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India’s external affairs minister K Natwar Singh on Sunday termed the alleged illegal immigration of Bangladeshis into India a ‘serious issue’ and underlined the need for addressing it through proper border management.
   ‘We must ensure that our territories are not allowed to be used for any activities inimical to each other’s interests,’ he said at an Indo-Bangladesh dialogue in Dhaka.
   The Indian minister also felt that both India and Bangladesh need to evolve positions and action plans to counter the common threats of terrorism and religious fundamentalism that bedevil their societies.
   In this context, he stressed the importance of resumption of boundary talks as soon as possible and also referred to the home secretary-level meeting scheduled to be held in September to discuss these issues.
   Singh, a career-diplomat-turned-politician, indirectly urged Dhaka to ‘endeavour in good faith’ to avoid any provocative words or deeds that would inevitably embitter bilateral relations and make dialogue more difficult.
   He also assured the audience of the flexibility of the Indian position by saying, ‘We will try and be as flexible as we can on all these issues, subject to our responsibility to safeguard India’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.’
   ‘Let nothing frustrate us,’ said M Morshed Khan, the Bangladesh foreign minister, terming India the most crucial factor in Bangladesh’s foreign policy. He, too, expressed frustration for failing to resolve issues despite willingness at the regional forum to do so. ‘Though the people are ready to cooperate, we still find problems.’
   ‘Even the best neighbours have differences between them… None of these differences are beyond resolution as long as we keep our dialogue open,’ Khan noted.
   The two ministers came up with both congruent and contrasting observations at the conclusion of the two-day Indo-Bangladesh Dhaka Dialogue, jointly organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and India International Centre.
   The chairman of the CDP, Rehman Sobhan, presided over the session — that followed a detailed discussion on the issues of trade, investment and connectivity — which was addressed by dignitaries of the two countries.
   The Indian external affairs minister mentioned that his country has now a ‘look east’ policy involving Bangladesh, and pointed out that the two countries need to take advantage of the numerous complementarities and synergies in the fields of economy, history, language and society.
   He once again expressed his country’s willingness to strike a free trade agreement with Bangladesh, warning that failure to exploit the complementarities would adversely affect both the countries.
   ‘We must proceed expeditiously, to sign not just a revised trade agreement which both sides agree upon, but to conclude a Free Trade Agreement,’ he said.
   His Bangladeshi counterpart, Morshed Khan, however, played down the importance of the free trade agreement and said, ‘We don’t have to call it FTA.’ He further expressed his apprehension that such an agreement might impose more restrictions on the flow of trade than in normal circumstances.
   Referring to the issues of gas export and the tri-national gas pipeline, Singh cautioned that the two countries should not allow politics to influence economics, especially in areas where ‘there are joint projects of mutual advantage’.
   He emphatically said that insofar as economic and commercial relations are concerned, India — as the bigger country and with a larger industrial base — would not expect strict reciprocity from Bangladesh.
   ‘Should not India’s neighbours also seek to have a share in the prospects of mutual prosperity that India offers?’

Indian intelligence agencies offer ‘handsome money’ to journalists to write articles against Bangladesh, and two other neighbouring countries, claimed an Indian journalist.
   Arun Rajnath, New Delhi correspondent of the Washington-based online newspaper South Asian Tribune, said he was offered Rs 10,000 per month to write a story against Bangladesh, Pakistan or Nepal. Rajnath’s revelation was published in a special report of the newspaper headlined ‘Indian Officials Harassing South Asia Tribune New Delhi Correspondent’ on July 27.
   The report, which had detailed description of the Indian intelligence agencies’ clout on Indian journalists, captures glimpses of the harassment towards journalists who refuse to comply with official directives.
   After refusing to be on the payroll of an intelligence agency, Rajnath, who writes on the Indian army and Kashmir, was refused accreditation by the external affairs ministry, and he became the target of frequent intimidating phone calls from the intelligence men.
   The correspondent claimed that many top Indian journalists covering news relating external affairs, home, and defence were on the payroll of the security agencies or the ministries concerned, and regularly receive ‘handsome compensation packages’.
   Commenting on the report, a Bangladeshi intelligence expert said they have reports that not only Indian journalists, but also a number of Bangladeshi writers are on the payroll of Indian sources.
   Mentioning a lack of resources and motivation on the part of Bangladesh’s intelligence agencies, he said, ‘Very little can be done in the existing situation.’

