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Bangladesh’s hopes for securing preferential market access of garment products to the United States under a multilateral framework have been dealt another blow thanks to the resistance of a group of US congressmen.
   One of Bangladesh’s main agenda under the current round of negotiations at the World Trade Organisation concerns preferential market access of garment products to the US market and of labour to richer countries.
   But before a recent mini-ministerial meeting of the global trade forum, held in Geneva, 44 congressmen reportedly wrote a letter to the chief United States trade representative, Susan Schwab, demanding that textiles should be negotiated separately at the Doha Round talks.
   Current negotiations within the trade organisation are being held under the Doha agenda, which was launched in November 2004 in Qatar and set to be completed by the end of 2004. The deadline to reduce farm subsidies and tariffs on both agricultural and industrial products has been deferred till the end of 2006.
   Being a least developed country, Bangladesh has been pushing its agenda under the provision of special and different treatment given to the poorest members of the 150-member trade organisation.
   But on June 13, before a crucial mini ministerial scheduled to begin on June 29, a group of congressmen sent to Schwab a letter demanding that ‘textiles be negotiated in a separate sectoral’.
   This would imply that textiles market access might be negotiated separately where the US trade representative would not be able to provide preferential treatment to the least developed countries, including Bangladesh.
   According to a report of the World Trade Magazine, published on July 6, the Bush administration will ask the trade forum to give textiles ‘special consideration’ to protect US domestic industry from low-cost textiles in some developing countries.
   The report mentioned that the United Sates would not want textiles to be grouped with other industrial products, which would imply deep tariff cuts.
   According to a press release of June 29, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, National Council of Textile Organisations, and the National Textile Association, representing the US textile industry, said, ‘It is vital that Congress continue to insist, as it has today, that full reciprocity must be achieved in any final WTO agreement, as reciprocity is the only way to guarantee the US textile industry accrual of any benefits in the negotiations.’
   The associations went on to say, ‘At this juncture, we strongly believe that USTR cannot meet the objectives contained in the Trade Act of 2002 without a special sectoral for textiles and apparel in the WTO's non-agricultural market access talks.’
   They believe that without a separate sectoral, foreign exporters would have greater competitive opportunities in the US market than the US manufacturers in foreign markets under the general formula of proposed tariff cuts and pointed out that such an outcome would then ‘result in less than full reciprocity’, violating the objectives contained in the Trade Act of 2002.
   The relevant section of the trade act stipulates, ‘The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to trade in textiles and apparel articles are to obtain competitive opportunities for United States exports of textiles and apparel in foreign markets substantially equivalent to the competitive opportunities afforded foreign exports in United States markets and to achieve fairer and more open conditions of trade in textiles and apparel.’
   Such a position would bar Bangladesh’s bid to secure its desired access to the lucrative US market as there is little that Bangladesh could offer the US in return for their manufacturers.
   A group of US politicians took a similar stance before the ministerial summit held in Hong Kong in December 2005 and asked the president to ensure that the United States does not agree to a free market access proposal for textiles.
   The garment industry contributes more than three-fourths of the country’s foreign currency revenue and employs two million people of whom 90 per cent are women.
   The mini-ministerial summit held largely among the influential trading powers failed to bring about an agreement. Another significant meeting, a session of the general council, is scheduled to be held at the end of July, which is being considered an operational deadline for the Doha agenda.

The government has decided to create a new wing of the police which will exclusively deal with women and children repression cases to ensure justice through proper investigation of such cases.
   The initiative has been taken as many victims of such crimes do not get justice for various reasons.
   The wing called Women Investigation and Assistance Centre, will be created to help women and children after they fall victim to crimes, especially sexual harassment, sources in the police headquarters say.
   ‘Most of the women victims are shy of talking to male investigation officers and it hampers investigation process and trial of the case as well,’ a senior police official told New Age on Saturday.
   The proposed centre will be headed by a superintendent of police, preferably a woman, according to a proposal pending with the home ministry.
   The police headquarters earlier prepared an organogram proposing a 90-member force for the centre and submitted it to the home ministry last month. All the members of the centre, including those who will act as investigation officer, will be women.
   ‘Once the separate wing is established, the cases filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act will be shifted there and women IOs will be assigned to deal with the cases,’ said the official.
   A woman or child victim of such crimes often hesitates to disclose everything or answer the questions of IOs and during hearing in court about the crime and culprits which lead to framing of a weak charge sheet.
   ‘They, however, feel at ease when the IO is a woman and our initiative to create the centre is to ensure that the victims tell everything without hesitation,’ said a home ministry official.
   If a victim is shy of disclosing the crime committed against her, the case loses its edge which often helps the culprits go unpunished.
   The centre will have 54 officers and 36 employees—two senior superintendents of police, two assistant superintendents of police, two inspectors, 16 sub-inspectors, 24 assistant sub-inspectors and 30 constables.

