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The threat of a food crisis looms ahead as the Aman production this year would be 40 per cent lower and production of other crops and vegetables in the country would also suffer a setback if power crisis continues in irrigation areas, a discussion meeting was told on Tuesday.
   ‘It has been said that India is likely to produce 22 per cent less food grain this year while China 26 per cent due to draught. If our food grain production also falls way below the target, a serious food crisis is looming,’ said former secretary Dr Zahurul Karim, who is also an ex-chairman of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, at the discussion.
   ‘Low rainfall has seriously hampered irrigation of Aman fields. Without smooth supply of electricity, cultivation of Aman rice and winter vegetable will be in a grave state,’ he said at the seminar on ‘Bangladesh’s Electricity Sector: Reality and Impact’, organised by the Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad at the National Press Club.
   Referring to the government’s claim that Aman paddy had been cultivated in around 44 lakh hectares of land out of a target of 51 lakh hectares, he said, ‘the reality is that there is no green in almost half of the areas.’
   He said that usually there was no need for irrigation during Aman season because of monsoon, but this year Aman fields badly needed irrigation due to a draught-like situation.
   Karim said that the winter vegetables would also need early irrigation. So smooth power supply has to be ensured in high priority areas till October, he added.
   Professor M Nurul Islam of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology said that the present power crisis resulted from wrong planning. ‘Besides horrific corruption exists in our power sector, especially in distribution sector,’ he said.
   He criticised creation of two divisions under the power, energy and mineral resources ministry. ‘There should be an integration of the divisions for better management of the energy sector,’ he said.
   Professor Islam also criticised ‘whimsical’ tariff rationalisation of power. ‘The Power Development Board sells power at a rate that is lower than the production cost because of the government’s whimsical decision. The power price should be rationalised based on production cost,’ he said.
   The BUP chairman, Kazi Khaliquzzaman Ahmed chaired the meeting, attended by its senior energy expert, Mir Raziuddin Haroon and executive director of the Centre of Environmental and Geographic Information Service, Giasuddin Ahmed, among others.
   Haroon stressed the need for cross-border power trade as India had surplus power in its northeastern region. ‘The cross-border power trade issue has to be settled putting aside political issues.’

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, said there would be no political crisis as the election would be held in time with proposed electoral reforms.
   ‘There is no need for mediation or a third-party intervention… The people are able enough to resolve their problems,’ said Hasina, also leader of opposition in parliament.
   She said the election would be held accordingly after bringing about necessary reforms in the caretaker government system and the Election Commission in line with the opposition demands.
   ‘Free and fair election is impossible under KM Hasan, who was international affairs secretary of the BNP, as he is not neutral,’ she said at a briefing with the members of the Overseas Correspondents’ Association Bangladesh at the Sonargaon Hotel in the afternoon.
   Hasina said there are options in the constitution to find a non-party, neutral caretaker chief and she cited various alternatives provided in the constitution, referring to Article 58 of the constitution.
   ‘We are not afraid of any third force. Election must be held after reforms,’ she said.
   as for deadlock in government-opposition dialogue on reforms, she said the government shut down the door for dialogue by not responding to the opposition’s latest letter.

The parliamentary standing committee on public accounts on Tuesday rejected the probe report of the communications ministry regarding a Tk 13.02 crore tender floated by the Road and Highways department through advertisement in fake newspapers.
   The committee at a meeting reviewed the inquiry report submitted by the ministry on the irregularities in the tender process of R&H’s Barisal zone.
   The committee also formed a three-member parliamentary sub-committee, headed by BNP lawmaker Munjur Kader to probe into the matter and asked the committee to submit a detail report in the next meeting scheduled for September 27, sources said.
   Other members of the committee are- Awami League member Mostafizur Rahman and Jatiya Party member Moshiur Rahman Ranga.
   The parliamentary body blasted the communications ministry for suspending only one of the four officials accused of the tender frauds.
   Earlier, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General found irregularities in the tender process as the authority advertised in fake newspapers and gave work orders to vested groups. It also detected that most of the tenders were floated without issuing any notice.
   The audit objection found that the tender notice was published in only one copy of the daily Jugantar on May 4, 2001 and the New Nation on May 5, 2001 which was not published in other issues of the dailies on the same days.
   ‘The inquiry report was partial and failed to ensure punishment to all the criminals involved,’ the committee chairman Harun-Al- Rashid told New Age after the meeting.
   AL member, Mostafizur Rahman said that the ministry tried to save some high officials of the ministry and conducted the partial inquiry.

