Main Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

At least 652 people were killed till Friday evening as cyclone Sidr roared inland along the southern coasts Thursday afternoon packing a speed of 240kmph at landfall, damaging standing crops on vast expanses and blowing off innumerable houses along the track.
   The figure of death from the cyclone could be rising. A government spokesman, however, put the casualty at 233. The official figure would rise as the government report included no casualty from severely-hit Barguna, Jhalakati and Pirojpur.
   The national power grid tripped at about 8:00am, leaving the country to go without electricity. Power could not be supplied to most areas till 10:00pm Friday. The power authorities said it would take two days for them to fully restore power supply.
   Telecommunications were also disrupted and mobile networks hampered in the affected southern districts as mobile base stations ran out of power, even from back-up batteries.
   The extent of damage from the first storm of the season could not be established as reports of losses from remote areas in the vulnerable 15 coastal districts kept pouring in.
   Officials claimed Barguna, Jhalakati and Pirojpur remained totally shut from other areas of the country and information regarding losses could not be gathered.
   The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, ordered a full rescue operation when he visited the affected areas on Friday.
   Tidal surges whipped up by the cyclone inundated vast low coastal areas. Many offshore islands, including Charfasson and Dublarchar, remained cut-off from the mainland as the sea remained turbulent. The fate of the people living on the islands could not be known.
   Describing the severity of the cyclone, the 52-year-old Kuddus Miah of Pirojpur said he had not seen such a strong storm in his life.
   ‘I shuddered at the roaring sound of the storm.
   ‘The sky looked reddish when the storm passed over at night,’ said the 36-year-old Fasiul Islam Bachchu. He said the intensity of the storm felt severe between 9:30pm and midnight past Thursday.
   Waterway transports were still to run along most river routes in the south. Some vessels started running on safe, domestic routes later in the day.
   Flight operations at Zia International Airport in Dhaka and Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport, suspended on Thursday and Wednesday, resumed on Friday, officials said.
   Railway communications were disrupted in some places as trees uprooted by the cyclone blocked the railways. Communications could be restored in a few hours, officials said.
   Reports pouring in from different places, quoting officials of the local control rooms and residents, said 171 died in Patuakhali, 133 in Bagerhat, 105 in Barguna district, 79 in Barisal, 27 in Jhalakati, 30 in Pirojpur, 25 in Gopalganj, 20 in Faridpur, 18 in Madaripur, 13 in Khulna, 13 in Bhola, 6 in Faridpur, 5 in Narayanganj, 3 in Munshiganj, 2 in Satkhira, and 1 each in Noakhali and Habiganj. Most of the victims died as houses caved in on them.
   Reports from the district headquarters and Betagi in Barguna said at least 26 bodies were floating in the Bishkhali, Badnikhali and Charkhali rivers.
   Nearly 80 per cent of the thatched houses in Barguna and Pirojpur were damaged.
   Hoardings and signs in many towns and cities, including Dhaka, were blown off during the storm.
   No local newspapers could be published in the Khulna and Barisal divisions on Friday as power had gone off.
   The force of river water during the storm caused breaches in three embankments at Dacope and two at Koira in Khulna, which inundated a number of villages, residents said.
   Primary relief operations began in some places, officials said, adding Tk 9.5 crore has been initially allocated from the chief adviser’s relief fund and 3,000 tonnes of food grains from the food and disaster management ministry.
   Four Air Force helicopters on Friday carried 3,000 packets of relief goods, including dry foods, for the affected people at Dublarchar, Hiron Point, Kuakata and Patharghata.
   The World Food Programme allocated 98 tonnes of food, mainly high-energy biscuits, for 4,00,000 cyclone-hit people, initially for three days.
   Some 732 medical teams were working in the affected areas, the government said.
   Officials claimed 15 lakh people had been evacuated to 2,168 cyclone shelters before Sidr struck the Bangladesh coast. Some 42,000 volunteers were employed in the evacuation process.
   They said the government had taken an initiative to evacuate more than 31 lakh people vulnerable to the cyclone after the Met Office on Wednesday flagged great danger signal 10 for Mongla port and signal 9 for ports at Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar. Great danger signal 4 was flagged for river ports.
   The navy and coastguards were sent to remote areas for rescue and relief operations. Army men and the law enforcement agencies were also employed in such operations.
   The Met Office on Friday revised the signal for maritime ports downwards to local cautionary signal 3 and for river ports to warning signal 2.
   Sidr weakened into a tropical storm as it passed over the country along Dhaka and Sylhet after landfall. It was centred over the Assam and Tripura regions in India Friday afternoon as a tropical depression, the Met Office said on Friday.
   Although Sidr dissipated over land into Assam, the Met Office forecast moderate to heavy rainfall over the Sylhet region along with gusty winds.

Very severe cyclone Sidr started pounding the southern coasts after making landfall officially at 5:00pm Thursday. It moved in north-northeasterly direction and gradually weakened. It passed over Dhaka early Friday as a tropical storm and Sylhet in the morning. It was centred over Assam dissipated into a clear tropical depression Friday afternoon, the Dhaka Met Office said.
   The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre reckoned the highest sustained winds about Sidr at 240kmph, a strong Category 4 hurricane at the time of landfall.
   The storm advanced through the mainland at a speed of about 53kmph, the Met Office said on Friday.
   An area of disturbed weather developed near the Andaman Islands on November 9 and gradually became organised as it moved to the south of the islands. It was designated as depression on November 11 and was later upgraded to tropical cyclone.
   As it strengthened and moved north-westwards, it was upgraded to cyclonic storm Sidr early November 12. It was upgraded to a very severe cyclonic storm the next day. It strengthened into a Category 4 cyclone on November 14.
   In 1970, a Category 3 tropical cyclone, known as ‘Bhola cyclone,’ one of the deadliest of tropical cyclone ever recorded, struck Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) on November 12, causing up to 5,00,000 deaths officially.
   The cyclone formed over the central Bay of Bengal on November 8 and moved north, reaching its peak with winds of 185kmph on November 12.
   The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone, also unofficially known as Cyclone Gorky, struck Bangladesh at night of April 29, 1991, with winds of around 250kmph, killing at least 1,38,000 people and leaving as many as 10 million homeless.
   The storm, developed as a depression on April 22 in the Bay of Bengal, continued north-eastwards, strengthening into a cyclonic storm on April 27. The system increased its speed a Category 5 hurricane and made landfall late April 29 a short distance south of Chittagong, as Category 4 cyclone.

