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The Appellate Division on Thursday stayed until August 14 the High Court’s orders that granted bail to detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and halted the proceedings of the extortion case under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The six-member full court of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, chaired by Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin, ordered the attorney-general to file a regular petition seeking permission to appeal against Monday’s High Court orders.
   The apex court also asked the High Court to dispose of the writ petition, filed on behalf of Awami League president Hasina, as soon as possible.
   The orders of the highest court of the land came up a day after a full-court hearing of the government’s provisional petition seeking permission to appeal against the High Court’s orders.
   Attorney-general Fida M Kamal told New Age, ‘The orders of the Appellate Division mean that the Tk 3 crore extortion case
   against Sheikh Hasina, filed by businessman Azam J Chowdhury, may go on at the trial court.
   Hasina’s chief counsel Rafique ul Huq told reporters that the orders would have no efficacy after August 14 and then the High Court’s orders would come into effect.
   The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court is scheduled on August 16 to hold the hearing on acceptance of the charge-sheet, submitted by the police in the extortion case.
   ‘I am disappointed with the order of the highest court,’ said Rafique, adding that they would continue the nerve-wracking legal battle in the High Court during the hearing of the writ petition.
   Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin, on behalf of the full court, passed the orders in a few words in the jam-packed courtroom. The security in the Supreme Court’s premises was tightened with the deployment of additional police forces.
   Pleading for the government’s petition to stay Monday’s High Court orders, attorney-general Fida M Kamal told the court on Wednesday that the orders should be stayed, as the case involves the question of interpretation of the emergency rules.
   Terming the High Court’s orders unfortunate, he had argued that the grounds referred to in the writ petition were unsustainable.
   The main ground of the petition is that the emergency rules cannot be applied in any case filed after April 8, when rule 19(J) was inserted in the emergency rules.
   The attorney general also said that the interpretation given by Hasina’s counsel in the writ petition cannot sustain, as rule 19(J)(5) stipulates provisions for approval of using emergency rules in cases filed before April 8, he argued adding that for the other cases general procedures for such approval, detailed in rule 19(J) must be applicable.
   On July 30, after hearing the writ petition, the High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury granted Hasina ad interim bail in the extortion case and directed the government not to proceed further with the extortion case under the emergency rules.
   The High Court also issued a rule on the government to explain within two weeks why its action in approving the application of emergency rules in the extortion case would not be declared illegal.
   Hasina was arrested on July 16 from Sudha Sadan, her husband’s Dhanmondi residence, and later a Dhaka court refused to give her bail and sent her to jail.
   On July 23 the police formally charged Hasina with extortion, and the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court fixed August 16 for the hearing on framing charges against her.
   Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana, who lives abroad, has also been charged in the case, although the complainant had not named her in the original complaint.
   Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of Eastcoast Trading, filed the case on June 13 with the Gulshan thana, accusing Hasina and her cousin, former minister Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, of extorting Tk 2.99 crore from him in return for allowing him to build a power plant in Siddhirganj during Hasina’s 1996-2001 regime.

The acting Awami League chief, Zillur Rahman, on Thursday said the Supreme Court verdict was somewhat disappointing but not frustrating as the case was baseless and false.
   ‘We are disappointed at the verdict, but not frustrated…. We are now in a legal battle and we will continue with the battle until Sheikh Hasina is freed,’ Zillur told reporters at his house at Gulshan on Thursday.
   The High Court on Thursday deferred by a week the hearing in Hasina’s appeal for quashing the Meghnaghat power project corruption case after her counsels sought time for the hearing.
   Terming the cases filed against Hasina false and baseless, Zillur urged the government to withdraw the case and release Hasina.
   He said the Awami League was preparing the papers to file a writ petition against the extortion case filed against Hasina by businessman Noor Ali.
   Zillur called on the government to pay the dues of the workers of the jute mills it closed down.
   He also iterated the call for the party workers to stand besides the flood-affected people.
   Awami League presidium member Matia Chowdhury, women affairs secretary Dipu Moni, Krishak League president Mirza Zalil, and Subid Ali Bhuiyan, among others, attended at the briefing.

The government will today start demolishing the 16 floors above the sixth of the 22-storey Rangs Bhaban as it secured on Thursday a Supreme Court order to dismantle the floors built illegally.
   A five-member bench of the Appellate Division, chaired by Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, passed the order overturning the High Court judgment that declared illegal the decision of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha to cancel the plan of the controversial high rise.
   In its verdict on a government appeal against the High Court judgement, the court said the building could stay up to the sixth floor, but its design would need to be corrected.
   After the verdict, Rajuk decided to start this morning the demolition of the illegal floors beyond the sixth. The demolition will begin at 7:00am.
   The council of advisers at a meeting in April decided to demolish Rangs Bhaban.
   The interim government will also construct the proposed road, which has been pending for long, connecting Bijoy Sarani with Tejgaon, the law and public works adviser, Mainul Hosein, told reporters at a briefing after the court verdict.
   After the demolition of the 16 storeys, the government will acquire the remaining six-storey Rangs Bhaban and the land, and pull it down for the road construction, he said.
   Rangs Bhaban, meanwhile, filed an appeal with the Appellate Division to halt the verdict and the demolition move.
   The Rangs Bhaban authorities submitted the provisional petition seeking review of the Appellate Division’s verdict to the Supreme Court on Thursday, but the appeal could not be heard as the Appellate Division chamber judge was not present at the time.
   Rangs Bhaban’s counsel Rafique ul Huq told reporters after filing the provisional petition that they would file a regular petition with the Appellate Division seeking review of the verdict.
   ‘We will file a regular review petition as soon as we get the certified copy of the verdict,’ he said.
   Justifying the demolition of the high rise, Mainul said, ‘This is not only a building, but also a monument of abuse of power and illegality.’
   No new notice will be issued to the owners of Rangs Bhaban as they have lost the legal battle challenging the notice issued by Rajuk for demolition of the illegal floors, the adviser said.
   The court gave the ruling, ordering demolition as the owners illegally constructed the building in violation of the Civil Aviation Rules, he observed.
   The verdict was delivered on Thursday after a five-day hearing in the government’s appeal against the High Court verdict given on Tuesday.
   The High Court on May 2, 2000 declared illegal the Rajuk decision of June 24, 1999 to cancel the building plan.
   Rajuk filed a petition seeking permission to appeal against the High Court verdict and the Appellate Division on December 5, 2005 gave the permission.
   The appeal was accordingly filed in 2006.

