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Nor’wester lashed several areas across the country on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people and injuring more than 500 in Natore, Rajshahi, Naogaon, Manikganj, Sherpur, Habiganj and Panba.
   Rescuers recovered two bodies in the River Jamuna where a launch carrying at least 200 passengers capsized at about 4:30pm near Aricha in Manikganj.
   Some 30 people swam ashore; the rest remained missing, the district administration said.
   In Natore, 10 people were killed and more than 200 wounded as walls caved in and trees were blown down by the nor’wester. Storms lashed several upazilas in Rajshahi, killing six.
   Two people died in Naogaon when walls collapsed and trees fell on them. A man was killed as a house collapsed at Chunarughat when nor’wester lashed Habiganj. Another died in Sherpur.
   Reports coming from different districts said nor’wester damaged hundreds of thatched houses and standing crops on a vast expanse of land, and uprooted numerous trees. Hundreds of people were forced to stay under the open sky.
   The Met Office in Dhaka said the storm hit many districts, including the Dhaka city where wind blew at a speed of 92 kilometres an hour.
   Wind blew at a speed of 83 kilometres in Dinajpur, 64 kilometres in Mymensingh, 54 kilometres in Rangpur and 52 kilometres in Rajshahi.
   It said nor’wester, with thunderstorm and rain, began at about around 2:00pm, sweeping over Dhaka at 4:30pm. In Dhaka 62 millimetres of rain were recorded, the highest across the country on the day.
   Inclement weather signal 2 was issued for all the river ports. The Met Office forecast that similar weather may occur in the next few days mainly in the afternoon and at night.
   The New Age correspondent in Natore reported at least 15 people, including four children, were killed and score others injured in the nor’wester that swept over 32 unions in six upazilas.
   The dead, identified, are Jamila, 55, Sabur, 8, Amir Ali, 35, Alam, 27, Raihan, 3, and Ibrahim, 30, at sadar upazila, Banej Mollah, 60, and Alpana, 8, at Lalpur, and Milon, 16, Bithi, 8, and Jarina, 13, at Bagatipara.
   Several hundred thatched houses were damaged and trees were uprooted that blocked roads at different parts in the district.
   The district administration said nor’wester, accompanied by rain, began at about 2:30pm and lasted for about an hour. It swept across nine unions at sadar upazila, seven at Singra, six at Lalpur, and three each at Guduspur and Baraigram and four at Bagatipara, damaging standing crops on vast expanses of land in more than 500 villages.
   Houses were blown down and walls collapsed in hailstorm and rain, injuring a number people in the affected areas.
   As the storm ended, the fire service people and volunteers began rescue operation; and they sent the injured to hospital.
   The upazila officials concerned and the deputy commissioner visited the affected places.
   Electric poles also fell down at different places, causing disruption in power supply. The whole of the district remained in dark till 8:30pm.
   The correspondent in Rajshahi reported that six people were killed and at least 300 houses damaged, trees uprooted and crops damaged. The storm, with heavy rain, lasted for about an hour from 2.30pm.
   Sources in Bagmara, Mohanpur, Puthia, Charghat and Durgapur said more than 300 thatched houses were destroyed.
   Mango and litchi trees were blown down. Crops were damaged. Electric poles were dislodged in many areas, resulting in power outage for hours.
   In Manikganj, two people drowned and more than 100 went missing as a launch capsized in the River Jamuna near the Aricha landing station during nor’wester.
   Sailing from Natakhola at Bera in Pabna at about 3:00pm, the MV Raipura, with more than 200 passengers on board, capsized at Annadapur at about 4:30pm.
   Villagers began rescue operation with boats and recovered two bodies, including a four-year-old boy, Rashed.
   A Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority official said the launch had the capacity to carry 150 people. ‘It might have capsized because of overload, strong current and high waves.’
   In Sherpur, a storm swept over sadar and Sribardi upazila, killing a baby and injuring more than 30 people.
