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Mufti Abdul Hannan, a leader of the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam, was placed on a 10-day police remand on Sunday for his suspected involvement in the August 17 bomb blasts at Tejgaon in Dhaka.
   The Rapid Action Battalion produced him in the chief metropolitan magistrates court Sunday afternoon amid tight security, saying that he had been arrested in the case related to explosion at the Mohakhali bus terminal on August 17.
   The battalion members had maintained vigilance on the court’s premises since Sunday morning and stopped movement of vehicles on the road from 3:00pm.
   Hannan, in bullet-proof jacket, was taken to court at about 5:20pm and produced in the court of metropolitan magistrate Kamrunnahar at 5:45pm.
   The prosecution told the court that Hannan was a suspect in the countrywide bomb blasts on August 17.
   ‘He needs to be interrogated intensively to identify and arrest his associates and to find out the motive behind the blasts,’ said the prosecution lawyer and prayed for a 10-day remand.
   On the other hand, Hannan claimed that he was not involved in the August 17 blasts and blamed the members of the Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh for the series of blasts.
    ‘No ulema are involved in the heinous blasts and the police also did not arrest any ulema,’ Hannan said, adding that the ulema are with the four-party alliance government.
   Also denying possession of the bombs found at Kotalipara in Gopalganj, Hannan said that the then Awami League government had implicated him in the case only to harass him.
   ‘I submitted a mercy petition to the home ministry, when the four-party alliance government assumed office in 2001, to relieve me and others from the false cases. The government acquitted all the accused who were named on the charge-sheet, but did not acquit me under pressure from the local Awami League leaders,’ he said.
   The lawyers, loyal to the Awami League, pleaded to the court to send Hannan to jail as a tribunal, on December 30, 2003, had sentenced him to life imprisonment on charge of his involvement in an arms case.
   The court granted a 10-day remand for investigation of the case.
   The intelligence wing of the battalion arrested Hannan from near a house at Madhya Badda early Saturday and recovered some bomb-making materials.
   The battalion officials suspected that Hannan might have been involved in making bombs in his house. He needs to be interrogated thoroughly about his involvement in bomb-making and other activities, the officials said.
   A source said that Hannan had often visited the office of the Al Hiqma Dawat O Kalyan Sangstha at Madhubagh in Dhaka.
   But the organisation has changed its name and moved to a new house in the locality soon after Hannan’s arrest. The new office of the organisation was found locked up on Sunday.
   Hannan reportedly told the newsmen Saturday night that he had been residing at Badda after he was implicated in the cases filed in Gopalganj in 2001.
   He often changed his residences to avoid arrest, he told the newsmen, and admitted being involved in the Gopalganj incidents.
   Officials at the Criminal Investigation Department said Hannan, along with 14 others, was named in charge sheets in four cases — two under the Explosives Act, one under the Arms Act and the other for treason, filed in Gopalganj in 2000. Except the case under the Arms Act, all the cases are in trial stage, they said.
   Hannan took part in the war in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and sustained injuries in the left hand. He had been provided with training in arms and bomb-making in Pakistan before he joined the Afghan war, said the police.
   On hearing of his arrest, the Awami League activists brought out a procession in the Gopalganj town on Sunday and demanded capital punishment for him.
   In Rajshahi, the suspected donor of the militants, Akhtarul Alam, was placed on three-day police remand on Sunday.
   The police arrested Akhtarul on September 17 based on the statements of two activists of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh — Shahidullah Faruk and Abul Kashem Tufan — arrested a day before from Tanore.
   Akhtarul was engaged in supplying funds to Bangla Bhai’s Jagrata Muslim Janata and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, the police said.
   In Khulna, both the Khulna Metropolitan Police and the Batiyaghata police on Sunday prayed for a 10-day remand for Shahidullah, an activist of the JMB, arrested from Dhaka and questioned at the Joint Interrogation Cell.
   Shahidullah was taken to Khulna early Sunday from Dhaka and was shown arrested in connection with the case filed with the Batiyaghata police for the August 17 bomb blasts on the Khulna University campus.
   The Khulna chief metropolitan magistrates court posted the hearing in the police petition for Monday.
   In Jaipurhat, the police arrested another JMB activist, Mofazzal Hossain, from Kalai on Sunday for his suspected involvement in the August 17 blasts.
   The police completed investigation of the blast case in the district town and the charge sheet is likely to be submitted to the court on Monday, said the police.

