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More than 87,000 people, including teachers and students, have been sued in 33 cases filed with the police stations across the country between Wednesday and Saturday in connection with furious protests between Monday and Wednesday in violation of the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The law enforcers have so far arrested 17 people, including five teachers of Dhaka and Rajshahi universities and the BNP student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president and Dhaka city ward commissioner in connection with the cases till Saturday evening.
   Twenty-eight cases were filed with 11 police stations in the capital accusing more than 82,000 people while the two cases were filed with the Savar police, and one each with Ashulia in Dhaka, Motihar in Rajshahi and Pabna sadar accusing more than 5,000 people on different charges under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   Police sergeant, subinspectors and assistant sub-inspectors of respective police stations and police outposts filed 30 cases as complainants while three cases were filed by a transport company official, a DESA official and the secretary of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   In Dhaka, seven cases were filed with the Shahbagh police accusing 18,000 people, including the teachers and students of Dhaka University, on different charges under the Emergency Power Rules.
   The police filed four cases with the Dhanmondi police accusing 20,000 unnamed people and four more cases were filed with the New Market police accusing 12,000 unnamed people on the same charges.
   The Kotwali police filed four cases accusing 18,000 unnamed people, the Sutrapur police two cases against 8,000 and the Gulshan police two cases against 2,400 unnamed people on the same charges.
   The law enforcers filed two cases with the Ramna police against 600 people and one case each with the Paltan, Motijheel, Mirpur and the Mohammadpur police accusing 6,000 unnamed people.
   The Savar police filed two cases accusing 2,000 unnamed people. One case was filed with the Ashulia police against 500 people on different charges under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The New Age correspondent in Pabna said a case was filed with the Pabna sadar police against 350 Edward College students in connection with vandalism and assault on the police. Assistant subinspector Md Badrudduza lodged the case on Friday night.
   In Khulna, subinspector of the Daulatpur police filed a case Friday night against 500 people on charge of going out on demonstrations at the BL University College and its surroundings after furious protests at Dhaka University.
   The correspondent in Rajshahi said subinspector SM Faruk Hossain filed a case Wednesday night with the Motihar police against more than 2,500 unnamed people over a clash, in which rickshaw-puller Anwar Hossain was killed and about 150 were injured on the Rajshahi university campus on Wednesday.
   A high Detective Branch official said they continued carrying out drives to arrest the demonstrators based on information gathered by intelligence agencies from newspapers and statements issued by the protesters against the incidents on the DU campus.
   ‘We are also examining the video footage and photographs to identify the people involved in the clashes,’ he said.
   The law enforcers have so far arrested 17 of the 18 named accused in this connection, including teachers’ association general secretary Professor Anwar Hossain and social sciences dean Harun-or-Rashid of Dhaka University, former vice-chancellor Saidur Rahman Khan, also a member of the Awami League advisory council, Progressive Teachers’ Society convener Abdus Sobhan and management teacher Moloy Kumar Bhowmik of Rajshahi University on Friday.
   The law men also arrested Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal and Dhaka city ward commissioner Mokbul Hossain Tipu on the same charges.

The council of advisers at its regular meeting on Saturday asked the home affairs ministry to clarify why the police had lodged cases against thousands of unnamed people in connection with last week’s student unrest at Dhaka University and on other campuses.
   ‘The cabinet reprimanded the home ministry for filing cases against thousands of people showing them unidentified and asked it to explain the matter,’ said a senior adviser.
   All advisers who attended the meeting, held at the chief adviser’s office with Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair, took notice of the matter and censured the home ministry.
   The police have so far filed 28 cases with 11 police stations in Dhaka against over 82,000 people including teachers and students, in connection with the violence, according to official records.
   According to the adviser, the meeting reviewed the law and order following clamping of curfew in Dhaka and five other divisional cities and observed that filing of cases against thousands of unnamed people, including students, on charge of violence and defiance of the Emergency Powers Rules would ‘create panic among all and tarnish the image of the government abroad.
   Some of the advisers said they smelt a rat in the police action which, according to them, would expose innocent people to harassment by law enforcers at the cost of the government’s image, said sources.
   The council of advisers asked the law enforcers to identify from the video footages those who were involved in the clashes and prepare first information reports without going for filing cases against thousands of unidentified people.
   The military-backed interim government Wednesday clamped indefinite curfew on six divisional cities, including the capital, to quell widespread student protests sparked by harassment of some students by the army personnel camped on Dhaka University campus on Monday. Students defied ban on street demonstrations during the state of emergency proclaimed by president Iajuddin Ahmed in January this year in the face of political turmoil.
   The council of advisers, in the meeting, also approved a draft to amend six city corporation ordinances keeping provisions for constituting a panel of mayors and fixing remuneration for the ward commissioners.
   As per the amendment, a three-member panel of commissioners, including one woman commissioner, will act as mayor in absence of the mayor.
   The council also approved the draft of pesticides (amendment) ordinance, 2007 to make it time befitting as well as preventing misuse of pesticides.
   The meeting reviewed the government relief operations in the flood-hit areas across the country and discussed rehabilitation of the affected people.
   The meeting was informed that Taka 32 crore has been allocated from the chief adviser's relief and welfare fund for rebuilding the homesteads of farmers damaged in flooding.

