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A writ petition was filed with the High Court on Sunday challenging the constitutionality of the present caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed.
   The High Court did not issue any rule, and fixed May 16 for further hearing of the writ petition.
   ‘The matter will be put on the ‘cause list’ [list of the cases for hearing before the court] on April 16 as an application,’ the High Court bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury ordered after a brief hearing of the petition.
   Josneara Chowdhury, wife of Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, filed the writ petition challenging the authority of the chief adviser and ten other advisers to the caretaker government and the chief election commissioner of holding their respective offices.
   The petitioner said that the Constitution of the republic does not have any provision for re-constitution of a caretaker government, and argued the present caretaker government, which was formed replacing the previous caretaker government on January 12, is therefore unconstitutional.
   The petitioner further claimed that the present caretaker government has not taken any practical steps towards holding a general election, rather it is hindering the process of elections with the connivance of the Election Commission. They [government and EC] had already lost their constitutional validity after being failed to hold the elections within the stipulated time-frame, the petitioner argued.
   Referring to certain provisions of the constitution, the petitioner said a caretaker administration has the jurisdiction only to carry out routine work of the government and is barred from making any policy decisions. But ‘there are many instances of transgressions of their [advisers] constitutional limits in the name of political reforms…which falls in the domain of politics and cannot be considered as routine functions’, the petitioner asserted.
   As the petitioner’s counsel Syed Ghulam Mostafa began his arguments, the court asked him, ‘What is the consequence of the failure to hold the election within the stipulated time?’
   ‘The constitution stands violated,’ replied the counsel.
   ‘It is the duty of the Election Commission, not the caretaker government, to hold the election,’ the court observed.
   The court further said, ‘If the Election Commission fails to hold the polls within a time limit, the commission can be changed, but the caretaker government has no specified tenure’.
   ‘What is the use of making things complicated,’ the court asked, and the counsel of the petitioner to ‘try some other recourse like filing a petition against the Election Commission’.
   As the counsel insisted that the matter involved interpretation of the constitution, the court fixed May 16 for further hearing saying, ‘It has no urgency’.
   The counsel requested the court to see if the case could be put at the top of the cause list on May 16. The court said, ‘It will come up as an application.’

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, is scheduled to return from London today, ending an eventful 52-day trip to the United States and the United Kingdom.
   The AL chief was scheduled to board a Dhaka-bound flight of Etihad Airways from London’s Heathrow airport at 3:30am Bangladesh time and expected to arrive at the Zia International Airport at 4:25pm today after a stopover at Abu Dhabi, AL insiders said.
   Hasina, also former prime minister, was originally scheduled to fly home on April 23, but failed to do so due to a ban slapped on her return by the interim government on April 18.
   The ban, however, was lifted after a week clearing the way for her to come home.
   AL sources said that the party had not chalked up any programme for a formal reception of the party president on her arrival at the airport due to the state emergency, but some senior leaders will be at the airport to receive her.
   The government has allowed 10 senior party leaders to receive Hasina at the airport.
   The party leaders said that they had sent a list of about 100 leaders of different levels requesting the home ministry to allow them to be at the airport.
   ‘The government has allowed only 10 to go to the airport. We are trying to raise the number,’ Abdul Jalil, the general secretary of the AL, told New Age.
   The AL general secretary also said that the leaders and activists who wanted to meet Hasina should go to Sudha Sadan after her arrival instead of gathering at the airport.
   Jalil said that the party had decided not to arrange any formal reception at the airport on the party chief’s arrival due to the state of emergency.
   ‘There will be no formal reception at the airport as we are going by the emergency powers rule,’ he said.
   Earlier on Friday, the AL communicated with the government in this regard and the government asked the party leaders to send a list of the people seeking permission to be present at the airport and assured them that the authorities would select the persons after checking the list, he said.
   Jalil, who expressed his concern over the security of the AL president after her arrival, said that it was the responsibility of the government to ensure her safety.
   ‘I hope the government will ensure her security…the people of the country will protect the AL president,’ said Jalil.
   Asked if the party feared that Hasina could be arrested or harassed by other means like filing of cases after her return, the AL general secretary said that any such attempts would be faced by legal means.
   Meanwhile, the government strengthened security at the Sudha Sadan residence of Hasina from Sunday afternoon.
   Sudha Sadan sources said that two platoons of police were posted to Hasina’s residence at about 4:30pm in addition to a regular 12-member security team.
   Hasina failed to fly home from London on April 22 as the British Airways refused to carry her at the request of the interim government. The government slapped a ban on her return on April 18, which was withdrawn later. Hasina left Dhaka on March 15 on a private tour of the US.
   The interim government on April 25 lifted the ban on Hasina’s return.
   Hasina left the country for the United States on March 15 on a personal trip.

A section of BNP leaders have described the scheduled return of Awami League president Sheikh Hasina today as a positive event in the national politics as it would proclaim the end of the so-called ‘minus-two theory’ but said they are sceptical about a ‘united movement’ by the two major parties.
   The BNP chairperson’s adviser, ASM Hannan Shah, said every citizen has the right to go on an overseas trip and return and no one should be
   denied the right. He said Hasina’s return would make a ‘positive impact’ on the national politics.
   ‘Her arrival in Dhaka will ensure the death of the so-called minus-two theory [exclusion of the two top leaders from political process] developed by certain quarters which is undemocratic and unrealistic,’ Hannan Shah told a group of reporters at his DOHS residence in the capital. ‘But it would be unfortunate if the government forces Hasina into confinement like Khaleda’, he said.
   When asked if he saw any possibility of a united movement by the BNP and the Awami League, Hannan Shah said, ‘We are not complementary to each other but if such a situation arises time will show the way’.
   ‘It is my personal view and I am not the spokesman for BNP,’ he was quick to add.
   When approached, the BNP’s spokesman and joint
   secretary general, Nazrul
   Islam Khan, also welcomed Hasina’s scheduled return today but he was sceptical about the possibility of a joint movement by the two major parties.

One hundred and twenty-two Dhaka University teachers loyal to the Awami League on Sunday congratulated the Awami League chief, Sheikh Hasina, at her playing a courageous role to protect human and constitutional rights and welcomed her return.
   In a statement, they urged the government to take foolproof security measures Sheikh Hasina, also a former prime minister.
   ‘We greet the daughter of Bangabandhu for her “courageous role in protecting human rights and constitutional rights” and we welcome her return home. …we strongly urged the government to provide total security for her,’ the statement reads.
   AK Azad Chowdhury, AAMS Arefin Siddique, Md Hossain Monsur, Mohammad Samad, Anwar Hossain, Harun-or-Rashid, Ashraf Uddin Chowdhury, Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman, Sadeka Halim and Md Rahmatullah are among the signatories.

