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The Tejgaon police on Thursday refused to register the first information report of the sedition case against Ali Ahsan Mujahid and Abdul Kader Molla, secretary general and assistant secretary general respectively of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, and Shah Mohammad Abdul Hannan, former chairman of the National Board of Revenue, and sent the case back to the court.
   The officer-in-charge of the Tejgaon police station, Lutfur Rahman, made a submission to the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate at around 1:00pm, saying the FIR could not be registered as the plaintiff in the case had not obtained a sanction from the government.
   He claimed that the sanction was a prerequisite for filing such a case under the law.
   The police’s refusal to register the FIR of the sedition case came within a couple of hours of the law and information adviser to the military-driven interim government, Mainul Hosein, telling journalists that ‘an individual cannot sue anyone on sedition and treason charges.’
   Two former judges of the High Court said Mainul’s comments and the police’s refusal to register the FIR of the case were in contravention of the relevant laws.
   Mainul’s comment also contradicted the remarks of the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, on trial of war criminals, they said.
   Fakhruddin said at a meeting with the editors of national dailies, news agencies, and television and radio channels on October 31 that his government would welcome it, if any aggrieved person moved legally for trial of war criminals.
   Fazlur Rahman of village Dakkhin Ramerkanda in Keraniganj, who took part in the war of independence under sector 2, lodged the case against Mujahid, Kader Molla and Hannan with the chief metropolitan magistrate’s course on Wednesday under the Penal Code.
   Fazlur Rahman accused the three of anti-independence activities in 1971 and of making derogatory comments about the war of independence recently.
   The court, presided over by Emran Hossain Chowdhury, admitted the case, which was filed under sections 121A and 123A of the Penal and ordered the Tejgaon police station to register it as a first information report.
   On Thursday, however, as the police expressed its inability to register the FIR, the chief metropolitan magistrate, referred the case to the court of Emran Hossain Chowdhury, who kept the police report in file and fixed December 12 for the next order.
   Earlier, at around 11:00am, Mainul told journalists at his office in the law ministry, ‘Sedition case cannot be filed at an individual level…..you can consult with the lawyers who can explain the matter better.’
   Asked whether the government would initiate any legal move for trial of war criminals, he said, ‘It is a complicated issue…. What did they [those who were in power] do in the past 36 years?’
   Many such issues have come up in recent days that belittled the image of the country, he added.
   The two former judges of the High Court differed with Mainul’s opinion.
   According to section 44 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is the duty of any person to inform the court or the police of commission or intention for commission of some offences including treason and sedition, they said.
   Section 44 says: ‘Every person, aware of the commission of, or of the intention of any other person to commit any offence punishable under any of the following section of the Penal Code (namely) 121, 121A…., shall, in the absence of reasonable excuse, …forthwith give the information to the nearest magistrate or police officer of such commission or intention.’
   Although section 196 of the criminal code bars any court to take cognisance of any offence of sedition and treason under section 121A and 123A of the Penal Code without sanction from the government for the case, the magistrate should initiate the proceedings in any case filed on the charges by any individual even, the High Court judges said, referring to several provisions of the law.
   According to them, as the case was filed with the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court and the court ordered the police to record it as an FIR, it was the duty of the officer-in-charge of the Tejgaon police station to record the FIR and then to refer the matter to the government seeking its sanction for the investigation of the case.
   Lutfar Rahman confirmed that the case documents had been returned to the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court.
   ‘The case documents were returned to the CMM court as no sanction of the government was available,’ he said when talking to New Age on Thursday.
   The officer-in-charge of the Tejgaon police station said the police ‘did not seek the sanction, as we did not lodge the case.’
   ‘We have simply reported to the court that we cannot record the FIR due to non-availability of the sanction of the government and now the court may decide the next course of action in the case,’ he said.
   The two former judges of the High Court, however, believe that the police officer should have sought the government’s sanction for the case, and that the magistrate now has to refer the matter to the government for the sanction in accordance with the law.

The authorities of many secondary schools in different parts of the country have been realising excessive fees from the Secondary School Certificate examination’s candidates, putting great financial strain on some guardians of lower-income groups.
   According to the guardians’ and candidates’ allegations, the school authorities have been taking extra money in the form of coaching fee, session charge, school development fee and subscription for milad mehfil.
   Chairmen of the Dhaka and Chittagong education boards also admitted to New Age on Tuesday that they have heard allegations of the realising of much higher fees than the rates fixed by the boards. The education boards have fixed Tk 900 for each candidate of the science group as registration fee for sitting for the SSC examinations of 2008 scheduled to be started from February 28, but there are allegations that some schools in Jamalpur, Gazipur, Feni, Chittagong and Sylhet districts have been realising Tk 1,600 to Tk 4,000.
   Likewise, the school authorities of these areas have been realising Tk 1,200 to Tk 2,500 from the students in humanities or business studies group though the boards have fixed the registration fee at only Tk 790.
   More or less 10 lakh students are expected to sit for the SSC and equivalent examinations in 2008 under the nine education boards. The registration of candidates for the SSC and equivalent examinations, which began in the last week of November, will continue till December 10.
   ‘Many schools in Jamalpur town and seven upazilas of the district have been realising fees from the candidates that are much higher than the rates fixed by Dhaka’s board,’ said the New Age correspondent.
   The school authorities have been realising sums ranging from Tk 600 to Tk 2,400 as coaching fee for three months. Guardians in the lower-income group have been borrowing money from the money-lenders at high interest rates.
   Habul Mia, father of one of the candidates of the Singhajani High School that is located in Jamalpur Pourashava area, said he had to borrow Tk 1,960 from a money-lender to pay the fee.
   The schools which have allegedly been taking excessive fees in Jamalpur district are Jamalpur High School, Jamalpur Zila School, Jamalpur Government Girls’ High School, Narikali High School, Kutamoni High School, Bania Bazaar High School and Melandah High School.
   When she was asked about the extraction of excessive fees from the candidates, Rahima Begum, headmistress of Railway High School in Jamalpur, said, ‘It is not true. The fees we have been realising also include session charge, coaching fee and school development fee.’
   The education officer of Jamalpur district, Md Khalek, told New Age that taking coaching fees forcibly is a violation of the education board’s rules.
   A good number of high schools in Kaliganj have been realising Tk 2,100 from each SSC examinee of the science and the commerce groups and Tk 1,700 from the candidates of the humanities group.
   ‘Many poor students will not be able to appear in the coming SSC examinations if the schools insist on realising excessive fees from them,’ said our Gazipur correspondent.
   Bagdi High School has allegedly been taking Tk 3,500, Saint Nicholas High School Tk 4,000 and Panjora Girls’ School Tk 4,820 as fees from the candidates.
   Professor M Yousuf, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education of Chittagong, on Wednesday said, ‘Following the education ministry’s instruction, an eight-member team has been formed to identify the offenders who have been taking excessive fees.’
   ‘We have received some allegations and action will be taken against those who will be found guilty of taking excessive fees,’ said Professor M Monirul Islam, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Dhaka on Thursday.
   The education ministry on Wednesday formed a four-member committee, headed an additional secretary, to carry out a probe into the allegations and make recommendations on what action should be taken against greedy school authorities.

