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South Asian leaders on Tuesday called for an open and integrated market from the Himalayas to the Pacific and coordinated efforts to fight terrorism, a growing menace to progress, and taking the expanded regional bloc truly to its implementation phase.
   Addressing the inaugural session of the 14th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation at Vigyan Bhawan in the Indian capital, the leaders also urged all concerned to rise above their differences for the greater interest of more than 1.5 billion people in the region and ensure their peaceful coexistence.
   The leaders, at the beginning of the summit, inaugurated by the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, signed a joint declaration adopting Afghanistan’s membership in the bloc in line with a decision of the 13th summit held in Dhaka in November, 2005.
   With Afghanistan’s inclusion, which all other SAARC leaders termed as a historic event, the South Asian forum expanded to an eight-member grouping. Besides, for the first time five major economic powers—China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and the European Union—are attending the summit as observers, giving further impetus to economic cooperation beyond the region.
   The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai thanked all the leaders – Bangladesh chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh, Bhutan’s prime minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, the Maldives president Mamoon Abdul Gayoom, Nepalese prime minister Girija Prashad Koirala, Pakistan prime minister Shaukat Aziz and Sri Lankan president Mahindra Rajapaksa – for their support in the process of Afghanistan’s membership.
   Welcoming the new member, Bangladesh chief adviser said, ‘Afghanistan’s entry is undoubtedly an important milestone for SAARC.’ Similar comments were also made by all others leaders.
   The leaders made soul-searching deliberations at the two-day summit saying that enough time had gone by since the regional forum came into being in 1985. Now is the time to go for action-oriented programmes, they observed.
   ‘We have traveled a long distance, but much remains to be accomplished. Our progress remains short of our aspirations,’ said the Pakistan prime minister, Shoukat Aziz. He added that South Asia had yet to forge the quality and intensity of regional cooperation that ‘we have witnessed in many other regions of the world, bringing about revolutionary transformation in the lives of their people.’
   The leaders generally focused on social development, economic cooperation through connectivity, open environment for regional trade, peace and security, inter-dependence and sharing of best practices, liberalisation of visa rules, energy security, climate change, food security, common currency and infrastructure development.
   Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said, ‘After several years of our efforts, the time has come to move SAARC from declaratory phase to action and implementation’.
   ‘If we can complete work on the tools that we need, such as the SAARC Development Fund, and work realistically with each other, there is no reason why we cannot translate the vision of the charter into reality,’ he said.
   On open market, Manmohan said that SAFTA could have a major role to play in this new emerging architecture.
   ‘India is ready to accept asymmetrical responsibilities, opening her market to her South Asian neighbours without insisting on reciprocity,’ the Indian prime minister said announcing zero-duty access to India before the end of this year from the Least Developed Countries and further lessening of the sensitive list.
   He also proposed launching of a South Asian energy community and promotion of appropriate local technologies for harnessing renewable energy as areas of consideration for further cooperation. Issues of food bank, a South Asian university, direct flights to all the SAARC capitals and physical and economic connectivity also featured in his speech.
   The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa called for making SAARC a union and introducing a single currency to achieve political and economic pursuits of the region.
   ‘It is also high time that we adopt a single currency which will enhance the productivity of the region and improve trade without barriers.’
   He said promotion of inter-regional trade was important to realize the goals enshrined in the SAARC charter to improve the image of the region as a viable economic powerhouse.
   On terrorism, he referred to the recent air strike by the rebel LTTE and said in modern day terrorists operated in a multi-dimensional fashion. ‘They operate politically, militarily, financially and ideologically’. Therefore, he suggested, coordinated efforts to combat terrorism.
   ‘Unless we act collectively as a region, trans-border terrorist groups will find safe havens in other parts of the region,’ he said seeking multi-pronged and sustained efforts in this front.
   ‘I wish to appeal, therefore, to this august forum to work jointly on counter- terrorism strategy for our entire region, to defeat terrorism.’
   Bhutanese prime minister Wangchuk highlighted transnational issues like terrorism, drug trafficking and HIV/AIDS to address them through a well- coordinated regional approach.
   ‘The menace of terrorism is a serious threat to all our countries diverting our efforts and scarce resources away from pressing socio-economic issues. We must, therefore, strengthen our efforts to combat and eradicate these evils,’ he said.
   Nepalese prime minister, Giriza Prashad Koirala, and Bangladesh chief adviser stressed the need for social sector development in the region. They emphasised that the SAARC process must be geared up to free the people from the chain of poverty and miseries through efficient, effective and equitable utilisation of human and economic potential.
   The Maldives president Mamoon Abdul Gyoom called for cooperation between private and public sectors for deriving maximum benefit from the economic integration.  He underscored a liberal trade regime for deeper economic integration.
   He said regional cooperation must address the most critical areas affecting quality of life.
   Afghan president Karzai said the Afghan people were eager to learn from regional experiences in many endeavours.
   He said Afghanistan’s full membership in the SAARC presented a valuable opportunity for increased interaction. ‘It will maximize economic benefits for the whole region.’
   The ideas the leaders had floated at the inaugural session would be reflected in the Delhi Declaration, to be adopted at the end of the summit to be concluded on Wednesday.
   Earlier, all the eight heads of government or state jointly flagged off the SAARC car rally, which started from Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh and will travel to the Maldives through Sri Lanka, at the South Plaza of the Vigyan Bhawan.
   The rally will travel 8,200 kilometers across the SAARC countries.