A high profile civil society forum of India on Sunday observed that a number of issues between Dhaka and Delhi are negatively portrayed and misinterpreted in the Bangladesh media.
   The forum held that a free trade agreement between the two countries would be beneficial for Bangladesh.
   The forum of Indian parliamentarians, former bureaucrats and economists felt that Bangladesh’s position in bilateral trade with the neighbour will be stronger if there is a free trade agreement and an increased level of Indian investment in Bangladesh.
   ‘Some issues including bilateral trade gap between India and Bangladesh are negatively focused in the media,’ Deb Mukharjee, leader of the forum, told journalists after a meeting with the leader of the opposition in the parliament, Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League chief.
   Trade follows demand and market factors where governments play a small role, said Mukharjee, a former Indian high commissioner in Bangladesh.
   Trade balance and gains of business will be satisfactory for Bangladesh if a free trade agreement is implemented. Bangladesh will then be able to attract Indian investment, believed Mukharjee.
   According to the latest figures, trade between Bangladesh and India is worth $1.6 billion of which Bangladesh shares less than $0.1 billion.
   Faruk Khan, an Awami League lawmaker, who attended the meeting, said his party leader felt that good political relations would bolster bilateral trade relations.
   ‘[Hasina] also agreed that the two neighbours could jointly cooperate in sectors including communications, information technology and trade,’ he said.
   The 14-member Indian delegation met Hasina included two parliamentarians —Satishji Pilot of the ruling Congress-I and Anup SK Arora of the opposition, BJP.
   The delegation arrived to participate in the Indo-Bangladesh dialogues on trade investment and connectivity.
   The Centre for Policy Dialogue of Bangladesh and the India International Centre, a Delhi based organisation has jointly organised the dialogue focusing on trade and commerce.
   Rehman Sobhan and Debapriya Bhatchariya of the centre were present, among others, at the meeting.

The visiting Indian external affairs minister, K Natwar Singh, on Sunday told the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, that India would not go for any river-linking project that would affect Bangladesh.
   Natwar said this when he paid a courtesy call on Khaleda Zia at the Prime Minister’s Office.
   He also handed over a letter of the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, inviting her to visit New Delhi. Khaleda accepted the invitation and told him that she would visit India at a convenient time.
   Narwar informed the prime minister that India would help Bangladesh in developing the ICT and agriculture sectors.
   He also told her that the Indian prime minister is ready to visit Dhaka outside his planned tour of Bangladesh during the SAARC summit in November.
   He told Khaleda that Indian water resources minister will visit Dhaka on August 30 and the commerce minister will visit at any time of his convenience.
   Coming out of the meeting, Natwar told journalists that they discussed matters related to mutual interests and benefits, and strengthening of SAARC.
   ‘I delivered a letter of Manmohan to Khaleda Zia inviting her to visit Delhi, and she accepted the invitation,’ he said.
   ‘I told her that I had very good and cordial meetings with foreign minister M Morshed Khan and other ministers and politicians in Bangladesh,’ he said.
   ‘All issues cannot be resolved during a single visit. We will continue our efforts to strengthen our friendly relations.’
   The two prime ministers will meet during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York next month, he said.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday stayed for six weeks the operation of the High Court’s judgement that had declared Gram Sarkar (village government) unconstitutional.
   Chamber judge Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the government.
   The government also told the court that it would file a regular petition for leave to appeal against the August 2 judgement of the High Court that declared unconstitutional the Gram Sarkar Act 2003.
   The court directed the government to file the petition seeking leave to appeal within six weeks.
   The attorney general, AJ Mohammad Ali, with additional attorney general Fida M Kamal appeared for the government, while Tanjib-ul Alam appeared for the Bangladesh Legal Aid Services Trust upon whose petition the High Court’s judgement was delivered.
   Thirty-nine thousand seven hundred and eighty six Gram Sarkars were formed in July and August 2003 after the enactment of the law.
   A High Court bench of Justice ABM Khairul Haque and Justice ATM Fazle Kabir in its judgement declared the act unconstitutional and ultra vires of the constitution and said it cannot exist as a supporting body of the elected Union Parishad (council).
   The court observed that Gram Sarkar is a novel concept but it must be within the local government framework stipulated in the constitution and cannot be an auxiliary body with the legal character of a local government within the meaning defined in the constitution.
   The preamble of the act stipulates that the objective of the act is to create a supporting organisation for the Union Council, comprising people’s representative from villages, to ensure direct participation of rural people in the development process at the grassroots level, observed the court. ‘However the act is inconsistent to its preamble.’
   Gram Sarkar, being a non-elected body, suffers from a lack of legitimacy, the High Court observed.
   There is no such provision in the constitution for a nominated supporting body in the local government system, said the court.
   In the name of creating a supporting body, the act has imposed non-elected people upon the Union Council who will hamper the functioning of the Union Council, the court declared.
   The act also does not provide for accountability of Gram Sarkar, according to the verdict.
   Making provisions for oath-taking for Gram Sarkar members, the act has tried to give them a public image but it is nothing but a ‘colourable legislation’, the court observed.
   The village government system was revived after 22 years following the enactment of the Gram Sarkar Act, piloted by the ruling BNP-led four-party alliance, in 2003.
   The concept of Gram Sarkar first came up in 1980, when the government of Ziaur Rahman enacted the Swanirbhar (self-reliant) Gram Sarkar Act 1980.
   Gram Sarkar in the villages of the country had also been formed. Gram Sarkar, however, was not formed as local government within the meaning of ‘local government’ stipulated in the constitution and was abolished in the regime of General HM Ershad.
   In 1997 the Awami League government passed the Gram Parishad Act, making provisions for formation of Gram Parishads in every village across the country as the lowest tier of local government’ within the meaning of ‘local government given in the constitution. The Awami League government, however, subsequently failed to form the village councils.

