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The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, on Tuesday said that the stalled ninth parliamentary elections might be held before October next year, a little ahead of the timeline set in the roadmap, following elections to the city corporations expected by April.
   Unveiling the detailed countrywide schedule for voter registration with photographs, the CEC hoped preparation of the electoral roll would be completed by July 2008. According to the election roadmap, the voters’ roll is to complete by October 2008.
   ‘We have a projection that the voters’ list may be completed by July…We have always said that December [2008] is the cut-off timeline, but national elections may be held before October if voters’ list is completed [by July next]… and the elections may be held one or two months earlier [than the December 2008 timeline],’ the CEC said when asked if the commission would go for early polls in case the voters’ roll was prepared by July.
   The Election Commission, after its reconstitution in February, took the initiative for preparing voters’ roll afresh with photographs.
   The commission, in its election roadmap announced on July 15, declared that the general elections would be held sometime between October and December 2008 setting December 2008 as the cut-off timeline.
   The 9th parliamentary polls, which were scheduled for January 22, were stalled amid a grave political crisis following irreconcilable hostilities between rival political camps over electoral issues leading to the proclamation of a state of emergency on January 11 and reconstitution of the caretaker government.
   About the city corporation polls, the CEC said the commission expected that voter registration in all the city corporations would be completed by January enabling the commission to go for polls to all the city corporations simultaneously by April 2008.
   As it would be better to hold the elections to the city corporations all together, poll schedules might be announced in February or March [2008] and the polling would take place at least within April [2008], he said.
   The tenures of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Khulna city corporations have already been over and the tenures of Sylhet and Barisal city corporations would expire on May 5 and May 9 in 2008 respectively.
   According to the existing laws, polls to a city corporation have to be held anytime in the last six months of its tenures.
   Huda said the commission was currently drafting a proposal for amendments to the existing city corporation and municipality laws to bar representation of the same persons in parliament and local government bodies.
   ‘After the introduction of the proposed laws, one will not be allowed to be a mayor and minister or lawmaker simultaneously,’ he said.
   Asked about the dispute over the plan for holding local body polls before national elections, he said the commission would do it since the local government and rural development ministry had requested them to hold the elections as per law.
   Giving the detailed plan for voter registration, the CEC said the commission expected that with the registration of nearly 2,53,08,000 voters, about 21-26 per cent of the work of voters’ roll project would be completed by December 2007.
   ‘Besides the ongoing work on preparation of voters’ roll with photographs in 34 areas, we will start work in 75 more areas under 64 districts from November 11 and expect the task will be completed by the first week of January… More than one fifth of the voter registration work will be done by the time if the momentum continues,’ the CEC said.
   The EC started voter listing in Sreepur municipality in July as a pilot project with donated equipment, and is now working in 34 places across the country with equipment coming in phases.
   The EC has around 6,000 pieces of equipment in hand now. Of the equipment, the commission received 1,925 as donation in phases and 4,000 from the voters’ roll project a few days back, Huda said.
   He said he thought the total number of voters this year would not exceed the number the previous electoral roll contained as this time there would be no scope for enrolling fake voters or double registration.

The government on Tuesday warned both the owners and the workers in the apparel sector of legal action if there was any dispute over payment of wages and festival allowances.
   ‘Legal actions will be taken against the owners if they do not pay due wages and festival allowances to their workers by October 11 and the workers will also not be spared if they bring out processions breaking the state of emergency protesting at non-payment,’ the labour and employment adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, told the media after a meeting on the overall situation in the readymade garment sector.
   He said if the workers brought out any procession anywhere breaking the emergency, cases would be lodged against them under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The labour and employment secretary, representatives from the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association and the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association, and senior officials of law enforcement agencies, among others, attended the meeting at the secretariat.
   Representatives of the BGMEA and the BKMEA demanded that army and Rapid Action Battalion should be deployed at garment factories in Tongi, Gazipur, and Ashulia for three to four days to avert any untoward incident ahead of the Eid.
