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The education ministry is going to take action against 884 non-government colleges across the country as the institutions have had fewer students than teachers and employees over the years!
   The government’s rules require that every college have a minimum number of 33 students in the higher secondary level, but the number of students in each of the 884 colleges is far less than required, ministry officials told New Age.
   According to the government’s rules, at least 10 students of a college will have to pass the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations held every year, but there are some colleges from where not a single student came out successful in the HSC exams.
   ‘Each of the colleges has 35-plus teachers and employees who get salaries from the government’s revenue fund, but the number of students in 432 colleges is zero to 19 only while the number in 452 colleges is between 20 to 32,’ said a ministry official.
   ‘We are thinking of cancelling the academic recognition and stop the salaries of teachers and employees of 432 colleges which have less than 19 students. Only the salaries of teachers and employees of the other 452 colleges will be stopped for the time being,’ he said.
   ‘We are also thinking of transferring some quality teachers from these colleges to the institutions which lack teachers,’ he said, and added that the World Bank has prescribed that the teachers’ salaries should be paid on the basis of performance.
   An official of the education directorate told New Age on Monday some of the 884 colleges had given the government inflated figures of the students they have.
   A total of 464 colleges under the Rajshahi education board do not have the required number of students, and the same is the case with 122 colleges under the Dhaka board and 59 colleges under the Jessore board.
   The number of such colleges is 83 under the Comilla board, 48 under the Barisal board, 56 under the Chittagong board and 52 under the Sylhet board. ‘The unplanned growth of educational institutions is responsible for the situation. Most of those colleges were set up on political considerations,’ said an official of the education directorate.
   ‘More than 3,000 government, non-government and private colleges across the country have around 4.7 lakh seats on offer for HSC courses,’ the official said.
   The government, in every fiscal year, pays around Tk 3,357 crore for salaries to around 4.70 lakh teachers and employees of around 27,000 non-government secondary schools, colleges and madrassahs.

Officials of Bangladesh and India on Monday began the two-day talks on the initiation of a passenger train service on a commercial basis between the two countries, with Dhaka opposing New Delhi’s proposal to fence the cross-border railway tracks.
   Meeting sources said Bangladesh officials told their Indian counterparts that Dhaka thinks that such fencing within 150 yards from the international boundary ‘is against the norms of friendly relationship between Bangladesh and India’.
   The Bangladesh side, taking into consideration India’s concern for the passengers’ security, suggested strengthening of the joint security arrangement along the border, strong monitoring and improved security inside the train instead of fences along the railway tracks.
   ATKM Ismail, additional secretary of the communication ministry who leads the 12-member Bangladesh delegation in the talks, told newsmen, ‘We are as concerned about security as India. But we want to ensure the security of the passengers inside as well as outside the train.’
   His Indian counterpart, the additional secretary to the home ministry, said, ‘There are a number of issues to be addressed before the commencement of the commercial train service. Security is the major issue.’
   In the two-day talks, held at Rail Bhaban in the capital, the frequency of the train journeys per week, customs and immigration, trial train run from Bangladesh, construction of box-type fencing, selecting VIP delegates from both sides for the inaugural train, inclusion of dining car and finalising the date of commercial operation were the main topics of discussion.
   Responding to a query on the commencement of the service, Ismail said, ‘It will be started before the month of Ramadan, but we are ready to begin before that.’
   The 14-member Indian delegation’s leader said, ‘We are in the middle of the discussion and it is premature to make any comment on any issue.’
   Meeting sources said that a good number of VIPs would be among the passengers in the inaugural train service of both the countries, so the final date would not be fixed on Tuesday.
   ‘We want to begin commercial service by the second week of August and the Indian side has responded positively to our proposal,’ said a Bangladesh official.
   Another source said that India is pressing for the construction of fences along the track, but the Bangladesh side said the decision could not be finalised now because it would have to be decided at a higher level.
   Bangladesh proposed 4 train journeys every week, but the Indian side said that they were not ready to handle so many trips because of their lack of preparation said a source.
   ‘Initially the train service will be started with one trip per week,’ the source added.
   The Bangladesh side proposed that the trial run from Bangladesh should be on July 19, but New Delhi requested them defer it to July 29 as they would not be available that day.

