Dhaka road mishap kills 1

A young man was killed in a road accident on Satmosjid road at Dhanmondi in the capital early Wednesday.

The deceased, Jummon Chowdhury, son of Faruk Chowdhury, was a resident of Namabazar in Mohammadpur.

Quoting witnesses, the police said that a speeding pick-up van knocked him down near his shop of electronic goods at about 8:00pm on Tuesday.

Jummon with critical injuries was taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died at about 2:00am.

The driver was held in possession of the pick-up van, the police confirmed.

source:New Age

CWASA union holds demo demanding reinstatement of sacked workers

Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority Employees Union observed a token hunger strike and held a rally on the CWASA premises on Wednesday demanding immediate reinstatement of the employees terminated during the rule of the four-party alliance.

Chaired by Nurul Islam, one of the sacked employees, the programme was addressed by former lawmaker Kafil Uddin, Ibrahim Hossain Babul, Shahidul Haque Chowdhury and Shamsul Haque.

The union also demanded regularisation of the service of work charge and master roll workers and employees, introduction of pension benefit, promotions for ministerial and lower subordinate staff and gatemen, promotion of the pump drivers to tube-well foremen according to seniority and experience and better hospital facilities. 

The union leaders said that unless their demands were met immediately, they would go for a tougher action programme soon.

source:New Age

RU folklore students lay siege to dept over results

Rajshahi University folklore first year students on Wednesday laid siege to the department, demanding the results of their year final examinations should be publish immediately.

Fewer than one hundred students at about 9:00am boycotted their class and brought out a procession that ended at a rally at Islamil Hossain Sirazi building in the university.

They accused the department teachers of negligence as they failed to publish the result after one and a half year of the examinations' completion.

They also completed that for the delay in publishing results they could not join second year classes.

They said the authorities concerned were scheduled to publish results with in three months.

They threatened to wage further movement if their demand was not met within next 15 days.

Later, the students laid siege to the department and lifted the siege after about an hour after the department chairman Abul Hasan assured them of publishing result within the shortest possible time.

Abul Hasan told New Age that the department would publish the result within 15 days.

He, however, refused to comment on delay in publishing results.

source:New Age

Experts see rapid spread of HIV among young IDUs

Experts at a workshop in Dhaka on Wednesday expressed grave concern over the increasing number of the Injecting Drug Users among the young men as the needle sharing among IDUs was a very efficient way of transmitting Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

They pointed out that the prevalence of HIV in central Dhaka showed rapid spread during 1999-2008, albeit Bangladesh was still considered as low infected country by HIV.

Data presented at the workshop showed that HIV among the IDU's increased from 4 to 8.9 per cent since 1999 and 44 per cent of the infected people were the sex workers.

Urban Primary Health Care Project manager Masuda Begum read out a keynote paper on 'involvement of mass media to prevent HIV/AIDS'.

Masuda in her paper pointed out that the young people were the most vulnerable to the disease.

She said the young people could not believe that they could suffer HIV infection and they were not aware of HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections.

She also presented data that showed only 1.3 per cent of the young men and adolescents had awareness of HIV, AIDS and STI diseases.

Speakers also addressed inadequate awareness of HIV /AIDS, inability to negotiate safe intercourse as it is a taboo, internal and external migrations, unsafe blood transfusion, poverty, commercial sex industry, multiple customers of sex workers, male dominated society and insufficient women empowerment.

They also said there were 13,000 HIV positive people in the country according to a survey of the UNAIDS and the WHO, while the government survey said the number was 7500.

Non-governmental organisation Nari Maitree organised the workshop at the BIAM auditorium.

Nari Maitree executive director Saheen Akhter, Second Urban Primary Health Care Project director Abu Bakar Siddique, Dhaka City Corporation chief health officer M Nasir Uddin, HIV specialist Hasan Mahmud, among others, also spoke at the workshop.

source:New Age

CWASA sings contract to build new water plants

The Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority on Wednesday signed a contract under Karnaphuli Water Supply Project with two Chinese construction firms to build a new water supply plant at a cost of Tk 1510 crore.