Three hundred and fifty day labourers with equipment such as gas and electric cutters, shovel and hammer start pulling down the controversial 22-storey Rangs Bhaban this morning.
   Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha Thursday evening made an announcement regarding the demolition on the PA system.
   The owners and tenants at Rangs Bhaban started shifting goods, furniture and belongings from the building in the evening.
   ‘We have decided to suspend the service of RanksTel for 96 hours beginning Thursday because of the demolition as the telephone operator’s office is housed on the 15th and 16th floors,’ said a RanksTel official said.
   Grameenphone mobile service will be affected as it was asked to shift its tower installed on the building by Thursday night.
   Areas such as Rayerbazar, Jhigatala and surroundings of Dhanmondi in Dhaka, and Tangail, Munshiganj and Jamalpur will remain out of coverage because of the tower relocation, said Sayed Yamin Bakht, general manager (information) of Grameenphone. ‘We are expecting to restore the service within 72 hours.’
   Private television channels will telecast live the demolition beginning at 7:00am.
   ‘We will telecast live the first-ever demolition of such a building,’ the chief news editor of CSB News, Probhash Amin, told New Age Thursday evening.
   Sources in other private television channels also said they were also considering live telecast of the demolition.
   ‘Although we have chosen both modern and traditional methods for the demolition, we will start with traditional method as we need more time to use modern technology,’ said the housing and public works secretary, ASM Rashidul Hai.
   Fourteen teams, each of 25 labourers and 4 officials led by an authorised officer or executive engineer of Rajuk, will take part in the drive, said a Rajuk official.
   Seven of the teams will work from 7:00am to 3:00pm. Seven others will work from 3:00pm to 11:00pm.
   ‘We will demolish the inner side of the building on Friday,’ the official said on Thursday. ‘The total demolition will take four months.’
   The roads to the east of the building will be closed for a certain period during the demolition, he said.
   ‘We have issued letters to 10 government organisations such as Dhaka City Corporation, Fire Service and Civil Defence, Rapid Action Battalion, Titas Gas, Dhaka WASA and the Armed Forces Battalion seeing support for the demolition,’ he said.
   He said four to five generators would be kept standby for use during power outage.
   The owners of the building will bear the cost of the demolition, said another Rajuk official.

The long-pending link road to connect Bijoy Sarani with Tejgaon will be constructed at the cost of Tk 117.66 crore after the demolition of the controversial Rangs Bhaban and 62 other structures, including 31 tin-sheds.
   The construction of the 60 feet wide and about 2,500 feet long road will cost Tk 2.37 crore. Tk 20 lakh will be spent on the survey and planning, Tk 75.15 crore on the acquisition of 3.544 acres of land and Tk 1.59 crore on the demolition of the existing structures, said a Rajuk official.
   The link road will connect the Old Airport Road at Bijoy Sarani and Tajuddin Road in the Nabisco crossing at Tejgaon, he said. The project is scheduled to be completed by July 2009.
   ‘We will construct the road as it is essential to ease traffic congestion in the areas,’ said the public works adviser, Mainul Hosein.
   ‘If we had not been determined to construct the road, we would have agreed to the proposal of the owners who were ready to pay compensation,’ he said.
   The government has decided to acquire the land of Rangs Bhaban, along with other structures in the area, to construct the road after the demolition of 16 storeys of the 22-stroey Rangs Bhaban, the adviser said.
   Mainul said the proposal for the road had been pending for government approval and the road could not have been constructed earlier because of Rangs Bhaban.
   Rajuk submitted the project proposal, for the extension of Bijoy Sarani eastwards up to Tejgaon involving an estimated Tk 117.662 crore, to the public works ministry on April 19.
   There are 62 buildings and tin-shed structures, constructed legally and illegally, at the proposed road site and the buildings need to be demolished, a Rajuk official told New Age on Thursday.
   Mainul said the structures that are on the proposed road site would also be acquired.
   The structures at the link road site include 32 illegal tin-shed structures, 7 one-stroey buildings, 6 of which are unauthorised, 8 two-storey buildings, 4 of which are unauthorised, 5 three-storey buildings, 2 of which are unauthorised, 4 four-storey buildings, 6 five-storey buildings, 1 of which is unauthorised, and the 22-storey Rangs Bhaaban, said Rajuk officials.

The overall flood situation worsened on Thursday with the inundation of more areas downstream of major rivers. People continued suffering for limited relief work.
   The Brahmaputra continued to rise on Thursday and worsened the situation in Jamalpur, Sirajganj and Pabna.
   The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre said on Thursday that flooding in Manikganj, Munshiganj, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Dhaka was likely to deteriorate today.
   The River Meghna flowed 53cm above danger level in the morning. It is likely to keep rising to cause further inundation in Narsingdi, Brahmanbaria, Kishoreganj, Gazipur and Narayanganj, the flood warning centre said.
   The centre said flooding might deteriorate in central areas, surrounding the capital city, because of the onrush of water from the upstream and water receding from the northern region.
   At least 54 people died and 37 went missing in the flood beginning mid-July.
   The LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, on Thursday said pumps had been set up to flush out water from the capital. He gave an assurance that water supply in Dhaka would remain uninterrupted even during the worst situation.
   Iqbal said DND areas covering Rajarbagh, Manda, Maniknagar, Kusumbagh, Satarkul, Debpara, Nandipara, Gulpara and Trimohani in the east of Dhaka were partially inundated.
   The New Age correspondent in Manikganj said the Dhaka–Aricha Highway had gone under water at 10 points.
   The road communications between Dhaka and 17 districts in the south and south-west and ferry communications might be disrupted. Most offices, schools, colleges and market places have been inundated.
   About six lakh marooned people are suffering for want of food and drinking water as most tube wells have been submerged.
   With most high places and embankments now under water, people have taken shelter on the Dhaka–Aricha Highway at some places. The district administration has started distributing relief goods, but it is not sufficient, local people said.
   The correspondent in Pabna said gas supply to the north had been disrupted as a high-pressure transmission line to the west of the River Nalka in Sirajganj was damaged in the afternoon.
   The correspondent in Sirajganj said the 100MW and 90MW power stations at Baghabari went out of order on Thursday.
   The correspondent in Jamalpur said flooding in all the seven upazilas of the district worsened, inundating more areas on the day. Eight lakh and seventeen thousand people are marooned.
   The correspondent in Brahmanbaria said summer vegetables on vast areas went under water.
   Production of vegetables such as aubergine, cucumber, papaya, okra, balsam apple, beans, snake gourd and amaranth on about four thousand hectares of land have been damaged, local farmers said.
   The Rangpur correspondent said the people had been facing shortage of food and safe drinking water. More than 15,000 families in 16 unions of Kawnia, Pirgacha and Gangachara remained marooned.
   The Barisal correspondent said the district administration held a flood preparedness meeting. The authorities had already allotted 5 tonnes of rice for erosion-affected areas at Mehendiganj.
   The districts hit by flooding are Feni, Noakhali, Brahmanbaria, Chandpur and Comilla in the Chittagong division, Sylhet, Sunamganj and Habiganj in the Sylhet division, Dhaka, Manikganj, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Netrakona, Tangail, Mymensingh, Kishoreganj, Munsiganj, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Narayanganj and Shariatpur in the Dhaka division, Pabna, Sirajganj, Bogra, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Chapainawabganj in the Rajshahi division and Magura and Jhenaidah in the Khulna division.