Bangladesh has urged the SAARC leaders to redouble their efforts for building a South Asia free of poverty, one of the key challenges of the region, and create the regional forum a truly pro-people institution.
   ‘We must redouble our efforts and ensure that the SAARC Development Goals are realised in full,’ the Bangladesh interim government chief, Fakhruddin Ahmed, said, addressing the 14th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in New Delhi.
   The two-day meeting of the heads of the government or state began at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Tuesday.
   Fakhruddin also called on the bigger economics of region to extend support to those who are comparatively small in terms of resources and size for making the best use of resources.
   ‘Those who are larger and better-resourced among us have a greater responsibility for extending support to those lower down the scale of development.’
   Fakhruddin said, ‘Our goal is to build a South Asia which is free from the chains of poverty and hunger, where people would take pride in justice and the rule of law, where discrimination and deprivation are long-forgotten, where virtue prevails over vice, and where knowledge continues to advance and inspire social progress.’
   Fakhruddin, who lead a 15-member Bangladesh delegation to the SAARC summit, also prioritised further integration of regional economics, environmental degradation, global warming, security, and people-to-people connectivity, among others, in his deliberation before the South Asian leaders, asking for collective measures to address such matters.
   Referring to the approval of the formation of the SAARC Development Fund during the 13 summit, he said, ‘We look forward to operationalising the fund.’
   Expressing his satisfaction over the implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Area agreement, he said the full implementation of SAFTA would pave the way for further integration of regional economies.
   He called on the leaders to pursue trade facilitation and measures and address the non-tariff barriers for an optimum benefit out of the free trade agreement.
   On security issues, he said it would be impossible to materialise the dream of a prosperous South Asia without addressing the security concerns of the regional countries.
   ‘We must make bold efforts to combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,’ Fakhruddin said, emphasising the need for the elimination of the root causes of the menace.
   Extending his support to the establishment of the South Asian University, he said new ideas are required to make people-to-people connectivity in the region truly meaningful.
   The university should be designated in such a way that it should be inclusive and participatory, benefiting all the member states.
   He urged promoting intra-regional tourism making unified the charges applicable to all SAARC tourists at heritage and archaeological sites.
   Fakhruddin regretted that the basic telephony service within the region was poor and called for efficiency in this sector with lowered tariff.
   Regarding people-to-people connectivity, he proposed the hosting of the SAARC Youth Camps each year to bring the young people closer. ‘Bangladesh would be happy to host the first such camp in 2007.’
   He proposed elaborate SAARC scholarship programme for the young in ICT and bio-sciences urging India to play the leading role.
   About governance and the rule of law, Fakhruddin said people deserved an environment where they could reach their full potential, where the state would ensure a level playing field for all and uphold the rule of law and good governance.
   ‘All of us in South Asia are committed to these fundamental principles of democracy.  As a natural corollary, it is also expected that the governments and public representatives, elected through free and fair electoral processes, remain mindful of the aspirations of the people,’ he said.
   Fakhruddin in the evening called on the Indian president, APJ Abdul Kalam.

The Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, Tuesday announced zero-duty access of the products of least-developed countries in South Asia to India before the end of this year and further cuts in the sensitive list for them, as he assumed the SAARC chair amid fresh pledges.
   Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives are considered SAARC LDCs for their relatively smaller sizes of economy and lower rates of GDP.
   ‘India is ready to accept asymmetrical responsibilities, opening her markets to her South Asian neighbours without insisting on reciprocity,’ he told the inaugural session of the 14th SAARC summit at Vigyan Bhaban.
   Singh called for full implementation of SAFTA, saying that it could have a major role to play in this new emerging architecture.
   There is an ongoing process of building an open and integrated market from the Himalayas to the pacific, covering a vast and dynamic economic region, he noted.
   The Indian prime minister touched upon the issues of connectivity, energy security, food security and climate changes that impact on development strategies in the region.
   ‘There is today economic vibrancy and social change in every country in South Asia. Never before has it been truly within our capacity to envisage a future where our people are free from the twin curses of poverty and diseases. It is possible today,’ the veteran and visionary leader of India said.
   He said ‘it is here that SAARC has the real opportunity to realise the goals of our charter: to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia, to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region,’
   On the issue of connectivity, the Indian leader said physical, economic and connectivity of mind would enable the SAARC countries to use the potential and gain peace and prosperity. ‘South Asia has flourished most when connected to itself and the rest of the world.’
   Singh admitted that building roads and railways would not fulfill the dream of regional connectivity, and announced India’s unilateral decision liberalising visa for students, teachers, professors, journalists and patients from SAARC countries.
   He said the proposed South Asian University to be set up in Delhi as a world-class institution of learning would be an important symbol of the connectivity of ideas and of the youth that would build the knowledge economy of the future.
   On the critical energy issue, the Indian PM observed that a South Asian Energy Community could start by harmonizing systems and methods and grid structures and ultimately move on to an energy exchange with energy markets that covers the whole region.
   He said promoting approach to local technologies for harnessing renewable energy is an area the forum should consider for future cooperation.

Five major economic powers have formally associated themselves with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation on Tuesday, widening the group’s scope for cooperation beyond South Asia.
   Three of the five observers, the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea, gave brief speeches on how they could play a role in regional development at the opening ceremony of the two-day SAARC summit in the Indian capital.
   Representatives from the United States and European Union were present at the ceremony, but they did not address the gathering.
   The SAARC leaders welcomed the observers and hoped that their association would widen the area of cooperation.
   Iran has applied for observer status, and its application is very likely to be considered in the 14th summit of the SAARC.
   Welcoming their association, Bangladesh’s chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed said, ‘Their presence will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the SAARC process.’
   Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso noted that the SAARC has great potential in regional cooperation. Referring to SAARC’s theme of connectivity this year, he said, ‘Without connectivity, no network will take shape.’
   ‘I salute the SAARC leaders whose vision and courage are connecting the nations with each other, economically and spiritually,’ he added.
   The government of Japan, he said, would cooperate more with SAARC to achieve better regional connectivity, and is keen on supporting the South Asian group’s priority projects.
   The Chinese foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, said that with continued institutional development and accelerated process of cooperation, the SAARC has a bright future.
   He said that being South Asia’s biggest neighbour, China hopes that all its countries will live in harmony, pursue common development goals and will continue to grow stronger.
   The South Korean foreign minister, Song Min-soon, lauded the progress that the regional bloc had made over the past several years.
   He said that from 1991 to 2006 the Republic of Korea had implemented projects of economic cooperation worth about $6 billion dollars with eight SAARC members.
   ‘Korea is ready to share its experience in ICT, government innovation, human resources development as well as other areas in the economic field in which mutual benefit can be reaped,’ he added.
   He hoped that SAARC would continue to play a leading role in the shared efforts for the noble goal of promoting stability and prosperity in the South Asian region.
   ‘Now I feel that I am present at the creation of a historic drama. Remember that 300 years ago South Asia alone produced one fourth of the world’s output.’