The dissidents in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Sunday took a swipe at the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, accusing her of trying to split the party and put the blame on others.
   The party reformists are drawing up fresh strategies to face up to Khaleda Zia after her latest broadside against their reform initiatives.
   Differences between the dissidents and conformists have widened as both sides are accusing each other of trying to break up the party and putting the blame on others.
   A group of reformists met at the Gulshan residence of Mannan Bhuiyan on the day where many of them sharply reacted to Khaleda’s comments and the secretary general asked the leaders to mobilise support at district levels in favour of party democratisation.
   ‘She is trying to split the party and putting the blame on us,’ a party policymaker close to secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan told New Age after a meeting at the latter’s residence on Monday.
   In a teleconference with a group of expatriate activists of Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, Khaleda on Sunday alleged, ‘The people who came to BNP from other parties are engaged in a deep conspiracy to destroy the party in the name of reforms under a state of emergency.’
   She termed party secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan’s reform proposals as his personal opinions.
   Mannan Bhuiyan told New Age, ‘Any councillor can place a set of proposals seeking changes in the party constitution. I am not a difference…Even she [Khaleda] can announce her plan, if there is any, for reforms in the party.’
   A number of leaders from Dhaka division had a meeting with the secretary general behind closed doors on Monday as part of his series of meetings with divisional leaders.
   They stressed the need for exchange of views with district and thana level leaders on the reform issues.
   After the meeting the party chairperson’s adviser, ZA Khan, said those who saw the reform initiatives as ploys for splitting the party, themselves had such intentions. ‘If the chairperson thinks that we are plotting to break the party, she is wrong. We are working for strengthening the party keeping her with us,’ Khan said.
   Khan claimed that their initiative was for the betterment of the party and the country. ‘One should not call such a good initiative a conspiracy,’ he said.
   He also refuted Khaleda’s claim that the reform proposal was Mannan Bhuiyan’s personal opinion. ‘It is not a personal opinion. It is a proposal of the supporters of the reforms institutive.’
   Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, a party vice-president and former minister in Khaleda Zia’s 1991-2001 and 2001-2006 cabinets, was in favour of accommodating Khaleda Zia in their reforms initiative. ‘We will go ahead with reforms accommodating all and will also discuss the issue with the party chief and initiatives have already been taken to talk to her,’ he said.
   Former state minister for liberation war affairs Rezaul Karim said, ‘Our reform initiatives are intended to strengthen the party, not to split it,’ adding that they were not afraid of what Khaleda Zia said.
   Leaders close to both Khaleda Zia and Mannan Bhuiyan observed that accusing each other of conspiring would lead to a rift in the party.
   ‘Differences are surfacing as both sides are unnecessarily accusing each other of trying to split the party,’ a BNP vice-president told New Age.
   A joint secretary general close to both the chairperson and the secretary general warned, ‘A split in the party will be inevitable if both sides do not restrain themselves.’
   ‘Many of us seem to have plunged into a contest for quick gains or for protecting our respective sphere of influence,’ he added.

The remarks of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina on the role of the interim government and intelligence agencies in the political process were hailed by loyalists but drew flak from reform-enthusiasts.
   Conformist leaders felt that Hasina, as the leader of a political party, was right in making those points to safeguard people’s rights and democracy.
   But those who are campaigning for reforms in the party think they should show restraint and refrain from antagonising the
   government. The reformists’ camp feared that Hasina’s statement might be harmful for all the leaders and activists of the party.
   The AL president on Sunday questioned the role of intelligence agencies and asked the interim government to stop the agencies from indulging in excesses.
   ‘It is not their job to indulge in politics, break and rebuild political parties’, Hasina told reporters as she was coming out of a city hospital after visiting ailing singer Sabina Yasmin.
   Supporting the remarks, the party’s presidium member Matia Chowdhury said the leader of a party like Awami League could remain silent when there were inconsistencies in governance and public interests being harmed.
   ‘She [Hasina] spoke out at a time when uncertainties are looming over the next elections and the farmers are being deprived of fertilisers,’ the former agriculture and food minister told New Age, adding that it was the duty of political leaders to raise voices to protect the country’s democratic process.
   Matia said that she saw nothing wrong in what the AL president had pointed out in her remarks.
   The dissident leaders, who are cautiously avoiding any anti-government stands or statements, criticised the party chief for making such strongly-worded statements against the government.
   Such remarks might be harmful for the party as well as the country, they cautioned.
   ‘Since we had earlier decided in our working committee meeting to cooperate with the present government, continuation of such anti-government remarks by the party chief was unacceptable,’ an organising secretary of party, who belongs to dissidents’ camp, told New Age on Monday.
   He said it was unfortunate that the party chief had been making anti-government remarks despite repeated requests from other leaders of the party. Such unrestrained statements might land her and the party leaders in a more difficult situation, he warned.
   ‘What can we do if she continues to speak like this?’ another dissident leader Professor Abdul Mannan said, adding that she should realise that the government’s ongoing anti-corruption and reform moves should be made successful for the interest of the nation.
   Grassroots level leaders of the party appreciated Hasina for her courageous remarks criticising the activities of the government.
   ‘Such remarks encourage us in this difficult situation. She talked like her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,’ Lalmonirhat district unit AL president Motahar Hossain said.