Countries may face increased pressure to privatise essential utility services such as water supply, power and gas generation and distribution if United States proposals placed at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali are accepted and implemented as a means of complementing adaptation funds and technology transfer.
   Harlan Watson, the alternate head of the US delegation at the climate change conference, on Thursday said ‘removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers for environmental goods and services’ could be an alternative means to availability of funds for the developing countries that have to cope with the adverse effects of climate change.
   Discussion on establishment and subsequent operationalisation of an adaptation fund has featured strongly at the ongoing summit, which is also the 13th conference of parties of the UN Climate Change Convention Framework. When asked about alternative means to provide better adaptation, which would also inherently require some form of transfer of environmental-friendly technology, Watson, the senior climate negotiator for the United States, indicated that his country had identified 40 specific items or categories of such goods and services that would be recommended to the World Trade Organisation for free trade.
   There were also indications that the European Union may be engaged in the discussions over this issue. It has already has already asked Bangladesh, through the WTO negotiation process, to privatise its water supply services. The new move by the United States may see increased stress on the issue of fully liberalising environmental goods and services, especially since power supply, waste, fossil fuel supply and agriculture account for 43 per cent of global emissions of carbon dioxide.
   The agendum of ensuring ‘duty-free, quote-free market access of environmental goods and services’ has been mentioned previously at trade negotiations as well.
   There was continued stress from the US delegation over a summit of the ‘major economies,’ a club of large greenhouse gas emitters convened by George W Bush, which Watson believed would provide an idea of what kind of reduction commitments these countries might be willing to make.
   Despite Watson’s repeated assurance that the parallel process initiated by the United States was not meant to undermine the ongoing negotiations under the United Nations framework, there were clear indications that the real decisions relating to reduction commitments by the major economies would come from the summit scheduled later this year. He claimed that this process would in fact ‘add’ to the Bali outcome and not detract from it.
   The executive secretary of the UN Climate Change Convention Framework, Yvo de Boer, in line with the findings and recommendations of the fourth report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that it was acknowledged and understood all around that the industrialised countries would have reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to 20 to 45 per cent of the 1990 levels by 2020. In that respect de Boer said that, ‘The industrialised countries must take the lead.’
   On the same day 100 leading scientists, including authors of the IPCC reports, issued a declaration, from the Climate Change Research Centre of the University of New South Wales, calling for specific and focused negotiations with an aim to reduce emissions by 50 per cent of the 1990 levels by 2050, which would be required to keep global warming within two degrees of the pre-industrial temperature.
   Despite some movement in establishment and operationalisation of the adaptation funds that the poor countries are repeatedly calling for, the conference is still awaiting meaningful deliberations or commitments on reduction of greenhouse gas emission which, according to a number of quarters, remains the key factor in preventing or addressing climate change.

Bangladesh Thursday made a request to India for speedy delivery of 5 lakh tonnes of rice it had pledged to export after cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh on November 15.
   Bangladesh made the plea when foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury met Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi Thursday afternoon, said a Bangladesh high commission release.
   Iftekhar reached the Indian capital Thursday afternoon to lead the Bangladesh delegation to the 29th meeting of the SAARC Council of Ministers.
   During his brief tour of Dhaka on December 1, Pranab informed the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, that New Delhi had decided to allow export of five lakh tonnes of more rice to Bangladesh in response to the latter’s request to donors and neighbours to help ensure its food security.
   In Thursday’s meeting between Iftekhar and Pranab, Bangladesh also urged India to lift non-tariff barriers and allow greater market access for Bangladeshi products to India for enhancing economic ties and reducing the trade gap between the two countries.
   Iftekhar conveyed Bangladesh’s gratitude to his Indian counterpart for the relief supplies India had already sent and the assurances of more in the aftermath of the cyclone.
   The release said that the adviser had specially requested the Indian minister for expeditious action on the delivery of the requested amount of rice to Bangladesh.
   He also thanked the Indian government for offering full cooperation in bringing back the mortal remains of Bir Shreshtha Hamidur Rahman from Tripura to Bangladesh.
   ‘The people of Bangladesh are always in deep debt to the freedom fighters specially those who made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives for the country’s liberation,’ Iftekhar said.
   Pranab extended his ‘profound thanks’ to the foreign adviser for the very warm reception he had received from him and the Bangladesh government during his one-day visit to Bangladesh.
   The meeting of the council of ministers begins in New Delhi today to review the implementation of the April SAARC summit decisions. The meeting will focus on the finalisation of the SAARC Development Fund and progress in regional connectivity.

The government has scaled down its estimate of food grains import to 17.5 lakh tonnes after having assurance of about two lakh tonnes in aid from the international community.
   Food and disaster adviser Tapan Chowdhury gave the revised figure at a press briefing at the Press Information Department Thursday.
   The government earlier estimated that the country might need to import 19 lakh tonnes of food grains to ensure food security and its supply following a shortfall in production due to two consecutive floods and the cyclone.
   In the aftermath of cyclone Sidr, Bangladesh appealed to the international community for five lakh tonnes in food aid to meet post-cyclone exigencies. But so far it got assurance of about two lakh tonnes.
   According to official record, the Saudi government pledged to provide $100 million in aid including 1.5 lakh tonnes of rice for the government’s vulnerable group feeding programme. India is expected to give 50,000 tonnes of food grains while Pakistan will send 10,000 tonnes of rice as relief. Besides, the World Food Programme has launched an expanded feeding scheme with supports from international donors.
   Tapan Chowdhury said the government would formally request India for withdrawal of restrictions on import of rice so that any certified agency can procure it from the neighbouring country.
   ‘We will formally request the Indian authorities through diplomatic channel to allow any government or non-government agencies certified by the food directorate to import rice,’ the adviser said at the briefing.
   Agriculture adviser CS Karim also addressed the briefing.
   Tapan referred to the Indian foreign minister’s announcement during his recent Dhaka visit that India would allow rice export up to five lakh tonnes to help Bangladesh meet post-cyclone exigencies.
   Describing the experiences of his visit to the affected areas, the food adviser said the people in the worst-hit areas were now much dependent on relief.
   He said relief works had hardly brought any visible change in the affected areas. ‘It needs a long-term comprehensive rehabilitation programme to overcome the disaster shocks,’ he mentioned.
   CS Karim said the government with supports from non-government organisations had already taken massive programmes to rehabilitate the farmers and fishermen who were seriously affected by the decade’s deadliest cyclone that smashed into the coastal belt on November 15.