The government was bewildered on Sunday by the reported claim of a militant kingpin, Mufti Abdul Hannan, involving the former home minister, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, and a top four-party alliance leader, Maulana Mohiuddin Khan.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, Sunday afternoon asked the former home minister, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, to explain the newspaper reports of him assuring Mufti Mohammad Abdul Hannan that he would consider the latter’s mercy petition in a case under the arms and explosive acts. Altaf, now commerce minister, who met the prime minister in her office after a meeting of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific, denied Hannan’s reported claim.
   A PMO aide quoted Altaf as saying to the prime minister, ‘I did not meet Hannan. I do not know him.’
   Altaf’s denial apparently failed to convince some of his cabinet colleagues including some key players in the government. Some cabinet members, who attended the CIRDAP meeting, also expressed their doubt of Altaf’s denial during their informal discussion with the prime minister. ‘I am afraid Altaf’s statement might be untrue,’ a top PMO aide told New Age on Sunday. ‘A minister who has many a time made controversial remarks could have casually assured Hannan or anyone else without checking the documents.’
   Hannan, who was arrested in Dhaka on Saturday, told reporters that he had contacted Maulana Muhiuddin Khan, editor of the monthly Madina, and former home minister, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, to get relief from the cases under the arms and explosive acts.
   Hannan, a key leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, a banned Islamist outfit, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in an arms and explosive case.
   Muhiuddin Khan also denied approaching Altaf for the sake of Hannan. ‘I never went to meet Altaf along with Mufti Hannan,’ said Muhiuddin, also the senior vice-chairman of Islami Oikya Jote, a component of the ruling four-party alliance, at a hurriedly arranged news briefing on Sunday in his office.
   According to state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, Altaf refuted the reports published in different daily newspapers involving him with Hannan.
   ‘The question of advising Hannan to submit a mercy petition does not arise as I had neither met him nor do I know him,’ BSS quoted Altaf as saying in a letter of protest.

Senior Islami Oikya Jote vice-chairman Maulana Mohiuddin Khan, also editor of the monthly Madina, on Sunday rejected outright lobbying former home minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury for Harkat-ul-Jihad leader Mufti Abdul Hannan.
   He, however, admitted having relation with Hannan, who was arrested at Badda in Dhaka early Saturday.
   ‘I met Altaf to have released my party leaders and activists, who had been implicated and jailed in false cases during the past Awami League regime,’ he told a news briefing in his office.
   Rejecting that he had met Altaf, Mohiuddin said, ‘It is false, fabricated and politically motivated. Such baseless and motivated news has tarnished my image in society.’
   He alleged a certain quarter had been trying to undermine the Alem community and their prestige. ‘Motive of such reports is to remove the influence of the Alem society.’
   Asked if Hannan had made the comments in the presence of journalists and the Rapid Action Battalion members, he said, ‘if he [Hannan] had made the comments, he had done a crime.
   ‘Hannan was well known to me and I met him last on the footpath outside Baitul Mukarram three years ago. I asked how he was and he said he was fine,’ said the leader of Islami Oikya Jote, a component of the four-party alliance government.
   Mohiuddin said Hannan and four others, on their return from Afghanistan, earlier met him at the National Press Club during the Awami League regime and he had asked them to lead a normal life.
   About his meeting with Altaf, Mahiuddin said he had a very good relation with Altaf as he has known him from his student life.
   ‘When Altaf was home minister, I visited him at the ministry on many occasions and asked for the release of my party leaders and workers implicated in false cases filed during the past Awami League rule.’
   About his involvement with the banned Islamist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad, he said, ‘If I would have been a top leader of the banned Islamist outfit formed on April 30 1992, why the intelligence agencies had not contacted me since Hannan made the comments to the battalion Saturday night.’
   Mohiuddin said he met Shaikh Abdur Rahman, chief of another banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, in Madinah, but rejected his communication with the mastermind of the August 17 series of bomb blasts.
   Oikya Jote leaders Maulana Fazlul Huq Ameeni, Abdul Latif Nizami and Mufti Wakkas and Bhasani NAP president Anwarul Huq were present at the briefing.