Awami League presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury on Monday dismissed the reports — that Awami League’s president Sheikh Hasina and BNP’s chairperson Khaleda Zia had talked on the telephone — as totally false and fabricated.
   Sajeda straightway rejected the report published in a Bengali daily which said that the rival political parties’ two leaders, whose mutual hostility had almost brought the nation to the brink of a civil war, had a telephonic talk on Sunday.
   ‘There is no possibility of a talk between the two leaders and the newspaper published the report only to increase its circulation,’ Sajeda told reporters after emerging from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum after holding a meeting with Sheikh Hasina.
   She said that the AL and the whole nation had been made to suffer a lot by the BNP-Jamaat government so there was no reason to make overtures of friendship to them.
   ‘The ultra-Islamist militant outfits flourished under their protection and a massive grenade attack took place at that time which killed 22 Awami League leaders and workers, including our central leader Ivy Rahman,’ she reminded reporters.
   It is out of the question that we will hold talks with the party which did not feel it necessary to investigate the grenade attack and identify and nab the killers who were responsible for that carnage, she said.
   Sajeda called upon the interim government to take immediate steps for holding a free and fair election in the country.
   The interim government failed to control the price hikes of the essentials and the people are being unable to feed their families properly, she said. The government should enquire how daily labourers and rickshaw-pullers manage to feed their families.
   Another central leader of the Awami League, Abu Sayeed, also ruled out any possibility of Hasina talking to Khaleda.
   There are great differences between the ideologies of the AL and BNP as the AL believes in democratic and non-communal politics while the BNP does the politics of communalism, said Sayeed.

Communications adviser MA Matin on Monday reiterated that the government did not have a hand in the on-going squabbles in major political parties over reform issues.
   He said he did not understand on the basis of what the Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina had accused the government of using intelligence agencies to split and rebuild political parties.
   ‘The government has no hand in intra-party bickering. I do not understand on the basis of what she [Hasina] has brought the allegation that the government is trying to split the parties,’ Matin said responding to queries from reporters at the secretariat.
   On Sunday, Hasina, also a former prime minister, asked the incumbents to stop the intelligence agencies from indulging in excesses accusing them of trying to deconstruct and reconstruct political parties. ‘Stop this nonsense. Ask the intelligence agencies to mind their own business. It is not their job to indulge in politics, break and rebuild political parties’, the AL chief said while talking to reporters in the city.
   Asked whether the gap between the interim government and the political parties was widening, Matin replied in the negative, accusing the politicians of being responsible for intra-party squabbles over reform issues.
   The adviser said the government was not running the country to privilege any political quarters.
   He agreed that the state of emergency should not continue for long. ‘The state of emergency will be withdrawn if they [political parties] create the atmosphere required for it.’
   The adviser, however, said the state of emergency had been promulgated before the present [Fakhruddin-led] came to power.
   About intra-party bickering over reform issues, Matin, also a member of the advisory committee on law and order, on Sunday, said that something positive would come out of the reconstruction of political parties.
   When his attention was drawn to the allegation brought by Hasina against the government, law adviser Mainul Hosein said everyone had the freedom of speech.

