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The owners of the Spectrum Sweater and Knitting Ltd are yet to begin compensating the victims of the factory building’s collapse at Palashbari, Savar even after 13 days of the incident.
   And the amount of the compensations still remains disputed as the factory owners have expressed ‘willingness’ to compensate the victims at whatever rate is fixed by only the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association.
   The association, having no criteria for compensation, used to provide Tk 1,00,000 as lump sum compensation to families of each of the dead in similar incidents since 2001. The amount was Tk 50,000 the year before, and Tk 25,000 since 1990.
   But the labour and human rights organisations working for apparel workers termed the latest amount ‘too meagre’ and demanded that it should be at least Tk 7 lakh in view of the ages and earnings of the victims.
   The organisations alleged that the owners had been trying to earn the credit of giving compensations to the victims by paying only nominal amounts.
   A representative of the owners, who have been absconding since the April 11 tragedy, said, ‘We will give whatever amounts the association tells us to distribute among the victims, dead or alive.’
   The owners have so far listed the names of 59 victims, including two women, who are all dead. Compensations will be given within 3 to 4 days or a maximum of 10 days, the representative told New Age on Sunday.
   The rescue operation control room, set up by the army near the spot of the collapse, however, reported recovery of 76 bodies from the rubble at the factory site. Informed sources alleged that many dead bodies have not been recovered yet.
   Spectrum’s representative said those who were injured in the incident would be provided with cash or jobs after considering their ability to work after their release from hospitals.
   The president of Karmajibi Nari, Shirin Akhter, claimed that the amounts of compensation should be fixed on the basis of loss of lives and projected income, and also on the lines of the Fatal Accidents Act 1855.
   But the chief inspector of factories lodged a case under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1923 after the accident.
   Another lawyer doubted whether the nominal amounts of money given by the association to victims can be called ‘compensation.’
   ‘The workers were not employed by the association. Compensations must be claimed from the owners. If the association distributes the money on behalf of the owners, the question rises on what basis they fixed the amount. Otherwise it would merely be a humanitarian donation only,’ said advocate Bazlur Rahman.
   No senior leader of the garment manufacturers’ association was available for comment even after repeated attempts. Its president, Annisul Huq, is abroad at present.
   Ferdous Perves Bivon, a director of the association, said they fixed the amount and made it equal to life insurance claims. The association compelled the owners of garment factories, those who had no insurance, to pay the same amount to the victims which they would get as life insurance.
   The association distributed Tk 5,42,000 as compensation and paid the carrying cost of the bodies from its own funds.
   But the Spectrum owners gave only Tk 3,000 to Tk 5,000 per head to the injured employees now being treated at different hospitals in the city. Attendants of the patients said the amount is too little to meet the medical expenses even.
   The Spectrum authorities claimed that the factory’s collapse was a mere accident due to the boiler’s explosion, but an eight-member team of experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology found no evidence of boiler explosion, and suspected that the building collapsed due mainly to its faulty construction and use of sub-standard building materials.
   The owners of Spectrum claimed that they always abide by the local labour laws and regulations set by the International Labour Organisation. In an advertisement published on Sunday in some newspapers, the factory owners claimed that most of the employees of the factory were given full salaries up to March 2005. ‘We never keep the employees unpaid,’ the advertisement said, adding that ‘even in this disastrous time, we are trying to clear the dues by managing money from other sources’.
   Several employees of the collapsed factory said they used to get salary every month but if some of them failed to collect the salary on the fixed date, they had to take it the next month.
   The employees enjoyed a nominal festival allowance of Tk 500 before the two Eids. Anju, one of the employees, said, ‘The amount was not enough to properly enjoy a festival.’
   ‘During the off season, we got Tk 1,600 per month as attendance allowance, but if anyone remained absent for a day, the authorities deducted seven days’ allowance,’ said Marjina.
   Those who worked in the production unit said they were given wages based on per unit of apparel they produced.
   Although the owners are claiming that the ILO regulations were followed at the factory, the female employees did not get maternity leave. One of the victims, Aleya, was pregnant for seven and half months when the factory collapsed. Among the victims, three other were also women.
   One of Aleya’s friends said that Aleya did not want to work at night to ensure the safety of the child she was carrying. ‘She might have survived if she was allowed maternity leave,’ the friend said in tears.
   The injured employees, admitted to different hospitals, said that the owners of the company were sharing the medical expenses.
   The Clean Clothes Campaign, a global alliance of trade unions in garment factories, said, ‘It remains unclear if the factory had any licence from the factory inspection division of the labour ministry to operate a night shift, and it was a clear violation of Bangladesh’s labour laws to compel women to work in the factory after midnight.’
   The alliance has sent letters to major European buyers who used to buy apparels from the factory.
   In another advertisement published in several dailies on April 13 and later, Spectrum’s owners claimed that the building was constructed of ‘quality construction materials in accordance with the existing construction rules’.
   The owners also claimed that the structural design of the building was drawn up by an experienced engineer from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and the construction work was done under his supervision. But the experts’ team from the same university found low-quality structural parts, and columns thinner than the required diameter or width.