Supply of vegetables fell drastically and their prices jumped by 50 to 100 per cent in the city in a couple of days as floods wreaked havoc on crops and disrupted communications across the country.
   Department of Agriculture Extension said about 64,000 hectares of vegetable lands in 46 districts had been inundated till Thursday affecting about 37 per cent the country’s total summer vegetables crops.
   Wholesalers told New Age that compared to the previous week, supply of vegetables reduced by at least 50 per cent in the current week.
   Pointed gourd (patal) retailed between Tk 24 and Tk 28 per kilogram in the city’s Mahakhali, Shantinagar and Nayatola kitchen markets Thursday against Tk 16 and Tk 20 two days back, while cucumber sold at Tk 28 and Tk 36 against Tk 20 and Tk 24, bitter gourd Tk 32 and Tk 40 against 24 and Tk 28.
   A kilogram of aubergine was selling between Tk 32 and Tk 40 against its previous week’s price of Tk 24 and Tk 32, onion between Tk 28 and Tk 32 up from Tk 24 and Tk 28. Green chilli marked fresh jump, from Tk 100 last week to Tk 180-Tk a kg.
   Green papaya, graded to be the cheapest of all vegetables round the year, gained Tk 4-6 per kg to Tk 16-Tk 18.
   ‘Don’t blame us. Supply shortages almost doubled the prices of vegetables in wholesale markets,’ a greengrocer at Mahakhali kitchen market was heard telling an angry bargain hunter.
   Samsuddin Mia, a wholesaler at Karwanbazar told New Age that during past of couple of days, at best 60 truckloads of vegetables arrived in the wholesale depots here. During normal days, at least 100 trucks enter Karwanbazar every day, he said.

Three little children of Anjana cried as she was cooking the last remaining pot of rice on a raised place in her thatched house at Naoda of Shoilbari in Sirajganj already under waist-high water.
   ‘It is hard to get rice. How can we get other things?’ said the widow, when she was asked what else she would give to the children to eat the rice with.
   She said no one had visited the place with any relief goods where about 130 families have been living in flood water for 10 days. Several families are sharing a makeshift platform in a house.
   ‘Life has become very hard now,’ said the 65-year-old Rejab Ali, sitting on the roof of his hut, half under water, on the inundated western bank of the River Jamuna.
   He said he could manage rice somehow, but it was impossible to get vegetables, meat or fish.
   Hundreds of people in waist-deep water surrounded the boat hoping that it might have carried relief goods for them, but they left disappointed, knowing that the boat was carrying some newsmen.
   ‘We thought you have come with relief goods. What is the use in having us snapped? Give us some chira [flattened rice] instead so that we can survive,’ said the old man.
   In a situation worse than Anjana and Rajeb Ali have been, more than 10,000 people have taken shelter on a strip of one kilometre on the embankment at Khokshabari, about five kilometres north of the Sirajganj town.
   A single tube well on the embankment has survived inundation and that has remained the only source of drinking water for them.
   Majida, a resident of Natunpara, has been living on the embankment for five days. She said her house had gone under water 10 days ago. She moved onto the embankment with some clothes. She said she did not know how to feed the six members of her family.
   ‘We ate panta [rice soaked with water] in the morning,’ she said, giving a blank look at her children as relief goods were yet to reach the place.
   The Khoksabari BNP president, Mobarak Hossain Khan, said, ‘We are unable to start relief work. We are only telling the flood-affected people to keep their courage.’
   The biggest problem of the flooded areas is the lack of sanitary latrines. People, male and female, are relieving themselves in the open, risking the outbreak of waterborne diseases.
   Cold-related diseases and diarrhoea have already affected some of the children who have taken shelter on the embankment and other high places, said a medical assistant of the general hospital.
   The local administration, with the help of the army and Scouts, on Thursday distributed relief goods among the affected near the Khokshabari hospital.
   People swarmed in at the news and they were asked to stand in a queue in knee-deep water. The authorities had only 67 bags for distribution and hundred others had to get back empty-handed.
   Union council chairman Bokul said nearly 50,000 people of 28 villages at Khokshabari were marooned. They had so far received only 15 tonnes of rice, which was distributed in three days. ‘The situation is bad and more relief goods are needed.’
   Relief goods were also distributed on the Bhatpeary WAPDA embankment where the affected people from char land to the west of the Jamuna have taken shelter with their cows, goats and even dogs.
   Local union council chairman Saiful Islam said the army gave away 10 kilograms of rice to each family.
   Ali Akbar, 52, said, ‘We felt a bit relieved as we received the rice, but the people who have not received the rice are in a miserable condition.’
   The district relief and rehabilitation officer, Abul Khair, said 240 tonnes of rice and Tk 5,41143 in cash had been allocated. They have, so far, distributed 80 tonnes of rice among the affected.
   When asked if the amount of relief goods was adequate, he said relief officials had reached everywhere. ‘Relief work has been going on in full swing.’
   According to the Sirajganj district administration, most areas have gone under water and of about 30 lakh population, 7.26 lakh have been badly affected.
   Country boats have now been the only mode of transport also in the town as all the roads have gone under water. The water level kept increasing on Thursday.
   Scarcity of food and water has hit almost all, the rich and the poor. Government assistance has remained too meagre.

The food and disaster management adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, at a briefing on Wednesday admitted that volunteer organisations had come up for relief work on a limited scale although flood water inundated 34 districts, killing at least 54 in affected areas.
   He hoped that all would stand by some 56 lakh people affected by the flooding.
   Asked whether the state of emergency was a reason for poor response from socio-cultural organisations which usually get involved in relief activities, he said, ‘I do not think so.’
   The adviser iterated that political organisations would not be allowed to do relief work under any banner.
   The LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, also addressed the briefing on the flood situation at the secretariat.
   Iqbal said it would be better not to carry out relief work under any banner. Any benevolent work should be done in silence, he said.
   He said the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority had set up 151 pumps to flush flood water out of the city.
   Responding to a query, Iqbal said flooding would not affect the preparation of the electoral roll.
   At least 30,860 houses were fully destroyed and more than three lakh houses were partially damaged by the floods, Tapan said, adding crops on 1,70496 acres of land were damaged.
   He said the government was not planning at the moment to appeal to the international community for help to face the disaster.