The government is much worried over the current price spiral of fuel oils on the international market and will have no option but to go for a domestic oil price hike if the trend continues, said the power and energy adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, on Monday.
   ‘We have no plan yet to increase oil prices. But, we are extremely concerned over the soaring global oil prices with the price of crude oil hitting an 11-month high of $72 a barrel yesterday,’ Tapan told the media.
   ‘If the trend continues,’ he said, ‘we will have no option but to raise the local market prices of oil.’
   The prices of oil, power, and gas may all see a fresh round of hike, simultaneously or near-simultaneously, if the Energy Division, which has already sought government nod to increase gas and electricity prices, also proposes increasing the oil prices now.
   Because of the rising oil prices on the international market, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation’s loss from selling one litre of diesel has increased to Tk 9 and kerosene to Tk 9.86 since their last price hike in April, Tapan told reporters.
   The government increased the price of diesel and kerosene from Tk 33 to Tk 40 a litre in April, when the crude oil price on the international market was around $60 per barrel. Over the past three months, the global crude oil price has bumped up by more than $12.
   The BPC’s import cost of diesel now stands at around Tk 49 per litre and kerosene Tk 49.86. The cost includes around Tk 7 paid to the government as duties and other taxes.
   When the adviser’s attention was drawn to the fact that the last oil price hike had pushed the prices of essentials to a very high level and he was asked about the consequences of yet another price hike, Tapan said, ‘First of all, we have not taken any decision to increase oil prices yet. However, if we do, we know it will be hard for the people. But, how much subsidy the government can give and for how long?’
   He said, in June alone, the BPC incurred a loss of around Tk 165 crore by selling oils at prices much lower than their import costs. ‘The corporation is now struggling to repay its bank loans due to the loss.
   When he was asked why the government was not reducing the import duties to lessen BPC’s loss, Tapan said, ‘[Because,] It will affect the government’s revenue earning and, as a result, the development activities.’
   Energy Division sources said, although the government had assumed more than Tk 7,500-crore liabilities of the BPC, it still owed around Tk 4,000 crore to the Islamic Development Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and some local banks. But, the government has already informed the corporation that it will not provide any more cash subsidy for fuel oil imports.
   According to the sources, Tapan has already discussed with the finance adviser, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, about the increased import cost of oil and what the government can do in this situation.
   They said the energy adviser might also discuss the issue with the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed.
   On activities of the newly-formed fuel price fixing committee, Tapan told the media that it was working. ‘But, as I have said before, it will be really hard on the people if the committee acts in line with the price fixing formula it is supposed to follow,’ he added.
   The government in April formed the 8-member permanent fuel price fixing committee headed by the BPC chairman and comprising high officials of the finance, communications, agriculture, commerce, and industries ministries and the Power Division.
   The committee is supposed to implement a price fixing formula that says the oil prices will be adjusted every six months, but, if it is found in any monthly review that the gap between the import price and the selling price has become more than 5 per cent, the committee will adjust the prices immediately.
   The committee has held a meeting recently and will hold another soon. But, it will be tough for the committee to implement the formula, because, if it does, it will have to increase the diesel and kerosene prices by around Tk 10 a litre right away.

Pakistan opposition politicians vowed on Sunday to boycott what they fear will be unfair elections in their home country but bickered over more concrete measures to overcome the military rule of president Pervez Musharraf.
   In a two-day conference marked by arguments and sometimes chaotic scenes, leaders from parties across the political spectrum struggled to find common ground and construct a pre-election declaration.
   Their intention had been to produce an action plan to capitalise on increasing public unrest in Pakistan, where Musharraf is facing his worst domestic crises since he seized power in a coup eight years ago.
   Notable for her absence was former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, whose representative from the Pakistan People’s Party, Amin Fahim, fended off accusations from delegates that the PPP had watered down the text of the declaration to prevent stronger condemnation of Musharraf’s rule.
   Fahim said Benazir had engagements in France and was unable to come.
   Pakistan is rife with speculation that Benazir is working on some sort of power-sharing deal with Musharraf whereby he is re-elected president and she could become prime minister for a third time once corruption charges against her are dropped.
   Asked whether Benazir was working on such a deal, Fahim said: ‘There is no such kind of thing. We have come here to struggle to make a decision to get Pakistan on a democratic platform.’
   Musharraf is expected to call elections later this year but opposition politicians say that, on the evidence of by-elections which have taken place, they will be rigged. They point to pared-down electoral rolls, changes in polling stations and the use of local police to prevent opposition voters from casting their ballot.
   ‘It is clear that the Musharraf regime is incapable of holding free, fair and honest elections,’ former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said, reading from the declaration.
   ‘Therefore, we the parties assembled here together pledge ... to strongly resist the election ... of general Musharraf through all means including the resignations from Parliament and the Provincial Assemblies.’
   To chants of ‘Go, Musharraf, Go!’ and ‘Go, Army, Go!’ the declaration was passed around the table of around 100 politicians who signed it.
   Musharraf, also army chief, has been a key ally for the United States in its ‘war on terror’ but now faces charges of not doing enough to combat a spreading militant influence from tribal regions on the Afghan border into central areas.
   Hardline Islamist students are currently involved in a deadly stand-off with security forces surrounding their mosque and school complex in Islamabad.
   ‘Action should have been taken six months ago. Why were people allowed to smuggle ammunition into the mosque?’ Sharif said.
   Musharraf also faces a judicial crisis after suspending the country’s top judge in March.
   Some conference observers took the microphone to plead with the delegates to work harder at burying their differences.
   ‘What is the difficulty of getting a united front? Is it because some parties want to collaborate with the military dictatorship? Is it because they don’t want to disturb the status quo?,’ said Roedad Khan, a former civil servant.
   ‘Politicians are on trial. What Pakistan needs is bold leadership.’

The Election Commission, which has prepared a draft of roadmap of work towards holding the stalled 9th parliamentary polls, on Monday apprised the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, of the progress made so far in this regard.
   The EC planned to announce the election roadmap by July 15.
   The chief election commissioner, TAM Shamsul Huda, called on the chief adviser in the afternoon. Two other commissioners—Muhammed Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hussain were also present.
   Sources said that the commissioners had discussed with the chief adviser the roadmap and possible time for easing the ban on political activities for holding dialogues with political parties over the electoral law reforms.
   The CEC earlier told reporters that the roadmap would provide an idea of when the elections could be held. It would also mention when the voters’ roll with photographs would be prepared for different areas.

