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The secretary general of the ruling BNP, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, on Monday formally invited the main opposition Awami League to send names for inclusion in the committee for a dialogue on the opposition proposal for reforms in the constitutional provision for caretaker government and the Election Commission.
   The Awami League, which has already discussed the issue at its presidium meeting, has decided to have further discussions for finalising its stance on the invitation. Notably, the party chief Sheikh Hasina is not in the town at the moment.
   The invitation came after opposition leaders had made it clear that they would only consider joining a dialogue if they were invited formally.
   The chief whip of Jatiya Sangsad, Khandakar Delwar Hossain, initiated the move on March 14 when he telephoned the deputy leader of the opposition, Abdul Hamid, and the opposition chief whip, Abdus Shahid, and requested them to join a dialogue on the reforms proposal. In response, the opposition leaders urged him to make the invitation formal.
   The central office secretary of the BNP, Mafiqul Hasan, handed the invitation letter from Mannan Bhuiyan to the Awami League general secretary, Abdul Jalil, at noon.
   The AL presidium sat for an emergency meeting, presided over by the acting president, Zillur Rahman, after receiving the invitation.
   Jalil told journalists after the meeting that there would be more meetings within the party and the opposition alliance before a decision on the invitation.
   In his letter, Mannan Bhuiyan, who is also the local government, rural development and cooperatives minister of the government, said he expected the AL leaders to come forward with an open mind to consolidate democracy in the greater interest of the country and the nation.
   ‘I am formally inviting you through this letter and requesting for names of your representatives to be included in the proposed committee to implement the prime minister’s call and to reach a conclusion through discussion,’ says the letter. ‘Your early response will expedite the formation of the committee.’
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, in her valedictory speech to the winter session of the parliament on February 28, proposed the formation of a committee to hold discussion with the opposition over the latter’s reform proposals.
   On February 12 the leader of the opposition placed a set of proposals in Jatiya Sangsad for reforms in the constitutional provisions guiding the interim non-party caretaker government and the electoral system.
   Bhuiyan said, in his letter, that though the proposals had not been placed in a proper way, the leader of the house had taken the issue into consideration and proposed the formation of a committee of lawmakers.
   As a continuation of the proposal, the prime minister directed the chief whip of the parliament to initiate a dialogue and the chief whip, as per the direction, had already initiated the dialogue, he said. Bhuiyan also noted that it was part of the policy and tradition of the BNP to welcome any constructive proposal through discussion.
   Sheikh Hasina on March 16 said her party would join a dialogue only if the government accepted in principle the opposition reforms proposal.
   ‘Before any dialogue, the government has to accept in principle the proposals for reforms in the caretaker government provision and the Election Commission,’ she said when talking to journalists at Zia International Airport before her departure for the United States and the United Kingdom on a private visit.

The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, has said the Indo-Bangla relationship holds immense untapped potential and she comes here with a desire to discuss with the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, and other leaders to find ways to fully utilise the dormant prospects for prosperity of the two peoples.
   ‘We are living in a very challenging time. Although both India and Bangladesh have registered impressive economic and social progress recently, our many problems still remain daunting. The problem of poverty and deprivation still stalks our countries. We can overcome these problems only through cooperation in an environment of peace and stability,’ the prime minister said in a statement on her arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
   Khaleda said she would certainly like to utilise her present visit to discuss all issues of relevance to the multi-faceted relations between the two next-door neighbours.
   ‘But equally importantly, it would be my intention to carry forward our sustained engagement in a positive direction so that other major objectives are also realised.’
   The Bangladesh prime minister, who is the current chair of the expanding cooperation bloc SAARC, told her first audience in the Indian capital that she came here with ‘tremendous goodwill of the people of Bangladesh for their Indian brothers and sisters’.
   India and Bangladesh are two close neighbours and their bonds of friendship are deeply rooted in the history. ‘Our friendship has over the years drawn strength from very intimate economic, social and cultural ties and we are indeed keen to further deepen these ties,’ she said.
   The dividing line between Bangladesh and India, drawn during the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947, runs down the middle of many homesteads, croplands, forests, and rivers and water-bodies. There are large numbers of divided families in both the countries, as also in Pakistan—the families cut apart by Hindu-Muslim riots following the partition at the end of colonial British rule.
   The prime minister in her statement, setting the tone of her talks with the Indian leaders, said: ‘Our hopes are that at the end of my visit we shall be able to usher in a new phase in the friendship and cooperation between our two countries.
   ‘During my visit, I look forward to very candid and constructive discussion with our friends in India. I hope that as a result of our discussion, it would be possible for us to create conditions for perceptible improvement in the content of our cooperative relations.’
   Khaleda and Manmohan sit for an important summit today with critical issues of trade deficit, water sharing and security concern on the table as Dhaka and Delhi hope for a direction to remove the longstanding irritants.
   Bangladesh has been pressing for cent-per cent duty-free access of its products to the Indian market and reducing the trade deficit that accounts for over $ 2 billion and striking accords on the sharing of waters of common rivers, including the Teesta.
   Dhaka also seeks a concrete assurance from the New Delhi leadership that none of its schemes, like the river-linking project and the Tipaimukh barrage, would harm Bangladesh’s interests since it is a ‘life-and-death question’ for the Bangladeshis.
   India’s major concern centres on insurgents from its northeastern region, who, New Delhi believes, use Bangladesh as their sanctuary and training ground. Although Bangladesh all along has denied this allegation, India keeps pressure on for dismantling the perceived camps.
   Besides, non-demarcation of 6.5kms along the common border, exchange of enclaves and adverse possessed lands remain unsolved over the decades, triggering frequent border skirmishes between BSF and BDR. Bangladesh has long requested India to ratify the Mujib-Indira Land Boundary Agreement 1974 since the signing of the deal to maintain a peaceful border.
   Earlier, a red carpet was rolled out to receive the Bangladesh prime minister as she arrived here Monday afternoon to begin a three-day state visit at the invitation of the Indian premier, Manmohan Singh.
   The Indian state minister for external affairs, E Ahamad, warmly received the prime minister after a special flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport at 3:30pm.
   A ceremonial reception will be accorded to her at the Rastrapati Bhaban this morning as per protocol of the Indian government.
   On her arrival, Khaleda drove in a ceremonial motorcade to Maurya Sheraton Hotel where she would be staying during her India tour, reckoned with much importance in both the capitals in the present perspective of regional and international affairs.
   The prime minister and her entourage left Dhaka by a special Biman flight at 13:45pm, 45 minutes behind the schedule, with a number of major bilateral issues high on the agenda of her talks with Indian leaders.
   This is Khaleda’s maiden visit to India as prime minister in the present term after assuming power in October 2001.
   With entire gamut of issues governing relationship between the two next-door neighbours on the agenda, the prime minister is here leading a 48-member official entourage. A 40-strong business delegation is also accompanying the prime minister.
   The finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, the foreign minister, M Morshed Khan, and adviser of the foreign affairs, Reaz Rahman, are on the entourage.