   The adviser asked the RMG unit owners to name the factories which required additional security so that the authorities could take preventive measures against any probable unrest.
   BGMEA president Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury said it would be difficult for all the garment factory owners to pay their workers the wages and festival allowances by October 11. ‘The government has further complicated the situation by setting the deadline for making the payment,’ he alleged while talking to reporters after the meeting.
   Around 65 factories were yet to implement the minimum wages, the BGMEA leader told the meeting. He said it would take them seven to eight more months to implement the tripartite agreement completely at all the garment factories.
   Intelligence agencies informed the meeting that around 100 factories in Dhaka, 83 in Gazipur, and 31 in Narayanganj might face labour unrest over non-payment of wages and festival allowances ahead of the Eid.
   Non-payment of wages to the poor workers was one of the main reasons for last year’s labour unrest in the RMG sector. The unrest resulted in a 10-point agreement between the government, the employers, and the workers and the employers, in which the minimum monthly wage of a worker was set at Tk 1,662.50.
   Out of around 5,000 apparel factories in the country, 4,100 are registered with the BGMEA or the BKMEA.

A section of non-government organisations and workers’ federations, allegedly funded by foreign mentors, are out to create unrest in the export-earning readymade garments sector, a meeting on compliance was told on Tuesday.
   Leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, quoting intelligence reports, claimed that foreign funds were made available to certain NGOs for sabotaging the garment industry.
   They expressed apprehension over the ‘overt and covert’ moves to foment unrest in the garment sector at the 7th meeting of the Social Compliance Forum on the Readymade Garments, presided over by finance and commerce adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam at the commerce ministry.
   ‘It makes one suspicious to note that two major foreign currency earning sectors — garments and remittances — have been threatened in recent times. We smell conspiracies to destroy our future,’ said a high official present at the meeting.
   ‘It is true that some NGOs are involved in an attempt to create unrest on the plea of workers’ rights or Eid bonus,’ claimed the president of the BGMEA, Anwarul Alam Chowdhury Parvez.
   He demanded formation of ‘industrial police’ in order to maintain law and order — a proposal which was rejected by the home secretary in view of various constraints, said meeting sources.
   When she was asked about the alleged role of some NGOs in creating unrest in the workers, Masuda Khatun Shefali, who works for the rights of garment workers, said it was unfair to blame all development organisations and demanded that the NGOs that were really involved in such subversive activities should be clearly identified.
   ‘This is our country and for our own interest we have to protect the garment industry. So the position of everyone with regard to the industry should be made very clear,’ she told journalists after the meeting.
   The garment sector leaders were handed over a list of 37 factories where unrest might be created due to resentment over non-payment of salaries and allowances before Eid.
   It was claimed in the meeting that almost 97 per cent of the garment factories have followed the provisions of the tripartite agreement signed last year for payment of minimum wages. About 90 per cent of the factories have also become compliant to various environment, safety, legal and labour standards, said meeting sources.
   However, representatives of the overseas buyers expressed doubts about the veracity of such claims. Similar doubts were aired at a meeting of the MFA (Multi-Fibre Arrangement) Forum held in London last month.
   Western labour organisations’ leaders in the meeting in London had raised the issue of providing the workers with a ‘living wage’, instead of a minimum wage which was said to be grossly inadequate at the prices prevailing nowadays.
   The meeting reviewed the progress relating to mandatory provisions to submit structural designs of the buildings where garment units are housed to the authorities concerned. The public workers ministry has already prepared a modus operandi and an official order has also been issued.

Eid this year will not be the same as the past year’s for the former ministers, politicians, businessmen and bureaucrats detained in jail during drives against corruptions.
   The high-profile prisoners will celebrate this Eid in prison, separated from their families, friends and followers.
   The jail authorities also have never before handled so many high-profile prisoners, including two former prime ministers, at a time.