The National Board of Revenue on Thursday directed all banks and National Savings Directorate to freeze all accounts and seize saving instruments of 55 politicians, businesspeople and charities.
   The order will apply to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her family, her sister Sheikh Rehana Siddiqui, Bangabandhu Memorial Trust, former foreign minister M Morshed Khan and former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar as well as their families.
   The central intelligence cell of the revenue board has already sent the list of individuals and institutions to all banks, financial institutions and savings directorate.
   All current and savings accounts, foreign currency accounts, credit card, locker and cash deposit of the listed ones will be frozen.
   The banks and institutions have also been asked to give the statements regarding the listed persons and institutions, the order said.
   The list includes Hasina’s nuclear scientist husband MA Wazed Mia, son Shajib Wazed Joy and daughter Sayma Wazed Putul; and Shafiq Siddiqui, husband of Sheikh Rehena, and Grenade Victim Welfare Fund.
   Business leader Abdul Awal Mintoo, trade union leader Molla Abul Kalam Azad, professor Dr Abdul Hadi and businessman Motiur Rahman Chowdhury of Seasons Sweater Limited along with his family have also their names on the list.
   It also includes Faria Binta Zaman, Labib Ibna Zaman, Tahmina Zaman, Ahnaf Ibna Zaman and Tasfia Binta Zaman of Lutfozzaman Babar’s family; Faisal Morshed Khan, Faria Hoque, Shama Sezan Khan, Fayaz Morshed Khan, Faraz Morshed Khan and Jonson Morshed Khan of Morshed Khan’s family.
   The latest list raised the number of individuals to see their bank accounts frozen by the interim government to about 400, revenue officials said.

The middle-roaders in BNP believe that a section of senior leaders in both the conformist and dissident groups are making ‘political mistakes’ by resorting to personal attacks and accusing each other of plotting to split the party.
   ‘I feel embarrassed as some senior leaders in both the conformist and reformist groups are hitting back at each other openly,’ a BNP joint secretary general, apparently closed to both chairperson Khaleda Zia and secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, told New Age on Thursday adding, ‘These are political mistakes.’
   He said, ‘We understand that the backstage planners of a new political order are trying to trap both the party chairperson [Khaleda Zia] and the secretary general [Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan] to tackle BNP… and it is not unusual in a developing country.’
   ‘We expected that they would not bow to the pressure and face the situation politically,’ he said. ‘I am surprised to see that both the sides have stepped in the trap and engaged in mud slinging.’
   ‘It would be difficult to keep the party [BNP] united this time if good sense does not prevail in them and they do not refrain from personal attacks,’ he added.
   Another joint secretary general, apparently a conformist, expressed his frustration over recent spats between the senior party leaders. ‘I am thinking of washing my hands of politics…Let the people, who think politics is about mudslinging and character assassination, do politics,’ he told a secretary in the central committee over cell phone on Wednesday.
   The secretary claimed that he had conveyed separate messages to both Khaleda Zia and Mannan Bhuiyan requesting them to refrain from personal attacks. ‘I requested both of them not to resort to personal attacks…But their relations are so strained that the row between them has reached the point of personal attacks either overtly or covertly,’ the leader said. ‘It is unfortunate.’
   Asked about recent activities of the dissident group, the leader quoted Mannan Bhuiyan as telling him, ‘I am not trying to create rift in the party, rather I am trying to keep the party united…A number of former MPs and party leaders would already have left the party if I had not undertaken the move to bring about reforms in the party.’
   Khaleda Zia made some comments on the personal lifestyle and political beliefs of Mannan Bhuiyan in her talks with the leaders of Chandpur unit Chhatra Dal on Wednesday. She also blamed the reformists for conspiring to break the party.
   ZA Khan, an adviser to the chairperson, and Ashraf Hossain, a joint secretary general, however, alleged that the chairperson was making remarks against the party’s unity, creating rift among the leaders and activists.
   ‘The chairperson is making remarks against the party’s unity, creating rift among the leaders and activists.’ Ashraf said at Mannan Bhuiyan’s house in Gulshan Wednesday.
   ‘BNP is a large party and we should talk about our ideals and people’s welfare. The issue of personal relations is different and if they are strained it should not be spoken publicly,’ he added.
   Ashraf skipped a question as to how they were working freely when the chairperson was in ‘virtual confinement.’ ‘We do not control her movement and our movement is also controlled to some extent,’ he said.
   Mannan Bhuiyan announced a 15-point plan on June 25 for democratisation of the BNP and a revised 14-point proposal on July 12for reforms of state institutions.
   The plans suggest that a person should not be chairperson or secretary general of the party for more than two terms, each of three years, or six years.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday said conspiracies are on to malign the popular leaders of major political parties and time has come to think about real intentions for such actions.
   ‘There are good and bad everywhere. Propagation that all politicians are bad won’t bring any good for the country and democracy,’ Khaleda told a group of party activists in Tokyo in a teleconference early Thursday.
   She said the people have the right to judge between good and bad, and they will vote for those whom they find good and reject the bad elements.
   ‘It is not right to think that the people do not understand anything,’ she said.
   ‘The ban on political activities needs to be lifted immediately. People should be allowed to decide who will govern the state. The state will not be run at the will of any indivi-dual or clique. Forcing people never brought good results,’ she said.
   ‘Conspiracies are on against the country and the democracy. Certain quarters, who want to grab the country, are in control of everything. We will not tolerate any conspiracy against our country,’ the former prime minister said.
   She said certain quarter is also active to split BNP and some opportunist leaders of the party are being used as tools in such conspiracy. ‘If we stand untied, the conspirators will not be able to succeed this time too,’ she said.
   Though there is no scope of doing politics in the country right now, some people are running their activities freely in the name of reforms and intimidating the leaders and activities to join their camp, Khaleda said, warning of actions against those who violate the party’s discipline.
   She also had a similar teleconference with a group of party activists living in South Korea early Thursday.

Law adviser Mainul Hosein said on Thursday the government should pay more attention to strengthening the economy rather than spending all its energy on the anti-corruption drives.
   He called on all to wake up to the reality and warned the people of the consequences ‘if this government fails’.
   It would not work if the government chases after corrupt people only and concentrates on curbing corruption without making any efforts to boost up economic activities, he said in response to reporters’ queries at the secretariat.
   ‘It is also the responsibility of the people in every sector to help the government…But I find a lack of consciousness among the intellectuals and the media people. They are not playing the role we expect of them…,’ Mainul said adding, ‘There are chances that the government might fail.’
   He asked all concerned to think about the consequences should the government fail. ‘Think what would happen if this government fails.’
   The adviser said the present government was an interim administration and no one in the cabinet was going to contest the next elections. ‘We have come up as friends of the people…to help the country overcome its crisis,’ he said and reiterated that they would hand over the power to an elected government.
   The economic condition of the common people must be changed…and all should help the government in bringing about dynamism in the economy, he viewed. Mainul admitted that the anti-corruption drives had thrown businessmen into a fright affecting financial transactions and the overall economy.
   He called on the media to play its due role in upholding the cause of the common people since the press, as he claimed, was enjoying more freedom under a state of emergency than it had during the rule of political governments.