The Indian government has said the visit of prime minister, Khaleda Zia, was a testimony to the importance that both countries attach to bilateral relations.
   In a brief statement issued by the external affairs ministry on Monday, it said the visit might be seen in the context of the policy of sustained and continuous high-level engagement that the government of India had instituted with Bangladesh.
   ‘Bangladesh is a close and friendly neighbour and the visit is testimony to the importance that both countries attach to bilateral relations,’ the statement said.
   The statement said the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, had met the Bangladesh premier in November last year in Dhaka on the sidelines of the SAARC summit.
   It said the Bangladesh prime minister would meet the prime minister and discuss the ‘entire gamut of our bilateral relations.’

Agreements on preferential trade and visa procedures for businesspeople are likely to be signed during the fifth summit of the Developing Eight between May 10 and 13 in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, according to sources in the foreign ministry.
   The agreements envisage strengthened economic partnership and enhanced trade among member countries through reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, and simplified visa procedures for businesspeople to ensure better market access of products, the sources added.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, will attend the summit, which will follow the meeting of the D8 council of foreign ministers.
   Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are members of the forum, which was established on June 1997 in Istanbul.
   The summit of the D8 is held every other year and venue changes in alphabetical order. The fourth summit was held in Tehran in February 2004.
   ‘The objectives of the agreement are to foster, support and boost mutual trade based on common principles, and to reinforce economic cooperation among the member states through the elimination of non-tariff barriers, reduction of tariffs and exchange of concessions,’ reads the draft agreement.
   The imported products of the contracting parties will be accorded national treatment in respect of laws, regulations and requirements affecting their sale, purchase, transportation, distribution or use, says the draft.
   ‘Upon entry into force of the agreement, no para-tariff charges shall be introduced among the contracting parties without the approval of the supervisory committee,’ the draft reads.
   ‘…no prohibitions or restrictions other than tariffs shall be applied by any contracting party by means of quotas, other quantitative restrictions, import licensing or other restrictive measures on imports from the contracting parties within two years of the entry into force of the agreement.’
   Any kind of para-tariff, non-tariff, counter-veiling, anti-dumping or safeguard duties will only be imposed, if the supervisory committee, which will comprise representatives from the member countries, fails to resolve such trade disputes, says the draft agreement.
   The committee will first meet within six months of the entry into force of the agreement.
   ‘Decision of the SC shall be made by consensus where possible. In case, the consensus is not reached, the SC shall decide by a two-thirds majority of total votes. Recommendations may be made by a simple majority of total votes,’ the draft reads.
   Products contained in the national schedules of concessions shall be eligible for preferential treatment, says the draft on rules of origin. The size of intra-trade volume between the member countries in 2000 was to the tune of $310 million.
   The volume can increase as much as tenfold once the agreement is put in place, said a high official in the commerce ministry.
   The D-8 has so far failed to achieve any significant progress in trade and investment despite tremendous potential, mainly because of the absence of any trade agreement, he added.
   ‘Mutual agreements on customs, taxation, investment, etc could be signed later among the members, once the proposed preferential trade agreement is signed during the summit,’ a high official in the foreign ministry told New Age.
   As far as the agreement on visa procedure is concerned, officials said businesspeople of the member countries, once attested by their respective apex trade bodies and foreign ministries, will obtain visa in exchange for token fees.
   ‘Our objective is to simplify visa procedures and ensure visa for genuine businesspeople to facilitate trade and investment among member countries,’ a high official in the foreign ministry told New Age.
   A working group meeting on industrialisation and high profile meeting of central bank officials of the D8 will also take place prior to the summit, he said.