The mill workers in Khulna and Jessore announced a series of agitation programmes to push for their 8-point charter of demands, including payment of arrears.
   The workers under the banner of Jute, Yarn, Textile Mill Workers-Employees’ Action Council Khulna-Jessore regional unit announced the programmes at a rally held on the Crescent Jute Mill premises at Khalishpur in the city on Tuesday.
   The programmes include laying siege to the mills on September 6-7 and Khulna regional BJMC office on September 10, bringing out procession on September 11 and indefinite rail-road blockade from September 12.
   Chaired by the council unit convener, Sardar Motahar Uddin, the rally was addressed by Hafizur Rahman Bhuiyan, Mohammad Shah Alam, Jahangir Hossain, Azizur Rahman and Siddiqur Rahman.
   Earlier, the workers of
   eight jute mills in the region launched a month long
   agitation programme on August 1 as an agreement signed between the government and workers on May 28 was not implemented.
   On August 28, the workers withdrew their shutdown programme after the BJMC through fax message assured them of paying the arrears amounting Tk 40 crore within September 7, the workers said adding that they would begin fresh agitation as the BJMC had allocated only Tk 20 crore.

Loans and grants of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and other international financial institutions are counter-productive for Bangladesh.
   Politicians and activists also said the multilateral lending agencies take away more in kickbacks than what they give in loans.
   They made the observations at a dialogue on the political economy of aid and its contingent conditions organised by non-governmental organisation Voice in Dhaka on Tuesday.
   The Workers Party of Bangladesh general secretary, Saiful Huq, said although poverty had reportedly decreased in Bangladesh, inequality continued to increase. ‘It only means that the poorest sections are becoming poorer.’
   Indicating that the trend was due to the conditions set by such lending agencies, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Saiful said the national dependence on foreign funds had decreased remarkably in recent times compared with the situation of even a decade or two ago.
   He referred to the World Bank’s flood action plan that had turned into a disaster and in fact worsened water stagnation.
   Pointing out that the agencies spend only between 20 and 25 per cent on the target group and the rest was spent on logistics and support services, Saiful said it was basically because of this the establishment still hankered after foreign funds. ‘It is easier to embezzle money from those funds.’
   According to a paper by Abul Barakat, general secretary of the Bangladesh Economic Association, that the dialogue presented, only 25 per cent of foreign aid and loans went to the target group, while the rest went to auxiliary and support services.
   Among them 25 per cent of the funds went back to foreign countries through payments for foreign consultants and contractors. Bureaucrats and politicians apparently misappropriated 7 per cent of the foreign funds.
   Golam Mahmud, a central leader of a faction of Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, citing the example of Phulbari said the general people had a heightened awareness of the problems of the system. ‘They know quite well what is good and what is not.’
   He suggested there should be similar movements questioning the conditions tagged with foreign aid.
   Aminur Rasul Babul, head of secretariat for the non-governmental organisation Campaign for Good Governance, said foreign loans were invariably attached to numerous conditions that have and will prove suicidal for Bangladesh.
   He said the conditions were intended to liberalise the essential public services that the government provides. ‘Initiatives are on to gradually liberalise and eventually privatise such essential utilities as water and power supply, railway and even roads and highways.’
   Other speakers at the dialogue pointed out neo-liberal policies, promoted by the lending agencies, have proved suicidal for Bangladesh.
   They referred to propositions such as the closure of Adamjee Jute Mills and the Asian Development Bank’s involvement with Asia Energy for the open-pit coal mine at Phulbari.
   Arup Rahee, executive director of Lokoj, moderated the session.