The trial of the corruption case against Harris Chowdhury, political secretary to former prime minister Khaleda Zia, began on Sunday in the special judge’s court 5 at the MP Hostel at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. Three witnesses gave their deposition in the court on the day.
   The special judges of three other courts also posted for May 9 the framing of charges in three cases against five people, including three former state ministers Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Amanullah Aman and Mir Nasiruddin.
   The hearing in the case against Harris was scheduled to be held in the court of metropolitan sessions judge Mohammad Mominullah, but he transferred the case to the newly formed special judge’s court earlier on the day.
   Ashraf Hossain, judge of the special judge’s court 5, recorded the depositions of three witnesses, including the plaintiff, Abu Sayeed, an assistant director of the Anti-Corruption Commission.
   The court will record the deposition of the remaining two witnesses on May 8.
   Sayeed filed the case on April 4 against the accused on charge of not submitting their wealth statements to the commission defying the notice issued on February 18 which asked 50 corruption suspects, including Harris, to do so within 72 hours.
   Harris Chowdhury has been in hiding since January 11 when the state of emergency was declared.
   The metropolitan judge, on April 30, framed the charge against Harris and posted for May the next proceedings of the case.
   Before framing the charge, Harris was asked to surrender to the trial court within 3 days, but he defied the order. His property has been attached by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
   Mohiuddin, state minister of the Awami League government, Mir Nasir and Aman, state ministers of the immediate-past BNP government, and Nasir’s son Helaluddin were produced in the court of the Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge at about 11:15.
   Another accused named on the charge sheet, Aman’s wife Sabera Aman, who is remanded on bail, did not appear in the court because of illness, her lawyers said.
   The commission submitted the charge sheets in the three cases on April 29 on charge of submitting false wealth statements.
   Metropolitan judge Mominullah accepted the three charge sheets and transferred the cases to the special judge’s courts for trial although defence lawyers for the five accused appealed for deferral of the proceedings, saying that they were not allowed to collect the case records.
   The judge ordered that Mohiuddin’s case should be tried by special court 3 judge Shahed Nooruddin, Nasir and his son’s case by special court 2 judge AK Roy, and Aman and his wife’s case by special court 1 judge Feroz Alam.
   Following the order, the prosecutors on behalf of the commission — Mahboob Ahmed, Mir Ahmed Ali Salam and AFM Gholam Fattah — went to the special judge’s court in the afternoon and the courts posted for May 9 the framing of charges against the five.

Although the trial of graft cases in the special judge’s court has not been declared ‘in camera trial’ (in chambers), the journalists were stopped from entering the courts at Jatiya Snagsad Bhaban on Sunday.
   As the courts, formed by the government for speedy disposal of graft cases against bigwig corruption suspects, began judicial functions on Sunday, journalists went there to cover the news of the courts.
   But no journalists were allowed in the MP Hostel where the courts have been set up. Law enforcers and army personnel said newsmen would not be let in.
   The on-duty reporters contacted the high up in the government and later in the
   afternoon, the newsmen were told that they would be
   allowed inside to cover the proceedings.
   The reporters were allowed at about 3:00pm in the MP Hostel, but were stopped from entering the courtrooms. The reporters were allowed only to walk the corridors of the courtrooms.
   Article 35(3) of the constitution say, ‘Every person accused of a criminal offence shall have the right to speedy and public trial by an independent and impartial court or tribunal established by law.’

The central bank has suggested that tax rebate on the provision for bad debts should continue for two more fiscal years and tax at source should be withdrawn from credit card.
   In its proposals for the next budget, Bangladesh Bank also felt that tax on interest on term deposit of non-banking financial institutions should be reduced to five per cent from 10 per cent at present. It recommended tax immunity on income up to Tk 25,000 generated from zero coupon bonds.
   The central bank sent the proposals to the finance ministry for consideration in the budget for 2007-08 fiscal year.
    According to the existing tax facility, banks are allowed to deduct one per cent provision for bad debts before paying 45 per cent corporate tax on their total income. The tax rebate is set to expire on June 30.
   ‘Incomes of banks are already affected as they are liable to keep provision against the non-performing loans. The banks would be affected more if they are to pay tax on provision,’ reads the budget proposal of Bangladesh Bank, signed by its governor Salehuddin Ahmed.
   ‘So, the existing tax rebate facility needs to be extended up to the assessment year 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.’
   The central bank in its proposal said that existing three per cent tax at source on the credit bill of credit card holders restricts the expansion of credit card, which is considered as safer and risk free mode of transaction globally.
   It pointed out that credit card holders having less than taxable income of Tk 1,20,000 per year have also been victims of the current taxing regulations.
   It suggested that tax on credit card should go or credit limit should be fixed for imposing tax on credit card.
   Currently, banks and financial institutions pay 10 per
   cent tax on the interest of the bond in addition to 45 per cent of their income in corporate tax.
   Leasing companies like IIDFCL, IPDC and IDLC have zero coupon bond in the market, for which banks are the prime clients.
   The 10 per cent tax was introduced from 2005-2006 fiscal year. Previously, income up to Tk 25,000 from zero coupon bonds was tax free, while 10 per cent tax was applicable for income above Tk 25,000.
   The central bank recommended that the rate should come down to five per cent tax on interest of term deposit of non-banking financial institutions from current 10 to five per cent to enable the non-banking financial institutions in attracting depositors.