Bangladesh took a 2-0 lead in the banglalink tiger cup one-day series after they recorded a nine-wicket victory over Kenya at the Khulna Divisional Stadium on Monday.
   Needing just 162 runs for victory, the Tigers cruised to the target in just 23.4 overs much to the delight of the packed local crowd, which was also watching its first-ever one-day international at the country’s fifth newest venue.
   Dashing middle-order batsman Aftab Ahmed was unbeaten on 59 off just 31 balls displaying an array of amazing strokes that featured nine boundaries and two sixes, both in the same over off leg-spinner Colins Obuya. His half-century coming in only 24 deliveries.
   Fresh from his 62 in the previous match, Aftab overshadowed opener Javed Omar, who also made a useful unbeaten 64 facing 79 balls. His innings also included 11 graceful boundaries. The highlight of the stand was the 23 runs they plundered off Obuya in the 19th over.
   The victory on Monday was the biggest ever win for Bangladesh in terms of wickets. The Tigers, however, had a chance to win by a maximum margin had Shahriar Nafees (28) not thrown his wicket after adding 73 runs for the opening stand.
   Peter Ongondo was the only Kenyan bowler to return with a wicket with David Obuya taking a sharp catch at cover.
   Earlier, the Bangladesh bowlers gave the Kenyans no chance as wickets fell at regular intervals after Thomas Odoyo, who led the visitors in the absence of Steve Tikolo, who was unwell, decided to bat.
   After left-arm seamer Syed Rasel made the first breakthrough in only the second over, the Kenyans never recovered. Rasel finished with career-best 3-28 that also earned him the Tiger-of-the-match award.
   Mashrafee-bin-Mortaza and Abdur Razzak shared four wickets while Mohammad Rafique and Alok Kapali claimed one each.
   Khaled Mashud will remember the game after he became the 18th wicketkeeper to achieve 100 dismissals in the instant version of the game. The long-serving Rajshahi stumper took a diving catch to get rid of Jimmy Kamande. His 100 dismissals include 73 catches and 27 stumpings.
   Both sides now travel to Dhaka to play the final two matches of the series on March 23 and 25 at the Narayanganj’s Fatullah Cricket Stadium.

The Chittagong City Corporation mayor, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, said on Monday that the government move to hand over the operation and management of the New Mooring Container Terminal to private operators was in contradiction with the Chittagong Port Act.
   ‘The move to hand over the operation and management [of the terminal] to private operators is not only a threat to the country’s sovereignty but also contradictory to the port act and port working regulations,’ he said when exchanging views with senior journalists at the National Press Club.
   He also demanded punishment to the ‘mafia gang’, which had failed to operate the principal maritime port in the country properly and was now trying to introduce private-sector operation and management.
   According to the Chittagong Port Act 1887 (Bengal Act IV of 1887) and the Chittagong Port Working Regulations (Cargo and Container) 2001, the Chittagong Port Authority is only empowered to conduct port activities, said Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
   ‘The existing law is more acceptable to the people; therefore, any move by any mafia gang to change the law will not be tolerated,’ he said.
   He added that he would not hesitate to make any decision, along with the people, that would help protect the port.
   He cited the biggest ever arms haul in the country at the private jetty of the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited and said handover of the terminal’s operations and management to private operators could pose a national security threat.
   In support of his claim, he referred to the recent decision of the United States not to privatise operations of six ports in view of national security.
   ‘When the image of the port was being tarnished abroad because of the lack of adequate handling facilities and modern equipment, the port authorities submitted a proposal to set up the Tk 702-crore terminal by its own fund to the ministry,’ he said. ‘The ministry decided in 1999 to set up the terminal, to be operated by the CPA manpower.’
   He claimed that he had to wage a popular movement to force the government into accepting the CPA proposal.
   The port authorities earn 85 per cent of its total earning through container and cargo handling, and the port will become dysfunctional if the sector is handed to private operators, said Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
   ‘Only Chittagong and Singapore are the natural ebb tidal flow ports in South and Southeast Asia and the operational charge at these ports is much more cheaper than other ports in the region,’ he said. ‘However, the mafia gang has turned the port costlier through various irregularities.’
   Mohiuddin Chowdhury said privatisation was not the solution and there should instead be steps to uproot corruption to increase the efficiency of the port.
   He claimed that he had some specific short-, mid- and long-term plans to increase the port efficiency and that its efficiency would increase fivefold if the government either allowed him to execute or itself executed the plans.
   Most of the senior journalists and leaders of different political parties and labour organisations expressed their solidarity with the mayor’s move and opposed the government decision to hand over the key port installation to the private sector.
   Reazuddin Ahmed, president of the National Press Club and editor of the News Today, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, president of a faction of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists and editor of the Bangladesh Observer, Bazlur Rahman, editor of Sangbad, AMM Bahauddin, editor of Inqilab, Shyamal Datta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj, Rahat Khan, acting editor of Ittefaq, Moinuddin Khan Badal, executive president of a faction of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Saifuddin Khan of Ganatantrik Party, Shah Alam of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, and leaders of the Dock Bandar Sramik Union, Stevedores Association and 22 organisations of the port were present.

A number of senior journalists of the country on Monday opposed the government’s move to hand over the operation and management of the New Mooring container terminal at the Chittagong port to the private sector.
   The journalists, including editors of different national dailies, expressed their solidarity with the ongoing movement spearheaded by the mayor of Chittagong city corporation, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, to resist the government’s move considering the security and sovereignty of the country.
   They urged the mayor to wage a campaign simultaneously for increasing the efficiency of the country’s principal maritime port.
   They expressed the views in a meeting with the Chittagong mayor, who is now in the capital, at the national press club.
   Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of The Bangladesh Observer, also president of a faction of Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, Reazuddin Ahmed, editor of News Today, Bazlur Rahman, editor of the daily Sangbad, AMM Bahauddin, editor of the daily Inqilab, Symol Dutta, editor of Bhorer Kagoj and Rahat Khan, acting editor of the daily Ittefaq, among others, expressed their solidarity with the mayor’s demands.