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended for one more month the High Court’s verdicts — that declared illegal the preventive detention of 53 people — for further examining whether the High Court has the jurisdiction to pass any order regarding preventive detention.
   The full seven-member court of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin, permitted the government to file a regular appeal against the High Court’s verdicts.
   The High Court delivered a number of verdicts since February 26, declaring illegal the detention of 53 people, including the leaders of BNP and Awami League and their allies, who were handed detention orders by the interim government under the Special Powers Act since January 11 when the state of emergency was proclaimed.
   The government filed separate petitions before the Appellate Division, seeking permission to appeal against the High Court’s verdicts.
   The Appellate Division allowed the government’s petition on five grounds.
   According to the grounds, the High Court proceeded on the legally wrong assumption that Sub-Section (3) of Section 491 of the Code of Criminal Procedure is no bar to its exercising its discretionary jurisdiction on habeas corpus writs against detention.
   The Sub-Section says that the High Court’s power to pass orders on habeas corpus writs challenging detention will not be applicable to the detentions ordered under any law on preventive detention (under the Special Powers Act).
   The Sub-Section was inserted in the CrPC by an amendment in 1974, making exceptions to the provisions for habeas corpus (power to issue directions on the government regarding detention) in the case of persons detained under any law on preventive detention.
   Referring to the amendment, the government said in a ground, ‘The High Court failed to consider the categorical intent of the legislature expressly provided therein, and thereby erred in law in giving a wrong interpretation of the Sub-Section.’
   ‘The High Court failed to consider that preventive detention is an evil but a necessary evil in the present situation, inasmuch as it may be cruel to one but only to be kind to the rest of the society, when welfare and safety of the society is (sic) of utmost importance and is the highest law,’ said the government in another ground.
   ‘The High Court erred in law in holding that the writ petitions are maintainable in view of the proclamation of emergency whereby enforceability of fundamental rights is suspended and the person under preventive detention cannot indirectly seek relief which is directly debarred under the law,’ added the government.
   Now the government will have to file a regular appeal against the High Court’s verdicts and the Appellate Division will decide finally whether the High Court has the jurisdiction to deal with the writ petitions challenging preventive detention after hearing an appeal on the five grounds.
   Attorney-general Fida M Kamal moved the government’s petition, and former law minister Moudud Ahmed, Khandker Mahbubuddin Ahmad, Rafique-ul Huq, M Amirul Islam, Abdul Baset Majumdar and Sara Hossain appeared for the detainees.

The interim government has formed special judge’s courts for trial of the graft cases under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, the Emergency Powers Ordinance 2007 and the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The courts will conduct the proceedings of the graft cases in the rooms of the Members of Parliament Hostel in the Sangsad Bhaban’s premises in Sherebangla Nagar.
   In order to ensure expeditious disposal of the cases filed under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, the government has declared the judges of the Speedy Trial Tribunals (number 1, 2, 3 and 4) of Dhaka to be special judges, who will act as such in addition to their current responsibilities, and has given them the responsibility for holding trials of the cases of Manikganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Narayanganj districts and Dhaka metropolitan city under the ACC Act, said a gazette notification issued on April 2.
   The government has shifted the divisional special judge’s courts — the Speedy Trial Tribunal numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Dhaka, now situated in the premises of the district judge’s court — to blocks 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the MP Hostel, said another gazette notification issued the same day.
   By another gazette notification, issued on the same day, the interim government has declared the Speedy Trial Tribunals — numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 — of Dhaka as ‘Courts of Sessions’, naming them ‘Special Courts of Sessions’.
   Any case under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004, the Emergency Powers Ordinance 2007 and the Emergency Powers Rules has to be tried before a Special Court of Sessions.
   All the three notifications came into effect as soon as the announcement was made.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday approved the proposals of suing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Haris Chowdhury, her son Tarique Rahman’s close aide Giasuddin Al Mamun, and former Awami League lawmakers Joynal Hazari and Shamim Osman for non-submission of wealth statements in defiance of the notices issued to them to do so within 72 hours by the commission on February 18.
   According to sources in the commission, concerned officials were asked by the divisional special judge’s court of Dhaka to file the cases against them with the local police stations.
   The court passed the orders on Tuesday, when the official went to the court to sue those persons, said sources.
   A senior official of the commission told New Age that the cases would be filed with the local police stations within a day or two.
   The commission is still trying to decide the form of procedures for freezing the accounts and attaching the assets of these four persons, said the official.
   The commission issued notices to 50 corruption suspects on February 18 to appear before it within 72 hours and submit their wealth statements. Thirty-five persons submitted their statements before the deadline, but nine others, who are not in jail, submitted statements recently through their representatives after obtaining the High Court’s orders to do so.
   The commission on Tuesday accepted the wealth statement of the chairman of the Bashundhara Group, Ahmed Akbar Sobhan (Shah Alam), submitted by his representative.
   According to the statement, Shah Alam and his family members own assets worth Tk 625,43,27,000, but their bank loans stand at Tk 1,064.51 crore and other liabilities stand at Tk 2,355.23 crore.

Owners of private industrial units said on Tuesday that they would not be able to set up effluent treatment plants at all the units within the six-month timeframe set by the government recently to save the environment from a possible catastrophe caused by industrial pollution.
   Representatives of garment, dyeing and washing industries expressed the inability at a meeting with the government agencies concerned and sought at least one and a half years to install such waste treatment plants at all industrial units.
   As Dhaka city has become highly vulnerable to an environmental disaster due to severe industrial pollution in its neighbourhood, the interim government recently made it mandatory for all industries to either set up individual effluent treatment plants or use central treatment plants by clusters of industries to significantly reduce the pollution level.
   ‘Even if all things necessary — land and money — are ready for setting up the treatment plants, it will not be possible to complete the task within the next six months,’ the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers’ and Exporters’ Association president, AKM Fazlul Haque, told the meeting held at the Board of Investment.
   Giving an account of the high level of environmental pollution of the capital city, an official of the department of environment said, ‘If both water and air pollution by the industrial wastes in the vicinity of the city continues unabated, we may have to abandon it as the capital soon.’
   The meeting decided to make zoning of industrial units through survey and invite expressions of interest from the private sector to set up central effluent treatment plants under the private sector infrastructure guidelines, 2004.
   Tongi, Narayanganj and Savar industrial belts around Dhaka and Chittagong will top the list of priority areas for installing such central effluent treatment plants considering the concentration of industrial units.
   ‘Neither the government nor every member of the private sector alone will make it. It is better to look for investors interested in setting up the central treatment plants,’ said BoI acting executive chairman Nazrul Islam, who presided over the meeting.
   Nazrul said multilateral lending agencies, such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, would fund such ventures for ensuring industrial compliance with modern-day environmental standards and run them on commercial basis.
   ‘We are now in the dock for polluting environment to earn bread and butter, although most of the affluent countries had earlier gone through the same process during their industrialisation,’ Fazlul Haque remarked.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry will propose the government to reduce duty to zero on different chemicals used in treating industrial waste and waste water, said sources in the apex trade body.
   The apex trade body has convened a meeting with representatives of different industries on Thursday to prepare a set of recommendations about how the government can give necessary supports to industries to operate effluent treatment plants smoothly, said a FBCCI director on Tuesday.
   ‘FBCCI will discuss with the entrepreneurs about the government’s tough stance against industrial polution especially pollutions of water bodies and farmlands by hazardous industrial wastes,’ he said.
   ‘The proposed recommendations may include ETP chemicals to be duty-free, soft loan for entrepreneurs to build plants, etc,’ he added.
   A government investigation found that many industries keep their ETPs inactive, drain out industrial waste and waste water untreated and save cost of chemicals require.
   A recent drive of the Department of Environment found that less then 100, out of 478 industries in and around the city produc hazardous waste and waste water, have built ETPs.
   And the DoE investigators revealed that almost all factories did not use the ETPs to save cost in processing wastes and drain hazardous wastes to nearby wetlands and rivers.
   Such irresponsible industrialists across the country have been polluting the environment damaging the water bodies and destroying the fertility of surrounding lands, allege environmentalists.
   The environment and industries ministries after a meeting on March 22 asked all industrial units to set up such plants by October. The units have been given April 7 to submit installation plans to the environment ministry and April 30 to open letters of credits regarding plant installation.