A huge number of trees uprooted by cyclone Sidr blocked the Dhaka–Barisal Highway and several other tertiary roads in the country’s south that faced the initial impact after the cyclone made landfall Thursday afternoon.
   Most houses in many areas of Barguna and Barisal were damaged or their roofs blown with the wind that packed the speed of 240kmph at landfall.
   People living outside the embankment in the coastal areas were the worst sufferers, local administrations said. Standing crops on a vast expanse lay lying on the ground.
   The paddy fields were pounded to the ground by the winds and were inundated by rain water till Friday. Vegetables in many areas were also damaged, the administrations said.
   The administration said it would need more than two days to clear the highway by removing the trees.
   All sorts of communications with coastal islands remained severed as the transmissions lines could not be restored.
   ‘As back-up rechargeable batteries last for six to eight hours, many base transceiver stations stopped working as power supply did not resume,’ said Sayed Yamin Bakht, general manager (information) of Grameenphone.
   The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, flew to many devastated areas, including Kuakata and Kalapara in Patuakhali and Patharghata in Barguna where local officials said 80 per cent of thatched houses were completely damaged.
   A helicopter carrying an advance party and newsmen landed at Patharghata and started distributing relief materials, but all were looted in no time, witnesses said.

The major political parties, including the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on Friday asked their leaders, activists and supporters to stand by the people in storm-hit areas.
   They expressed deep shock at the loss of lives and property caused by the severe cyclonic storm Sidr that swept over the country Thursday midnight, killing at least 650 people and injuring several thousands.
   The parties also conveyed sympathy to the affected families and the injured.
   The acting AL president, Zillur Rahman, and the acting general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, called on the government to provide the storm victims with adequate relief.
   In a joint statement, they also urged the leaders, activists and supporters of the party and its front organisations to stand by the people in distress.
   The BNP secretary general, Khondoker Delwar Hossain, also requested the government to arrange proper treatment for the injured and provide adequate relief for them.
   Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, acting office secretary of the BNP loyal to party chairperson Khaleda Zia, conveyed Delwar’s message to reporters.
   Delwar called upon the party leaders and activists to stand beside the cyclone-affected people and extend a helping hand to mitigate their sufferings.
   Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, acting secretary general of the Saifur Rahman-led faction of BNP, also asked the party leaders and activists to stand by the disaster-hit people.
   ‘We will try to provide relief to the affected people from our personal resources and the party fund,’ he told newsmen.
   Hafiz demanded of the government to provide relief and interest- free loans for the cyclone-affected people.
   The ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami, called upon the party leaders and activists as well as the affluent and social welfare organisations to come forward in aid of the affected people.
   In a statement, he urged the government to allow all to lend support to the distressed humanity with permission of the local administration.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh president, Monzurul Ahsan Khan, and general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, in a statement asked the government to help the affected families rebuild damaged houses and purchase domestic animals.
   The Bangladesh Juba Union, Bangladesh Juba Moitree, and Jatiya Krishak Samity also called on the government to provide adequate relief to the cyclone-hit people.

Almost all of Bangladesh went without electricity as the power authorities till Friday evening failed to put in full operation the national grid and all the 26 power plants that had tripped in the morning after cyclone Sidr.
   The authorities could not confirm till evening when the full power supply could be restored. They said it might take two days for them to restore full power supply. It might take more than a week for them to restore power supply to southern districts such as Pirojpur and Bagerhat.
   Nine small power units, out of about 50 in operation, could be run to produce 550MW of power by the afternoon, restoring parts of the national grid. But the grid tripped again in the evening, resulting in total darkness in almost the entire country.
   Some parts of the national grid were restored. Around 580MW of power was being generated at the plants at Kaptai, Ashuganj, Mymensingh, Khulna and Bheramara till 9:00pm and others big units at Ashuganj and Haripur were almost readied to start generation, said power officials at 9:30pm Thursday.
   As many distribution lines, electric poles and transformers were damaged in the gusty winds and trees uprooted by the winds fell on the lines, most city areas and southern and central districts plunged into darkness Thursday night, resulting in low demand for electricity which caused the national grid to trip, power officials said.
   ‘This is the worst disaster the power sector has ever faced. There were failures of the national grid for two to three times before which could addressed in an hour. But this time, we do not know when the power generation could be re-started,’ said a Power Development Board official.
   Some areas of the Chittagong and Comilla regions and the city, including Bangabhaban and some other key-point installations were provided with power from the in-operation plants.
   The power secretary, M Fouzul Kabir Khan, who visited the Barapukuria power plant in Dinajpur on Friday and returned in the evening, told New Age that they hoped that the power situation would improve by midnight.
   Power officials could not confirm in the evening when the full generation of around 3,500MW could be reached.
   ‘We hope to increase power generation to 550MW in two to three hours. The total generation could be increased to 2,200MW in six to eight hours by putting some more units in operation,’ said the acting Power Development Board chairman, Shawkat Ali, briefing reporters at DESA Bhaban at 6:30pm in the light switched on generator supply while the entire building remained in darkness.
   He, however, could not give an assurance if the generation of power could be increased to 2,200MW in six to eight hours after they would increase the generation to 550MW.
   He said the national grid first tripped at about 7:59am Friday because of low consumption of power from the national grid. All the plants tripped subsequently.
   He said some power could be supplied to the cantonment, Dhanmondi, Kajla, Siddhirganj and Narinda.
   Shawkat said the national grid again tripped in the evening owing to a rapid increase in power consumption.
   Shawkat and ABM Harunur Rashid, managing director of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, were asked whether they shouldered the responsibility of the failure of the national grid twice for alleged lack of coordination between the board and the company, they said the grid failed because of technical faults.
   Shawkat claimed they had the preparations to tackle the cyclone. ‘All our offices across the country, especially in the coastal districts, were asked to remain on alert during the cyclone.’
   He said they had shut down many power units, and transmission and distribution lines as a number of power units tripped and distribution lines were damaged because of cyclone.
   ‘In the morning, the total power demand dropped down to only around 440MW which usually remains at around 3,000MW on other days. The national grid tripped as load of some power units such as Ghorashal and Siddhirganj was low while the voltage was high, causing the units to trip,’ he said.
   When asked why they had not shut down the power units as they knew the power demand was low, Harun said, ‘The cyclone had passed over most of the districts by night. By the morning, some distribution lines were restored. We thought the demand would increase in morning as it happens every day. That is why we did not shut the units. Besides it takes hours to re-start a steam turbine.’
   Harun said they were not at faults for the second-time tripping. ‘We were unlucky as some feeder lines that take low frequency were damaged during the cyclone. As a result, when the power consumption increased at a rapid rate in the evening, the grid tripped.’
   When asked why they had taken electricity at a rapid rate even though they knew of the limitations of the system, the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority chairman, Brigadier General Nazrul Hasan, claimed they had taken the electricity in consultation with the power grid company.
   When a number of reporters alleged that no high officials were found at a number of DESA zonal offices after the power failure, Nazrul claimed that he himself monitored and found either the executive engineers or superintendent engineers present at the offices.
   Many city residents called New Age to say that no one in the power offices received their phone calls.
   The Rural Electrification Board chairman, Habib Ullah Majumder, said the electricity distribution system in 30, out of the 70, Palli Bidyut Samitis had been severely damaged.
   He also said 24 electricity towers crossing rivers had also been damaged during the storm. ‘In many places such as Pirojpur and Bagerhat, it will take a week for them to fully restore power supply.’
   The power adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, had been admitted to a city hospital with complaints of back pain for a few days.

