The week in re(ar)view

Got change for Tk1,000?
Bangladesh Bank has decided to introduce the note of Tk 1,000 denomination by late this year. However, the design of the note is not yet finalised. A meeting of the central bank initially decided to include the photographs of Curzon Hall and Central Shaheed Minar in the note. Security aspects of the note will be decided later.

Fleets of new taxicabs to replace old ones
BRTA decides to scrap over 4,000 dilapidated taxicabs and replace them with more cylinder capacity and durable vehicles. Over 98 percent of these taxicabs have never bothered to obtain fitness certificates since 1998 when they were first introduced. As per the decision, the 800 cc black cabs will be replaced by vehicles with 1350 cc engines. Similarly, the old yellow cabs (air-conditioned) will be phased out and replaced by at least 1500 cc cars. Bigger engines mean that cabbies will have a little extra power to play with. Can you spell road rage?

According to Cab Association of Bangladesh (CAB) more than 9,000 cabs are operating in the city. Yeah, sure. Try to spot the 9000 during the day when you need to go to office. Quite likely the government is testing a cloaking device attached to cabs.

Mobile court seals off lube warehouse
A mobile court on the 11th Feb, closed down a lubricants showroom at the city's Banglabazar, which has been marketing grease as engine oil. Abu Saleh Mohammad Mohiuddin, owner of Mubarak Lubricants was fined Tk 2 lakh and sentenced to eight months' jail.

If you feel your internal organ working extra smooth through reduced friction, you know who to thank. Just remember to change the oil every 3 months and the heart and liver every year.

The court also raided the warehouse of the company at Hajipara in Rampura and found 50 drums containing grease, which were labelled with fake seals and stickers for selling as engine oil. It also recovered a number of blocks of different dies with 'made in UK,' 'made in Korea,' 'made in Japan' cut into them. Pretty soon we will be stamping ourselves with these stating our place of origin. Wonder what's next on the agenda. Spare human parts for sale?

Sand, brick dust mixed with spices
A mobile court on the 8th of Feb found that sand and powdered brick and seeds of sour plum (boroi) are being mixed with spices like turmeric and red chili powder. They are not only putting a punch to the spices, they are also adding a crunch. The same court also raided three fake corrugated tin factories at the same area and found that they use labels of different brands on their poor quality products before selling them.

Relief materials found at Falu's factory site
The army-led joint forces seized government relief materials from a business establishment of former BNP lawmaker and businessman Mosaddak Ali Falu in Savar. The forces demolished five houses constructed with corrugated iron (CI) sheets, which are actually government relief materials, on the factory premises. We have an explanation (like we always do). Falu obviously needed relief from the hassle of politics but some flunky misunderstood and instead got him the relief materials. It's always the junior subordinates fault. However, the joint forces could not arrest anyone during the drive.

Power import from India to be considered
9 Feb: We buy Indian sarees, we buy their distorted rich-soap-opera-folk lifestyle nd even their crappy cars. Now we will be buying their power as well. Bangladesh would consider importing power from the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal to plug any possible shortfalls in power supply during the upcoming summer.

But of course, we suggest you stock up on batteries. Blackouts are a way of our lives right now. A feasibility study has been prepared on the proposal with the support of the USAID, and ADB is collaborating with the USAID.

By Gokhra and Mood Dude

Dggie bark lines

He is a very smart dog
I went to the cinema the other day and in the front row was an old man and with him was his dog. It was a sad funny kind of film, you know the type. In the sad part, the dog cried his eyes out, and in the funny part, the dog laughed its head off. This happened all the way through the film. After the film had ended, I decided to go and speak to the man.

"That's the most amazing thing I've seen," I said. "That dog really seemed to enjoy the film."
The man turned to me and said, "Yeah, it is. He hated the book."

Who let the dog out
A butcher is leaning on the counter toward the close of day when a dog with a basket in its jaws comes pushing through the door.

"An' wot's this then?" he asked. The dog knocks the basket sharply into the butcher's shins.

"You dumb dog." As he reaches down to smack the dog, he notices a note and a ten dollar bill in the basket. The scribble on the note asks for three pounds of his best mince [ground beef]. The butcher figures this is too easy. He goes to the window and reaches for the dried up stuff that's been sitting out all day.

The dog growls at him. The butcher turns around and, glaring at the pup, gets the best mince from the fridge. Weighing out about 2 1/2 pounds, he drops in on the scale with his thumb.

"Hmmmmm, a bit shy. Who'll know?"
Again, the dog growls menacingly. "Alright, alright," as he throws on a generous half pound. He wraps it out, drops it in the basket, and drops in change from a five. The dog threatens to
chew him off at the ankles. Another five goes in the basket. The butcher is quite impressed and decides to follow the piddy pup home. The dog quickly enters a high-rise buildings, pushes the lift button, enters the lift, and then pushes the button for the 12th floor. The dog walks down the corridor and smartly bangs the basket on the door. The door opens, and the dog's owner screams at the dog.