The April 11 collapse of a nine-storey garment factory building at Savar, which left at least 76 people killed, over 100 injured and 45 missing, has jolted the government and the industry people into considering structures of factory building as a major compliance issue. According to government officials and industry insiders, a move is on to conduct a survey for identification of buildings that have flawed design and thus risky.
   The Office of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Establishment currently look out for ventilations, emergency exits, alternative stairs, toilets and other facilities on each floor of a factory building, said a senior official.
   ‘The Spectrum tragedy has added a new dimension to the compliance issue,’ he said.
   The office, which is under the industries ministry and monitors working environment and safety issues in the industrial sector, currently has 103 inspectors, including 14 assigned to investigate safety issues.
   ‘The office has started extensive investigation of garment factories,’ said the official. ‘Six inspectors have been assigned to inspect each and every garment factory and will place a set of recommendations on completion of their investigation.’
   He admitted that there were violations of compliance issues and blamed those on the shortage of inspectors and a low rate of fines. Professor Sekandar Ali, chairman of the civil engineering department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, believes the relevant government agency should have a special authorisation and monitoring system for industrial buildings. ‘The buildings require extra load capacity as human density is high there.’
   Many garment factories have been set up in buildings that were constructed for low-density human living, he said. ‘Most of these buildings are unplanned and do not meet engineering requirements.’
   The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association president, Fazlul Haque, acknowledged the need for a survey of garment factory buildings to detect risky workplaces.
   He said the Savar tragedy had not had any fallout on apparel orders. ‘The collapse of the building has been regarded as an event beyond the control of the factory owner.’ The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association is also planning to form a committee that will survey garment factory buildings for any structural flaws.
   ‘On completion of the investigation of the Savar building collapse, we plan to form a committee to conduct survey of all garment factory buildings,’ said the chairman of the BGMEA standing committee on safety measures, Ali Azam Khan.
   Azam, who also heads the BGMEA inquiry committee on the Savar factory collapse, said the national survey would first detect risky garment buildings.
   The association claimed that there had been no fallout of the Savar tragedy on the export scenario.
   The buyers have not yet voiced any concern over the incident, said the BGMEA president, Annisul Huq.