As power outages continued throughout the country since early Friday including Dhaka city in the wake of the cyclone Sidr, there were huge demands for candles and kerosene with the shopkeepers cashing in on the sudden crisis of the two commodities.
   A wave of panic buying of candles and kerosene broke out after the news of the tripping of the national power grid spread in the morning. The households which use charger lights during load shedding, were also forced to use candles. Most of the shops ran out of their stocks of the two commodities by Friday afternoon.
   ‘My stock of candles ran out by afternoon,’ said Faruk Hossain, a shopkeeper at Mirpur-12.
   ‘I went to buy candles from the wholesale market but could not collect a single candle’, said Amit, another shopkeeper in the area.
   Akhter, a grocer, said he went to the factory from where he bought candles regularly but did not find any.
   The stocks of kerosene at shops also ran out by afternoon due to surge in its demand on the day.
   ‘I visited every shop in the locality looking for candles but did not find any,’ said Amjad, a resident of Sutrapur in Old Town of Dhaka, in the afternoon.
   Same was the story of Anwara Begum, a resident of Taltala, who went to every shop in the area but failed to buy a single candle or kerosene to light her home at night.

Mobile networks across the country had been disrupted since early Friday as a large number of base stations of the six operators went down when power supply system broke down.
   Base transceiver stations are devices to facilitate wireless communications between user mobile handsets and the network.
   Power supply were suspended in most parts of the country, beginning at midnight past Thursday as the grid tripped, causing suspension of power generation in all power plants.
   Mobile operator officials said the networks suffered as the back-up batteries and generators, stationed at the base station sites to tackle the power failure, are capable of providing power for six to eight hours.
   The refuelling of generators was also hampered as road communications were snapped in many areas, especially in southern districts, as trees fell down on the roads in the cyclone.
   ‘As backup batteries could provide power for six to eight hours, many base stations stopped functioning as the power supply did not resume,’ said Grameenphone spokesman Syed Yamin Bakht, who did not specify how many base stations of the operator were affected.
   A source in Grameenphone said around 1,500 base stations of the operator had been affected because of the suspension of power supply.
   The state-owned landline operator Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board also reported a complete shutdown of its network in 28 upzilas in the southern Barisal, Jhalakati, Pirojpur, Patuakhali, Barguna, Madaripur and Shariatpur.
   The board officials said most telephone exchanges, including the international trunk exchanges, were run on generators, which too might collapse if the power situation would not improve.
   Another mobile operator, Banglalink, said it had 800 of its base stations down initially; but 500 of them could be made operational later.
   Sources in other mobile operators also reported partial shutdown of a number of their base stations.
   Mobile subscribers also found it difficult to recharge the battery of their handsets for lack of power supply. Electronic recharge of mobile balance could not be possible for the same reason.