French voters turned out in force Sunday to choose a new president with rightwinger Nicolas Sarkozy the clear favourite against Socialist Segolene Royal in their duel to win a mandate for sweeping change.
   Extra police were moved into Paris and its high immigrant suburbs in case a Sarkozy victory sparks trouble, but there was more focus on the huge turnout for the deciding second round.
   By noon, 34 per cent of France’s 44.5 million eligible voters had cast ballots for a successor to president Jacques Chirac who is stepping down after 12 years in office.
   This was the highest midday turnout since 1974 and underscored the strong interest in the left-right battle for the Elysee palace. The midday turnout was also up from 31.21 per cent in the April 22 first round, the interior ministry said.
   Sarkozy, accompanied by his two step daughters, voted in the chic Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, where he was greeted with cheers of ‘Nicolas president.’ His wife Cecilia was not present however.
   Royal said the choice for her ‘had not been difficult’ after voting in the town of Melle in western France.
   The choice between them is stark. Sarkozy, son of a Hungarian immigrant who has promised a ‘clean break’ with the past, and Royal, the daughter of an army colonel seeking to become France’s first woman president, has vowed to guard France’s welfare state.
   Sarkozy, 52, who has been leading in public opinion polls, says he wants to get France ‘back to work’ and is proposing tax cuts and incentives to free up the labour market. He also supports tougher controls on immigration.
   Royal, 53, proposing to safeguard France’s generous social protection, create jobs and carry out institutional reform to bring government closer to the people.
   ‘Today we are making a choice as a society,’ said Guillaume Bellequic, 28, a computer expert who emphasised the radical differences between the two candidates after he voted in the western city of Nantes.
   ‘There is change in the air,’ said Gaelle Bernard, 30, a psychologist. ‘And I am mostly hopeful.’
   The election marks a shift to a younger generation of leaders born after Second World War, who are promising to tackle the huge national debt, high unemployment and simmering tensions in the suburbs.
   Maria Dallais, a 52-year-old cleaning lady in the suburb of Suresnes, west of Paris, said she voted for Sarkozy ‘because we need radical change. People need to go back to work.’
   In Argenteuil, one of the suburbs hit by the 2005 unrest, a steady stream of voters calmly turned out to render their verdict at the end of one of the hardest fought campaigns in decades.
   Aurelie Legrand, a 21-year-old student from the French island of La Reunion, said she voted for Royal to try to block a Sarkozy
   victory. ‘People say that if he
   wins there will be more violence so naturally it makes you think,’ she said.
   Security has been stepped up in Paris and its surroundings to prevent possible violence in the event of a Sarkozy victory, with some 3,000 riot police on alert.

A high-powered committee of experts on the power sector on Sunday gave the go-ahead signal to four controversial power projects including the 450 MW Meghnaghat-2 and 150 MW Chandpur power plants, and also to one of the seven ‘rental power plants’ as no ‘major faults’ were detected in the tenders and other procedures.
   One of the committee members, Major General Abdul Wadud, commandant of the Military Institute of Science and Technology, handed over the review report on five projects to energy and power adviser Tapan Chowdhury at his secretariat office.
   The six-member committee, headed by Dr Abdul Matin Patwari, vice-chancellor of the University of Asia Pacific and former VC of BUET, found minor faults but no major ones to justify the ditching of the projects, Tapan told reporters after getting the report.
   The other projects that were approved include the rehabilitation and modernisation of the 50 MW third unit of the Karnaphuli hydropower plant and two units of the Ghorashal power plant.
   The committee, however, approved one of the seven controversial rental power projects and suggested re-tenders for the rest.
   The interim government formed the committee after the Executive Committee of National Economic Council, headed by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, on March 3 sent back 150 MW Chandpur power project and rehabilitation projects for Karnaphuli and Ghorashal units because of allegations of irregularities in the tender procedures.
   The advisory council committee on purchase, headed by Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, asked the Power Division on March 8 to float tenders again for the seven rental power plants, cancelling the approval given by the BNP-Jamaat government for setting up the plants in spite of allegations of irregularities.
   The Meghnaghat-2 project that was awarded to a consortium — namely BON consortium, comprising the Orion Group, a UAE and a German company — by the BNP-Jamaat government has been stalled as the head of the Orion Group is absconding after the Oriental Bank scam.
   The experts’ committee was asked to find out if there were irregularities in the tender procedures of the projects and if they were transparent, and to assess the financial justification of the projects.
   General Wadud told reporters that there were no major faults in the tender procedures that would be adequate grounds for dropping the projects, apart from the procedures of the six rental power plants that have not been approved.
   He said that they had given clearance to one of the rental power plants to be set up at Bogra as the Power Development Board had already signed an agreement with the company that was awarded the job.
   When asked if they had given approved an irregularities-ridden project, he said, ‘If the PDB contract with the company is violated, it will create more complications.’
   PDB signed a similar agreement with another company for setting up a rental power plant but the committee found major irregularities in the process, said Tapan.
   He said that the projects would now be allowed to go ahead as per the recommendations of the committee.
   The Power Division will send the Chandpur, Karnaphuli and Ghorashal projects to ECNEC along with the committee’s recommendations and one of the rental power projects to the purchase committee for reconsidering its decision, while the Meghnaghat power plant for which PDB had already signed agreement with the consortium will go ahead.
   The Power Division will take the necessary steps to re-tender six rental power plants.
   When Tapan was asked whether it would create complications since the owner of the Orion Group, Obaidul Karim, was absconding, he said, ‘The agreement was signed with a consortium, not a person.’
   The project raised controversy from the very beginning when the lead sponsor of the consortium was changed, but it still got government clearance. It was alleged that BON got the contract as the Orion Group was close to the BNP.
   The BNP-Jamaat government awarded the Chandpur plant to a Chinese company, Harbin Power Engineering Company, amidst allegations raised by certain quarters of irregularities in the tender procedure; the Bangladeshi agent of the company was close to the BNP.
   Some quarters, including former state minister for power Anwarul Kabir Talukder, also raised questions on the rehabilitation of the third unit of the Karnaphuli plant at a cost of Tk 180 crore under an Italian soft loan. Many of them opined that a new plant could be installed at the cost of Tk 150 crore only.
   The Tk 210 crore project for the rehabilitation and modernisation of the Ghorashal number 1 and 2 power units was also sent back by ECNEC for reviewal of the terms and condition of a Russian supplier’s credit for the project. In its revised budget, Tk 122 crore was stated to be the Russian suppliers’ credit. The original cost of the project was Tk 117 crore.