Life would not be normal again for most of the workers injured in the collapse of the Spectrum Sweater and Knitting Factory building at Savar that took place on April 11.
   Physicians at Orthopaedics Hospital, where most of the workers were treated, amputated hands, legs, fingers and other parts of the victims. They said if the victims survived, they would not be able to get to work again.
   Kamal Hossain, 30, Saiful Islam, 24, Motaleb Hossain, 25, Rafiqul Islam, 24, Mohammad Jamal, 27, Shafiqul Islam, 20, Mozaffar Hossain, 24, Gafur, 19, Manjurul Islam, 25, Noor-e-Alam, 29, Hafizur Rahman, 33, and Nesar Uddin Talukdar, 30 were under treatment in the hospital on Saturday. Another worker, Milon, 18, was treated in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and yet another, Sagar Ahmed, 18, in Al-Raji Hospital.
   Many of the injured workers have already been discharged after treatment from the hospitals. The workers who are still under treatment are likely to be discharged in a day or two, the physicians said.
   Motaleb, a man from Mymensingh who operated a knitting machine, lost his four fingers of the right hand and the left toe.
   He is under treatment in Ward C of the hospital. He said he was the only earner of a family of eight. His elder brother lost his one of his legs in a road accident earlier.
   Motaleb’s mother, Rehena Begum, said, ‘We have no other means but his salary to run the family. He will not be able to join work. Only God knows how we would survive.’
   She said Spectrum accountant Mohammad Zahid gave Tk 3,000 for his treatment Saturday morning.
   Most of the workers, on an average, received Tk 5,000; some needed to spend something between Tk 7,000 and Tk 9,000.
   Mozaffar of Kurigram lost the right leg and has now been suffering from kidney problem. His kidney was damaged in the accident. He, now treated in a ward, said, ‘I lost my leg. Please write about me so that I can have some financial supports from the owner.’
   His elder brother, Akabbar, said they received Tk 3000 from the accountant. ‘This is too small an amount to treat my brother. He is suffering from kidney problem.’
   He demanded compensation for his brother ‘as my brother would not be able to work for the rest of his life.’
   Noor-e-Alam of Madaripur lost the left arm. He said, ‘I need to run two families, one at Palashbari where I live with my three-year-old child and my wife, and another at Madaripur where my mother lives with my younger brother and sister.’
   Noor-e-Alam’s wife Jharna Begum, also a worker of the factory, said, ‘We are now in serious trouble. How can we survive if we are not given compensation by the owner?’
   Shafiqul of Manikganj became paralysed as his backbone and the central nervous system was badly damaged. He lost the left leg.
   His elder sister Shanta said the accountant had given them a nominal amount for the treatment. ‘Arrange money on your own and then we will reimburse the amount,’ she quoted the accountant as saying. ‘But where can we get such a huge amount of money? We cannot continue the treatment if we are not given money now.’
   Milon, a teenage boy from Manikganj, was moved to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Friday as his stomach malfunctioned. His father is also a man with a disability.
   Milon’s mother Anwara Begum said she could not imagine how she would run the family. ‘We have four minor children and I do not know how to manage food for them.’
   Sagar of Gajipur was admitted to Al-Raji Hospital in a critical condition; he was discharged Saturday evening.
   Kamal Hossain was stampeded during the collapse. Unable to sit, he is now lying in Bed G in IJ Ward at Orthopaedics Hospital. He needs three bags of B- blood for surgery.
   His mother, Anwara Begum, said she paid Tk 300 to a man who was willing to give blood. But the physicians refused to take his blood for reasons unknown.
   Most of the relatives of the injured alleged that the ward boy of Orthopaedics Hospital demanded money after dressing. And they misbehaved with the attendants when they were not given the money.
   The hospital registrar, ATM Bahar Uddin, said most of the injured, admitted to the hospital, would have to live with disabilities for the rest of their lives. ‘If their damaged organs were not amputated, it will be difficult for them to survive.’
   The accountant, Zahid, said, ‘We will pay all the expenses of the treatment. We have already paid each of the injured between Tk 5000 and Tk 10,000.’
   ‘We paid the salaries due to most of the workers on Thursday and Saturday,’ he said.