Life remained paralysed in Dhaka city as elsewhere in the country since early Friday as the national power grid tripped after cyclone Sidr swept across Bangladesh causing electricity blackout and disruptions in water supply and other utilities.
   Residents of most of the cities and towns, including capital Dhaka, passed the day without electricity. Power outages also caused disruption of water supply in many areas. Power supply disruptions were so widespread that some officials called the situation unprecedented.
   Patients in different hospitals and clinics suffered immensely as operation theatres and other emergency equipment at many hospitals did not function properly due to power outages which also affected normal health care services.
   Many generators used in emergency purposes at different offices, institutions and households fatigued due to hours of operation.
   Many telephone lines went dead disrupting communication and mobile networks were affected badly following the cyclone.
   Long queues were seen at filling stations in different areas of the country as the production of CNG declined due to power blackout.
   ‘I have been looking for CNG for the last five hours but failed to manage it,’ said Nasir Uddin, driver of a CNG-run three-wheeler at Shyampur in the capital in the afternoon.
   ‘There is no power, no water supply… I am going out to buy a few bottles of mineral water to drink,’ said Asma Khatun a resident of Sutrapur.
   ‘I have managed to collect some drinking water from the supply line but could not do other household chores due to water supply disruption since morning, said Jyotsna, a resident of Gendaria.
   Ahmed of Green Road said he had to walk up stairs to reach his flat on the 10th floor of an apartment as the emergency generator for the lift went out of order in the morning. Deputy director of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Kazi Enamul Kabir said they had to call four water lorries from WASA as supply was disrupted.
   ‘Emergency units, including operation theatre, ICU and CCU of the hospital, ran by using two powerful generators and Dhaka Electric Supply Authority supplied electricity to the hospital in the afternoon’, he said.
   An official of the Dhaka WASA said the pumps of WASA and treatment plants failed to supply water as per their capacity due to power blackout. Almost half of the pumps remained inoperative for some time due to power outages in the city.
   ‘We have 264 generators for 471 pumps in Dhaka of which around 240 generators are operating,’ said the official adding, ‘The generators of WASA are stand-by generators which are rested for about an hour after every two hours of operation.
   ‘If we get electricity now, it will take six more hours before the pumps start functioning,’ said the official at 2:00 pm. ‘We hope to resume normal supply of water in the next 24 hours,’ he said.

Farmers in northern districts are exposed to double whammy because of supply shortage and spiralling prices of fertilisers, which may lead to a huge shortfall in production of winter crops and vegetables.
   The government claims there was no fertiliser crisis and steps had been taken to import urea to meet the gap between the demand and supply.
   But the reality tells a different story. Fertilisers, particularly the most consumed urea, have become scarce in many parts of the northern region, where growers are making desperate attempts to get those in time.
   Supply of fertiliser was found far less than the actual demand in many areas while prices kept soaring abnormally.
   Farmers pointed the finger at dealers for the supply problem and blamed them for creating
   an ‘artificial crisis’ of fertiliser
   to make a fast buck.
   ‘Crisis of fertiliser has always been there, but it seems that the crisis has deepened this time around,’ a small farmer at Kafuria in Natore said. He alleged that a section of people were out to make a fortune out of farmers’ woes.
   Landlords were somehow managing to get fertilisers by paying additional money or using influence, but marginal farmers were struggling to have even a sack to use in their small holdings.
   Despite the government’s claims of strict monitoring of fertiliser supply and prices, dealers and traders in many areas were seen manipulating supply and demanding prices at their will. Small farmers were left with no other option but to pay whatever prices fixed by traders. Even then, they failed to get the amount they needed.
   Farmers feared that production of winter crops such as onions, garlic, wheat and mustard seeds as well as vegetables would be affected for want of various fertilisers this year.
   ‘We need fertiliser in time to grow seasonal crops and any delay will reduce production,’ another farmer at Jhalmalia Bazar in Rajshahi told New Age on Thursday.
   The farmer, who managed to get six sacks of fertiliser for his potato field, said he had to pay Tk 200 to Tk 500 more on each bag, which means production cost would go up and profit margin would fall.
   He said many farmers prepared their land for winter crops, but their efforts were set to fail for fertiliser crisis.
   Many farmers held the government’s wrong estimation and faulty distribution process responsible for the crisis.
   ‘Sufficient fertilisers should immediately be distributed among farmers. We will, otherwise, not be able to make best use of our land,’ said a farmer at Tokia Bazar in Natore.
   Field visits revealed that dealers and traders made the situation complicated in some areas.
   ‘If you ask a dealer for fertiliser, he will readily tell you that there is no supply. But if you offer additional prices, say Tk 300 to Tk 500 for each sack, the same dealer will manage it for you ,’ said a farmer in Natore town on Thursday as he was rushing from one shop to another for urea.
   He said growing vegetables would be tough for him if he failed to manage at least 10 sacks of urea and triple super phosphate in a week.
   District agriculture officials were tight-lipped. One official said they had so far received 4,193 tonnes of urea, but refused to give the amount needed for the season.
   Farmers in Lalmonirhat were also feeling the pinch of fertiliser crisis in the peak season of winter crops and vegetables production.
   Department of Agriculture Extension deputy director Aftab Uddin Khan said there was a little shortage of fertiliser supply, but hoarding by dealers made the situation worse.
   The president of fertiliser dealers’ association of the district, Abdul Hakim brushed aside the allegation, saying they were selling what they had received from the government.
   ‘There is no artificial crisis. We are rather getting far less fertiliser than what we need to meet the demand,’ he claimed.
   Despite the nagging crisis, government officials, dealers, traders and even farmers and common people were cautious about talking about the issue fearing reprisal from the authorities.
   Local journalists were also scared of reporting on the fertiliser issue, which saw farmers’ agitation and assaults on administration officials and dealers in some areas, including Manikganj.

