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The education ministry on Thursday formally announced the radical overhauling of secondary level education to cope with the new education system from the next academic year.
   ‘We have decided to adopt a uni-track curriculum for secondary level education, instead of the current multi-track one, from the academic session of 2006,’ formally announced education minister M Osman Farruk at a press conference arranged for broadcasting the major changes.
   ‘Besides, the government has decided to introduce a new School-Based Assessment system for students of classes six to nine from the next academic year,’ said the minister.
   ‘Moreover, students, who will be in class IX in January 2006, will follow a new system in the Secondary School Certificate examinations in 2008.’
   Describing the uni-track curriculum, Osman Farruk said, ‘The government will discontinue the existing humanities, science and commerce curricula of classes 9 and 10 and, under the new curriculum, every student will be taught all the subjects for acquiring an adequate amount of basic knowledge.’
   Dividing the curricula into science, humanities and commerce at the elementary or secondary level causes lack of basic knowledge, he said. ‘The Secondary School Certificate examination of 2008 will be held according to the uni-track curriculum.’ The Matriculation examination — equivalent to the present SSC examination — was held under the uni-track curriculum for the last time in 1962.
   About the School-Based Assessment system, 30 per cent of a student’s marks in classes between six and nine will depend on criteria such as leadership abilities, behaviour and extra-curricular activities, as assessed by the teachers.
   Osman called upon the secondary level teachers to avail themselves of the chance of reviving their ‘lost’ glory through the school-based assessment system.
   ‘I believe the SBA system will discourage private coaching, as it will attach more importance to classroom performance,’ state minister for education, ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, told the conference. He claimed that weak students will be offered after-hours coaching at the schools.
   Describing the new type of questions which students have to face in the SSC examination to be held in 2008, Osman Farruk said that students will answer ‘structured’ questions instead of essay-type ones. ‘A structured question is a question which will ask for several items of information on a single topic.’
   ‘There will be 60 marks for answers to structured questions instead of 50, which will be prepared as per suggestions in the uni-track curriculum,’ he said.
   There will be 40 marks for answers to multiple-choice questions, instead of the current 50 marks, and the students will be given only 40 minutes to answer them.
   General mathematics, higher mathematics, two papers of English, and the Bangla 2nd paper will, however, be excluded from the new format.
   Besides, the preparation and printing of textbooks for the secondary level will be done by the private sector from the next academic year.
   Chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Gazi M Ahsanul Kabir, told the conference that about 15 crore textbooks will have to be published for the secondary level before the next academic session. Some writers have already been trained in the new system so that they can prepare the right sort of textbooks.

Leaders of the ruling BNP on Thursday strongly criticised the opposition Awami League for hailing Monday’s High Court verdict that declared the fifth amendment to the constitution illegal.
   The criticism came at a discussion meeting in the capital, organised in observance of the 27th founding anniversary of the BNP.
   The prime minister and BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, was present although she did not address the meeting.
   The finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, said the Awami League had accepted the fifth amendment by taking licences under the amendment. ‘The late Mohiuddin Ahmed took licence for BAKSAL and Syeda Zohra Tajuddin for the Awami League.’
   He warned that the continuity of the government would be at stake if the fifth amendment became illegal and void.
   The BNP secretary general and LGRD and cooperatives minister, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, urged the Awami League to join the upcoming session of the parliament to discuss the August 17 blasts.
   He warned that the Awami League would lose its position in the parliament if it did not return to the path of democracy. ‘No-one will be successful to upset the next general elections by creating a crisis in the country.’
   ‘The verdict [declaring the fifth amendment illegal] is part of a bigger conspiracy,’ said the health minister, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain.
   ‘The verdict will be declared void unless one has the intention to restore BAKSAL,’ said Khandakar Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, also one of the senior lawyers in the country.
   He said conspiracy was going on to make the BNP weaker by creating division.
   Goyeshawar Chandra Roy said the verdict was a precursor to the reintroduction of BAKSAL [Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League].
   Referring to the government’s commitment to make the judiciary independent, he said, ‘We should reconsider whom we will make independent.’
   Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqui, a member of the BNP standing committee, told the gathering that the party should go back to some rules and convention that used to be practised during the time of the late president Ziaur Rahman.
   ‘Previously the party followed a rule that one man will get one post. During Ziaur Rahman’s period the district presidents of the party were not given nominations to become members of the parliament. Now thana and union parishad-level leaders become MPs and ministers. If such a trend continues, where will the other leaders be accommodated?’
   Tanvir wanted to know as to why the recommendations of representative conferences of the party had not been implemented in the past few years.
   The housing and public works minister, Mirza Abbas, urged Khaleda not to keep the dedicated and tested persons of the party on the sidelines. ‘Many leaders left the BNP when it was in a bad state. We will not protest if they return to the party again. But the leaders who had sacrificed their good days for the party should not be forgotten.’
   ‘Opportunists should not be welcome in the party,’ Abbas said. ‘One can get different type of fruits, including mango, berry and jackfruit, by grafting on a jujube tree. But political leaders, who have sacrificed their good days for the party, cannot survive if random grafting continues.’
   The state minister for labour and employment, Aman Ullah Aman, accused the Awami League of hatching a conspiracy to boycott the next general elections. ‘The BNP will go to power by winning the next elections whether the Awami League joins or not.’
   Earlier in the afternoon, Khaleda laid the foundation stone of Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Charitable Trust Bhaban at Naya Paltan in Dhaka.
   Khaleda, also chairperson of the trust, unveiled the plaque of the four-storey building near the Scout Bhaban.
   In the morning, she laid wreaths at the graveyard of Zia, founder of the party. She was flanked by leaders and workers of the party and its front organisations.
   She took part in special prayers offered for the late leader and for wishing peace and progress of the country and welfare of the people.