The election commission is mapping out the schedule, budget and strategies for carrying out door-to-door visit to update the existing voters’ roll.
   ‘The commission at a meeting today will decide on when the door-to-door visit will begin for updating the voters’ roll and finalise its budget,’ the EC sources said.
   The Election Commission, which had refused to budge from its earlier position on updating the voters’ roll without door-to-door visits despite requests from major political parties and legal experts, on Friday decided that door-to-door visits would be carried out for revision of the electoral roll for the next general election.
   It said that an amendment to the electoral laws was made to allow door-to-door visits in the revision process, because, it claimed, the law did not permit going to voters for the purpose.
   Former election commissioners, however, blasted the Election Commission for bringing amendment to the Electoral Rolls Ordinance, 1982 to justify the changed decision to enrol voters. Former Election Commissioners, Justice Naimuddin and AKM Mohammad Ali said there was no need to amend the rule for going door-to-door.
   According to them, the amended procedure might not be proper as it ensured inclusion of new voters only, but not exclusion of the dead or fake voters.
   Sources in the commission said the constitutional body had been forced into changing its position, as people continued to show unwillingness to visit update centres to collect enrolment or revision forms. But the press release of the commission said it had amended the rules in view of the opinions expressed by different political parties, and professional, social and cultural organisations, that door-to-door visits would lead to a successful revision of the voters’ roll.
   Meanwhile, the new EC secretary, Abdur Rashid Sarkar, is expected to join the commission secretariat today (Sunday). Talking to reporters Sarkar said he was likely to hold a press conference to provide details about the new campaign, its duration and process.

Academic activities at most of the non-government academic institutes came to a standstill Saturday, as their teachers and employees under the banners of two organisations launched a ‘non-stop’ strike to press home their demands.
   The situation is set to worsen further as the teachers and employees of yet another organisation that observed two-hour strike Saturday go into an indefinite strike from today.
   According to sources, a large number of the 30,000 institutions were either closed or the teachers did not take the classes on Saturday.
   Most of such institutions in the capital, however, remained opened.
   Over five lakh teachers and employees belonging to both pro-government and anti-government associations are on strike, as the government has kept no allocation in the current budget to meet their demands.
   The demands include a 10 per cent increase in the government share of their salary, hike in house rent, medical allowance, full-fledged festival allowance, and implementation of the recommendations of UNESCO and the International Labour Organization relating to them.
   The government pays 90 per cent of the salary of the teachers and employees of the institutions that offer post-primary schooling to master’s degrees.
   Although the teachers and employees of these schools, colleges and madrassahs have been observing strike under various banners, their demands are almost the same.
   The organisations that launched strike on Saturday are the Awami League-backed National Front of Teachers and Employees convened by Quazi Faruque Ahmed and the Bangladesh Teachers-Employees Unity Council by MA Awal Siddiqui.
   The organisation that goes on strike today is the Teachers-Employees United Alliance led by Shariful Islam.
   Speaking to New Age Sharif said, ‘The government compelled them to enforce the programme, although it is harmful to the students.’
   ‘We are fighting for our rightful demands,’ he said, ‘as to increase our salary by 10 per cent was the election pledge of the ruling alliance.’
   Meanwhile, the pro-government faction of the united alliance called upon its members to continue with the strike it had launched last Thursday.
   About 1.5 crore students of these institutes are suffering because of the strikes. Students of these institutions also witnessed a similar non-stop strike in 2000, when the AL was in power.

