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Violence over student unrest, intra- and inter-party feud among student organisations, and attempts by pro-government teachers to establish control have affected academic atmosphere in 10 out of 21 public universities.
   Violence by students has forced suspension of academic activities in three universities, while two are caught in rivalry among pro-government teachers and three in factional feuds among student organisations.
   As many as 200 students were injured in violence at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Jagannath University, Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Chittagong University and Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology in the past one month.
   The most violent incidents took place at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University two days back, and Jagannath University two weeks ago.
   The BUET authorities suspended all academic activities for an indefinite period after students ran riot on the campus to press home their demands for deferment of term-final examinations.
   The examinations, which were scheduled to start on August 1, were earlier deferred, as the students agitated for tension-free viewing of the World Cup of football.
   The latest spate of turbulence, including ransacking of teachers’ quarters and damage to their vehicles, led the academic council to convene an emergency meeting and decide that the halls of residence should be vacated.
   General students said the riot had been a set-up and stalwarts of the ruling party’s student wing engineered it.
   ‘It is true that any movement for deferring examinations is always popular but Sunday night’s incidents were suspicious, as the violence was led by leaders of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal,’ a resident of Ahsanullah Hall said. ‘There is widespread speculation that Chhatra Dal launched such activities to ensure their dominance after the caretaker government takes over.’
   The BUET vice-chancellor, Alee Murtaza, put the blames on the students and said the administration had been forced to suspend academic activities because of the actions by unruly students.
   He said a committee would be formed to probe the incidents, assess the damage and trace the culprits.
   Meanwhile, students of Sher-e-Bangla Agriculture University stormed the offices of the vice-chancellor, registrar and controller, and vandalised two halls of residence.
   The students had been on a movement for the past one week for the removal of the personal secretary to the vice-chancellor, Zakidur Rahman, and the deputy registrar (administration), Selim Reza Madhu, for alleged corruption and irregularities.
   The students had earlier set an ultimatum to meet their demands, which ended 11:00am on Monday, and the vice-chancellor agreed to meet the demands.
   However, as he failed to keep his commitment, the students staged a sit-in at the vice-chancellor’s office. The sit-in led to violence on the campus when the authorities tried to force them to leave the vice-chancellor’s office.
   Jagannath University, second largest university in terms of enrolment, has been facing unscheduled closure since mid-July following a clash between the rightwing Islami Chhatra Shibir and other organisations.
   Classes at the university resumed Tuesday in the presence of police. Sixty-five platoons of police were deployed on the campus to avert any clash. Students fear that the situation will deteriorate as and when the police are withdrawn.
   Shahjalal University of Science and Technology has remained closed since May 15 after a clash between students and the police, which left one student dead. Subsequently, the vice-chancellor, Muslehuddin Ahmad, submitted his resignation letter but the government did not accept it.
   Opposition student organisations and teachers have already expressed no confidence in him, with the Bangladesh Chhatra League announcing that it will go for a non-stop strike if the university reopens retaining Muslehuddin as the vice-chancellor. In a latest move to contain the students’ resentment, the authorities on Wednesday imposed a ban on student politics at the university for six months. The university syndicate decided to reopen the university on August 7.
   Meanwhile, Islamic University remains without a vice-chancellor after the immediate-past vice-chancellor resigned in the face of widespread controversy over the recruitment of unauthorised employees. Opposition student bodies and teachers are demanding cancellation of the appointments.
   Rajshahi University has been suffering from a credibility crisis.
   The Rajshahi University unit president of Islami Chhatra Shibir, Mahbub Alam Salehi, who is accused in the Professor Taher killing case, was allowed to sit for the examinations despite having less-than-required attendance record.
   The decision stirred resentment across the university, which already has an image crisis over recruitment of ‘less qualified’ teachers and employees and also allegation of harassing female students against several teachers.
   Feuds have gripped most university units of Chhatra Dal and taken an acute shape at Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka University and Chittagong University.
   Years after, trade of gunshots recurred in intra-party feuds of Chhatra Dal on Tuesday night. At least 15 students and teachers were injured in Tuesday's gunfight between two groups of Chhatra Dal patronised by the university unit president and general secretary.
   All of the injured students and the teachers returned to the campus as they were declared out of danger. The university has formed a six-member inquiry committee headed by a pro-vice-chancellor, Enamul Huq, to investigate the incident.
   Several students at Jasimuddin Hall, Hajji Mohsin Hall and Sir AF Rahman Hall of Dhaka University have been injured in factional clashes. Clashes also took place among activists of the Chittagong University unit on Tuesday.
   Attempts by Islami Chhatra Shibir to run covert activities at Dhaka University have also led to attacks on activists of the party, which is disliked by general students for its ultra rightist stance and role of its parent organisation during the war of independents.
   The Chhatra Dal president, Azizul Bari, denied the existence of any factional feud within his organisation.
   ‘There have been some stray incidents of violence and local leaders settled those,’ he said. ‘Some minor incidents can occur within large organisations like Chhatra Dal.’
   Apart from factional feuds, there have been clashes between rival organisations at the universities. In most cases, clashes erupted when the ruling party’s student wings attacked their rivals.
   Student agitation is also simmering at Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology over some irregularities.

The government has finally given a fund of Tk 25 crore to the Election Commission instead of the proposed fund of Tk 40.86 crore to finance the ongoing enrolment process of voters for the next general elections.
   The Prime Minister’s Office endorsed the release of funds by the finance ministry on Wednesday, slashing down the amount that the EC had demanded last week for meeting the cost of updating the voters’ list, informed sources told New Age.
   Officials of the finance ministry said that Tk 25 crore has been given from the government’s contingency fund of Tk 800 crore, rubber-stamped by the parliament in the current (2006-07) national budget.
   But the finance ministry also imposed a condition that the EC would have to submit the accounts of the amounts to be spent for preparing the voters’ roll, said sources in the EC.
   Terming the allocated amount insufficient for meeting the costs of updating the voters’ list, officials of the EC said another proposal would be sent to the finance ministry soon, seeking more funds for the purpose.
   ‘The fund released by the finance ministry is not sufficient to complete the enrolment process so we will send another proposal to get more funds,’ the secretary to the EC secretariat, Abdur Rashid Sarker, told New Age on Wednesday evening.
   The finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, said the authority of allocating the fund belonged to the prime minister and he had released the money on her order.
   The finance minister had earlier declined to provide any funds, saying that his ministry was not in a position to give the money to an ‘incompetent’ organisation, and he wanted to know how every taka was spent by the EC in its previous move to prepare a fresh voters’ roll.
   His refusal to provide the EC with the necessary money had made the completion of the work of updating the voters’ roll uncertain, since those involved in the process had shown reluctance to do the work because they were not sure of getting due remuneration.
   High-ups in the government, including some senior ministers, had reportedly expressed their displeasure at the finance minister’s refusal to disburse funds and his remarks about the EC’s inefficiency. At one point the secretary to the EC secretariat had pointed out that the EC did everything in consultation with the law ministry.
   However Saifur, while talking to journalists at the planning ministry, justified his releasing the money, in spite of his former attitude, by saying that it had been done in line with the Supreme Court’s verdict.
   The court had ordered the updating of the voters’ list,
   nullifying the process of preparing a fresh voters’ list for which the EC had spent over Tk 44 crore.