Chief adviser to the interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed assured a group of journalists on Sunday that his administration was committed to the democratic freedom of the press and free flow of information in the society.
   ‘I reiterate the commitment of my government to press freedom and free flow of information’, Fakhruddin told a delegation of mostly senior journalists at his office in the afternoon.
   He made the assurance in response to a memorandum, signed by a good number of editors belonging to both the print and electronic media outfits, meeting sources said.
   The memorandum, submitted to the chief adviser, expressed ‘deep concerns’ over the frequent ‘telephonic instructions’ issued by various government agencies, both civil and military, as to what to print/broadcast and what not by the media organisations.
   The editors also requested the chief adviser to get the Right to Information Law enacted for the sake of ensuring the citizens’ democratic right to public information, which would eventually help effectively in curbing corruption.
   Fakhruddin gave the journalists a patient hearing, and admitted that ‘some isolated incidents of such phone calls’ had been made by ‘certain departments’ of the government. ‘As and when I have come to know about such incidents, I have clearly made the departments concerned know my government’s commitments to the press freedom,’ said Fakhruddin, assuring them that he would continue to display such commitments in the days to come.
   He also said that he would ‘look into the issue of the right to information law’.
   The adviser for communications, Barrister Mainul Hossain, was present on the occasion.
   Replying to a question in this regard, the chief adviser suggested that the editors should inform his press secretary, Syed Fahim Munaim, if the media outfits receive obstructive phone calls from the government departments in question.
   Fakhruddin also underlined the government’s need to know even the people’s critical opinions, if there are any, about the performance of the government. ‘In that case, the media can play the role of intermediary between the government and the people at large’, the chief adviser was quoted to have said.
   The chief adviser also assured the editors that his government would seriously consider the media’s demand for lowering the import duty on the newsprint, which is much higher than that in any South Asian country at the moment.
   The 14-member delegation of the journalists that called on the chief adviser included Mahbubul Alam, editor of the Independent, Bazlur Rahman, editor of Sangbad, Toab Khan, advisory editor of the Janakhantha, Reazuddin Ahmed, editor of News Today, Golam Sarwar, editor of Jugantor, Mahfuz Anam, editor of the Daily Star, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, editor of the Bangladesh Observer, Matiur Rahman, editor of Prothom Alo, Abed Khan, editor of Samakal, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, chief editor of Manavjamin, Rahat Khan, acting editor of the Ittefaq, Saiful Bari, chief adviser of ATN, Saikh Siraj of Channel I and Nurul Kabir, editor of New Age.

The Indian cricket team can expect sweltering heat and roaring Tigers when they arrive today to play two Tests and three one-day internationals against Bangladesh.
   A GMG Airlines flight will bring the visitors to Dhaka at 10:05 in the morning from Kolkata amid high temperature and humidity, which has made life miserable.
   Weather officials said the average temperature in the last seven days has hit 37 degrees Celsius in many parts of the country meaning the visitors will have to deal with the severity of nature first before concentrating on the hosts.
   According to the met office, the current temperature was seven degrees higher than that of last summer. The heat wave will continue for a few more days, it has been forecast.
   The one-day series will start on May 10 with the first match at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium which will also host the second game on May 12. The third and final one-dayer will be held at the Chittagong Divisional Stadium on May 15.
   The three one-dayers will be followed by the Test series, which will start at Chittagong on May 18. A week later the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium will have its Test baptism with the second match from May 25 to 29.
   The Bangladesh Cricket Board has promised to give the high-profile visitors statesman-like security. As part of the measures the hotels where the team will stay in Dhaka and Chittagong will provide exclusive floors, said BCB CEO Mahmudur Rahman.
   The series is believed to be a revenge mission for the Indians, who lost to Bangladesh in the World Cup, a defeat that hastened the former champions’ exit from the preliminary round.
   The defeat also hastened the departure of Australian coach Greg Chappell, although captain Rahul Dravid has been retained. The humiliating first round exit has prompted the Indian selectors to go for massive changes in the one-day squad that misses several famed players including Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.
   With Dravid, bruised on the nose (he sustained the injury during a practice session in Kolkata), leading a relatively inexperienced side, it raises Bangladesh’s hopes of winning a series for the first time against a major Test-playing nation.
   The BCB expects a sell-out crowd during the one-day series, which has now drawn attention not just in Bangladesh and India, but in the whole cricketing fraternity. The tickets for the one-day matches in Dhaka will be available from today at 10 Dhaka branches of the Arab Bangladesh Bank. There will be 20,000 gallery tickets for each match with 15,000 for other enclosures.
   Grameenphone, the country’s leading cellular company, has earned the title sponsorship of the series with a record amount of Tk 3.51 crore. The BCB will also earn Tk 35 lakh selling some other advertising rights for the series to broadcaster Nimbus.
   India one-day squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Romesh Powar, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa Virender Sehwag, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Mongia, Piyus Chawla and RP Singh.

Former BNP lawmaker for the Natore 3 constituency Kazi Golam Morshed and 12 other BNP leaders and activists were sued on Sunday for their alleged involvement in extortion and looting.
   The joint forces arrested 17 suspected members of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh in Mymensingh and Gopalganj on Sunday.
   They also arrested a BNP leader in Gopalganj the same day.
   Mohammad Abdul Aziz of Masinda and Idris Ali of Biaspara, also a former union council member, filed the cases with a cognizance court in Natore.
   The accused include Singra BNP joint secretary Ziaur Rahman Lelin, also brother-in-law of Morshed, and Ramananda Khaguria union council chairman Afsaruzzaman.
   Idris Ali said the former lawmaker demanded Tk 1 lakh as toll from him for a project of food for work programme in 2002 and he was forced to pay Tk 60,000 to Lelin and Afsaruzzaman in two instalments.
   Abdul Aziz said after the parliamentary elections of 2001, lawmaker Morshed demanded a toll of Tk 50,000 from him and he had to pay Tk 5,000. But the accused pressured him to pay the remaining amount.
   On his failure to pay the money, the accused attacked him on September 6, 2001 and injured him with a knife and looted Tk 10,000 from him.
   Brushing aside the allegation, Morshed said the cases had been filed out to undermine him in his constituency.
   In Mymensingh, the forces in a drive arrested 15 suspected Jamaatul Mujahideen members at a house at Chital under Muktagachha early Sunday.
   During the raid, the forces seized three mobiles, a few books of jihadi contents and a copy of the petition of the case filed against the Jamaatul Mujahideen second-in-command, Siddiqul Islam also known as Bangla Bhai, from the activists.
   The arrested are village doctor Shamsul Haq, 45, Abdul Motaleb alias Hira Khalifa, 40, Mokhles, 32, Abdur Rahman, 40, Abdul Mannan, 34, Nazmul Haq Tara, 22, Abdul Hai, 35, Mohammad Ali, 34, Shahidullah Hatu, 35, Saheb Ali, 35, Fulbor Hossain, 40, Sekandar Ali, 24, Hatem Ali, 18, Abul Munshi, 45 and Abu Bakar Siddiqui, 56.
   The forces said the Jamaatul Mujahideen activists went into hiding in the village after the JMB kingpins had been executed. Bangla Bhai was arrested at his shelter at Muktagacha.
   In Gopalganj, the forces arrested two suspected JMB activists, Kausar Ahmed, 40, and Khairul Islam, 18, raiding Mohammadpara Jam-e-Masjid and Markas Masjid in the Gopalganj town early Sunday.
   They also arrested the district BNP general secretary, M. Munsur Ali, under the Special Powers Act at his house on Natun School Road in the town.