Factional clashes in different places marked the 27th founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday.
   Our Mymensingh correspondent reports: At least 50 persons were injured when two factions of the party clashed during a meeting at Mymensingh Railway Krishnachura Square in the afternoon.
   The clash took place when activists of a faction tried to disrupt the meeting as the organisers did not invite local MP Delwar Hossain Dulu to the meeting.
   Presided over by former state minister for energy and mineral resources AKM Mosharraf Hossain, the meeting was addressed as chief guest by central leader KM Obaidur Rahman, who left the dais amid tumult giving a short speech.
   Meanwhile, Delwar Hossain Dulu addressed another meeting organised by the Kotwali upazila unit BNP.
   Our Khulna correspondent reports: A faction of the Khulna district and city units of the BNP Thursday afternoon held a rally at the Shaheed Maharaj Square and brought out a procession in the city.
   The other faction, loyal to Khulna city mayor Sheikh Tayebur Rahman and BNP lawmaker Ali Asgar Loby, announced to organise separate rally on Friday in front of Loby’s political office on Khan A Sabur Road.
   Our Rajshahi correspondent reports: Two rival groups of BNP organised separate programmes in Rajshahi to mark the day.
   The district BNP president Azizur Rahman, general secretary Shis Mohammad, city BNP general secretary Nadim Mostafa led the rally at Monichattar square while the other group led by the city major, Mizanur Rahman Minu, organised programmes at Sonadighi office.
   Earlier, the Rajshahi metropolitan police imposed a ban on procession and rally in the Mohonpur area, where two factions of the party announced programmes to be held in the area on the day.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday termed the BNP-led alliance government ‘illegal’ and called for ousting it through united movement.
   ‘The country should be freed from the clutch of this illegal government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which in the earlier also captured the state power illegally,’ she told a discussion organised by AL’s student front, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh.
   The High Court verdict that declared illegal the 5th amendment to the constitution has shattered the government and now is the right time to overthrow it, the leader of the opposition in parliament told the discussion organised to mark the 30 death anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
   ‘The BNP had made a house of cards after the killing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which has been smashed through the High Court verdict,’ she said.
   Hasina earlier on Wednesday, in her first reaction over the judgement, said all the governments between August 15, 1975 and 79, on the basis of the verdict, were illegal.
   ‘So those who got the right to do politics during this period are illegal and the government formed with these political parties are also illegal,’ she claimed.
   ‘After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, General Zia captured power at gunpoint and allowed Jamaat-e-Islami to do politics by promulgating martial law,’ she said and added that Khaleda Zia had come to power by forming alliance with the Jamaat.
   The former prime minister, however, in her last two ays speeches did not make any demand for implementation of the verdict, which the full bench of the Appellate Division stayed for more months.
   Hasina during the discussion also criticised Wednesday’s incident of making one of the two judges of the High Court, who
   delivered the verdict, to come down from the bench and alk to the Special Branch of police.
   ‘Where were the detective police during the August 17 series of bomb blasts across the country and during the August 21, 2004 grenade attack?’ she questioned.
   With the BCL president, Liakat Sikder, in the chair, the rally was addressed, among others, by economist Abul Barakat, poet Syed Shamsul Huq, Professor Hamida Banu of the Chittagong University and Professor Abul Kashem.

The Supreme Court Bar Association on Thursday urged the chief justice to summon the inspector general of police to explain why officials of the Special Branch made a High Court judge to come down from his bench in the middle of a hearing on Wednesday.
   The call came from an emergency general meeting of the association, chaired by the SCBA president, Mahbubey Alam.
   The meeting expressed its grave concern over the presence of intelligence agency officials in the courtroom of Justice ABM Khairul Huq and Justice ATM Fazley Kabir, who had declared the fifth amendment to the constitution illegal on Monday.
   The meeting resolved that such an incident was a threat to the independence of the judiciary and to the judges in delivering justice fairly and freely.
   Such a step is part of a government design to destroy the judicial system, the meeting observed.
   Terming the verdict on the fifth amendment historic, the meeting resolved that by taking stand against the verdict, the government had virtually taken a position against the constitution.
   Condemning the law minister, Moudud Ahmed, for his comment that the verdict had no legal implication, the resolution adopted by the meeting said, ‘Such comment of the law minister is tantamount to contempt of court.’
   By his appearance in the hearing of the case in the Appellate Division, the attorney general, AJ Mohammad Ali, has lost the right of holding his office, as he had moved the case earlier in favour of the writ petitioner.
   M Amirul Islam, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Abdul Matin Khasru, ZI Khan Panna, Sahara Khatun, Yousuf Hossain Humayun, Abdul Baset Majumdar and Enayetur Rahim also spoke.