   More than 1,000 houses were damaged; and scores of trees were uprooted. The baby, still to be identified, died as a house collapsed at Ghunapar of sadar upazila.
   The district administration said the storm lashed three times the same villages of two upazilas. Heavy rain and hailstorm accompanied the storms.

Unidentified gunmen killed an Awami League leader Tuesday touching off violent protests at Tejgaon and adjoining areas in the capital.
   Police and witnesses said Khorshed Alam Bachchu, 42, law affairs secretary of the Dhaka city Awami League, was shot dead near his house at Tejkunipara area as he was going to the Dhaka district and sessions judge court in the morning.
   Immediately after the murder, party activists went on the rampage at Tejgaon and its adjoining areas damaging more than a dozen of motor vehicles that were passing by. The police tried to control the demonstrators by clubbing, but soon a clash erupted.
   Fellow lawyers of Bachchu stopped work and called for a daylong strike in protest, disrupting activities in the Dhaka magistracy and also in the Dhaka district and sessions judge court.
   The city unit of the Awami League called a dawn-to-dusk hartal in the capital today (Wednesday) protesting against the murder for which they blamed the ruling BNP.
   Witnesses said Bachchu was waylaid by the gunmen and shot at from close range. The gunmen shot at him repeatedly and walked away through busy Farmgate area as Bachchu died on the spot at about 10:00am.
   Bachchu, also joint general secretary of the Dhaka Bar Association, was on his way to the court by a rickshaw.
   ‘One of the four assailants went close to Bachchu and opened fire, the other three also shot at the same time,’ said a shopkeeper who witnessed the killing. ‘After the attack, the assailants, aged between 25 and 30, walked away towards the Holy Cross School and College.’
   The Tejgaon police came to the port shortly after the homicide was perpetrated, but could not arrest any suspect after their daylong investigation.
   ‘It doesn’t appear that the killing is related to politics or we can’t say it is out of personal enmity before investigation,’ said the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, Mizanur Rahman, who visited the spot. ‘But as soon as possible, we will nab the criminals and find out the reason behind the killing.’
   The killing sparked protests at Farmgate area blocking the city’s busy thoroughfare to traffic for about an hour.
   As the body was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy, some angry party activists put barricade at Farm Gate and damaged more than a dozen of vehicles passing by.
   As a huge contingent of police in riot gear tried to bring back normalcy by clubbing the protesters, the demonstrators fought back.
   Besides, the leaders of Dhaka city Awami League, headed by party’s top leaders, held a demonstration protesting against the killing in the DMCH compound.
   Senior Awami League leaders, including general secretary Abdul Jalil, Mohammad Hanif, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya and Sahara Khatun visited the spot and Bachchu’s house and consoled the members of the bereaved family and blamed the government for the murder.
   The first namaz-e-janaza of the slain leader was held on the High Court premises at around 3:15pm, the second at the judges court at around 4:15pm and the third near the Awami League central office in Bangabandhu Avenue after Asr prayers.
   Bachchu’s wife Jahan Akhtar could not talk to the journalists who rushed to their home after the incident. He also left behind three daughters Mehrab, Mehreen and Mashiya.
   Son of late Sharafat Ali, Bachchu was the second among four children of his parents.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Tuesday claimed that the killing of Khorshed Alam Bachchu was part of a government blueprint to kill AL leaders and activists.
   In a statement, Hasina held the ruling ‘BNP-Jamaat alliance’ responsible for the killing. ‘Killing of Awami League organisers one after another proved that lives of Awami League leaders and activists and common people are not safe in the hands of the alliance government.’
   She demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers.
   Different political parties and organisations also condemned the killing.
   The central steering committee of the 11-Party Alliance, a combine of left and democratic political parties, said the ‘BNP-Jamaat’ alliance government had failed to improve law and order.
   The brutal killing of a political leader proved the failure of the government, the combine leaders said.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh president, Monzurul Ahsan Khan, and general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, claimed that the country had become a killing field during the regime of the alliance government.