The Election Commission on Sunday finally decided to prepare a fresh voters’ list for the next parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in early 2007.
   ‘As previous records show that fresh voters’ lists were made by the commission prior to all general elections, and after going through the provisions of the laws relating to prepare voters’ list, we have finally decided to go for a fresh voters’ list,’ the chief election commissioner, MA Aziz, told journalists Sunday.
   The CEC took the decision and forwarded the minutes of Saturday’s meeting to the other two election commissioners.
   In Saturday’s meeting the lessons of the commission’s previous experience and the merits and the demerits of making a new voters’ list or revising the existing one were considered in detail, but a concrete decision could not be reached.
   The meeting, with the CEC in the chair and attended by two other commissioners — AKM Mohammad Ali and Munsef Ali — and officials of the EC secretariat, discussed the suggestions that had been made in the recently held series of dialogues with political parties and citizens’ groups.
   One of the election commissioners, AK Mohammad Ali, alleged that his remarks on voters’ list were not recorded properly in the minutes of Saturday’s meeting. The CEC, however, refuted his allegation.
   Replying to a query whether the decision was a consensual one, agreed to by all the three members of the EC, the CEC said there is no need of consensus of all three members.
   ‘We took the decision on the basis of public opinion expressed in the dialogues, outcome of the meeting and previous experience of preparing voters’ list,’ he said.
   ‘We are going to prepare the voters’ list as it was prepared by the EC in previous years since 1983,’ said the CEC, adding that the EC had prepared fresh voters’ lists in 1983, 1990, 1995 and 2000 without amending the electoral rules.
   The commission recently held a series of dialogues from July 26 to 28 with the political parties, genuine or nominal, to seek their opinion on voters’ list.
   A total of 53 political parties, out of 117 invited by the commission, took part in the dialogue. Of them, 37 political parties, including all four components of the ruling alliance — BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote and BJP (Naziur) — opined in favour of a fresh voters’ list while 15 others favoured the updating of the existing one.
   A top official of the Election Commission Secretariat told New Age that the secretariat will start its work as soon as possible, depending on the availability of fund.
   He said that the secretariat has already budgeted over Tk 200 crore for preparing the voters’ list. It will soon request the finance ministry to allocate the funds required for the task.
   The EC documents show that the first voters’ list was prepared in 1973 with registered voters totalling 3.52 crore.
   The second roll listed over 3.83 crore voters, the third in 1983 over 4.73 crore, the fourth in 1990 over 6.19 crore.
   Over 5.59 crore people were registered in the sixth electoral roll in 1995. A total of 7.48 crore people are on the current voters’ list, which was prepared in 2000.