Pervez Musharraf swore in a new caretaker government on Friday to steer emergency-ruled Pakistan toward elections, but the new regime was swiftly rejected by former premier Benazir Bhutto.
   Newly freed from house arrest, Benazir said the administration, headed by a close Musharraf ally, was unacceptable and vowed to pursue her bid to force the military ruler from office.
   The oath-taking ceremony came as a senior US official headed for Islamabad to press for an end to the state of emergency, which the opposition says will make the elections, due by early January, an unfair sham.
   Musharraf hailed the previous government for stabilising Pakistan as he swore in the interim set-up, led by caretaker premier and senate chairman Mohammedmian Soomro.
   ‘Today we are creating history because I think never has Pakistan seen such a smooth transition of government,’ Musharraf, dressed in a traditional black tunic instead of his army uniform, said at the ceremony.
   Parliament dissolved at midnight on Thursday after completing a five-year term for the first time in the nuclear-armed nation’s turbulent history.
   ‘I take pride in the fact that, being a man in uniform, I introduced the essence of democracy,’ he said.
   Musharraf has promised legislative elections by January 9, but opposition leaders are considering a boycott —and there is growing international anger at his refusal to end the state of emergency he imposed on November 3.
   Hours earlier authorities withdrew a seven-day detention order on Benazir, who had been holed up behind barbed wire at an aide’s house in Lahore since Tuesday.
   Benazir came out with guns blazing, calling for a ‘people’s revolution’ to end Musharraf’s eight-year rule and vowing to continue with the protest march that caused her to be detained in the first place.
   ‘This caretaker government is an extension of the PML-Q and is not acceptable,’ she told a news conference, referring to Musharraf’s party.
   Benazir said she was in talks with key political leaders, including exiled premier Nawaz Sharif, to try to form a united opposition front to replace the government.
   ‘I believe it is hard to build a coalition but I will take on the task,’ Benazir told reporters. ‘I talked to Nawaz Sharif and told him that I am discussing with all leaders the formation of an interim government.’
   State media said Asma Jahangir, chairwoman of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and a special UN rights rapporteur, had also been freed from house arrest.
   The United States has led international calls for Musharraf to restore the constitution, step down as head of the powerful army, free thousands of people detained under emergency laws and ensure free and fair elections.
   John Negroponte, number two to US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, was due to arrive Friday to press US concerns. He was expected to meet Musharraf, but officials said he had no plans to meet Bhutto.
   The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, even questioned his future effectiveness as a US ally in the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
   Musharraf’s ‘ability to continue to be a partner in the war on terror very much depends on how events unfold over the next few weeks in Pakistan,’ Gates said.
   Senior US government officials quoted by the New York Times said they fear Musharraf may fall, and that Washington should consider contingency plans with Pakistan’s military elite.

The United States signalled its growing impatience Thursday with the Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf’s failure to end a state of emergency and step down as army chief.
   The US defence secretary, Robert Gates, suggested that Musharraf’s effectiveness as a US ally in the war on terror is in doubt, and said he had to lift the state of emergency and leave the military as soon as possible.
   Musharraf’s ‘ability to continue to be a partner in the war on terror very much depends on how events unfold over the next few weeks in Pakistan,’ Gates told a Pentagon news conference.
   Senior US government officials quoted by The New York Times said they increasingly fear Musharraf may eventually fall from power and Washington should consider working out back-up plans with Pakistan’s military elite.
   The deputy secretary of state, John Negroponte, the highest ranking US official to go to Pakistan since Musharraf declared a state of emergency 12 days ago, was due in Islamabad on Friday to press Washington’s case.
   He was expected to meet with Musharraf but his scheduled was not confirmed.
   State department spokesman Sean McCormack said Musharraf needed to put Pakistan back on the ‘pathway to democratic constitutional rule’ for the benefit of all ‘those who have an interest in fighting violent extremists around the world.’
   Brushing off the New York Times report that the administration is considering a fall-back position, McCormack said ‘we’ve worked very well with President Musharraf.’
   ‘He’s been a good partner in fighting the war on terror, and, quite frankly, he has done a lot for the Pakistani people in putting it on a fundamentally different course than it had been prior to 2001. That’s been positive.’
   Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless 1999 military coup, turned Muslim Pakistan into a frontline US ally in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
   ‘We would like to see that continue, and that’s been our counsel to President Musharraf,’ McCormack said.
   Earlier, White House spokesman Dana Perino appeared to give no long-term or open-ended commitment to Musharraf when asked if president George W Bush was losing confidence in the Pakistani leader.
   ‘Let me make it very clear, the president is focused on the here and now,’ Perino said.
   ‘It is up to President Musharraf, he has the responsibility to help restore democracy to the country, return to the constitution, to hold free and fair elections, to step down from the military and take off his uniform so that he can be a civilian president if he is confirmed by the Supreme Court,’ she said.
   Gates has expressed concern that the longer the crisis continues the greater the risk that the Pakistani military will be distracted from its fight against Islamic extremists in the border areas with Afghanistan.
   Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also acknowledged concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal but said all indications were it was not in jeopardy.
   ‘So I am confident at this point that they are secure, and I have seen absolutely no indication of the contrary,’ he said.
   ‘We’re very watchful, mindful certainly of the general concerns and what the potential could be. But we don’t see any of that potential being fulfilled at the current time,’ he said.
   Pakistan, which first tested nuclear weapons in May 1998, is believed to have an arsenal of about 50 nuclear weapons.
   Mullen said US military relations with Pakistan have remained largely unchanged by the crisis.

The state-run Bangladesh Television had to suspend its transmission for the first time for nearly three hours Friday because of power outage.
   The transmission remained suspended from 11:40am to 2:30pm as the power generator of the station exhausted, said a source.
   High BTV officials were not available over phone for comments despite repeated attempts.
   Viewers across the country faced difficulty in getting information on the death and devastation caused by cyclone Sidr that had hit the country’s south and southwestern regions Thursday evening.
   Many cable operators also failed to provide satellite television service on Friday because of power outage.