Nine-year-old Salma, who came to Sonar Char to work as a labourer in the fishing village, said she only wanted to see her mother on November 15 afternoon as she thought that the sea, whose waves were abnormally high since morning, would sweep her away.
   ‘I thought the tide would sweep me away...I only wanted to see the face of my mother when we were all terror-stricken and were rushing for shelter,’ she told New Age while sitting on the seaside in Sonar Char, a remote island in the Bay of Bengal.
   Surma, 8, said, ‘I remembered my parents while going into the forest along with my two brothers for shelter...All of us thought that we would die.’
   The two girls, who work for the whole day in return of two meals, were recalling the dreadful moments when Sidr was raging. The decade’s deadliest cyclone ravaged many coastal areas and left more than 4,000 dead and several hundred missing.
   ‘We have heard that many people died on that day.... But we are happy that we are alive,’ said Salma while decapitating shrimps.
   Surma looked at Salma and nodded with a blissful smile while she was busy doing the same work.
   Both Salma and Surma have been working with many other children like Shahabuddin, 8, and Yusuf, 10, at the temporary fishing village of Sonar Char along the shore, 60 kilometres from the mainland.
   Both Salma and Shahabuddin came to the island with their fathers, and Surma with her brother Yusuf were brought by their uncle. When they were asked why they came to Sonar Char, leaving their mothers behind, Salma smiled sadly and replied, ‘We are poor and cannot get enough food at home.’
   Sonar Char, which is under Golachipa upazila in Patuakhali district, is a reserve forest owned by the Department of Forest. About 500 fishermen, working under 75 employers, came to the island for four months in early November. They sleep in 75 temporary huts made of Golpata, the palm-like leaf of a plant found in the Sundarbans.
   Farid, a forest guard, claimed that no Sonar Char fisherman died during the November 15 cyclone as he and his colleagues forcibly took them to the forest office in the deep woods.
   While most of the Sonar Char villagers went fishing on December 1 morning, the remaining people were found busy reconstructing their fragile huts which were swept away by Sidr.  Some of the villagers, including children, were drying gutted fish under the blazing sun.
   Abdul Matlab, 48, owner of a small fishing boat and four fishing nets, said he came to the island in early November with six crewmen. ‘I had a stock of essentials and different kinds of fish...But the tide swept away almost everything and I lost Tk 20,000,’ he claimed.
   ‘I rebuilt my hut and started fishing a couple of days after the cyclone,’ said Matlab, a permanent resident of Char Shyam in Bhola, which is 250 kilometres from Sonar Char.
   Shah Alam, 50, said the raging water also destroyed seven fishing boats and fishing nets of different owners. ‘No one came here to see us [till November 30] after the cyclone...We are rebuilding our huts without waiting for any official assistance...But we are in debt to the private lenders in Bhola.’
   Yusuf said two helicopters hovered at a very low altitude one day, but they did not drop any relief materials.
   For the first time after the cyclone, a government official visited Sonar Char on December 1 and enquired about the people leaving there. Mohammad Nasiruddin Mia, a magistrate on relief duty, distributed rice, biscuits and dates to the fishermen.
   Forest department sources feared that Sidr might have killed several thousand deer and some other animals like tigers and buffaloes in the 7,000-acre forest. ‘We hardly see any deer after the cyclone,’ said a forest guard.
   Some fishermen alleged that a section of the forest department’s men collected a total of Tk 75,000 [Tk 1,000 for each hut] in addition to the money paid by villagers for cutting Golpata and firewood from the jungle.
   A ranger of Sonar Char, Masud Sardar, dismissed the allegation. ‘No money was taken from the fishermen for allowing them to build huts on the island,’ he told New Age over telephone, adding that the forest department gets about Tk 10,000 as revenue from the fishing community.
   The government gets about Tk 1,25,000 per year as revenue from the island, he added.

More than one in 10 people around the world paid a bribe in the past year, with police and the judiciary seen pocketing the most illegal money, an international corruption watchdog said on Thursday.
   Figures from Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International showed that Kosovo, Cameroon and Albania were the worst offenders, with around three quarters of respondents surveyed saying they paid a bribe in the past 12 months.
   ‘Citizens reported that contact with the police far and away involves the biggest bribery problem,’ TI said in its 2007 Global Corruption Barometer, which surveyed over 63,000 people in 60 countries.
   While the police were seen as top bribe-takers in most regions, people in Europe said they most commonly paid bribes for medical services.
   Nearly 5 per cent of respondents in the European Union, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland – referred to as ‘EU+’ – said they had paid a bribe for medical care in the past year, more than for anything else. Rather than being mainly used by the wealthy to gain influence, bribes are often paid by the poor for basic services, the report said. ‘Extortion hits low-income households with a regressive tax that saps scarce household resources,’ TI said, adding that the trend was the same in both rich and poor countries.
   While Africa was seen as the region most affected by bribery, especially in dealings with police and the education system, Africans were also the most optimistic about the effectiveness of anti-corruption drives.
   ‘On average, all regions except Africa are very skeptical about the effectiveness of their government’s actions against corruption,’ the watchdog said. ‘In Africa, however, Ghana and Nigeria are very positive.’
   North Americans and ‘EU+’ citizens, on the other hand, were pessimistic about government efforts to combat corruption, TI said, despite being unlikely to have to make bribes themselves.
   ‘This suggests that citizens there may be concerned about problems of grand corruption,’ the report said, adding that because there are few explicit anti-corruption strategies or policies in those regions, those that exist may go unnoticed.
   Worldwide, political parties were seen as ‘corrupt’ or ‘extremely corrupt’ by 70 per cent of people, while expectations about corruption in the future are gloomy. Over half expect corruption to get worse, while in 2003, the last time the survey was carried out, 43 per cent said they thought it would increase.