Five teachers of Dhaka University and Rajshahi University were remanded in custody on Saturday as they were produced before the courts about 40 hours after their detention.
   A Dhaka court remanded two professors, Anwar Hossain and Harun-or-Rashid, for four-day in the case filed on August 23 with Shahbag thana of the capital on charge of ‘violence and defiance of the Emergency Powers Rules.’
   Metropolitan magistrate Ahsan Kabir passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the police seeking remand for 10 days.
   Sub-inspector Serajul Islam lodged the cases on August 23 against 2000 unnamed people under rule 3(4) of the Emergency Powers Rules. The rule stipulates jail term for two to five years and restricts bail of the accused.
   Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Rajshahi remanded Rajshahi University teachers— former vice-chancellor Sayeedur Rahman Khan, Progressive Teachers Alliance Convenor Abdus Sobhan and Moloy Kumar Bhowmik— for 10 days under rule 16(2) of the emergency rules, which empowers the law enforcers to arrest any person on suspicion.
   Metropolitan magistrate Rabiul Islam passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the Motihar police.
   The teachers were charged with ‘violating state of emergency, making provocative comments against the government, instigating student demonstration and violence.’
   Regular case will be filed later on, the police told the court.
   Security forces picked up professor Anwar Hossain, general secretary of the Dhaka University Teachers’ Association and Harun-or-Rashad, dean of social sciences, from their university residences shortly after midnight Thursday.
   The two senior teachers were handed over to the Shahbagh police station Saturday noon and shown arrested in two cases filed by police subinspector Serajul Islam on August 23 against 2000 unnamed people for breaking emergency rules.
   Producing Anwar and Harun in the court, police told that they violated the emergency powers rules expressing solidarity with agitating students and mobs.
    ‘Moreover, the teachers delivered provocative statements against the government and the existing emergency powers rules, which instigated the students and public to go berserk,’ claimed sub-inspector Ali Asgar Khan, the investigation officer of the case.
   ‘We need 10-day remand to identify other people accused in the case and arrest those,’ the IO told the court.
   Syed Rezaur Rahman and Mahabub-e-Alam, counsels for the professors, appealed to the court for sending the professors to prison on humanitarian grounds.
   ‘The allegation against the teachers is false and fabricated as they were not present at the gymnasium, where the university clashes were originated,’ Mahbub-e-Alam told the court.
   ‘The teachers were tortured and needed medical treatment,’ counsel Syed Rezaur Rahman said.
   The teachers, standing in the dock, did not say anything to the court.
   Our Rajshahi correspondent adds, detained three RU teachers were taken to Matihar thana at 5:45 pm on Saturday after more than 40-hour stay in custody, and produced before the CMM court, police sources said.
   Court inspector Mahbubul Quddus Siddique appealed for 10-day remand and the court granted the appeal.
   The three teachers’ counsels Aslam Sarker and Shawkat Salehin Elen told the court that granting such a long remand was unusual.

The government is under a fresh pressure from World Bank for two per cent cut in import duty on about 2800 finished and luxury goods, top officials in the government told New Age.
   A senior economist of the global lender is the key man behind the fresh initiative in less than two months since the new budget, effective from July 1, withdrew 4 per cent surcharge on import of these items, also at the instance of multilateral lending agencies.
   The officials said the interim government, headed by chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, looks convinced by the World Bank’s proposal to lower the highest slab of import duty to 23 per cent from existing 25
   per cent. The highest slab applies to less important imports, including luxury and finished goods.
   The finance ministry and the National Board of Revenue are now busy weighing up the pros and cons of the lender’s proposal, which also deals with some other revenue-related issues, they said.
   ‘There was a written order from the chief adviser’s office to look into the matter of cutting the highest import duty slab by two per cent or rationalising current structures of supplementary duty along with a number of reforms in revenue matters,’ a high official in the ministry said.
   The revised or rationalized duty measures are very likely to be put in force in the middle of the current fiscal year or in the next fiscal year depending on negotiation and relation between the government and the WB, he said.
   The budgetary decision of lifting four per cent infrastructure development surcharge from several hundred items instantly met with concerns from economists and industrialists, who termed it an exit from the declared policy of the successive governments to support local industries.
   The duty measure would open the floodgate of cheap imports and make local products uncompetitive even in the domestic market, industrialists and economists warned soon after the budget proposals were made public.
   But the concerns were not addressed when the budget was finalized. A further cut in the import duty on finished and luxury goods would be a fresh blow to many local industries, which are already in a difficult time, many in the business feared.
   Major products, which now fall under the slab of 25 per cent import duty include parent stock of day-old chicks, fish, milk and cream, cheese and cards, eggs, different fruits, coffee, tea, pig fats, biscuits, bread, pastry, fruit juices, soups, mineral water, sparkling wine, whiskies, vodka, gin and rum, cigars and cigarettes.
   The basket also includes cement, face powder, shampoo, perfumes, shaving cream, toilet soap, photographic paper, mosquito coil, plastic products, tableware, rubber products, motor cars, leather goods, newsprint, paper and paper board, tissue paper, cotton fabrics, toilet paper, woven fabrics, carpets, textile fabrics, readymade garments, babies’ garments, women’s or girls’ suit and footwear.
   Besides, steel products, razor and razor blades, metal products, air-conditioning machine, refrigerators, washing machine, microwave ovens, record players, cordless telephone handsets, telephone answering machine, all kinds of motor vehicles, musical instruments, wooden and metal furniture, electric lamps and ball-point pens are also included in the highest duty slab.
   The present government, in the current budget, also removed zero duty import facility from above 400 industrial raw materials and imposed 10 per cent tariff.
   Besides, it increased import duty on about 1200 items, mostly industrial machinery and raw materials from five per cent to 10 per cent at the insistence of the WB, sources said.
   The budgetary measures contributed a lot to the increasing costs and prices of local products.
   The price situation would go worse if duty slab is revised downward, an economist said.
   The two global lenders— WB and International Monetary Fund— have been under fire for their increasing influence on the country’s economic and trade policies.
   Major trade bodies in a joint statement recently urged the government to come out of the mire of the WB and the International Monetary Fund as they viewed the lenders’ prescriptions often proved to be anti-industrialisation.