The six Bangladeshis on UN peacekeeping who were killed in a road accident in Cote d’Ivoire were buried with full military honours in their village homes on Tuesday.
   Their first namaz-e-janazas was held at the Bangladesh Army Stadium earlier in the morning.
   The bodies of five peacekeepers were later sent to their respective village homes in four helicopters and the body of Mohammad Quamruzzaman by road for burial.
   Ministers, lawmakers, the president’s military secretary M Aminul Karim, prime minister’s military secretary AMM Wazed Thakur, army chief Moeen U Ahmed, navy chief M Hasan Ali Khan, assistant air chief (operation and training) SM Ziaur Rahman on behalf of the air force chief, defence secretary Abu M Moniruzzaman Khan, principal staff officer of the Armed Forces M Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, civil and military high officials and a number of Armed Forces personnel attended the janazas.
   After the janaza, the president’s military secretary on behalf of the president, prime minister’s military secretary on behalf of the prime minister, representatives of leader of opposition in parliament, the army and naval chiefs and the assistant air chief placed flowers on the coffins.
   The six Bangladeshi peacekeepers died and 12 others were injured when their military truck overturned in Cote d’Ivoire on August 26.
   The deceased are lance corporal SM Miraj Ahmed of the 20 Field Regiment Artillery, lance corporal Mohammad Abdus Sattar of the 6 Field Regiment Artillery, and solders Abdul Halim, Mohammad Quamruzzaman Khan, Mohammad Shahid Mia and Mohammad Mizanur Rahman
   The New Age correspondent in Jessore said Mizanur Rahman, 24 Field Regiment Artillery was buried with full military honours in his family graveyard at Bhekutia at noon.
   His body was carried in a helicopter to the Jessore Cantonment and then taken to his village home by road at 10:15am.
   The Jessore Cantonment general officer commanding Major General Sharif Uddin and high military officials were present during the funeral. He was buried in the Sheikhpara graveyard beside his mother’s with a three-gun salute. Bugle sounded the Last Post at the time.
   When the body of Mizanur Rahman, son of retired naik Manu Mia reached his village home, his wife, Parvin, and his daughters Sharmin, 7, and Sumaya, 5, burst into tears.
   The correspondent in Chapainawabganj reported that the body of lance corporal Abdus Sattar was taken to his residence at Dariapur in Chapainawabganj in the morning.
   An air force helicopter, carrying his body, landed at Chapainawabganj sadar upazila at 10:50am. A motorcade then carried him to Kashimpur AK Fazlul Haque High School where a namaj-e-janaza was held at 11:15am. He was later buried in the Dariapur graveyard with state honours.
   His janaza was attended by the area commander of the Bogra region of the Bangladesh Army Major General Sheikh Monirul Islam, Chapainawabganj deputy commissioner Faizul Kabir and thousand others.

The customs officials at Zia International Airport detained on Monday night a man in possession of foreign currencies, equivalent to about Tk 68 lakh.
   The officials said the man, Panna Lal Roy, of Habiganj was about to board a Singapore Airlines’ flight when he was detained.
   The customs officials scanned his luggage at about 10:30pm and found Saudi riyals, UAE dirham, British pound sterling and euro.
   Panna claimed one Shaheed of a travel agency at Fakirapool had given him a packet saying it contained biscuits and other food materials and he had accompanied Panna to the airport, but Shaheed left when the luggage was being scanned.

The Communist Party of Bangladesh on Tuesday vowed again to strengthen the left political forces except the BNP and the Awami League, two main political parties of the country.
   ‘Only the change in power cannot change the lot of the common people so we want change in the anti-people policies of the government,’ the party president, Monzurul Ahsan Khan, told the press conference.
   The party’s general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, in his written speech said they would hold a series of programmes, including mass contacts and village rallies, across the country from September 11-20 to make the people aware of fair politics.
   Party central leaders Shahidullah Chowdhury, Syed Abu Zafar and Dibalok Singh were present at the press conference.

The Sylhet Bar Association will observe work abstention and bring out silent procession in the city today, demanding immediate withdrawal of the deputy commissioner and additional deputy commissioner (revenue) for their ‘misbehaviour’ with the association members.
   The decision was taken at a meeting of the association held on Sunday with its president Golam Rabbani Chowdhury in the chair.

A young Bangladeshi working in Saudi Arabia drowned while brother remained mission in the Bay at Cox’s Bazar Tuesday evening.
   The police and locals said a retired officer of the Bangladesh Navy, MA Mannan, of Gazipur, along with his family members, reached the tourist resort and boarded Hotel Saimon in the morning.
   His three sons, Jumman, 32, working in Saudi Arabia, Ridwan, a student of Dhaka University, and Arman, went for bathing in the sea at Laboni point while it was ebb in the evening.
   After a few minutes, the three brothers were washed away in a large wave.
   The rescuers also recovered the body of Jumman from the sea later on but Ridwan remained missing since filing of this report at 9:00pm.