The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, citing new US government figures.
   At the end of 2006 more than 2.25 million persons were behind bars in US prisons and jails, an all-time high, the rights group said, citing figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a branch of the US Department of Justice.
   HRW said the 2006 increase was the largest one-year jump in the last six years.
   The number represents an incarceration rate of 751 per 100,000 US residents – ‘substantially higher than that of Libya (217 per 100,000), Iran (212), and China (119),’ HRW said in a statement.
   For comparison, France’s incarceration rate is 85 per 100,000, while the rate in Britain’s is 148 and Canada is 107, HRW said.
   ‘These figures confirm an unenviable record: the United States is the world’s leading prison nation,’ said David Fathi, director of the US programme at Human Rights Watch.
   ‘The US is even ahead of governments like China that use prisons as a political tool,’ he said.
   According to the group, the US prison population ‘has increased approximately 500 per cent in the last 30 years, and continues to grow.’
   The government figures also show sharp racial disparities, with black men incarcerated at a rate 6.2 times higher than white men, HRW said.
   ‘Nearly 8 per cent of all black men ages 30 to 34 in the United States were incarcerated as sentenced prisoners at the end of 2006,’ the group said.

In a major reshuffle in the police administration, 42 officers have been transferred to new places.
   A circular in this regard was issued by the home ministry Thursday.
   The officials served with transfer orders included six deputy inspector generals and 11 additional DIGs. The rest are superintendents of police.
   DIG of Rajshahi range AKM Shahidul Haque was transferred to Chittagong, Nazmul Haque of Dhaka range to Armed Police Battalion of Dhaka, Amir Uddin of Chittagong to Dhaka, Fatema Begum of police headquarters to Special Branch, Mokhlesur Rahman of National Security Intelligence to Rajshahi and commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police Nazibur Rahman to NSI.
   Of the additional DIGs, Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan of Barisal range was transferred to police headquarters as acting DIG, acting commissioner of Chittagoing Metropolitan Police Mainur Rahman Chowdhury was made acting commissioner of KMP, director of Rapid Action Battalion Akbar Ali made commissioner of CMP, Syed Toufiq Uddin Ahmed of Dhaka range made additional commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police, additional commissioner of SMP Manjur Kader Khan sent to Chittagong range, assistant inspector general Amulya Bhushan Barua made commandant of Detective Training School of the Criminal Investigation Department, additional commissioner of KMP Roushan Ara Begum transferred to Dhaka range, joint commissioner of Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Abdul Jalil made additional DIG of CID, joint commissioner of DMP Mili Biswas sent to Police Training School of Rangpur as its commandant while commandant, SM Kamal Hossain, was made director of RAB and another joint commissioner of DMP was transferred to Rajshahi range.
   Of the SP-level officials, deputy commissioner of DMP Morshedul Anwar Khan was made DC of CMP, SM Ruhul Amin of police headquarters made Sylhet SP, Ashrafur Rahman of Sylhet sent to Patuakhali, AKM Awlad Hossain of police headquarters made DC of DMP, Akram Hossain of police headquarters sent to Bogra, Alamgir Rahman of police headquarters to Sirajganj, Mazharul Islam of police headquarters made DC of DMP, special SP of CID Mostafa Kamal transferred to Syedpur railway police as its SP, DC of CMP Azizur Rahman transferred to Bhola, and AIG of police headquarters Mahbubur Rahman made SP of Dhaka.
   Akkas Uddin Bhuiyan of police headquarters was made SSP of CID, Abdul Quddus Amin of police HQ made SP of Nilphamari, AKM Hafiz Akter of police HQ made DC of DMP, Shah Abu Saleh Mohammad Golam Mahmud of police HQ made Natore SP, Kazi Mohammad Fazlul Karim of police HQ made DC of DMP and Mohammad Shamsuddin was made commandant of Range Reserve Force of Khulna while commandant of Khulna RRF Abu Naser Mohammad Khaled was made SSP of SB.
   Commandant of Dhaka RRF Nibas Chandra Majhi was made SP of Railway police Chittagong to replace SM Mahfuzul Haque Nuruzzaman who was made SP of Chapainawabganj, SP of Syedpur Railway, Nazrul Islam was made commandant of Dhaka RRF, DC of RMP Nazmul Karim Khan was made SSP of CID, commandant of 7 APBn of Muktagachha Khondokar Golam Faruk was made AIG at police headquarters, SP of Bhola Mosleh Uddin Ahmed was transferred to Kushtia while Nurul Anwar – who was reinstated in the police force was made AIG at the police headquarters.
   Meanwhile, additional SP of Manikganj Aminul Islam was promoted to SP and was given posting to Jamalpur, said another circular of the ministry issued on Thursday.

The teachers of Dhaka University on Thursday staged a silent demonstration, demanding immediate release of their colleagues and students detained after the students’ protest in August which flared up after the beating up of students by soldiers.
   A number of noted academics and thinkers were among the demonstrators who stood silent for half an hour at the base of
   Aprajeya Bangla to press home their demands that include the allowing of free thinking in educational institutions.
   They also carried placards that read ‘Release all detained teachers and students without any delay’, ‘Uphold the right to justice and conscience’, and ‘Keep the educational institutions functioning’.
   Professor MM Akash of economics announced the demonstration on Wednesday and he, along with three to four teachers, gathered first at the spot at 11:30am, followed by more teachers who joined them one after another, raising the number of demonstrators to around forty.
   Professor Anisuzzaman, Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury, Professor Niaz Zaman, Professor KAM Saad Uddin, Professor Ahmed Kamal, Professor HKS Arefin, Professor Monowar Uddin Ahmed, Professor Zaheda Ahmed, Professor M Akhtaruzzaman, Professor Geeti Ara Nasrin, Professor Muhammad Samad, Professor CR Abrar, Professor AR Khan, Professor Humayun Kabir, Professor Sirajul Islam, Shamim Reza, Ayesha Banu, Kaberi Gayen, Israfil Shahin, Zinat Huda, Rafiqul Islam, Nurur Rahman, Fowzia Mannan and other teachers were prominent among the protesters.
   Professor Anisuzzaman told newsmen after the demonstration that they were shocked and pained at the conviction of their fellow teachers in Rajshahi University. ‘We expected all the detained teachers to be freed, as the government and the university administration assured us they would be, but the Rajshahi University teachers were convicted,’ he said.
   ‘So we are here today in response to the call of conscience to express our grief and to articulate our demand for immediate release of all our colleagues and students,’ he added.
   When he was asked why he and his colleagues had taken the risk of breaking the Emergency Powers Rules by demonstrating, Anisuzzaman replied, ‘We have seen that all those who breached the emergency rules were not punished, such as the protesters against Prothom Alo. But the teachers have been imprisoned on the same charge. It does not matter if we are punished for protesting.’
   Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury said teachers had played a leading role in the War of Liberation and laid down their lives for independence, but now they are in jail without committing any crime.
   ‘The way the teachers have been treated was quite unexpected in an autonomous organisation such as ours. We did not expect university teachers to be sent to jail. I hope the higher court will ensure justice,’ he said.
   ‘The teachers stood by their students when they needed them most. There was nothing wrong with that,’ he added.
   ‘There was no proof of vandalism by the teachers. A university is a place of free thinking…Teachers must express their opinion. Jailing them only for taking part in a silent procession is grossly unjust,’ said Geeti Ara Nasrin. ‘It is only natural that we should protest against injustice as we are considered the nation’s conscience.’
   The Dhaka University Teachers’ Association will hold an emergency general meeting to decide upon its next course of action for bringing about the teachers’ release.
   The students of the mass communications department of Rajshahi University formally appealed to the chief adviser on Thursday to release their three detained teachers, reported the New Age Correspondent in Rajshahi.
   The appeal, signed by about 200 students of the department, was sent to the chief adviser’s office by fax. ‘We are anxious about our three detained teachers…and we are also very worried about our studies,’ read the appeal, and urged Kakhruddin to intervene and free their teachers.

Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of the detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia, on Thursday was again remanded in custody of the Anti-Corruption Commission for a day to be interrogated in a corruption case filed against him.
   Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Golam Rabbani issued the order after the commission’s investigation officer Toufiqul Alam had appealed to the court seeking Tarique to be remanded for seven days.
   Tarique, who faces the case for submitting false wealth statement to the commission, was produced in the court.
   The court on December 2 deferred the hearing in the remand prayer as the case files could not be furnished in the court on the day.
   Tarique has so far been remanded for 10 days in four extortion cases filed against him, but he has not been taken in police custody in any of the cases, the counsel for Tarique told the court.
   In his Thursday’s remand petition, the investigation officer said the accused needed to be interrogated in connection with the information he furnished in his wealth statement.
   He needs to be questioned specifically regarding deposits of Tk 35 lakh with the Prime Bank and Tk 20 lakh with the Dhaka Bank and the sources of the money, ownership of three plots of land, and ownership of the daily Dinkal.
   Tarique was accused of hiding information on his Tk 4,23,08,561 wealth in the statement, according to the first information report of the case.
   His wife Zobaida Rahman, and mother-in-law, Syeda Iqbalmand Banu, are also accused in the case as abettors.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission’s deputy director Zahirul Huda filed the case with the Kafrul police on September 26.

The Dhaka mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, on Thursday submitted his wealth statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission, saying he and the family own assets worth Tk 8.59 crore.
   The mayor said he owns immoveable assets of Tk 2.92 crore and his wife, Ismatara, owns assets of Tk 3.71 crore. His son, Israq Hossain, owns property of Tk 58.48 lakh and his daughter, Sarika Sadeque, owns assets of 16.4 lakh.
   The family owns moveable property of Tk 1.21 crore. The immovable property mentioned in the wealth statements includes 11 houses and flats, eight plots of land, and other landed property. He also has about Tk 5.5 crore earned through share transaction, two weapons, two vehicles (Lexus and Toyota) and 27 single and joint bank accounts.
   Khoka said he owns two houses at Gopibagh, a three-storey building on RK Mission Road, and a six-storey building at Gulshan in Dhaka and 1,142 decimals of land in Gazipur, and a house and 32 decimals of land Munshiganj.
   His wife owns eight plots of land and two flats in Dhaka, 1,674 decimals of land in Gazipur and 11 bank accounts.
   His son owns two flats in Dhaka, a shop in the Bashundhara City, fixed deposit receipts of Tk 25 lakh and defence savings certificate of Tk 15 lakh.
   His daughter owns two flats in Dhaka and runs two bank accounts. The family has a business capital of Tk 1.57 lakh and ornaments worth Tk 2.5 lakh.
   Khoka, also the Dhaka city BNP president, is one of the corruption suspects named in the fourth list of 35 such people. Along with 11 others, he was also served with a notice being asked to submit his wealth statement to the commission.
   Awami League presidium member and former minister Tofail Ahmed, former Awami League lawmaker AKM Rahmatullah, former BNP minister lawmaker Quamrul Islam, former secretary Syed Rezaul Hayat and Rajuk CBA leader Kazi Amir Khasru, named in the fourth list, earlier submitted their wealth statements to the commission.
   Tofail owns assets of Tk 1.2 crore, including a house at Bannani and four plots in Dhaka, and about 10 acres of land in Bhola.
   Quarmul Islam said he owns assets of Tk 7.5 crore; Rahmatulalh Tk 21.2 crore, including three houses in Dhaka and 3,200 decimals of land, and Rezaul Hayat Tk 2.2 crore, including a house, two flats, and two plots in Dhaka, and three plots in Chittagong.
   Amir Khasru said he owns property of Tk 1.8 crore, including two houses and three plots in Dhaka, and five plots in Comilla.

The chief of army staff, General Moeen U Ahmed, has said the government would continue to stand by the cyclone-hit people until they rebuild their lives and unveiled a new livelihood plan.
   He called upon local people to start cooperative-based business instead of loan-based for their welfare. ‘We will stand by you and provide service as long as you need,’ he said.
   Addressing the inauguration of rice rationing through VGF card at Gabtala village in Sarankhola upazila on Thursday, Moeen said necessary steps would be taken for proper rehabilitation of those affected by storm.
   He announced that steps would be taken for buying boats and nets, as people of the fishing communities along the coast lost their means of livelihood.
   ‘Already Tk 1 crore has been given for helping the victims buy boats and fishing nets. All those affected by the Sidr would be given VGF card. The army will stand by you until all of you get settled in normal life,’ the army chief told his audience.
   Moeen asserted that none would have to die without treatment. ‘If necessary, those injured during storm would be taken to the capital for improved treatment.’
   Referring to earlier government decision to keep sawmills closed in the area, close by the battered Sunderban, Moeen assured them of taking steps for lifting the official ban. He also assured them of setting up cyclone shelters for livestock.
   He called for proper utilisation of funds given for affected schools. Books will be given to the SSC examinees who have lost their books in the storm.
   Moeen distributed relief goods among cyclone-hit people in Sarankhola upazila, the worst hit by the cyclone Sidr.
   Earlier, Moeen arrived at Gabtala village under Sarankhola upazila by a helicopter at about 2:40pm.
   After arrival, he distributed cheque for Tk 10,000 among each of 10 relatives of those killed in cyclone in the area.
   Then, he inaugurated rice distribution through VGF card at Gabtala cyclone shelter. Some 11,00 people of north Southkhali village would receive 15 kg rice under the Vulnerable Group Feeding programme.
   The army chief visited different cyclone-hit areas in Gabtala village and distributed blankets, baby foods, saris and cash among the victims.
   During his visit, local affected people placed their various demands to the army chief.
   GOC of Jessore Major General Rafiqul Islam, and local civil and military officials were present on the occasion.