The Awami League-led opposition alliance on Sunday demanded the arrest of commerce minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury and leader of a faction of Islami Oikya Jote Maulana Muhiuddin Ahmed for their suspected involvement in giving shelter to Mufti Abdul Hannan.
   The alliance leaders at a meeting in the Awami League central office in the capital city said that in his statement, Mufti Abdul Hannan said that the above two were involved with his activities and they helped him.
   The arrest of Hannan proved that the BNP-led four-party alliance was patronising the ultra Islamist activities, the meeting resolution said.
   Chaired by the Awami League presidium member Abdur Razzak, the meeting was attended by Awami League leader Abdul Mannan, Workers Party leader Rashed Khan Menon, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Hasanul Haq Inu, Bimal Biswas, Samyabadi Dal leader Dilip Barua, Gana Forum leader Mofizul Islam Kamal and Ganatantrik Majdur Party leader Zakir Hossain.
   They gave a warning that if the government does not arrest them, the opposition parties will launch tougher movements.

The High Court on Sunday ordered the Motijheel police officer-in-charge, AKM Rafiqul Islam, the main accused in the murder of college student Kamrul Islam Momin, to surrender before the metropolitan sessions judges court within four weeks.
   Refusing to grant anticipatory bail to Rafiq, the vacation bench of the High Court of Justice Skeikh Rezwan Ali and Justice Sheikh Abdul Awal, however, directed the police not to arrest the wanted officer-in-charge during the interim period.
   The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Rafiqul Islam seeking anticipatory bail in the case when he surrenders. He has been on the run for 19 days.
   Deputy attorney general Abdul Baset, however, did not oppose the police officer’s bail prayer.
   Momin, a student of the Mirpur Commerce College, was shot dead on September 13 in front his residence at Ibrahimpur, probably as a result of his family’s dispute with the officer-in-charge over a plot of land near the victim’s house.
   The officer-in-charge was closed (suspended) on September 15 after he had been made the principal accused in the first information report lodged with the Kafrul police in connection with the murder.
   So far, 13 out of the 26 persons accused in the FIR have been arrested. Pleading for the officer-in-charge, his counsel, Habibul Islam Bhuiyan, told the court that Rafiq had no connection with the murder.
   Answering the court’s query, he said that although Rafiq had been named in the FIR, an accused in the case had not mentioned his (Rafiq’s) name in the statement made to the police.
   In the statement recorded under Section 161 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, the accused confessed that Momin was killed by a gang of criminals, as he had helped the police to arrest one of them. The court asked why Rafiq had not surrendered before the proper court.
   The counsel replied, ‘Rafiq is an honest police officer, but reports are being published against him and the government has kept him under pressure. Rafiq is afraid that the sessions court may not grant him bail.’
   Habibul Islam Bhuiyan, along with Jainul Abedin and Matiur Rahman, moved the case for Rafiq.
   Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has suspended Rafiq on Sunday as the departmental proceedings against him have begun.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Sunday stayed the operation of the High Court order, passed hours before to stay the operation of the amendments to the Registration Act 1908 and the Transfer of Property Act 1882 which were made on December 7, 2004 and came into effect on July 1.
   A vacation bench of the High Court of Justice Syed Mohammad Dastagir Hossain and Justice Nirmalendu Dhar also stayed the operation of the format of a deed for registration, which had been made compulsory for making any deed of registration from October 1.
   Hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by a Supreme Court lawyer, Chowdhury Ataur Rhman, the High Court also asked the government to explain in two weeks why the amendments and the format should not be declared illegal and void.
   The stay order will continue till October 17, the date fixed for hearing in the case by a regular High Court bench.
   Hours after the High Court order, attorney general AJ Mohammad Ali went to the vacation judge of the Appellate Division, Justice Mohammad Tafazzul Islam, just after the maghrib prayer, with a petition seeking stay of the High Court order.
   The court stayed the High Court order till October 18 and fixed the date for hearing in the government’s petition before a regular bench of the Appellate Division.
   When asked, the law minister, Moudud Ahmed, refused to make any comment on the court order.
   He, however, told New Age that the government would immediately appeal against the High Court order, and the attorney general has been asked by the law ministry to file a provisional petition to the Appellate Division seeking leave to appeal against the High Court order.
   The petitioner’s counsel, Abdul Baset Majumder, told the court that the amendments had infringed the constitutional rights of citizens and also violated Islamic law.
   The Transfer of Property Amendment Act 2004 says, ‘No immoveable property can be sold by a person unless his name, if he is the owner of the property otherwise by inheritance (i.e. if he has not inherited but bought the property), or his name or the name of his predecessor if he is the owner of the property by inheritance, does not appear in respect of the property in the latest khatiyan prepared under the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act 1950.’
   Quoting the act, the counsel argued that the provision was made in violation of the people’s constitutional rights to property.
   This is against the settled principle about the evidentiary value of the khatiyan, which is not a document of title but a document of possession of the property, he argued.
   After the registration of the deed of purchase of a property, the buyer cannot get the deed immediately, and moreover it takes years to make the khatiyan in the name of the buyer even after obtaining the registration deed, argued the counsel. ‘Such a provision will prevent persons from selling the purchased property for years, for he has to wait for making the khatiyan of the property in his name.’
   The mandatory provision, made by the amendments, of registration of heba (gift) is against the principle of Muslim Personal Law, under which no written document is essential to prove the validity of the heba of a moveable or immoveable property, the counsel contended.
   The amendments have made mandatory the registration of the instrument of partition of an immoveable property effected by persons upon inheritance and that is also against the personal laws, as the personal laws, under which the inheritance occurred, do not make mandatory the provision of registration of inheritance, Majumder argued. ‘Moreover,’ he said, ‘inheritance is not a transfer of property.’
   The Registration (Amendment) Act 2004 has barred the advocates from drafting the deeds for registration, which is a clear violation of constitutional provisions, the counsel argued. ‘The act has given the absolute right for drafting the deeds to the deed writers, who do not have proper academic knowledge and training.’
   Deputy attorney general Karunamy Chakma objected to the petition, saying, ‘The court should not stay the operation of any law until and unless the law is declared unconstitutional.’
   The court should hear the arguments of the attorney general before passing any order in the case, he said.
   The court, however, passed the order, turning down his argument.
   Earlier on July 8, the High Court issued a rule on the government asking it to explain the constitutionality of the amendments. The rule is yet to be disposed of.