The Election Commission has ordered the assistant registration officers and assistant officers to work carefully and sincerely to update the voters’ list, warning them it would not hesitate to take strict action if any irregularity and inconsistency takes place in the enrolment process.
   ‘We have asked the AROs and AOs to work sincerely and responsibly to update the list,’ the secretary to the EC secretariat, Abdur Rashid Sarkar, told journalists on Wednesday after allegations of irregularities in the enrolment work in the capital were made by observers and an ex-MP of the Awami League.
   Replying to queries by the journalists, the secretary said that a former lawmaker, Haji Selim, had said on Tuesday that there had been gross irregularities in voters’ enrolment in the old city. The EC has already directed the deputy election commissioner, Dhaka, to probe into the matter.
   It was alleged that BNP thugs had forced the Awami League leaders and activists to leave the locality and told the assistant officers and assistant registration officers to not include their names in the list.
   It was also alleged that the local commissioner of ward number 58, Monju, compelled the AROs to not delete the names of 12,000 fake voters.
   ‘We will investigate the matter and if the allegations are proved to be true, legal action will be taken against the persons responsible,’ said the EC secretary.
   Irregularities were also alleged in the enrolment work in Kamrangirchar, Hazaribag and Lalbagh areas where
   the BNP lawmaker told the election officers to not visit the residence of any voters more than once.
   ‘The election officer, Masum Ahmed, instructed us to visit the houses only once, whether or not the residents were present in the house,’ an AO told journalists, adding that the election officer gave the order in response to pressure by a BNP lawmaker.
   A school-teacher engaged in enrolment work in the Azimpur area was found using
   his students in the updating work as the EC had not released him from duty despite his illness.
   ‘As I was forced to continue the work in spite of my illness, I had to finish it at any cost, so I used my students,’ said the teacher, Ahmedur Rahman.
   The AROs and AOs are yet to visit a huge number of residences in the old city, said the people of Azimpur area.
   The EC’s secretary, however, said that these allegations were yet to reach to him, but he would still probe into the allegations.
   Rashid also said that he had met the education secretary on Tuesday, and the latter had informed him that the ministry had already an issued order to give leave to the teachers who are engaged in updating the voters’ roll.
   The EC’s secretary also told journalists that about 65.13 lakh new voters were included and around 5.01 lakh names were deleted from the existing list across the country till Wednesday, the 12th day of enrolment.
   The 20-day campaign to update the electoral roll, which was prepared in 2000, by door-to-door visits
   began on July 21 and 1,35,487 assistant officers are conducting door-to-door visits to do the work.

Foreign ministers of eight SAARC countries ended a two-day meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday, unanimous in their decision that the disagreement between India and Pakistan over the South Asian Free Trade area agreement should be resolved at the next meeting of SAARC commerce ministers.
   The Bangladesh foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, who presided over the meeting, said the council of ministers had reviewed various matters related to economic cooperation and referred the India-Pakistan dispute over liberalised trade to the commerce ministers.
   ‘The council unanimously agreed that the regular meeting of the SAFTA ministerial council [of SAARC commerce ministers] should resolve the dispute,’ he said.
   India and Pakistan, two nuclear capable neighbours and influential members of the regional bloc, have waged a war of words over implementation of the SAFTA agreement since Pakistan served a notification on July 1, the day the agreement come into effect, limiting tariff concession for India to only one items on the existing bilateral positive list.
   India also raised the issue at the meetings of the SARRC standing committee, which comprises foreign secretaries of the member countries.
   The bitter neighbours have also accused each other of violating the agreement, either in letter or in spirit.
   The Indian state minister for external affairs, E Ahmed, confirmed that the dispute had been referred to the meeting of the commerce ministers, which hesaid would take place anytime before the next council of ministers.
   He iterated India’s claim that Pakistan had violated the agreement. ‘When you enter into a contract, there is an obligation. But Pakistan continues towards a negation of the contract.’
   He dismissed Pakistan’s claim that it extended tariff concessions to 90 per cent of the goods importable from India, resulting in 300-400 per cent increase of Indian exports to Pakistan.
   The Pakistani foreign minister, Khurshid M Kasuri, said Pakistan had responded to the Indian claim and found a solution, which was why the matter had been referred to the meeting of SAARC commerce ministers.
   Although Pakistan wants to improve bilateral trade, India has always imposed restrictions, he claimed. ‘We could penetrate the world market, but not India.’
   Earlier, India accused Pakistan of violating the SAFTA rule and jeopardising the implementation of the agreement in the entire region.
   Pakistan, on the other hand, accused India of violating the SAARC sprit by raising the matter at the wrong forum.
   At an official press conference, Morshed Khan said the meeting had reviewed the progress in implementation of the decisions of the 13th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and five ministerial meetings related to health, SAFTA, home affairs, tourism and environment.
   The council approved the observer status of the United States, the European Union and South Korea.
   It also adopted three concept papers tabled by India on the establishment of a South Asian university, a SAARC museum for crafts and textiles and a telemedicine project. The matters were referred to the next meeting of the standing committee.
   After a review of the SAARC vision document, the council suggested finalisation of the document at the next foreign secretaries’ meet so that it could be adopted at the 14th summit, to be held in New Delhi on April 3-4, 2007, Morshed Khan said.
   The council also approved a $1.9-million budget for the SAARC secretariat.
   For poverty alleviation, the meeting approved the third regional poverty profile 2005. It also considered measures for removal of tariff and para-tariff, harmonisation of standards, testing quality and measurement across the region.