The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, on Tuesday reiterated her hope that members of the armed forces would play an effective role in holding the coming elections in a credible manner as they did in the past.
   ‘As per the constitutional provision, a caretaker government would take over in October on completion of the tenure of this government and it (caretaker) will arrange neutral elections in the country,’ Khaleda, who also holds the defense portfolio, told a darbar of the army at Comilla Cantonment.
   The prime minister asked the members of the armed forces to remain alert so that the unity of the nation and the strength of defence were not weakened through any division, confusion and anarchy.
   ‘These days attack on national independence and sovereignty not only comes from outside, it might come from within the country itself as there have been many changes in the concept of national defence,’ Khaleda said.
   She recalled that the armed forces were affected by injustice, deprivation and indiscipline after the country’s independence and it was preident Ziaur Rahman who restored discipline and professionalism in the armed forces.
   The prime minister said the nation would always remember the glorious role and sacrifices of the country’s armed forces in the war of independence with respect.
   After the independence, Begum Zia said, the courageous members of the armed forces also played an important role in protecting the interests of the country and ensuring welfare of the nation during calamities, danger and at all critical junctures.
   She said, ‘We’ve been implementing the ‘Vision 2020’ programme for modernising the armed forces keeping in mind the demand of the new century and millenium.’
   The prime minister assured the members of the armed forces that the government with cooperation of the armed forces would keep up the process of their modernisation in the future. She listed various efforts made by her government in this regard.
   She mentioned the increase of manpower and capacity of the armed forces and procurement of sophisticated equipment through the formation of new units. ‘We have increased the manpower of the armed forces by nearly 9,000 with opportunities of employment and promotion.’
   Khaleda said new production line for making automatic weapons had been opened at the Bangladesh Ordnance Factory in Gazipur to raise the firepower of the Infantry battalions.
   She said the government was continuing the modernisation process of all corps of the armed forces. As part of the process, a substantial quantity of weapons and equipment have been procured.
   The pime mnister lauded various roles and activities of the members of the armed forces apart from their professional duties.
   She said the armed forces played important role in curbing terrorism through ‘Operation Clean Heart’ and also in improving law and order by the Rapid Action Battalion that consists of police and members of the armed forces.
   Members of the Bangladesh Armed Forces have been acclaimed everywhere in the world for successfully performing their duties in UN peacekeeping missions, Khaleda said, hoping that this reputation would increase in the future.
   ‘We’ll maintain this trend of sending troops to the UN peacekeeping missions in the future as well,’ she said.
   She also prayed for the salvation of the departed souls of six Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers died in a road accident in Cote d’Ivoire recently.
   Army chief Lt Gen Moyeen U Ahmed and Comilla area GOC Maj Gen Abdul Hafiz received the prime minister on her arrival at the cantonment.
   State minister for LGRD and cooperatives Ziaul Haque Zia, prime minister’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury, MA Hashem, MP, and senior civil and military officials were present at the function.

The divisional road march programme of the opposition alliance was held peacefully in Barisal on Tuesday amid tight security.
   About 40,000 people from the city and different parts of the southern division participated in the 20-kilometre march. Amir Hossain Amu, Abdul Jalil, Tofael Ahmed, Rashed Khan Menon, Bimal Biswas, Pankaj Bhattacharjee, Sharif Nurul Ambia and other opposition leaders led the long procession.
   Accepting the challenge of the prime minister the leaders said the opposition wanted election, but it must be held after reforming the system of caretaker government and the Election Commission and vowed not to allow the ruling alliance to hold election under a blueprint.
   The rally was presided over by Shawkat Hossain Hiron, divisional coordinator of the 14-party opposition alliance and addressed by the national and regional leaders including the AL leaders Amir Hossain Amu, Tofael Ahmed and Abdul Jalil, The Workers Party leaders Rashed Khan Menon and Bimal Biswas, Pankaj Bhattacharjee of the Gano Forum and Sharif Nurul Ambia of the JSD among others.
   Addressing the rally Abdul Jalil said, ‘we accept the challenge of the prime minister who has snatched the rights of the citizens. We also want election and that it must be held according to the constitution. But the ruling alliance does not want that. They are conspiring to come to power again through election engineering.’
   ‘Why are you so scared of holding a free and fair election under a truly neutral caretaker administration?’ he asked the government and said the 14- party had confidence in people who would give the opposition the mandate to rule the country if the polls were held in a free and fair atmosphere.