The government was little informed about cyclone damages as the worst-hit Barguna, Jhalakati and Pirojpur districts remained cut off from the capital till Friday evening due to disruptions in telecommunications and road links.
   Briefing newsmen at the Press Information Department, secretary to the food and disaster management ministry Mohammad Ayub Mia claimed that the death toll in the districts stood at 233.
   He, however, said that the number would rise as worst-hit districts once details would be available from Barguna, Jhalakati
   and Pirojpur districts.
   The severe cyclone had levelled thousands of thatched houses, trees and other structures in 15 coastal districts. ‘It will take time to assess the damages in the affected areas,’ the secretary mentioned.
   The central authorities could not yet contact the three districts due to disruption in telecommunications and road links, he added.
   The secretary said 15 lakh people had been evacuated to 2168 cyclone centres before the storm Sidr hit the coastal belt. Some 42,000 volunteers were deployed for the evacuation works in the areas.
   According to official records, the government took measures to evacuate over 31 lakh people, who were vulnerable to the cyclone, after the met office on Wednesday had hoisted Great Danger Signal 10.
   He said Tk 9.5 crore had been allocated from the chief adviser’s relief fund apart from 3,000 tonnes of food grains from the food and disaster management ministry for the cyclone victims. Some 732 medical teams are working in the affected areas.
   Four helicopters of the Bangladesh Air Force Friday carried 3,000 packets of relief goods including dry food items for the affected people at Dublarchar, Hiron Point, Kuakata and Patharghata.
   Tidal surge rising up to 6 feet inundated low-lying offshore islands causing massive damages to aman paddy and rabi crops, the secretary mentioned.
    Nine naval gunboats with sufficient speedboats were sent to Dublarchar and Hiron Point in Bagrehat, St Martin’s in Cox’s Bazar and Patharghata in Barguna for rescue and relief operations.
   Army personnel, coast guards and other law enforcers have been deployed in the areas for emergency responses.
   Chief adviser to the caretaker government Fakhruddin Ahmed ordered massive rescue operation as he himself went to visit the affected areas on Friday.

Sundarban, the world’s largest mangrove forest, suffered colossal damage as cyclone Sidr first hit the forest at about 9:00pm on Thursday.
   A colossal damage was caused to the Sundarban, the world heritage site, as the violent storm at first hit the forest, Sundarban divisional forest officer SM Shahidullah told the news agency.
   ‘Forest office establishments and tents were damaged while some of its boats capsized and others washed away during the severe storm,’ he said.
   An assistant professor of forestry and wood technology department at Khulna University told the agency that Sundarban took the brunt of the storm saving the nearby human habitations, including Bagerhat town and Khulna city, as the major threat of the hurricane was absorbed by the ‘biodiversity hot spot.’
   He said wild animals, including tigers and deer, might have died while innumerable trees uprooted and damaged from such massive hit by the hurricane resulting in long-term loss of natural beauty.
   UNB Satkhira correspondent adds: The cyclone caused massive damage to the forest in Satkhira Range. Cyclone Sidr damaged infrastructure of four forest stations in Sundarban Satkhira Range, said an official of Satkhira Range.

After visiting some cyclone-hit areas in Khulna division, the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, on Friday allocated Tk 1 crore for each worst-affected district in the division.
   He announced the allocation at a view-exchange meeting, arranged to discuss ways to face the post-cyclone situation, at the conference room of BNS Titumir naval outpost here.
   Government and non-government officials from Khulna division attended the meeting.
   Addressing the meeting, the chief adviser said the number of casualty in the storm could be minimised by necessary steps taken earlier with joint efforts of both government and non-government officials.
   The government would solve the problems in the worst-affected areas on priority basis, he said, assuring that there are sufficient resources to face the post-cyclone situation.
   Fakhruddin directed the
   concerned authorities to take steps so that none in the
   affected areas face any problem particularly that of drinking water.
   He also ordered to take necessary steps for the burial of those killed in the storm.
   The head of the interim government asked the authorities concerned to take steps as per the requirement of the people in the affected areas.
   Fakhruddin told the meeting that a control room had been opened at the disaster management ministry to monitor the overall situation round-the-clock.
   Speaking on the occasion, Khulna divisional commissioner Yunus Rahman said five districts — Bagerhat, Satkhira, Khulna, Narail and Jessore — were worst hit in the cyclone.
   Earlier, the chief adviser along with Chief of Army Staff General Moeen U Ahmed, Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman and other high officials flew here by a helicopter at about 3:50pm. Prior to their landing, the chief adviser along with the others observed from the helicopter some areas affected badly by the cyclone.

The 31st death anniversary of national leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani will be observed across the country today.
   Different political parties and socio-cultural organisations have chalked up programmes to pay homage to Bhasani who had won the hearts of the masses of people by his epic struggle for the emancipation of the downtrodden.
   Workers Party of Bangladesh will hold a discussion meeting on the life of the great leader at Asad auditorium in the capital today.
   Our correspondent in Tangail reports, different organisations have chalked up programmes to mark the day at historic Kagmari in Santosh.
   The programmes include placing of flowers at the grave of Maulana Bhasani and holding discussion meetings.

The police foiled a plot by Islamic militants to kidnap Rahul Gandhi, scion of India’s famed Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, a leading Indian television station reported Friday.
   NDTV, one of India’s top news outlets, said the three militants planned to abduct the telegenic 37-year-old federal parliamentarian to bargain for the release of scores of imprisoned comrades.
   The police would not confirm the identify of the politician targeted by the suspected militants who were arrested after a tip-off early Friday near Lucknow, capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state.
   Asked if the intended target was Gandhi, senior police officer Vikram Singh said, ‘I will neither comment nor contradict the name.’
   But ‘they wanted to kidnap a very, very important political leader ... to create national and international pressure to secure the release of 42 terrorists,’ Singh told reporters.
   ‘They were trained for a week to pick up techniques to kidnap a politician and to survive after the act,’ Singh was quoted as saying by the United News of India news agency.
   The militants were suspected members of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group fighting India’s rule in disputed Kashmir, he said.
   A huge cache of arms, including assault rifles, explosives, detonators and grenades, was recovered from the three, Singh said.
   Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born widow of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and her two children Rahul and daughter Priyanka are among India’s most closely guarded politicians.
   Earlier this year, Rahul Gandhi’s security detail was tightened further after a home ministry warning of a possible attack by an Al-Qaeda-backed group.
   Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger suicide bomber while on the election trail in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu in 1991.
   Sonia’s mother-in-law, then premier Indira Gandhi was shot dead in 1984 by her Sikh security guards in retaliation for an army crackdown she ordered on separatist Punjabi militants sheltering in Sikhism’s holiest shrine.
   Rahul has been touted by supporters as a potential future prime minister of India, where the Gandhi name is considered political magic.
   Islamic rebels, battling New Delhi’s rule in Kashmir, have in the past kidnapped relatives of politicians and western tourists to secure the release of incarcerated militants.
   In 1990, Kashmiri rebels won the freedom of nine rebels in return for the release of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of India’s then home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