Twenty-five suspected members of the banned Islamic outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, including a madrassah principal, were arrested along with a cache of bomb-making materials by the RAB from the madrassah in Bhaluka upazila on Wednesday.
   Maulana Abdur Rauf, 45, principal of the Jibontala Madrassah, was identified as a JMB organiser.
   He is also accused of supplying bombs for 27 districts on August 17 when the militants perpetrated serial bombings across the country.
   The other suspects held are the principal’s wife, Sadeka Khatun, Nuray Alam Siddique, Kamruzzaman Kamal, Mahmudul Hasan Sumon, Safayat Hossain, Saiful Islam, Shahab Uddin, Maksudur Rahman, Ibrahim Khalil, Anwar Hossain, Afzal Hossain, Abul Hasan Omar Farroque, Ershad Hossain, Asaduzzaman, Ibrahim (Bhola), Mohib Ullah, Masudur Rahman, Anwar Hossain (Chandpur), Abdul Qaiyum, Muklesur Rahman, Iyasin, Jamal Uddin, Mir Hossain and Mahmud Hasan.
   The bomb-making materials include electric wire, batteries, iron-balls of fishing-net, circuits, and chemical powders. Some bamboo-sticks were also seized from the spot.
   RAB sources said, acting on an intelligence report, RAB-9 personnel came to know that JMB members led by the principal, who had gone into hiding during the recent crackdown, were regrouping in a bid to go for blasting bombs.
   On the basis of this tip-off, members of the RAB-9 battalion, in plainclothes, had been lying in wait in the area for last three days.
   ‘Two teams of the RAB, led by Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Nurul Momen, surrounded the madrassah at about 3:00pm when the JMB members were taking militancy training,’ said a spokesman for the elite force.
   ‘Sensing RAB presence, the militants were trying to attack them, but failed, and surrendered as the RAB men pointed guns at them,’ he said in a spot account of the operation.
   Later, they recovered the bomb-making materials and bamboo-sticks from the rooms of the madrassah, surrounded by jungles.
   The JMB men were taken to RAB office for interrogation.
   Another source said Abdur Rauf had supplied 76-kg bomb planted at the public meeting venue of the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina at Kotalipara in Gopalganj. The bomb was, however, recovered.

The hearing of the death reference of seven top militants, who were awarded death sentence for killing two judges in a bomb attack in the southern town of Jhalakathi, continued for the second day on Wednesday.
   The hearing will resume before the High Court bench of Justice Ali Asgar Khan and Justice Emdadul Huq at 2pm today instead of morning.
   A state defence counsel, Khalilur Rahman Bhuiyan, pleaded on the day for adjournment of the hearing for some personal problems. Upon his prayer, the court ordered that the hearing would resume at 2pm today.
   On the second day of hearing, deputy attorney general, Helaluddin Mollah, read out the judgement of the Jhalakathi court, the first information report of the case, the charge sheet and the depositions and cross-examinations of the 23 witnesses from the paper book, a compilation of all documents in the case. The state attorney will have to read out the depositions and cross-examinations of the rest 21 witnesses in the case.
   A Jhalakathi court delivered the judgement on May 29, handing down death penalty to the chief of Jamaatul Mujaheedin Bangladesh, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, its second-in-command, Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, Ataur Rahman Sunny, Abdul Awal, Faruque Hossain Khan, Iftekhar Hasan alias Al Mamun and Asadul Islam for killing two judges in a bomb attack in the district town on November 14, 2005.
   The court acquitted another accused, Sultan Khan, from the charges. All of the convicts, except Asadul, who is absconding, are in prisons. None of the condemned prisoners has preferred an appeal against the verdict.
   However one of them, Al Mamun, preferred a jail-appeal, an appeal filed by the jail authorities with the consent of the prisoner, although he had confessed to his involvement in the killing.
   Additional attorney general, Abdur Razzaque Khan, with deputy attorney general Helaluddin Mollah, appeared for the state. State defence counsels (lawyers appointed by the state) Salehuddin, Abu Hanif and Khalilur Rahman Bhuiyan appeared for the condemned militants, as they had appointed no lawyers to defend them.

Israel pressed the first full day of a massive new ground attack, sending 8,000 troops into southern Lebanon on Wednesday and seizing five people it said were Hezbollah fighters in a dramatic airborne raid on a north-eastern town of Baalbek, reports AP.
   Air strikes in support of the helicopter raid on the ancient city of Baalbek killed 19 people, including four children, reports Reuters.
   Hezbollah fired at least 190 rockets into Israel Wednesday, police said, reports AFP.
   Israeli ground forces maintained their presence in four different sections of Lebanese territory in the border region amid expectations of a major military push to eradicate Hezbollah fighters in the border area.
   ‘Heavy exchanges of fire have continued with renewed intensity throughout the UNIFIL area of operation in the past 24 hours,’ said a statement from the United Nations Interim Force in southern Lebanon.
   Israeli commandos flew in by helicopter before dawn into Baalbek, on the border with Syria, capturing five Hezbollah guerrillas and killing at least 10, said Israel’s army chief, lieutenant general Dan Halutz.
   Witnesses said Israeli forces partially destroyed the Dar al-Hikma hospital, where chief Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal said fierce fighting raged for more than one hour.
   Israel has not yet released the identity of those captured. When asked by The Associated Press whether any were ‘big fish,’ Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said: ‘They are tasty fishes.’
   Hezbollah fought the commandos with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, while Israeli jets fired missiles at the surrounding guerrilla force.
   One of a series of air raids struck the village of Al Jamaliyeh near the hospital. A missile hit the house of the village’s mayor, Hussein Jamaleddin, instantly killing his son, brother, and five other relatives.
   A family of seven — a mother, father and their five children — were killed in another air raid on an area near Al Jamaliyeh, witnesses said. A van driver was killed when another missile struck nearby.
   At least 190 rockets slammed into Israel Wednesday, the biggest single-day barrage from Lebanon since the Jewish state launched its offensive against Hezbollah three weeks ago.
   At least one Israeli was killed and 19 wounded, two of them seriously, in the unprecedented barrage.
   Hezbollah said it had hit the Israeli town of Beit Shean, almost 70 km from the border, with ‘Khaibar 1’ rockets to avenge Israeli attacks on civilians in Lebanon.
   The Beit Shean strike marked the first time that a Hezbollah rocket had hit close to what is considered Israel’s central region, the nation’s most populated area.
   Hezbollah said its guerrillas had attacked an Israeli army armoured unit that crossed into Lebanon Wednesday morning, destroying two tanks and leaving their crews dead or wounded. The Israeli military denied these claims.
   Meanwhile, The Israeli deputy prime minister, Shimon Peres, Tuesday said that Israel might need ‘weeks’ more of fighting to deal with Hezbollah.
   Peres’ comments seemed to be at odds with those of the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who expressed the hope Tuesday that intense diplomatic efforts might produce a ceasefire in ‘days, not weeks.’
   At least 828 Lebanese, mostly civilians, have been killed and more than 3,200 wounded since the Israeli offensive began against Lebanon twenty-two days ago.