Tarique Rahman, son of the immediate-past prime minister Khaleda Zia, was taken to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University on Tuesday for an X-ray of his waist as he had been complaining of a lower back pain since his arrest on February 8.
   An orthopaedist from the hospital examined Tarique, also senior joint secretary general of the BNP, on Thursday and advised him to have an X-ray of his waist.
   The Dhaka Central Jail officials said Tarique was taken to the BSMMU at about 11:00am and he stayed there for about three hours for the X-ray.
   From the BSMMU he was sent back to the Dhaka Central Jail hospital where he was kept following a court order asking the prison authorities to ensure his proper treatment.
   ‘We will get the X-ray report in a day or two and then decide whether Tarique should be kept in the hospital or put in a cell,’ said Major Shamsul Haider Chowdhury, the deputy inspector general of prison.
   Senior prison officials said Tarique was having a sound health, excepting a little pain in his waist.
   ‘If there is no major problem with his waist, he would be placed in a cell,’ said an official, adding that Tarique would not be kept in cell with general prisoners.
   ‘We will keep him in a separate cell for his security,’ added the official.
   Tarique is facing trial in two extortion cases.

Jacques Kallis continued his fine form at this World Cup with a half-century to lead South Africa to a seven-wicket Super 8 victory over Ireland in Guyana.
   With the match curtailed to 35 overs a side due to a lengthy rain delay, Ireland posted an admirable 152-8.
   Andrew White (30) top-scored but Shaun Pollock’s 2-17 kept the Proteas on top.
   Graeme Smith’s 41 set the platform and, despite Boyd Rankin’s 2-26, Kallis’ 66no and Ashwell Prince (47no) got home after 31.3 overs under Duckworth-Lewis.
   Two maidens in the first two overs, in which Makhaya Ntini beat the bat on a numerous occasions, laid the platform for the first wicket - Pollock trapping Jeremy Bray plumb in front for a duck.
   Will Porterfield and Morgan negotiated the next few overs, before the rain came to halt play for nearly two hours and, with the game curtailed, Ireland were forced to change their tactics, with aggression the order of the day.
   Even after Porterfield, who had just flicked a fine boundary off his legs, was caught at extra cover by Kallis off Pollock, they tried to attack.
   But the South African lines of attack and their display in the field were immaculate, and Morgan and Niall O’Brien were restricted to just two fours apiece in seven overs before the former succumbed to a fine Andrew Hall bouncer.
    Andrew White was then fortunate to survive a strong lbw shout to Langeveldt when on nought, but the seamer soon got his reward, O’Brien dollying a slower ball to Herschelle Gibbs at mid-wicket.
   White remained, though, and he looked to make the most of his reprieve with five boundaries all around the wicket.
   However, a full toss from Proteas skipper Graeme Smith did for the batsman, White toe-ending the ball straight to Gibbs at mid-off to fall for a run-a-ball 30.
   Andre Botha (14) was next to fall, holing out to cover off Hall’s first ball on his return to the attack, before Kyle McCallan edged Langeveldt behind for three.
   Paul Mooney, on his World Cup debut, then gloved a leg-side bouncer behind for a golden duck but Dave Langford-Smith (17no) and Trent Johnston (13no) hit out late on, sharing 28 off 20 ball to take Ireland past 150.
   It was an admirable effort, and their hopes of an unlikely win were boosted in the first over when Boyd Rankin again displayed his fine promise, having AB de Villiers caught by Will Porterfield at backward point in the first over. However, with Smith settling quickly after a nervy opening and Kallis enjoying some luck as the pitch settled, South Africa soon assumed control.
   Ireland’s cause was not helped by the fact Mooney was enduring a nightmare debut, his first two overs going for 23, but Smith’s fluent 45-ball knock was brought to an end by Johnson’s stunning return catch.
   It ended a 70-run stand between the skipper and Kallis, and when Gibbs shot straight at Andrew White at midwicket off Rankin to fall for six, South Africa were wobbling a touch.

The Department of Shipping stopped the plying of Keari Sindabad and Eagle-1, the two privately owned ferries that transport the major number of tourists to and from Saint Martins Island.
   The authority, in a sudden drive on Saturday, found that both the vessels were not following ‘Passengership Endorsement’, the rules and regulations prescribed by the shipping department for vessels carrying people between mainland Teknaf and the coral island of Saint Martin’s.
   The officials immediately barred the movement and cancelled the competency certificates of both the vessels, said sources in the shipping department.
   The director-general of the shipping department himself conducted the drive along with the local thana nirbahi officer, and detected mechanical faults in both the vessels and witnessed poor service for the passengers.
   ‘The Keari had no Radar Angle Indicator while the device of the Eagle was inoperative,’ the DG shipping, AKM Shafiqullah, told New Age. He said that the competency certificates of both the vessels had been cancelled.
   Many passengers visit the island for diversion and sightseeing so the vessel owners earn a handsome amount from their fares, but have not developed any proper system for the embarkation and landing of the passengers. ‘We cannot allow the vessels to ply in such a risky condition as the lives of hundreds of people depend on them,’ the DG added.
   Sources said that both the vessels have been realising extra fare from the passengers, violating the fare chart prepared by the shipping department, but have not provided proper facilities to them.
   Although the local administration repeatedly warned the ship-owners to follow the rules, they continuously turned a deaf ear and went on as before.
   The ship-owners sought time from the authority to ply their ships for a few more days to bring back the tourists who were staying in Saint Martin’s, but their plea was rejected as the local administration assured the authority that no tourist was stranded there, said sources.
   Sources said that Eagle-1 was scheduled to stop plying from mid-April to September due to the small number of passengers, but the Keari was scheduled to ply throughout the year.