The government, as a part of its continuous move, on Thursday decided to cancel the allotment of a plot of land to Millennium Holding Limited on Begunbari canal.
   ‘We have decided to cancel the allotment of the plot to Millennium Holding Ltd and to give them a plot of land in another place,’ the housing and public works adviser, Mainul Hosein, told reporters after a meeting in the secretariat. The allotment of a plot of land to FBCCI would also be cancelled, he added.
   The BNP-led four-party alliance government at the fag end of their tenure allotted plots to some influential organisations like Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers and Commerce and Industry, Millennium Holding Ltd and International Court of Justice on Begunbari khal and Hatirjheel.
   The interim government earlier cancelled the allotment of plots of land to BTMA and ICJ.
   Violating the city master plan, the immediate-past BNP government had leased out three large plots in the Begunbari canal area, a designated flood flow zone, to three trade organisations Millennium Holding, BTMA and FBCCI. Another plot was also allotted to ICJ at that time.
   The allotment does not only contravene environment and wetland related laws but has also deprived the government of a huge amount of revenue as the prime public land has been leased out at token price, said an official of Rajuk.
   The previous government in 2006 allocated 4.14 acres of land to Millennium Holding Ltd that planned to construct a multi-storey Hilton Hotel Complex on the land at Moghbazar-Begunbari mouza on the western side of Tongi diversion road on Begunbari canal, railway sources said.
   The government also sold 0.66 decimals of land to BTMA in eastern side of the Tongi Diversion Road on Hatirjheel while one acre of land on Begunbari canal had been handed over to FBCCI at nominal price of Tk 1 lakh, the sources added.
   The immediate-past prime minister, Khaleda Zia, laid two foundation stones for FBCCI and BTMA on October 8 and October 22, 2006.
   Following the recommendations, put forward by a high-powered committee, the Bangladesh Railway gave the approval, said a railway official.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday agreed with the High Court’s order granting bail to BNP chairperson’s adviser ASM Hannan Shah who was facing charge of breaching the Emergency Powers Rules.
   A six-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by chief justice M Ruhul Amin, issued the order after hearing an application filed by the government with the chamber judge on November 27 seeking stay of the bail.
   Hannan Shah was, however, not released even after being granted bail from the High Court on November 22. He has been held in detention since November 25.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed M Dastagir Hossain and Justice M Abdul Hafiz had granted bail to Hannan Shah. The court also asked the government to explain in two weeks why the case should not be quashed as Hannan Shah had filed a writ with the court challenging the case under emergency rules.
   Sub-inspector Abdul Mabud on November 7 lodged the case with the Tejgaon police against Hannan Shah and six of his party activists on charge of violating the Emergency Powers Rules by gathering people, chanting slogans and assaulting some leaders of the government-backed faction of the BNP, including former army chief Mahbubur Rahman, at Ziaur Rahman’s graveside on the revolution and solidarity day.
   Hannan Shah, a former jute minister, was arrested at his house at DOHS in Dhaka at about midnight on the day.
   Barrister Rafique-ul Huq appeared for Hannan Shah while deputy attorney general Syed Haider Ali stood for the government.

The Power Division on Thursday decided to send a proposal to the cabinet’s purchase committee for taking a decision on eight short-term rental power plants along with clarification of allegations against the bidding process and the high prices of electricity.
   A meeting of the division, chaired by power and energy adviser Tapan Chowdhury, went through all the relevant tender documents for setting up eight power plants with a combined capacity of 310 MW and also all the anonymous letters in which allegations were made against the selected bidders.
   ‘We have decided that we will forward the evaluation report of the tender committee along with our observations to the purchase committee. We will also send all the allegations we have received along with clarification so that the purchase committee can take a decision after considering all sides of the issue,’ Tapan told New Age after the meeting.
   Power secretary M Fouzul Kabir Khan, the Military Institute of Science and Technology’s commandant Major General Abdul Wadud and an official of the Central Procurement Technical Unit of IMED attended the meeting.
   A tender evaluation committee, headed by the Power Cell’s director-general, evaluated the bids for setting up four gas-based 50 MW power plants at Ashuganj, Shahjibazar, Kumargaon and Fenchuganj, a 30 MW plant at Bhola and a 20 MW plant at Bogra, and a liquid fuel-based 40 MW plant at Khulna and another 20 MW plant at Bheramara.
   The responsive lowest bidders offered to sell electricity from the gas-based power plants at a rate of 3.66 to 5.2 US cents (around Tk 2.5 to Tk 3.6) per unit, while the lowest prices for fuel oil-based plants ranged between 21 cents to 23 cents (Tk 14 to Tk 16).
   The tender evaluation committee, however, did not recommend the bids of at least two power plants because of the high prices of electricity.
   Those who attended the Power Division’s meeting also decided that they would send the observations of the tender evaluation committee to the purchase committee.
   ‘We may divide the bids into different categories. For example, we may say that three bids are technically responsible but the prices are high. It is up to the purchase committee to decide,’ said a Power Division source.
   The Power Development Board is supposed to buy electricity from these plants for three years if the purchase committee, headed by finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, approves the rates.
   When he was asked about the high prices of electricity, Tapan told New Age that it was obvious that the prices asked by short-term power plants would be higher than the traditional long-term power plants.
   ‘We need electricity as soon as possible and these power plants can be set up in three months. However, the Power Division is not taking any decision on approving the tariffs. The purchase committee will decide what we should do,’ he said.