A parliamentary panel on Sunday asked the authorities to bring to justice the people responsible for the tragic April 11 garment factory collapse that left 76 garment workers crushed alive.
   The parliamentary standing committee on the labour and manpower ministry at a meeting held the owner of the Spectrum Sweater Limited and a section of officials in the Rajuk for faulty construction of the building that led to the tragic accident, according to meeting sources.
   The meeting held at Sangsad Bhaban, with Mosharraf Hossain Mongu in the chair, also asked for compensation for the injured workers and the families of the deceased. It also formed a subcommittee asking it to report back in two months on the overall working atmosphere at the garment factories.
   The subcommittee will check whether the factories have their fire exits, alternative stairs and other facilities as stipulated by the existing rules.
   The meeting observed that the department of factory inspection faces dearth of human resources. It asked the government to make immediate appointments of personnel required for smooth inspection of the factories. Only 100 out of over 3700 garment factories located in different areas have so far been inspected by this department.
   The meeting prayed for salvation of the departed souls of the victims of the April 10 tragedy and conveyed sympathies to the members of the bereaved families.
   The committee members, Aman Ullah Aman, also the state minister for labour and employment, Shajahan Khan, Mufti Mohammand Wakkas, Mohammad Ataur Rahman Atiq and Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman attended the meeting.

The Workers’ Security Forum, a coalition of 14 workers, women’s and human rights organisations, on Sunday issued a legal notice on the authorities concerned over the sweater factory collapse that killed about 76 people.
   The notice was issued on the secretaries of the ministries of labour, commerce, industry, land, food and disaster management, forest and environment and housing and public works, chief inspector of factories, chairman of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, deputy commissioner of Dhaka, executive officer of Savar Cantonment Board, inspector general of police, president of Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association, managing director of the Spectrum Sweater Industries, the owning company of the collapsed factory, Shariar Sayeed, who is the son-in-law of ruling party lawmaker Mahbubur Rahman and husband of a High Court judge, Justice Farah Mahbub, and directors of the company, Altaf Hossain and Hashem Fakir.
   The notice demanded arrest of Shahriar Sayeed, independent and effective investigation into the deadly accident and appropriate punishment of the people responsible, appropriate compensation and rehabilitation of the affected people and immediate steps to prevent any further such incident.
   The notice asked the authorities to inform about development in meeting the demands it made within April 28.
   The coalition includes Ain-O-Salish Kendro, Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Ohikar, Bangladesh Society of Establishment of Human Rights, National Women Lawyers Association, Incidin Bangladesh, Jatiya Nari Jote, Karmajibi Nari, Nijera Kari, Oxfam, Sammilito Samajik Andolon, Sammilita Nari Samaj and Ubineeg.