The government will amend the Pure Food Ordinance 1959 to make provisions against adulteration of food more stringent.
   The Pure Food (Amendment) Bill will soon be placed in cabinet. The government may also promulgate an ordinance enacting the amendment for an immediate effect, as the parliament is not in session now, said the officials concerned.
   The officials said the bill proposes the establishment of courts to deal with offences related to food.
   Class I magistrates or sessions judges will be placed in each court, with power to follow the procedure of summary trial as prescribed in the Code of Criminal Procedures.
   The convicts will have the right to appeal against the judgement of the courts before the district and sessions judge.
   The appeal against the judgement of the district and sessions judge and against a penalty above Tk 1 lakh and rigorous imprisonment of more than two years will be filed before the High Court, the bill proposes.
   The government or the local authorities will have the power to appoint public analysts of food for any area within their jurisdiction.
   A senior minister told New Age on Sunday that the Pure Food Ordinance 1959 is not worth applying as it is.
   In the existing law, the court can fine first-time offenders with only Tk 800 or sentence them to one month in jail. For subsequent offences, criminals are punishable with either a fine of Tk 5,000 or an imprisonment of six months or both.
   The fine in the existing law is too small in comparison with the large amounts of money reaped by adulterators, the minister said.
   According to the bill, selling adulterated food or food of improper nature, substance or quality will be punishable with rigorous imprisonment of six months to one year.
   For repeated offences, a person may be sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and forfeiture of the shop or factory, including machines.
   Sales or use of formalin and toxic colour or manufacture or sales of food of improper standards or of purity will be punishable with a fine of Tk 5,000 to Tk 50,000 or rigorous imprisonment of six months to three years or both for the first offence.
   Subsequent offences of similar nature may punishable with a fine of Tk 50,000 to Tk 2 lakh or rigorous imprisonment for three years or both and the forfeiture of the establishment and its machines.
   Manufacture or sales of food containing any article not of proper standards or purity, keeping or permitting the adulterants in place where food is manufactured or sold or keeping of white oil except in accordance with a prescribed licence will be punished with a fine of Tk 2,000 to Tk 25,000 or rigorous imprisonment for six months to one year or both.
   For repeated offences, a person will be punishable with a fine of Tk 50,000 to Tk 2 lakh or rigorous imprisonment for two years and the forfeiture of the establishment with its machines.
   Sales of deceased animals or unwholesome food will be punishable with a fine of Tk 5,000 to Tk 50,000 or rigorous imprisonment for three months to one year or both for the first offence. Repeated offences will carry a fine of Tk 1 lakh to Tk 2 lakh or rigorous imprisonment for two years or both.
   Use of false label and publication of false advertisement will be punishable with a fine of Tk 5,000 to Tk 50,000 or rigorous imprisonment for one to two years or both for the first offence.
   Repetition of the offence will be punishable with a fine of Tk 1 lakh to Tk 2 lakh or rigorous imprisonment for two years or with both and the forfeiture of the establishment and its machines.
   Fines and rigorous imprisonment have also been proposed for giving false warranty, use of unregistered premises, failure to renew registration, failure to display the name and address of the manufacturer, failure to keep the premises or parts of it in proper conditions, refusal to sell or surrender samples of food for analysis or examination, resisting or obstructing entry of authorised persons or inspectors and refusal to comply with requisition to produce books, vouchers, accounts and other documents.

China will veto a plan to enlarge the United Nations Security Council if the reform measure goes to a vote, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
   The so-called Group of Four — India, Germany, Japan and Brazil — have called for adding 10 new seats to the present 15-member body, which is comprised of five permanent members with veto power and 10 chosen by region who rotate for two-year terms.
   ‘To uphold the interests of most developing nations, and to preserve the long-term interests of the United Nations, China will resolutely vote no if the G-4 proposal is put up for a vote,’ the Foreign Ministry said in an official statement.
   The proposal calls for adding six permanent seats without veto powers—four for the G-4 nations themselves and two for Africa—and four seats on rotating two-year terms.
   ‘The G-4 resolution fails to consider the interests of the majority of nations, including African countries, and has been opposed and questioned by many nations and cannot gain support,’ the ministry said.
   On Thursday, China’s UN ambassador, Wang Guangya, said his country and the United States had agreed to work together to defeat plans to expand the prestigious Security Council.
   The African Union, at a meeting in Addis Ababa the same day, voted to reject the G-4 proposal and ratify its own plan for enlarging the council.
   China’s foreign ministry suggested the G-4 nations withdraw their resolution for further consultation among countries and warned against attempts to push through a vote.
   ‘Any forceful vote would only sharpen contradictions, affect the unity of (UN) member states and undermine the course of the progress of reform,’ it said.
   China, along with Britain, France, Russia and the United States, is a permanent Security Council member with veto power. Enlargement of the council, whose membership reflects the balance of power at the end of World War II, is currently the most contentious issue at the United Nations.