A pair of bombings tore through crowded public areas in the southern city of Hyderabad in India Saturday night, killing at least 30 people and leaving about 50 people wounded, officials said.
   News agency AFP, however, said the death toll was 34.
   Security forces were put on alert across the city. The blasts – one in a park during a laser show, and one in a crowded restaurant – went off minutes apart, officials said.
   ‘This is a terrorist act,’ YS Rajasekhara Reddy, the chief minister for Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, told reporters, urging people to remain calm.
   K Jana Reddy, the state home minister, said at least 30 people had been killed – at least 24 in a popular family restaurant, Gokul Chat, in the city’s Kothi market, and at least six more at the laser show in Lumbini Park. About 50 people were injured, he said.
   Television footage from the restaurant showed tin plates filled with blood and rainwater lying on the floor after the blast, amid the scattered belongings of victims.
   Footage taken in the arena where the show was held showed large pools of blood and dead bodies lying between rows of seats punctured by shrapnel.
   Police officers with flashlights and sniffer dogs were searching under chairs looking for more explosive devices.
   ‘We heard the blast and people started running out past us. Many of them had blood streaming off them,’ said PK Verghese, the security manager at the laser show. ‘It was complete chaos. We had to remove the security barriers so people could get out.’

The government has relaxed the curfew clamped on Dhaka and five other divisional headquarters for 18 hours from 5:00am for today, an official announcement said.
   The cities, including the capital, were full of life during the 17-hour relaxation of curfew from 6am on Saturday.
   City dwellers resumed work and the flow of traffic was normal on streets. Private offices, markets, shops and some schools opened.
   The government offices, however, remained closed Saturday for weekly holiday.
   Shoppers crowded the city's kitchen markets in the morning but essential commodities were in short supply and prices were exorbitant.
   Retailers said prices soared further as curfew hampered supplies and also because of panic buying following relaxation of curfew.
   The Dhaka University campus, centre of recent student unrest, remained almost desolate. The law enforcers continued patrolling the campus where protests raged for three days since Monday afternoon.
   The government imposed indefinite curfew on six divisional cities, including the capital, from Wednesday evening to contain demonstrations that rocked the country. A string of clashes primarily between the students and the law men left one person dead and several hundred injured across the country.
   The government shut down all universities and colleges in six divisional cities amid violent protests.

Army chief of staff general Moeen U Ahmed on Saturday said an evil force wanted to destabilise the situation of the country but its design was frustrated.
   ‘An evil force taking the cue of a trifle incident on the Dhaka University campus on August 19 wanted to perpetuate anarchy in the country. Within 24 hours they poured in crores of taka to instigate vandalism on the street.
   ‘But the design could not succeed as we were vigilant. Their plan to destabilise the situation and undermine the government has been deflated,’ said General Moeen justifying the imposition of curfew on Wednesday night in Dhaka and five other cities.
   The intelligence agencies were investigating to find out the evil force engaged in perpetuating anarchy and tarnishing the image of the government, he added.
   The army chief who flew to Shariatpur Saturday was talking to a cross-section of the people at Shariatpur Circuit House at 12:00 noon.
   Earlier, he visited the relief centre at the Water Development Board and distributed relief materials among the flood victims. A packet of 10kg rice, one kg pulse, one litre edible oil, water purification tablets, fertiliser, paddy seedlings, vegetable seeds, etc were given to each of 300 people sheltered in the relief centre.
   The general urged the people to face up to the flood and its aftermath with courage and fortitude. He said the short-lived flooding has left a trail of destruction. Besides damage to agriculture, the flood inflicted immense loss on houses, educational institutions, roads and highways. It will take time to recover the losses.
   ‘Our duty is to help the affected people and raise their morale to recover the loss,’ he added.
   Gen Moeen informed that as many as 53 medical teams are providing treatment to the flood-hit people of the district. He advised the people to take advantage of the facilities extended by the government.
   He said the armed forces were prepared to face the flood situation. They have distributed relief materials, including rice allotted to the flood affected districts by the government.
   About the price of essentials the general said the high price of food grains and some other commodities in the international market had given rise in prices in our market.
   While exchanging views with the elite of the town general Moyeen reiterated that election will be held by the end of 2008. He expressed the hope that people would vote for honest and men of integrity who can serve them and the nation as well.
   Shariatpur and Madaripur pourashava chairmen Sardar AKM Nasiruddin and Babu Chowdhury, deputy commissioner Habibur Rahman, elite of the town and newsmen attended the meeting.
   General Moeen was accompanied by GOC 9th division Major General Ahsabuddin, Director of Military Operation Brigadier General Humayun Bakht Chowdhury and other senior civil, military and police officers.