Pakistan’s former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, Thursday launched a Supreme Court appeal against his exile seven years ago by president Pervez Musharraf, who overthrew him in a bloodless coup.
   Military ruler Musharraf expelled Sharif and his family from Pakistan in 2000, a year after toppling him from power. The Sharifs went to live in Saudi Arabia and London.
   ‘The court should order the government not to directly or indirectly obstruct, hamper or resist Nawaz Sharif and his family members ... to return to their country or force them to live in continued exile,’ the petition said.
   The appeal comes after Sharif and another former premier, Benazir Bhutto – who is living in self-imposed exile due to corruption charges – both said they would return to Pakistan for elections that are due by early next year.
   Sharif still officially heads his faction of the conservative Pakistan Muslim League party from exile, while Benazir is the leader of the centrist Pakistan People’s Party.
   Benazir said she will return from exile this year to take part in a general election due next year, according to an interview published on Thursday.
   ‘Yes, the Pakistan People’s Party and I will be part of an election in Pakistan this year,’ Benazir told the English-language Emirates Today newspaper.
   Benazir, who has lived in self-imposed exile in London and Dubai since 1998 because of corruption allegations against her, could be detained on the charges if she goes back to Pakistan.
   It also follows the July 20 reinstatement by the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s top judge after Musharraf suspended him in March, in a move seen as a political blow to the president and an assertion of the judiciary’s independence.
   ‘We are filing this petition as our confidence in the judiciary has now been fully restored,’ Pakistan Muslim League lawmaker Khawaja Mohammad Asif, who filed the petition on Sharif’s behalf, told reporters outside the court.
   The petition also called for the court to end the exile of Sharif’s brother, Shabaz, former chief minister of Punjab.
   The Sharifs had a ‘fundamental right’ to return to the country as Pakistani citizens, Asif said.
   Analysts have said that Chaudhry’s reinstatement could open the floodgates for legal challenges against Musharraf’s dual position as army chief and president, and also for appeals by the president’s political rivals.
   ‘The judiciary is now completely free and we want a decision in accordance with the law and the constitution,’ Pakistan Muslim League secretary general Zafar Iqbal Jhagra told reporters.
   Industrialist-turned-politician Sharif was prime minister from 1990 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 1999. After Musharraf deposed Sharif he was sentenced to life in prison on tax evasion and treason charges.
   Under a deal brokered by the Saudi royal family, Musharraf released Sharif in December 2000 on condition he and his family live in exile in Saudi Arabia for 10 years.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion is ready to face the court battle on the legal notice served to it by detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, challenging its notification asking for her wealth statement.
   ‘It is a legal matter and we will face it in accordance with the law,’ ACC chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury told reporters at the regular press briefing held on Thursday at the ACC’s headquarters.
   Hasina, the Awami League’s president, on Wednesday served a legal notice on the ACC, challenging the legality of its notice issued by one of its deputy directors on July 17, asking her to submit her wealth report.
   ‘How can a deputy director of the ACC notify a former prime minister to submit her wealth statement?’ the legal notice, issued by Hasina’s counsel Fazley Noor Tapash, asked the ACC, and demanded its explanation by August 5.
   ‘According to the ACC’s rules, any official, who is not below the rank of deputy director, can ask for the wealth statement of any corruption suspect with the prior approval of the commission,’ explained the ACC’s chairman, referring to Rule 17 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Rules 2007.
   He, however, said that the ACC would decide its next course of action in this regard.
   When he was asked whether Hasina might be sued for failure to submit her wealth statement, Mashhud said that the ACC would have to wait till August 8, the deadline for submission of her wealth statement.
   ‘People know what happens if anybody fails to submit his/her wealth report,’ he added.
   When he was asked whether the ACC would notify the advisers of the interim government for submission of their wealth reports, he answered, ‘Since I have submitted my wealth report, they will also do so if they have the courage.’
   ‘The advisers are conscious and the submission of their wealth reports depends on their willingness,’ he added. ‘I will not force them to do so since it might create misunderstanding.’

Members of the US Congre-ssional Committee on Foreign Affairs expressed their desire to see the lifting of the ban on political activities in Bangladesh soon, and hoped that the interim government would stick to the deadline declared in the roadmap for holding general elections by 2008.
   The committee made the remarks during the testimony given by US deputy assistant secretary of state, John Gastright, at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.
   The hearing was presided over by chairman of the committee Congressman Gary L Ackerman and was attended by Congressmen Joseph Crowley, Steve Chabot, Frank Pallone and Congresswoman Jackson Lee, said a release issued by Bangladesh embassy in Washington.
   ‘Success of the reform measures taken by the caretaker government will benefit its [Bangladesh’s] people,’ said Gastright.
    He said that the caretaker government has undertaken a series of reform measures which, if concluded successfully, would benefit the people of Bangladesh.
   The US diplomat said that the reforms being enacted by the government are necessary to restore integrity to government, impartiality and fairness to the criminal justice system and also to ensure proper funding of public programmes from tax revenue.
   ’But it is also essential that the burden of corruption be removed from Bangladesh’s economy to allow it to function properly and become more efficient in order to continue to grow and expand,’ he argued.
   When he was asked by the committee how things are progressing in Bangladesh, Gastright said the interim government has expressed its resolve to stick to the roadmap for election by 2008.
   Dwelling on the law and order situation in Bangladesh, Gastright said that there were fewer incidents of law and order violation in recent months. He particularly referred to the reduction of the number of deaths in custody or at hands of the Rapid Action Battalion.
   Praising the economic reform agenda of the interim government, Gastright mentioned the World Bank’s and IMF’s favourable reports and said the GDP growth has reached 6.7 per cent, which was the strongest on record since Bangladesh’s independence.
   Terming Bangladesh as America’s long-standing partner, he assured the committee that the United States would continue working with Bangladesh, which is in transition as ‘it moves through this important period in its history’.
   Gastright also informed the committee of the initiatives taken by the major political
   parties ‘for fundamental changes in party leadership and structure for [bringing about] internal party democracy’ and expressed the US’s desire to ‘actively follow these developments’.