About 50 kinds of fees for licence, registration, transfer or renewal of all companies currently registered with the registrar of joint stock companies are going to be increased soon by 300 to 2,000 per cent.
   About 4,500 business firms and those to be registered with the office in the future will also have to pay the enhanced charges, sources in the commerce ministry told New Age.
   The government is expecting to earn about Tk 100 crore per annum as additional non-tax revenue, nearly ten times the current income of only about Tk 10 crore per annum, said sources.
   The commerce ministry is likely to announce the increase of fees soon through an office order.
   Earlier, an inter-ministerial meeting and the Cabinet Division separately approved the hike of fees, said sources.
   The business people fear that this move will hit the business sector hard, despite the commerce ministry’s assurance that the proposed hikes will not impose any unbearable burdens on the affluent class of the society.
   ‘The current costs of different licences, and registration or transfer fees under the purview of registrar of joint stock companies, are very low and need to be increased to a reasonable level,’ commerce secretary Faruq Ahmad Siddiqi told New Age on Thursday.
   ‘The government needs more revenue, and the hike of fees will only affect, to some extent, businessmen who belong to the affluent class of our society.’
   When asked why the fee hikes range from 300 to 2,000 per cent, Siddiqi replied that the increase of fees in terms of percentage is high but the proposed rates are not exorbitant at all.
   He said the proposed rates would soon be sent to the finance ministry for the formal approval of finance minister M Saifur Rahman.
   Sources in the commerce ministry said the move was undertaken as per the instruction of Saifur Rahman in a bid to increase the government’s non-tax revenue.
   The rise in any such fees, which was earlier subject to approval of the Jatiya Sangsad, has been entrusted with the commerce ministry in early 2005 after an amendment of the Companies Act 1994, said sources.
   According to the increased rates, the registration fee for a company having unlimited members is Tk 4,500, which is now Tk 1,500, while Tk 1,500 will have to be paid by a company with 20 members, instead of the current Tk 500.
   The registration fee for appointing a receiver of a company is Tk 200, instead of the current Tk 20.
   The fee for submitting the memorandum of articles of any business firm has been fixed at Tk 200, instead of Tk 10.
   The registration fee for debenture up to Tk five lakh is Tk 150, instead of the current Tk 50.
   The fee for a true copy of any general document has been fixed at Tk 100, instead of the current Tk 10-Tk 15.
   The registration fee for any proposal relating to changing the name of the company or business firm has been fixed at Tk 60, instead of the current Tk 5.
   The current rate of different fees has been in effect from 1994.
   The registrar of joint stock companies issues licences and registration to any companies or firms applying for them, irrespective of their status of ownership. It renews licence and gives permission prior to transfer of any share of any aspirant company’s director as well.

The president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, Rashed Khan Menon, and his family members were reportedly given death threat by an Islamists militant group, 13 years after Menon had been shot at.
   The WP general secretary, Bimal Biswas, told New Age that the threat had been given through a letter, which Menon’s wife had received at their Gulshan residence on Wednesday.
   ‘An ultra-Islamists militant group in the letter also said that they were keeping close watch on Menon’s residence and the party office,’ Bimal said without disclosing the name of the group and detailing the content of the letter.
   The Workers Party politburo, in a statement, has expressed concern over the threat to the party president and his family members.
   ‘The party general secretary, Bimal Biswas, in a letter to the home ministry about a year ago, had requested to provide armed guard for Menon, but the ministry is yet to take any initiative,’ the statement said.
   The politburo called upon the government to take immediate steps for the security of life of Menon and his family members.
   Menon was shot at by gunmen in front of the party’s central office on the Topkhana Road on August 17, 1992. He received bullets in his chest and had to undergo treatment for a long time at home and abroad.