The government will get only about $1.2 billion as royalties in 30 years if the Asia Energy Corporation extracts coal from the Phulbari coal-field, with a reserve of about 572 million tonnes worth about $28.6 billion.
   The company would pay about $5.8 billion as corporate and other taxes and for using rail and port facilities, spanning over 30 years of coal production starting 2008.
   If the coal price is set at an average $50 for per tonne, the government would earn an estimated $7 billion — $2.8 billion as corporate tax, $1.2 billion as royalties and the rest for using rail and port facilities and other taxes — said Gary Lye, Asia Energy’s chief executive officer in Bangladesh, speaking at a press conference on Sunday.
   ‘However, the government’s earning might increase depending on the rise of coal price,’ he told reporters, after the company submitted a feasibility study and development plan for the Phulbari coalmine project to the government on the same day.
   He claimed that earnings of the company would stand at around $7.16 billion while operation costs would account for about $10 billion over 30 years.
   ‘The company’s capital, to be invested in the project, is $2 billion. The government will not have to invest anything and will not have to bear any risk either. But the company is taking all the risk and investing in the field,’ he said.
   The company has invested $18 million so far for the feasibility study, which would produce 15 million tonnes of coal annually, said Lye.
   The company has estimated its earnings and that of the government based on current rates of six per cent.
   However, the government is planning to increase the royalty rate soon as it feels six per cent is not rational considering that it corresponded to the international fuel price of $40-50 per barrel.
   Lye said, ‘Given the amount of corporate tax in Bangladesh, I think six per cent royalty conforms to the international standards.’
   Lye said the company had opted for an open pit form, practised in the developed world, as chances of a collapse and consequent casualties are ‘very high’ in underground mining. ‘The volume of extraction through underground mining is also lower compared to the open pit.’
   Local coal experts and environmentalists are against the open pit system as it would affect a vast acreage of arable lands as well as local communities.
   Gary said the Department of Environment had already approved of the environmental impact assessment for the open pit mine and granted it environmental clearance on September 11.
   He said approximately 40,000 people will be relocated and rehabilitated during the lifespan of the mine, and Asia Energy would ensure they are fully and fairly compensated for all losses of land, homes and businesses.
   This is some 15,000 fewer than originally planned as the mine footprint has been realigned so that it now avoids most of the eastern section of the Phulbari township, he said.
   Earlier Lye submitted the scheme, which included 67 reports on various aspects, to the director of the Bureau of Mineral Development of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division ‘in accordance’ with the agreement between the government and the company.
   He told reporters that they do not need to sign any fresh agreement to develop the field as they had already signed an exploration and mining contract with the government in 2004. ‘When the government approves the scheme we will go for production,’ he said.
   Asked whether there is any contractual provision obligating the government’s approval of the scheme, he said, ‘No one will spend 18 million dollars if there is no such contractual obligation.’
   Up to 12 million tonnes of the coal extracted each year will be exported, mostly by rail to Khulna and then by barge to a floating terminal off Akram point where it will be loaded on to ships, according to the company’s plans. Three million tonnes will be consumed locally per annum.
   Mining operations are scheduled to begin in late 2006 with first coal in 2008. Full production will be achieved by 2013.
   The press conference was also attended by Brian Mooney, head of corporate affairs of Asia Energy Bangladesh and its general managers Anwarul Islam and Mushfiqur Rahman.