The government has decided to release eight million euros — equivalent to more than Tk 66 crore — to the PRIP Trust, a non-government organisation whose funds have been held up by the authorities since early 2002 pending investigation.
   Four other NGOs — Proshika, the Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha and the International Voluntary Services — whose foreign donations were also held up by the government alongside PRIP’s, are yet to receive clearance for their funds, totalling around Tk 300 crore.
   The funds of all the five NGOs were withheld by the government following allegations of financial irregularities committed by the top executives of the organisations and their involvement in partisan political activities. Cases are currently pending with different courts regarding the allegations of financial misappropriations.
   ‘These NGOs were found to be involved in political activities, according to a government investigation,’ the principal secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, told New Age on April 19. ‘But the government has allowed the PRIP Trust to utilise foreign grants for development activities as the organisation has apologised unconditionally.’
   ‘The government has released foreign grants totalling 8.15 million euros [one euro = Tk 83.08] to the PRIP Trust,’ the acting director-general of the Bureau of NGO Affairs, Abul Kalam Azad, told New Age on April 17.
   ‘But the government is yet to decide on the disbursement of grants made in favour of Proshika, ADAB, BNPS and IVS as there are cases against them, on charges of misappropriation of funds, pending in the courts.’
   The bureau sued the Proshika president, Quazi Faruque Ahmed, and eight other officials of the organisation in May 2004 under section 6(2) of the Foreign Donation (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Ordinance 1978 on charges of misappropriation of funds.
   Earlier, a government audit reportedly revealed that Proshika, BNPS, PRIP Trust and IVS had spent foreign grants for political and personal purposes.
   The audit also revealed that the Proshika president had ‘misused’ about Tk 110 crore in five years, from 1996 to 2001, by various means including sending dependents abroad on scholarship, depositing two per cent of the aid money against the foreign currency account, keeping pet dogs at very high expense with Proshika’s money, and celebrating his birthday with money from the NGO’s coffers.
   ‘Spending Proshika’s money on housing, feeding, treatment and care of pet dogs by Proshika’s president is contrary to financial discipline and is a financial irregularity as well,’ said the audit report.
   The Proshika authorities spent money for political purposes, in the name of ‘educating voters’, in a number of areas before the 2001 national election, which is a gross financial irregularity and corruption, the report revealed.
   Faruque, also president of ADAB, could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts over the last few days, as he was apparently busy in meetings at his office.
   Proshika sources said the organisation has had to scale down its operation as the bureau is yet to release funds.
   ‘ADAB had sued the government for holding up foreign grants of the NGOs,’ ADAB director Aminul Islam told New Age. ‘But the government is yet to decide on if to disburse ADAB’s money even though the court ordered it to take a decision on releasing foreign grants of Tk 7 crore to us.’
   ‘The court, however, is yet to resolve the cases filed against Proshika, BNPS and IVS,’ he added.
   Foreign donors have also withdrawn the grants of BNPS and redistributed the funds to other NGOs, the acting director-general said.
   The BNPS executive director, Rokeya Kabir, however, was not available for comment.
   The executive director of the PRIP Trusts, Aroma Dutta, confirmed the government’s recent decision of releasing foreign grants of about eight million euros.
   ‘Yes, we have been told that the government has decided to release our funds, after we requested the government, in black and white, to give us an opportunity to improve the quality of our work,’ she told New Age on April 19.
   ‘We have to begin afresh as we have fallen three and a half years behind in our projects,’ she added. ‘Meanwhile, the foreign donors have withdrawn a sum of about 5.6 million euros granted to our trust and redistributed it to other NGOs as we could not utilise the funds.’
   Tajul Islam, director of the Federation of NGOs, Bangladesh believes that ‘anyone
   misusing funds should be punished, but the bureau should not hold back the grants allocated for NGO programmes that are beneficial to millions of needy people.’
   Kamal Uddin Siddiqui said that ‘the government has no intention to victimise any individual or organisation without well-founded reasons.’ ‘But the government will not allow any NGO executives, who are also development partners of the government, to spend development funds for political or personal purposes.’

The National Board of Revenue has begun an operation against corrupt officials with disciplinary action against one of its six members and a customs commissioner over specific allegation of corruption.
   The board has also sent a list of 56 personnel to the central bank for verification of their bank balance, NBR sources have told New Age. Sheikh Hafizul Kabir, member (value-added tax) was sent into forced retirement and Shahabuddin Nagri, customs commissioner of Khulna, was made an officer on special duty for alleged corruption.
   The central intelligence cell of the board initiated an inquiry against Nagri as it became suspicious about his lavish lifestyle, and subsequently found out that the customs commissioner had Tk 1.44 crore in his account with a foreign bank.
   ‘He could not give satisfactory answer about the sources of the deposited amount, when interrogated by assessment officer of the tax department,’ said an NBR high official. ‘He would have been dismissed had there not been strong lobbying in his favour.’
   Kabir was sent into forced retirement as he failed to explain the source of about Tk 1 crore deposited with his bank account. He was also found guilty of tampering with official documents of the revenue board, the sources said.
   Both officials allegedly have a huge amount of money in banks and own property at home and abroad against fake identities.
   Kabir, however, claimed that he was a victim of ‘internal politics’ at the revenue board.
   ‘Had they found the much money in my bank account, they should have dismissed me instead of sending me into forced retirement,’ he told New Age Sunday night.
   He added that he might hold a news conference and explain his position about the NBR action as and when he deemed necessary.
   Nagri could not be contacted for comments despite several attempts.
   Taking bribe from unscrupulous businesspeople at the import level and minting money from transferring staffs are two major heads they have made money from, sources alleged.
   The NBR sources said the board also has strong evidence of corruption against Helal Uddin, member (customs administration) and Enayet Hossain, commissioner of the Bond Commissionerate.
   The revenue board on Saturday sent a list of 56 suspect customs and tax officials to the Bangladesh Bank governor to verify their bank balance, the sources said.
   The list includes tax inspector, customs appraiser, customs superintendent, joint commissioner and commissioner.
   The customs appraiser, who earns a gross monthly salary of Tk 7,000, hosted his son’s birthday party at a five-star hotel. The official owns two apartments and a luxury vehicle, said a source in the revenue board.
   The NBR chairman, Khairuzzaman Chowdhury, confirmed that the drive to weed out corrupt officials was on.
   Taxmen assigned to identify tax dodgers and collect tax and duties must be honest to generate more revenue, he told New Age on Saturday. ‘Dishonest officials are under surveillance.’
   The trend of tax evasion will be contained significantly once corruption in customs, VAT and tax wings of the board is addressed, NBR officials believe.
   Sources in the private sector told New Age that the drive, first of its kind in the country, is laudable as multilateral lenders along with Transparency International have often labelled the revenue department as one of the most corrupt department in Bangladesh.
   They, however, fear the drive could be discontinued following interference and pressure from the influential people in the government hierarchy.
   In late-December 2004, the NBR chairman asked all revenue staffs to submit their wealth statement by January 2005, which formed the groundwork for the operation, the sources said.
   Meanwhile, the drive has prompted a good number of customs and tax officials to withdraw their deposits from banks and transfer ownership of wealth and lands to their friends and family, the sources added.

