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Forty-eight agencies out of 232 offering Hajj package this year were till Wednesday yet to confirm accommodations in Saudi Arabia for non-ballot pilgrims going under private management.
   ‘One hundred and eighty-four agencies have so far reported to the Bangladesh mission in Saudi Arabia on the confirmation of accommodation for 33,737 non-ballot Hajj pilgrims,’ an official of the religious affairs ministry told New Age on Wednesday.
   The number of ballot pilgrims, going under government management, stands at 5,583 this year; the number of non-ballot pilgrims is expected to be about 37,000.
   The Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited had to cancel 14 flights, mostly for lack of passengers, causing huge financial and capacity loss, according to official sources.
   Two flights of the Boeing leased from Ausban Aeronautical Services by Biman to operate Hajj flights were cancelled as the aircraft went out of order on Saturday.
   Biman will need to pay Tk 3 lakh as fine to the Saudi authorities for the cancellation of each flight to Jeddah.
   ‘We have directed all the Hajj agencies concerned in writing to complete the procedures related to the accommodations and visas for non-ballot pilgrims without further delay. They must face stern action in case of any failure in this regard,’ said the religious affairs secretary, Md Ataur Rahman.
   He said all should take the responsibility in case of any mismanagement in the process.
   ‘Some agencies are yet to confirm the accommodations in Saudi Arabia as they are still waiting for the clearance from the authorities there. They have been asked to complete all the procedures as soon as possible,’ said the Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh president, Mohammed Faruque.
   All ballot Hajj passengers but one and 12,248 non-ballot Hajj passengers left Dhaka for Jeddah by Wednesday.

The banned Harkatul Jihad al-Islami’s leaders, Mufti Mohammad Hannan and Maulana Abu Taher — arrested in connection with the deadly grenade attack on an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka on August 21, 2004 — were placed on fresh police remand on Wednesday.
   The Criminal Investigation Department, assigned to investigate the case, produced the two before the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court on Wednesday and sought seven days of remand for Hannan and 10 days for Taher.
   Earlier, both Hannan and Taher were grilled by the police when they were remanded for two days and seven days respectively. Their remand periods ended on Tuesday.
   The police also produced another Harkatul leader, Maulana Abdul Latif, before the same court on Wednesday after the end of his three-day remand on Tuesday, but did not seek any further remand for him. The court sent him back to the jail. Both the Harkatul leaders will be interrogated at the joint interrogation cell along with their associates, Mufti Mafizur Rahman Obhi alias Muhibullah and Shahedul Islam Bipul.
   The other two, Taher’s brother-in-law Maulana Monir Hossain and brother Maulana Idris, are being interrogated by the members of Task Force for Interrogation. Both were placed on a five-day remand on Tuesday after being arrested in connection with the Ramna Batamul bomb attack.

The current pace of prosecution of corruption suspects, initiated by the Anti-Corruption Commission, would continue even after changeover in power and resumption of political process for effects of today’s action, ACC chairman Hasan Mashud Chowdhury said Wednesday.
   ‘Inshallah, by the end of 2008, the situation will be such that it will be difficult to roll back,’ he told a luncheon meeting, organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh at a city hotel.
   The anti-graft watchdog chief, however, admitted that the anti-corruption drives and image of Bangladesh in the future would depend on leadership on political and other relevant fronts. ‘Transparency is also the answer [to the question about continuation in anti-corruption drive,’ he said.
   The commission, presently dealing with some 15,000 ‘alive’ cases, is set to appoint a director general to settle such cases and make a balance in initiating cases against bigwigs in each sector, the chairman said while speaking on his organisation’s role in building better future for Bangladesh. The chamber president, Syed Ershad Ahmed, chaired the monthly business gathering.
   Mashud, a former adviser to the caretaker government said, ‘I want to see the commission as a vanguard in campaign against corruption. The situation is indeed bleak. Hopefully, things will get better, may be in an incremental way.’
   Mashud, also former army chief, said the country suffered much due to all pervasive corruption and referred to the Transparency International report which pointed out that corruption ate up resources worth Tk 7,000 crore every year in Bangladesh. ‘Loss of money due to corruption is not acceptable.’
   He mentioned that the commission was going to launch a social campaign in collaboration with the Transparency Internatio-nal, involving all people, including youngsters, up to grassroots level to raise awareness in society.

The country’s economic condition is often not reflected truly in various studies due to influence of foreign funding agencies on research organisations and individuals, officials at the government’s development think tank said.
   Researchers have to depend heavily on funds from abroad or on lending agencies since local fund for research works is very meagre, researchers of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies told a press conference on Wednesday at the National Press Club, announcing the schedule of an international conference.
   The institute’s director general Quazi Shahabuddin, research directors KAS Murshid, M Asaduzzamn, Rushidan Islam Rahman and Rita Afsar spoke.
   BIDS will host the conference on ‘Development Prospect of Bangladesh: Emerging Challenges’ at Hotel Sheraton in Dhaka on December 2-3 marking its golden jubilee.
   ‘Economic research activities here are widely depended on donors’ funds, which limit researchers’ choices of topics matching the country’s needs,’ KAS Murshid said when asked to comment on state of contemporary economic researches.
   ‘Researchers here can not set their own agenda as they are to follow prescriptions of fund providers,’ he said.
   The senior economist lamented poor budget allocation for research activities and referred to reluctance of the government and other stakeholders about research works. ‘The question is how much we are respectful of researches, how much we value those.’
   Rita Afser said, ‘Time has come to think about adequate local funding for research activities and to establish linkages of researchers with policymakers and the media.’
   Quazi Shahbuddin said the two-day conference will have five technical sessions joined by economists from home and abroad.
   The sessions will focus on development strategies of Bangladesh including economic growth patterns, macro-economic policy issues and trade liberalisation. Bangladesh’s challenges of inequality and poverty, prospects of rural development, changes in rural economy and policy options for development will also be discussed elaborately, the director general said.
   Gustav Ranis from Yale University, Just Faaland from Christian Michelsen Institute, Norway, AR Khan from university of California, Arthur MacEwan of University of Massachusetts and Shanta Devarajan, World Bank economist for South Asia are among the presenters or discussants in the conference expected from abroad.
   Local economists and discussants will include Professor Rehman Sobhan, Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud, adviser to ILO Rizwanul Islam, World Bank consultant Zaidi Sattar, chief economist of Bangladesh Bank MK Mujeri, former finance minister M Syeduzzaman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parisahd chairman Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, BRAC executive director Mahabub Hossain and executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre Hossain Zillur Rahman.
   The inaugural session will be chaired by Professor Rehman Sobhan while finance adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam will be the special guest at the ending session, which will be chaired by Professor Nurul Islam.