In a massive crackdown on extremists following the London terror attacks, British authorities will deport in phases as many as 500 radical Muslims, out of which a dozen clerics will be sent to their homelands over the next two weeks.
   The move follows Prime Minister Tony Blair’s announcement last week of a purge of terrorists and extremists.
   Immigration officials have already been given a list of names, compiled by MI5, and told to begin proceedings. Among the first to be deported will be a dozen radical clerics. But hundreds of other foreign extremists, including some Islamic bookshop owners, writers, teachers and website operators will also go, the ‘News of the World’ newspaper reported.
   ‘Just as the police operation over the past four weeks has been dynamic and fast-paced, so will be our response,’ a senior home official was quoted as saying.
   All 500 names have been taken from a ‘watch list’ of extremists compiled over the past five years by the intelligence service. Their identities are being kept secret so that they will not be able to go into hiding or mount a legal challenge.
   The deportation process will begin after Home secretary Charles Clarke returns from holiday this week.
   An initial wave of up to 100 people will be deported in the next month, officials at both the Home Office and the Foreign Office revealed.
   Another 100 foreign nationals will then be sent home by the end of the year. And 300 more will be sent home next year once the government has new laws in place to strip them of their British citizenship. Over the next week agreements will be completed with ten African and Middle Eastern countries to make sure they will accept the extremists.

London police on Saturday charged a suspect in the failed July 21 attacks with conspiracy to murder and possession of explosives — the first charges to be laid in Britain against any of the would-be bombers.
   Yassin Hassan Omar, 24, is suspected of trying to bomb a subway train near Warren Street station on July 21. The Metropolitan Police said he was charged with conspiring ‘with others unknown to murder passengers on
   the transport for London system.’
   The July 21 attacks came two weeks after suicide bombers killed 56 people on three subway trains and a bus.
   Omar, who was arrested in the English city of Birmingham on July 27, faces three other charges: attempted murder; making or possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury; and conspiracy to use explosives.
   Two other suspects in the failed July 21 bombings, Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, and Ramzi Mohammed, were arrested in London on July 29.
   A fourth, known as Osman Hussain and Hamdi Issac, was arrested in Rome and is being held there on international terrorism charges.

Former British foreign secretary, Robin Cook, who quit government over the Iraq war, died on Saturday after collapsing on a Scottish mountainside. He was 59.
   The prime minister, Tony Blair, praised Cook as an intellectual and political heavyweight despite their clash over the decision to back the United States in Iraq in 2003.
   ‘This news will be received with immense sadness, not just in Britain but in many parts of the world,’ Blair said.
   ‘Robin was an outstanding, extraordinary talent—brilliant, incisive in debate, of incredible skill and persuasive power.’
   Cook served as foreign secretary from 1997 to 2001 and then became leader of the House of Commons—the government’s top representative in parliament. He served in that post until 2003.
   Cook collapsed on Saturday while walking with his wife Gaynor on Ben Stack mountain in northwest Scotland, the police said.
   A rescue helicopter took him to hospital in the town of Inverness, where he was pronounced dead.
   Colleagues praised Cook as one of the outstanding political debaters of his era. He drew widespread praise for an eloquent resignation speech when he quit the government.
   Cook, a Scot, took over the foreign office after a landslide election win by Blair’s centre-left Labour party, pledging a new ‘ethical dimension’ to foreign policy.
   But his first year in office was marked by personal embarrassment and questions over his judgement.
   He abruptly ended his 28-year marriage to first wife Margaret when a newspaper threatened to reveal he was having an affair with his secretary, Gaynor Regan, whom he later married.
   He survived the scandal to play a prominent role in NATO’s 1999 campaign to force Serbian troops out of Kosovo. He later listed ‘defending Kosovo’ as one of his greatest achievements.
   The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, paid tribute to the former foreign secretary as a ‘partner on a wide range of issues.’
   British Muslim leaders praised Cook’s opposition to the Iraq war. Human rights activists lauded his commitment to international justice and control of the arms trade.
   Commentators had speculated that Brown, who is widely expected to succeed Blair in the coming years, would recall Cook to the government. In his free time, Cook was fanatical about horse racing and wrote newspaper articles about the sport.

The foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, on Sunday expressed deep shock at the death of former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, Robin Cook.
   In a message to the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, Morshed said, ‘It is with great sadness that I learnt of the passing away of Robin Cook.’
   Morshed expressed his condolences to Mrs Cook and members of the bereaved family.
   The foreign minister said at the death of Cook, the world had lost a leader of vision and sagacity of an outstanding politician and accomplished parliamentarian who fought hard for his principles.
   ‘We in Bangladesh remember him for his support and contribution to our long relations with the United Kingdom,’ Morshed said.