The government on Saturday formed a one-member judicial commission headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate the August 20 Dhaka University incident involving army personnel and students, which later was allegedly stoked into a country-wide flare-up of violence.
   ‘A one-member judicial inquiry commission headed by retired High Court judge Habibur Rahman Khan has been formed to investigate the untoward incident of Dhaka University on August 20. The commission has been requested to submit its report within 15 working days,’ said an official handout.
   It also said, ‘Clashes between police and students took place on the night of August 20 centring an unwarranted incident at Dhaka University… Some opportunist individuals created chaos using the incidents at the university.’
   According to the handout, the government imposed curfew on the six divisional cities, including Dhaka, from 8pm on August 22 to protect people’s life and property and to maintain law and order.
   Some individuals have already been detained in connection with the incidents on August 20 and thereafter, and measures are being taken against the detainees as per the existing law, it read, adding, ‘If the allegations against someone are not proven, he/she will definitely be released.’
   Justice Habibur Rahman Khan was also the chairman of the one-member judicial inquiry commission formed in 1998 to probe the murder of a university student, Shamim Reza Rubel. Shamim was killed in custody of the detective branch of police.
   The probe report he then submitted to the government is yet to be published.
   In the report he recommended amendment to the laws that empower the police to arrest any people on suspicion without any warrant and also those that allow for remanding detainees in police custody. The recommendations are yet to be implemented.
   Although the government so far has formed a number of such probe commissions, none of their reports has ever been published.
   Moreover, Bangladesh does not have any law on judicial inquiry commission and the government usually forms such commissions under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1956, in which the terms of reference for any inquiry is fixed.
   The act contains no mandatory provision for making public the report of such a commission.
   The act also says there is no legal enforcement of the report of the commission. The government, if thinks fit, may use any part of such a report in the prosecution.
   Ordinarily, a judicial inquiry commission is set up through an executive order to inquire into a matter of public importance.
   The subject can be diverse as long as it is a matter of serious concern to public.
   The commission is not a court of law but is essentially a ‘fact-finding’ body to put forth recommendations to the government of the day. The recommendations are not ‘judicial orders or verdicts.’ They are advisory in character.
   In India, the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 has been amended, making mandatory provisions for placing the
   report of any judicial inquiry commission before parliament within six months of its submission.

The Awami League has called on the government to invite all political parties to talks to find a way out of the present crisis.
   ‘It would be wise on the part of the government to sit in a discussion with all political parties to overcome the crisis. Such an initiative could help the nation find a way out,’ the Awami League acting president, Zillur Rahman, told reporters at his Gulshan residence Saturday evening.
   Zillur reiterated that his party was ready to help the government. ‘What can we do if they [government] do not seek cooperation,’ he asked.
   He said he did not believe political parties had been involved in last week’s student protests at Dhaka University and on other campuses that prompted the government to impose an indefinite curfew in six cities. He said the Awami League had no involvement in the events.
   The acting AL chief advised the interim government to show restraint and tolerance. ‘Choosing any other options will be a mistake,’ he cautioned.
   Terming the arrest of university teachers as ‘unexpected and sad’, Zillur said he saw no reason why the teachers were detained.
   ‘Teachers are honourable persons. They deserve everyone’s respect,’ he said.
   Referring to today’s scheduled hearings on state applications for leave to appeal against the High Court orders granting bail to detained AL president Sheikh Hasina in two ‘extortion’ cases, Zillur hoped that she [Hasina] would get justice.
   ‘We hope she will get justice as all the cases lodged against her are false and baseless,’ he said.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is likely to decide today if the detained Awami League president and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina will be freed on the bail granted by the High Court in two extortion cases.
   Another former prime minister, Khaldea Zia, has also been summoned by the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka to appear before it today in a case filed for non-submission of service return of Dinkal Publications Limited.
   The BNP chairperson however will not appear personally before the court. Her lawyers will represent her in the proceedings of the case, her counsel Sanaullah Miah told New Age on Saturday.
   Khaleda’s lawyers will move an application before the court seeking time for submission of her reply to the case, Sanaullah said.
   A deputy registrar of joint stock companies on June 11 sued Khaleda, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, and 12 other directors of the company, which brings out the daily Dinkal, for non-submission of service return for last several years.
   In the cases against Hasina, the full bench of the Appellate Division on August 16 set August 26 to decide on two regular petitions filed by the government seeking stay on the bail granted by the High Court to Hasina.
   The country’s apex court on Sunday will also hear another petition filed by the government seeking to halt the August 7 High Court order that stayed the Anti-Corruption Commission’s notification to Hasina asking her to submit her wealth statements.
   A High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury on July 30 granted bail to Hasina in the Tk 2.99 crore extortion case filed by businessman Azam J Chowdhury and directed the government not to proceed with the case under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   Accordingly, on August 16, the CMM court of Dhaka posted September 5 for entertaining the High Court bail orders and hearing on the acceptance of the charge sheet against Hasina in the case.
   The same High Court bench on August 7 granted Hasina bail in another extortion case of Tk 5 crore filed by businessman Noor Ali and asked the government to explain why placement of the case under the Emergency Powers Rules would not be declared illegal.
   The court issued another rule on the ACC to explain why its notice issued on July 17 asking Hasina to submit her wealth statements would not be declared illegal. It also stayed the execution of the ACC notice.
   The government on August 9 filed two petitions seeking permission to appeal against the High Court orders. The joint forces arrested Hasina at her Sudha Sadan residence in Dhaka on July 16 and a court sent her to jail the same day.