Law adviser Mainul Hosein said on Thursday the common people were not worried about the general elections which the government had pledged to hold by the end of 2008.
   ‘The common citizens of the country are not worried about the elections…It is you who are spreading the fear about the elections…We are not detached from the people,’ the adviser said replying to queries from reporters at his office.
   He said that the election would be held within the stipulated time. ‘The government’s main agenda is not only to hold the election but also to establish a democratic atmosphere….All the laws we are making now will ultimately require approval of the parliament.’
   Asked whether the government would initiate any legal move for trial of the war criminals, Mainul said, ‘It is a complicated issue…. What they [those who were in power] did in 36 years on the matter. You should ask them why they are now raising the issue.’
   He said many such issues had come up in recent days that had affected the image of the country.
   The government could not resolve all the problems, the adviser said adding, ‘Our goal is fixed. We will do whatever we need to establish democracy in the country.’
   Mainul, also responsible for the information ministry, said the government would very soon formulate the Right to Information Act without influence from any quarters. Enactment of laws was not an easy task as it needs capacity building for implementation of the laws, like the Right to Information Act, he added.

A Bangladesh delegation is scheduled to leave for the northern Indian state of Tripura this afternoon to bring back the remains of Bir Shreshtha Sipahi Hamidur Rahman, who had been buried there for 36 years after being killed in the independence war in 1971.
   The remains of Hamidur, one of the seven heroes given the highest gallantry award for their contribution to the independence ware in 1971, will be brought back home on December 10, said liberation affairs ministry officials.
   He was killed in a fight with the Pakistani occupation
   forces in the bordering Ambasa area in Tripura on October 28, 1971, and he was buried there.
   The remains will be brought to Comilla by road through the Bibirbazar frontier on December 10.
   A vehicle of the military police will start for Dhaka with the remains from the Comilla cantonment on December 11.
   The remains will be taken to the Dhaka cantonment in a motorcade from Jatrabari and then to the National Parade.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, also supreme commander of the armed forces, will receive the coffin of Hamidur Rahman on behalf of the nation and place flowers on it.
   The chiefs of the three services and the President’s Guard Regiment will also give a guard of honour to Hamidur Rahman in the National Parade Square at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. His namaj-e-jazana will be held in square at 10:30am.
   Hamidur Rahman’s body will be taken to the reserved graveyard for eminent freedom fighters at Mirpur in a motorcade for burial.

Indians who neglect their ageing parents could be jailed under a new law passed by parliament Thursday amid growing elderly mistreatment in a country long known for revering the old.
   Elderly people are increasingly being regarded in India as a burden as nuclear families become the norm against the backdrop of rapid economic development that is fast breaking down traditions.
   ‘With the joint family system withering away, the elderly are being abandoned,’ the social justice minister, Meira Kumar, told parliament.
   ‘This bill is in response to the concerns expressed by many members over the fate of the elderly,’ she said.
   The legislation provides for a three-month jail term if children do not look after old parents, Kumar said, adding that ‘the penal provision is meant to act as a deterrent.’
   India is a young country with a massive 51 per cent of its 1.1 billion population younger than 25, and two-thirds below the age of 35.
   But the number of old people is also growing with 113 million Indians expected to be older than 60 by 2016, up from 81 million now. That figure is seen swelling to 179 million by 2026.
   There are frequent reports in the Indian media of the elderly being abandoned or mistreated by their grown-up offspring. Other elderly people commit suicide because they have no money to survive.
   The legislation stated ‘that old age has become a major social challenge and there is need to give more attention to care and protection of older persons.’
   ‘Many older persons... are now forced to spend their twilight years all alone and are exposed to emotional neglect and lack of physical and financial support,’ the bill said.
   The new law, which provides for the setting up of a tribunal in each district for helping the old in distress, contains no room for appeal.
   ‘This has been done deliberately as the children have a lot of resources which the old people do not have,’ Kumar said.
   The legislation also provides for the state to set up old age homes that the minister said should be the ‘last resort for the poor and the childless.’

Pakistani opposition parties haggled on Thursday over whether to demand reinstatement of judges sacked by the president, Pervez Musharraf, as a condition for their participation in January elections.
   Two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, have said they would present Musharraf with a ‘charter of demands’ to ensure a fair general election on January 8, failing which they would ‘move towards’ a boycott.
   A boycott by the two main opposition parties and smaller allies would rob the vote of credibility and prolong instability in a nuclear-armed country that is crucial to US efforts to fight al-Qaeda and bring peace to neighbouring Afghanistan.
   ‘Most of the issues have been decided with consensus. The remaining issues will be decided today. Today is the final sitting, we’re going to finalise our list,’ said Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for Sharif’s party, involved in drafting the demands.
   Iqbal declined to give details but other opposition officials said the two parties still differed over whether to demand the restoration of 37 judges dismissed by Musharraf after he imposed emergency rule on November 3.
   Benazir says the new parliament should decide on the fate of the judges. Sharif, who has been visiting parts of the north of the country this week to meet supporters, has called for an election boycott unless the judges are reinstated.
   ‘There is no question of compromise on this issue. We are saying it should be before the election. The PPP says it should be after the election,’ said Javed Hashmi, a senior official in Sharif’s party, referring to Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party.
   ‘This is the only thing where we have to this time not been able to agree,’ Hashmi said.
   Benazir has said her party would reluctantly take part in the vote, while reserving the right to withdraw or to protest against an unfair result. She has already issued a manifesto and effectively began her campaign last weekend.
   Despite his doubts about the election, Sharif registered to run but his nomination was rejected on Monday because of criminal convictions that Sharif says were politically motivated.
   Musharraf stepped down as army chief last week and was sworn in as civilian president. He also promised that emergency rule would be lifted on December 16, fulfilling two main demands of his rivals and his Western backers.
   But Musharraf has ruled out reinstating the judges, some of whom remain under house arrest, including former Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. Musharraf has been at odds with the judiciary since he tried to sack Chaudhry in March.
   Critics say Musharraf’s main motive for imposing emergency rule was to purge the judiciary of hostile judges, including Chaudhry, amid fears they were about to rule unconstitutional his October 6 re-election by legislators.
   Sharif tried to meet Chaudhry at his Islamabad home on Thursday but was blocked by the police. Dozens of Sharif supporters chanted anti-Musharraf slogans and tore down and stamped on a poster of the president.
   Scores of lawyers opposed to the government had earlier tried to approach Chaudhry’s home while hundreds of lawyers clashed with police in the southeastern city of Multan.