It is a fitting tribute to a World Cup where defences have ruled that today’s final between France and Italy will see the two stingiest teams in the tournament go head-to-head.
   With just three goals conceded between the finalists in their 12 games so far, it is not difficult to envisage a tense climactic battle that may need something special to unlock it.
   And in the form of their mesmerising captain Zinedine Zidane, France believe they hold the skeleton key. ‘We have Zidane and they don’t,’ was French defender Willy Sagnol’s neat appraisal of the two finalists.
   At the age of 34, Zidane will bid ‘au revoir’ from football on the biggest stage of all, bringing the curtain down on a glittering career that has seen him win every major honour the sport has to offer.
   Now a global audience of 1.5 billion will focus their gaze on Berlin’s 69,000-capacity Olympic Stadium to see if the French magician can pull off one last, glorious conjuring trick.
   Win or lose, Zidane’s place in the pantheon is assured, his role in helping France to the final after coming out of international retirement adding lustre to the legend.
   Written off as past their sell-by date as they stumbled through the group phase, France’s fortunes underwent a renaissance once the knockout rounds began with Zidane inspiring the revival.
   Now they are only 90 minutes away from a second World Cup in eight years, the crowning achievement in a decade of glory that began when France, and Zidane, reached the semi-finals of the 1996 European Championship.
   The common thread of the past 10 years has been Zidane, along with his friend and defensive stalwart Lilian Thuram, who will win his 121st cap on Sunday before his expected retirement.
   ‘It’s going to be very difficult and we are going to have be at the top of our game, but we have the weapons to do it,’ said Zidane, scorer of two goals against Brazil in the final in Paris eight years ago.
   It has been a remarkable transformation for France, who were booed and jeered by their own fans in their final friendly matches before the tournament as coach Raymond Domenech groped blindly for the right formula.
   No-one associated with Sunday’s final appreciates the threat of Zidane better than Domenech’s Italian counterpart, the masterful Marcello Lippi.
   Lippi was Zidane’s manager for three years at Juventus when the French maestro was at the peak of his powers.
   ‘France have recovered the best Zidane and have grown through the tournament,’ Lippi said. ‘Zidane is probably the best player there has been in the past 20 years.’
   Despite the high praise, if anyone can come up with a plan to thwart Zidane, it is the shrewd 58-year-old who has overseen Italy’s stealthy progress into their sixth World Cup final.
   Victory for the Azzurri will confirm Lippi as the most successful manager in the history of Italian football, adding the greatest prize of all to the five Italian titles and Champions League crown he won with Juventus.
   While a fairytale finish beckons Zidane and France, Italy too are driven by their own sense of destiny, having seen their domestic football buried in an avalanche of corruption scandals in the weeks leading up to the finals.
   Lippi’s role in forging such a battle-hardened team against such a lurid backdrop will go down as a masterpiece of man-management.
   ‘We have shown that we have got some great footballers and that we are not criminals,’ said Italy’s veteran striker Alessandro Del Piero. ‘Everything that has happened off the pitch has brought us closer together.’
   France may take a slight psychological advantage into the final having beaten the Italians three times in major tournaments since 1986.
   Their most recent victory over the Azzurri came in the final of Euro 2000, when Italy were just 17 seconds away from winning before France equalised and David Trezeguet struck a memorable golden goal winner.
   Italy have moved on since then. Only two members of the side beaten in Rotterdam—captain Fabio Cannavaro and Francesco Totti—are expected to start in Sunday’s final at the 69,000-seat Olympic Stadium. France on the other hand will take to the field with five of the side that prevailed in Holland.
   Italy have seen their back four breached just once in six matches, due in part to the superb form of their captain Cannavaro.
   France’s defensive effort has been been similarly hard-nosed, with only two goals conceded so far. The evergreen Thuram, one of four veterans of France’s 1998 triumph, has been outstanding at the heart of the French defence, shielded brilliantly by Claude Makelele and the resurgent Patrick Vieira.
   But none has been better than Zidane: the ultimate goodbye awaits.