Two persons were killed and three injured in a bomb attack in Tala upazila in Satkhira Sunday night.
   Jahangir Sardar, 38, and Robin Mondal, 48, died on the spot when unidentified assailants hurled four bombs at them at 8:15pm. The injured– Ahmed Sheikh, Jahangir Alam and Nilu Sardar– were taken to a hospital.
   Confirming the incident the ASP, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, told the news agency over phone that the victims were playing cards at Dulaya bazaar fish market when criminals hurled four bombs at them.
   The reason for the killing could not be ascertained.
   Meanwhile, another bom exploded near the Sadar Hospital at 8-15pm on Sunday. None was hurt.
   The police recovered four batteries and a hand written leaflet that said, ‘more bomb attacks will be made if hotels are open during Ramadan’.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Sunday recommended that the government should withdraw 665 out of over 1300 staff of the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption.
   The commission in a letter to the Cabinet Division made the recommendation after finding 175 out of 331 officials and 490 out of about 1000 class III and IV employees of the bureau unfit for services in it.
   The rest of the bureau staff, however, will continue their jobs with the commission as they were found qualified, sources in the commission said.
   The commission disqualified all 14 deputy directors, 35 out of 68 anti-corruption officers, 63 out of 119 inspectors and 63 out of 130 sub-inspectors and 49 per cent of the class III and IV employees.
   The decision, however, has given rise of questions among the commission officials, the sources said.
   The deputy directors have been declared unfit for allegations of corruption against them, but a number of other officials have been declared unfit ‘wrongly’, claimed the sources.
   Even, no consensus was there in the three-member commission on the issue, they said.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, under which the commission has been formed, says the commission will appoint in its service the bureau staffers, whom it will think fit upon screening under such method, it may determine. The commission on April 20 approved the guideline for screening the bureau staff.

The Tata Group on Sunday began ‘marathon’ talks with the government’s relevant agencies to settle at least six pending issues regarding its planned $3 billion investment in Bangladesh.
   At its first meeting with the communications secretary, the high-level Tata team was optimistic to conclude negotiations in this round — the third since Tata submitted its formal proposal in April.
   The issues scheduled to feature prominently during the current round include land allot- ment, gas-pricing, gas security, fiscal incentive, coal exploration licence and electricity purchase.
   It may take six weeks to wrap up the talks and both Tata and the government want to hold a ground-breaking ceremony at the end of this calendar year, said sources in the Tata delegation and the Board of Investment.
   Split into different groups, the Tata executives also met officials of the land ministry and those of Petrobangla. No concrete decision came from the first day’s discussions, according to officials concerned.
   Today, a Tata team will meet officials of the National Board of Revenue to hold talks on fiscal incentives and tax measures.
   The government is yet to approve land allotment as demanded by Tata, especially for its steel plant, proposed either in Pabna or Kushtia.
   Tata wants some 2,000 acres for the plant and another 300 acres for development of township in the adjacent area.
   ‘God willing, we will develop a township like that in Jamshedpur near the steel plant,’ said Manzer Hossain, resident director for Tata projects in Bangladesh, speaking to New Age earlier.
   The conglomerate first proposed to invest $2 billion when it signed an ‘expression of interest’ with the investment board during Tata chairman Ratan N Tata’s visit last year. Initially, the group wanted to set up steel, power and fertiliser plants.
   The proposed investment size was said to be $2.5 billion in the formal proposal and Tata officials in India told Bangladesh newsmen that the investment would ultimately stand at $3 billion after Tata included a plan as per the government’s request to develop a coalmine in Barapukuria in Dinajpur.