Human Rights Watch, a US-based organisation for protection of human rights around the world, on Wednesday observed that the rule of law appears to be breaking down under the present interim government in Bangladesh.
   Asia Director of the organisation, Brad Adams, in a letter to the chief adviser of the interim government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, urged for repealing the emergency regulations under the state of emergency for restoring fundamental rights.
   ‘We are particularly concerned because the rule of law appears to be breaking down under your administration. Under the emergency laws, the right to bail and the right to appeal are routinely denied. Court decisions are regularly ignored. Bangladesh’s many fine judges and lawyers are not being allowed to play their legitimate roles in the legal and judicial process,’ the letter said.
   The director for Asia said they were deeply concerned that the laudable goals of interim government for fighting corruption and reforming the political system were not being matched by efforts to protect human rights.
   ‘The joint forces, led by the army, have shown almost complete disregard for established legal norms conducting arrests and holding people in detention. Instead of being brought immediately before a magistrate, detainees are routinely taken to army barracks and other unofficial places of detention and tortured, both as punishment and to force them to sign confessions. Many people are being picked up in the middle of the night without warrant,’ the letter said.
   The organisation said all persons currently detained under the emergency regulations should be charged with a cognisable criminal offence or released. Those mistreated in detention should be able to seek legal remedies through competent authorities, added Human Rights Watch.
   The human rights organisation urged the interim government to ensure that those whose rights have been violated have an effective remedy before competent authorities and allowed access by independent monitors to all places of detention.

Bangladesh signed the ‘Treaty of Amity and Cooperation’ in Manila Wednesday with a pledge to work for promoting peace and stability in the region.
   ‘This treaty is the centrepiece of ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) and today is a red-letter day in the history of Bangladesh foreign policy,’ said foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury after putting his signature on the treaty in presence of all the ASEAN foreign ministers.
   Iftekhar, who is leading the Bangladesh delegation in the ARF ministerial meeting in Manila, said, ‘Security, peace and development are concerns we share with others in the region, and I have no doubt in all these areas the cooperation among our countries will strengthen.’
   Bangladesh, which joined the ARF last year, signed the treaty along with Sri Lanka, the new member of the forum, according to a release received from Manila Wednesday.
   The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation requires signatories to renounce the use or threat of force against ASEAN members, emphasises non-interference in signatories’ internal affairs and calls for settlement of disputes by peaceful means.
   The adviser said that every key member of the international community—ASEAN members, US, European Union, Russia, China, Japan, India, Canada and Australia took part in the forum, which was a recognition of the growing economic and political significance of Asia, of which Bangladesh was proud to be a part.
   Countries that have signed the treaty since it was launched in 1976 include Australia, China, India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, East Timor and France.

Bangladesh Bank will sell shares worth Tk 400 crore of Oriental Bank through open tender to sponsor shareholders by October to recapitalise the ailing bank, sources in the central bank said.
   The offer is open to both local and foreign investors since the central bank is not going to issue licence for any new bank, they said.
   The depositors of the bank would also get Tk 300 shares in proportionate to their deposits, said the sources.
   The government on Wednesday approved the reconstruction scheme of the bank and the central bank issued a circular on Thursday saying that the scheme would be effective from August 5.
   The scheme has two parts – recapitalisation and repaying of the bank’s debts, said a high official of BB
   For recapitalisation, the central bank would advertise express of interest on newspapers and website by next week. Potential buyers will get 45 days to show their interest. Qualified buyers will be short-listed in seven days next, he said.
   The short-listed buyers would be given 2-3 weeks’ time to thoroughly inspect the bank’s health before making their investment decisions.
   ‘The bank has already audited accounts which the potential buyers can go through.’
   The potential buyers are expected to give their financial proposals within two weeks and the central bank would offer the shares to the highest bidders, said the BB official.
   If the amount exceeds Tk 400 crore, the additional amount would be considered as premiums. New investors, including foreign and non-resident Bangladeshis, can buy shares.
   The bank would also issue shares to depositors proportionately, said another BB high official.
   Depositors with Tk 1 crore and over would get shares of 25 per cent of their deposits, those having Tk 50 lakh to Tk 1 crore deposits would get shares of 20 per cent of their deposits, between Tk 10 lakh and Tk 50 lakh would get shares of 10 per cent and depositors with less than Tk 10 lakh would get shares of 10 per cent but it is optional, he said.
   A high official of the commercial bank said complicacy may arise in the implementation of the reconstruction scheme as far as repayment of the debts of the bank is concerned.
   The scheme said the bank would repay only principal amounts to depositors, but no profit.
   The central bank would announce later when the bank would start paying to the depositors, he added.
   General depositors have around Tk 1,150 crore with the bank, while the government has Tk 400 crore, private banks Tk 350 crore, financial institutions Tk 90 crore, insurance companies Tk 16 crore and local authorities Tk 7 crore.
   The ailing bank would seek its operational freedom from the central bank to earn revenue as it has about Tk 75 crore cash investible fund, he said.

The formal start of the preparation of voters’ roll with photographs and national identity cards in Rajshahi city corporation area is likely to be delayed by a few days due to worsening floods.
   The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, who was scheduled to inaugurate the voter registration work on August 5, postponed his scheduled tour of Rajshahi after visiting the flood-affected northern districts on Wednesday.
   ‘The entire country is now reeling under floods, so it would be wise to wait for a few days as every one, particularly the people in the administration and government, are busy tackling the calamity and mitigating the sufferings of the marooned people,’ election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain told reporters at his office on Wednesday.
   About the postponement of the chief adviser’s scheduled tour of Rajshahi, the election commissioner said, ‘The havoc wrought by the flood has affected his [chief adviser] mind.’
   Sakhawat, however, told reporters that natural disasters like flooding and monsoon rains would not affect the EC’s October 2008 deadline for completing the task of voters’ roll preparation.
   ‘We have prepared a detailed action plan keeping probability of natural disasters like flooding in mind to complete the task within the timeline,’ he said.
   The election commissioner said that the preparatory work was ‘going on in full swing’ and hoped that the formal work at Rajshahi was likely to start by August 10.
   Asked how the EC had started the enumeration for a fresh electoral roll with photographs in Rajshahi without amending related laws and rules which did not allow fresh roll preparation with photographs, Sakhawat said a new law in this regard was going to be promulgated before the start of the formal work.
   According to the commissioner, the EC has asked the government to repeal the existing Electoral Rolls Ordinance-1982 to dispel fears of legal controversy over the voter listing and proposed that a new law should be enacted for preparation of a fresh voters’ roll with photographs. The EC sent a draft to the government on Tuesday for enacting a new law, retreating from its earlier stance on amending the Electoral Rolls Ordinance-1982.
   The New Age correspondent in Rajshahi said the district election office distributed 2.74 lakh voter registration forms among the enumerators on Sunday. The enumerators Monday morning started distributing the forms among eligible voters through door-to-door visit, beginning with the city corporation ward 23. The enumerators distributed forms in ward 19 on Tuesday.
   District election officials said the main server room for the job was opened at the Rajshahi divisional stadium on Tuesday. Three control rooms were opened to collect data from the residents of 30 wards.
   The Rajshahi district election officer, Syed Muhammad Musa, told New Age on Tuesday that 101 voter registration centres were opened in the 30 city wards and three data processing stations were also set up. The centres and stations will start functioning on the opening day. They will complete the enumeration in one month, he said. There were 2,74,128 eligible voters in the Rajshahi city corporation area and 16,46,369 in the district, local election office sources said.
   The New Age Barisal correspondent reported that the district election office was making preparations for launching the voter registration work from September this year.
   The district election officer said they had received an instruction from the Election Commission recently in this regard. The EC letter mentioned that the work for voter registration in Barisal district would start in September after Sylhet division.
   Already 30 assistant registration officers have been appointed for the task in the 30 wards of Barisal city corporation, 25 for five other municipalities and one ARO for each union of the district.
   Selection of enumerators will also be completed by the third week of this month, he hoped.