A huge mob of Bangladeshi workers, angry over unpaid wages, stormed their embassy in Kuwait Sunday, causing extensive damage and slightly wounding two people.
   The workers, employed by a Kuwaiti cleaning company, destroyed furniture, windows and documents in the rampage, ambassador Nazrul Islam Khan said.
   ‘The moment they arrived by buses, they attacked the embassy. They did not ask us for anything. There must be some people who misguided them,’ the ambassador said.
   ‘Only 100-150 workers entered the embassy while the rest waited outside. They destroyed furniture, some computers and documents like passports,’ he said.
   A spokesman for the some 1,000 protestors at the embassy said their employer had not paid them their wages for the last five months.
   Diplomats and staff at the embassy, located in Surrah, 10 kilometres south of Kuwait City, were not hurt but several fled to a nearby police station.
   But two Bangladeshi civilians visiting the mission were slightly wounded, Khan said.
   The police arrested many of the attackers but most were later released and only a few still remain in detention, Khan said.
   There are some 170,000 Bangladeshi labourers in the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, a majority of whom work in menial jobs as cleaners and office boys, earning very low salaries. Strikes by Bangladeshi cleaners protesting non-payment of salaries are common.

Asian and African leaders signed a new strategic alliance to boost trade and tackle poverty, but warned their attempt to revive an historic bond forged half a century ago would falter without firm action.
   Under massive security, scores of heads of state gathered in the Indonesian spa city of Bandung for a ceremony to endorse the pact to improve the lives of almost three quarters of the world’s people, including many of its poorest.
   The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and co-host Thabo Mbeki of South Africa were joined by China’s Hu Jintao, Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, on a symbolic stroll through the sealed-off city centre.
   The leaders were attempting to recreate a walk in 1955 made by iconic statesmen including China’s Zhou Enlai, India’s Jawaharlal Nehru and Indonesia’s Sukarno as they plotted the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement in Bandung.
   But while their modern day successors hope the new friendship will match the ‘spirit’ of the previous Bandung summit’s epochal stand in the Cold War era, analysts say it is unlikely to reap long term benefits.
   At the signing ceremony, Yudhoyono also warned that the alliance of almost 90 countries would falter unless Asian and Africa nations remained united in their commitment to broad pledges of cooperation and mutual support.
   The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, said the two continents must strive to equal the original meeting and the Non-Aligned Movement, or NAM, it spawned, describing 1955 as the ‘high noon of internationalism and idealism’.
   The leaders have agreed to meet again in South Africa in 2009, hoping to consolidate the work of a two-day summit in Jakarta by making it a regular fixture.