The government is yet to trace the whereabouts of Shaikh Abdur Rahman, chief of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, the prime suspect of masterminding the countrywide blasts on August 17, which left three killed and more than 150 injured.
   In the capital, the police claimed that they had arrested a close aide of former Islamic Foundation director, Maulana Fariduddin Masuod from the Khilgaon area on Wednesday night.
   The police produced the man, Ishraq Ahmed Siraji, before the chief metropolitan magistrate court on Thursday and sought a seven-day remand.
   Claiming that he was an active member of the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, the police said Siraji, along with Masuod, collected money through their organisation Iqra Bangladesh and distributed it to the militants to carry out the blasts.
   The metropolitan magistrate granted a five-day remand.
   In Chittagong, five suspected Islamist militants, arrested on Wednesday, were being questioned at the joint interrogation cell.
   Sources in the cell, comprising National Security Intelligence, Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, Special Branch, Detective Branch and the police, said the militants confessed their involvement in the blasts. They also provided important information about their network, said the sources without giving any detail.
   On Wednesday, the police arrested Mohammad Sadrul Alam, Arshadul Alam, Jahangir Alam and Abdus Sattar Mollah from Chittagong. They were placed on a seven-day remand.
   Their associate, Ahmed, arrested from Dhaka the same evening, was produced before the chief metropolitan magistrate court on Thursday and the police sought a 10-day remand.
   The court granted a seven-day remand.
   In Faridpur, Tariqul Islam alias Shukur Ali, a suspected member of another banned Islamist outfit Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh arrested in Faridpur on Wednesday, was placed on a four-day remand on Thursday.
   The police said Tariqul was shown arrested in connection with the bomb blasts on August 17 in Faridpur.
   In Barisal, six suspected militants, arrested in connection with the blasts, were sent to Barisal on Thursday after being questioned at the cell.
   Three of them, Golam Morshed Chowdhury Reza, 28, manager, Abu Solaiman, 25, a blind man and office staff, Jalal Arefin, 26, accountant of Al-Ikram Samaj Kallyan Sangstha of Barisal, were sent to jail as their remand ended on Wednesday.
   The other three, Jasimuddin, Maruf and Saidul, were being interrogated by the police till Thursday evening.
   The police said they would seek further remand after producing them before the court on Saturday.
   The police also continued their search for Ziaur Rahman, the director of Al Ikram, and his wife Ayesha Akter Ripa in Jhalkathi and Barisal but are yet to find them. The couple masterminded the blasts in the Barisal city, claimed the police.
   Their family members claimed that Zia and his wife, Ripa, went to India via Benapole on August 24.

India ordered $5.7 billion (?3.2 billion) in weapons in 2004, overtaking Saudi Arabia and China to become the developing world’s leading buyer, a study sent to the US Congress this week showed.
   Likewise, with $15.7 billion in orders, India edged out China, with $15.3 billion, to become the developing world’s biggest weapons buyer for the eight-year period up to 2004 reviewed by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service.
   The figures are contained in an annual study, dated Monday, of conventional arms transfers, which is widely considered the most authoritative of its kind available publicly.
   The report illustrates how global arms-trade patterns have changed in the post-Cold War and post-Persian Gulf War years, wrote Richard Grimmett, the study’s author.
   ‘India’s ongoing defence modernisation programme reflects its desire to become a significant political-military force in Asia,’ he added in a telephone interview.
   US willingness to consider selling advanced military items to India suggests it may view India as a potential regional counterweight to growing Chinese military power, Grimmett added.
   The United States once again topped the trade with developing states with deals worth $6.9 billion in 2004, or 31.6 per cent of world-wide contracts, down from a 43.1 per cent share in 2003, the survey showed.
   Russia was second with $5.9 billion in such arms deals, up from $4.3 billion in 2003. Russia’s share of all developing world arms transfer agreements ebbed to 27.1 per cent in 2004 from 28.1 per cent in 2003.
   Russia remained the chief supplier to both India and China, but India has expanded its base, the report said. In 2004, for instance, it purchased Phalcon early warning defence system aircraft from Israel for $1.1 billion.
   Saudi Arabia ranked second among developing world arms buyers last year, with deals valued at $2.9 billion, and China was third, with $2.2 billion in agreements.
   Asia accounted for the lion’s share of Russia’s arms-sale agreements in the period surveyed, rising to nearly 82 per cent of its total deals worldwide from 2001 to 2004, the study showed.