Hannan Shah, adviser to the BNP’s chairperson Khaleda Zia, his son Shah Rezaul Hannan and 96 others were on Sunday sued under arms and explosive acts. The case was filed with the the magistrate’s court in Gazipur.
   The Kapasia Awami League general secretary, Md Ruhul Amin, filed the case, under the arms and explosive substances acts, accusing them of attacking an Awami League rally at Kapasia on October 28, 2006 in which several people were injured.
   Magistrate Mallika Khatun on completion of hearing in the case asked the Kapasia police officer-in-charge to investigate the case and take steps in this regard.
   According to the prosecution, the leaders and activists of the Kapasia Awami League and its front organisations brought out a procession in the afternoon of October 28, 2006.
   ‘When the procession was crossing the union council, the accused led by the principal accused Hannan Shah attacked
   the procession with firearms, bombs and other weapons,’ the petition said.
   It said gunshots were fired and hand bombs were exploded during the attack in which several people were injured.
   In the petition, he said he had lodged a complaint with the Kapasia police after the incident.
   Retired brigadier general Hannan Shah told New Age that the Awami League had rather attacked his house at Kapasia on October 28.
   He said the upazila nirbahi officer and the officer-in-charge of the Kapasia police of the time were witnesses to the incidents. ‘The case is nothing but false, motivated and conspiratory,’ he said.
   Most of the other accused are local BNP leaders and activists.

Legislation for separation of the judiciary from the executive has already been completed, but the Supreme Court is yet to set a date on which the judiciary will be separated. A few of the existing magistrates have so far opted for continuing in the judiciary on deputation.
   The interim government, taking the final legislative step towards separation of the judiciary, amended the Judicial Service Pay Commission Rules 2007 last week.
   Attorney-general Fida M Kamal will submit a the copy of the amended rules to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday, when the court resumes the hearing of the contempt-of-court proceedings against 13 officials, including four top-ranking bureaucrats, for procrastination in the implementation of the 12-point directive and for distorting the court’s orders on the separation of the judiciary.
   The process of framing laws and rules for separation of the judiciary was completed by the amendment. The interim government framed four sets of rules on judicial service on January 16 and promulgated the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance by amending the CrPC on February 11.
   The rules and the amended CrPC, however, will come into effect on the date the Supreme Court sets.
   The full seven-member court of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin, will have to examine the report submitted by the government on April 16, detailing the present situation of the lower judiciary and magistracy, before fixing the date for effecting new legislation.
   The rules stipulate that the existing magistrates, who opted for the judiciary, will be absorbed in judicial service for three years so that a sufficient number of officers can be appointed to judicial service in this interim period.
   According to the report submitted by the government on April 15, only 31 of the existing magistrates have opted for being absorbed in judicial service. As many as 4,84,832 cases, as of February 28, are pending with the courts of magistrates across the country and at least 890 magistrates are required to deal with them.
   None of the metropolitan magistrates, however, has so far opted for absorption in judicial service. As many as 1,12,772 cases, as of February 28, are pending with the courts of the metropolitan magistrates and at least 52 magistrates are needed to deal with them.
   The Cabinet Division sent a new list of magistrates, who also opted to be absorbed in judicial service, to the attorney-general’s office on Saturday for submitting to the court.
   Even with the new list, the number of magistrates opting for judicial service will not exceed 100, said sources in the Cabinet Division.
   The rules, however, stipulate that the posts, which will remain vacant after absorption, can be filled with the existing magistrates or officials of the administrative service on deputation.
   The Supreme Court detailed the 12-point directive to the government on December 2, 1999 for eventual separation of the judiciary. Since then, the successive foot-dragging governments took repeated extensions of time for implementation of the directives.
   Finally the BNP-Jamaat government, at the fag end of its tenure, framed four sets of rules on judicial service. The Supreme Court, however, on January 10 ordered the government to frame fresh rules, and repealed the earlier ones because they were not framed in accordance with its directives.
   Accordingly, the present interim government framed four sets of new rules on January 16 and promulgated the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Ordinance on February 11.

The High Court on Sunday issued a rule on the government to explain within 6 weeks why legal steps would not be taken against the people involved in a hilla marriage in a Bogra village.
   Hilla marriage is an arrangement of reunification between the husband and the divorced wife if they want where the divorced wife is given in marriage to another man again to be divorced for the reunification with the first husband.
   The divisional bench of Justice Shah Abu Nayeem Mominur Rahman and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury also passed another rule on the government to explain within the stipulated time why illegal activities of ‘fatwa’ would not be stopped.
   The order came after hearing a petition filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, drawing attention to a newspaper report headlined ‘Dashtika, a village of Hilla Biya.’

The central bank has taken steps to withdraw all defaced Tk 2 and Tk 5 notes from the market and put new notes in circulation, sources in the Bangladesh Bank said.
   Banks have been instructed to accept the defaced notes along with other torn notes, said an official.
   He said the central bank has started printing 50 million pieces of Tk 2 and Tk 5 notes.
   ‘We received eight million pieces of Tk 5 notes today (Sunday) and new Tk 2 notes will be put in circulation from June,’ he added.
   The retail market has long been suffering from short supply of currency notes and coins of small denominations.
   Bangladesh Bank released 50 million pieces of Tk 5 notes from October and Tk 2 notes from January.
   It recently signed an agreement with a Malaysian company to procure 300 million pieces of Tk 5 coins. The shipment is expected to arrive in August.
   On March 29, currency circulation position was 498 million pieces of Tk 5 coin, 213 million Tk 5 note, 662 million Tk 10 note, 152 million Tk 20 note, 170 million Tk 50 note, 425 million Tk 100 note and 429 million Tk 500 note.
   Meanwhile, the central bank has decided to auction 170 kg of gold ornaments, which were seized by various government agencies and deposited with the central bank vault since 1993, officials said.