Communications adviser MA Matin said on Tuesday the ‘political speech’ of the army chief, Lieutenant General Moeen U Ahmed, was not a violation of the Emergency Powers Rules as the army chief ‘spoke in the interest of the country.’
   ‘The army chief has spoken in the interest of the country…why should it be a violation of the Emergency Powers Rules,’ Matin, also a former army official, said in reply to a query from newsmen at his office on Tuesday.
    On Monday, General Moeen asserted that the country must build its own new democratic system with new leadership at all levels.
   ‘Bangladesh will have to construct its own brand of democracy, giving due recognition to its social, historical and cultural conditions with religion being one of several components of its national identity,’ the army chief said in a keynote speech at a regional conference styled ‘The Challenging Interface of Democracy and Security’, organised in the city by the International Political Science Association.
   ‘I believe…the aspiring democratic process…and the current transition period allow us an opportunity to develop a new concept and find a new sense of direction for future politics,’ he said.
    ‘And this needs rethinking so that we can re-invent a system of governance with new leadership at all levels’.
   Defining his ‘own brand of democracy’, General Moeen said that the country had ‘tried both the presidential and parliamentary forms of government. Now we should try to set up a balanced system giving more power to the president, ministers
   and other agencies to enable them to carry out their tasks…Power must be balanced, not tilted towards any family and dynasty.’
   Matin declined comments when asked about the army chief’s proposal for giving more power to the president to set up a balanced system.

The interim government is going to correct the history of the war of independence distorted in textbooks for Class I-Class XII in the past, education adviser Ayub Quadri told newsmen on Tuesday.
   ‘Contents of some textbooks will be changed in the next academic session. Distortions will be removed and a correct history
   of the nation’s war of independence will be presented properly acknowledging the contributions of national leaders’, the adviser said.
   ‘Textbooks from Class I to Class XII have been examined and some distortions and changes made by the past governments have been detected’, he said at a meeting with newsmen.
   About distortion of facts relating to the birth of Bangladesh and the roles played by the national leaders in the liberation struggle, M Nazrul Islam Khan, joint-secretary to the education ministry, who also attended the meeting, said the history of the declaration of war of independence was distorted in the current textbooks.
   ‘Moreover, the contributions of national leaders were undermined and the facts about the misdeeds of the collaborators of the Pakistani occupation army were erased from text books by the immediate-past government.’
   Ayub Quadri told a questioner that teaching of the distorted history in classrooms could not be stopped by a verbal order.
   About introduction of a uni-track secondary education system, the education adviser said, ‘The decision will remain postponed until solution of the problems for which the past government stopped it.’
   Against the backdrop of severe criticism by the media and educationists, the immediate-past government deferred the introduction of uni-track secondary education system until December 2007.
   Asked about the on-going school-based assessment [of performance of students] in Class VI-Class IX, the adviser said, ‘It will be introduced in the secondary school certificate examinations only when we get a positive report from an extensive assessment.’ The school-based assessment was introduced in 2006.
   About the miserable situation in the Non-government Teachers Registration and Certification Authority, the adviser said steps had been taken to strengthen it. The government in March, 2005 made it mandatory to take certificate from the NTRCA to be a candidate for teaching profession in any non-government high-school, college and madrassah.
   ‘We are looking into how the BNP government declared official recognition to qoumi graduates and took initiatives to set up a board for hundreds of such madrassahs.’
   The BNP government on August 22, 2006 decided to equate ‘dawra’ degree of quomi madrassahs with master’s degree in Islamic studies and Arabic literature.

Businessman Salman F Rahman, also an Awami League leader, was accused in a case filed in connection with fraudulence of Tk 4.56 lakh.
   Akamatullah, a former foreign ministry official, on Monday lodged the case with the New Market police against Salman, also political adviser to the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina.
   The complainant said his two daughters between July 5, 2000 and April 21, 2002 paid Tk 45662356 to the authorities of the Sun City 3, a project of the Shinepukur Housing, owned by Salman, for two plots.
   The company promised to hand the plots over to his daughters by mid-2002, but it failed to do so, said Akamatullah. ‘Salman cheated my daughters,’ he said.
   Salman was kept in jail on 30-day detention after he was arrested at his house on February 4 under the Emergency Powers Rules. He was among the 50 corruption suspects listed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
   In another incident, the chief metropolitan magistrate court on Tuesday showed former state minister for communications Salahuddin Ahmed arrested in a fraud case filed with the Gulshan police on Monday.
   The complainant, subinspector Farooq Hosain, said Salahuddin and his wife Hasina Ahmed owned two expensive cars by forging Bangladesh Road Transport Authority documents on September 26, 2006.
   ‘The couple first showed former BNP lawmaker Kazi Salimul Haque and Abul Kalam Azad owners of the cars without their consent. They later forged the documents to show they had bought the cars from Salimul and Azad,’ the complainant said. Salimul Haque was made witness to the case.
   The joint force on February 7 arrested Salahuddin at his house at Gulshan under the Emergency Powers Rules and the court sent him to jail on a 30-day detention the next day.
   Salahuddin, elected lawmaker for a Cox’s Bazar constituency, was among the corruption suspects listed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Although the High Court on Tuesday adjourned till April 15 delivering its decision on whether it has the power to hear the bail petitions of any accused in the cases under the Emergency Powers Rules, it granted ad interim anticipatory bail to an accused in a case under the Special Powers Act.
   The High Court bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury also issued a rule on the government to explain within four weeks why the accused, Mainuddin Sikder, an oil trader of Khulna, would not be granted regular anticipatory bail.
   During the hearing in the bail petition on March 29, deputy attorney general Golam Mohammad Chowdhury argued the court had been barred from dealing with the bail prayer by the Emergency Powers Rules, which was amended on March 21, barring the accused persons from filing any petition with any court seeking bail during inquiry, investigation or trial.
   After hearing amici curiae (court’s friends) — Khandker Mahbubuddin Ahmad, Rafique-ul Huq, Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan and Rawshan Ali — the court fixed Tuesday for passing its order on whether it has the power to entertain bail prayer of any accused in the cases under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   As the matter came up for order on Tuesday, the deputy attorney general prayed for adjournment on passing the order saying that the government was going to amend the Emergency Powers Rules regarding the bail issue.
   ‘In view of the submission made by the deputy attorney general, we feel it proper to adjourn the delivery of the judgement, as the framers of the rules are going to amend the rules,’ the court said in its order.
   The court, however, said, ‘We are of the view that the bar imposed by the Emergency Powers Rules is not applicable to the High Court.’
   The court also ordered that it would continue to exercise its power in granting anticipatory bail and other powers conferred to it by the Code of Criminal Procedures as usual.
   Rafique-ul Huq told the court that other two benches of the High Court, which has the jurisdiction to deal with bail prayers, also suspended hearing in bail prayers. The court asked him to convey its decision to other benches.
   As Rafique-ul told the two High Court benches, the benches, however, decided that they would consider the bail matters after getting the written order of the High Court bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury.