The results of the higher secondary certificate and equivalent examinations of 2007 will be published today, education board sources said.
   Students will need to collect the results from the institutions concerned at 4.00pm today. The results will not be available with newspaper or education board offices or education ministry.
   The results of seven general education boards and the madrassah board will, however, be available on www.educationboard.gov.bd . The results of the technical education board will be available on http : //result.bteb .gov.bd .
   Besides, results of all the nine boards will be available with mobile operators using SMS service. The results of five overseas centres under the Dhaka education board will also be published today.
   The government on August 22 cancelled its earlier decision of publishing the results on August 23 as curfew was ordered of six divisional headquarters on the day.
   The exams began on May 10 and continued till June 24.

An uneasy calm prevailed on the deserted Dhaka University campus with passing vehicles of security forces causing fresh fear among the teachers and their families residing in the quarters.
   The arrest of two senior teachers at their flats in midnight raids Thursday spread the panic among their colleagues and families. Teachers’ representatives were silent on the issue till Saturday.
   Amid such a situation, acting vice-chancellor AFM Yusuf Haider called on chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed Saturday and discussed the latest situation on the campus.
   Yusuf Haider at a briefing said the chief adviser assured him that the detained teachers would be treated with due honour and they would also get legal assistance, and that there would be no illogical harassment of students and teachers.
   Asked about the reopening of the university, professor Yusuf said, ‘The chief adviser is also concerned about resumption of academic activities and that will be done after things get quiet.’
   The acting VC said that the deteriorating situation had forced the government to close down the university. ‘The government had met all the demands of the students and expected that the situation would return to normalcy, but things reversed, leaving no option but to close the university,’ he said. Some member of the teachers’ association in the morning met him to discuss the campus situation.
   The campus wore a barren look as the resident students left their dormitories Wednesday evening following orders from the authorities.
   The lawmen rebuked a photographer who was trying to snap a running convoy of security forces in front of Roquiah Hall Saturday.
   The lawmen also picked up a student and his younger brother from beside Jagannath Hall. Swapan Dev, an MBA student and resident of room 379 of East House of Jagannath Hall went to hall to take necessary things without informing the authorities.
   The teachers’ association leaders in the morning went to the residences of detained professors Anwar Hossain and Harun-or-Rashid, and extended their sympathies to the worried families.
   Anwar’s son, Sanjeeb Hossain, said his father and professor Harun looked pale when they were produced to the court.
   ‘Our attorneys pleaded for medical examination, but the court ordered four days’ remand. We were told that they would be taken to Shahbagh police station from the court, but we did not find them going there,’ he added.
   The university teachers association is in a fix after the arrest of two professors.
   Young members wanted the Dhaka University Teachers Association to convene a general meeting, but senior teachers did not agree in fear of fresh actions by security people, insiders said.

A Dhaka court on Saturday remanded Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal president Azizul Bari Helal in police custody for five days.
   Helal was detained by the detective branch of police at his Moghbazar residence early Friday. The Shahbagh police filed a case against 5,000 unnamed people including him the same day for instigating the clashes on Dhaka University campus last week violating the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The police on Saturday produced him before the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka seeking a 10-day remand. The police told the court that Helal along with a number of students brought out possessions in the university campus on August 20 and 21 chanting anti-government slogans in violation of the Emergency Powers Rules.
   They went on a rampage on the campus to create panic among the general students and even attacked law enforcers, the investigation officer of the case said.
   The IO said, ‘We need to interrogate him intensively to identify and know the whereabouts of his accomplices to arrest them.’
   Helal’s counsel, Sanaullah Miah, said his client should be sent to jail as he had been tortured in police custody after arrest. ‘There is no need to remand my client in police custody as he had already been in custody after arrest.’
   After the hearing, the magistrate, Ahsan Kabir, issued the order remanding Helal in custody of the Shahbagh police.

Three powerful hand-bombs exploded almost simultaneously at three points of the Jessore town Saturday night, leaving two pedestrians injured.
   Witnesses said the three bombs were exploded at Circuit House Para, Kotwali thana square and in the new bus terminal areas at around 9:00pm.
   The injured were admitted to General Hospital in critical condition. The police said it was not clear who carried out the serial blasts but they had launched a manhunt to arrest the perpetrators.