   The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, and the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, are among more than 150 politicians, businessmen, bureaucrats and university teachers to pass this Eid in jail.
   Khaleda will even not be allowed to meet her sons, also detained in jail, on the Eid day.
   ‘If they were in the same jail, they could have the chance to meet each other on the day,’ said deputy inspector general (prisons) Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqui.
   Khaleda’s two sons, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman, were arrested on charges of corruption and extortion. Tarique is detained in an isolated cell at the Dhaka central jail and Arafat is now being treated at the BSMMU.
   Khaleda, who ruled Bangladesh for 10 years in two terms as prime minister, is detained in a special jail, set up on the premises of the Jatiya Sangsad Complex.
   Iqbal Hasan Mahmud was also arrested along with his wife, Rumana Mahmud, son, Abed Hasan Mahmud, and daughter, Farah Hasan Mahmud. They were all in the Dhaka Central Jail until Mahmud’s wife and daughter were remanded on bail in the past week.
   Nazmul Huda’s wife, Sigma Huda, Amanullah Aman’s wife, Sabera Aman, Mir Mohamad Nasiruddin’s son, Amir Helaluddin, and Giasuddin Al Mamun and his elder brother, Hafiz Ibrahim, also a lawmaker, will also stay in jail during Eid.
   Hasina, who was prime minister between 1996 and 2001, also detained in a special jail on the Jatiya Sangsad Complex.
   Although other prisoners will have the chance to meet and exchange pleasantries with few co-prisoners, Hasina and Khaleda will need to spend the occasion alone.
   There are also many such prisoners who will pass the day in hospital in an environment like a prison.
   The Awami League general secretary, Abdul Jalil, is in Lab Aid Hospital while the party’s presidium member Kazi Zafrulah, BNP leader Tariqul Islam, Lutfozzaman Babar and Silver Selim are in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hospital.
   Sigma Huda, Sabera Aman and businessman Atiqullah Khan Masud of the Globe-Janakantha are also in hospital while Kamal Majumder of the Awami League and the Jamuna Group owner, Nurul Islam Babul, are in BIRDEM Hospital.
   Four Dhaka University teachers and eight Rajshahi University teachers, who either surrendered or were arrested, on charge of violating the Emergency Powers Rules, will pass the day in jail.
   The jail authorities usually serve improved dishes on the Eid day. This year there will be vermicelli and puffed rice in the morning, rice with fish and potato for lunch and pilau with beef or mutton and salad for dinner.
   There will, however, be some exceptions in the meal for the two former prime ministers. ‘We will ask them whether they would like anything else. We will provide them with what they want in keeping with their status,’ said Shamsul Haider.
   An additional Tk 10 will be spent on the meal of each of the prisoners in addition to the allocated amount to serve them with better food. A common prisoner usually gets food of Tk 27, a VIP prisoner of Tk 69 and a convict of Tk 79 on the Eid day.
   Shamsul Haider said they would have a rare experience of handling so many VIP prisoners celebrating Eid in jail. ‘As the chances are slim for the release of any prisoners, we will have arrangements for all the high-profile prisoners.’
   Of the VIP prisoners, Moudud Ahmed, Mohammad Nasim, Nazmul Huda, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Fazlur Rahman Patal, Hafiz Ibrahim, Mosaddak Ali Falu, Amanullah Aman, Nasiruddin Pintu, Pankaj Devnath, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, former secretary ANH Akhter Hossain and businessman Abdul Awa Mintoo are now in the Dhaka central jail.
   Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, Ali Asghar Lobi, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, AK Mosharraf Hossain, Salauddin Ahmed, Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu, Obaidul Kader, Manjurul Ahsan Munshi, businessmen Salman F Rahman, MA Hashem and Lotus Kamal are in the Kashimpur jail while Abul Khayer Litu is in custody in Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   Majibar Rahman Sarwar is now in the Barisal jail, Badruddin Kamran and Naser Rahman in the Sylhet jail, Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin and his son in theh Chittagong jail and Giasuddin Al Mamun in the Narsingdi jail.