The price of cooking oil rose 20 per cent at the wholesale level over the month of July due to ‘short supply’, market sources said.
   Capitalising on the uptrend in crude soya bean and palm oil prices on the international market, local refiners pushed up prices of their existing stocks procured before the latest price increases, they alleged.
   Wholesale price of per maund (37.3 kilogram), ‘super palm’ was Tk 1,800 on Wednesday at Maulvibazar, posting an increase by Tk 100 in a week and by Tk 300 over a month.
   Price of soya bean was Tk 1,880, going up by Tk 260 in a month.
   Refined ‘super palm’, which retailers pass off as soya bean oil to consumers, meets more than two thirds of the local demand for cooking oil.
   The monthly consumption of edible oil in Bangladesh is estimated at 90,000-95,000 tonnes, including 10,000 tonnes of mustard oil, 25,000 tonnes of soya bean and the rest palm oil.
   ‘Supply shortage artificially created by refiners pushed up prices,’ said Haji Mohammed Ali, a wholesaler at Maulvibazar.
   Following an upward trend in crude soya bean and palm oil prices, refiners started pushing up prices of their stocks a month back, Ali said adding ‘they also reduced supply from their existing stocks to make a windfall profit.’
   Wholesalers also alleged that local millers had raised prices of cooking oil instantly although an increase in crude prices on the international market should have its impact on refined oil on the local market at least after two months.
   Fakhrul Alam, country manger of the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council, said palm oil price rose to $515
   per tonne on Monday, up by around $90 over a month. ‘The prices increased abnormally,’ he said.
   He told New Age that the stock of palm oil was 67,500 tonnes on July 1 and that of soya bean oil was 67,000 tonnes.
   Some 77,000 tonnes of crude palm oil reached Chittagong port in July and more 70,000 tonnes are expected to arrive in August, he said.

The government will soon take action against five cooperative companies, which have been involved in unlawful banking operations for long, official sources said.
   The finance ministry has decided to inform the home ministry soon of the unlawful banking operations by the companies and take stern action against such activities, aiming to protect the interest of innocent depositors, the sources said.
   The decision has been taken in line with suggestions from the Bangladesh Bank.
   The companies are People’s Cooperative Bank Limited, Pioneer Credit Cooperative Society Limited, East-Asia Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Limited, Napa Islamic Cooperative Society Limited and Social Savings and Cooperative Limited.
   The companies, registered under the cooperative act, have long been collecting deposits from the people who are not their members and running commercial banking operations in defiance of the existing banking regulations.
   According to the Banking Companies Act, only banking companies, which are given license by the central bank, are only allowed to carry out banking operations.
   ‘The Bangladesh Bank could not take action against the companies as it has been barred by the High court from taking any action against banking activities of the cooperative companies,’ a high official in the finance ministry told New Age.
   ‘We have identified the companies on the basis of irregularities, unearthed by the central bank, at different times and allegations from different sources,’ he said. ‘The name of five cooperative companies will be sent to the home ministry early next week.’

The ruling BNP has decided to hold a meeting of its national executive committee on August 26 after a ten-year break, although its constitution requires the committee to meet once every three months.
   ‘The party chairperson [prime minister Khaleda Zia] has given consent to hold a meeting of the national executive committee,’ a key member of the committee told New Age on Wednesday. ‘The meeting is expected to take place on August 26.’
   The meeting is expected to discuss and adopt a resolution about expanding the ruling alliance by inducting the Jatiya Party faction led by HM Ershad, he said.
   It will also issue guidelines for grassroots leaders about their activities in view of the upcoming general elections, he added.
   Many members of the committee do not remember when it had its last meeting, which was in 1996.
   The high command cancelled a decision to hold a meeting of the committee in 1999, fearing adverse criticism from grassroots leaders against the stalwarts, a source said.
   Besides the chairperson, vice-chairmen, secretary general, joint secretaries general, treasurer, organising secretaries, and secretaries and assistant secretaries, presidents of district and municipality units are also members of the committee.
   The party has, meanwhile, been in a dilemma over holding its national council sessions soon.
   The last time it had a council session was on September 1-2, 1993 in Dhaka, although its constitution requires the session to be held once every two years to elect the chairperson, amend the constitution, review the secretary general’s report and take steps to implement the policies and programmes of the party.
   Grassroots leaders are invited to the session to voice their opinions and suggestions.
   Khaleda Zia was elected the BNP chairperson in 1998. There has not been any election ever since although the constitution says it should be held during the national council.
   According to the constitution, the chairperson shall remove and appoint two-thirds of the national executive committee and the national standing committee. The national council shall nominate the rest.
   The national council consists of members of the national standing committee, national executive committee, MPs, presidents and general secretaries of district, municipal/town and upazila committees and some selected members.
   The national standing committee hardly meets although, according to the constitution, it is required to meet once every month.
   ‘Grassroots leaders have been regularly consulted, on important issues, as the party held a number of divisional conferences and representative meetings covering district, upazila and union units across the country in the last four and a half years,’ the BNP secretary general, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, told New Age.
   He refused to comment when asked about frequent violations of its constitution.

The White House said Tuesday that an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon was not on the agenda, but downplayed differences with France on the urgency of ending the fighting.
   ‘An immediate ceasefire is something that at this point doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Neither side is headed that way,’ said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
   This and other issues related to bringing about an end to hostilities along the Israeli-Lebanese border are dividing members of the UN Security Council.
   The United States has so far called for a ‘sustainable’ ceasefire, while France has submitted a draft resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities.
   Meanwhile, the European Union does not intend to place Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organisations for the time being, Finnish foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja said Tuesday.
   ‘Given the sensitive situation where we are, I don’t think this is something we will be acting on now,’ said Tuomioja, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
   ‘But it can be later on when we see ... the outcome of the political agreement, which everybody in Lebanon should be a party to,’ he said in response to a reporter’s question.
   In another diplomatic development, France has refused to participate in a meeting of nations that could send troops to help monitor a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, even though it may join — and possibly even lead — such a force.
   The French refusal to take part in the meeting, set to take place at the UN on Thursday, reflects a wide divergence in views between Washington and Paris about how to impose a lasting peace after three weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah.
   France doesn’t even want to talk about sending peacekeepers until fighting halts and the UN Security Council agrees to a wider framework for lasting peace.
   The US, which had sought the troop-contributor meeting in the first place, wants an end to the fighting to come only as part of a larger series of simultaneous moves that would include the peacekeepers.
   France’s decision seemed to contradict Bush administration claims Tuesday that diplomats were making progress toward establishing an international peacekeeping force for Lebanon.
   The United Nations’ deputy secretary-general told the Financial Times newspaper Wednesday that the United States and Britain should not lead diplomatic efforts over the crisis in Lebanon.
   Mark Malloch Brown told the newspaper that the two countries, as ‘the team that led on Iraq’, were poorly placed to lead efforts to end the conflict.
   He said Britain should take a back seat in dealing with the conflict, while the United States should allow other countries to share the lead in the ongoing diplomatic efforts.
   ‘It’s not helpful for it again to appear to be the team that led on Iraq,’ Malloch Brown said, adding that he would
   like to see France, Egypt and Jordan playing a bigger role in ongoing efforts to broker a ceasefire.