   The Workers Party general secretary, Bimal Biswas, alleged that the government was patronising criminals who are killing one person after another. A faction of the Jatiya Party, led by Anwar Hossain Manju, also condemned the killing.

The state minister for home affairs, Lutfozzaman Babar, on Tuesday assured Jatiya Sangsad of tracking down the killers of Awami League leader
   Khorshed Alam Bachchu, who was shot dead earlier in the morning.
   ‘Members of the law enforcement agencies have already started combing operations at different points to nab the killers,’ he said. ‘The killers must be identified and brought to justice.’
   Babar criticised the main opposition Awami League for calling a hartal within hours, and urged them to call-off the hartal and let the government arrest the killers.
   Referring to the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate examination he said, ‘Hartal is not acceptable under any circumstance.’

Litigants, be they common citizens or the government, are suffering inexcusably from delayed justice in the higher judiciary, as some Supreme Court judges do not sign judgements even after years of pronouncement.
   The ongoing phenomenon of delayed justice in the higher judiciary has also irked the government.
   The law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister, Moudud Ahmed, on Monday sent a letter to the chief justice, requesting him to address the issue.
   According to sources in the ministry, the chief justice, Syed JR Mudassir Husain, talked to the law minister over telephone and assured him that measures would be taken immediately so that the pending judgements are signed without any further delay.
   According to rules and practices of the Supreme Court, the judges deliver the verdict of a case just after conclusion of the hearing or within a few days after conclusion.
   The bench officers take notes of the judgement, which have to be typed by them, and then the judges, who delivered the verdict, sign it after a final scrutiny.
   Though the verdicts are being pronounced without undue delay, the litigants have to wait for months, even sometimes years, to get the benefit of the verdict, as they do not get the certified copies of the judgements due to delay on the part of the judges in signing the verdicts.
   According to sources in the National Board of Revenue and the law ministry, the government has failed to realise revenue of Tk 1,200 crore as it is yet to get the certified copies of the judgements in 130 cases disposed of by the High Court, some even 16 months before.
   Of those 130 cases on revenue matters, the government won 109 and lost 12, while in 9 cases the results do not favour absolutely the government or the assessee (revenue payer).
   ‘As the judgements are yet to be signed, we cannot go for realisation of the revenue,’ an NBR official told New Age on Tuesday.
   Judgements in at least 51 writ cases have also been pending with the judges for signing though those judgements have been pronounced months and even about a year before, said sources in the law ministry and the office of the attorney general.
   As the judgements are yet to be signed, the government is unable to take any action, an official in the law ministry told New Age on Monday.
   ‘As we are yet to get certified copies of the judgements, we cannot file appeals against the High Court’s verdicts of cases which the government lost,’ said a state attorney.
   ‘In such a situation the government is facing difficulties in realisation of revenue and in administrative activities as well,’ said an official in the law ministry.
   Judgements in a large number of criminal and civil cases have also been pending with the judges for signing, causing inexcusable suffering of the people involved in the cases, said a number of Supreme Court lawyers.
   Any statistics of such civil and criminal cases is not available, as there is no mechanism of monitoring, the lawyers said.
   Though a verdict orders the authorities to release a prisoner immediately, the judgement is being signed even months after the pronouncement, they said.
   According to the law, the advocate in a case may issue a certificate on the result of a verdict, which is treated like a verdict, and, for example, get the prisoner released. But the authorities concerned often do not accept the certificates.
   Officials in the revenue board, the law ministry and in the office of the attorney general and also a number of lawyers told New Age such certificates do not work in most of the cases.
   According to Rules 1 and 3 of Order 20 of the Civil Procedure Code, the subordinate courts have to pronounce the judgement in an open court either at once or on some other day, but not more than seven days later, after the case has been heard, and the judges have to sign the judgement just after the pronouncement.
   Similar provision is also present in the subordinate courts in criminal cases, but the High Court has got no time limit for signing the judgements.
   Moreover, even after about 34 years of independence a complete set of rules for the High Court Division of the Supreme Court is yet to be framed.
