In an undated video on Saturday Islamic State
threatens to attack France if bombings of its fighters continue, a day
after gunmen and bombers killed at least 140 people in Paris. In the
photo, rescuers cover a victim killed during one of several attacks in
the French capital Paris, on November 13, 2015. Photo: AFP
Reuters, Cairo
Islamic State released an undated video on Saturday threatening to
attack France if bombings of its fighters continue, a day after gunmen and bombers killed at least 140 people in Paris. The
group's foreign media arm, Al-Hayat Media Centre, made the threat
through a militant who called on French Muslims to carry out attacks.
Yeh and i got to catch one from London back home on Sunday from London bus station. We should not have to be... https://t.co/AHKoKehWB1
"As long as you keep bombing you will not live in peace. You
will even fear traveling to the market," said the bearded
Arabic-speaking militant, flanked by other fighters.
Does a policeman enjoy enough power to control traffic system in Dhaka?
The answer is: No! According to a number of policemen, interviewed by
The Daily Star, they rather feel that they have very little power to
ensure law and order. Instead, law breakers often enjoy more power than
the cops, they alleged.
In a city of nearly 2 crore people and over 9 lakh vehicles, the
traffic police not only feel unempowered but also are extremely
over-worked, under-paid and exposed to hazardous situations.
Just consider these facts: according to a latest government survey only 4,000 policemen are deployed for traffic management.
Constables have to endure scorching heat or rain everyday trying to
carry out their responsibility of maintaining traffic order on the
streets, which becomes a nightmare when people are comfortable violating
traffic signals, ignoring speed limits, jaywalking and parking here and
there.
“We don’t even have any proper toilet facilities while on duty,” said a traffic inspector in Dhaka, requesting anonymity.
Traffic policemen have eight-hour working shifts only in the paper,
he said. “In reality, we have to work for upto 14 hours sometimes.”
An average traffic constable has a basic pay of Tk 4,500 while a sub-inspector has a basic salary of Tk 8,000.
“We often get phone calls from powerful people when we take action
against a traffic rule violator,” Khademul Islam, a traffic inspector
at Sonargaon, told The Daily Star.
Rasel Ahmed, a traffic sergeant at Farmgate, said influential people
tend to break traffic rules and most of the times they misbehave with
traffic police after violating the laws.
“We have to take risks while carrying out our duties,” said Md
Shahjahan, a traffic inspector at Dhaka’s Farmgate police box. “Nowhere
else do the police control traffic standing in the middle of the road
(just to make a bus obey the stop signal),” he also said, adding “Often,
we become victims to accidents.”
Traffic management has to comply with multiple authorities – the city
corporations, roads and highways department and Rajdhani Unnayan
Kartipakkha (Rajuk), which also makes the job a difficult one.
“Some authorities do not even bother to inform us after deciding to
dig a road for sewerage or other reasons,” said Traffic Sergeant Rasel
Ahmed. “That is a problem for traffic management.”
However, they still hope for a better outcome of traffic management
in Dhaka. They say only a change of mentality, and not punishment, can
ensure smooth traffic.
The World Bank today approved an additional tranche of $177 million
for Bangladesh’s power sector to increase reliable and low-cost
electricity.
This additional finance will add new power generation capacity and
increase efficient use of its scarce domestic gas supplies, said a WB
press release.
The money will enable completion of the 335MW power plant at
Siddhirganj – what was originally a 330MW plant later stepped up in face
of demand and supply.
“Despite increased power generation capacity, Bangladesh still faces
significant outages during the peak demand hours,” said Martin Rama,
acting World Bank country director for Bangladesh.
Inadequate power supply is affecting families, undermining competitiveness and hindering growth, she said in the press release.
The combined cycle plant, believed to be energy-efficient, will
deliver at least 2.49 billion KWh annually, which accounts for 6 percent
of the total electricity delivered to the national grid.