Shahadat Hossain took Bangladesh’s first one-day international hat-trick but could not prevent a two-wicket defeat to Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
   Needing five runs to win off the final ball, Zimbabwe’s Brendan Taylor smashed a full toss from fast bowler Mashrafee bin Mortaza over the mid-wicket boundary for six to usher the home side to a dramatic victory.
   Bangladesh, who lost the toss and were put into bat, were dismissed for 236 in 49 overs. Zimbabwe replied with 238 for eight to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
   Taylor watched Shahadat’s hat-trick in the 39th over unfold from the non-striker’s end as Zimbabwe crashed from 151-4 to 151-7, but he stood firm for an unbeaten 79 off 72 balls with six fours and three sixes.
   Tafadzwa Mufambisi edged the third ball of the over to wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud for eight.
   Shahadat’s next ball was full and straight, and it trapped Elton Chigumbura plumb in front. Prosper Utseya then edged a wide delivery into Mashud’s gloves.
   The only other international hat-trick by a Bangladeshi was taken by leg-spinner Alok Kapali in the second Test against Pakistan in Peshawar in August 2003.
   Tawanda Mupariwa scored a bright 33 to help Taylor rebuild the innings in an eighth-wicket stand of 81 that was ended with the penultimate ball of the match when Mupariwa fell and was run out by Mohammad Rafique.
   For Bangladesh, Rajin Saleh scored a cautious 54, while an aggressive Aftab Ahmed needed just 39 balls to smash his 53, which included seven fours and two sixes.
   Rajin and Aftab added 70 runs for the third wicket, and Mohammad Ashraful scored a brisk 46 in sharing a stand of 91 for the fourth wicket with Saleh.

Panic spread in the courtroom of the second additional metropolitan sessions judge of Dhaka on Wednesday when five live bombs were produced as exhibits during the hearing of a case against five members of the banned Islamist organisation Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh.
   Captain Tareq Rahman Khan of the Rapid Action Battalion, who went to the court for deposition, had the shock of his life
   when he saw the public prosecutor, Shahidul Islam, uncovering the explosives for the judge, Rabiul Hasan. He cautioned the prosecutor that the bombs could go off any moment and cause carnage in the crowded courtroom.
   Tareq Rahman, an explosives expert, said the battalion had asked the Uttara police to defuse the bombs after they were seized from the possession of the five militants in December 2005. The police said they had not received any such communications and kept it with them to be produced as an exhibit.
   Later, the police took away the bombs with utmost caution.

Turnover and stock prices on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges went up on Wednesday on the buying spree of large investors that began towards the end of July.
   Analysts said the investors, mainly large investors, might have chosen to buy shares at the time as tension in political arena eased recently with the main political parties beginning election-oriented programmes.
   The prices of shares, even of the companies with good fundamentals, hit the bottom line and the good half-yearly business performance of most companies attracted the investors, they said.
   Liquidity situation on the stock market also improved in recent times as the inter-bank call money rate eased, they said.
   Turnover on the Dhaka Stock Exchange on Wednesday touched its highest in more than 16 months with Tk 45.15 crore, the highest after April 19, 2005.
   The DSE General Index gained 30.17 points or 2.11 per cent to close at 1456.82 on Wednesday.
   The DSE20 index, comprising blue chips, went up by 29.70 points or 2.12 per cent to close at 1428.93.
   On the Chittagong Stock Exchange, the turnover totalled Tk 16.93 crore on Wednesday, up from Tk 14.08 crore on Tuesday.
   The CSE Selective Categories Index gained 44.64 points or 2.09 per cent to close at 2180.53.
   The CSE30, comprising blue chips, went up by 58.90 points or 2.00 per cent to close at 3002.48.
   After a prolonged bearish trend from second half of 2005, the stock market bounced back towards the end of July.
   Two hundred and four issues were traded on the Dhaka Stock exchange on Wednesday. One hundred and sixty-five issues advanced, 28 declined and 11 remained unchanged.
   On the Chittagong Stock Exchange, 97 issues were traded on the day. Eighty-six issues advanced, 8 declined and 3 remained unchanged.

A warm reception was accorded to the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, when she flew in here on Wednesday to attend an emergency meeting of the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Conference on the red-hot Lebanon situation.
   At the OIC emergency meeting, beginning in the Malaysian capital this morning, Bangladesh might call for immediate and unconditional ceasefire with a ‘total cessation of violence in Lebanon’, according to a concerned official.
   Bangladesh also might make a strong plea for ‘urgent deployment of an international force’ under the auspices of the United Nations for stabilising the Israeli-Lebanon border.
   A guard of honour was given to the prime minister at the VVIP tarmac of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on her arrival, leading an official delegation.
   She was later taken to the presentation line of Malaysian dignitaries and Bangladesh officials in Malaysia.
   A special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines that carried the prime minister and her entourage landed at the airport at 10:10pm Malaysian local time.
   Airport formalities over, Khaleda drove in a ceremonial motorcade to Hotel Nikko Kuala Lumpur where she would stay during her visit.
   The OIC working session will begin at 10:00pm local time Thursday at Hotel Marriot Putrajaya in Putrajaya, the administrative city of the newly developed ASEAN country, and Khaleda is expected to address the meet in the first half.
   A total of 18 member-countries have been invited to the emergency meeting, said the Bangladesh foreign minister, M Morshed Khan.
   On the sidelines of the conference, the prime minister may have bilateral meetings with the Malaysian and the Pakistani prime ministers. The OIC secretary general might make a courtesy call on her.
   Earlier in the day, the prime minister left Dhaka at 4:38pm by a special Biman flight.
   The foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, among others, is accompanying the prime minister. She is scheduled to return home Thursday midnight.