The government is yet to scrap the deal with Asia Energy on the Phulbari coal field as was agreed to a year ago after three people were killed and more than a hundred injured in firing by the Bangladesh Rifles during a furious protest.
   The law enforcers opened fire when several thousand people protested against the Asia Energy’s open-pit mining plan at the coal field on this day in 2006. Three teenagers — Tariqul, Amin and Salekin — were killed.
   After four days of spontaneous demonstrations by several thousand people, the Rajshahi mayor, Mizanur Rahman, on behalf of the then BNP-led government of the time signed an agreement with the protesters, led by the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port on August 30, 2006, to cancel the government deal with Asia Energy.
   The agreement also provisioned that Asia Energy would be driven out of Bangladesh and no open-pit mining would be allowed in the country.
   The Prime Minister’s Office at that time asked the Energy and Mineral Resources Division on September 29, 2006 to take ‘necessary steps’ to implement the mayor’s agreement.
   The division asked for the law ministry’s opinion on the issue, but any decision on the issue has yet to be made.
   The power and energy adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, told reporters on Tuesday that the law ministry was yet to give its opinion regarding the scrapping of the deal with Asia Energy.
   ‘They [law ministry] has made some queries and we have sent in our replies. We have not received any decision as yet,’ he said.
   When asked whether the government would allow Asia Energy to develop the Phulbari coal field, he said, ‘We are a caretaker government. Why will we make any decision on the matter?’
   As for open-pit mining, he said the government would not go against people’s wish and interest.
   The oil and gas protection committee member secretary, Professor Anu Muhammad, who signed the agreement on Asia Energy ouster on behalf of the people, told New Age on Friday they on the first anniversary of people’s movement against the company demanded that the government should implement the major points of the agreement.
   The committee has declared August 26 Phulbari Day and urged the government to make an official announcement in this regard.
   Anu said the interim government time and again said it was fighting against corruption. ‘The Phulbari deal with Asia Energy is a major example of corruption in the country. So if the government really means that it is against corruption, it should cancel the deal,’ he said.
   ‘It is sad that the company, for which three people were killed, is still active in Bangladesh. It is still cheating people in England and it is trading shares on the London Stock Exchange by showing that they are developing the Phulbari coal field,’ he said.
   Anu said the committee had planned to observe the day with programmes on a limited scale with placing flowers in memory of the deceased, rallies, exhibition of photographs, indoor memorial and prayer meetings because of the state of emergency, but the authorities requested them to hold only prayer sessions.
   A number of socio-political organisations issued statements, expressing their concern about the ‘conspiracy to sell out national resources’ to the British company.
   The Workers Party hoped that the government would implement the agreement signed between the government and the people in 2006. The party also protested against the present government’s restriction on the observance of the day.
   The Bangladesh Movement for Rights of Indigenous Peoples will organise a seminar at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity on Monday as part of the observance of the first anniversary of the people’s movement at Phulbari.

The recent furious protests that spread across the country from Dhaka University resulted mainly from people’s frustration at the government’s failure to contain price spiral of essential goods, said discussants at a meeting in Dhaka on Saturday.
   Various government steps, such as eviction of slum dwellers and hawkers coupled with demolition of unauthorised structures, made people angry and they joined the protest spontaneously, said the participants in the BBC Sanglap at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre.
   They termed the government’s ‘repressive’ policy against the university teachers and students ‘unwanted’. ‘The government made some serious mistakes in seven months. They should be looked into,’ said retired army general Ghulam Quader, former director general of the BIISS.
   ‘The violent chaos was an outcome of annoyance that brewed because of the eviction of slum dwellers, sacking of workers, and crisis in agriculture and industries under the state of emergency,’ said Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal leader Shireen Akhter.
   She said if the Dhaka University authorities ‘could inform the students instantly that the army camp would be withdrawn from the campus.’
   Professor Emajuddin Ahmed said the unexpected incident was addressed in time and it involved no instigation from the vested interests.
   Echoing Emajuddin, Ghulam Quader said the arrest of the teachers was not acceptable; but he also said that the real culprits should be brought to justice. ‘Anybody involved in it must be tried.’
   About the army-student clash at Dhaka University, he said, ‘It was a mistake to set up an army camp on the DU campus as students are very sensitive towards army presence on the campus.’
   Awami League leader Abdul Matin Khasru, who attended the Sanglap as a panel discussant, called for an investigation to find out whether there was any involvement of vested interests in the student protest.

Water resources experts on Saturday made contradictory predictions on a second-time flooding this year.
   ‘There are no chances of further flooding in three out of the four river basins this year,’ said Saiful Hossain, executive engineer of the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.
   ‘Only the Padma basin may be flooded late August to early September and it may affect Rajshahi, Chapanawabganj, Chua-danga and Pabna,’ he told New Age.
   ‘The areas in three other basins — the Meghna, Brahmaputra-Jamuna and South Eastern Hill are not likely to be flooded,’ he said.
   But the IUCN-The World Conservation Union country representative, Ainun Nishat, said, ‘We should remain cautious about further flooding as rivers are very high and close to danger level all over the country.’
   ‘The Ganges level in India is very high and close to danger level. It has crossed danger level at the point bordering Bangladesh. It is flowing above danger mark at the Goalanda and Chandpur points,’ he said.
   ‘The Jamuna is also flowing at a high level at the Sirajganj and Aricha points. The deterioration of the flooding in affected areas may continue for few more days,’ Ainun Nishat said.
   ‘Past record shows that there could be flooding in even the first and second weeks of September. It all depends on rainfall. There is no way of saying what will happen in 10 to 15 days. We should remain prepared for any eventuality,’ he said.
   The Met Office said, ‘Rainfall may increase in the next four days.’
   Flooding, meanwhile, improved further on Saturday although two major rivers, the Padma and the Jamuna, flowed above danger mark, according to the bulletin of the flood warning centre.
   Other rivers marked a fall, the bulletin said. The Jamuna flowed above danger mark at the Aricha point and the Padma at the Goalunda and Bhagyakul points.
   The rivers surrounding Dhaka and Narayanganj are expected to mark further fall in the next two days. Flooding in Manikganj, Munshiganj, Faridpur, Rajbari, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Gopalganj, Chandpur and at Dohar and Nawabganj in Dhaka will continue to improve today.
   Two thousand, eight hundred and eight diarrhoea patients were admitted to public hospitals in flood-hit districts and 633 to the hospital run by the ICDDR,B in Dhaka in 24 hours till Friday midnight. The health services directorate general said at least 83,186 people contracted diarrhoea between July 30 and August 25.