The Rapid Action Battalion busted a den of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh and arrested four members along with 10kgs of explosive and grenades from Mirpur in the capital early Thursday.
   The intelligence wing at the battalion headquarters has strengthened and intensified its efforts across the capital, following secret information that there are some hidden dens of the outfit at different parts of Mirpur.
   As part of the intensified drives against the militants, the battalion intelligence, with the help of RAB-11, conducted raids at different parts of the city to arrest members of the banned Islamist outfit on August 1.
   The battalion personnel traced a mess at house 8, lane 21, block C in Mirpur 12 where they detected suspicious movement.
   Finally they raided the mess at around 2:00am and managed to arrest four active members of the outfit from room 8 of the mess.
   The arrested militants are Ishak Sheikh, 34, son of Abul Kasem Sheikh of Barshapara under Kotalipara upazila in Gopalganj, Rafiqul Islam, 19, son of Ashraf Kari of Jurener Char under Dewanganj upazila in Jamalpur, Khalilur Rahman, 21, son of Saheb Ali of Istepur under Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur and Mohammad Anis, 33, son of late Fayez Uddin Sheikh of Haringazi Gohail under Shahjahanpur upazila in Bogra.
   Soon after the arrest, the battalion interrogated them extensively at their headquarters during which the arrested men admitted that they were JMB members and there are some grenades and explosives in their possession.
   Based on their statements the RAB personnel seized explosives, grenades and other equipment from under a cot of the room.
   They recovered some 10 pieces of improvised hand grenades, 10 kilograms of improvised explosives and equipment including one soldering iron, one coil of soldering led, one drill machine, one emitter, four pressure switch, two capacitors, two metres of electric wire, one 1.5 bolt battery and three jihadi (Islamic) books.
   Battalion sources said their men were continuing their drives at different parts of the city and its adjoining areas to unearth more JMB dens and arrest the remaining militants who have organised themselves to carryout fresh attacks.

The second post-mortem examination of schoolgirl Sadia Naushin Priyanka was conducted at the Barisal Sher-e Bangla Medical College Hospital morgue on Thursday, 14 days after her death.
   Priyanka secured grade point average-5 in the SSC examination from Vikaurunnessa Noon School and was admitted to higher secondary class before she was found dead in their Pearabagh apartment in the capital’s Moghbazar area.
   The first autopsy done at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital claimed that Priyanka had committed suicide on July 20. But the victim’s family rejected the report and sought for a further autopsy.
   The chief metropolitan magistrate court of Dhaka ordered the second autopsy. Accordingly, her body was exhumed Thursday morning from the family graveyard at Patkati village of Mathbaria upazila in Pirojpur in presence of magistrate Abdullah Al Mamun of Pirojpur and sub-inspector Kazi Didarul Alam, investigation officer of the case, and sent to Barisal SBMCH for autopsy.

Officials of the Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company expressed frustration over Petrobangla and the energy division’s latest directive to the company to launch joint ventures with foreign companies for two of its gas blocks and a number of reserved gas-fields.
   Energy experts said that such a move would further cripple the state-run gas exploration company that has never got due attention from successive governments.
   The state-run Petrobangla last week sent a letter to Bapex that said, ‘Take the necessary steps for signing joint venture agreements [with foreign companies] for the blocks and gas-fields (that are out of the purview of a High Court injunction), keeping the interest of the country and in a transparent manner in line with an Energy Division directive dated on July 11, 2007.’
   ‘It is outrageous and anti-state to invite foreign companies to form joint ventures randomly for exploration and production of gas from the blocks and fields that were exclusively kept for Bapex,’ a frustrated official of the company told New Age on Thursday.
   Two blocks, 8 and 11, and a number of gas-fields, including Semutang, have been kept reserved for Bapex for years so that the company could explore and extract gas from these areas.
   Bapex has already found some potential structures that might have gas reserves in both the blocks. The structures are located at Kapasia, Srikail and Bhairab.
   Officials of Bapex admitted there was a genuine need for engaging foreign companies in some of the potential locations like Sitakunda and Hazipur as a huge amount of funds and advanced technical support would be needed for exploration.
   ‘But there was no need to look for joint venture partners for the two blocks and other fenced fields. Successive governments neglected Bapex and have not provided sufficient funds for conducting exploration and development work. Now this government is also following the footsteps of the previous governments,’ said an official.
   The state-run company was forced by the previous BNP-Jamaat government to sign a joint venture agreement with a dubious Canadian company, Niko Resources, in 2003 for the two ready fields — Feni and Chhatak (Tengratila).
   Two blow-outs rocked the Chhatak gas-field and caused damage amounting to millions of dollars apart from polluting the environment, and Petrobangla has been purchasing gas from Feni at the exorbitant price of $1.75 for 1,000 cubic feet of gas, and that too in foreign exchange.
   The Petrobangla on the other hand pays Bapex only Tk 7 for 1,000 cubic feet of gas that it purchases from Bapex’s Salda Nadi and Fenchuganj fields because of huge amount of taxes it has to pay the government.
   The BNP-Jamaat government, however, in the latter half of its tenure decided not to award any onshore gas-fields to any foreign companies.
   Sources in Petrobangla said that they had directed Bapex to launch joint ventures as per the directives of the energy division.
   They said that the initiative to launch the joint ventures has been taken after a number of foreign companies — like Thiland’s PTTEP, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Malaysian companies — expressed interest in signing joint venture agreements.
   Power and energy adviser Tapan Chowdhury told New Age on Thursday that Bapex was not ‘ordered’, rather a proposal was sent to it on whether it was interested to form joint ventures with foreign companies as the country needs immediate increase in gas production.
   ‘We have not told them [Bapex] that they have to sign any joint venture. We have just proposed that they can form joint ventures,’ he said. ‘These blocks and gas-fields were given to Bapex years ago but they have not done anything to extract gas from them. We need immediate gas production.’
   When asked why the government was not funding Bapex, he replied, ‘One has to understand the reality, that the government has limitations.’
   Energy secretary AMM Nasir Uddin also claimed that Bapex was not ordered to sign any joint venture although the language of Petrobangla’s letter makes it sound like an order.
   ‘Bapex has an independent board. It can take any decision on Petrobangla’s proposal for launching joint ventures,’ said Nasir, who is chairman of Bapex’s board.
   When his attention was drawn to the fact that he was the chairman of Bapex and that his division had initiated the proposal for joint venture, Nasir said, ‘There are a number for renowned personalities like Professor Nurul Islam and Professor Abu Ahmed in the board. Do you think they will agree with anything that goes against the country?’
   He claimed that the basic idea was that Bapex would form joint ventures for the difficult locations where it would find exploration difficult, as the one in Sitakunda.