The government has increased the retirement age ceiling for Bangladesh Bank deputy governors to 65 years from current 57, official sources said.
   An office order, issued by the finance ministry on July 5, extended the service length of central bank deputy governors, making it similar to that of the governor.
   According to the Bangladesh Bank Order 1972, the government can appoint a governor for four-year tenure, which is renewable for another term.
   Deputy governors are usually made from serving executive directors of the central bank and are appointed by the government for one year, which could be extended by several times subject to the government’s desire.
   Governor Salehuddin Ahmed in a recent letter to the finance ministry proposed that the existing two deputy governors should be given contractual appointments for four years with a provision for early retirement, sources said.
   There are four posts for deputy governors, with two being manned by Nazrul Huda and Ziaul Hasan Siddiqui and the two others lying vacant.

The family of Chittagong City Corporation superintendent engineer Mohammad Shahidullah on Monday demanded a probe into his death in jail custody on July 4.
   ‘We demand an immediate investigation to unearth the real cause of my father’s death,’ said Fazle Rabbi Polash, eldest son of the deceased.
   Fazle, a medical student at the University of Science and Technology, Chittagong, alleged his father had died due to lack of treatment and care in jail custody.
   He said, ‘It might have been caused by negligence of the authorities or a conspiracy. We cannot accept the death as normal unless it is properly investigated.’
   The family also dismissed the corruption charges levelled against Shahidullah.
   ‘Had my father been involved in corruption, then why don’t we have any car, luxury house or hefty bank deposits,’ Fazle asked. ‘We lead a very simple life.’
   He said, ‘In fact, we urge the government to unearth our hidden property or wealth, if there is any.’
   The army-led joint forces arrested Shahidullah on June 26 in connection with a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission with the Chittagong Kotwali police against the CCC mayor and four other officials accusing them of misappropriation of CCC fund and other irregularities in running a satellite television channel, Bijoy TV.
   The jail authorities said Shahidullah died of a cardiac arrest at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, where he was taken as he felt pain in the chest and other complications on July 4 in the morning.
   ‘We did our best when he fell sick,’ said Chittagong jail super Bazlur Rashid and brushed aside the allegations raised by the deceased’s family.
   The plaintiff, ACC deputy director Abu Mohammad Arif Siddiqui, said the case was lodged after proper investigation.
   ‘We don’t want any innocent person to suffer due to our faults. In our investigations, we found that Tk 85 lakh had been transacted through a personal account of Shahidullah for operations of Bijoy TV,’ he said.
   ‘The CCC mayor floated the TV channel without taking any approval from the government and involved Shahidullah with it,’ the ACC official added.

The Anti-Corruption Commission hopes to complete the trial of bigwig corruption suspects before the next general election, which is expected to be held by the end of 2008 as declared by the chief adviser, said its secretary on Monday.
   ‘The ACC is independent and it will continue its effort to rid our society of corruption even after the political government is elected,’ M Mokhlesur Rahman told a press briefing at the ACC’s headquarters.
   The anti-graft watchdog is thinking of increasing its manpower from 408 to 1,281 because it will need to triple its staff to handle the work-load.
    It has already reviewed the existing organogram and recommended a revised one, seeking to more than double the approved number of officials and employees to strengthen its presence all over the country. The revised structure is likely to be approved by the National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganisation at its meeting today, said the ACC official.
   Of the 650 approved posts, 242 still remain vacant.
   The secretary said the ACC has decided to set up 22 offices to cover 64 districts, and one office each in six divisional headquarters.
   Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s assistant private secretary Obaidul Muqtadir, former mayor of Khulna City Corporation Kazi Aminul Haque and former BNP lawmaker Monirul Islam Sakhu submitted their wealth statements to the ACC on Monday.
   They are among 17 corruption suspects notified by the ACC on July 2.
   The ACC extended the time for submission of wealth statements by seven more working days to three notified persons — former law minister Moudud Ahmed, owner of Uttara group Giridhari Lal Modi and former lawmaker and Partex Group’s chairman Abul Hashem.
   A total of 146 people, out of the 194 so far notified, have submitted their wealth statements to the ACC, the secretary informed newsmen at the briefing.