The government will brief today foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka, including heads of mission and representatives of donor agencies, on
   the latest situation in the
   country, diplomatic sources told New Age.
   Foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has invited diplomats to a tea party at the state guest house Padma today to explain the situation and the government’s steps following student protests at Dhaka University and other educational institutions.
   ‘The adviser will explain to the diplomats the address of the head of the interim government [Fakhruddin Ahmed] to the nation delivered after the imposition of curfew on six divisional headquarters including the capital on August 22,’ the source added.
   This will be the second such meeting with foreign diplomats since the military-backed interim government assumed office on January 11.
   The United States and the United Kingdom have already expressed their support for the interim government and urged the people of Bangladesh to refrain from ‘violence and provocation’ for the sake of the country.
   Washington urged all to refrain from violence and provocation and to work together to solve the problems in the best interest of the people of Bangladesh.
   Urging restraints from all sides, the British high commission hoped that curfew would be lifted at the earliest possible opportunity.
    ‘We understand that the caretaker government will not allow these events to deflect from its desire for credible elections, as per the election roadmap. We welcome this,’ a statement of the British high commission said.
   Other diplomatic missions, however, refrained from making comments on the latest events in Bangladesh.
   Several western diplomats, preferring anonymity, said they were observing the situation very closely and had discussed it among themselves but were not in a position at the moment to make comments.
   On January 22, a day after chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed’s address to the nation, the foreign adviser briefed diplomats about the comprehensive agenda of the government including general elections, political reforms and drive against corruption.

Bollywood star Salman Khan was arrested by the police on Saturday and sent to jail after a court rejected his appeal against a five-year conviction for shooting an endangered species of gazelle.
   Television channels showed pictures of the muscular actor surrounded by policemen as he left the airport in Jodhpur after arriving from Mumbai, as TV crews and fans jostled to get a glimpse of him. The police struggled to keep order.
   ‘He has been arrested at the airport lounge and the arrest warrant was presented to him there itself,’ a police official said.
   Dozens of fans on motorcycles followed him in a police vehicle on the way to court, where he was ordered to be jailed, the police officials said.
   The actor said earlier on Saturday he would surrender in Jodhpur after the rejection of the appeal against his 2006 conviction for killing several endangered species of antelope during hunting trips to the western state of Rajasthan in 1998.
   The animals are protected under Indian wildlife law.
   Khan was alleged to have slit the throat of the chinkara – a type of gazelle that he shot before giving it to chefs at his deluxe hotel to cook.
   On Friday, a Jodhpur court rejected his appeal against the conviction, leaving him with the option of surrendering or being arrested.
   The court had also issued an arrest warrant against him.
   Earlier on Saturday, Khan, wearing a tight-fitting white T-shirt and cargo pants with sunglasses, said in Mumbai he planned to surrender in Jodhpur ‘as a responsible citizen and somebody who abides by the law and respects the judiciary’.
   He was accompanied by his lawyer and family members, including his actor-brother Sohail Khan.
   Television footage showed a worried-looking Khan talking to a tense Sohail and lawyers during the flight to Jodhpur.
   Known for his bad-boy image and romantic liaisons with several Bollywood leading ladies, Khan has several other cases hanging over him.
   He was convicted in 2006 for killing protected blackbuck antelopes during Rajasthan hunting trips, and given a one-year jail sentence.
   He was granted bail and has appealed against that conviction, but has also been charged with other counts of killing wildlife and of breaking gun laws.
   Khan is also facing trial over the death of a man sleeping on a pavement in Mumbai in 2002. Khan is suspected of drunk driving and has been charged over the man’s death. The actor has denied being at the wheel.
   Khan is currently filming three movies costing about 1 billion rupees, according to film analyst Taran Adarsh.

Election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain Saturday accused NGOs involved with the election working group of plundering crores of taka in the name of mobilising voters and monitoring elections.
   ‘They (NGOs) enter polling centres in groups during elections and speak various wise words, but they’re hardly seen when you need them most,’ Sakhawat told a view-exchange meeting held at the municipality auditorium at Savar.
   The meeting was organised marking the operation of ‘Nabajatra’ on preparing voter list and national identity card with photographs in the district. The project, launched on August 23 in the municipality area, will continue around 25 days.
   Election commissioner M Sohul Hussain, commander of Savar army camp Lt Col Mahbub, district election officer Anwar Hossain, municipality chairman Refat Ullah, ward commissioners and civil society members, among others, attended the meeting.
   Election commissioner Sakhawat expressed dissatisfaction over the matter and said, ‘The 35 NGOs of the Election Working Group (EWG) is plundering crores of taka in the name of voters and talk tall always.’
   ‘The decision to prepare voter list with photographs and national identity card as taken so that people could choose their honest representatives… This is a well-thought out decision…The matter was discussed with the country’s media and civil society organisations,’ Sohul Hussain told the meeting.
   About unwillingness of many women to allow voter list makers to take their photos, he said there has been a change in their negative attitude.
   Later, the election commissioners visited the voter registration centres set up on the premises of Audhor Chandra High School and Radio Colony High School.