The 14th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation will take place in New Delhi on April 3-4 2007.
   The foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, said the council of ministers has endorsed the Indian proposal for holding the next summit in New Delhi on April 3-4.
   The Indian delegation also said that they would host the next council of ministers prior to the summit meeting.
   The 13th summit took place in Dhaka on November 13, the 12th summit in Islamabad, on January 6, 2004, the 11th summit in Kathmandu on January 6, 2002, the 10th summit in Colombo on July 31, 1998, the ninth summit in Male, Maldives, on May 14, 1997, the eighth summit in New Delhi on May 4, 1995, and the seventh summit in Dhaka on April 11, 1993.
   SAARC was mooted in Dhaka and its first summit took place here on December 8,
   1985. India hosted the second summit in Bangalore on November 17, 1986 and the third summit was hosted by Nepal on November 4, 1987 in Kathmandu.
   The forth, fifth and sixth summit took place in Islamabad on December 31, 1988, Male on November 23, 1990 and Colombo on December 21, 1991.

The visiting US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, Richard Boucher on Wednesday faced a volley of questions from the Imams (religious leaders) on US role in turmoil-torn different parts of the world.
   Boucher arrived in Dhaka Wednesday noon on a two-day tour of Bangladesh and following his arrival he visited the haji camp at Uttara in the capital city to meet the imams, who are undergoing training at the National Imam Training Academy.
   The US Agency for International Development and The Asia Foundation under the Leaders Outreach Initiative programme are cooperating with the Imam Training Academy to enhance the role of imams in national development efforts.
   ‘We asked him that what his country was doing as trouble was taking place at many places in the world,’ Moulana FM Nazmus Saud, an imam from Khulna, told the news agency following their hour-long meeting with Boucher.
   Saud, who along with 11 other imams, are attending the training, said they faced questions from the people on many occasions regarding US role in the Middle East.
   ‘I told him that we want peace and we do not want anyone to suffer. But peace in some places has disappeared. In reply, the US assistant secretary told us that his country was working for peace, but sometimes play an aggressive role in fight against terrorism for establishing peace,’ Saud said.
   Emerging from the meeting, Boucher, said he came to learn how they were getting training. ‘It is a fascinating programme. And we discussed how the US could help Bangladesh. I will talk to people here to learn more about the country,’ Boucher said.
   Saud said the US assistant secretary appreciated the role of imams in making people wary of militancy and terrorism.
   The imams also asked questions regarding the next general elections. Boucher told them that his country wanted a free and fair election in Bangladesh and liked to help strengthen democracy here.
   The US ambassador in Dhaka, Patricia A Butenis, the USAID mission director, Gene V George, the director of the Imam Training Academy, M Abul Khayer, the director general of the Bangladesh Islamic Foundation, Fazlur Rahman, were present at the meeting.
   ‘The imams did not ask any question about what is going on in Iraq, Lebanon or Palestine. But, they put forward questions to Boucher obliquely regarding crises at different places of the world,’ Kazi Abu Horaira, the secretary general of the Jatiya Imam Samity, told journalists.
   As part of the programme, at least 4,800 imams would complete three-day orientation sessions at the Imam Training Academy in Dhaka, Barisal, Chittagong, Dinajpur, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Sylhet.

Lack of a spectrum monitoring device has made the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission ineffective in checking spillover signals from Indian mobile phone operators to Bangladesh territory raising fears of increased cross-border crimes.
   Sources in the regulatory commission said that though it had reports that signals from Indian mobile operators were widely available in bordering areas, the commission never lodged any complaints with the Indian authorities about the matter due to lack of concrete evidence.
   ‘Many Indian smugglers and anti-social elements cross into Bangladesh and use their mobile network to communicate with their accomplices staying back,’ said a top commission official on Wednesday.
   ‘We cannot lodge complaints with the Indian authorities and ask them to dismantle the base transceiver stations (BTS) of Indian operators along the borders due to lack of a spectrum monitoring device to detect unauthorised signals,’ said a top commission official.
   The Indian authorities recently asked the Bangladesh government to remove all cell phone towers erected by Bangladeshi operators along the borders alleging that those were helping subversive activities in India’s north-eastern states.
   The BTS is a land-based station in a mobile wireless network which includes an antenna and radio equipment necessary to provide wireless service over an area.
   ‘We have reports that mobile phone signals from Hutchison, Airtel, Bharati and some other operators were very much available in the bordering areas, but we cannot lodge protests as we do not have concrete evidence,’ said the official.
   The official, however, said the commission was in the process of procuring a spectrum management and monitoring system and some mobile vans to check unauthorised use of signals.
   ‘The commission has floated tender to procure the device and we hope to gather proofs of spillover signals once the system is in place, said the official.
   Earlier in March, following pressure from intelligence agencies as well as from Indian authorities, the regulatory commission issued a directive to mobile phone operators to relocate their BTS eight kilometres away from the borders to check trans-border smuggling and other crimes.
   It also asked mobile operators to set up antenna of the BTS at an angle and to use appropriate technology to ensure that no signal from the BTS crossed international frontier.
   The BTRC sources, however, said despite the directive most of the operators did not relocate their base stations away from border areas due to strong protest from local people as they faced difficulty in finding network because of relocation of BTS towers.
   The BTRC later took a lenient approach towards relocation of cell phone towers considering the grievances of local people.