Bastian Schweinsteiger scored two goals Saturday to lead host Germany to a 3-1 win over Portugal in the World Cup’s third-place match.
   Bastian Schweinsteiger scored two goals Saturday to lead host Germany to a 3-1 win over Portugal in the World Cup’s third-place match.
   Schweinsteiger also played a part in Germany’s other goal when his free kick was deflected in for an own-goal by Portugal’s Armando Petit.
   Nuno Gomes scored for Portugal in the 88th.
   The win in the consolation game was the next best thing to playing in Sunday’s final - contested by France and Italy - and unexpected when the young German team behind innovative coach Juergen Klinsmann began play four weeks ago.
   Schweinsteiger’s two goals were almost identical.
   In the 56th, he retreated from the corner of the penatly area on
   the left side and worked to the middle of the field, launching a 25-meter (yard) rising shot over the outstretched left hand of goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira.
   Six mintues later the midfielder, who didn’t start in the 2-0 loss to Italy in the semifinals, set up the own-goal as Petit deflected his free kick behind Ricardo.
   In the 78th, he again sent a rising shot sailing over Ricardo’s hands. With this one he ripped off his shirt, drawing applause from the 52,000 sellout that included seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher.
   The Germans have won the World Cup three times, and they are always a threat. They’ve reached the semifinals a record 11 times, and this is the third time they’ve won the consolation prize.
   Portugal failed to match its best World Cup, falling just short of the third-place finish in 1966. Eusebio, a member of that 1966 team, was on the bench but couldn’t rally a victory. Portugal winger Luis Figo came on as a late substitute and, at 33, surely has played in his last World Cup. It’s also likely to be the final World Cup game for 37-year-old Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, who got his first start after sitting on the bench for six games behind Jens Lehmann.
   German newspapers called this the “Little Final,” but it had a big feeling in a stadium awash with Germany’s black, yellow and red national colors. One hand-written poster read: “Thanks for being our guest,” shorthand for the feel-good factor in this tournament.
   The biggest question for Germany is the future of Klinsmann. The California resident has been non-commital about his plans. But even the tabloid Bild, his biggest critic a month ago, has begun a write-in campaign to keep him.
   Other newspapers like the Berliner Kurier carried this headline: “Klinsi, please stay.” A poster hanging from the team’s hotel in Stuttgart read: “Thanks guys for a wonderful four weeks.”
   This was the first World Cup meeting for the two European teams. Overall, they have played 15 times, and Germany won seven, Portugal won three and five were draws.
   Germany made five changes from the team that lost 2-0 to Italy. Portugal made three from the side that fell to 1-0 to France.
   Germany had most of the pressure early, but Portugal got the best scoring chance in the 15th when Pauleta broke in from the left, but his shot for a wide open corner was deflected by Kahn diving to the left.
   Portugal scored only seven goals in the tournament, and Pauleta’s poor finishing was one reason. He scored in the fourth minute of the first game, but not since.
   In the 20th, Germany had its best chance when Sebastian Kehl’s curling shot was tipped over the crossbar by Ricardo. Five minutes later, Podolski tested Ricardo with a rising free kick. The first half was broken by fouls and three yellow cards, keeping Japanese referee Toru Kamikawa. busy.

The High Court has directed the government to frame rules on ship breaking in order to ensure preservation of environment and security of workers in the ship breaking industry.
   A High Court bench comprising Justice Syed M Dastagir Husain and Justice Mamnoon Rahman on Thursday came up with the directive in its verdict on a public interest litigation, filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association.
   Earlier on May 3, a High Court bench comprising Justice M Awlad Ali and Justice Zinat Ara directed the government not to allow a vessel, MT Alfaship, one of the 50 dangerous ships in the world, to proceed further towards the Chittagong port or the territorial water of Bangladesh.
   The court had also issued a rule on the government to explain within three weeks why the failure of the authorities concerned to prevent the entry of MT Alfaship into the territorial waters of Bangladesh should not be declared illegal.
   The government was also asked to explain why it should not be directed to take steps for banning import of any of the 50 ships identified as hazardous by the international environmental watchdog, Green Peace.
   Though the vessel, MT Alfaship, containing toxic materials, sailed out of Bangladesh on June 15, the High Court continued the hearing of the case against the ship and delivered the verdict on Thursday.
   In the judgement, the court also observed that framing a set of rules on ship breaking had become indispensable, as import of hazardous vessels had increased.
   Tanzibul Alam, Syeda Rizwana Hasan and Iqbal Kabir Liton moved the case for the petitioner.

The US-based Federation of Overseas Bangladeshi Associations is planning to hold a regional conference on anti-terrorism in Bangladesh some time in November this year, said its organisers on Saturday.
   The said conference, with the theme of ‘Let us fight global terrorism’, is expected to be attended by top political and civil society leaders from the member countries of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation, said Din M Rana, president of the FOBA, at a press conference in the city.
   He said top officials from the US administration and Homeland Security are also expected to attend the conference.
   ‘We want leaders from across the region to share their views and come up with suggestions to address the issue,’ said Rana, adding that terrorism was not merely the concern of a particular nation. ‘It has become a global phenomenon…and we need united efforts to fight it.’
   Muslims, in America and elsewhere in the globe, on the one hand have been facing criticism after the 9/11 attacks, and Bangladeshis staying in the US are facing the adverse consequences of a number of terrorist attacks in Bangladesh.
   Earlier, FOBA had organised similar conferences in the United States of America and in the United Kingdom.