The third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq dawned on Monday with a spate of roadside bombs around the country that claimed 11 lives.
   A bomb ripped through a patrol of police commandos in the middle class Baghdad neighbourhood of Karrada, killing two commandos and two civilian bystanders, and injuring three other commandos, police said.
   South of Baghdad, near the town of Musayyib, another roadside bomb killed a team of four Iraqis charged with protecting infrastructure.
   A bomb on the road between the northern city of Kirkuk and nearby Hawija destroyed a car carrying three Iraqis. Police said the bodies were so badly burned they have yet to be identified.
   US and Iraqi forces have mobilized to avert a possible Sunni extremist attack that could trigger a new round of communal violence as hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims descended on the shrine city of Karbala for a major ceremony coinciding with the anniversary.
   Meanwhile, thousands of demonstrators across the world have denounced the US-led war in Iraq.
   From Europe to Asia and the Americas, protestors demanded the United States end its military occupation, while US president George W Bush was the target of insults ranging from ‘coward’ to ‘terrorist’.
   About 10,000 anti-war protesters in Portland took nearly an hour to pass through downtown streets Sunday, some carrying signs that said ‘Impeach the Evildoer.’ No arrests were made.
   In Louisiana, 200 war veterans, hurricane survivors and others gathered Sunday at the Chalmette National Cemetery to protest how the war had hurt the country’s ability to help the Gulf Coast recover from last year’s hurricanes.
   About 200 joined a march Sunday down New York’s Fifth Avenue, with signs including: ‘Resist the War — Don’t enlist.’ Nineteen were given summonses for disorderly conduct and released, police said. Saturday’s rally drew more than 1,000 people.
   Some 4,000 people marched in central Madrid shouting and waving banners to demand an end to the occupation on Sunday.
   Crowds gathered outside the Spanish foreign ministry in a protest organized by a group of 30 left-wing social and political groups.
   In Brussels some 5,000 people joined a demonstration in front of the US embassy, according to the coalition of anti-war groups that organized the protest. Police put attendance at 2,000.
   In Malaysia, 600 activists held a noisy but peaceful protest outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
   In Cuba, musicians gave concerts across the communist-led island as part of anti-war protests, while the official press denounced US bombings in Iraq as a ‘warning and renewed threat’ against countries refusing to toe the US line.
   The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, marked the occasion with a litany of insults against Bush, calling him a ‘coward, murderer, genocidal, alcoholic, drunk, immoral -- you are the worst, Mr. Danger, you are sick, and I know so personally.’
   In the United States sentiment has been growing in favour of a withdrawal of US troops, with more than 500 protests scheduled this weekend opposing the US military presence in Iraq.

Politicians and civil society leaders on Monday accused each other of letting people down before agreeing that they should make coordinated efforts to uphold the political and economic interest of the people.
   ‘A combined breakthrough in politics as well as in economy has become uncertain, as we have failed to make a political decision to improve the [existing] chaotic and futile political culture,’ said Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman, a former chief advisor to the caretaker government, when addressing a dialogue on the upcoming general elections.
   The Centre for Policy Dialogue, Prothom Alo and the Daily Star organised the dialogue on ‘National Elections 2007 – Civil Society Initiative for Accountable Development Effort’ in the capital city.
   Habibur Rahman, who was chief guest at the dialogue, blamed both the BNP and the Awami League for not implementing some of their key election pledges, including the separation of the judiciary, elimination of corruption and strengthening of local governments.
   ‘Who will make them accountable for making the parliament ineffective and limiting their parliamentary duties to walkouts over the last one and a half decade?’ he asked.
   The former chief justice of the Supreme Court said anthropologists would find Bangladesh an attractive subject of research on how nepotism and quasi-monarchic system spread in society.
   He called for an end to political bickering and urged members of civil society, ‘an intangible entity’ in his consideration, play a role in overcoming the situation.
   Habibur Rahman was critical of the ‘so-called encounter and crossfire’ and said such killings ‘give godfathers [patrons] of criminals a sense of relief’.
   He took a veiled swipe at the decision to increase the service age for chief justice of the Supreme Court, saying it had made the electoral process questionable.
   The law, justice and parliamentary affairs minister, Moudud Ahmed, recalled the ‘glorious role’ of the politicians.
   ‘The country would not have won independence, if the politicians had not played their due role,’ he said.
   Moudud affirmed his support for the two-party system and said the prevailing BNP-AL standoff was temporary.
   ‘We should not do any such thing that may hinder the democratic system,’ he said. ‘It will be better if we can improve the political culture by accepting the result of the elections and strengthening the parliament by joining its sessions.’
   Matia Chowdhury, a presidium member of the Awami League, said the restoration of democracy in 1991 and increased participation of women in local governments was possible because of appropriate political decisions.
   ‘We should be aware as not to pave the way for extra-political forces by incessantly criticising politicians,’ she warned. ‘Criminals, black money holders and conspirators will be successful, if politicians fail.’
   The Gana Forum president, Dr Kamal Hossain, said the constitution would remain a piece of paper unless a healthy political culture was created.
   Suranjit Sengupta of the Awami League criticised members of civil society for maintaining silence when the country faced crisis.
   ‘It is not wise to expect that only politicians will strengthen democracy and wake up from slumber six months before the elections,’ he said. ‘Go to the grassroots and make the people aware.’
   The CPD executive director, Debapriya Bhattacharya, criticised the political parties for defying the laws of the land. ‘None of the political parties submitted report on electoral expenditures after the 2001 election. How can these parties, which failed to ensure accountability to maintain their party accounts, ensure accountability of the state exchequer?’
   The Grameen Bank managing director, Muhammad Yunus, suggested the launching of a ‘movement for suitable candidates’ before the elections. ‘The political situation will be more chaotic and violent, if corrupt and inept aspirants are elected to the parliament.’
   Iqbal Mahmud, a former vice-chancellor of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, questioned, ‘Can we be assured that the parties, who will lose in the upcoming election, will accept the result?’
   Bishwa Sahitya Kendra president Abdullah Abu Sayeed said the country needed a vigilant civil society to keep the government active.
   The Daily Star editor, Mahfuz Anam, criticised both the ruling and opposition parties. ‘After winning elections, the politicians think that they have got a lease of the country and will do whatever they wish.’
   He also criticised members of civil society, who, in his words, were ‘extra-cautious’. ‘Why don’t you protest against anomalies? It is a continuous struggle.’
   The Prothom Alo editor, Matiur Rahman, said neither the Awami League nor the BNP could accept a free and impartial press.
   He also criticised the government for increasing taxes on newsprint import. ‘It was done to hinder expansion of the newspaper industry. Publishing news against irregularities, corruption, and partisan activates and loan defaulters will be hindered if expansion of the press is blocked.’
   The editors demanded to enact a law to ensure free flow of information.
   Rehman Sobhan suggested that a foolproof system should be created to ensure ‘integrity of the forthcoming elections’ for a ‘more just, more inclusive’ society.
   Former finance minister M Saiduzzaman, BNP lawmaker Mushfuqur Rahman, former MCCI president Laila Rahman Kabir, Professor Jamal Nazrul Islamof Chittagong University, Professor Mohammad Zafar Iqbal of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology and Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman also spoke.