The Indian defence minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said one should not expect dramatic results overnight regarding improvement in the relations with Bangladesh.
   When asked whether the visit of the external affairs minister, K Natwar Singh, would help to improve relations with Bangladesh against its continuous denial of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence presence in its territory, he said, ‘Some responses will come. But we should not expect dramatic results overnight.’
   He said no country readily admits that its territory is being used by terrorists against another country. ‘But we must make efforts to hold continued dialogues.’
   Pranab was talking with reporters after the inauguration of Mercury Flash, the army’s strategic broadband satellite network in Kolkata, a report of the Press Trust of India said.
   He said the Nepalese army was not able to effectively tackle the Maoists and expressed fears that its failure to do so would make the situation go out of hand.
   ‘The Royal Nepal Army is trying to contain the Maoists. But its efforts are not effective. We hope it successfully tackles them. Otherwise, the situation will go out of hand,’ he said.
   ‘We are trying to impress upon (the Nepalese) government to tackle the Maoists. But, unfortunately, certain recent developments in the country such as the suppression of its constitution and the multi-party system had set back anti-Maoist initiatives,’ Mukherjee said.
   Stating that the Nepalese Maoists have close links with many militant, left groups in India, he said, ‘Many of them have the fancy idea of setting up a liberated corridor starting right from the Terai region and going through parts of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.’

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday urged the visiting Indian external affairs minister, K Natwar Singh, to settle all the disputes and differences between Bangladesh and India through dialogue.
   She also expressed her gratitude to the neighbouring country for its cooperation on different issues including the Liberation War, Chittagong Hill Tracts peace accord and sharing Ganges water.
   Hasina made the remarks during a courtesy call by the Indian external affairs minister to her at her Sudha Sadhan residence in the afternoon.
   Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran, high commissioner Veena Sikri, AL general secretary Abdul Jalil, presidium member Zillur Rahman and political secretary Saber Hossain Chowdhury were present, along with others, at the meeting.
   Though Hasina and the Indian external affairs minister did not talk to the journalists after the meeting, AL’s general secretary addressed reporters in a short briefing session at the end of the nearly 45-minute-long meeting.
   Both the Indian minister and AL leaders, however, said that they did not talk on any political issue during the meeting.
   ‘It was a fine discussion and we talked on many issues but nothing political,’ the Indian external affairs minister told journalists while leaving the place after the meeting.
   Abdul Jalil said that the meeting between the Indian minister and Hasina was nothing but a normal courtesy call to the leader of the opposition by any foreign political dignitary visiting the country.
   ‘We just appreciated the Indian government for its support to Bangladesh several times on different issues, and sought its all-out cooperation in the future,’ Jalil said.

Insurgents killed at least 35 people in a series of attacks as Iraq’s political leaders were set to meet Sunday to negotiate on issues holding up the completion of the constitution.
   Seven Iraqi soldiers were killed and 17 wounded when a suicide bomber blew up a truck in front of an Iraqi army headquarters in central Tikrit, 180 kilometres north of Baghdad, an Iraqi army officer said.
   Three other Iraqi soldiers were killed when gunmen attacked their patrol in south Baghdad, while two other people working in the oil ministry were also shot dead by gunmen in southeast Baghdad.
   In Samawa, one civilian was killed and 44 wounded as demonstrators clashed with police during a protest about lack of jobs and public services in this dusty southern Shiite town rife with unemployment, medical sources said.
   Two people were also killed in Baquba when a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in the town centre. Seven Iraqis were killed at Al-Sharqat, 300 kilometers (186 miles) north of Baghdad when their bus hit a roadside bomb at 11:00am (0700 GMT) Sunday. The dead included three children.
   Eleven others were also killed in a string of separate rebel attacks across Iraq.
   Two US soldiers were also reported killed in a bomb explosion near Samarra, north of Baghdad, on Saturday, the US military announced Sunday, bringing the total US military personnel casualties since the March 2003 invasion to 1,820 according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.
   The US death toll includes 14 US marines killed in a single roadside bombing Wednesday in the western town of Haditha, in the Euphrates valley. It was one of the deadliest single attacks since the invasion.

Private security personnel of the Basundhara City shopping mall attacked a concert audience on its premises injuring more than 100 people including journalists and policemen Sunday night.
   Witnesses said the shopping mall authorities organised the concert marking Friendship Day and sold tickets at a price of Tk 250.
   Prominent singers of the country including James, and Ayub Bachchu were announced to be performing at the concert which was scheduled to begin at 5:00pm.
   Several hundred viewers, mainly the youths and many of them women, gathered at the concert venue on the seventh floor of the shopping mall.
   But none of the popular singers turned up at the concert till 7:30pm.
   Feeling cheated, the viewers started to protest and demanded their money back.
   More than 100 security personnel of the mall, carrying sticks, instantly attacked the protesters and beat them indiscriminately.
   The police tried to calm the situation down but they found themselves to be under attack by the security personnel. Journalists were also beaten. An NTV reporter Sheikh Nazrul Islam and cameraman Sajal of the same channel, and a BDNEWS photographer Firoz Ahmed Sajjad were injured in the attack.
   Later, additional policemen went to the venue and brought the situation under control.
   The private security personnel allegedly kept some of the injured confined in the Ansars camp at the mall.
   Kamrul Islam, officer-in-charge of the Tejgaon police station later rescued the injured from the camp and arranged for their treatment.
   Many of the injured had to go to different hospitals and clinics.
   After the incident a mob took to the streets with a protest march chanting slogans.
   A tense situation was prevailing in the area.