The detained former prime minister Khaleda Zia at end-September deposited a tax of around Tk 9.50 lakh to the exchequer to whiten Tk 36 lakh undisclosed money, availing the money-whitening opportunity for the second time, tax department sources said.
   The tax authorities, however, said they were yet to accept the tax paid by Khaleda against her untaxed money in a revised tax return for fiscal year 2004-05. The tax was deposited with Circle 22 under Tax Zone-2.
   The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson paid the tax through the jail authorities by an account-payee cheque. Sonali Bank Dhaka Cantonment Branch issued the cheque against the tax department, Khaleda’s tax lawyer Ahmed Azam Khan said.
   ‘She [Khaleda] expressed the intention to pay the tax after finding out that an income of about Tk 9.40 lakh had not been shown in her tax return for 2004-05,’ Azam told New Age.
   ‘The money was obtained by Khaleda as an advance payment made by a tenant of her Gulshan house, which, somehow, was omitted in her previous statement on undisclosed money,’ he added.
   This should not be treated as undisclosed money either, said Azam Khan, adding that the BNP chief found it suitable to include the amount under the undisclosed money category following the National Board of Revenue’s offer.
   On July 31, Khaleda deposited through her representative about Tk 33.87 lakh with the Bangladesh Bank in taxes on her Tk 1.33 crore undisclosed income availing of a government-declared amnesty.
   The revenue board on June 4 offered the amnesty for two months, until July 31, for people to legalise their undisclosed money paying a 5 per cent penalty in addition to the usual tax. The amnesty period was extended till September 30 considering the huge last-minute response from the taxpayers.
   Tax officials could not give any satisfactory answer why they had so far refrained from accepting the tax paid by Khaleda against the untaxed money.
   ‘The decision will be given soon,’ a tax official at Zone-2 told New Age.
   Khaleda along with 11 others, including his younger son, are facing a graft charge brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission of violating tender conditions in appointing an indenting house for container handling. The commission is also investigating at least three other corruption charges against her.

Former BNP lawmaker Manjurul Ahsan Munshi was on Tuesday jailed for 13 years for amassing illegal wealth and hiding information in his wealth statement.
   Mohammad Ashraf Hossain, the judge of the special judge’s court 5 of Dhaka, however, acquitted Munshi’s wife Mazeda Ahsan and two sons, Rezwanul Ahsan and Rizviul Ahsan, of the charges in the case.
   The court revoked the warrants it issued for the arrest of his sons, who were in hiding, and ordered the authorities to release Mazeda from jail if she was not wanted in any other case.
   The court fined Munshi Tk 65 lakh. He will need to serve one more year in jail if he failed to pay the fine. The court also ordered the confiscation of Munshi’s wealth of Tk 1.19 crore.
   Another anti-graft court, of AK Roy, framed charges against former secretary ANH Akhtar Hossain and his wife, Naznin Akhtar, and posted for October 17 the beginning of the trial in the case.
   The court charged Akhtar with amassing illegal wealth of Tk 2.14 crore and hiding information on the amount in his wealth statement submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission. Naznin, who is in hiding, was charged with abetting her husband in the offences.
   The commission’s assistant director Mahbubul Alam filed the case against the couple with the Uttara police on May 31.
   The verdict in Munshi’s case, earlier deferred twice because of the illness of the judge, is the latest in scores of graft cases pursued by the commission to crack down on high-profile corruption suspects, mostly politicians and businessmen.
   Munshi is proved to have personally amassed the illegal wealth, kept in the names of his wife and sons, and handled the wealth personally without any involvement of others accused, the court observed in the verdict, adding the wife and the sons could not be convicted of charge of abetment.