Family members of slain local millionaire businessman Shafiqul Azam Azad are yet to file any case and the police still clueless about the killing three days into the recovery of his body.
   The police found the body of the proprietor of Asia Trade International, a garment-machinery supplier having offices at Chittagong, China and Hong Kong, in Baizid Bostami area of the port city Wednesday afternoon.
   The family members suspect a business feud behind the killing and point a finger at a business tycoon. But, the police do not leave the family members out of suspicion.
   Shafiq's wife Nur Ayesha Begum said her husband had locked in an altercation with one of his clients, Jalal Uddin Chowdhury, managing director of the Clifton Group of Industries, over telephone.
   'After the quarrel, he went out of home in a hurry to meet the industrialist and had remained missing since then,' she said, expressing the suspicion that the killing might be a sequel to the fight.
   Jalal could be reached for his comments on the allegation, as an official of the group, Hassan Mohammed, said he had gone to Singapore on Friday on some business errands.
   The police were not dismissing a business feud as the motive behind the killing, Ziaul Kabir, officer in charge of Baizid Police Station, told New Age. However, he observed, the role of the victim's family members following the incident also appears to be mysterious.
   'They have not lodged any case, even four days after the incident, and even expressed annoyance as we made several phone calls seeking their help to get a clue,' the OC said.
   On the other hand, Rafique Iqbal Sayeem, younger brother of Shafiq, said they had not been able to file any case as they rushed to their village home to bury the body and were busy holding the qulkhani. The family comes from Charamba Masjidpara under Lohagara upazila of Chittagong district.
   'We are working to file a case and hope to complete the process by today,' he told New Age on Saturday afternoon.
   The Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner, M Mazedul Hoque, told New Age that they had started investigation on their own to unveil the mystery surrounding the killing.
   'A deputy commissioner is supervising the primary investigation launched by the local police, as we have put extra importance on the incident,' he said, adding the investigation would be easier if the family members helped them.
   Shafiq’s had returned home from China on Tuesday morning and went out of his house in Sugandha residential area in the afternoon. He used to manage the principal office of his enterprise in China, while his lone brother Iqbal and other relatives ran the Hongkong and Chittagong offices.

Israel on Saturday rejected a Hamas appeal for a ceasefire as Israeli forces pursued their Gaza campaign to free a captured soldier and end militant rocket fire, killing four Palestinians.
   Israel flatly rejected a call by prime minister Ismail Haniya for a ceasefire and a ‘return to a situation of calm on the basis of a halt to all military operations by both sides’ as Israeli forces advanced towards Gaza City.
   ‘We do not hold negotiations with terrorists. They must first return the kidnapped soldier unharmed and cease their fire,’ an official in prime minister Ehud Olmert’s office said.
   ‘We will decide on our next moves according to the steps taken by the Palestinian government,’ he said.
   Haniya stressed that his Hamas government was determined to solve the problem through diplomatic channels in a ‘peaceful’ manner.
   ‘It is necessary that Israel halt its military operation in the Gaza Strip and withdraw its forces,’ said a statement from Haniya.
   ‘More efforts are required from all parties to resolve the current crisis in order to bring an end to the Israeli aggression and resolve the question of the Israeli soldier through serious negotiations,’ it added.
   Earlier, dozens of Israeli tanks backed by helicopter gunships and drones passed through the Karni and Nahal Oz crossings, advancing one kilometre to the outskirts of Gaza City where clashes broke out with armed Palestinians.
   Armoured vehicles fired missiles, killing a member of the Palestinian security forces in Zeitun, while three more Palestinians were reported killed by Israeli tank shelling in the nearby Shujaya neighbourhood.
   Israeli armoured vehicles took up positions in open farmland on Gaza’s eastern border and assembled in industrial areas.
   Israeli units meanwhile pulled back from northern Gaza, three days after launching a deadly incursion in the area, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.
   The Palestinian president, Mahmud Abbas, has called on the international community to stop Israel’s ‘inhumane aggression’ to give mediators a chance to free corporal Gilad Shalit, whose capture by militants sparked the escalation 12 days ago.
   He said the continued Israeli offensive was hindering Palestinian efforts together with ‘Arab parties, particularly Egypt’ to return the soldier to his family.
   ‘They still believe an agreement is possible,’ he said.
   UN chief Kofi Annan called for an immediate halt to what he called Israel’s ‘disproportionate use of force’ but added that Palestinian militants should nonetheless release the captured soldier.