Speakers at a seminar on Sunday demanded exemplary punishment of the politicians and bureaucrats involved in the joint venture agreement with Niko Resources, a Canadian company responsible two blow-outs in Tengratila gas-field in the short period of six months.
   They also demanded that all production sharing contracts with other international oil companies should be made public, and PSCs which are against the interest of the country should be scrapped.
   ‘An obscure, inefficient company like Niko got the gas-fields because of some greedy people. It was given the contract by relaxing conditions of the agreement,’ said Shamsul Alam, director of Institute of Energy Technology of the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology.
   ‘If the agreement had been made in the proper way, Niko would never have got any contract in Bangladesh. The persons involved with the agreement can be tried for sedition as they worked against the interest of the country,’ he added.
   The National Committee to Protect Oil-Gas Power and Port organised the seminar on ‘Tengratila Disaster, Endangered National Interest: Things to Do to Protect People and Resources’ at the National Press Club.
   Among others, Professor Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, left-leaning party leaders Rashed Khan Menon, Mujahidul Islam Selim and Monjurul Ahsan Khan, Professor Abul Barakat, Dr Anu Mohammad, Dr Badrul Imam and former Petrobangla chairman SK Abdullah spoke at the seminar.
   Speakers said that the big political parties as well as the government do not work in favour of the national interest, rather they work in favour of the multinational oil companies.
   They reiterated the demand for making all the PSCs with the multinational companies’ public, and punishment of the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats who work against the interest of Bangladesh.

The Indian external affairs minister, K Natwar Singh, said India will support initiatives to educate the children and heirs of Bangladeshi freedom-fighters who fought the Liberation War in 1971.
   ‘We would be happy to support initiatives aimed at providing educational facilities and scholarships for children and heirs of the freedom-fighters of Bangladesh,’ the Indian minister, who is on a three-day visit to Bangladesh, told reporters while visiting the Liberation War Museum, a private initiative to uphold the sprit of Bangladesh’s liberation, on Sunday.
   He also expressed India’s eagerness to support initiatives for health-care and rehabilitation for the freedom-fighters who, as a result of their war wounds, are still unable to live normal lives.
   Natwar praised the courage of Bangladeshi people in the 1971 war against atrocities by the Pakistani army and said their indomitable spirit and unmatched courage resulted in the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign, secular and democratic republic in 1971.
   ‘The Liberation War Museum serves as a memorial to the determination and bravery of the people of Bangladesh and India who fought shoulder to shoulder against repression, and genocide, which aroused the ire and sympathy of the entire world,’ commented the minister.
   ‘India, too, wholeheartedly supports the values which the freedom-fighters of 1971 stand for,’ said the minister, adding that his country will do everything possible to extend support to such initiatives.
   Natwar thanked the Bangladeshi people for showing respect to the demise of the Indian General, Jagjit Singh Aurora, who led India’s Eastern Command in the 1971 war, in early May this year.
   ‘We in India deeply touched at the warm and spontaneous and emotional expression of remembrances in Bangladesh at the passing away of our retired Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora,’ said the minister.
   He added that the unity of purpose which brought together people of diverse backgrounds in their determination to fight for the liberation of Bangladesh was once again on display.