The US ambassador in Dhaka, Patricia A Butenis, on Tuesday called on the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, and emphasised that a timeline should be announced for the next general elections.
   ‘I, of course, emphasised the desirability of issuing a timeline for the election,’ said Butenis after the meeting with the election commissioners. Two other election commissioners—Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hussain—were present at the meeting.
    Butenis, however, observed that a decision on the timeframe for the elections depended on the completion of the electoral reforms.
   ‘We understand that [the timeline] depends on when electoral reforms will be carried out, but again I urged them to have a projection [of polls plan] so that the government could make it public …people want to know when the election is likely to be held,’ the US envoy said.
   She expressed her satisfaction with the reform work the EC was carrying out and said that the political parties needed to be reformed.
   ‘The EC has to engage the political parties and the parties need to be reformed. They have to become more democratic,’ she said. She offered all support including technical help to the EC.

Former posts and telecommunication minister Aminul Haque, also a BNP leader, along with 13 others, was sued in two cases in his constituency, Tanore and Godarari (Rajshahi-1), on Monday and Tuesday on charge of felling trees and land grabbing.
   Tanore police said, a petty farmer Harun-ur-Rashid of Tanore upazila on Monday night filed a case against five persons including former post and telecommunication minister barrister Aminul Haque, district BNP general secretary Shis Muhammad, and Tanore UP chairman Mafij Uddin, police said.
   Two others accused in the case, Keramat Ali, a timber trader, and Abdul Karim of Deotala, were arrested by the Tanore police on Tuesday.
   The prosecution says between March and June 2005 the timber traders cut trees of various species from roadside between Arajupur and Ekterpur at Tanore. The trees — 2 mango, 23 Babla, and 4 Ipil Ipil — were estimated to be worth about Tk 1.3 lakh.
   When the complainant asked why they were cutting the trees, the traders said they were doing so at the directive of the Tanore Chanduria union council chairman, Mafij Uddin, also a local BNP leader.
   As Mafiz was close to Aminul Haque and district BNP general secretary Shis Muhammad, there would be no problem in cutting the trees, the traders told the farmer.
   The farmer, however, lodged several written complaints with the Tanore forest department, but no action was taken, the police told newsmen quoting the case story.
   The farmer told newsmen that as the situation became favourable, he lodged the case. Mafij Uddin was arrested by the joint forces in March.
   One Golam Mostafa of Ramnagar at Godagari, meanwhile, filed another case on Tuesday against 10, including former Aminul Haque.
   Mostafa filed the case on charge of assisting land grabbers who were reportedly close associates of Aminul Haque.
   The accused allegedly grabbed 13 decimals of land owned by Mostafa who said he could not file any case with the police because the BNP-led four-party alliance was in power.
   Other accused in the case are Godagari municipal unit BNP president Aminul Rafiqul Islam, also uncle of Aminul Haque, Godagari municipal chairman Anwarul Islam and local BNP leader Ashraful Haque, the police said.
   Three cases were earlier were filed against Aminul and others, including former state minister for land Ruhul Talukder Dulu and former Rajshahi BNP lawmaker Nadim Mostafa, on charge of patronising
   militants, extorting money and torturing.
   Two of the cases were filed on Sunday in Natore and in Rajshahi. The other was filed Friday night with the Baghmara police in Rajshahi.

Nepal’s home minister said Tuesday that all illegal weapons in the country must be handed over to the police within a week as part of a security plan for the first national polls in eight years this June.
   ‘In order to improve the peace and security situation in the country ahead of constituent assembly elections the government has brought in new security measures,’ the home minister, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, said in a statement.
   Former rebel Maoists took five posts in a coalition government on Sunday to cement a peace deal that ended a decade of civil war and pave the way for June 20 polls to elect a body rewrite Nepal’s constitution.
   The home minister said that for the polls to be held peacefully ‘all groups, organisations and political parties who possess unauthorised weapons and explosives to submit them to the local administration or police offices by April 8,’ or face prosecution.
   In some parts of rural Nepal violence has been a feature of past elections, with criminal gangs working for political parties stealing ballot boxes and intimidating voters.
   Sitaula also said patrols would be increased on Nepal’s long and porous 1,700 kilometre border with India and ‘quick action teams’ would be formed to maintain law and order.
   The former rebels and government signed a landmark peace pact in November last year, that paved the way for the Maoist’s entry into government for the first time on Sunday.
   Meanwhile, a British minister announced Tuesday a 36.5 million pound (71.8 million dollar) aid package of debt relief and cash to help fund Nepal’s peace process.
   ‘This is the first real chance to bring peace to Nepal during the last decade,’ said international development minister Gareth Thomas.
   London will give 13 million pounds (25.6 million dollars) to the Nepali government-
   led Peace Trust Fund and offer at least 23.5 million pounds (46.2 million dollars) in debt relief on World Bank loans over the next eight years, a statement said.