The project includes intake facility and treatment plant, transmission and distribution pipelines reservoirs.

CWASA officials signed the contract with China National Technical Import and Export Corporation and Beijing Sound Environment Engineering Corporation at a city

hotel.

CWASA deputy managing director Syed Tawhidur Rahman, also the project director of Karnaphuli Water Supply Project, CNTIC vice-president Shan Wei and BSEEC general manager Wei Wei signed the contract.

Syed Tawhidur Rahman, at a briefing after the singing, told media that the new project would add 1360 lakh litres of water each day with the present supply.

He also said the project duration is 30 months and scheduled to be finished on December 15, 2013.

Syed Tawhidur Rahman informed the media that at present the daily demand for water was about 50 crore litres and CWASA could supply only 2.1 crore litres.

He also said the government had allotted Tk 504 crore, the Japan International Cooperation Agency gave Tk 991 crore and CWASA contributed Tk 15 crore for the implementation of the project at Pamra at Rangunia in the city.

Shan Wei and Wei Wei expressed their optimism to finish the project within the scheduled time.

source:New Age

4 projects to ease city gridlocks

The government has undertaken four projects to ease traffic congestion in the city, the communications minister informs parliament.

During the question-answer session on Tuesday, Syed Abul Hossain said the bridge division under his ministry would implement the projects.

The projects include a tunnel from Jahangir Gate to Rokeya Sarani, a 26-kilometer elevated expressway from Shahjalal International Airport to Kutubkhali, and Dhaka-Ashulia elevated expressway.

Replying to query by lawmaker Mohammad Shah Alam from Pirojpur 2, Abul said the elevated expressway projects would be implemented under private public partnership initiative.

Prequalification bids have been invited for Dhaka-Ashulia elevated expressway project, he said.

The minister further said appointment of consultants is underway to conduct feasibility study for another elevated expressway from Gulistan's Golap Shah Mazar to Second Buriganga Bridge in old Dhaka under PPP.

The cabinet has already approved construction of a 26-kilometre metro rail from Uttara to Bangladesh Bank. Japan International Cooperation Agency is financing the project.

source:New Age

RCC reopens bus terminal today to ease congestion

The Rajshahi City Corporation today reopens an inter-district bus terminal that was abandoned after its inception in 2007.

The authorities concerned made the decision to ease the increasing traffic congestions in the city.

A release from the RCC said that Rajshahi mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton was scheduled to be present at the re-launch of the terminal built at Naodapara.

The terminal, primarily built for the inter-district buses, will shelter the inter-upazila buses also to reduce the pressure of traffics in the city, said the RCC officials.

They also informed that the terminal's construction began in 2001 and ended in 2004.

But it was not opened then for some problems.

The terminal, however, was launched in 2007 but was closed soon after its inception, the officials confirmed.

The officials said the buses plying city streets were responsible for serious traffic congestion in the city.

They said long-distance buses picked up passengers from mainly two points in the city, one was near Rajshahi railway station at Shiroil and another at Rail Gate area.

Both inter-district buses from different parts of the country and inter-upazila buses, plying 30 routes mainly in the Rajshahi division, picked up passengers from these stoppages.

Both these places were in the central part of the city and the long-distance buses moved through the city the whole day, causing jams on the roads, they complained.

The RCC release disclosed that on June 2 high officials of the RCC, the Rajshahi Development Authority and the Bangladesh Road Transport Group, an association of the private transport service providers, after a meeting at the RCC office took the decision to reopen the terminal.

RCC officials said the authorities concerned also decided to move the BRTC bus depot from Kumarpara to a separate terminal at Naodapara.

They said, according to the new decisions, the transport service providers, however, would be able to keep their ticket counters at the old bus stands and the buses would be allowed to come inside the city late at night and early morning.