Mass funerals were being held across in Iraq on Thursday for many of the nearly 1,000 Shia Muslim pilgrims killed by a stampede on a bridge over the Tigris River.
   Thousands of grieving people continued the grim search for loved ones, as bodies were still being pulled from the river and refrigerated trucks had been brought in to handle the overflow from the morgue at a nearby hospital.
   The death toll from the tragedy stood at 965 in what was by far the largest single loss of life in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
   Most of the dead were women, children and the elderly, who were crushed to death, trampled underfoot or drowned Wednesday as panic swept through a massive crowd sparked by rumours of a suicide bomber in their midst.
   Another 815 people were injured, and some 200 remained in hospital, officials said.
   The stampede occurred shortly after rebel mortar fire targeted the nearby Kadhimiyah mosque, killing seven people and wounding 37, as up to three million Shias converged on Baghdad for an annual religious commemoration.
   Hundreds of funeral tents lined the streets of Shia neighbourhoods in the capital. In Sadr City, the main Shia district, cries of anguish filled the air, with hundreds of people beating their chests in grief as death reports continued to trickle in.
   An al-Qaeda-linked group calling itself the Jaiech Al-Taifa Al-Mansura (Army of the Victorious Community) claimed it carried out the attack on the mosque to ‘punish the genocides committed against Sunnis.’
   The interior minister, Bayan Baker Solagh, told state-owned Iraqia television that a ‘terrorist pointed a finger at another person saying that he was carrying explosives ... and that led to the panic.’
   Iraqi authorities said the tragedy, which could further inflame sectarian tensions, was a ‘terrorist’ act by toppled dictator Saddam Hussein’s loyalists and al-Qaeda’s frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
   The incident could further stoke tensions between the country’s Shia majority and the ousted Sunni elite, which has fuelled the raging insurgency. It comes only days after divisions were highlighted when the two sides failed to agree on the text of a draft post-Saddam constitution.
   Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for unity and restraint after the tragedy, one of many which has befallen the Shia community.
   Meanwhile, the Iraqi health minister, Abdul Mutalib Mohammad Ali, demanded the resignation of the interior and defence ministers, whom he blamed for the deaths.
   The prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, later rejected the accusations, claiming that the security measures taken by the two ministries made the rebels’ task difficult and rebuking Ali for making his comments in public.
   The tragedy provoked widespread international outcry, with messages of sympathy flowing in from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the Arab League and the Vatican.
   The supreme leader of neighbouring Shia Iran blamed US-led coalition forces for the deaths, saying they must be ‘held accountable’.
   ‘It is certain that Iraq’s occupiers, who have imposed their evil presence in Iraq under the pretext of bringing security, are responsible for such devastating accidents,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said.
   In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States offered ‘sincere condolences’ to those who lost relatives in the ‘tragic event’.
   Britain, which holds the EU presidency, said the stampede was a ‘terrible tragedy, initiated by terrorism’, while Australia blamed the deaths on a ‘climate of fear’ created by ‘terrorists’ in Iraq.

A pro-war American political scientist on Thursday acknowledged that oil was a reason behind the US invasion of Iraq.
   Energy security played a role in the invasion of Iraq, said Spencer B Meredith, an assistant professor of political science at the Rochester Institute of Technology, at a seminar on ‘Religion and Democracy in International Politics’ at Dhaka University.
   ‘The US did not want to depend on Saudi Arabia for its oil supply and was eager to explore alternative sources,’ he said.
   Meredith, a conservative American, said religion has a strong place in US politics and there were ‘reasonable moral reasons’ for the US invasion of Iraq.
   The US policy has shifted from helping Iraqi Kurds and Shias seize power through revolution to a direct invasion after the Republicans came to power, he said. ‘They believed that Iraqis would support them once the Americans invaded the country.’
   He also acknowledged the failure of American intelligence, which trumpeted that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
   Meredith, who said he was ‘first a Christian and then an American’ emphasised the role of religion in democracy and appreciated the presence of religious sensitivity in this region, which is not present in a secular Europe. ‘South Asia hasbette potential to understand the US than does Europe.’
   He discouraged any attempt at secularising Bangladesh and said such attempt would be insensitive since religion is part of the culture.
   His speech confronted a number of questions from students who criticised US policy in Iraq, Muslim discrimination in the US and its attitude towards Muslims across the world.
   Meredith insisted that religion and democracy can be reconciled and said if Iraqi people vote for Shariah law it should be respected.
   He called the regime in Iran ‘ugly’ since ‘it took US diplomats hostage and killed them.’
   Regarding discrimination against Muslims in the US, he said since the Muslim community is relatively new, it faces some problems.
   ‘America’s only experience of Muslims is blowing up two buildings. We need more effort like this,’ said Meredith referring to the seminar. He had come to Dhaka on invitation of the American Centre aiming to create better understanding between the United States and Bangladesh.
   Ataur Rahman, Jonathan Cebra of the American Centre, Owen Lippert of the National Democratic Institute also spoke at the seminar organised by the Bangladesh Political Science Association.

A case was filed against an assistant sub-inspector of the Rapid Action Battalion on Thursday for raping a girl at Mirpur in the capital city about three months back.
   Arzu Begum, wife of ASI Uzzal, was also accused of helping his husband in the rape.
   In her petition, filed with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court, Jotsna Akhter alias Rina alleged that she and his brother in July, 2004 rented a room at the Ansar Camp staff quarters as a sublet which was allotted to Uzzal. But Uzzal raped her on May 31 this year as she rejected a marriage proposal offered by him, the petitioner said adding that the inspector later forced her out of the room when she complained to the Mirpur police station and the home ministry.
   On August 27, some assailants abducted and confined her in the bathroom of Uzzal. Later, the RAB rescued the girl and assured her of taking legal action against the inspector, the petitioner said.
   After hearing, the magistrate, Shamsul Arefin, asked the officer-in-charge of the Mirpur police station to file a case against the accused, and submit a report within next 17 days.
   In addition, two policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector, of the Lalbagh police station and three police sources were sued for killing an Awami League leader, Sumon Ahmed Jibon, who was reportedly electrocuted while chasing by the police at Lalbagh on August 18.
   Victim’s wife, Shahnaz Akhter Doly, filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court on Thursday accusing ASI Mahfuzul Haq, another policeman, and three sources Nirab Bhuiyan, Sayeed, and Mokhles.
   The metropolitan magistrate, AJM Abdullahel Baqi, asked the police super of the Detective Branch to take necessary step after the investigation into the case.
   In her petition, Doly alleged that the three sources with the help of the ASI beat her husband to death in a pre-planned way as they had failed to collect toll from him.