Bangladesh has won the bragging rights of hosting both the opening match and the ceremony of the 2011 World Cup cricket, to be held in the four Test-playing countries of the Indian subcontinent.
   The decision was taken at a meeting of the representatives of the four Boards in London late on Friday night, said Mahmudur Rahman, the chief executive officer of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
   Rahman, who represented the BCB at the meeting, said four co-hosts – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh – have unanimously agreed to award Bangladesh the opening match as a mark of respect to its cricket loving people.
   India will host the final while Pakistan and Sri Lanka were awarded one semifinal match each. It was decided earlier that India will host 22 matches with Pakistan staging 16, Sri Lanka nine and Bangladesh six.
   ‘We are very delighted to get the rights of hosting the opening match. It is a great recognition to our cricket by the three other Asian Test-playing nations and a tribute to our cricket loving people,’ Rahman told New Age over telephone from London.
   Bangladesh has won the bid of 2011 World Cup jointly with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in last May competing with Australia and New Zealand, who also had placed a joint-bid only to be defeated in voting.
   Since then it had been widely speculated that Pakistan will host the final match while India will host the two semifinals. But it was reversed when the officials of the South Asian countries met on the sidelines of the ICC meeting in London to finalise the arrangements.
   Pakistan hosted the final match of 1996 World Cup in Lahore, when the tournament was held in the subcontinent.
   ‘We want to spread this World Cup as much as we can throughout South Asia. Sri Lanka is an important country cricket-wise and it is only right they get a semi-final,’ Cricinfo quoted PCB director Abbas Zaidi as saying.
   ‘We didn't want to push our weight and try and get both semi-finals or the final because we truly believed that as the World Cup is being held in four countries across the region, each country should benefit, including Bangladesh who gets the opening match and ceremony,’ the PCB official told Cricinfo.

Reefat bin Sattar has become the third Grand Master of Bangladesh after he completed all the requirements of FIDE, a press release of Bangladesh Chess Federation said on Saturday.
   Reefat had earned his third and final GM norm in April 2005, but had to wait for over a year to be crowned a Grand Master officially as he repeatedly failed to get the required 2500 rating points.
   Reefat finally crossed the hurdle last month when he grabbed 6.5 points in his first nine games during the 37th Chess Olympiad held in Turin, Italy, from May 20 to June 5. Reefat’s final tally was 11.9 rating points. He had begun the competition with 2489 points.
   Bangladesh Chess Federation immediately applied to the FIDE for his Grand Master title and the recognition came officially, when the international chess body published the ratings of July.
   With the recognition, Reefat now joined Niaz Murshed and Ziaur Rahman who became Grand Masters in 1987 and 2002 respectively.

The grassroots leaders of the ruling BNP on Saturday told the prime minister, Khaleda Zia, that the government should check soaring prices of essential commodities and resolve the ongoing electricity crisis.
   They put forth the suggestions at the opening round of the face-to-face with the prime minister at the state guest house Jamuna, which is also the prime minister’s evening office, in Dhaka. Seventy-eight leaders of 12 constituencies in Barisal, Priojpur and Jhalakati separately participated in Saturday’s consultations.
   At the beginning of each phase of the constituency-wise, fact-finding consultations, Khaleda, also the party’s chairperson, talked with the presidents and general secretaries of the upazila and municipality units.
   She inquired about development activities, position of incumbent BNP lawmakers and the prospect of winning the next elections.
   She also inquired about the status and popularity of other parties, including the Awami League, Jatiya Party factions led by Hussain Mohammad Ershad and Anwar Hossain Manju and the ruling alliance partner Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.
   Khaleda asked the party lawmakers and leaders to be with people and resolve local problems within the shortest possible time.
   She asked the leaders to address intra-party and intra-alliance feuds.
   Acknowledging the soaring prices of some essential commodities, the prime minister said the farmers must be given reasonable price for their products.
   ‘We told her about the power shortage and increased prices of essential commodities that made the situation embarrassing for us,’ Abul Hossain Laltu, general secretary of Agailjhara unit in Barisal, told New Age.
   The prime minister wanted to know of the popularity of the BNP lawmakers, their behaviour, overall situation and development activities, Abul Hossain said.
   The leaders also urged the prime minister to complete the ongoing development projects before handing power over to the caretaker government.
   BNP lawmakers Jahir Uddin Swapan for Barisal 1, Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal for Barisal 2, Mosharraf Hossain Manju for Barisal 3, Majibur Rahman Sarwar for Barisal 5, Abul Hossain Khan for Barisal 6, Muhammad Shahjahan Omar for Jhalakati 1, Ishrat Sultana Elen Bhutto for Jhalakati 2, Rustom Ali Farazi for Pirojpur 3 and Syed Shahidul Haque Jamal for ‘Barisal with Pirojpur’ constituencies and the president and general secretary of the district unit were asked to join the consultations later. Shah Muhammad Abul Hossain, lawmaker for the Barisal 4 constituency, was absent as he was abroad.
   Some party leaders urged Khaleda to change party nominations for some constituencies as the incumbent lawmakers have either earned bad name for nepotism and misdeeds of their close relatives.
   The BNP’s secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, also LGRD and cooperatives minister, senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman, and the prime minister’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury were attended the consultation which lasted for two hours and a half form 8:00pm.
   Khaleda will continue meeting BNP district, upazila and municipality unit presidents and general secretaries every Saturday in the pre-polls exchange of opinion to know of the grassroots situation, party sources said.
   BNP candidates won 10, out of the 12, seats in these districts. Two other lawmakers are Delawar Hossain Sayeedi of Jamaat-e-Islami and Anwar Hossain Manju of the Jatiya Party.

