The New Nation - Internet Edition

1 killed being hit by a train

UNB, Sirajganj

A young man was killed and two others were injured as they were crushed under the wheels of an inter-city train in Ullapara upazila yesterday.

Local sources said Al Amin, 23, of Chandangathi village in Belkuchi upazila, died on the spot as the Dhaka bound Silk Express coming from Rajshahi hit him while he was crossing the Ghatina bridge at about 9:30am.

Two other unidentified people, who were crossing the bridge over Karatoa River, were also injured in the incident.

2 kills, 20 hurt in Bhola clash

UNB, Bhola

Another man, injured in a clash between two rival groups at a village in Lalmohon upazila over land dispute Thursday, died yesterday, raising the death toll to two.

Latest victim, Sattar, 35, son of Nabin Talukder, died on way to Barisal yesterday morning.

Twenty two people, including a group leader Nabin Talukder, were injured in a series of clashes between two rival groups of villagers at Lej Shakina village in Lalmohon upazila Thursday.

Police said supporters of two groups, one led by Nabin Talukdar and another by Idris Ali, equipped with home made lethal weapons attacked each other over the ownership of a piece of land.

Fifteen injured, including Nabin, were admitted to local hospital where Nabin died Thursday afternoon.

Another group leader, Idris, was among the injured.

Kaiser Ahmed, son of Nabin, filed a case with thana against 14 people.

However, none was arrested till writing of this report at about 7pm.

4 pvt telecom systems start operation to offer VoIP calls

UNB, Dhaka

Four international long distance telecommunication systems (ILDTS) in the private sector go into formal operation Saturday, saying good bye to illegal telephone call business under the Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) chairman Maj Gen (retd) Manzurul Alam will commission the systems of two Interconnection Exchange (ICX) and two International Gateway (IGW) switches.

GETCO Telecommunication and M&H Telecom will operate the ICX systems, while Bangla Track Communications Limited and Novotel Limited will operate the IGW systems along with BTCL (formerly BTTB).

The private companies would operate the ILDTS under BTRC licenses offering low-cost international telecommunication services through state-of-the-art technology, operators said.

They said it would help stop siphoning of foreign currency and money laundering as well as ensure proper revenue earning and protect national security and interest.

The ICX exchange will also allow the BTRC to monitor all calls and detect any unusual call pattern of the telephone network. The monitoring system also incorporates provision for preservation of call records of six months and all call contents of any conversation.

2 killed as jeep falls into hilly ditch in Bandarban

UNB, Bandarban

Two tourists were killed and four people injured when a jeep fell into a hilly ditch at Laimipara on Bandarban-Chimbuk road yesterday.

Police said the jeep fell into the 350-feet deep ditch at noon as the driver lost his control over steering, killing two on the spot.

The deceased were identified as Selim, 51, and Mofizul Islam, 58.

They both hailed from capital Dhaka.

The bodies were recovered and sent to morgue for autopsy.

Injured Khandakar Habibur Rahman, 40, Golam Mostafa, 38, of Dhaka and jeep driver Bachchu Mia, 25, and helper Delwar Hossain were admitted to Bandarban Sadar Hospital.

Police said the four tourists in the rented jeep were going to Chimbuk from the district town when tragedy struck them.

CHT District Council Chairman Prof. Thanjama Lusai, Deputy Commissioner M Abdul Majid Shah Akand, Additional Police Super sayeed tariqul Hasan and Sadar UNO nupam Barua visited the scene.

Mother with daughters jumps under train

UNB, Kishoreganj

A mother and her minor daughter were killed while another daughter sustained severe injuries as she jumped under the wheels of a train at Konamati near Kishoreganj station yesterday.

Witnesses said the unidentified woman, aged around 30, with her two daughters, aged about 2 and 4, jumped under the wheels of Kishoreganj-bound inter-city "Egaro Sindur Express" from Dhaka at about 1pm.

The mother died on the spot while the 2-year old girl on way to hospital. Another girl was admitted to hospital in a critical condition.

Angura Khatun, an eyewitness account of the incident, said the woman with her daughters jumped on the track when the train was crossing the area, 2-km South of Kishoreganj station.

Angura and another man tried to save the girls and rushed them to local hospital. But, the younger daughter died in the lap of Angura on way to hospital.

Officer in-charge of Kishoreganj GRP thana Abdul Alim Chowdhury said the reason behind the suicide could not be known immediately.

CA for private sector support for cultural uplift

UNB, Dhaka

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed has called upon the private sector to extend its support and patronization to push forward the country’s cultural advancement and welcome new faces of arts.

He made the call addressing the award distributing ceremony of the 'Celebrating Life’ Contest 2008 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center on Friday evening.

The Daily Star and Standard Chartered Bank arranged the countrywide contest, titled 'Celebrating Life’ 2008, hunting talents particularly the young in three fields-Film, Photography and Lyrics-to encourage, to create opportunity and provide platform to the new talents of arts.

Radio Foorti, Bangladesh info.com, Channel i and Weekly 2000 provided support to the venture as partners.

Editor and Publisher of the Daily Star Mahfuz Anam, CEO of Standard Chattered Bank Osman Morad, and the jury members of the competitions - Tareq Masud (film), M Rafiquzaman (lyrics) and Anwar Hossain (photography) - also spoke at the function.

The Chief Adviser distributed awards among the winners in each category.

Cultural Affairs Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury, participants in the contest and distinguished personalities were present at the function.

In his speech, the Chief Adviser hoped that the competition would be organized annually so that a new sustainable platform is created for filmmakers, photographers and lyricists to come forward with their ideas and innovations.

The film industry, he said, has the prospects to create positive trade links allover the world and even widen the country’s export basket.

He hoped that this competition will have a propelling effect on the film industry since it will bring to light those people who may have the talent to produce good films but have never come forth due to lack of exposure and support.