A 24-member citizens’ group was formed on Monday for preparing a national manifesto keeping the upcoming parliamentary election in view.
   The group was formed at a dialogue, on ‘National election 2007: Civil society initiative for accountable development efforts’, organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Prothom Alo and The Daily Star in in the city.
   The CPD chairman, professor Rehman Sobhan was made convenor of the group.
   The members of the group are: BRAC chairperson, Fazle Hasan Abed, Grameen Bank managing director, Muhammad Yunus, former advisors to the caretaker government, Wahiduddin Mahmud, Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Moinul Hossain Chowdhury, ASM Shahjahan, former foreign secretary Abul Ahsan, chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh, Samson H Chowdhury, Apex Tannery chairman, Syed Manzur Elahi, Rajshahi University professor, Hasan Azizul Huq, Shahjalal Science and Technology University professor, Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, former attorney general, Mahmudul Islam, Dhaka University professors Anisuzzaman and Mahmuda Islam, Chittagong University professor, Jamal Nazrul Islam, former MCCI president, Laila Rahman Kabir, former BUET vice-chancellor, Iqbal Mahmud, Transcom Group managing director, Latifur Rahman, former finance minister, M Syeduzzaman and Chakma circle chief, Raja Devasish Roy.
   The CPD executive director, Debapriya Bhattacharya is the member- secretary of the group.
   ‘The group will work for preparing a national manifesto, after holding consultation meetings across the country before the upcoming parliament election,’ Debapriya Bhattacharya said at the function. The group will also contribute in preparing election manifestos of the major political parties, he said.
   ‘We will find out a way to make the manifestos as legally executable agreements between the people and the political parties,’ he added.

Niko Resources, a Canada-based oil company, on Monday told Petrobangla that it would not sign a Gas Purchase and Sales Agreement for Feni gas field, unless the government gave it permission to drill three more exploration wells — one in Tengratila and two in Feni.
   The Niko officials at a meeting with Petrobangla, also demanded that Petrobangla approve the costs of Niko’s illegal gas processing plant, 19-kilometre pipeline and land acquired by the oil company in Tengratila.
   Niko also suggested a five-year agreement for Feni gas field at $1.75 per unit — 1000 cubic feet of gas — but said the price would be effective only until October 2007, said sources.
   The company, which operates the Feni field, earlier, submitted a draft agreement to Petrobangla. Niko’s draft stipulated that the price would be re-fixed in consultation between the seller and buyer from November 2007.
   A high official of Petrobangla, however, said they would not accept any timeframe or any condition for the agreement.
   ‘The [agreement] will have to be from the beginning to end of the production from the field,’ he said. The official said that Niko has been pressuring the government in fixing gas price as it wants to legalise its illegal activities in the Tengratila gas field, which is also operated by Niko.

The Dhaka University has withdrawn an expulsion order against language movement hero, Oli Ahad after 58 years.
   An ailing Oli Ahad, who is in the twilight years of his life, was a bit surprised when he came to know about the withdrawal of the expulsion order on Monday.
   Oli Ahad was expelled from the university on March 29, 1948 for protesting against the arrogant remarks of the then governor general of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, that‘Urdu, and only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan.’
   He, along with some other students yelled ‘no, no’ in protest that sparked off an historic movement for making Bangla a state-language of the new born nation and ultimately succeeded with the supreme sacrifice of Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar and Shafiur on February 21, 1952.
   The Dhaka University authorities on Monday handed over a letter to Oli Ahad acknowledging the withdrawal of the expulsion order after 58 years.
   The vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, called on Oli Ahad along with a university delegation to inform him about the withdrawal. The pro-vice-chancellor AFM Yusuf Haider, syndicate members Sadeq Khan, Gias Kamal Chowdhury, and Sadeka Halim were in the delegation.
   The syndicate in its latest meeting withdrew the expulsion order after the prime ministers’ office requested the university authorities to withdraw the expulsion of the language hero.
   An emotion-choked Oli Ahad thanked the university authorities for the belated decision.