"Hey, what are you doing? That's a really smart dog you've got there," comments the butcher.
"He's a stupid dog--that's the third time this week he's forgotten his key.

The amazing flying dog
A woman is out looking for a pet, and so she's trying the local pet shops. She walks into a small pet shop and explains her need to the attendant. He thinks for a moment and then says, "I've got just the thing for you madam. I'll just get him."

With that, he disappears into the back of the shop, and returns a few seconds later with a cute little puppy. "This dog is a special dog," he tells her. "It is able to fly," he explains, and with that throws the dog into the air. It immediately begins to float gracefully around the shop.

"There is one problem with him, however. Whenever you say 'my', he'll eat whatever you've mentioned. Watch. "My apple!" The lady watches in astonishment as the dog zooms over to the shop attendant and furiously devours an apple he has produced from his pocket.

"He's cute, and so unusual. I'll take him," she says, and a few minutes later she is on her way back home with dog to show her husband.

"Darling, look what a clever pet I bought today!" she exclaims when she gets back home. "He can fly!"The husband peers at the dog, and then remarks, "Fly eh? Ha! My foot!"

RS Mailbx

Your one-stop junction for love and hate for RS. We prefer the love. Send queries, thoughts and suggestions to risingstars@thedailystar.net

Native Deen rocks
Yep it really rocks in a very dreamy hip hop way. The interview was a great eye opener and a wonderful contrast that you can take something like rap (oozing with sex and violence) and turn it into a neat religious song. And that too making it cool all at the same time.
Sadman Rafiq
Australia

Career choices
Thanks to RS for highlighting different personalities who work in the none-too-usual preference of careers like fashion design, interior designing etc. Although these are big businesses worldwide, in our country these still fall into a niche category where parents are too afraid to let their wards do anything because they worry that the kids will not have any future. I personally went for interior designing and though it's difficult at first it is a very rewarding career.
Great to see that RS is catering to more serious issue these days.
Sharmeen Akhter

Looking for Boo
Hi there,
The first thing I do when I have the RS in my hand is flipping it over, hoping to have a glimpse of the cute, evil, cheeky Boo. If he's there, I keep him as the piece d resistance and finish reading the first 7 pages of RS first. But for the past few weeks, there has been no sign of Boo in the BackPack. I really really miss Boo....when is he gonna come back? As much as I like the foreign cartoons of Beetle Bailey and Red Eye....I would prefer having more of our local 'B' cartoons (i.e Bhola, Boo and Babu) in the Backpack! This might be too silly a mail to come from a late teen..... but I genuinely wanna know what has happened to Boo....or rather to E.R.Ronny for that matter!
Thanx!
Afifeh F.

We have the same question-Editor.

NYC cabbie returns bag of diamond rings

“I enjoy my life. I'm satisfied. I'm not going to take someone else's money or property to make me rich. I don't want it that way.”

February 07, 2007: A taxi driver returned a black bag carrying 31 diamond rings to a passenger who earlier had given him a 30-cent tip on an $11 ride.

Hours after Osman Chowdhury dropped off the passenger, he tracked her down through a flurry of phone calls and returned the bag, which she had left in the taxi's trunk. The unidentified woman, who said she was a jeweler, offered a $100 reward. Chowdhury accepted the money to cover the fares he lost while tracking her down. Chowdhury, a native of Bangladesh, told the New York Daily News that he didn't so much as consider keeping the gems.

'I'm a hard worker,' the soft-spoken cabbie said. 'I enjoy my life. I'm satisfied. I'm not going to take someone else's money or property to make me rich. I don't want it that way.'

'When I find something left in my cab, and I can return it to the owner, I feel very happy. I feel proud,' he said.

Compiled by Mashrur Rahman

Building tomorrows future: CTFB

Children Television Foundation of Bangladesh (CTFB) along with Unicef organised a 6 day program where young participants were given a hands-on experience of working with media. On 26 and 27 December they attended a workshop on Pandulipi Essay Technique. 19 and 20 January was covered working with television reporting. 26 and 27 January was dealt with news presentation. Tanvir Newaz, Abir Hasan, Gias Ahmed, Tahsina Yasmin and Abdullah Zafar directed this workshop. CTFB program coordinator Rashedul Hasan Jewel was also the course coordinator. It took place at the CTFB offices in Flat A3, Oriental Log Cabin, 32 Mirpur Road, Dhaka. The young people comprised of a two groups of 10 people each. Two winners were chosen for a study tour to Saint Martins Island. These 20 youngsters also took part in a 3-month long free training program on computer usage. These programs were followed up with tow more on 9 and 10 February based on child rights.

The organisers know that the children build the future and they feel that more of these programs will help better shape the world.