The 6th Wage Board on Sunday recommended 40 per cent dearness allowance for the journalists, employees and press workers of newspapers and news agencies.
   The chairman of the board, Justice Mohammad Fazlul Haque, announced the recommendation following a three-hour meeting of the board members, representing the owners, journalists and employees. He also suggested the DA should take effect from July 1, 2005.
   The amount of the allowance, however, will not exceed Tk 5,500 in any case, according to the announcement that came in the third meeting of the board. Meeting insiders said representatives of journalists and employees demanded 60 per cent DA while the owners’ representatives suggested 20 per cent prompting the chair to apply his judgement in settling the matter, which was unanimously accepted by both the parties. Officials said the recommendation would now require government approval for its enforcement.
   The 6th Wage Board came nine years after the 5th Wage Board, though a wage board is supposed to be constituted every five years under the provisions of Newspaper Employees (Condition of Services) Act 1974. The last Wage Board had announced 35 per cent DA, but this is for the first time that the owners, journalists and employees have reached a unanimous decision on DA.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday said she had been astonished by the statements of the Bangladesh Rifles chief.
   She also denounced the reports that quoted her suggesting that a united subcontinent could resist the policies dictated by the United States.
   The BDR director general, Major General Moahmmad Jahangir Alam Choudhury, on Friday at a joint briefing of the Bangladesh Rifles and the Indian Border Security Force in New Delhi alleged that Indians were involved in the August 17 countrywide series of blasts.
   ‘Given the statement of the Rifles director general, I can say that there is no sovereignty of Bangladesh,’ said Hasina.
   Alluding to the implication that Indian criminals had entered and left the country without any detection, Hasina said, ‘Has the government made Bangladesh subservient to India or sold it off that Indians can intrude into Bangladesh as they wish?’
   Hasina was speaking to newsmen at Zia International Airport on her return from India after a five-day visit.
   Expressing her concern about the national security and territorial sovereignty, Hasina said the country’s sovereignty is at stake.
   Regarding the upcoming SAARC Summit, Hasina said, the government is creating a troublesome situation, on the one hand, issuing statements through the BDR chief and preparing for the summit, on the other.
   Referring to Indian news agencies quoting Hasina that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh could effectively prevent the United States from dictating policies if the three countries shed their differences and come together, she denounced the report outright.
   ‘The report is baseless. There were references to the United States. We talked about regional peace and the means to eradicate poverty,’ she said.
   Asked if the speculations of some ruling party leaders that she had visited India for advice regarding the next general elections, Hasina said, ‘The Awami League will decide on its own whether to join the elections.’
   Regarding her ‘hide and seek’ attitude about the high-profile visit to India, Hasina said she had been in India on a personal visit to say prayers at Ajmer Sharif. ‘Being a former prime minister and currently the leader of the opposition in the parliament, there are naturally some courtesy calls to make during visits abroad.’
   Hasina said her prayers at Ajmer on September 28.
   She had meetings with the Indian prime minister, leader of the opposition and senior ministers during the visit.
   She also met the chief of Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi.

Five judges have been chosen for the much-anticipated trial this month of toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein over the massacre of Shiite Muslim villagers in 1982, a source close to the court said Sunday.
   ‘Five magistrates will try Saddam Hussein,’ the Iraqi special tribunal source said without identifying the judges.
   Saddam and seven of his former henchmen are due to go on trial on October 19 for the killing of 143 Shiite Muslims in the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad in 1982, following an attempt on his life there. The eight face the death penalty if found guilty.
   Asked about the possibility of a postponement as demanded by Saddam’s defence lawyer, the source said: ‘That depends entirely on the judges. The tribunal is totally independent.’
   He said the court would follow ‘legal Iraqi procedures’ for the trial, the first major case involving figures in Saddam’s ousted regime.
   Saddam’s Iraqi lawyer Khalil Dulaimi has requested a delay, claiming that his client’s rights have been seriously violated throughout the legal process.
   ‘We have not been duly informed about any certain date for a trial,’ Dulaimi said last month.
   However, another tribunal source said last month that Dulaimi had been given access to all prosecution documents and to his client whenever he requested.
   ‘His lawyers can bring international experts, (Saddam) can seek to have other people to meet with him, or he can bring other lawyers. No one who Saddam recognises as his attorney has been denied access,’ the source added.
   Among those who will face the court along with Saddam are ex-vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan, his half-brother and former intelligence boss Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan and a former deputy chief in Saddam’s cabinet, Awad Ahmad al-Bandar.
   The other four—Abdullah Khadem Ruweid, Mezhar Abdullah Ruweid, Ali Daeh and Mohammed Azzam al-Ali—are former ruling Baath party officials responsible for the Dujail area.
   Saddam, 68, who also faces possible trial over the brutal oppression of about 180,000 Kurds in the late 1980s, has been in US custody since his capture by US-led forces in December 2003.
   Iraq’s Kurdish president Jalal Talabani claimed last month that Saddam had ‘confessed’ to some of his alleged crimes when interrogated by an investigating judge but this was denied by members of his Jordan-based defence team.
   One of Saddam’s nephews, Aymen Sabawi, was last month sentenced to life behind bars for making bombs and financing rebel activities in the violence-ravaged country.
   The most senior former regime stalwart still on the run is Ezzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam’s former deputy and vice president of the former ruling Revolutionary Command Council.