Power outages continued to play merry hell with the life of the people in the capital and across the country on Monday as half of the 450MW Meghnaghat power plant remained shut for scheduled maintenance since Thursday night.
   The capital experienced 300MW load shedding in the evening pick hours out of 963 MW load shedding in the country on Monday.
   Officials of the Power Development Board said the total power generation was around 3137MW during the evening peak hours on the day against a demand for 4,000MW while the Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority gets 1,200MW during the evening pick hours against a demand for 1,500MW.
   0PDB officials said the total power generation was around 3137 MW during the evening peak hours on Saturday as the Power Development Board got only 225MW of power from the Meghnaghat plant after the closure of half of its units.
   However, a 210MW unit of Ghorashal power plant resumed production on Monday while the 80MW unit of Tongi plant which tripped a few days back, remained out of operation.
   PDB sources said the closed units of Meghnaghat plant would resume operation in a day or two, but then the rest of its units would be shut for maintenance. Full production from the plant is expected in four days.

The operations commander of the banned Islamist organisation Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, is fit for interrogation and may be produced before the court of a first class magistrate in Mymensingh today.
   The police will seek his remand in respect of the first-ever sedition case, filed by the Muktagachha police station on March 16, against him and six top leaders of Jamaatul Mujahideen, including its chief Shaikh Abdur Rahman.
   If the magistrate grants the prayer for remand, Bangla Bhai will be taken to the Uttara headquarters of the first Rapid Action Battalion for interrogation about the countrywide series of bombings on August 17, 2005 and subsequent suicide attacks. Investigators will put interrogate him in the presence of Abdur Rahman, Ataur Rahman Sunny, military operations commander of Jamaatul Mujahideen, Abdul Awal, its northern region commander, and Mufti Abdul Hannan, a leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islam. ‘Hopefully, we will take him to Mymensingh tomorrow, as doctors have given the go ahead upon examinations of his health,’ said Lieutenant Colonel Gulzar Uddin Ahmed, director of the RAB intelligence, when talking to New Age on Monday night.
   Bangla Bhai has been under treatment at the Bangladesh Rifles Hospital at Peelkhan in the capital Dhaka since his arrest, along with an associate, on March 6 from a village in Muktagachha after a brief encounter with security forces.
   The Criminal Investigation Department was on Monday assigned to carry out investigations in the sedition case against the militants. Special superintendent Ruhul Amin has been made the supervisor of the case. The officer-in-charge of the Muktagachha Police Station, Shaikh Mahmudur Rahman, who was assigned by the court to investigate the sedition charge, will hand over the case docket to Golam Mostafa, an assistant superintendent of the department, today.
   The other accused in the case are Sunny, Abdul Awal, Hafez Mahmud, Salahuddin alias Saleheen and Khaled Saifullah, all members of majlish-e-shura or highest policymaking body of Jamaatul Mujahideen.
   They have been charged with carrying out subversive activities, challenging the government, the state, the constitution and the current democratic system through bomb attacks in courthouses and public places.
   In the first information report, the officer-in-charge of the Muktagachha police claimed that the accused had orchestrated the August 17 and subsequent bomb attacks, killing 30 persons, including judges, cops and lawyers, and injuring nearly hundred, including journalists. He said Abdur Rahman, Bangla Bhai and the other accused had a secret meeting at Syedgram in Muktagachha sometime between June and July 2005 to plot the August 17 bombings.
   The investigation officers of the cases filed in connection with the August 17 and subsequent bombings are now interrogating Abdur Rahman, now on a second 10-day remand. ‘The officers are coming from different police stations and interrogating him one after another,’ said Gulzar. ‘The officer-in-charge of the Netrakona police, Samiul Alam, has already completed the interrogation of Abdur Rahman in connection with the December 8 suicide attack in Netrakona town.’

Salahuddin, a fugitive top operative of the banned Islamist outfit, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, supervised the deadly suicide bomb attack in Netrakona on December 8, 2005 that killed eight people and injured over 50.
   This was disclosed by the JMB chief, Shaikh Abdur Rahman during interrogation by the Netrakona police at the headquarters of Rapid Action Battalion-1 in the capital recently.
   ‘The December 8 bomb blast in Netrakona was our special operation and the majlish-e shura (highest policy-making body) member, Salahuddin was in charge of the operation,’ Rahman told the police.
   The officer-in-charge of Netrakona police station, Samiul Alam, and sub-inspector Alauddin, who is also the investigation officer of two cases filed in connection with the December 8 blast, interrogated Rahman in Dhaka on March 14 showing the JMB supremo as the main accused in the cases.
   ‘During the five-hour quizzing, we extracted some vital pieces of information about the December 8 bomb attack in Netrakona and it will be helpful to prepare charge sheet in the two cases’, Samiul Alam said.
   Abdur Rahman reportedly told interrogators that after the August 17 countrywide bomb blasts, the Netrakona police had arrested JMB operative, Sanaullah, on October 11 and Kawsar Alam Sumon on October 13 from Gouripur in Mymensingh.
   ‘Following their arrest, we asked the Netrakona police superintendent over phone to release Sanaullah and Sumon.’ But as the two were not released, the JMB decided to strike in Netrakona,’ the OC told reporters quoting Rahman.
   ‘We kept it in mind that if we mount bomb attack in the area of state minister for home, the people will see the strength of JMB,’ Rahman told the police terming it as their special operation, the police said.
   Rahman admitted that he had sent two well-trained members of JMB’s suicide squad to strike in Netrakona, but did not name the attackers.
   ‘One of them planted the first bomb, but it was seized by the police who defused it later while the other member of the suicide squad set off the second bomb that killed eight people and injured over 50,’ the police quoted Rahman as saying.
   OC Samiul said they would also interrogate Bangla Bhai after his recovers from the injury that he had sustained during his capture by the RAB from Rampur village under Muktagachha upazila in Mymensingh on March 6.
   Samiul Alam said that ‘Mawa’ under Gouripur upazila in Mymensingh was the main den of JMB in greater Mymensingh and over 200 members of the outfit, led by Maulana Abdur Razzak, had been running their activities from the area.
   ‘I conducted two operations to catch JMB members and arrested Sanaullah and Sumon from there, but due to non-cooperation of Gouripur police, I failed to catch more JMB militants,’ Samiul Alam said.
   New Age Mymensingh correspondent reports that the RAB-9 personnel arrested a JMB activist, Fazar Ali, from a village in Jamalpur early Monday and seized some books on jihad from his possession. He was being questioned by the battalion.
   Meanwhile, the sedition case filed against the top JMB men has been handed over to the criminal investigation department upon the directives of the police headquarters.