Four children are sexually abused every day in Bangladesh and of them, three become victims of rape, said a report published by the Mass-line Media Centre in Dhaka on Sunday.
   The report, based on news reports published in 12 national and 195 local daily newspapers, said 612 children were raped and 128 were sexually abused between January and June.
   Of the rape victims, 46 were killed and 429 sustained injuries.
   ‘This is only the tip of an iceberg,’ said UNICEF assistant communications officer Rezwanul Alam. ‘The number of unpublished cases is incomprehensible.’
   Calling the report an illustration of the prevailing situation, he said, ‘A dreadful time is ahead.’
   Rezwan, also a media expert, expressed his concern that some newspapers print the identities of the rape victims with ‘colourful’ stories violating international rules.
   He urged publication of a guideline on how to tackle sex offenders and circulate the guideline among school children.
   The report found that most victims were girls from impoverished families who lack social and financial support to seek justice.
   A number of reporters agreed that the situation was worsening. Shanta Maria, a reporter of the daily Janakantha, criticised the pervasiveness of pornographic CDs and blamed it as a factor.
   Shamim al Amin, a reporter of the daily Prothom Alo, said sexual abuse of male children has also reached a worrying level.
   Describing his experiences in the border regions of Khulna, Shamim said many poor boys were engaged in sex trade.
   Echoing her concern, Sweety, a reporter of the daily Bhorer Kagaj, said one does not need to go far. ‘A visit to Ramna Park or Suhrawardi Udyan will be enough to reveal the worrying situation.’
   The report found that in the past six months, 55 male children were raped.
   Mir Mashraru Zaman of BDNews said rape and sexual abuse of children are related to power and it is a manifestation of power abuse against a vulnerable section of society.
   One of the authors of the report, Mustaqim Shadhin blamed the police for not cooperating with victims.
   The centre’s executive director, Qamrul Hasan Monju, and Plan Bangladesh manager, Kazi Nabiul Haq, also spoke.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission has started supplying application forms to interested sponsors for licence to set up small power plants between 10 and 50MW.
   The licence applications must be submitted to the commission by October 20 with required documents and the commission will issue licences to selected applicants by November 30, said a press release Sunday.
   The government recently formulated a policy for private sector small power generation and arrange distribution of electricity without government involvement.
   The government selected 23 locations from where the government agencies — Power Development Board, Rural Electrification Board, Dhaka Electric Supply Agency and Dhaka Electric Supply Company — may buy privately generated power.
   The commission will fix the price of power that the agencies would pay the private operators.
   The private sponsors will be provided gas, to generate power, at the same price applicable to public power stations.
   The commission release said agencies may select their suppliers of electricity among the private operators in August and September.
   Separate power purchase and fuel supply agreements will be concluded by the sponsors with parties concerned by December 15.

The country suffered about 500MW of load-shedding during the evening peak-hour Sunday despite resumption of operation of two power plants and one unit of another.
   The 360MW Haripur Power Plant and 105MW Tongi Power Plant, which went out of operation on Saturday, and one 210MW unit of the Raujan Power Plant, which remained out of operation for weeks for an overhaul, resumed operation on the day.
   However, the 50MW Siddhirganj Plant, which went out of operation on Saturday, was yet to come into operation till Sunday.
   The officials of the Power Development Board said the peak hour demand on Sunday was 3,750MW when the generation target was 3,427MW. The plants produced about 3250MW.
   Ten units of seven power plants remained out of operation due to the overhaul.
   Officials hoped that the power situation would improve further as one 210MW unit of the Ghorashal Power Plant would resume operation by Sunday night.
   As the country’s different areas including the capital faced power crisis, the PDB claimed it was not because of generation shortage, but due to problems in the distribution lines.

The police on Sunday held three Indian nationals in Charghat upazila for illegally entering into Bangladesh.
   The arrestees are Sentu Sheikh, 30, son of Badeshwar, Minarul Islam, 28, son of late Rupchand and Mizanur Rahman, 28, son of late Shahadat Hossain of Shahebnagar in Zalangi upazila in Murshidabad.

The government lifted the ban on import of rice and sugar through the land ports to ease the supplies of two essentials and keep their market prices stable.
   The National Board of Revenue on Sunday decided to withdraw restriction on the import of sugar through the Benapole, Darshana, Hilli, and Sonamasjid land ports, said an official statement.
   The board also decided to open the Bhomra customs station for import of rice, the statement said adding that it will bring positive impact in rice and sugar market.
   Bangladesh imports rice mainly from India in addition to a portion of sugar.
   Market sources said though the government has claimed that there has enough production of rice, supply shortage has pushed its price up in recent times.
   The price of sugar, more than 80 per cent consumption of which is met by import, has also gone up for what the traders said ‘an increase in price in the international market’.

Nine Indian nationals arrested in Laksam will be sent back to India on August 10. All arrangements have been completed for their return by Bibirbazar check-post of Comilla sadar as directed by the home ministry.
   The Indians were sentenced to 7 days’ imprisonment with a fine of Tk 200 each by the first class magistrate’s court of Comilla.
   The relevant authorities directed sending them back to India on completion of the sentence.
   On March 11, these Indians were arrested from Laksam on the charge of intrusion and handed over to the police. They had been engaged in erecting a podium for a public rally of the prime minister, Khaleda Zia.