The High Court on Sunday issued a rule nisi on the National Board of Revenue chairman, Khairuzzaman Chowdhury, to explain within two weeks under what authority he is occupying the two posts of the NBR chairman and the Internal Resources Division secretary after his retirement from the civil service.
   A High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Mainul Islam Chowdhury passed the order after hearing a quo warranto writ petition filed by a businessman, S Sharifuddin Ahmed.
   The court issued the same rule nisi on the government also.
   Khairuzzaman retired from the civil service on February 4, 2002 after attaining 57 years of age. He was appointed chairman of the Board of Revenue and secretary of the Internal Resources Division on contractual basis on February 5, 2002 for two years. After completion of the two-year term, the government extended the contract for one year on January 1, 2004. The government again extended the contractual appointment for one more year on February 6 this year.

As the sultry weather continues on the back of very little activeness of monsoon over the past one week, many people across the country have been affected by heat-related illness.
   Diarrhoea, pneumonia and other viral diseases have broken out affecting thousands of people, children and elderly people in particular, according to the Disease Control Room of the Directorate of Health.
   Two thousand diarrhoea patients are admitted to hospitals on an average every day with a mortality rate ranging between one and five, according to the data accumulated at the control room.
   The control room, however, has no data on pneumonia, jaundice and other viral diseases although medical experts have noticed an increased prevalence of such heat-related ailments across the country in the past one week.
   Attendance in schools has reduced significantly. In the last week, attendance in some schools went down to less than 50 per cent as most children fell sick due to the heat.
   Fatigue, muscle crump and intense itching in the body are few other complaints physicians have received.
   Dr Manisha Banerjee, a paediatrician at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, told New Age that she was getting increased number of patients with high fever and diarrhoea.
   Bacterial as well as viral pneumonia were the causes of high fever and diarrhoea was because of contaminated drinking water, she said.
   A teacher of Conduer International School at Pallabi said on some days in the last week, the student attendance went down to 40 per cent.
   Monisha said as the children are not very much health conscious, they, during the break, play amid shinning sun, sweat vigorously and become thirsty. To quench the thirst, they drink cold water or eat ice cream and catch cold easily.
   ‘Most of the schools are established in makeshift houses with a very poor ventilation system. And the children in such classrooms get faint frequently because of the exhausting heat,’ said a school teacher of kindergarten at Dhanmondi.
   According to experts, heat cause excessive sweat and produce dehydration while high humidity prevents desiccation of sweat and increases discomfort.
   Day labourers, rickshaw-pullers and other people who work outside in the sun said they suffer from fungal infections and itching alongside fatigue and exhaustion.
   Dr FM Siddiqui, a professor of the medicine of Dhaka Medical College, said excessive sweating enhances fungal infection in skin. Salt accumulates in skin with the desiccation of sweat causing intense itching.
   ‘A good shower after works can relieve one of such problems, but the poor people have a very little access to clean water,’ he said.

Met officials on Sunday said the sultry weather, now prevalent across the country, might continue for a few days more and that a cyclone may hit the coastal areas at the end of the month.
   ‘There has not been as much rain as we expected while humidity in the air is quite high,’ said Akram Hossain, director of the Meteorological Department.
   ‘As per our long-term forecast, there may be a cyclone at the end of April,’ said another official. ‘There is no low pressure in the Bay now and thus no possibility of a cyclone anytime soon. However, based on previous records, we cannot rule out the possibility.’
   He reminded that the deadly cyclone of 1991, which left more than 1,50,000 people killed, had struck towards the end of April.
   According to the Met Office, day temperature has been 3 to 4 degrees Celsius higher than expected and humidity has hovered over 60 per cent in the past one week.
   Normal temperature for April is less than 34 degrees Celsius, However, day temperature in Dhaka was 35.5 degrees on April 20, 37 degrees on April 21, 36.2 degrees on April 23 and 35.2 degrees on April 24.