The police have submitted supplementary charge sheet to the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court in the Manik Saha murder case.
   New Age senior staff correspondent Manik Chandra Saha, also former president of Khulna Press Club, was bombed to death at Chhota Mirzapur in the city on January 15, 2004.
   Chitta Ranjan Pal, inspector of detective branch, submitted the charge sheet on Wednesday with including the name of another person in the charge sheet.
   With Hye Islam alias Kochi, a member of Purba Banglar Communist Party now in jail, a total of 13 persons had been charge-sheeted. Three of them were killed in ‘crossfire’, the police said, adding that they also arrested three others.
   A charge sheet against 12 persons was submitted to the court on June 20, 2004. But the judge of speedy trial tribunal on April 11, 2005 ordered for further investigation into the case after recording statements of 24 witnesses.
   Later the case was handed over to the detective branch on November 11, 2006 and assigned to DB inspector Chitta Ranjan Pal.

The Jatiya Party chief, Hussein Muhammad Ershad, on Thursday said he had not stepped down as party chairman, but only appointed an acting chairman to ease the process of reforms within the party.
   Ershad, also a former president, at a news briefing at his office at Banani, said only the party leaders and activists could remove him from the position of chairman by holding a council session.
   At the briefing after his second visit to Sidr-hit areas, Ershad called on the government to introduce rations especially for middle-class people in the cyclone-hit areas.
   The middle-class people in the affected areas felt shy to stand in queues for relief and they did not get vulnerable group feeding cards, he said.
   Ershad suggested the government should immediately import rice without which the country might face a famine.
   Ershad, who was forced to step down as president in 1990 in the face of a mass uprising, said he had never been a dictator. ‘The people who called me a dictator have now become dictators,’ he said, referring to the Awami League and the BNP.
   Appreciating the steps the interim government has taken, Ershad hoped democracy would be established in the country.

A man carrying five bombs was arrested on Thursday near a court in a northern Indian state where 13 people were killed in a wave of court blasts last month, the police said.
   The bomb discovery came as the state of Uttar Pradesh was on high alert to guard against attacks on the day marking the 12th anniversary of the razing of an ancient mosque by Hindu fanatics in the province’s Ayodhya town.
   ‘Five crude bombs were found in a bag the man was carrying while entering the court,’ said a police inspector.
   The man told the police the bag contained firecrackers that he made for a living, said the inspector in Lucknow, state capital of Uttar Pradesh.
   The bombs were found in the Rae Bareli district of Uttar Pradesh where three cities were hit by serial bombings last month.
   As part of the high alert put into effect on Thursday, anti-riot police were deployed in nine communally sensitive parts of the state, said Brij Lal, a top police official.
   The destruction of the mosque on December 6, 1992, sparked nationwide riots that left some 2,000 people dead.

BRAC has decided to write off micro-finance loans of around Tk 100 crore that were given to people in the cyclone-devastated areas. The decision was taken yesterday and was based on an initial assessment of the damage in those areas.
   BRAC had earlier decided not to collect micro-finance instalments from its borrowers in all cyclone-affected areas of the southern region till March, said a press release on Thursday.
   However, new loans to cyclone-affected borrowers will continue to be disbursed with the aim of generating economic activities. BRAC is undertaking a massive rehabilitation programme in the agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors in the cyclone-devastated region, added the release.
   BRAC responded to the cyclone disaster by immediately engaging in relief operations and deploying some 2,500 of its staffers for distribution of food and cash relief. Till Thursday relief worth more than TK 12 crore, comprising mainly food rations of rice, lentil, biscuits and milk packets, has been distributed to 1,84,000 households. Cash grants of Tk 3 crore have also been disbursed.
   BRAC has raised a total of Tk 40 crore for the first phase of rehabilitation. The organisation is planning to raise a further sum of at least Tk 200 crore for long-term programmes of rehabilitation and protection from disasters, said the press release.
   A total of 13 medical teams, each team comprising one medical officer with two paramedics, have treated 18,520 patients in the affected regions. Over 550 ponds have been cleaned up and disinfected for supplying drinking water.

A teenager who wanted to die ‘famous’ shot dead eight Christmas shoppers and wounded five with an assault rifle at an Omaha shopping mall before killing himself.
   Robert Hawkins, 19, left a suicide note explaining Wednesday’s rampage, the police said, adding that two of the wounded were in critical condition.
   Employees and shoppers frantically fled the Westroads Mall or locked themselves inside stores after hearing dozens of shots from the upscale Von Maur department store.
   Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said the shooting appeared to be ‘very random and without provocation.’ He identified the shooter as Hawkins, and said he was armed with an SKS assault rifle.
   ‘We believe there was one shooter and one shooter only,’ he said.
   ‘We do have a (suicide) note. I can’t describe the contents of this note, but it does appear this incident was premeditated.’
   Hawkins’ landlady, Debora Maruca Kovac, told CNN television the note said ‘he was sorry for everything, that he didn’t want to be a burden to anybody, he loved his family, he loved all of his friends. He was a piece of shit all of his life and now he’ll be famous.’
   Kovac said that Hawkins, a tall, bespectacled young man she described as troubled, had lived in her house for a year and a half, and had recently broken up with his girlfriend.
   ‘He was withdrawn,’ she said. ‘He was like a lost pound puppy that nobody wanted. ... He had a lot of emotional problems.’

The government has approved the final recommendations of the 6th Wage Board Award relating to salaries, allowances and other benefits for journalists, employees and press workers of the newspaper industry.
   In 2005, a 13-member Wage Board was constituted with a retired judge of the Appellate Division as its chairman, said an official handout Thursday night.
   The handout said the 6th Wage Board submitted its recommendations to the government and in the light of those, the final recommendations have been approved by the government.
   The ministry of information has sent the recommendations to the BG Press for a gazette notification, the handout added.
   Journalist leaders welcomed the approval of the recommendations of the 6th Wage Board Award.
   The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, president Mozammel Haque, said the approval of the government to the Wage Board recommendations deserved thanks.
   ‘We are happy that the government has met a long-cherished demand of the journalists, press workers and general employees through the approval, but we will give formal reactions after reviewing the recommendations,’ he said.
   The BFUJ secretary general, Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, thanked the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, the information adviser, Mainul Hosein, and others concerned for the approval to the Wage Board recommendations. He said, ‘We have declared specific programmes from a joint rally of the journalists, press workers and general employees at the National Press Club on December 3 for announcement of the Wage Board award. We will shortly sit for evaluating the recommendations after gazette notification.’