Experts at a roundtable on Tuesday suggested restructuring the country’s power plants, including the use of natural gas and coal in stead of imported liquid fuel, to ensure the proper use of natural resources for sustainable development.
   They said in electricity generation, fuel inventory is a major objective function as a disastrous power supply situation is prevailing across the country, affecting the industrial and agriculture sectors badly.
   The Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad organised the roundtable on ‘Bangladesh’s Electricity Sector: Reality and Impact’. BUP chairman Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad chaired the programme.
   Voicing concern that the power supply situation is likely to deteriorate further in 2007 and 2008, the speakers called for formulating a time-befitting plan and setting up more power plants based on gas and coal.
   In his keynote paper, fuel expert Mir Raziuddin Haroon said a huge amount of money could have been saved, if natural gas, in stead of liquid fuel, had been used in the 2005 fiscal year in the country’s power plants situated in Western zone.
   He said about 33 per cent of the total fuel cost have been spent for 7.3 per cent of total power generation in Bheramara and Khulna power plants.
   ‘In such case, the planned gas pipeline from Ishwardi to Khulna should have been undertaken as the highest priority project. This could have minimised the operating cost of power plants through the use of natural gas in stead of imported liquid fuel,’ he suggested.
   The foreign exchange component could have been recovered in less than two years through the use of the country’s natural gas. On the other hand, the country could have avoided many uncertainties, besides minimising the cost of BPDB and raising tariff, he said.
   Raziuddin urged the country’s power planners for suggesting options to reshape the power sector to support the country’s economic and social development at satisfactory rates.

The results of the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations of 2006 under all the education boards will be published on Thursday.
   The examinees have been advised to collect their results from respective centres or institutions, said a release.
   The results will also be available online at www.educationboard.gov.bd and http: //result.bteb.gov.bd, and also through texting on mobiles.

A group of foreign diplomats had a breakfast meeting on Tuesday at the residence of the British high commissioner, Anwar Chowdhury, diplomatic sources said.
   A British High Commission spokesman confirmed the news and said, ‘The high commissioner has conducted routine business.’
   Sources said energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman, American ambassador Patricia A Butenis, Australian high commissioner Douglas Foskett, Canadian high commissioner Barbara Richardson, ambassador of the European Commission Delegation to Bangladesh Stefan Frowein and UNDP resident representative Renata Lok Dessallien were present.
   ‘It was a breakfast meeting and we just talked about contemporary development issues,’ said a diplomat. The meeting lasted for more than three hours.
   The sources said the Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director, Debapriya Bhattacharya, was present. Asked what was discussed, Debapriya said, ‘I do not know.’
   The energy adviser left the meeting earlier than others, according to the sources.

Science and ICT secretary Mian Mushtaque Ahmed has been transferred to the ministry of posts and telecommunications as secretary.
   A gazette notification, to this effect, was issued by the ministry of establishment on Tuesday. Ahmed’s tenure of job will expire on December 31, 2007.
   Moreover, ten deputy secretary-level officials were also transferred through another official order on the day.
   Among them, Khandoker Mohammad Mokhlesur Rahman, an officer on special duty at the ministry of establishment, was transferred to the Election Training Institute at the disposal of the Election Commission, said a source in the ministry of establishment.

The Bangladesh Rifles handed over the two members of the Indian Border Security Force to the authorities concerned following a flag meeting between the border guards of the two countries on Tuesday.
   BDR sources said they captured the two BSF men — Lal Mohan and MC Kaul — in the morning when they intruded into Mazherdier in Rajshahi.
   A commander level flag meeting held in Rajshahi at noon where the BDR authorities decided to release the two.
   The battalion deputy commander, Enayet, said the BSF men entered the Bangladesh territory as the engine of their patrol boat went out of order in the river Padma.

Two Bangladeshi woodcutters were shot dead by the Indian citizens on the Sonarhat border under Gowainghat upazila in Sylhet Monday afternoon.
   The dead were identified as Julas Miah, 35, son of late Sikandar Ali, and Nurul Islam, 25, son of late Babakhan Manipuri, of Hadarpar village under the upazila.