The 2005 Nobel prize season opens on Monday with the prize for medicine, kicking off the annual series of prestigious awards, with the greatest excitement reserved for the coveted honours for peace and for literature.
   With a record 199 individuals and organisations nominated for the prize, the list of possible laureates is a patchwork of names, featuring Irish U2 rock star Bono, former US secretary of state Colin Powell and non-governmental organisation Oxfam.
   But many feel this year’s prize, which will be announced in Oslo on October 7, will go to a person or group working to halt nuclear proliferation, as the issue has been in the international spotlight over the past year, largely due to thorny negotiations with Iran and North Korea.
   The Nobel committee could well choose to honour Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organisation of survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombs, only weeks after the emotional 60th anniversary commemorations of the devastating bombings in both cities.
   The International Atomic Energy Agency is also again in the running, as are US Senator Richard Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn, whose Cooperative Threat Reduction programme works to dismantle nuclear missiles and submarines to secure fissile materials in the former Soviet Union.
   The literature prize has for decades gone to fiction writers and poets, but some say it could be time to stray back into a different genre, possibly honouring a writer mixing fiction and non-fiction.
   The literature prize is traditionally awarded on a Thursday, although the actual date is only announced 48 hours in advance.
   Before attention turns to peace and literature, sciences prizes open the proceedings, with the award for physiology or medicine awarded Monday, physics Tuesday and chemistry Wednesday.
   Laureates receive a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (1.3 million dollars, 1.1 million euros) which can be split between up to three winners per prize.

The parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of communications on Sunday strongly condemned a report of Transparency International Bangladesh and decided to investigate the report.
   The damning report published by Transparency put the communication sector on top of the corruption list in Bangladesh.
   The committee at a meeting in the morning formed a three-member parliamentary inquiry committee headed by its chairman Sayed Monjur Hossain to investigate the report and asked it to submit report within a month.
   The committee also recommended that the ministry should prevent increases in fare of buses and trains before the Eid-ul-Fitr. The committee also recommended taking initiatives to enact a new law for the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority for reducing the unabated and frequent road accidents.
   Terming the Transparency report ‘baseless, fabricated and prepared on the basis of yellow journalism’ the committee members accused the organisation of tarnishing the image of the ministry and advocated for legal action, said meeting sources.
   The sources said the committee members including the communication minister, Nazmul Huda, discussed about legal action against the report for a long time.
   None of the opposition lawmakers were present.
   The committee members also expressed their disappointment over the report saying that a corruption report could not be prepared on the basis of newspaper reporting without any investigation.
   They also alleged that journalists reported false news after being influenced by some vested quarters. The member said it was nothing but ‘yellow journalism’ according to the sources.
   Nazmul also sought intervention of the parliamentary committee to stop the propaganda of Transparency International while another member, Nadim Mostafa, proposed lodging a defamation case with the court.
   However, the committee finally formed the sub-committee to probe into the report and decided to take action against Transparency on the basis of the sub committee’s report.
   Speaking to New Age, Monjur Hossain said it was really unfortunate that an international agency would prepare such a report.
   ‘Although we realise that there may be corruption in more or less every sector, it cannot be attributed to one specific sector,’ said Monjur after the meeting.
   He said the committee had no plans to lodge a case against Transparency.
   ‘After reviewing the committee report the parliamentary body will decide whether to initiate any action against the organisation,’ said Monjur. He said the committee may send a rejoinder criticising the report.
   The report by Transparency International Bangladesh on September 15 published a corruption report, which said the communication sector was at the top of the corruption list in terms of financial losses.
   The report detected financial corruption of Tk 97.82 crore in the communications sectors out of the total financial corruption of over Tk 413.09 crore in 36 sectors.