North Korea’s test-firing of its missiles has caused more jitters than alarm the world over. But of greater significance was President Bush’s admission that the US’s missile defence system is still not ready for deployment. However, he said the US has a ‘reasonable chance’ of shooting down any missile that reaches its shores.
   There were reports that the US’s missile defence system is not yet ready for deployment though billions of dollars have been spent on the project.
   The Pentagon, however, has disputed the claim, saying that it has not been given adequate funds to complete the project. This will be considered a sensitive issue and ‘negative’ reporting in the media will provoke sharp reaction from the US government.
   Although the president, vice-president and US House of Representative came down heavily on the New York Times for disclosing the news that the government is maintaining a strict vigil on all cross-border financial transactions to track down the Islamic jihadists and their patrons, the government said nothing about the news on the defence missile system. President Bush described as ‘disgraceful’ the NYT’s report on the government secretly tracking down all cross-border financial transactions and the Wall Street
   Journal called the NYT ‘unpatriotic’.
   The United States’ hope of the Security Council’s members standing unanimously behind a Japanese resolution seeking economic sanctions against North Korea did not materialise. China and Russia, as in the case of Iran, refused to support any punitive actions and pleaded for giving diplomacy more chance.
   North Korea’s missiles are no threat to the US. America, though, has 30,000 troopers in South Korea and about 35,000 in Japan. North Korea has about 600 short-range missiles that could hit South Korea and about 200 medium-range missiles that could hit targets in Japan. Other countries have missiles which could travel from a minimum of 810 miles to a maximum of
   2,490 miles. Pakistan’s Gauri 1 could travel up to 810 miles, which is the minimum range, while Saudi Arabia’s CSS 2 could go up to 2,490 miles. India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia all possess missiles.
   Israel and Saudi Arabia both have missiles which could hit targets 2,490 miles away. North Korea has been accused of exporting missiles to Iran (22), Syria (12), Egypt (9), Libya (4) and Pakistan (4).
   North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world. China is occupying the first spot, US the second spot and India the third spot as far as size of armies is concerned.
   North Korea’s per capita Gross Domestic Product is about $1,400 to South Korea’s $19,000. Its defence expenditure is a quarter of its GDP, more than that of any other country in the world, according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies. The US spends 4 per cent of its GDP on military expenditure. Its defence budget, which is more than $400 billion, is five times more than the defence budgets of the rest of the world, according to a study.
   The US has about 5,735 active nuclear warheads, Russia has 5,830, France 350, Britain 200 and China 100. North Korea can make at least two nuclear bombs. The figures in this report have been quoted from the Wall Street Journal.

The police picked up nine suspected militants, including two Pakistani citizens, from a mosque adjacent to the Jhalakati district jail on Friday night.
   The police produced the nine before the magistrates’ court on Saturday seeking a seven-day remand, but the court granted a five-day remand for interrogation.
   The arrested were Golam Sabbir Akhtar Kaderi of Punjab in Pakistan, Belal Afsar Akhtar Kaderi, a Pakistani origin living in Dhaka, Abdul Gani Akhtar Kaderi of Barguna, Nurul Absar Akhtar Kaderi and Ilias Hossain Akhtar Kaderi of Chittagong, Ilias Akhtar Kaderi of Rangamati, Imran Akhtar Kaderi of Noakhali, Nazrul Islam Akhtar Kaderi of Habiganj, and Kazi Nazrul Islam Akhtar Kaderi of Barisal.
   They claimed themselves as the members of ‘Dawat-e-Islami’ and the followers of ‘Kaderia Tarika’. Some Islamic books and stickers were also recovered from them.
   Khandaker Lutful Kabir, police super in Jhalakati, and ATM Habibul Islam, officer-in-charge of the Kotwali police, said the police detained eight from Gorasthan mosque on Friday night. Another was arrested on Saturday morning when he came to visit the arrested at the police station.
   During the preliminary interrogation, Golam Sabbir said that earlier, he had visited Bangladesh twice, and he came from Pakistan with valid passport and visa. But he failed to show original passport claiming that it was preserved in Dhaka.
   Sabbir had been engaged in Tablig in Dhaka, Chittagong, Saidpur and Rangamati for the last two and half months. Bellal Afsar, another Pakistani citizen, said he had been living in Bangladesh for the last 18 year.