The additional attorney general, Abdur Rezzaque Khan, resigned on Monday following a newspaper report on ‘dispute’ over his retirement age.
   ‘I’ve submitted my resignation letter to the office of the Attorney General, as I feel it would not be proper to continue in the post after expiry of the retirement age,’ Rezzaque told the news agency.
   According to the newspaper report, the additional attorney general has already crossed 69 years.
   But it is not clear whether an advocate getting appointment as government attorney shall retire from service after reaching the age of 67 like a judge of the Supreme Court, legal experts said. There is no such provision in the Bangladesh Law Officers Order, they added.
   The government brought Rezzaque, a former Dhaka district public prosecutor, as one of the additional attorneys-general on February 2, 2002 for a period of five years after amending the Bangladesh Law Officers Order, 1972.

Lawmakers of the ruling BNP and the main opposition Awami League locked in an animated debate over the recent flare-up at the Eden University College during a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry at Sangsad Bhaban on Monday.
   The opposition lawmakers demanded a parliamentary probe into allegations of assault on resident students during a demonstration against forcible occupation of seats of the halls of residence of the college by pro-BNP elements.
   The BNP lawmakers opposed the demand and said the previous government of the Awami League had not taken any action in respect of a similar incident at the college during its tenure.
   Atiur Rahman of the Awami League touched off the debate when he urged the chairman of the committee to form a parliamentary committee to probe the incident. His request ran into opposition from the BNP lawmakers as well as the education minister.
   The AL lawmaker argued that the withdrawal of the principal was not enough to restore normalcy at the college and demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the illegal trading of seats at the halls, said sources present in the meeting.
   He also accused local BNP lawmaker Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu of masterminding the incident and demanded action against him and 11 former leaders of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student front of the ruling BNP, for their involvement in seat trading.
   BNP lawmaker Abu Yousuf Khalilur Rahman said a similar incident had taken place during the tenure of the previous AL government when Hajji Selim and 17 criminals, wearing veils, entered the halls and attacked students.
   The government did not take any action against the criminals, he said.
   The education minister, M Osman Farruk, said the ministry had already formed a committee to probe the incident, so there was no necessity to form a parliamentary enquiry committee.
   His statement led to the rejection of the proposal of AL lawmakers by the chairman of the committee, Shamsul Islam Pramanik, said the sources.
   ‘As the minister assured the committee of action against the criminals on the basis of a report of the ministerial enquiry committee, we did not form any committee,’ Pramanik told journalists after the meeting.
   If the committee, formed by the ministry, failed to ensure proper investigation, the standing committee would consider the formation of a parliamentary committee, he added.
   ‘I also requested the AL lawmaker to work towards the withdrawal of a student strike on March 22, called by student wings of the opposition parties, in protest against the Eden College incident,’ he said.
   Atiur Rahman told journalists that he had requested the chairman to form a parliamentary probe committee to ensure fair investigation but his request had been turned down. ‘If the government fails to take legal action against the criminals, the ongoing movement will be intensified further.’
   Some former JCD leaders on March 14 beat up general students of the college, who had been agitating against the college administration’s decision to allot dormitory seats to non-students since March 8.
   The meeting also discussed on academic and administrative activities of the Kushtia Islami University and progress of the prior decisions, including the appointment of third teacher in degree colleges and a permanent legal advisor in the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, the sources said.

Mobile phone operators have slammed the new guidelines for ‘lawful interception’ saying it was not clear to them what the government actually wanted through such measures.
   ‘The guideline is vague and it is not clear to us what the government actually wants,’ said Lars P Reichelt, chief executive officer of Banglalink on Monday.
   Lars said that the operators were ready to cooperate with the government on eavesdropping issues, but it must be rational and should not be a burden for the operators.
   The Bangladesh Telecommuni-cation Regulatory Commission on March 16 issued a guideline asking mobile phone operators to record all conversations as well as to archive all texts and multimedia messages and to make them available to the government whenever it asked for.
   It also asked them to complete the re-registration process of their existing subscribers within two months of issuing the directive to help the intelligence identify suspected criminals and their locations.
   The operators said that the new guidelines asking them to archive all SMS, MMS and call contents was absurd and impractical which would require huge amount of money and that was outside their investment plans.
   ‘It’s an absurd idea to keep records of subscribers’ call contents for unlimited period,’ said a top official of leading mobile phone operators GrameenPhone.
   ‘It is possible to archive the text message and call content for an unlimited period,’ but the cost would be very very high,’ said Lars adding that only installation of tele-tapping equipment would cost around $100 million for the operators.
   Mobile phone operators, however, said they were reviewing the guidelines and would finalise a common strategy to discuss the issue in details with the telecom watchdog.
   ‘We are reviewing the guideline and will approach the regulator for a dialogue for an amicable solution to the issue,’ said Lars, CEO of the third largest mobile phone operator in the country with about 1.5 million customers.
   Earlier, the regulatory commission held a series of meetings with mobile operators in January where the commission asked the operators to re-register their existing subscribers through BTRC prescribed forms and also to link their respective networks with the government’s recording facilities to help call tapping by the intelligence.
   But the new guideline wants the operators to do the job of recording the calls, SMS and MMS of over 11 million customers at their own cost and the operators are also worried about the privacy of their clients.
   ‘It will go against the privacy of the customers,’ said an official of AkTel.