The police are looking for Jamil, the main organiser of the pleasure cruise, to find out the facts that led to the tragic death of 10 persons.
   ‘The police are looking for Jamil, who was the main organiser of the river cruise, and we are hoping to get some vital information after apprehending him,’ said Harun Chowdhury, joint secretary of the home ministry and head of the four-member committee formed to probe the disastrous incident.
   The committee on Sunday interrogated about 15 persons including Poppy, a singer who was hired to sing for the passengers, Ansars of the launch and concerned BIWTA officials.
   The government on Saturday formed the four-member probe committee after the clash that resulted in the drowning of 10 persons in the Buriganga River. The committee is supposed to submit its report within 48 hours.
   The Dhaka district administration, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and Ansars have also formed three more probe committees after the incident, and their inquiries are going on.
   The launch, MV New Sun-4, with over 150 people from Dholaikhal set out on a pleasure cruise on the Meghna River at 11:30am Friday.
   The clash broke out between two groups of allegedly drunk youths and the on-duty Ansars aboard a ferry in the Meghna River when they were on their way to Sadarghat on Friday night. All the 10 persons drowned after jumping into the river in panic when the youths began brawling on the deck of MV New Sun-4.
   ‘The government is gravely serious about the issue and we have started our inquiry and will try to complete it within 48 hours,’ said Harun.
   Replying to a question on the involvement of the Ansars in the incident, he said they are looking into it.
   The three members of the Ansar probe committee are Mohammad Javed Hossain, director of Ansar and Village Defence Police, Major Asadul Haque, director Fire Service and Civil Defence, and Toufique Uddin Ahmed, additional DIG of the Dhaka range.
   Poppy told the probe committee that she was hired for Tk 3,000 to sing and got the offer from Pankaj, her maternal uncle.
   ‘I thought it was a family picnic tour but after I went there I realised that it was quite another kind of affair,’ she said. ‘I have been singing for the last 14 years and go to different functions when I am hired.’
   She said when the incident began she was singing on the second deck of the launch, and she did not know what was happening on the lower deck.
   An official of the BIWTA said the four-member probe committee, headed by BIWTA director (port and traffic department), has started its inquiry and will submit the report to the chairman on Monday.
   Although every launch should start from only certain specified places, the launch did not begin its journey from any terminal of the BIWTA but set out from Farashganj.
   The committee also found out that the master of the launch did not inform the BIWTA and was also not under the mobile network.
   ‘If the master had informed the BIWTA of the problem that occurred in the middle of the journey, we would have been able to take the necessary steps to prevent the clash and the subsequent panic,’ said the official.
   The committee will make some recommendations that will prevent, or reduce the number of, similar incidents.
   The recommendations are: every launch owner has to take clearance from the authority concerned before going on such a trip; the owners also have to inform the authority of the destination and of the passengers to get clearance; and the launch has to be under the mobile network of the BIWTA.

The interim government on Saturday approved the signing of the UN-sponsored Trans-Asian Railway Network agreement that will connect 32 countries throughout Europe and Asia to boost trade and tourism in the region.
   The government needs to spend at least $300 million to construct a new railway line from Dohazari in Chittagong to Gundum on the Myanmar border for linking the country with Myanmar through the Trans-Asian Railway Network.
   ‘We need to invest at least $300 million for laying the 145-km-long railway track to bridge the gaps between Dohazari and Gundum,’ said Belayet Hossain, director-general of the Bangladesh Railways on Sunday.
   Railway officials said the construction of the new railway track would take at least five years to complete.
   The deadline for signing the inter-governmental agreement on the 81,000 km railway network, dubbed the ‘Iron Silk Road’, is December 2008.
   Initiated by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in 1960, 18 countries have already signed the agreement which was opened for signing at the UNESCAP ministerial conference on transport in Busan, South Korea, on November 10 last year.
   According to ESCAP, Bangladesh could opt for any of the three routes proposed in the Trans-Asian Railway Network.
   Route 1 is Gede, West Bengal in India–Darsana–Ishwardi–Jamuna Bridge–Joydevpur–Tongi–Akhaura–Chittagong–Dohazari–Gundum in Myanmar. The link will have two sub-routes —Tongi–Dhaka and Akhaura–Kulaura-Shahbazpur, Mahisasan in India.
   Route 2 runs from Singabad, West Bengal in India to Rohanpur–Rajshahi–Abdulpur to Ishwardi and then follows the rest of the route 1 and its sub-routes.
   Route 3 will enter Bangladesh through Radhikapur, West Bengal in India and run from Birol-Dinajpur–Parbatipur–Abdulpur to Ishwardi and then follow the rest of the route 1 and its sub-routes.
   Railways officials said though the government has agreed to sign the inter-governmental agreement, the country will have to wait for at least 10 years to enjoy the benefits of the network because of the insufficient infrastructure in its favoured route, which will go through Myanmar to be connected with Southeast Asian countries including China.
   Transport experts and railway officials said that even if Bangladesh constructs the new railway tracks to the Myanmar border, it might not be possible for it to be connected with other South-East Asian countries unless the military rulers of Myanmar build 200 kilometres of railway tracks from Gundum to its nearest railway link.
   According to sources, Myanmar is not interested in this route as it is not Myanmar’s favoured route as it is interested in a rail link with India under the Trans-Asian Railway Network project.
   India which approved the TARN agreement in March and plans to sign the agreement soon, has also planned a railway link with Myanmar, which involves constructing the Jiribam-Imphal-Moreh line in the eastern Indian state of Manipur and the Tamu-Kalay-Segyi line in Myanmar, as well as rehabilitating Myanmar’s existing Segyi-Chaungu-Myohaung line.
   India has already constructed 98 kilometres of railway track from Jiribam to Imphal under the project.
   Experts, however, suggest that Bangladesh should consider laying a track through the Akhaura-Karimganj border with Mahisasan (India) to Myanmar as it will not have to construct any new tracks because a railway line already exists there.
   ‘I think the government should avail itself of the opportunity it has to connect Bangladesh with the TARN instead of waiting for Myanmar’s response,’ said M Rahmatullah, a transport expert of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, an independent research organisation.
   He said the government should also initiate a discussion with Myanmar as soon as possible to persuade the latter to adopt the route favoured by Bangladesh
   ‘It will be good for us if the railway link passes through Myanmar since it will enable Bangladesh to connect itself with Thailand and China without touching India,’ said Rahmatullah.