The Border Security Force of India opened fire and terrorised a group of schoolchildren, who were collecting mango near the border lines in northern Chapainawabganj on Sunday, a day after they killed two villagers in the south-western Jhenaidah frontier.
   Report from Chapainawabganj said BSF personnel opened fire on a group of 12 children when they approached near the zero line at Chansikri of Bholahat upazila.
   Witnesses said the BSF troops fired shots in the air when the children were collecting mango near border pillar 119 in the morning. None of them was hurt, however. ‘They got panicked and returned home for safety,’ said one witness.
   Asked about the overall border situation, the director (operation) of the Bangladesh Rifles, Hasan Suhrawardi, told New Age that the BSF kept the border terrorised. ‘On Sunday, the BSF helicopter entered into Bangladesh airspace in Srimangal to create panic among people in bordering villages.’
   He denied the Indian claim that the BDR had violated the Indian airspace saying the BDR has no helicopter and there is no question of airspace violation arises.
   Meanwhile, the foreign ministry adviser, Reaz Rahman, and the Indian high commissioner in Dhaka, Veena Sikri, informally sat in a meeting to workout the ways to defuse the border tension.
   They discussed the recent border skirmishes and explained each other’s position in this regard.

Indian business-giant Tata Group confirmed Bangladesh on Sunday that it would set up a coal-fired power plant either near the Phulbari or the Barapukuria coal mines in Dinajpur.
   Bangladesh, on the other hand, assured the group that it would buy power, to be generated by the 1000-megawatt power plant.
   A Tata delegation led by the executive director of Tata Sons, Alan Rosling, apprised the state minister for power, Iqbal Hasan Mahmood, that the group would set up the power plant either at Phulbari or Barapukuria as coal could easily be brought to the plant from the mines.
   The plant would produce 1,000MW of power, of which Tata would use 500MW for its own purpose, and the rest could be exported or Bangladesh could buy the power, said the delegation.
   Iqbal assured that Bangladesh would buy the power as the power demand would go up when the power plant comes into operation within the next few years.
   He told reporters that Tata would set up the power plant either as an independent power plant or a merchant plant.
   Government signs power purchase agreement with the Independent Power Plant and it is the only primary buyer of power. On the other hand, government buys power from merchant plant when it wants to buy depending on the need.
   Iqbal said the decision would be made after the group applies formally.
   The delegation also informed the minister that Tata would be enlisted with the local stock
   market.

As finger pointing for who is to blame for price-hike of the essential commodities persists among a number of ministries, a parliamentary panel on Sunday asked the government to find out the measures being taken in the neighbouring countries to contain price hikes.
   The parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Commerce at a meeting with the committee’s chairman, Redwan Ahmmed, presiding, asked the ministry officials to report back in a month on how the other nations keep prices of essential commodities within the common people’s reach.
   The commerce ministry has been saying for the last three years it was solely not responsible for the continuous price hike. The ministry officials claimed that the other ministries and departments should also bear the blame since a number of ministries — home, finance, shipping, communication and LGRD — are connected with commerce.
   Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, who attended the meeting, said all the ministries should work together in a coordinated manner to contain the price spiral of the essential commodities.
   After an elaborate discussion, the meeting could not find out any way to check the price spiral, and asked the ministry officials to submit a report on the neighbouring countries’ method of keeping prices at a reasonable level.
   Once the report is submitted, the committee will send recommendations to the prime minister, said Redwan Ahmed.

The police arrested one of the accused in the April 2, 2004 arms haul case at Dawlatpur in Patiya upazila early Sunday.
   A squad from the police station arrested Osman Mistri from his residence at about 12:30am. He was produced before the metropolitan sessions judge’s court in the afternoon and sent to jail.
   With Osman’s arrest, 17 of the charge-sheeted accused in the case have been sent to jail so far.
   Fourteen of the accused are on bail and the rest, including the prime suspects — Hafizur Rahman, Deen Mohammad and Hajji Abdus Sobhan, remain absconding.