   The court ordered the confiscation of Munshi’s wealth of Tk 1.19 crore, including a flat in Gulshan, 3,619 right shares of the NCC Bank Limited and Tk 2.24 lakh for a Mercedes Benz car and Tk 2.38 lakh for a Nissan pickup.
   Munshi’s family, however, will be allowed to get back the car and the pickup, now in the keeping of the police, paying the amounts on the vehicles ordered for confiscation, the verdict said.
   Munshi was sentenced to simple imprisonment for three years for hiding information in the wealth report and to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years for amassing illegal wealth. The court ordered consecutive execution of the sentences.
   The special anti-graft courts have sentenced to similar punishment and fines former Awami Leage minister Moahmmad Nasim and his wife, Laila Arzumand Banu, former state minister of the BNP government Amanullah Aman and his wife, Sabera Aman, former state minister Mir Md Nasiruddin and his son, Mir Helaluddin, former BNP lawmaker Wadud Bhuiyan, former BNP lawmaker Ali Asghar Lobi and his wife, Khusnud Asghar, former state minister of the Awami League government Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, general secretary of the Awami Swechchhasebak League Pankaj Devnath and his wife, Monika Devnath, and telephone board CBA president Firoz Miah on similar charges.
   Former Awami League lawmakers Shamim Osman and Joynal Abedin Hazari, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury and Tarique Rahman’s friend Giasuddin Al Mamun were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment each for not filing wealth statements by the deadline set by the commission.

The Awami League lawmakers of the seventh and eighth parliaments on Tuesday demanded that the government immediately release their party’s president, Sheikh Hasina, to make the ninth parliament elections acceptable to the people.
   The former deputy leader of the opposition in parliament, Abdul Hamid, made the demand at a press briefing on behalf of 102 former AL lawmakers. He also urged the government to hold the next national elections after withdrawal of the ban on politics in the shortest possible time.
   ‘Hasina was arrested in some false cases filed by some conspirators, and these cases are being ridiculed by 15 crore people of the country,’ said Hamid, also a former speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, at a briefing in his NAM flat in the morning.
   Terming the present interim government an outcome of the movement led by Hasina, he said that the government should release the AL president to fulfil its commitments for holding free, fair and credible elections.
   ‘We, the former Awami League lawmakers, are demanding immediate release of Sheikh Hasina to make the upcoming ninth parliamentary elections acceptable to all,’ he added.
   Pointing out the precarious physical condition of Hasina’s ailing husband Wazed Miah, Hamid also said that it was unfortunate for a Bengali woman to be unable to take care of her husband in such a critical period.
   Replying to a query on Badruddoza Chowdhury’s proposal on Monday to form a government of national consensus, Hamid said that the concept was good but presence of opposition in the House was a must to check the autocracy.
   He said that the demand for Hasina’s release was signed by 70 former lawmakers, and the rest of the 102 former lawmakers expressed their solidarity through fax messages and phone calls.
   Acting AL president Zillur Rahman, presidium members Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed and Matia Chowdhury, acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, Dewan Farid Gazi and Shamshur Rahman Sharif were among those who demanded Hasina’s release.
   AL leaders Shahjahan Khan, Rajiuddin Raju and Atiur Rahman Atik were present at the press briefing, along with a few other prominent AL members.

The International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh, has said that the public’s acceptance of the interim government is now on the decline due to spiralling prices of food items and essential commodities and the reluctance of the business community to invest money at present.
   ‘The unabated price rise has put under threat the government’s impressive achievements after January 11, 2007,’ noted the business organisation in the editorial of its news bulletin released on Tuesday, which said that the price-hike and rising inflation were the biggest challenges facing Bangladesh’s economy.
   The chamber also called on the government to ensure an enabling investment atmosphere so that businessmen are allowed to manage their affairs without difficulty and make their own investment decisions.
   ‘The challenge for the government is, therefore, to win the confidence of the business community in particular, and the public in general,’ it said.