The government has proposed that the Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company should set up its planned second unit in northern region and for local consumption only, official sources said.
   The government representatives on the board of KAFCO put forth the proposal at the recent board meeting of the company in Copenhagen in Denmark in the last week of March, they said.
   The other board members of the Bangladesh, Japan, Denmark and Netherlands joint venture, however, seemed reluctant to set up the plant in the northern region of Bangladesh as they wanted the unit should be set up near the first one in Chittagong, sources said.
   ‘The issue will be discussed again at the next board meeting in Japan in May as we want the unit to be set up in a northern district as part of the government’s industrialisation plan,’ said a source.
   He said it would be hard to supply additional gas for the Chittagong region that largely depends on the Sangu gas and reels under gas crisis.
   ‘It will be easy to supply gas to a northern district as the government was in the process of installing gas transmission line there and the demand for gas was low in that region,’ he said.
   The company in 20006
   proposed that it should set up the second unit of the plant
   with a capacity of 2500 tonnes a day at a cost of $500 million. This unit will need around
   100 million cubic feet of gas a day.
   The existing export-oriented fertiliser plant at Anwara in Chittagong just alongside the River Karnaphuli annually produces around 6.8 lakh tonnes of urea. It consumes around 62–65mmcfd gas.
   Bangladesh buys (at export price) around 50 per cent of the fertiliser that the company produces and the company exports the remaining fertiliser to other countries.
   ‘Our demand for urea is increasing day by day. So by the time the second unit will come into operation, there will be market for that fertiliser
   in the country. We have asked them to consider installing the plant for local use,’ said a source.
   He, however, said the discussion on setting up the second unit was still at a preliminary stage. ‘If the parties fail to agree on the plant location, the unit may not be set up.’
   Sources in the energy and mineral resources division, meanwhile, said a new gas pricing formula for the second unit would have to be discussed if the decision for setting up the plant was made.
   The government’s KAFCO deal came under severe criticism over the years because of the subsidy on the gas price given to the company.

The Supreme Judicial Council is likely to launch its inquiry into the alleged mark-sheet doctoring by Faisal Mahmud Fayezee, a High Court judge, within a day or two by issuing a notice to Fayezee, detailing all the allegations against him and asking him to explain his position regarding them.
   ‘The Supreme Judicial Council may issue the notice and summon Fayezee within a day or two,’ an official of the Supreme Court told New Age on Tuesday.
   The Supreme Judicial Council comprises the chief justice, M Ruhul Amin, and the next two senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim and Justice MM Ruhul Amin.
   The council started framing the procedure for the inquiry on March 28 at a meeting between Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin and Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, said a Supreme Court source.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, ordered the council to launch the probe on March 25.
   The council is likely to follow almost the same procedure as was adopted by the Supreme Judicial Council in its first-ever inquiry into the alleged misconduct of a High Court judge, Syed Shahidur Rahman, in December 2003 to January 2004.
   Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim and Justice M Ruhul Amin were members of that council which inquired into the allegation of misconduct against Shahidur Rahman, who was removed by the president on April 20, 2004 in accordance with the council’s report.
   According to the practice and rules of the court, the Supreme Judicial Council is likely to summon the accused judge and the Chittagong University staff concerned and give them a hearing.
   The council is also likely to call for the records of the Chittagong University of its action of stripping the beleaguered judge of his bachelor of law degree along with the tabulation sheet which was allegedly tampered with, said the source.
   Fayezee may be allowed to engage a counsel to defend him in the proceedings of the council, said the source, adding that the council was also likely to ask him to appear personally before it, whether or not he engaged a counsel.
   Although the council has the power to hold the entire proceedings or any part of it in the open, it is likely to conduct the whole proceedings in camera, following the precedence of the first-ever Supreme Judicial Council’s inquiry, said the source.
   According to constitutional provisions, the council will have to probe the matter and report the findings and its recommendations to the president.
   The president will have to resolve the issue in accordance with the council’s report.
   The Chittagong University syndicate, at a special meeting on March 3, scrapped the bachelor of law and graduation certificates of about 2,400 students, including Fayezee, awarded more than a decade ago.
   Fayezee, in 1989, sat the LLB examinations from the Chittagong Law College, which is affiliated to Chittagong University.
   In the wake of the university syndicate’s decision, Fayezee had to go on leave on March 4 as the chief justice dropped his name from the list of the Supreme Court benches.
   Although his leave expired on March 25, Fayezee did not apply to extend the leave.
   The chief justice, however, has kept him out of bench.
   The High Court on March 19 stayed the operation of the cancellation of Fayezee’s LLB certificate by Chittagong University.
   The High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice MA Awal passed the stay order, issuing a rule on the university authorities to explain within two weeks why their cancellation of Fayezee’s LLB certificate would not be declared illegal.

The British prime minister, Tony Blair, said Tuesday that the standoff with Iran over 15 captive sailors was in a ‘critical’ phase, after a top Tehran official said new contacts could help end the crisis.
   But Blair also warned that he may be forced to take ‘tougher decisions’ if the naval personnel are not freed, while Iran’s vice-president reiterated that London must admit they were in Iranian territorial waters when seized.
   ‘The next 48 hours will be fairly critical,’ Blair told Glasgow-based Real Radio, while cautiously welcoming comments by top Iranian national security official Ali Larijani, who on Monday underlined the need for a diplomatic solution.
   ‘I’ve read the transcripts of the interview (Larijani) gave and that seems to offer some prospect but the most important thing is to get these people back,’ he said, referring to the Iranian’s comments in a television interview.
   In Tehran, senior officials appeared to be taking a more conciliatory tone over the 14 men and one woman who were seized in the northern Gulf on March 23 and accused of trespassing in Iranian waters.
   ‘London has changed its attitude for several days now and is acting on the basis of negotiations,’ the vice president, Parviz Davoudi, told reporters in the southern city of Bushehr where he was opening a new installation at Iran’s first nuclear power station.
   But he warned: ‘London must give guarantees and say that there was a violation and there will be no other errors in the future. I think that the problem is heading in this direction and God willing will be resolved soon.’
   Blair cautioned that London was ready to keep pressure on Tehran if the sailors and marines are not released, saying there were ‘two very clear tracks’ along which the situation could evolve.
   ‘One is to try and settle this by way of peaceful, calm negotiation, get our people back as quickly as possible ... The other is to make it clear that if that’s not possible, then we have to take increasingly tougher decisions.’