The Dhabi Group of the United Arab Emirates intends to invest about $1 billion in Bangladesh in several sectors including telecommunications, hospitality, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure.
   Their willingness was expressed in a memorandum of understanding signed between the group and the Board of Investment at the state guesthouse, Meghna, Thursday evening.
   The group will prepare a detailed investment proposal within a period of 90 days after signing the memorandum.
   The group’s offer may even reach $2 billion, an official of the Prime Minister’s Office said referring to the courtesy call on the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, by the Dhabi chairman and UAE’s education minister Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan.
   ‘We have come here to see economic development and there are many opportunities to invest,’ Al Nahayan told reporters, lauding Khaleda for ‘working hard to create an investment-friendly environment.’ ‘We want to be part of development in all sectors.’
   Present at the signing ceremony, the foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, termed this ‘just a beginning’ in a country, which has its ‘doors open’ to foreign direct investment.
   Dhabi is determined to invest over $500 million in telecommunications alone, beginning with the commissioning of a project by next month, if the government issues a licence immediately for mobile phone operation.
   It has already applied for GSM cellular licence to operate mobile telephony in Bangladesh on a countrywide basis.
   The executive chairman of the investment board, Mahmudur Rahman, expressed the hope that the investment project would kick off within a year. ‘This once again indicates that we have an excellent investment atmosphere,’ he said.
   Al Nahayan’s trip followed two high-profile visits — one by Saudi prince Walid bin Talal and the other by Tata group chief Ratan N Tata — in the last one year, said Mahmud.
   Dhabi’s entry into the mobile sector will be followed by other ventures in hospitality, pharmaceuticals and financial sector, said the group’s chief executive, Bashir A Tahir, speaking to journalists at a lunch.
   In all, the group’s investment plan within the shortest possible time will range over $1 billion, Tahir said. ‘It could be said only when we will be here and examine the investment prospects.’
   The group’s interests also include real estate development and management, manufacturing, company representations, offshore drilling, banking and financial services.
   Dhabi plans to set up of a pharmaceuticals unit with a hundred per cent ownership and authority, although it has a close connection with a reputed Bangladeshi drug-manufacturing company.
   The group may also construct a five-star hotel, which would require about $150 million, according to Tahir.
   Tahir, a Pakistan-born former official of the now-defunct BCCCI bank, ruled out any possibility of facing difficulties in receiving regulatory support from the government. ‘These are mere formalities. Besides they [government authorities] are very cooperative,’ he added.
   Mabarak Al Nahayan had a meeting with Aminul Haque, the minister for posts and telecommunication, and a ‘successful discussion’ with Mohammad Omar Faruque, the chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.
   On his arrival on Wednesday evening, Al Nahayan inaugurated the Motijheel branch of the Bank Alfalah.

The government will provide about Tk 415 crore for a 150MW power plant at Shikalbaha in Chittagong.
   A meeting of the project evaluation committee of the Planning Commission, headed by a member, approved the proposal for the plant last week, said sources in the Power Division.
   The Power Development Board sent the proposal to the commission in the last week of June along with proposal for seven other plants in line with the recommendations of a committee, formed by the Prime Minister’s Office.
   The committee proposed implementation of the projects by June 2006 to feed 450 megawatts into the national grid.
   The commission, however, sent back proposals for seven other plants on August 3 and asked the Power Division to implement the power projects, which had already been approved by the executive committee of the National Economic Council.
   The PMO committee, headed by the PMO principal secretary, Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, in June estimated that around Tk 1,200 crore would be needed to implement eight projects that would feed 430MW to the national grid by June 2006. The Power Division termed the proposition ‘unrealistic’.
   The funding for the projects also remained uncertain as the PMO committee found out that the government could provide only Tk 300crore.
   The committee in July held a weeklong discussion with the managing directors of some local and international banks for funds without any success.
   The planning commission, however, assured the Power Development Board, that the government could provide Tk 415 crore for the Shikalbaha plant.
   Officials of the board said the government has already approved their proposal for inviting tenders for the plant and it may be within two weeks.
   Sources on the PMO committee said the committee was annoyed with the Planning Commission’s decision to send back the proposal for seven other projects.
   The proposals included establishment of 100MW plant at Shahjibazar, two 20MW plants in Bogra, one 20MW plant (diesel run) in Bogra, two 20MW plants in Rajshahi, two 20MW plants at Syedpur, one 20MW plant in Barisal and one 20MW plant in Bhola.
   ‘Seven projects were identified giving much thought by the Prime Minister’s Office for speedy implementation so that 430MW of power could be fed into the national grid by June 2006. But sending back those seven proposals would jeopardise the plan,’ said a source.
   He said the committee would hold a meeting soon to discuss the issue.