   It observed that the current reform measures, including the drive against rampant corruption, ‘are very much welcome but unlikely to yield immediate results’.
   The benefits will, however, be felt in the medium- and long-term context, the chamber added.
   ‘On the basis of faced realities or perceived ones, it is not that businessmen want the anti-corruption drive to stop, but they expect it to be done with due care and, of course, without creating a panic situation and thereby impacting adversely on the entire business activities of the country.’
   The Bangladesh chapter of the world business organisation cautioned that the country might not achieve the
   target of growth in gross domestic product at the end of the current fiscal year because of the recent slowdown in the growth of gross capital formation and slow private investment.
   The growth target is fixed at 7 per cent whereas the Asian Development Bank has already expressed the fear that the economic growth rate might fall to 6.5 per cent due to the prolonged flood.
   The government’s growth target can be achieved only if three major components of the gross domestic product — agriculture, industry and service sectors — enhance their contribution further, said the chamber.
   The chamber, however, appreciated the government’s efforts to tackle the continuous price-hike although its ability to intervene in a free market economy is limited.

Pakistani jets pounded militant hideouts in a troubled tribal region Tuesday, taking the death toll to 250 from three of the heaviest days of fighting in the region since 2001.
   The clashes have forced thousands to flee from Mir Ali, a town in lawless North Waziristan district that president Pervez Musharraf has previously pinpointed as a den of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.
   Residents said dozens of people including women and children were killed in the latest air strikes in the rugged region bordering Afghanistan, but security officials insisted the dead were all Islamist fighters.
   The unrest puts extra pressure on military ruler Musharraf – a key ally in the US-led ‘war on terror’ – as he waits for the Supreme Court to legitimise his victory in Saturday’s presidential election.
   Chief military spokesman major general Waheed Arshad said at least 150 militants and 45 soldiers had been killed in battles that first erupted on Sunday after pro-Taliban rebels ambushed an army convoy.
   Another two troops died in a roadside bombing on Tuesday, a statement said.
   ‘There were militant hideouts in the area near Mir Ali, aircraft targeted these hideouts on Tuesday but I don’t have the number of casualties from that,’ Arshad said.
   Security officials in the northwestern city of Peshawar said another 50 militants were killed in Tuesday’s airstrikes and a similar number were injured.
   Residents, however, said around a dozen bombs dropped by two fighter jets exploded in the main bazaar in Khedar Khel, a village near Mir Ali, destroying several houses.
   ‘Some 50 people including women and children have died in the bombing,’ resident Noor Mohammad, 45, said by telephone.
   ‘The number of injured is even more.’
   The use of warplanes against militants who fled into the region after the fall of Afghanistan’s Taliban regime six years ago is rare, with the army usually relying on helicopter gunships.
   Most of the 50,000 inhabitants of Mir Ali had fled after more than 50 houses were damaged and the army placed the town under virtual curfew, residents said.
   ‘Our homes have been damaged severely, most of the families have migrated to relatives’ homes in neighbouring towns,’ tribesman Faridullah Khan said as military helicopters circled overhead.
   Desperate locals used mosque loudspeakers to beg the military not to fire at their homes, tribal elder Malik Iqbal Khan said.
   Army spokesman Arshad said that tribal elders had called a council or jirga involving tribesmen, militant representatives and the local administration in a bid to halt the violence. But the military indicated that it was in no mood to compromise.

The government has appointed 179 officials judicial magistrate in the first clear effort to separate the judiciary from the executive, an official said on Tuesday.
   There was no official announcement from the government in the form of a circular, but a senior official of the Supreme Court confirmed the news to the news agency.
   The Supreme Court registrar, Iktedar Ahmed, said, ‘The judicial magistrates were appointed on the basis of merit.’
   Another Supreme Court official, preferring anonymity, said the government had made the appointments to the important post in consultation with the Supreme Court in line with the constitution.