   The High court is now functioning according to the Rules of the High Court of Judicature of the then East Pakistan, framed in 1958, which have become more or less obsolete now.
   Article 107(1) of the constitution empowers the Supreme Court to frame its own rules for regulating the practice and procedure of each division of the SC. The SC in 1973 made rules for the Appellate Division by amending the Pakistan Supreme Court Rules, 1956. In 1988, the SC made the complete rules for the Appellate Division.
   The rules, both for the Appellate Division and High Court Division, are silent on when a judgement has to be signed.
   When asked on Monday, the law minister told New Age, ‘Like the Civil Procedure Code, the rules for both the divisions of the Supreme Court should have specific provision of time limit of signing a judgement.’
   Though the rules are silent, the Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court judges, framed by the Supreme Judicial Council in May 2000, says, ‘A judge should dispose promptly the business of the court including avoiding inordinate delay in delivering judgements/orders.’
   According to a number of senior advocates and the law minister also, excessive delay in signing the judgement is an infringement of the Code of Conduct.
   In the letter sent on Monday, the law minister also requested the chief justice to take appropriate action against the judges who had made ‘unjustified delay’ in signing the judgements, said sources in the ministry.

The Supreme Court Bar Association on Tuesday expelled two of its associate members — the speaker of Jatiya Sangsad, Jamiruddin Sircar, and the law minister, Moudud Ahmed — for violating discipline by making statements on the ongoing movement of the association against Justice Faisal Mahmud Fayezee.
   An emergency general meeting of the association, held on Tuesday with its president, Mahbubey Alam, in the chair, unanimously adopted a resolution to expel them, and asked the executive committee to notify Sircar and Moudud of their expulsion.
   Taking part in an unscheduled discussion in Sangsad on Monday, Moudud said the Supreme Court should draw up contempt charges against the lawyers agitating and creating anarchy in the court’s premises.
   He also urged the Supreme Judicial Council to take action against some judges who might be engaged in ‘irregularities’ by not signing verdicts given by them.
   He said, ‘If the council does not act, the sovereign parliament knows how to ensure rule of law and uphold the sanctity of the court.’
   Moudud said an anarchic situation now prevails in the court’s compound, tarnishing the image of the Supreme Court. ‘Some lawyers, who are the followers of a particular political party, have been creating anarchy for the last one year.’
   The speaker, Mohammad Jamiruddin Sircar, termed the lawyers’ agitation before the chief justice’s office ‘unconstitutional’, and said that the chief justice could take action against the lawyers for their ‘indecorous gestures’.
   He said the chief justice could take action in the matter of alleged contempt of court while the Bar Council’s chairman (attorney general) could cancel the Bar Council membership of the agitating lawyers.
   The emergency general meeting of the association resolved that the bar’s movement, demanding withdrawal of Justice Fayezee on allegation of doctored LLB results, was a peaceful one and no anarchy had so bar been created.
   Rather, the speaker and the law minister violated the discipline of the association by making false statements regarding the movement and by acting against the decision of the general meeting of the association.
   The meeting’s participants said that the ‘so-called’ ruling given by the speaker regarding the movement was unwarranted and was made in order to foil the movement.
   They also asked the law minister to withdraw the statement he had made, urging the Supreme Judicial Council to take action against some judges who might be engaged in ‘irregularities’ by not signing verdicts given by them.
   Such a statement has degraded the image of judges and is tantamount to contempt of court, resolved the meeting.
   When asked, the law minister told New Age that the meeting had no power to revoke his membership.
   He, however, refused to make any further comment on the decision of the meeting, saying that he would do so after getting any written notice.
   The meeting also decided to refrain from attending the court from 2pm on Tuesday and also to boycott the court on Wednesday to protest against the killing of Khorshed Alam Bachchu, a lawyer who was shot dead on Tuesday.