A meeting of parliamentarians from five South Asian countries in Islamabad called upon developed countries to stop dumping their agricultural and industrial products and eliminate all subsidies and export credits from their agricultural products, according to reports received in Dhaka.
   The meeting, held on August 29-30, observed that trade liberalisation in the garb of what is vended as ‘free trade’ over the last decade under the global trading regime has been fundamentally flawed and hence fraught with disastrous consequences for the poor countries.
   In a declaration after the two-day meeting, they urged the developed countries to provide wider market access to exports from the developing countries as well as the least developed countries and supplement more rapid debt relief with an increased level of new and unconditional financial support for the heavily indebted countries.
   ‘We urge the governments of the South Asian countries to make coordinated efforts and remain firm and committed in articulating and sustaining priorities which promote the interests of their people and their economies,’ said the parliamentarians from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
   The meeting agreed to form a South Asian Parliamentarians Forum on the World Trade Organisation to work closely on issues relating to global trade.
   A seven-member parliamentary delegation from Bangladesh, led by Redwan Ahmed, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the commerce ministry, attended the conference.
   Given the scheduled Hong Kong trade ministerial meet on December 13-18 that will have ‘massive consequence’ for the developing and the least developed countries, the forum will meet again in Dhaka, during the summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on November 12-13.
   The Islamabad meet asserted that the WTO and the rich countries must end the undemocratic practices such as mini-ministerial meetings, greenroom processes, five interested parties,
   etc, and that the process should be made transparent and inclusive.
   The South Asian parliamentarians also called upon various groups to build defensive as well as offensive strategies to secure the interests of the peoples of the developing countries and the LDCs and their economies and to further strengthen the unity and solidarity among the poor nations.
   The conference mentioned that the targets of the millennium development goals cannot be met unless the export distorting subsidies and protection in rich countries are eliminated.
   ‘We urge that rich countries must accept the right of poor countries to protect the food security, livelihood of small farmers, labour rights and
   local industries,’ the declaration said.
   It also pointed out that the working population in farming is barely 3 per cent in the rich countries in contrast to the majority in the poor countries and that fair trade in the products of farming would cost the rich world very little in terms of the loss of welfare to its inhabitants, while delivering major potential benefits to poorer nations.
   In conformity with earlier demands raised by the developing and the least developed countries, the parliamentarians urged the rich countries to accept the free flow of semi-skilled and less skilled persons from poor countries.

A number of top-ranking leaders of the local Awami League reportedly worked for the ruling alliance candidate in the August 30 by-election to Faridpur-1 constituency by violating party directives, creating a rift in the party.
   The party insiders and local people said the Boalmari upazila AL president, Mosharraf Hossain, and the Madhukhali upazila unit president, Mafizur Rahman Manju, and general secretary, Moniruzzaman Bachchu, worked for the BNP-led alliance candidate, Shah Mohammad Abu Jafar, making easier Jafar’s victory.
   Jafar won the poll defeating independent candidate Mohammad Sharafat by 38,056 votes. Jafar bagged 89,580 votes.
   The local Awami League sources said the Alfadanga upazila AL president, Sheikh Akram Hossain, as per the party instruction, had worked for Sharafat and Jafar had suffered a defeat of 7000 votes in the upazila.
   The district AL leaders are scheduled to sit with the party president, Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka tomorrow to discuss the issue and take disciplinary action against those who violated the party instruction, the sources said.
   They said the Faridpur district AL general secretary, Hasibul Hasan Lavlu, on August 28 directed the leaders of the constituency to work in favour of Sharafat instead of the earlier decision to remain ‘inactive’.
   Refuting the allegation, the leaders accused of not following the party instruction claimed that they had remained silent as the central leaders told them to do so.
   They, however, acknowledged their silence had made Jafar’s victory easier.
   ‘As we had clear instruction to boycott the poll, we didn’t play any active role for any candidate,’ Moniruzzaman told New Age on Wednesday adding that he had not got any instruction from the district unit leaders in this regard.
   Echoing Moniruzzaman, Mosharraf said, ‘Some district leaders created the rumour against me to tarnish my image inside the party as I am a candidate aspirant for the next general election from the constituency’.
   Both the leaders, however, said there was no reason for supporting Sharafat as he was also from an anti-liberation force.
   Lavlu said he, as per the directive from party chief Sheikh Hasina, had given instruction to the upazila level leaders to support Sharafat, but some of them violated the instruction.
   ‘We’ve specific evidence that Mosharraf worked for the BNP candidate while Mafizur and Moniruzzaman — followers Kazi Sirajul Islam, a former AL lawmaker who joined BNP — remained silent,’ Lavlu said.
   ‘We decided to sit with the party president Sheikh Hasina on Saturday to discuss the issue and following measures will be taken against them,’ he said.
   A top-ranking leader of the district AL, however, said the issue was nothing but a ‘game’ between two rival groups centring the next general election.
   ‘Both Abdur Rahman, a central leader, and Mosharraf Hossain are candidate aspirants from AL ticket in the next general election and it is the reason behind the rift,’ a leader told New Age.