   The appointments came as part of efforts to implement the verdict in the Mazdar Hossain Case to carve out a free judiciary.
   Of the 179, 41 have been appointed chief metropolitan magistrate and chief judicial magistrate, 60 additional metropolitan magistrate and additional metropolitan judicial magistrate, 11 metropolitan magistrate and 67 judicial magistrate.
   All will be working under the judiciary, not the executive.
   Asked on what criteria the judicial magistrates were appointed, Iktedar said efficiency, merit, qualifications and honesty were the yardstick of the appointments.
   He also said the law ministry and the Supreme Court took the decision after reviewing the records of officials.
   Iktedar said an amended Code of Criminal Procedure for the separation of the judiciary came into effect on November 1.
   ‘From that day, the judicial magistrates will conduct trial directly under district and sessions judges,’ he said.
   The Supreme Court on September 27 in a full-court meeting of all the judges of the Appellate and High Court divisions, chaired by chief justice Md Ruhul Amin, recommended implementation of the amended CrPC.
   The judges of the Supreme Court and high judicial officials would give guidelines to the chief metropolitan magistrates and chief judicial magistrates on October 17 and to the district and sessions judges on October 18 on how to discharge their new responsibilities.
   Chief Justice Md Ruhul Amin, Appellate Division judge MM Ruhul Amin and High Court judges Mirza Hossain Haider, Kamrul Islam Siddiqui, law secretary Kazi Habibul Awal and Supreme Court registrar Iktedar Ahmed will speak at an orientation programme at the Judicial Administrative Training Institute.

The government is set to sign agreements on Thursday with six local companies on the installation of 10 small independent power plants with a combined capacity of 200MW.
   The Power Division, power and gas agencies and the companies will sign agreements on the implementation, and purchase of power and gas, sources in the division said.
   The parties in August initialled the agreements to set up three 30MW power plants at Rupganj in Narayanganj, Mauna in Gazipur and Jangalia in Comilla, four 20MW plants at Narsingdi, Tangail, Feni, Barabkunda in Chittagong and three 10MW plants at Mahipal in Feni, Ullapara in Sirajganj and Habiganj.
   ‘The law ministry has vetted the agreements. The plants will be installed on a build, own and operate scheme,’ said a division source.
   The council of adviser’s purchase committee in July approved the selection of the Summit Industrial and Mercantile Corporation for the installation of the Jangalia and Rupganj plants, Summit Power Limited for the Gazipur and Sirajganj plants, Asian Entech Power Corporation for the Feni, Tangail and Narsingdi plants, Regent Textile for the Barabkunda plant and Energypac-Confidence Power Venture for a 10MW plant at Habiganj, and the Saiham Power a 10MW plant at Mahipal in Feni.
   The Power Development Board will buy 90MW of power from six plants while the Rural Electrification Board will buy 100MW from the remaining plants for 15 years.
   The selected companies will install the plants in 15 months after signing the agreements.
   The power division officials are expecting to get 200MW of power from the small plants by 2008. Bangladesh now faces a power shortage of about 1,000MW during peak hours.

The Bangladesh Telecomm-unication Regulatory Commission has fixed Tk 15 crore as acquisition fee for each international gateway licence for private sector to route overseas calls to and from Bangladesh.
   The commission on Sunday invited bids from eligible Bangladeshi entities (resident citizens, proprietorships, partnerships and companies registered with the Registrar of the Joint Stock Companies and Firms under the Companies Act 1994) for the grant of licence to set up, maintain and operate such systems under the International Long Distance Telecommunication Services Policy 2007.
   The commission will issue three licences to private sector on auction in addition to the existing international gateway of the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board.
   The duration of the licence will initially be for a term of 15 years with an option for renewal, each for five years, subject to commission approval, according to the regulatory and licensing guideline on the international gateways available on the commission’s web site since Monday.
   All the three international gateways will be located in Dhaka and must be compliant with lawful interception by intelligence agencies. The guideline says the licensee will set up and begin the international gateway services within four months of the issuance of the licence.