The Election Commission is still hopeful of starting dialogues with political parties on electoral reforms in September.
   ‘We think there will be problems in implementing our roadmap. But we are still hopeful of holding dialogues between September and October,’ election commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussain told New Age Saturday afternoon, when he was asked if the start of dialogues would be delayed in the present situation.
   After meetings with the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, and the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, in the past week, the election commissioners expressed their hope that the ban on political activities would be relaxed in September before the talks would begin.
   All the three election commissioners, led by the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, on August 21 apprised the president and the chief adviser of the commission’s activities such as the roadmap to polls by December 2008 and sought the government’s cooperation in carrying out its tasks.
   Both the president and the chief adviser assured the commission of all cooperation in implementing its roadmap towards holding the suspended ninth parliamentary elections by December 2008.
   The roadmap has scheduled dialogues with political parties on electoral reforms between September and October.
   The commission planned to send letters to the political parties by August inviting them to dialogues in September–October.
   The chief election commissioner earlier said the parties would be given at least two weeks from the day they would receive the invitation letters along with copies of the draft reforms of the electoral laws to make preparation by discussing the issues among themselves.

A regional leader of the Purba Banglar Communist Party (Red Flag) was killed in a ‘gunfight’ with the police at Mirpur in Kushtia early Saturday, taking to 847 the number of deaths in such incidents after June 2004.
   The victim, Anisur Rahman, 30, was a resident of Burapara under Amla at the upazila.
   A Mirpur police team raided the house of Abdul Huq alias Kerar in the village and a gunfight took place in which Anisur was found dead, the police said.
   The police seized a shutter gun, four bullet and three cartridges from the place. He had four murder cases against him filed with the Mirpur police, the police said.

Herschelle Gibbs smashed a century while skipper Graeme Smith made 96 as South Africa coasted to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the second one-day international on Saturday.
   Gibbs made 111, his 17th limited overs century, off 100 balls with 16 fours and two sixes at the Harare Sports Club as the tourists took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
   South Africa, set 248 to win, reached their target in the 40th over.
   Earlier, Zimbabwe had made 247 off their 50 overs, with Sean Williams (54) top scoring with former skipper Tatenda Taibu, playing his second match since ending his international exile, hitting 43. Stuart Matsikenyeri hit a valuable 52.
   Smith, who put on 174 for the first wicket with Gibbs, reached his 50 off 53 balls while his partner’s half-century came off 58 balls.
   Taibu had stepped up the momentum in the Zimbabwe innings making his 43 runs off 39 balls and shared an 84-run partnership with Matsikenyeri off 13 overs.

Unfazed by the Pakistan Attorney General’s warning that he may be arrested on his arrival home from exile, deposed premier Nawaz Sharif, who won the right to return to the country in a landmark Supreme Court verdict, has said he cannot be ‘terrorised’ through threats.
   ‘They can’t terrorise me through threats,’ Sharif told ‘Dawn’ over phone from London, adding that he was not afraid of being arrested or implicated in ‘false’ cases. However, when asked if he would move the court to seek an injunction that he should not be arrested on his return to Pakistan, the ex-premier said all issues would be looked into.
   His remarks came as Attorney General Malik Abdul Qayyum said Sharif could be arrested on his arrival home. Qayyum also said that the PML-N leader cannot contest the upcoming elections because his conviction in a plane hijack conspiracy case remained as the sentence awarded to him was not pardoned but only remitted by general Pervez Musharraf.
   Asked whether he would come to Pakistan straight from London or via Saudi Arabia, he said ‘so far we haven’t finalised our programme.’

Health minister Maasuma al-Mubarak, Kuwait’s first female cabinet member, has tendered her resignation following a hospital fire that killed two patients and hurt 19 others.
   If her resignation, which was submitted late Friday, is accepted by the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf Arab emirate, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, it will preempt plans by Islamist lawmakers to call her to account in parliament.
   Two Sunni Islamist MPs nonetheless went ahead Saturday with a request to grill Mubarak over Thursday’s fatal fire as well as alleged financial abuses in her ministry and the deterioration of health services.
   Mubarak made history when she became the first female minister in the conservative Gulf Arab emirate in June 2005, taking the planning and administrative development portfolio, one month after parliament passed a bill granting women political rights.
   The women’s rights activist has also served as communications minister and was put in charge of the health ministry in the cabinet formed last March.

Private universities and most other educational institutions in the country will remain open, a government announcement said Saturday.
   Besides, the authorities of graduate (hons) and postgraduate colleges outsider the divisional cities can keep their institutions ‘open or closed considering their prevailing situation’.
   The government closed all public universities in the country and government and non-government colleges in the divisional cities two days after an unfortunate incident that happened at the playground of Dhaka University on August 20.

A middle-aged man drowned when a boat capsized in the River Buriganga near Aganagar at Keraniganj in Dhaka Saturday morning.
   The man was identified as Humayun.