Americans are increasingly anxious about the direction of US foreign policy, with little public appetite for using military force to settle international disputes, according to a poll released Wednesday.
   The Confidence in US Foreign Policy Index, published by think tank Public Agenda and the magazine Foreign Affairs, also found rising concern for the way the United States is seen abroad, and strong support as well for pulling US troops from Iraq.
   ‘This latest Confidence in US Foreign Policy Index... provides mounting evidence of widespread public doubt about the country’s international position,’ the two organisations said in the study.
   Public Agenda’s Anxiety Indicator, which is billed as gauging Americans’ anxiousness or contentment with US foreign policy, stood at 137 – above the neutral mid-point of 100 and seven points higher than it was in September 2006.
   ‘The Anxiety Indicator is moving closer to the 150 mark, the ‘red zone’ that to me would signal a full blown crisis of public confidence,’ said Daniel Yankelovich, chairman of Public Agenda.
   ‘The new research provides striking evidence that Americans’ anguish over Iraq is spilling over to other areas of foreign policy–with serious potential effects on the policy options available to current and future leaders,’ the report added.
   An overwhelming 84 per cent of respondents said they worried about the way things were going for the United States in world affairs and 82 per cent said the world was becoming more dangerous for the United States and its people.
   Almost three out of four said the country was not doing a good job as a world leader in creating a more peaceful and prosperous planet, while 68 per cent said the rest of the world saw the United States negatively.
   And while six out of 10 said the United States had a moral obligation to the people of Iraq, seven out of 10 favoured withdrawing US troops from the country.
   ‘Overwhelmingly negative opinions on the efficacy of military options can’t help but impact future decisions made by our country’s leaders,’ the report said, singling out the case of Iran.
   Only eight per cent favoured military action against Iran, which has repeatedly defied the United States over its nuclear programme.
   Some 59 per cent of respondents said they did say they did not trust the government to tell the truth on foreign affairs, up 10 points since September.
   Faith in the government’s ability to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks also fell, with only 36 per cent saying there was a lot the government can do to ward off the eventuality of another major attack.
   And while 82 per cent said they were worried about the possibility of unfriendly nations becoming nuclear powers, 63 per cent said it was unrealistic to expect the US government to be able to prevent proliferation.
   The poll identified improving intelligence operations and increasing energy independence as the country’s foreign policy priorities.
   By comparison, actively creating democracies in other countries found little support, with 74 per cent saying democracy is ‘something countries only come to on their own.’
   ‘The public has come to the conclusion that military solutions aren’t the answer,’ said Public Agenda’s president, Ruth Wooden.
   The study questioned 1,013 adults between February 21 and March 4.

Former finance and planning minister, M Saifur Rahman, hosted a dinner in honour of the outgoing US ambassador, Patricia Butenis, at his Gulshan residence on Tuesday evening.
   Sources said British high commissioner Anwar Choudhury, Japanese ambassador Nasayuki Inoue, top officials of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank also attended the party.
   Present among others were former adviser to the caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan and ex-food and disaster management minister Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion has filed a case against an assistant director of the Board of Investment, SM Ahsan Habib, for taking bribe.
   Sub-Inspector of Tejgaon police station Jasimuddin told the news agency that the assistant director of the ACC, M Shamsul Alam, filed the case as plaintiff on Monday.
   It has been alleged that Ahsan Habib took Tk 93.5 lakh in bribe from the proprietor of Munni and Multi Traders, Chowdhury Afzal Hossain, saying that he (Habib) would help the company to get approval to re-export Benson & Hedges and 555 brands of cigarettes.

Army-led joint forces Tuesday arrested a sub-inspector of the detective police while receiving bribe in his residence at Chandipol under South Surma in Sylhet.
   SI Stiphen Derick, who is investigating a case against sand trader Mizan Aziz, demanded Tk 5 lakh as bribe with assurance of dropping him from the charge.
   He was caught red handed when taking the money from Faeyzur Rahman, a union parishad member, who came to pay the bribe on behalf of Mizan in the afternoon.
   Both of them were handed over to the police.

The establishment ministry has cancelled the deputation of five deputy secretaries as directors to the Anti-Corruption Commission. An official order to this effect was published on Tuesday.
   On February 7, eight deputy secretaries were posted to the Anti-Corruption Commission on deputation as directors.
   The deputation of Shafiqul Islam Laskar, deputy secretary of the Economic Relations Division, Jharna Begum, who was earlier an officer on special duty, Siddik Ullah Bhuiyan, Maksudur Rahman Patwari and Akhtaruzzaman were cancelled.

A man named Sabbir Haider was arrested Monday night for reportedly passing himself off as managing director of television channel Rupasi Bangla. He was remanded in custody for a day on Tuesday.
   The Pallabi police arrested Sabbir after a case was filed by the Rupasi Bangla managing director M Haider Ali on March 30 against him and 28 of his associates.
   The plaintiff in the case said the accused using stickers, logo, camera and microphone in the name of the cannel extorted money. They also opened a bank account and a trade licence in the name of Rupasi Bangla. ‘Sabbir bought 5,000 shares of Rupasi Bangla worth Tk 5 lakh on January 16, 2006, July 10, 2006 and July 30, 2006 through fraudulence and forging by signature,’ Ali claimed.

A domestic dispute erupted in gunfire inside CNN’s headquarters complex Tuesday, killing one person and critically wounding another, authorities said.
   A man and a woman were involved in an argument near the main entrance of the complex when the man pulled a gun and shot her, Atlanta police officer James Polite said. He said the armed man was then shot by a CNN security guard.
   One of the people transported to Grady Hospital was pronounced dead on arrival. It was not immediately clear which person died.
   CNN reported that the offices of its Internet operations, CNN.com, were immediately evacuated.

An assistant sub-inspector of police was arrested on Tuesday along with his four accomplices on charge of mugging at Dainik Bangla Crossing in the city’s Motijheel area.
   The arrested ASI, Monir Hasan, was posted at Motijheel police station. His four cohorts are Saiful Hossain, Abdul Hai, Monir Hossain, and Jamal Hossain.
   The victim, Zakir Hossain, is the manager of Green Line Money Changer of 133, DIT Road in Fakirapul.
   Zakir said ASI Monir and his accomplices, riding in a microbus bearing the registration number Dhaka-Metro-Ga-12-8844, waylaid him at Dainik Bangla Crossing at about 1:30pm, when he was returning from his office with Tk 3,44,800 received from Binimoy Money Exchange housed in Adamji Court in Motijheel.
   Monir and his associates identified themselves as law enforcers, threatened Zakir of implicating him in false cases, and then snatched away the bag containing the money from him.
   As Zakir started to cry for help, people from the neighbourhood rushed to the spot and caught Monir and his accomplices along with the microbus. They handed them over to the Motijheel police.
   Joynal said, ‘We produced them before a court today seeking a seven-day remand. The court remanded them in police custody for three days for interrogation.’

A violent storm coupled with hailstorms lashed sadar and South Surma upazilas in Sylhet Monday night, damaging some 50 thatched houses and huge standing crops.
   The worst affected areas are Tuker Bazar and Khadimnagar under sadar upazila and Balu char under South Surma upazila.