An English court found three men guilty Monday over a failed Islamist plot to set off bombs in London on July 21, 2005, two weeks after suicide bombings which killed 52 commuters in the capital.
   Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26, and Ramzi Mohammed, 25, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder after a six-month trial.
   The alleged conspiracy to explode homemade devices consisting of hydrogen peroxide and chapati flour in
   rucksacks came exactly 14
   days after the July 7 attacks which killed a total of 56 people, including the four bombers.
   The partial verdict came on the seventh day of the jury’s deliberations and amid intense media interest in Britain, which is on high alert following three failed car bombings in London and Glasgow, Scotland, last month.
   Eight suspects are being held in connection with those incidents.
   The prime minister, Gordon Brown, attended a sombre, low-key memorial event on the second anniversary of the July 7 attacks on Saturday.
   The July 21 jurors have not yet reached verdicts on three other defendants allegedly behind a plot to blow up bombs on the London transport network – Hussain Osman, 28, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 34, and Adel Yahya, 24.
   The six men in the case are of African origin but live in London.
   During their trial at the high-security Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London, all had denied the charges.

Ailing president Fidel Castro railed against the United States in a newspaper article Sunday, calling it an unethical ‘world tyranny,’ and urged the CIA to come clean about all its attempts to murder him.
   ‘My purpose is to show the huge level of hypocrisy and total lack of ethics that have characterised the actions, chaotic by nature, of the US government,’ Castro wrote at length in the Juventud Rebelde daily.
   Just shy of a year since he was hospitalised with health problems and ceded power provisionally to his brother Raul, Fidel Castro, 80, has taken to writing articles on US imperialism and other issues in government publications while he continues recovering.
   Castro’s Sunday article titled, ‘A World Tyranny,’ is a continuation of last week’s ‘The Killing Machine’ and claims no less than 627 failed attempts on his life by the US Central Intelligence Agency between his rise to power in 1959 and 1993.
   It followed the declassification of secret CIA documents last month exposing how the agency recruited top mafia figures to assassinate Cuba’s communist leader.
   ‘The killing began under the (president Dwight D.) Eisenhower administration (1953-1961) and (president Richard) Nixon (1963-1969),’ Castro said, adding that ‘with some exceptions, other administrations followed the same policy.’
   ‘I have survived numerous assassination attempts’ since his early days as guerrilla leader, Castro said. ‘Only luck and the habit of carefully watching every detail has allowed us to survive.’
   Castro called on the CIA to declassify every single secret file it keeps on anti-Cuban plans it fielded in the past.
   ‘In the name of freedom of information,’ he said, ‘why don’t they declassify a single document that tells us how the CIA nearly 50 years ago blew up the cargo ship La Coubre and cut short a delivery of Belgian weapons (for Castro’s Cuba) that the agency itself on June 14, 1960 admitted was of great concern to the United States.’
   The cargo ship was destroyed in an explosion March 1960 in Havana harbour that killed more than 100 people on board.
   Since the end of March, Castro has published some 25 articles under the master heading, ‘Reflections of the Commander in Chief.’ Most of them are openly hostile to the United States and president George W Bush.
   ‘Can we ignore the wars of plunder and butchery waged on poor countries that make up three fourths of our planet?’ Castro asked in his latest column.
   ‘No! They are part and parcel of our present world and of a system that cannot sustain itself in any other way,’ he answered.
   ‘At enormous political, economic and scientific cost, the human species is being led to the border of the abyss,’ he added, blaming the United States for the direction things are taking.
   Castro turns 81 on August 13 and has not appeared in public since his July 26 operation last year for intestinal trouble.

The formal trial of the bribery case against former communications minister Nazmul Huda and his wife Sigma Huda began on Monday with prosecution witnesses giving testimony.
   Deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Shafiqul Islam, testified against the lawyer couple in the first day of the trial in Special Judge’s Court 2 of Dhaka, chaired by AK Roy, in the makeshift courtroom in the parliament’s MP Hostel.
   The formal trial of the graft case against former BNP lawmaker Manjurul Ahsan Munshi and his wife and two sons begins today with the testimony of prosecution witnesses.
   M Ashraf Hossain, the judge of Special Judge’s Court 5 of Dhaka, on Monday fixed the date for trial after framing charges against them.
   Sigma’s counsel Azmalul Hossain filed two petitions for ‘division’ (special facilities in prison for VIP detainees) and for arranging her transportation by ambulance.
   The court ordered that the jail authority should take appropriate measures for her transportation in accordance with the Jail Code.
   The court, however, did not pass any order on the other petition, as the defence counsel could not show any provisions laid down in the Jail Code that would enable the court to give her division in jail. The court will pass its order on the issue after today’s hearing.
   Meanwhile, former state minister and Awami League stalwart Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir has named six persons including former adviser to the caretaker government Akbar Ali Khan and economist Abul Barakat as defence witnesses to defend him in the case filed against him for submitting false wealth statements and amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income by abusing his power.
   Shahed Nooruddin, the judge of Special Judge’s Court 3, is scheduled today to record the testimony of the defence witnesses.
   The court of Ashraf Hossain charged Munshi with concealing wealth of Tk 3.13 crore in the wealth reports he submitted to the ACC and amassing wealth worth Tk 5.27 crore, which is disproportionate to his known sources of income, through abuse of power.
   His wife Majeda Ahsan and two sons Rizviul Ahsan and Rezwanul Ahsan were charged with abetting him.
   Huda was charged with taking Tk 2.4 crore as bribe through three bank cheques from Mir Zahir Hossain, the managing director of Mir Akhtar Hossain Ltd, a construction firm, for awarding him five different contracts under the Roads and Highways Department.
   He was charged with taking bribe under Section 161 of the Penal Code and with abusing his office of communication minister under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947.
   Sigma was charged with abetting her husband in committing the offences, as she deposited the cheques in her bank accounts in the name of her weekly magazine Khoborer Antoraley, and also withdrew Tk 1.4 crore from the bank account and made fixed deposits in the names of their two daughters in HSBC.
   Another court of M Firoz Alam continued recording the testimony of prosecution witnesses in the case against Awami Swechchhasebak League’s general secretary Pankaj Devnath and his wife Monika Devnath for submitting false wealth statements and owning assets beyond their known sources of income.
   Monika is being tried in absentia as she has become a fugitive.