The radical Islamist movement Hamas was facing the challenge of solo government Monday after presenting a cabinet list to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas notable by its absence of other parties.
   For an organisation that set itself the task of creating a national coalition, has minimal experience in running local authorities and none in running a domestic government, the task before Hamas is enormous.
   Any difficulties in managing the domestic agenda are likely to be compounded by the threat of international isolation and slashed foreign aid on top of worsening humanitarian situations in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
   Hamas prime minister designate Ismail Haniya presented the 24-member list to Abbas late Sunday, after failing to persuade other parliamentary factions to jump on board following the group’s overwhelming election win in January.
   Hamas’s control of the top cabinet jobs—Mahmud Zahar as foreign minister, Said Siam to the interior ministry and Omar Abdul Razeq as minister of finance—could see the West act on threats to slash funding to the Palestinians.
   The United States and European Union have both levelled such threats unless Hamas recognises Israel and commits itself to non-violence.
   Yet in the government programme submitted to Abbas, Hamas stopped short of recognising past agreements with Israel or various peace initiatives, saying only it would ‘address them with a great sense of responsibility’.
   The manifesto proclaimed ‘resistance in all its forms is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people to end the occupation and recover their rights’.
   In response, the EU’s Austrian presidency warned that Hamas stood at a ‘crossroads’, as foreign ministers met to discuss the new cabinet.
   ‘Hamas will have to decide which road to take, how to take the responsibility that is coming upon it now,’ Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik told reporters.

Different left-leaning political parties and organisations on Monday staged demonstrations in the capital city demanding immediate withdrawal of the Anglo-American forces from war-torn Iraq.
   Leaders and activists of the political parties and organisations held the demonstrations to mark the third anniversary of Iraq invasion. The US in alliance with Britain invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003.
   The leaders at separate rallies held at the city’s Muktangan also demanded trial of US president George Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair in international court for the killings of thousands of innocent people in Iraq.
   The Iraqi people put up a strong resistance to the occupation forces and ultimately they would win, the left leaders said.
   The political parties and organisations include Left Democratic Front, a combine of the left political parties, Ganamukti O Jatiya Sampad Rakkha Sammilita Andolan, Panch Bam Dal, Palestine Iraq Solidarity Council, Jatiya Mukti Council, Gana Sanskriti Front, Bangladesh Shramajibi Kendra, Nagarik Sanghati, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Workers Party of Bangladesh, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu).
   The CPB president Monzurul Ahsan Khan, general secretary Mujahidul Islam Selim, Workers Party politburo member Haider Akbar Khan Rano, BSD convener Khalequzzaman, Panch Bam Dal coordinator Tipu Biswas, and JSD executive president Moinuddin Khan Badal, and general secretary Syed Zafar Sajjad, among others, addressed the rallies.

The Eden College students on Monday demanded that the immediate past principal, Firoza Begum, should be punished for making derogatory remarks about the students, and patronising the Chhatra Dal activists in the attack on them.
   After withdrawal of the principal on Sunday, the students announced fresh programmes, including a human chain in front of the college on March 22, and a student-teacher-guardians’ solidarity rally at the Central Shaheed Minar on March 24 at 4:00pm.
   They also demanded immediate reopening of the hostels and resuming the classes, impartial inquiry into the attack on agitating students, and freeing the hostels from occupiers.
   Meanwhile, vice-principal Jahan-e-Gulshan, also a teacher of political science, took the charge of the acting principal.

A minor boy and his maternal grandmother died in boundary wall collapse at Manikhar village of Tala upazila on Monday.
   Family sources of the victims said Azizur Rahman, 8, and Ayesha Khatun, 45, were sitting beside the wall of neighbour Karim Mallik in the morning. Suddenly the wall collapsed on them leaving them spot death.

An India court Monday rejected demands for action against a lawmaker who put a bounty of 11.5 million dollars on the heads of Danish cartoonists who drew controversial images of the Prophet Mohammed.
   A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by chief justice YK Sabharwal described as ‘unfortunate’ the offer made by Mohammed Yaqoob Qureshi, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh state government, last month.
   The court, however, said it cannot ‘entertain’ such appeals and suggested the petitioner, Vijay Kumar Tiwari, register a criminal complaint with the police against the firebrand Muslim politician.
   Qureshi told a Muslim rally after Friday prayers last month that he would give ‘the avenger’ 510 million rupees (11.5 million dollars) and his weight in gold.
   ‘The money will be paid by the people of Meerut (city),’ said Qureshi, who is the state’s minister in charge of minority affairs and of the annual Hajj pilgrimage which Muslims undertake to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
   The cartoons, drawn by 12 artists, were first published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September and later reprinted in a number of other mainly European dailies. They sparked Muslim protests worldwide.
   Islamic teachings ban any depiction of the prophet.