The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the opposition Awami League in Chittagong have been in a confrontation centring the construction of a concrete bridge on the river of Karnaphuli.
   The Chittagong mayor, Awami League city unit president ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, is spearheading a movement against the construction of the bridge.
   The minister for fisheries and livestock, Abdullah Al Noman, stood against the movement.
   Noman and Moiuddin have been campaigning with rallies and briefings in for and against the bridge construction. When Mohiuddin vows to stop the construction, Noman vows to resist the move.
   Mohiuddin said a concrete bridge would be catastrophic for the port. He said Shah Amanat Bridge had already reduced the navigability of the port channel and another concrete bridge would just ruin the port.
   He said the BUET team and the parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry, had suggested construction of a hanging bridge.‘The government is conspiring to construct the concrete bridge just for commission from a foreign agency,’ he said.
   Experts said a hanging bridge would cost four to five times higher the cost required for a concrete bridge, but the mayor said fund was no problem, as some countries expressed their eagerness to provide loans for the hanging bridge.
   He said if the government fails to mobilise the fund, he was ready to shoulder the responsibility.
   ‘The experts termed the climate of Chittagong unfriendly for a hanging bridge,’ Noman said. He vowed to resist, with the help of the Chittagong people, any conspiracies to foil the construction of the third bridge on the river.
   He said a change in the bridge pattern would warrant fresh drawing, bidding and other procedures, which would take at least three more years to be completed.
   As for the mayor’s willingness to mobilise funds for a hanging bridge, Noman said if the mayor was able to do so, why he could not dredge the Chaktai Canal.
   Noman said the third bridge on the river would be constructed in an extra-dose, cable stayd pattern, which would not pose any threat to the port. The project to construct a 919.48m long and 12.4m wide bridge on the river was taken up in 2001, and the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, laid the foundation stone on April 19, 2004.
   The Roads and Highways Department said the Kuwait Fund was giving Tk 372 crore for the Tk 590 crore projects and the government will give the remaining amount. The work is scheduled to begin on August 8.

Tiger rebels attacked three army camps and a town in Sri Lanka Wednesday, sparking fierce fighting which killed at least 47 by official count and opened new fronts in a week-long battle over water, reports AFP.
   Muttur is a predominantly Muslim town and thousands have taken shelter in mosques and school buildings, local people said, reports BBC.
   The deaths—which now total 118 since Monday—have made a mockery of a truce in place since February 2002, although both the government and the Tigers have said they are still committed to it.
   Top Norwegian peacebroker Erik Solheim urged Sri Lanka and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to end the fighting, which began on Wednesday last week after the military moved to open an irrigation canal blocked by the Tigers.
   Sri Lanka’s president Mahinda Rajapakse telephoned the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday night to brief him on the fighting in the Trincomalee district where India has commercial interests, a spokesman for the president said, without giving details of the discussions.
   The Tigers slammed the government for launching a military offensive on what they called the pretext of a dispute over water.
   The pre-dawn Tiger artillery barrages Wednesday targeted three army camps and the town of Muttur, a mainly Muslim fishing town which is supplied by water from the Maavilaru irrigation system 10 kilometres away.
   The Tigers also fired mortar bombs early Wednesday at troops near the sluice gates, wounding eight people including six civilians.
   Local officials said troops had not managed to reopen the sluice gates as the area is heavily mined.
   In the clashes at Muttur the military lost two soldiers and three sailors killed and 30 security personnel wounded, the defence ministry said.
   Two civilians, including a hospital worker, were killed when a Tiger shell hit the Muttur hospital.
   ‘During the whole incident, troops attacked the terrorists in retaliation causing them heavy casualties, killing over 40 Tiger cadres and wounding 70 other terrorists,’ the ministry said in a statement.

At least 30 persons, including lawmaker Ali Asgar Lobby, were injured in a clash between the police and supporters of a
   local faction of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party in Thanar Mor area of the city on Wednesday.
   The clash followed separate rallies organised by the two rival factions of the local BNP at a distance of just 200 metres amid tight security.
   The injured persons included Khulna city BNP convener, Ali Asgar Lobby MP, its member-secretary, Shaharuzzaman Mortuza, and 11 policemen.
   Earlier, the two factions—one led by Khulna City Corporation mayor, Sheikh Tayebur Rahman and Ali Asgar Lobby MP, and the other by former president of the city BNP, M Nurul Islam and general secretary, Nazrul Islam Monju—declared to hold
   rallies at Shaheed Maharaj Square at the same time prompting the police to impose a
   ban on gatherings or processions in the area till 8:00 pm Wednesday. The police kept the square cordoned off from early morning.
   The Tayebur-Lobby faction organised their rally in Thanar Mor area and Nurul-Monju group held their gathering in Dakbanglar Mor area, just 200 metres away.
   The police were deployed at KD Ghosh Road, PC Roy Road, Maharaj Square, Lower Jessore Road, Cley Road, a part of
   Khan A Sabur Road  and the Lower Jessore Road area to
   keep the situation under control.
   Movement of traffic was suspended in the areas from 4:00 pm causing gridlocks at different places of the city.
   As Tayebur-Lobby faction started its rally at around 5:00 pm, a group of party activists tried to enter into Shaheed Maharaj Square, adjacent to Thanar Mor, while the police tried to keep them at bay. The unruly activists then started hurling stones at the police provoking lawmen into action, witnesses said.
   The police swooped on the activists and the entire area turned into a battlefield. Lobby and Mortuza came forward to calm the situation and both of them received minor injuries in the melee, party sources and witnesses said.
   According to the police and the party sources, at least 30 people, including 10 constables and a police sub-inspector, were injured in the clash.
   Shops and business establishments in the area were closed and people ran for cover during the hour-long clash.
   A large number of party activists from different parts of the city gathered at the rally organised by Nurul-Monju faction of the local BNP.

The education minister, M Osman Farruk, showed discourteous behaviour with agitating teachers of non-government educational institutions during a scheduled talk at the Prime Minister’s Office on Tuesday night.
   The agitating teachers will go out on demonstrations in all the district headquarters today to protest at the discourteous behaviour of the minister.
   More than five lakh teachers and employees under the banner of various associations launched a non-stop strike at about 30,000 non-government educational institutions on July 6.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, on July 17 asked the education minister to begin negotiations with the agitating teachers to end the strike.
   ‘The education minister began a scheduled meeting with a 21-member delegation at about 9:00pm and as the talks began, the minister asked the leaders to withdraw a statement placed by the delegation,’ said the National Front of Teachers and Employees chief coordinator, Quazi Faruque Ahmad, at a briefing on Wednesday.
   ‘Get back to classroom quickly. The students will otherwise compel you to get back to classroom… minister told us,’ said Quazi Faruque, who leads the Awami League-backed combine of 11 organisations of non-government teachers and employees.
   ‘On behalf of the education minister, the deputy minister for information Abdus Salam Pintu on July 31 requested us to join the talks on Tuesday,’ Faruque said. ‘And we told the deputy minister that we would place a statement before the meeting detailing our demands.’
   Quazi Faruque said ‘The minister told us that he would not tolerate any comment made by teachers on the government’s sincerity about holding talks with teachers.’ ‘At one stage the minister left the room where political secretary to the prime minister, MA Harris Choudhury, and deputy minister for information were also present.’
   Quazi Faruque quoted Harris as saying, ‘As the minister left the room, we would not continue the discussion any more.’
   Despite several attempts the education minister could not be reached for comments.
   The teachers vowed to continue their strike until the government met their minimum demand — a 10 per cent salary increase — in line with election pledge of the ruling BNP.
   The teachers alleged the education minister had failed to take any effective step to hold talks with them on their demands.
   ‘Instead of initiating negotiations with all the leaders of agitating teachers’ associations, Osman Farruk showed discourteous behaviour with the teachers’ leaders,’ said Professor M Shariful Islam, president of the Teachers and Employees’ United Alliance.
   ‘It is Osman who have divided the teachers’ community,’ he said. ‘We are fighting for the demand as it was the ruling BNP’s election pledge to increase our salary by 10 per cent.’
   The alliance, a combine of seven organisations of non-government high schools, colleges and madrassahs, will also stage a sit-in demonstration in Dhaka on August 6.
   Although the teachers’ associations have been agitating under various banners, their demands are almost similar.
   The other demands of the teachers include an increased house rent, medical allowance, full festival allowance, and implementation of the relevant recommendations of the UNESCO and the International Labour Organisation for teaching staff.
   The government pays 90 per cent of the salaries of the teachers and employees of the institutions that offer post-primary schooling to post-graduate courses.