Legal experts, human rights activists and civil society members asserted a person’s right to water should be constitutionally guaranteed while politicians and government officials opposed the view and said there was no such need.
   The observations were made at a roundtable on Saturday on legal entitlement to water and the WTO regime by human rights coalition Odhikar and international non-governmental organisation ActionAid Bangladesh.
   The law minister, Moudud Ahmed, said it was impossible to constitutionally guarantee water to every citizen simply because the state could not ensure it. He said, ‘Electricity or water could at best be civil rights.’
   Moudud said the upper riparian India could block all the water coming into Bangladesh. Pointing out that 93 per cent of the water that enters the country flows through India, Moudud stressed the need for regional cooperation.
   The Bangladesh Today editor, Asafuddowlah, also a former secretary for water resources, said there was need to change the constitution. He said the quality of any public service in Bangladesh could not be ensured because there was no population control. He also agreed with Moudud, saying the source of water should be ensured first.
   Dhaka University law professor Asif Nazrul, an expert on international river law, pointed out in his paper that the constitution of Bangladesh does not even contain the word ‘water’. ‘There are other countries in the world where constitutions do uphold the right to water.’
   Ubinig managing director Farhad Mazhar, also an adviser to Odhikar, in his paper said the spontaneous public uprisings at Shanir Akhra and Kansat, where people demanded power supply, is proof that the state does not provide these basic services to the poor.
   The Awami League’s women’s affairs secretary Dipu Moni said organisations and activists are not reaching out to the policymakers who affect these issues.
   Nagarik Udyog president Mohammad Idris said Bangladesh had ratified conventions that uphold the individual’s right to water. ‘Thus there is no scope of the state to ignore its obligation of providing water to the citizens.’
   Ubinig executive director Farida Akhter recounted her bitter experience of trying to ensure water supply to some slum-dwellers. ‘At one point we found out that these garment workers were not even considered city-dwellers by the Dhaka WASA.’
   Dr Mahmudur Rahman of Dhaka Community Hospital said there will be sufficient water if all the three sources, surface, rain and aquifers, are tapped together.
   BRAC human resources director Afsan Chowdhury, referring to Asafuddowlah’s comments, said unless the political parties resolve their conflicts and make sincere efforts on certain issues, ‘other countries will not bother to take our water problems into consideration.
   Additional attorney general Fida M Kamal said the constitution does recognise citizens’ right to life.

A woman and her daughter were killed in a landslide triggered by torrential rains at Kanchana in Satkania upazila on Sunday.
   The police and local people said a big chunk of mud of a hill collapsed on the thatched house of Mabia Khatun, 60, at about 4:00am killing her and her daughter Mariam, 17, on the spot.
   Mashum, 7, son of Mabia, also sustained injuries in the accident. He was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in ‘critical’ condition.

The Awami League-led opposition alliance today holds countrywide demonstrations in protest against the July 2 killing of Awami Swechchhasebak League leader Golam Mostafa Milon.
   Milon was killed in police action in the capital during the alliance’s countrywide rail-road-waterway blockade programme, demanding reforms to the caretaker government and to the Election Commission.
   The city unit of the 14-Party alliance on Saturday held a preparatory meeting at the central office of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal. Chaired by the city JSD president, Mir Hossain Akhter, the meeting was attended by AL presidium member Abdur Razzak, JSD leaders Moinuddin Khan Badal and Syed Zafar Sajjad and Workers Party city unit chief Quamrul Ahsan.

The newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Anwarul Iqbal, on Saturday warned that the police would instantly go into action if any member of the police force fell victim to attack during any political programme.
   The IGP sounded the note of caution at a meeting with police officers of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police at Rajarbagh Police Lines, meeting sources said.
   The new police chief also asked the cops to investigate cases on priority basis besides their everyday duty to control law and order situation.
   Police officials apprised the IGP of their various problems in discharging their duties.
   The IGP assured the police officers of solving their problem in phases.

Amelie Mauresmo won her first Wimbledon singles title on Saturday, recovering from a woeful start to beat third seed Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
   The world number one, who also took this year’s Australian Open when a sick Henin-Hardenne retired, is the first Frenchwoman to win here since Suzanne Lenglen in 1925.
   French Open champion Henin-Hardenne won the opening set in 31 minutes but Mauresmo shook off the nerves to win the second set with some eyecatching passing shots.
   Mauresmo got the early break in the decider and held herself together, completing an emotional victory when Henin-Hardenne thrashed a forehand into the net on her first match point.