Pakistani artillery pounded pro-Taliban hideouts in a north-western valley, killing 40 rebels including a commander, the army said Friday, raising the toll from three days of clashes to nearly 100.
   The latest deaths came on Thursday when security forces targeted rebel positions in retaliation for an attack on an airport in the troubled Swat Valley, chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
   Militants loyal to a radical cleric seeking the imposition of harsh Islamic law in the area had fired mortars at the airport in the valley’s main town Saidu Sharif on Wednesday, killing two soldiers and wounding another eight.
   ‘We launched retaliatory fire. We intercepted the militant communications which confirmed they lost 40 men,’ Arshad said.
   A separate military statement said those killed on Thursday included a militant commander Matiullah while his deputy Mohammad Ali was missing and feared dead.
   Residents said that Matiullah’s funeral was led by the militant movement’s fugitive leader, firebrand cleric Maulana Fazlullah — who is known as Mullah Radio because he has a private radio station.
   ‘We have lost a strong mujahid (holy warrior) leader,’ militant spokesman Sirajuddin said by phone from an unknown location, referring to Matiullah.
   Arshad said 20 militants were killed in several other actions on Thursday. Earlier troops pounded rebels on Wednesday, killing 33 militants while two civilians also died, local officials said.

A UN General Assembly panel on Thursday passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions with the ultimate goal of abolishing the practice despite fierce opposition from several members.
   The vote, capping an acrimonious, two-day debate on the highly divisive issue, was 99 in favour, 52 against and 33 abstentions.
   The United States and China joined many developing countries, notably from the Islamic world, in voting no.
   The full 192-member General Assembly was widely expected to endorse the decision, possibly next month, according to diplomats.
   France’s UN ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said the vote on the Italian-drafted text ‘marks a real turning point in the global realisation of the need to abolish the death penalty.’
   ‘I hope that the General Assembly will confirm this vote in its plenary session,’ he added.
   ‘The strong vote in favour of this resolution is further evidence that the centre ground on this debate has shifted towards the end of the use of the death penalty worldwide,’ Britain’s UN Ambassador John Sawers chimed in.
   But opponents decried what they saw as a bid by the 87 co-sponsors to impose their values on the rest of the world and made it clear that there was no consensus on an issue which they said would further polarise the assembly.
   They argued that the death penalty was fundamentally a ‘criminal justice issue’ to be decided by national authorities and saw the resolution as blatant interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
   Malaysia, Singapore, Iran, Egypt, Barbados and the Bahamas were particularly vocal in their denunciation of the co-sponsors.
   Singapore’s UN envoy Vanu Menon said ahead of the vote the co-sponsors were trying ‘to impose a particular set of beliefs on everyone else,’ and described them as ‘sanctimonious, hypocritical and intolerant’ for having rejected a ‘genuine dialogue’ with opponents.
   ‘This house is divided,’ said Iran’s delegate Mahmoud Jooyabad. ‘There is no international consensus on the death penalty.’
   Opponents were particularly incensed that more than a dozen amendments they had proposed were all rejected, including one by Egypt backed by a number of Islamic countries and the United States that sought to insert a paragraph also upholding the right to protect life at all its stages, meaning the right of the unborn child.
   Barbados even accused some of the co-sponsors of having threatened to cut off aid to developing countries opposing the moratorium.
   China’s delegate said the divisive debate had increased tension among member states.
   ‘China cannot accept that co-sponsors of the resolution applied pressure on other countries,’ the delegate said. ‘We do not wish to see discussions of this kind happen again.’
   ‘It is important to recognise that international law does not prohibit capital punishment,’ US delegate Robert Hagen said after the vote.
   Washington urges countries apply the death penalty ‘in conformity with their international human rights obligations and to ensure it is not applied in an extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary manner,’ he added
   The non-binding resolution states that the death penalty ‘undermines human dignity’ and calls on all states which still maintain the death penalty ‘to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.’
   It also urges them “to restrict its use and reduce the number of offences for which the death penalty may be imposed” and to respect international standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of those facing execution.
   It decides that member states would continue consideration of the issue at the General Assembly’s 63rd session beginning next September.
   Amnesty International hailed what it called an ‘historic and major step toward the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.’

The inclement weather caused by cyclone Sidr has left a devastating impact on the wholesale vegetables markets in the north as growers hardly found buyers for their produces throughout Friday.
   Prices of all types of vegetables went down drastically in most wholesale markets because of drizzling and gusty wind the northern region had faced since Thursday afternoon.
   Growers were sitting idle with their produces even in the afternoon although they usually call it a day before noon. The wholesalers were also reluctant to buy vegetables as demand for the goods marked a sudden fall.
   At the wholesale market at Mahasthantgarh, a maund of cauliflower sold for Tk 200; the price had ranged between Tk 600 and Tk 700 throughout the week.
   Good quality aubergine sold for Tk 700 a maund in the past week. But it sold for Tk 450 on Friday.
   The prices of cucumber, onions with leaf, green chilies and other vegetables available in the region fell on Friday, causing huge financial losses to thousands of growers.
   ‘Today is bad for the people who brought vegetables here,’ Mobarak of Mirpur at Kagal told New Age at the Mahasthangarh wholesale market.
   Zinnah, another farmer of the union, said the inclement weather caused them heavy losses.
   ‘It was a dull day for vegetable growers who were not aware of the weather condition and its impact on the market,’ said Shahjahan, a wholesaler in Borga. He buys vegetables from local farmers and sells them to the merchants of Dhaka.
   New Age correspondents in other northern districts said many buyers they had expected from Dhaka and other places did not reach the place in the bad weather.
   Farmers in many places, however, alleged traders cashed in on weather situation to make more profit by reducing for prices of vegetables.
   Farmers feared the dull market situation would continue for at least a few days, which would further reduce vegetables prices in local markets, but would increase prices in major cities such as Dhaka.
   Winter, which was just setting in, felt severe in the northern districts with biting cold after Sidr had ripped through the country.