Business leaders expressed cautious enthusiasm about Indian prime minister’s recent duty-free market access offer without reciprocity, saying it will hardly benefit Bangladesh, given New Delhi’s long sensitive list and non-tariff and para-tariff barriers.
   India should exclude Bangladesh’s major tradable items like garments, leather and ceramic goods from the sensitive list to make its zero-duty market access offer really meaningful for Bangladesh and other LDCs in the region, they said at a meeting in Dhaka Sunday.
   They also cautioned that the duty-free offer under the multilateral framework should not be mingled with New Delhi’s offer to import eight million pieces of apparel products without tariff.
   Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised the meeting on ‘implementation of the offer made by the Indian government at SAARC Summit for duty-free market access of products from the SAARC LDCs.’
   Trade analyst Mustafizur Rahman emphasised the importance of excluding apparel and other potential items from India’s sensitive list in any way, saying, ‘We should not fall into the trap (of exporting eight million pieces apparel products).’
   MCCI president Latifur Rahman said mere duty-free access could not ensure free flow of goods into Indian market unless non-tariff and para-tariff barriers were removed.
   He also suggested that Dhaka should urge upon Delhi to withdraw all kinds of trade barriers as well as special duties and levies and further expressed fear that technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures would continue to remain major hindrances.
   ‘The trade and industry is keen to see expert level discussions for scheduled implementation of the Indian government’s decision for duty-free market access,’ the business leader said and added that the sub-group constituted to address the issue of non-tariff barriers should meet soon and on regular basis to resolve all pending issues.
   Foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, who was the chief guest there, called upon the country’s business community to get involved in the process of preparing a list of Bangladesh’s export interests, proposing exclusion of such items from sensitive list Delhi prepared under the framework of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
   ‘Our years of experience demonstrates that mere granting duty-free access to products not covered by SAFTA sensitive list would not bring substantial benefit to the LDCs (least developed country) like Bangladesh,’ he told the business audience.
   The adviser, however, mentioned that following the outcomes of the recently concluded 14th SAARC summit, a group of experts had been constituted with the mandate to articulate a roadmap to ultimate economic integration.
   ‘The regional economic cooperation is poised for a deeper integration. It truly demonstrates a greater interest and a keen sense of engagement among regional states,’ he maintained and praised India for undertaking commitment to advance schedule of tariff reduction and announcing the ‘political decision’ to give duty-free access to least developed SAARC members.
   Latifur Rahman stressed the need for finalisation of an agreement on investment promotion and protectionism, and regretted that India did not allow foreign direct investment from only two countries — Pakistan and Bangladesh.
   When asked about this, the foreign affairs adviser said Bangladesh had inherited this, as historic accident, from the Pakistan era.
   Mahbubur Rahman, president of the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh, questioned why global players showed more interests in SAARC recently. Latifur Rahman said such interests might have been generated by the economic growth in the region.

Professor Mohammad Yunus is preparing to appear at a US senate hearing to plead for the duty-free access for apparels from Bangladesh and other LDCs to American market.
   Sources closed to the Nobel laureate said he has decided to attend the May 16 hearing following an invitation from the US Senate’s finance committee and a request from Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
   The Grameen Bank founder would make a 10-minute presentation at the hearing to be attended by more than 20 US senators, experts and industry stakeholders.
   Yunus started studying position of Bangladesh’s apparel industry and possible impacts of zero-duty access for Bangladesh and other LDCs.
   The industry stakeholders assured him that duty-free market access for Bangladesh and some other LDCs would not affect the business of poor African and Caribbean suppliers in American market.
   The Nobel Peace Prize winner also wanted to know about steps taken by local industry owners and authorities to ensure workers’ rights and workplace safety.
   BKMEA, asked by Yunus, was preparing an industry position paper describing employments, production capacity of the country’s apparel industry and potential markets abroad.
   On April 26, BKMEA had urged Yunus to fly to Washington and use his good office to persuade the US Senate Committee into approving duty-free market access for products from LDCs including Bangladesh.
   In line with its pledge at WTO forums to give trade benefits to poor economies, the US administration a couple of months back started gathering comments from the public and stakeholders on the issue and as part of the process, US Senate’s finance committee is set to hear the issue.
   High tariff reduces the real incomes of Bangladeshi exporters from their sales in USA, apparel industry people say.
   In 2006, USA, the single largest market for ‘made in Bangladesh’ apparels, imported $2.91 billion worth of apparels, which were subject to tariff rates up to 17 per cent.

The interim government has not yet responded to the Election Commission’s formal request made one month ago for lifting the ban on indoor politics.
   Chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda on April 4 called on law adviser Mainul Hosein and urged the interim government to withdraw the ban on indoor politics to facilitate the planned dialogues with political parties over electoral reforms.
   The commission has already finalised the draft of its reform agenda and explained it to the media and a selected group of eminent citizens.
   Election commissioner Sakhawat Hussain on April 23 hoped that the ban might be lifted by May 8.
   The interim government, however, neither made any formal response to the EC’s call, nor it gave any indication of lifting the ban till Sunday noon.
   ‘The interim government is yet to respond,’ election commissioner Sohul Hussain told a group of reporters on Sunday.
   He, however, believed that the interim government would lift the ban on indoor politics soon so that the EC could hold dialogues with political parties and meet its expected deadline of completing the electoral reforms by July.
   Sohul said, ‘We would be waiting (for a positive response). But we firmly believe that we will be able to complete the electoral reforms by July after holding dialogues with parties.’
   The government slapped a ban on outdoor political activities on January 11 after promulgation of the state of emergency, but it imposed a complete ban on political activities on March 8.
   The EC finalised the amendments to the Representation of People Order 1972 and the electoral code of conduct, and held a dialogue with eminent citizens of the country on April 26.
   A delegation of the Bangladesh Economics Association led by its president Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad called on the chief election commissioner and held a discussion on electoral reform proposals on Sunday.
   In the meeting, they discussed whether ceiling of election expenditure could be fixed on the basis of number of voters.
   Emerging from the meeting, Qazi Kholiquzzaman said that the EC sought cooperation from the economists’ association to prepare a proposal about the ceiling, which is now Tk 5 lakh for an individual candidate.