Launch fare will rise by Tk 0.05 paisa per kilometre for the 100km from October 15. The fares will increase from the current rate of Tk 0.85 to Tk 0.90 and Tk 0.75 per subsequent kilometre.
   The decision was taken at a meeting on Sunday between Bangladesh Inland Waterways Passenger Carriers Association, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and the Department of Shipping.
   ‘We earlier submitted a proposal to the transport authority chairman to increase fare to Tk 1.10 for the first 100 kilometres and Tk 1.00 thereafter. But we have agreed to increase only Tk .05 and Tk .03 considering the people’s interest,’ he said.
   The new rates would come into effect from October 15, said Badal.
   In June, launch fares were increased to Tk 0.85 from Tk 0.75 per kilometre for the first 100km and thereafter Tk 0.75 from Tk 0.64.

A marketing department teacher of Rajshahi University on Sunday assaulted a senior teacher of the department and ransacked the department chairman’s room.
   Sources at the campus said Assistant Professor Rabiul Islam assaulted Professor Dr Amanullah and questioned his authority on the subject.
   They locked in an altercation, hurled abusive words in the presence of the department chairman and Rabiul Islam smashed glasses in the room.
   Teachers of other departments — Professor Mashiur Rahman, Professor Borag Ali and Professor Faridul Islam — were also present during the incident.
   Department teachers expressed concern over the matter and called an emergency meeting at the department chairman’s room on October 4.
   The department chair, Professor Amanullah, confirmed the incident and said, ‘I will take departmental action against the teacher for his repeated misbehaviour’.
   Rabiul Islam, however, denied the allegation, saying, ‘I cannot say anything about our internal matter’.
   Meanwhile, the university unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra Union submitted a memorandum to the vice-chancellor, Professor Altaf Hossain, on the day, demanding arrest of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) activists who attacked a photojournalist and blasted cocktails on Thursday on the campus.
   They also held a protest rally and brought out a procession on the campus.
   The union president, Arif Reza, general secretary Promoties Shil and organising secretary Tuhin addressed the rally.

A protest meeting by rival group on Sunday declared the state minister for youth and sports, M Fazlur Rahman Patal, as persona non grata in his Lalpur-Baghatipara constituency.
   The meeting organised by major (retd) Parvez Kabir, an aspirant for BNP ticket in the next general elections, blamed Fazlur Rahman for Saturday’s attack on his supporters leaving 20 people injured. Presided over by elderly teacher Abul Hossain the meeting at Noorpur Malanchi High School ground was also addressed by Parvez.
   Parvez said his supporters returning from mass contract came under attack by musclemen of the state minister at Bilmaria on Saturday.
   Witnesses said the police obstructed the meeting and dismantled the podium. But later it was held under police protection on instruction from the high-ups in the administration.

The lender-driven poverty reduction strategy paper will be approved by the government’s highest policymaking body, Executive Council of the National Economic Council, on October 18, said finance minister M Saifur Rahman on Sunday.
   ‘Until it is approved, donors are not coming up with assistance for our development,’ he told journalists after a meeting with the top officials of the planning division at the finance ministry.
   The meeting also selected 12 priority projects of the annual development programme expected to be endorsed by the economic council at a meeting on October 22 or the day after. Four ongoing projects will also be reviewed at another meeting sometime around October 25.
   ‘I told the officials about our discussion on the UN Millennium Development Goals in New York recently and our priorities to reach them,’ said Saifur.
   Asked how the government would implement the poverty reduction strategy paper, Saifur said if the World Bank released the due $200 million development credit support, implementation of major development programmes would not be difficult.
   Referring to his discussion with World Bank officials, Saifur said they wanted to see the procurement act enacted. The act will soon be approved at the cabinet, he said.
   Saifur said he had already directed officials concerned to expedite the process of implementation of the annual development programme from the very beginning of the fiscal year so that the ‘May-June syndrome’ could be avoided.
   Finance ministry officials term the spending spree at the fag end of every fiscal year as ‘May-June syndrome’.
   Different ministries will review their projects under the programme at a monthly meeting while the planning commission will hold quarterly meetings to review the performance of each agency of the government in implementing the projects.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board demanded commitment from the national cricketers and sorted out a communication gap that developed between the cricketers and the management in the recent past.
   A meeting between the cricketers and the board, represented by the board’s general secretary Mahbub Anam, and CEO Macky Dudhia on Sunday, discussed various issues.
   The agendas were players’ code of conduct, involvement in domestic and international cricket, involvement in commercials and endorsement, international performances, requirements of specialised coaches, etc.
   ‘In a family atmosphere, we discussed all the things and the cricketers agreed they will put in their best efforts.
   There might be a communication gap. But from now on, the players will get all the assistance from the coaches,’ said Mahbub Anam.
   The new pay roll will be decided soon.