The 87th birth anniversary of the commandar-in-chief of the war of independence General MAG Osmani was observed on Thursday with due respect and enthusiasm.
   Different socio-cultural, political and professional bodies organised various programmes to mark the day.
   The programmes included hoisting national flag, placing floral wreath at the portrait of Osmani, offering Fateha,
   organising prayer session and holding rallies and discussion meetings.
   The Sylhet Division Development Action Council organised a commemoration meeting at the National Press Club auditorium in the afternoon with its president advocate Javed Akhtar in the chair.
   Speakers at the meeting criticised the government for not giving due state honour to the hero and urged the government to observe the birth and death anniversary of Osmani with state honour.
   Terming the commander-in-chief national hero, the speakers also demanded inclusion of the biography of Osmani in national text books, establishment of Osmani Academy in Dhaka and setting up of a dormitory at Dhaka University after his name.
   Sector commandar in the liberation war CR Datta, Communist Party president Monjurul Ahsan Khan, Bikalpadhara organising secretary Mahi B Chowdhury MP, commander of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Central Command Council principal Ahad Chowdhury, chairman of the privatisation commission Inam Ahmed and general secretary of Krishok Shramik Janata League Fazlur Rahman addressed the meeting, among others.
   The Jatiya Janata Party organised a discussion meeting at city’s Mohammadpur area in the morning where the speakers pointed out the contribution of general Osmani during the liberation war.
   Presided over by the party president, Sheikh Asad, speakers at the meeting urged the government to show due respect to the late commander-in-chief.
   Bangabir Osmani Social Service and Research Sangsad also organised similar programme to observe the birth anniversary of Osmani.

The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, apprised the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, Thursday evening that her recent China and Japan visits were ‘very fruitful’ in strengthening bilateral cooperation with the two countries.
   A number of agreements were signed during the visit to China and Japan, she said during a courtesy call on the president at Bangabhaban after attending a function marking the 27th founding anniversary of the BNP.

Security forces on Thursday rounded up four activists of the United People’s Democratic Front and seized one AK-47 assault rifle, one smooth bore breach loading gun, two light arms and one revolver from their hideout at Manikcharimukh hill under Mahalchari upazila in Khagrachari, 189 kilometres southeast of Dhaka.
   Kala Chand Chakma, 40, Ripon Chakma, 18, Kanti Chakma, 36 and Baichyadhan Chakma, 38, were later handed over to the police.
   Earlier, security forces recovered one AK-47 rifle loaded with 15 rounds of ammunition and a few documents raiding a place at Bangaltali under Baghaichari upazila in Rangamati on August 29.

A band of armed men, allegedly activists of the United People’s Democratic Front, Wednesday night kidnapped seven persons, believed to be loyal to Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti, from Krishnamachhora in the trouble-torn Nannerchar upazila in Rangamati, some 220 kilometres southeast of Dhaka.
   One of the hostages, Sarat Chakma, 25, was later released with the message that Tk 1 lakh would have to be paid to secure the release of the rest.
   The police and the security forces launched a hunt to rescue Atal Bihari Chakma, 35, Raj Bihari Chakma, 45, Kanak Kumar Chakma, 32, Kali Proshanya Chakma, 45, Bhubon Chakma, 25 and Tejendra Chakma, 45.
   No-one had been rescued till the report was filed at 7:15pm.

Another victim of Indian BSF firing in the Kasba border area on Monday died in Dhaka.
   Rafiqul Islam, 22, died Wednesday night shortly after being shifted from the Brahmanbaria Sadar Hospital.
   The BSF opened fire at day-labourers quarrying sands from Salda River along Putia.
   Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission on Thursday protested against Bangladesh media reports on the August 31 firing incidents in Brahman-baria and Thakurgaon, saying the BSF had fired in self-defence.
   Terming the reports ‘provocative and one-sided’, a high commission press release said, ‘It was unfairly alleged that the BSF opened fire in Brahmanbaria on labourers when they were quarrying sand from Shalda river and that a farmer was fired on while he was working on crops.’

Mohammad Shahidul Islam, a lawmaker of Jhenidah-3 constituency, on Thursday filed a case against editors, publishers, and reporters concerned of five Bangla dailies for tarnishing his image by publishing a report.
   In his petition, filed with a Jhenidah court against the editors, the publishers, and reporters of the Amar Desh, Inqilab, Manavzamin, Janakantha, and Jessore-based Gramer Kagoj, the lawmaker said the dailies on Monday published the report that tarnished his political and social reputation.
   The report said Dr Imdadul Haq, medical officer of Chaugacha Upazila Health Complex, on Saturday was manhandled by some people as the hospital authorities failed to provide beds to some youths who were the supporters of the lawmaker.