The week that was

Industry Minister Dilip Barua and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury distribute Buddha statues among the Buddhist monks from different monasteries of Chittagong at a ceremony at Pologround on Friday. Dr Boncot Sithipol, a devotee from Thailand, donated 57 Buddha Statues for different monasteries.Photo: STAR

'Freedom of thought a must for democracy'
Industry Minister Dilip Barua said freedom of thought imbued with the spirit of War of Liberation is a must to drive the nation towards democracy.
Barua said it is impossible to build a prosperous nation without scope for freedom of thought since democracy as well as the accountability depends on it.
He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of Freedom Fighter AK Fazlul Haque Memorial Children Gold Medal Painting Competition at city's DC Hill Park on Friday.
OF Memorial Foundation organised the competition in cooperation with the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Chittagong chapter for the school children where over 400 school students participated in two groups.
Dhaka University Fine Arts Faculty Dean and eminent Cartoonist Mohammad Rafiqun Nabi was the key speaker at the inaugural ceremony presided over by the Competition Committee Chairman Prof Dr Anupam Sen.
Prof Muntasir Mamun, Cartoonist Shishir Bhattacharya, Freedom Fighter Sheikh Ali Aman , Ispahani School and Collage Principal Hasina Zakaria and Sunshine Grammar School and College Principal Safia Gazi Rahman spoke at the ceremony.
Later, the guests handed over prizes among the winners of the painting competition. The function was followed by dance, drama, recitation and music sessions.

Web portal launched
A web portal -- banglarestora.com -- was launched to provide proper information regarding restaurants and tourism across the globe for the visitors.
Organisers of the banglarestora.com disclosed it at a press conference at a hotel in the port city on Sunday.
Chief Executives Captain (Retd) Mahmood Chowdhury and Nooruddin Ibne Rafique spoke at the press conference and briefed about their objectives and activities.
They said the people are to stay outside the home for different purposes while the tourists get worried about the information regarding a place, restaurants, food quality, parking facilities, online booking, food menu and cost at a new place.
“We are determined to provide all the useful information through our website to help them enjoy a tense-free travel outside home,” they said.
The organisation will promote Bangladeshi-owned restaurants and traditional Bangladeshi foods across the world while a number of restaurants from the UK, US, Canada and Thailand have already included as its partners with attractive discounts to its members, they said.
The organisation offers three types of membership cards economy, business and royal, for discount at some specific restaurants in the country and abroad.

WTC executives
Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) President MA Latif was made chairman of new committee of the World Trade Centre (WTC).
The CCCI Senior Vice President MA Salam and SM Shafiul Haque were made co-chairmen.
The committee board of advisers included former president of the CCCI Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, Engineer Ali Ahmed, former director and local Daily Azadi Editor MA Malek, Greater Chittagong Development Movement Committee Chairman and local Daily Purbokone Editor Taslim Uddin Chowdhury and former CCCI Director Nader Khan.
The members are CCCI directors Syed Ahsanul Haque, Nasir Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury , SM Abu Toyub, AKM Akter Hossain, Wasiur Rahman Chowdhury and Mohammad Shoeb Riad .
The CCCI is constructing the WTC and Concord Engineers and Construction Limited was entrusted for the work.

Workshop on solid waste management
A day-long workshop on “Municipal solid waste management” was held at seminar room of Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) Chittagong Centre on Saturday.
IEB, Chittagong Centre and Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) jointly organised the workshop in cooperation with Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet) financed by the European Commission.
Kuet Civil Engineering Faculty Dean Prof Dr M Alamgir was the key-note speaker at the workshop while KMM Hasan, G Haedrich and Prof Dr E Kraft of German University spoke at the workshop.
Dr Alamgir in his speech briefed about different aspects of solid waste management.
He said various social and environmental problems are being created by the municipal solid waste and efficient handling of the problem is needed to solve it.
The IEB Vice Chairman Manzare Khorshed Alam presided over the workshop while high officials of the CCC, Bangladesh Railway, Chittagong Wasa, Chittagong Port Authority, Chittagong Export Processing Zone and Karnaphuli Export Processing Zone attended the workshop.

Youth-friendly healthcare emphasised
Speakers at a workshop on Sunday emphasised the need for youth-friendly family, society and educational institutions along with the youth-friendly healthcare for prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Terming Bangladesh as a risky zone for the HIV/AIDS, they called upon all to come forward to fight the fatal diseases.
They were addressing an advocacy workshop on “Youth-friendly Healthcare” organised by Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), a non-government organisation, at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
CMCH Director Brigadier AKM Fariduzzaman presided over the workshop while National AIDS/STD Project Line Director Dr Eshak Khan, Chittagong Divisional Health Director Dr Mohammad Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Chittagong Medical College Principal Prof Gofranul Haque, “Youth-friendly Healthcare” Project National Adviser Dr AKM Shamsuddin, Chittagong District Civil Surgeon Dr Jalal Ahmed and AIDS/STD Project Deputy Programme Manager Dr Hasan Mahmud attended it.