accident Research Institute of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology that has identified some 219 'black spots' on ten major highways where hundreds of fatal accidents occur every year due to flaws in the engineering and design of the road network.

The report has estimated that correction of each flaw might cost from Tk 10,000 to TK 12,000 only.

The report attributes the persistence of such fatal flaws, despite the low cost of corrective measures, to the failure to conduct regular road safety audits, for which the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority has failed to establish rules and procedures, the petition stated.

Source : New Age

11 lawyers get HC pardon, land in jail

The High Court on Sunday exonerated 11 Supreme Court lawyers from the contempt of court charges as they apologised for the chaos they created in the courtroom on August 2.

Ten of them, however, landed in jail as a Dhaka court had earlier rejected their petitions seeking bail in two cases filed by the police against them for assaulting the police and obstructing them in their duties during the scuffles in the courtroom.

Of the 11, Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia and Tawhidul Islam were arrested on August 4 in the two cases and later were  sent to jail.

Eight of the 11 - Kamrul Islam Sajal, Mirza Al Mahmud, Sharif Uddin Ahmed, Abdullah Al Mahmud, Mohammad Ali, Md Ashrafuzzaman Khan, Anamul Hossain Gaffar and Golam Nobi - surrendered in the court of metropolitan magistrate Md Shahadat Hossain in the morning seeking bail in the two cases.

They surrendered in accordance with a decision made by the attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, and the Supreme Court Bar Association president, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, on August 11 following the instruction of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to resolve the crisis in the Supreme Court arena over the issue.

The crisis came up with scuffles between the layers leaning to the ruling Awami League and the opposition BNP in the courtroom on August 2 when the High Court bench of AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore, during the hearing in a petition filed against Fazlul Haque Amini, the chairperson of a faction of the Islami Oikya Jote, for making adverse comment about the constitution, warned the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, against making any indecorous comments about the constitution in the future.

The same bench on August 3 imposed a temporary ban on legal practice of the 13 lawyers and issued a rule asking them to explain why they would not be prosecuted on the contempt of court charges for the scuffles.

The police on August 2 filed two cases against the pro-BNP lawyers accusing them of assaulting the police and obstructing them in discharging their duties during the scuffles.

The metropolitan magistrate on Sunday morning rejected the bail petitions filed by the eight lawyers and ordered them to be sent to jail, which triggered instant protests from the BNP-backed lawyers.

The High Court bench, however, ordered the authorities to produce all the detained lawyers before it by 4:00pm.

The authorities accordingly produced eight lawyers from the lock-up in the Dhaka court and Papia and Towhid from prison in the High Court.

All of them, along with lawyer Sahiduzzaman, who had not surrendered, apologised to the court.

The court pardoned them and withdrew its earlier order that had imposed the temporary ban on their legal practice.

All of them but Sahiduzzaman were sent to jail after the High Court order.

The High Court, however, ordered them to obtain bail form the metropolitan magistrate's court and asked the attorney general to assist them in this regard.

Two other lawyers, MU Ahmed and Rezwan Ahmed, who are also facing the rule, were not produced in the High Court as MU Ahmed, arrested on August 11 and now in hospital after he suffering a heart attack, was seriously ill and Rezwan could not be recognised by the senior lawyers.

Source : New Age