Guerrillas killed at least 37 people in car bombings in Baghdad Sunday, shattering a short-lived lull in sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital as 59 people died in a spate of attacks.
   One blast alone killed 33 people and wounded 63 as shrapnel scythed through a commercial street in the southwest Bayaa neighbourhood, a mainly Shia area lying on one of the city’s many dangerous sectarian faultlines.
   At the same time, further north in the Sunni city of Samarra, guerrillas assaulted a police station with a car bomb and automatic fire, killing 12 officers and triggering a bloody street battle with US forces.
   Both attacks bore the hallmarks of Sunni guerrilla factions, in particular al-Qaeda’s Iraqi branch, which has reacted to a US-Iraq security crackdown by unleashing a spate of deadly suicide bombings.
   A 10-week-old security plan in Baghdad has substantially reduced murders by sectarian death squads, US military spokesmen said, but has been unable to stem the wave of deadly car bombs.
   A second car bomb exploded near another bus stop a short distance from the public works ministry in west Baghdad, killing at least four people, security sources said.
   In Samarra, it was a larger van bomb that rammed the gates of a police station and exploded, killing local police chief colonel Jalil al-Dulaimi and at least 11 of his men.
   US soldiers at a nearby base responded to the attack, killing at least two insurgents, and two American soldiers sustained minor wounds in an ensuing firefight, an AFP correspondent in the camp reported.
   Around a dozen seriously wounded Iraqi policemen were evacuated by helicopter to a US hospital.
   The Samarra attack was the third in four days against police bases housing Sunni officers recruited by the government to fight the Sunni-led insurgency after several Iraqi tribes switched their allegiance to Baghdad.
   Al-Qaeda has responded with deadly fury to the betrayal of its cause, but both US commanders and prime minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Shia-led government believe it represents a turning point in the war.
   In the capital, US and Iraqi special forces raided a building in the Shia radical militia bastion of Sadr City and called in air strikes.
   American commanders said the raid was against an Iranian-backed Shia armed cell involved in assembling armour-piercing explosives of the sort that have caused serious casualties to US forces, and estimated that between eight and 10 militants were killed.
   The US military also reported three more of its troops had been killed in insurgent attacks, with two marines dead in Anbar province on Saturday and one soldier killed in west Baghdad on Friday.

The Bangladesh secretariat has been brought under a centralised security system to intensify vigilance at the centre of administration.
   The newly constructed visitors’ building at the main gate was opened on Sunday to all officials, employees and visitors. People walking into the secretariat need to go through archways set up in the building.
   The central monitor having connections to 190 closed-circuit television cameras fixed at various points inside the secretariat has been set up at the visitors’ building. A complaint room of the Cabinet Division has been housed in the building.
   ‘The home ministry has informed us that the entry point has been changed. We are told to deploy forces at the new building as all entering the secretariat on foot will need to come under the central security system,’ said a police official, responsible for the security of the secretariat.
   Another police officer on duty at the gate said visitors now would enter the secretariat in a more disciplined way and no one will need to wait outside, disrupting the traffic.
   The immediate-past BNP-led government towards the end of its tenure initiated the move to intensify the security system at the secretariat.
   The establishment secretary like some others have asked the home ministry for the deployment of forces withdrawn earlier, said a source.

A cyclone is likely to take place in the Bay of Bengal towards the end of May, the Met Office said on Sunday.
   Met officials also told New Age that a mild to heavy storm might take place over the northern and central areas of the country in four to six days.
   ‘The other parts of the country may witness a mild storm with thunder shower in three to four days,’ an official said.
   The northern and central areas may also witness two to three hot spells with temperature ranging between 38 degrees to 42 degree Celsius. Other places may experience two to three hot spells with temperature ranging between 26 degrees and 40 degree Celsius.
   The north-eastern and south-eastern areas may experience sudden floods in the second half of May.
   The Met Office said rainfall in April was usual in the Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna divisions. Rainfall was 39.2 per cent more than usual in the Sylhet division in April. The Rajshahi and Barisal divisions witnessed rainfall less than usual in April.
   The country witnessed 9.5 per cent less rainfall than usual in April.

The third anniversary of death of Ahsanullah Master, who was lawmaker for the Gazipur 2 constituency, will be observed today.
   Ahsanullah’s family and his fellows in the party organised different programmes on the occasion.
   The programmes will begin at 9.00am with a prayer session and recitation from the Qur’an at the grave of Ahsanullah in his village home at Haidarabad in the district headquarters.
   Prayer sessions will be held after the zuhr and asr prayers in mosques at Tongi. Prayer sessions will also be held on the Tongi Noagaon MA Majid High School premises
   Ahsanullah was shot dead on May 7, 2004 at a meeting of the Awami Swechchhasebak League at the school, near his house. A schoolboy was also killed. And some others were hurt in the incident.
   Ahsanullah’s younger brother Moitur Rahman Moti filed as case with the Tongi Police the next day. After investigation, the police submitted charge sheet against 30, including Nurul Islam Sarker, a central Juba Dal leader.
   The court on April 16, 2005 convicted 22 to death and sentenced six to live imprisonment. The court acquitted two of the accused.
   Eleven of the 22 convicted to death and one sentenced to imprisonment are still in hiding.

Former Dhaka University geography and environment professor Nazrul Islam, also an urban planning expert, was made chairman of the University Grants Commission on Sunday.
   Nazrul Islam Sunday night told New Age, ‘The UGC secretary and education ministry officials informed me of the matter this evening.’ He will assume office today.
   The commission is regulator of all public and private universities. There are now 27 public and 51 private universities.
   The post fell vacant on April 15 after M Asaduzzaman had served out his four year tenure.

The high-powered monitoring cell of the home ministry on Sunday decided to include the killings of Jhalakati public prosecutor Haider Ali, Carmichael College student Harisul Islam and Pallabi school student Afrin Islam on its list of sensational murder cases.
   The decision has been made at a meeting of the monitoring cell with the home secretary, Abdul Karim, in the chair.
   Sources attending the meeting said the secretary expressed his dissatisfaction at the progress of investigations of the sensational cases.
   ‘We have reviewed the progress in the sensational cases discussed at the earlier meetings. Still seven cases out of the 12 are under investigation, four to be disposed of soon while one has been disposed of,’ Abdul Karim told a news briefing after the meeting at the secretariat.
   He said the progress in the investigation of the seven cases was not satisfactory.
   Asked about the process in the investigation of the August 21 attack on an Awami League rally, the secretary said the investigation was going on.
   The monitoring cell which was formed for speedy disposal of sensational cases discussed 10 such cases that include the killing of former National University vice-chancellor Aftab Ahmed, Rajshahi University teacher Mohammad Yunus and the Planning Commission’s senior assistant secretary Ibrahim Kamal.

A garment worker was killed after the police allegedly chased brokers near the passport office at Agargaon in Dhaka on Sunday.
   The deceased was Lebu Miah, 45, a supervisor of the MSH Garments at Mahakhali.
   Witnesses said the police chased a group of brokers when they tried to jump the queue of passport seekers at about 2:00pm.
   Hit with a piece of brick, Lebu fell on the road as the police began chase, they said. He was taken to a physician near by who declared him dead.
   Lebu, a resident of Mirzapur in Tangail, went to the passport office for renewal.
   The deputy commissioner of Tejgaon division, Mahbubur Rahman, said Lebu might have died from heatstroke.