   The meeting, presided over by SCBA president Mahbubey Alam, was addressed by senior lawyers, including Shawkat Ali Khan, M Amirul Islam, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Abdul Baset Majumder, Khondker Mahbub Hossain and Ozair Farooq.
   The Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Oikyo Parishad, the coalition of pro-government lawyers, also held a condolence meeting and condemned the killing of Khorshed. Presided over by law secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jainul Abedin, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Golam Arshad, Abdul Wahab, Golam Kibria and Mahbubuddin Khokon.

A daylong hartal in the Dhaka city, called by the Awami League in protest against the killing of a city unit leader on Tuesday, has compelled the authorities concerned to suspend all scheduled examinations of the higher secondary and bachelor’s levels.
   The degree examinations under the National University scheduled for today have been postponed. New schedules
   will be declared soon, said sources.
   The Higher Secondary Certificate examinations under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka scheduled were also postponed.
   A press release from the board chairman, Shahida Obaid, says examinations under the madrassah and technical education boards have also been postponed and a new schedule will be declared soon.
   The examinations under other six general education boards outside the capital will be held as per schedule, said the release.

Despite a government order to passenger vessel owners to use solid ballast in the launches’ holds to ensure stability and safety in stormy weather, the owners continue plying the vessels without doing so, risking the lives of thousands of passengers.
   The shipping department, finding many passenger vessels unstable during stormy weather, issued the order, but the owners did not comply on the plea of expense and sought time for implementation, said sources in the shipping department.
   They feared that a major disaster could take place any time as the rivers usually remain stormy during this time of the year.
   ‘Already two accidents have occurred in a span of two days, and in both the cases small launches were involved, but think about the number of casualties if a large launch capsizes,’ pointed out a top official of the department.
   The use of solid ballast (usually a mixture of stone and sand) will be made compulsory if the height of the launch is greater than its width, and if the owners fail to comply with the government’s order.
   At a meeting with shipping department officials on Tuesday, shipping minister Akbar Hossain blasted the owners for not complying with the order. The meeting discussed the capsizing of launches and enforcement of safety measures in waterways, and reportedly warned of tough action against those owners who do not abide by the laws.
   The shipping department has issued a circular on Tuesday asking the owners of passenger launches, which are higher than their width, to use solid ballast in their holds to ensure stability during the ongoing stormy weather.
   ‘Every owner of such a vessel has been urged to use solid ballast,’ said the circular, warning the owners that use of solid ballast would be compulsory if they failed to comply with the order by May 31.
   Another circular, signed by director-general of the shipping department, Captain AKM Shafiqullah, called upon all passenger vessels across the country to be extremely cautious during stormy weather.
   The circular said that launches without survey, registration and certificated masters that carry extra number of passengers and goods, should start their journey only after being informed of the latest weather forecast, and must carry adequate number of lifebuoys, fire extinguishers and other instruments to ensure the safety of passengers.
   Captain Shafiqullah told New Age that many vessels could survive stormy weather just by using solid ballast. ‘The vessels that were taller than their width used the method to maintain stability during storms in the past,’ he added.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division has asked the three-member selection committee formed to choose a panel of two aspirants from the seven although they were found ‘unfit’ for the position of the chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission.
   After interviewing the candidates on May 9, the committee, headed by the University Grants Commission chairman, M Asaduzzaman, informed the division that all the candidates were ‘unfit’ for the post.
   The division, however, asked the committee to send a panel of two aspirants two to three days ago, sources in the division said.
   The candidates who appeared before the committee for viva voce are Dr Mujibur Rahman Khan, Mohammad Abdul Hye, Sayed Abdul Mayeed, SM Jahirul Alam, M Nazrul Islam, Mohammad Khurshid Alam, and SD Faiz.
   Two other members on the committee are Abdur Rauf, a member of the Public Service Commission, and Nurul Islam, a professor of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
   A committee member told New Age on May 11 that the candidates could not give answer properly to the questions asked on energy and power-related issues and policies.
   ‘We found no one competent for that important post, which is a highly technical position,’ said the member.