Nepal’s Maoists are still bent on seizing ‘absolute power’ over the country even though they have signed up for peace with mainstream parties, the US ambassador to Kathmandu said Monday.
   James Moriarty, whose three-year tenure in the Himalayan nation ends this week, also said the former rebels will remain featured on the United States’ list of foreign ‘terrorist’ organisations unless they change their ways.
   ‘They continue to use violence and continue to threaten the (peace) process itself if they don’t get everything they want,’ Moriarty told reporters.
   ‘Everything that they want is power, absolute power, not part of a multi-party democracy,’ said the diplomat, a long-term critic of the Maoists.
   The ultra-leftist Maoists officially ended a decade-long ‘people’s war’ last November and earlier this year they were also given seats in an interim parliament and cabinet.
   Under the peace deal, they have confined their fighters and weapons to UN-monitored camps.
   But the ex-rebels continue to face allegations of using mafia-like tactics, including beatings, kidnappings and extortion.
   ‘There is no commitment on the part of the Maoists to give up violence, but if they make that commitment and begin to implement it then, sure, we are going to consider taking them off the terrorist list,’ the ambassador said, in an apparent concession to the former rebels.
   But he also alleged that the Maoists were grappling with an internal dispute over how to proceed politically.
   Maoist leader Prachanda and his second in command Baburam Bhatterai advocate staying within the political mainstream to ‘force the government into a rolling series of concessions that ultimately result in them grabbing full power,’ Moriarty said.
   King Gyanendra’s fate is set to be decided by elections in November to vote for an executive that will rewrite Nepal’s constitution.

A Japanese medical team has found that a form of antibiotic could prevent cancer patients from losing hair during chemotherapy, a doctor involved in the research said Monday.
   Toshiyuki Sakai said his team had found ‘alopestatin’ reduced hair loss by 70 per cent when used on rats also given etoposide anti-cancer drugs.
   Etoposide is widely used to treat lung and other cancers but can cause hair loss.
   Sakai, professor at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, said his team was hoping to put the agent to practical use in the future.
   ‘I want people to know that few studies have been made on reducing side-effects of anti-cancer drugs,’ he said.
   ‘This field is lagging behind (the development of cancer drugs) but is still important for patients’ quality of life.’
   The study, which was outlined at an academic meeting in Japan last week, is still ongoing, and the chances are ‘low at the moment’ that alopestatin will be commercialised soon, he said.
   No clinical tests are yet in sight, but one possible use for humans would be to apply it to the head in the period when hair loss is most likely to occur during chemotherapy, he added.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, and the army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, visited the ailing noted singer Sabina Yasmin at LabAid Hospital in the city on Monday.
   The chief adviser talked to the eminent crooner of the subcontinent and wished her early recovery.
   He inquired after condition of Sabina Yasmin from the physician concerned and asked the hospital authority to ensure her proper treatment.
   The family members of Sabina appealed to the chief adviser for government cooperation in quick shifting of Sabina to Singapore for better treatment, Dr Lt Col (retd) Mofazzel Hossain, cancer and medicine expert, of LabAid told reporters.
   The head of caretaker government assured them of extending ‘all possible cooperation’.
   He stayed for some time beside the ailing singer.
   The army chief also stayed for some time beside the ailing singer, talked to her and wished her early recovery.