More than 1,000 people from 85 different countries living in the United States today are suspected of violating human rights, a senior Homeland Security official said Thursday.
   More than 140 investigations are underway and the department is pursuing another 800 leads, the director of the investigations office Marcy Forman told US lawmakers.
   Since 2003 it has carried out more than 100 arrests for human rights violations, and some 238 foreigners suspected of such violations and war crimes have been expelled, mostly to face trial in their country, she said.
   But the investigations are proving lengthy.
   The justice department said in one case the judge had ordered the deportation of
   an 87-year old Ukrainian implicated in the World War II destruction of a Jewish ghetto in Lviv, four years after the case began.
   Another case cited was that of Marko Boskic, accused of taking part in the 1996 Srebrenica massacre.
   He could not be sent back to be tried by Bosnian authorities until he had completed a five-year jail term in the United States, imposed for lying on his application for a US visa.
   Forman said the cases under investigation ‘predominantly focused on Central and South America, Haiti, the Balkans, and Africa, and represent cases in various stages of investigation, prosecution, or removal proceedings.’
   But another witness told the Congress hearing that the department does not investigate all suspects.
   Salvadoran doctor Juan Romogoza Arce, who was tortured in the 1980s, won a civil case against two of his tormentors in 2002. Today they are living in the United States.
   ‘Despite the overwhelming evidence amassed by my attorneys-evidence that led the jury to find the generals responsible for my torture and other human rights abuses-these two individuals remain in the United States today,’ Arce said.
   ‘They are not on the run. They are not facing criminal charges. They are not even facing deportation back to El Salvador. They continue to live here legally, openly and comfortably.’

Russian senate voted Friday to abandon a key Cold War treaty limiting conventional military forces across Europe, a move strongly criticised in the West and by NATO.
   The unanimous vote in the Federation Council, or senate, confirmed last week’s decision in the lower house, the State Duma, to suspend compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty from December 12.
   General Yury Baluyevsky, Russia’s chief of the general staff, said the move was ‘the correct, logical step from the political and military point of view,’ ITAR-TASS news agency reported.
   NATO has criticised Russia’s withdrawal from the 1990 CFE, which places strict limitations on deployment of tanks and other hardware across Europe.
   The president, Vladimir Putin ordered the moratorium on July 13 amid a row over US plans to install an anti-missile shield in eastern Europe. Technically, Russia could still return to the CFE if Putin reversed parliament’s decision, state-run RIA Novosti news agency said.
   The treaty’s demise highlights deteriorating relations between Moscow and countries of the Atlantic alliance as Putin’s administration pushes to reassert Russia on the international stage.
   ‘This will be an indicator of Russia’s seriousness in its uncompromising stand on ensuring its defensive capabilities, including in answer to US plans to put anti-missile defences in eastern Europe,’ State Duma deputy Leonid Slutsky told ITAR-TASS.
   In other moves contributing to Cold War-style tensions, Putin and other top Russian officials this year have renewed long-distance strategic bomber patrols, as well as threatened to retarget nuclear missiles at European cities, and to withdraw from other bedrock disarmament treaties.
   Moscow says the CFE is not working because an updated version agreed on in 1999 has been ratified by Russia, but not by NATO countries.
   NATO members, led by the United States, say they cannot ratify the pact because of Russia’s military presence in ex-Soviet Georgia and Moldova.
   Although Russia this week handed over a third Soviet-era base to the pro-Western Georgian authorities, there is controversy over a fourth.
   Russia says that base has been decommissioned, but Georgian officials are unable to inspect the facility, which is in the Russian-backed separatist Abkhazia region.
   Adding to bad blood between Moscow and the West is growing unease with wide-ranging limitations imposed by Putin on democratic reforms and what critics call Russia’s aggressive use of massive energy resources.
   Moscow accuses the United States of interfering in Russia’s backyard and attempting to rule the world as the sole superpower.
   Riding a tide of petrodollars and growing influence on key international issues such as the Iranian nuclear programme and the status of Kosovo, Russia’s authorities are in no mood to compromise.

An Indian anti-smoking group is threatening to take Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to court for allegedly lighting up in public in violation of India’s anti-smoking law.
   Last month, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication asked the 42-year-old star to explain his actions after he was spied smoking at a cricket match in Mumbai and at a media conference in Delhi.
   ‘This is not how a superstar should behave... Adored by millions (he) cannot lend a helping hand to promote smoking,’ the group’s general secretary Shekhar Salkar said.
   ‘We will be filing a case against him at the local court,’ Salkar said.
   Anyone breaking the law faces a fine of 200 rupees (4.50 dollars).
   The controversy comes as the muscled star rides high on the success of his newly released song-and-dance movie ‘Om Shanti Om’, a movie about reincarnation.
   The anti-smoking group filed a legal notice against Khan last month accusing him of breaking India’s anti-smoking law banning smoking in public places.
   The group called his smoking ‘illegal, indecent and unethical’ and gave him 15 days to explain his actions that it said were seen on television by millions, including children.
   The star’s lawyers rejected the allegations, arguing Khan was smoking on both occasions in private places.
   ‘A space where the general public does not have any access is excluded from the definition of a public place,’ Khan’s lawyer said, according to the Calcutta Telegraph newspaper.
   The anti-tobacco group said it was ‘disheartened’ by Khan’s response and said legal proceedings would be launched.
   The government outlawed smoking in public places and the advertising of tobacco products in 2004 in a bid to stem rampant tobacco deaths.
   At least 2,200 people die daily from tobacco-related
   diseases in the nation of 1.1 billion.