   He said on Tuesday that they would send the marks of all the candidates, and the division would select the panel of two based on the marks.
   Referring to the ‘unfitness’ of the candidates for the position, he said, ‘No one could even say what the energy pricing policy was.’
   The division officials, however, claimed that the committee did not term them ‘unfit;’ they said they are rather ‘not suitable’ for the post.
   Justifying the move for selecting the two candidates from the seven ‘not suitable’ persons, they said the government has been trying to appoint a chairman for the post for the past two years.
   ‘So we need a chairman immediately for full functioning of the commission. If we go for further advertisement and another selection procedure, it will take more time,’ said a high official.
   ‘They [the seven candidates] are the best possible option. If there were other candidates, they would have applied for the post,’ he said.
   The official said after getting the panel of two aspirants, the names would be sent to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval of the prime minister.
   Subject to her approval of the two names, the president would select the chairman from the panel. He will also select two members on the five-member committee from a panel of
   four member-aspirants.
   The selection committee also chose the member-panel of four aspirants after interviewing 17 aspirants on May 9.
   The government had appointed two other members — former Petrobangla chairman Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain, as the acting chairman, and former director of the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Shawkat Hossain — in 2004 after the parliament had passed the Energy Regulatory Commission Act in March 2003.

Nine more bodies were recovered on Tuesday at the place where the ML Prince of Patuakhali sank on Sunday, tallying the official death figure to 58.
   Unofficial sources said 25 more bodies were recovered on Tuesday, taking the unofficial figure to 91.
   The body of a boy was recovered from under potato heaps inside the launch, 14 from Panpatty Char, six bodies floated on the river near Char Kajal, four were recovered from Rana Gopaldi and four more from Banayatali.
   The official count of 58 bodies included 15 teenaged boys and 14 girls, 22 women and 7 men.
   Forty-eight identified bodies were handed over to their relatives and the rest 10 remained in police custody. The bodies will be buried in a mass grave if they are not claimed.
   Unofficial sources claimed the number of deaths to be 91. Of them 33 bodieswere taken away by their relatives without informing the authorities.
   The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority rescue vessel, Hamza, salvaged the sunken launch at 8:30pm on Monday and tied it near Char Kajal ferry terminal at 10:30pm.
   Closing the rescue operation at about 10:45pm, the MV Hamza left the place for Barisal. Other rescue teams also returned to Kalapara in the morning.
   A huge quantity of goods, including 20 empty ice cans, 25 empty drums of kerosene and soyabean oil, a large quantity of rice, nuts and potatoes in bundles were recovered from the launch.
   Seven barrels of fuel were found floating beside the salvaged launch.
   All these were loaded from the Patuakhali launch terminal. But the river traffic police and the port officials had not intervened during loading.
   A number of people and relatives of the missing passengers continued to search for the bodies in small country boats, trawlers and engine boats braving rough weather.
   According to the officials, 58 bodies were recovered out of 77; only 19 remain missing.
   But unofficially over a hundred passengers remained
   missing.
   Passengers and other sources said over 200 passengers were on board the vessel. At least 100 passengers remained missing, they said.
   Ranagopaldi union council chairman Khabirul Bashar Talukdar at Dashmina said about 50 people of his union are missing.
   No step had been taken against the launch owner, its crewmembers and officials responsible for the incident till Tuesday, the sources alleged.

Nepal’s Maoist rebels killed nine soldiers and policemen in the east of the turbulent Himalayan nation, an army officer said on Tuesday, the biggest loss to security forces since the king lifted emergency rule.
   Details of the clash at Lekhgaon in Udayapur district, 400 km east of the capital on Monday, were unclear due to poor communication links with the remote area, the officer said.
   ‘We have nine fatalities on our side. The terrorists must have also suffered losses but we have no details,’ the officer said.
   Maoist rebels, fighting to overthrow the monarchy, have stepped up attacks since king Gyanendra fired the government on February 1 and seized power, saying the move was vital to crush the revolt which has left close to 12,000 people dead.