At least eight people, including four female workers, were injured in a clash between two rival groups of a factory over its ownership at Kotwali in the city on Wednesday.
   Witnesses said the clash ensued at Kemy Industries, a light bulb making factory, at about 3:00pm when the supporters of Jalal Uddin went
   to the factory, owned by his elder brother Haji Iqbal Ahmed who is now in abroad, to occupy it.
   Both the rival groups attacked each other with brickbats and sticks during the clash, leaving eight people, including four female workers, injured.
   Of the injured, two Ansar members Moyezuddin, 38, and Firoz, 48, and female workers — Ranu, 35, Khorsheda, 35, Khaleda, 16, and Khukumoni, 15, — were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   On information, the police went to the spot and arrested factory caretaker Zulfikar Ali Mithu.

The second death anniversary of pioneering magazine editor and valiant freedom-fighter, Shahadat Chowdhury, will be observed today.
   Shahadat, a successful editor of four widely circulated magazines including Bichitra and Shaptahik 2000, died of prolonged septicaemia at BIRDEM hospital on this day in 2005 at the age of 62, and was laid to rest with state honours at the Buddhijibi graveyard in Dhaka.
   As the spearheading editor of the hugely popular Bangla weekly Bichitra, Shahadat played a leading role in moulding the ideas and attitudes of the post-independence generation in Bangladesh.
   He also played a pioneering role in introducing glamour and fashion to the mainstream media through Bichitra as well as its sister publication Ananda Bichitra. His patronisation of the fashion industry, in particular, was significant in raising Bangladeshis’ awareness of fashion.
   Born on July 28, 1943 in Khulna, Shahadat began journalism during the War of Independence by editing Lorai, the war-time periodical.
   He was one of the famous ‘bell-bottom guerrillas’ in Dhaka during the war and conducted a number of successful operations. The accounts of his heroic raids were described in Jahanara Imam’s book, ‘Ekatturer Dinguli’.
   He was one of the closest aides of Khaled Mosharraf, the commander of Sector 2. His house in Hatkhola in Dhaka was one of the main bases of freedom-fighters.
   After independence he joined Bichitra in 1972 and served as assistant editor, acting editor and editor till it was closed down in 1997 by a government order. Subsequently Shahadat founded Shaptahik 2000 and fortnightly Anandadhara, of which he remained editor till his death.
   He was one of the initiators of the Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee.

The national committee for implementation of the demands of freedom fighters and observance of freedom fighters’ day Wednesday urged the people to observe freedom fighters’ day on December 1 in a befitting manner.
   The committee in a statement also urged the people to form committees, comprising freedom fighters and pro-liberation political activists, in each district and upazila to observe the day.
   The signatories to the statement are sector commander KM Shafiullah Bir Uttam, Awami Lea-gue presidium members Abdur Razzak and Tofail Ahmed, sector commander CR Dutt, Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal president Hasanul Huq Inu.

One more case was filed on Tuesday against the convicted Rajshahi mayor Mizanur Rahman Minu for evading taxes of Tk 10 lakh with the Rajshahi district and sessions judge’s court.
   Deputy commissioner (taxes) of the revenue board in Rajshahi Mostak Ahmed filed the case.
   The judge, AR Masud, issued a warrant for arrest of Mizanur Rahman on Tuesday. According to the complaint, Mizanur Rahman evaded taxes of Tk 10 lakh on his land plot at Banani in Dhaka, a car and deposits in bank accounts.
   At least four cases were filed against him. He was on June 6 sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment in an extortion case. ++++

The Netherlands will contribute about $5 million over three years for completing the voter roll and strengthening the capacity of the Election Commission to prepare for holding fair polls.
   To this effect, an agreement was signed at the Netherlands embassy on Tuesday. The Dutch ambassador, Bea Ten Tusscher, and the UNDP country director, Manoj Basnyat, signed the agreement on behalf of the respective sides.
   ‘The agreement signing will shortly be followed by a joint visit to observe the voter registration around Dhaka and surrounding areas,’ said a release on the deal.
   It said the amount would be provided to the Election Commission through the UNDP project titled ‘Preparation of Electoral Roll with Photographs’. It will help establish and strengthen the system necessary to update the voter list following the next parliamentary elections.
   The Netherlands joins eight other donors, including a number of EU members, in pooling contributions worth approximately $50 million to support the Bangladesh government
   in re-establishing ‘electoral democracy’.