A Chittagong court on Monday sentenced four dockworkers to four years’ rigorous imprisonment for violating Emergency Powers Rules.
   This was the first-ever verdict the court gave against the accused of violating emergency powers rules since the declaration of the state of emergency on January 11.
   The convicts — Bazal Mia, Abdur Rouf, Shahadat Hossain, Abdul Matin and Mizanur Rahman — were also fined Tk 5,000 each, in default to suffer five months more in prison.
   The court of metropolitan magistrate Monwarul Islam handed down the verdict after examining 14 witnesses.
   The joint forces picked up the convicts from in front of dockworkers’ booking office on May 17 while they were trying to hold a rally.
   A case was against them with the Bandar police station under the Emergency Powers Act.

A suspected criminal was killed in crossfire with the police at Sonaikandi village under Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia early Monday, raising the death count in such incidents to 836 from June 2004.
   The deceased, identified as Shamim, 27, of Kacharipara village of the upazila, was a convicted fugitive in an arms case and wanted in eight other criminal cases, the police claimed.
   Shamim was arrested at Badda area in Dhaka city on Saturday and brought to Kutirpara area of Sonaikundi village early Monday.
   As soon as they reached the spot, the associates of Shamim opened fire on the police team forcing the lawmen to counter it that triggered a gun battle. Shamim was caught in the crossfire while trying to escape and died on the spot, claimed the police.

The army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, on Monday came to the rescue of octogenarian Monoranjan Roy.
   He paid off of Roy’s debt from his personal fund and the court ordered the release of 85-year-old man from prison.
   Moved by the photograph of old Roy being taken to jail with hand cuff, published in a section of the press on Monday, General Moeen sent the money to Major Khayer at the army camp in the Nilphamari town. Khayer immediately moved the court, paid the entire debt of Tk 19,745 and sought release of Roy.
   The police administration closed to the police lines ASI Nuruzzaman and Shah Alam, constable Anwar and Jahangir of Jaldhaka thana for ill treatment to Roy by handcuffing and roping him.
   Roy of village Golna under Jaldhaka upazila had taken a loan of Tk 9,000 from Krishi Unnyan Bank in 1988 for purchasing two cows. He repaid Tk 1,000 the following year. Thereafter he could not repay the loan as one of the cows died, and he sold the other for the treatment of his wife.
   The bank prosecuted poor Roy to the court in 1999 for defaulting loan when he was in jail for 8 days before enlarged on bail. The court on June 12 last year sentenced him six months jail in absentia. He was arrested from his home and sent to prison on Sunday.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum Trust authorities are preparing a reply to a letter issued by the government.
   Awami League presidium member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury on Monday told the press that the government had sent a letter to the trust authorities asking it to explain how the organisation was being run.
   ‘Sheikh Hasina has held a meeting with the board of trustees asking it to prepare the papers after the government asked for some files of the trust,’ Sajeda told reporters after visiting ailing singer Sabina Yasmin at Lab Aid Hospital in the city.
   The AL president on Sunday informed reporters about the government’s letter and asked if the trust, a registered charity, would not be able to run its activities.
   ‘We pay stipends to several thousand poor students and have legitimate sources of raising funds, Hasina added.

The chief metropolitan magistrate court of Dhaka on Monday set July 11 for hearing a remand prayer in a graft case against former BNP lawmaker Naser Rahman.
   The court passed the order after hearing an appeal filed by an Anti-corruption Commission official seeking a seven-day remand for the elder son of former finance minister M Saifur Rahman.
   ACC deputy director Moniruzzaman Khan filed the case against Naser and wife Rozina Naser on May 27 with Gulshan Police Station on charges of illegal incomes of Tk 6.23 crore and falsifying wealth statements, concealing information about property worth Tk 2.63 crore.

The High Court Monday stayed for three months the proceedings of the liquor case against former law minister Moudud Ahmed.
   A High Court vacation bench of Justice M Anwarul Haque and Justice AFM Abdur Rahman also issued a rule on the government to explain within four weeks why the case would not be quashed.
   The court passed the order after hearing a petition filed by Moudud for quashing the case.
   Earlier, on July 3, the same court stayed the proceedings of the case till Monday.
   On April 13 the army-led joint forces arrested Moudud from his Gulshan residence and reportedly seized 16 bottles of foreign liquor and 32 cans of beer along with 220 saris of the government relief fund.
   Immediately after his arrest, sub-inspector Khabir of Gulshan police filed a case under Section 25B of the Special Powers Act 1974, accusing Moudud of bringing foreign liquor for the purpose of selling and evading the tax therefrom.
   He is among the scores of the once-powerful politicians, bureaucrats and business tycoons held during the current drive launched by the interim government against serious crime and corruption.
   On June 18, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge AKM Enamul Haque framed the charge against Moudud under Section 25B of the Special Powers Act for smuggling alcohol.
   Moudud, challenging the charge, filed the petition for having the case quashed.