The RCC had decided to launch city bus services for the city dwellers to reach Naodapara that is about 10 kilometres from the present bus stand, RCC panel mayor Shariful Islam Babu said.

The new bus terminal might need 15 more days to be in full operation, said Kamal Hossain Robi, Rajshahi divisional general secretary of Road Transport Federation.

Some extension work was going on in the terminal as it would have to make room for more vehicles than what it was originally planned for, he said.

source:New Age

RU demo protests at police action on oil, gas committee

Teachers and students of Rajshahi University on Wednesday brought out a silent procession on the campus protesting against Tuesday's police action on leaders and activists of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports.

Witnesses said around 200 teachers and students of the university took part in the procession that started from Syed Ismail Hosssain Siraji building and, after parading the campus streets, gathered in a rally in the building compound.

Earlier on June 14, the national committee held a demonstration in front of the energy and power ministry against the government plan to lease out hydro-carbon blocks 10 and 11 in the Bay of Bangle to the US oil giant ConocoPhillips.

The police swooped on the peaceful demonstration leaving a number of them injured critically.

Kazi Mamun Haider Rana of mass communication department and Abdul Halim Pramanik, Shahriar Hossain, Kazi Afsana, and Abdullah Mamun of theatre and music department, among others, also addressed the rally.

source:New Age

Demand for passing modified vested property bill

Speakers at a discussion on Wednesday called for passing in the current session of parliament the vested property amendment bill with modifications to facilitate restoration of property to the lawful claimants.

Politicians, lawyers and NGO functionaries came together to press the demand for passing the bill with the modifications suggested.

They said that the Vested Property (Restoration) (Amendment) Bill 2010, as it was sent to the standing committee on land does not reflect the expectations of the minorities.

They called for defining vested property in keeping with the verdict of the Appellate Division, publication of a list of vested properties in accordance with the census report of 1974 in the official gazette and setting up of tribunals at district towns.

Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Ain o Shalish Kendra, Nijera Kori and Association for Land Reform and Development, and a host of other NGOs jointly organised the discussion at Dhaka Reporters Unity.     

Justice  Golam Rabbani presided over the discussion and Nijera Kori coordinator Khushi Kabir moderated the programme.

source:New Age

Black day for newspapers observed

Newspaper editors, journalist union representatives and media activists on Wednesday alerted journalists across the country to oppose any sort of repression and intimidation aimed at muzzling the mid media.

Speaking at a roundtable to mark 'the black day for newspapers and the present situation', they said that the freedom of press was at stake due to intimidation and repression on journalists by the incumbent regime.

Dhaka Union of Journalists organised the discussion at National Press Club to mark the 'black day for newspapers', June 16, 1975.

One June 16, 1975, the then government of Awami League banned all but four newspapers.

Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman, Amader Shomoy editor Naeemul Islam Lkan, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists secretary general Shaukat Mahmud, DUJ secretary Muhammad Baker Hossain, BFUJ president Ruhul Amin Gazi, vice president Aminul Islam Kagaji and veteran journalist Ershad Majumdar spoke at the session chaired by DUJ president Abdus Shahid.

In his keynote paper, Daily Dinkal editor Rezwan Siddiqui said that the  Awami League led regime, following what it had done on June 16, 1975, continues to harass the journalists.

He said that Awami League cannot forget its old characteristics and activities which led it to shut down all but four newspapers on June 16, 1975.

The other speakers said the Awami League led government was following a policy of not tolerating the views and opinions of others.

They said that this policy of intolerance had led the then Awami League government in 1975 to enact a draconian law to shut down all but four newspapers.

They said that Awami League has been repeating that since 2009.

They said AL cannot tolerate others' opinion. They always try to intimidate and muzzle the press.

They condemned muzzling Amar Desh and shutting down Channel 1 and Jamuna Television which only reflected the ruling party's intolerance. 

They urged journalists across the country to oppose the repeat of such repressive actions in future.

source:New Age