The Supreme Court Bar Association today will boycott the High Court bench of justice Jainul Abedin and Justice Mashuk Hossain Ahmed, which issued a rule on 11 lawyers of the court on Tuesday on contempt of court charge.
   An emergency meeting of the bar, in the association’s Abdul Ahad Hall on Wednesday, announced the programme.
   The meeting decided to enforce a one-day work-abstention in the bench as it did not allow the bar association to resolve a problem of the bar, ignoring the arguments of its president and giving priority of the arguments made by a lawmaker of a political party.
   The court on Tuesday issued a rule on 11 lawyers, including present and former office bearers of the bar association, to explain within three weeks why proceedings would not be drawn against them for contempt of court for their alleged violation of a court order by enforcing the Dhaka siege programme on June 11 despite an injunction.
   The bar association held the emergency general meeting to discuss the situation as it stands after the court order.
   The meeting demanded constitution of proper benches for the hearing of the Sheikh Mujib murder case, bail petitions and admission of appeals against lower court orders in criminal cases in a week.
   Presided over by the bar president, M Amirul Islam, the meeting was also addressed by the bar council vice-chairman, Rokanuddin Mahmud, former presidents of the bar Mahbubey Alam, Ozair Farooq and Shafiq Ahmed, former law minister Abdul Matin Khasru, bar secretary AM Aminuddin, senior bar member Rahmat Ali, Humayun Hossain Khan, AFM Mesbahuddin, KM Saifuddin, Sahara Khatun, M Enayetur Rahim and Bashir Ahmed.

SAARC foreign ministers have decided that 2008 will be the SAARC media year.
   ‘I have the pleasure to inform you that the council decided that the year 2008 will be observed as the SAARC media year,’ the Bangladesh foreign minister told a press conference after the meeting of the foreign ministers.
   During the year, increased attention will be given to fully implement the SAARC Media Action Plan, he said.
   When the SAARC ministers were deciding to observe a year dedicating to media, the Pakistan foreign minister, Khurshid M Kasuri, gave a bashing to the Indian media and asked them to play a constructive role.
   Referring to the Mumbai serial blasts that killed 180 people, he said, ‘I was surprised how it was possible for the Indian media within 30 seconds of the Mumbai blasts to point finger at some groups based in Pakistan.’
   On many occasions in the past, the Indian media pointed finger at Pakistan, but when the cases have gone to the Indian Supreme Court, Pakistan was nowhere in the picture, he added.

Two Bangladeshis were killed in firing by Indian forest guards in the Burichang border area on Wednesday. Another Bangladeshi national was also wounded in the firing.
   Locals said Mustafa, 32, and Firoze, 30, died on the spot and Habil, 14, was badly wounded when Indian Kalachura forest guards opened indiscriminate fire across the border in the afternoon. The victims were the inhabitants of Anandapur Jhenaiya border village. The forest guards took away the bodies along with injured Habil.

With a view to minimising the financial loss incurred by Biman Bangladesh Airlines due to hajj flights, the government is thinking of raising the fare for each hajj passenger to $1,200 from $950 and $1,050.
   The ministry of civil aviation, in an inter-ministerial meeting at the secretariat on Wednesday, said that Biman would be able to ferry 50 per cent of the total number of hajj passengers including ballotees and non-ballotees from Dhaka to Jeddah at a fare of $1,200 each this year.
   It was mentioned in the meeting that Saudi Airlines has agreed to carry the other 50 per cent of the hajj passengers on condition that the fare is not less than $1,200 per person. But the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh protested against the proposal of the civil aviation ministry to increase the fares.
   The state minister for religious affairs, Mosharef Hossain Shajahan, civil aviation secretary, Shaheed Alam, managing director of Biman, MA Momen, and the HAAB’s president, Abdus Shakur, among others, attended the inter-ministerial meeting, which was presided over by the state minister for civil aviation and tourism, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
   Biman carried the ballotee hajj passengers for a fare of $950 each, and the non-ballottees for $1,050 in 2005, incurring a loss of around Tk 200 crore in the process.
   After the meeting, Alamgir told reporters that they were yet to fix the fare for hajj passengers. ‘We will submit our proposal to the prime minister, and the fare will be settled within three to four days,’ he said.
   The state minister said the government would have to subsidise each Biman passenger by $65 if the hajj fare is fixed even at $1,200 due to sharp rise in fuel price. ‘Saudi Airlines has clearly informed us that they will not operate hajj flights from Dhaka if the fare is less than $1,200,’ he pointed out.
   Shajahan added, ‘We must accept the proposal of the civil aviation ministry to raise the fare, keeping in view the loss incurred by Biman from every hajj flight. The inter-ministerial meeting decided to fix hajj fare for each passenger at $1,200, but it is yet to be approved by the prime minister.’
   Shakur of HAAB said the fare should not exceed $900 for each passenger as Pakistan carries hajj each passenger for $700. ‘We will give our statement on the issue after the HAAB’s executive committee’s meeting is held tomorrow,’ he said.
   Last year all foreign airlines along with Saudi Airlines, operating flights from Bangladesh, declined to carry hajj passengers at $1,050. They unanimously proposed that the hajj fare should be fixed at $1,360 per passenger.
   Subsequently, the then state minister for civil aviation, Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, had to resign on November 17, 2005 amidst protests against him for failure in management of transportation of hajj pilgrims.