   The rebels aim to install a single-party communist republic in the impoverished nation of about 26 million people.
   Gyanendra ended emergency rule in late April after drawing international flak for his takeover. This prompted neighbour India to resume the supply of some arms suspended since February 1.

Nearly 51 per cent women in Bangladesh face physical abuse by their husband from the very beginning of their marriage, according to a study of the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers’ Association.
   About 39 per cent of men believe that wife beating is their God-given right and 54 per cent view it as a personal matter, says the study report, released Tuesday at the National Press Club.
   The study covers 313 cases of wife abuse, reported to 30 legal aid clinics of the association in six divisions and their partner organisations, said Sharmin A Farouk, research officer of the association.
   Around 27 per cent of women, who are victims of such violence, want to file cases against their husband but the police do not want to accept any case of wife beating. They usually recommend mediation.
   However, 98 per cent of the police personnel believe wife beating is a crime but cannot arrest the perpetrators for the lack of a proper law.
   While releasing the study report, women lawyers urged the government to enact laws for an end to such domestic violence.
   They said without proper laws the law enforcing agencies as well as society will not be able to check abuse of helpless wives.
   The law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister, Moudud Ahmed, formally launched the research publication and compact disc of an advocacy video-drama against wife beating.
   Moudud said the Law Commission was carrying out research prior to drafting a law against domestic violence.
   He said wife beating is reprehensible and a violation of basic human rights. ‘Since it is a very sensitive issue for any family, wife abuse is seldom made public.’
   Moudud said more assessment was necessary before enacting a particular law against wife beating or incorporating it in the existing laws like the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
   ‘Empowerment of women in all social and economical sectors and giving them proper education could prevent such violence,’ said Moudud.
   The women lawyer’s association has already begun advocacy activities against domestic violence in 10 districts, and has also staged a play on the offence of wife beating as their first step of advocacy.
   They screened a selected part of the advocacy drama, ‘Babodhan’, on video and distributed the cassettes at the launching ceremony.
   Dr Nusrat Ameen, an associate professor of law at Dhaka University and author of the report, titled ‘Wife Abuse in Bangladesh’, discussed the findings of the study.
   The BNWLA president, Sigma Huda, the BNWLA executive director Salma Ali, Fawzia K Firoze and Kohinoor Begum also spoke.

The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, on Tuesday called Vietnamese entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh.
   ‘The Vietnamese entrepreneurs can avail liberal and attractive incentive packages for foreign investment in certain potential sectors,’ she said while addressing a Bangladesh embassy reception in Hanoi.
   The agriculture and rural development minister of Vietnam, Cao Duc Phat, senior officials and some entrepreneurs of the two countries attended the reception.
   Earlier, red carpet was rolled out for Khaleda when she arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday to begin a three-day official visit to Vietnam.
   The Vietnamese vice-minister for foreign affairs, Le Cong Phung, received her at Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport in the afternoon.
   On her way to Hanoi Daewoo Hotel, where she will be staying for two nights and three days, people gathered on both sides of the road and welcomed the distinguished guest of Bangladesh waving their hands.
   The Bangladesh prime minister will be given an official welcome at the presidential palace this morning.
   This is the first-ever visit by the head of the government of Bangladesh to Vietnam. This is also the return visit by the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, to Vietnam following the tour of the Vietnamese president, Tran Duc Luong, of Dhaka in March 2004.
   Khaleda Zia and her Vietnamese counterpart, Phan Van Khai, will hold formal talks at the presidential palace today on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and international issues.

Yet another brief session of Jatiya Sangsad was prorogued Tuesday night after transacting business only for four working days without the main opposition party Awami league’s participation.
   The president prorogued the 16th session of the parliament that began on May 12 as the house is expected to meet again for the budget session in the first week of next month.
   The speaker, Jamir Uddin Sircar, read out the president’s prorogation order at 9:45pm.
   This session had little legislative work apart from passing the Copyright (Amendment) Bill-2005.