Gas supply to some northern districts such as Sirajganj, Bogra, Pabna and Ishwardi has been suspended as a major gas transmission line from Elenga in Tangail to Baghabari in Sirajganj developed a leak.
   The authorities stopped gas supply through the pipeline as it developed the leak in the River Karotoya at near Jhakri in Sirajganj early Thursday.
   The cause of the leak could not be detected as the pipeline lies 20 to 25 feet under water, a Petrobangla release said.
   Gas supply to the Baghabari power plant, Milk Vita, and the Pabna and Ishwardi towns remained suspended through the 20-inch pipeline of the Gas Transmission Company Limited, a subsidiary of Petrobangla, it said.
   The release said the authorities had taken steps to repair the leak and hoped to resume gas supply through the line soon.
   Petrobangla regretted any inconvenience caused to its subscribers for the suspension of gas supply, the release said.
   A high Gas Transmission Company official said they were not sure when they could repair the pipeline because of strong current in the river.
   He said the authorities were trying to supply gas through alternative routes.

Results of the Higher Secondary School Certificate examinations of 2007 under the seven general education boards will be published on August 23, education ministry sources told New Age on Thursday.
   Results of the Alim, Fazil and Kamil examinations under the Madrassah Education Board, HSC (Business Management) results under the Technical Education Board and Diploma-in-Business Studies/Diploma-in-Commerce under the Dhaka Education Board will also be published on that day.
   ‘This year’s exams began on May 10 and ended on June 24,’ said Professor Md Yousuf, chairman of the Madrassah Education Board who is also chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee.
   Around 6.50 lakh students took part in the second largest public examination of the country.

The Supreme Court has set August 7 to hear applications of the condemned prisoners seeking leave to appeal to overturn the High Court order that confirmed their capital punishment for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
   Court sources said Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin has constituted a 3-member bench of the Appellate Division to hear the long pending applications of the condemned killers.
   Those filed the applications are Lt Col (sacked) Syed Farooq Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col (retd) Mohiuddin Ahmed, Major (retd) Bazlul Huda and Lt Col (retd) AKM Mohuddin Ahmed deported to Dhaka from the USA on June 18 and sent to jail.

The hearing of another long-pending petition for quashing a graft case against detained former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was deferred by a week on Thursday, as her chief counsel Rokanuddin Mahmud declined to defend her.
   When the petition on the Meghnaghat power plant graft case came up for hearing before the High Court bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice M Ataur Rahman Khan on Wednesday, Hasina’s counsels Abdul Matin Khasru and Fazley Noor Tapash told the court that the senior counsel in the case, Rokanuddin, had declined to move the case for Hasina.
   ‘Now we have to engage another senior counsel and therefore need more time to start the hearing,’ Tapash told the court, pleading for time.
   ‘There is no need to engage any senior counsel in the case as you are competent enough to move it and we will hear a senior or junior counsel equally and impartially,’ the court told the counsels.
   The court, however, deferred the hearing by a week.
   The same bench on Wednesday deferred to August 7 the hearing of another long-pending petition for quashing a graft case against Hasina on the same grounds.
   The bench is also scheduled to hear the longstanding petition for quashing the naval frigate purchase graft case on August 7, and another petition for quashing the case of corruption in appointing consultants for the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority on August 22.
   Rokanuddin, the senior counsel for Hasina in all of these cases, is unlikely to move these cases also, Hasina’s counsels told New Age on Thursday.

A huge chunk of the roof of a Chittagong Medical College hostel for female students broke down late Wednesday.
   The college officials said a seven-to-eight feet chunk of the common room at Kanta Chhatrinibash collapsed at around 11:00pm. The room had 25 residents.
   No casualty was reported as no students were inside the room during the incident. The pieces of furniture in the room were badly damaged.
   The college principal, Abdul Wahab, said they had vacated the hostel after the incident.

The Bangladesh-India Joint Committee of Experts will meet in New Delhi on August 7-8 to discuss sharing of Teesta water and issues relating to Ichhamati and Feni rivers.
   The water resources secretary, Syed Mohammad Zobayer, will lead a 14-member Bangladesh delegation to the meeting. This will be the 8th meeting of the joint committee of experts on sharing of waters of the Teesta and seven other common rivers.
   Talking to reporters, the water resource secretary said the Delhi meeting would mainly focus on the sharing of the Teesta water, works on protection of frontier rivers, lifting of water from Ichhamati and distribution of water of the Feni river.
   ‘We will also raise the issue that Bangladesh does not face any erosion due to 21-km dredging in the river Ichhamati by India,’ he said.
   Replying to a question, Syed Zobayer said if the joint committee of experts could make substantial progress in making recommendations to resolve the problems, the ministerial-level meeting between the two countries might be held in next three months.
   The Bangladesh delegation will leave Dhaka for New Delhi on August 6.

The government has asked the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board to maintain utmost transparency during the purchase of telecom equipment to avoid controversy.
   The post and telecommunications ministry, in a directive to the state-owned land-phone operator on July 24, also asked it to prepare a list of the equipment it plans to purchase at the beginning of each year and to send the list to the ministry in good time.
   The ministry’s officials said the directive was issued to increase the transparency in every purchase of the BTTB as controversy had always dogged it while awarding a contract to any bidder in the past.
   ‘In the last five years, most of the big contracts given to some companies were not free from controversy,’ said the official.
   The official said that many of projects undertaken by the BTTB remained stalled or even failed to take off in time as it had to float tenders several times to award a contract.
   ‘It happened because of the lack of transparency,’ the official pointed out.
   Citing an example of irregularities in awarding a contract, he said the BTTB had to call tenders four times for installing four Voice over Internet Protocol exchanges to route VoIP traffic.