   According to the guideline, a gateway operator needs to pay Tk 7.5 crore to the government in annual licence fee and Tk 15 crore in performance bank guarantee.
   The guideline puts a condition that the licensee companies will issue initial public offering on the stock exchanges of Bangladesh within three years of operation subject to laws and regulation of the Security and Exchange Commission.
   The auction will be based on an open outcry and the bidders will bid for the percentage of the revenue to be shared with the commission.
   The bid will start at sharing the revenue at 25 per cent while each subsequent bid increment would be in the multiple of 0.25 per cent.
   When there are no further bids, the international gateway auction committee will announce the winning bid and the names of the bidders in order of their bid amounts — from higher to lower.
   The second highest bidder will be asked to match the winning bid and if he agrees, he will qualify for the second licence.
   In case the second highest bidder is unwilling to match the winning bid, the second licence will be offered for the same price to other bidders in order of their bid amounts — from higher to lower — until the auction winning bid is matched.
   ‘If no other bidder is ready to match the winning bid, the bidding session will be cancelled and a future date of re-auction for fresh bid will be announced by the commission,’ the guideline said.
   Regarding the revenue sharing with interconnection exchanges and access network service providers on incoming calls, the gateway operator will pay 15 per cent of prevailing call rates to the interconnection exchanges and 20 per cent of prevailing call to access network service providers.
   The licensee will have primary backbone connection towards international networks through SEA-ME-WE submarine cable and through other submarine cables whenever available.
   The licensee will have backup connectivity through satellite earth station or VSAT until alternative submarine cable is available.

One hundred and twenty-three Bangladeshi workers, including 10 women, threatened to commit suicide urging government intervention in addressing their problems, including increase in salary and payment of dues in arrears in two garment factories in Jordan.
   The families of the workers told New Age they had been on strike for 26 days demanding the payment of their dues of three months and an increase in their salary up to Jordan dirham 125, which is now 110.
   ‘They have led a miserable life for 26 days, without adequate food and other basic needs, as the two employers did not heed their demands,’ Selina Akhtar, wife of Arshadul Islam, a worker in Jordan, said, explaining the latest situation.
   Bangladesh embassy officials in Amman said the workers went on strike without serving issuing any notice to the employers in violation of the law of the country.
   The Bangladesh officials said the workers had a meeting with their employers in Amman on Monday that ended inconclusive.
   The Bangladeshi workers have recently been employed in two leading garment factories in Jordan — Cotton Craft and CCKM.
   ‘Of them, a small group joined the CCKM in September,’ said an official in Dhaka.
   Referring to his discussion with the Bangladesh officials in Amman, he said the problems the workers faced at the two enterprises were different.
   Workers at the Cotton Craft went on strike 26 days ago, demanding payment of their dues of three months in arrears at a time and an increase in their wages.
   The owner of the company assumed them of paying the dues in arrears in phases, but did not say anything regarding the increase in salary.
   At the CCKM, the workers had been on strike for a week, demanding the termination of the job of the production in-charge at the factory, Shahidul Islam, a Bangladeshi citizen.
   The Bangladeshi workers complained the production in-charge put extra pressure on them to increase production.

The expelled secretary general of BNP, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, on Tuesday expressed his support for the idea of forming a government of national consensus floated by the Bikalpadhara chief, AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury.
   ‘I have long been calling for a consensus on some specific national issues for the betterment of the nation and I think all should throw their weight behind such a move,’ Bhuiyan said.
   He, however, did not make it clear whether he and his followers would join a government of consensus, if it was formed, or any move to set up such a government under the leadership of B Chowdhury.
   Badruddoza Chowdhury, also former president, on Monday called for forming a government of national consensus for the next two terms or ten years to ensure political stability and avoid a repeat of the situation that existed before January 11.
   Briefing newsmen at his Gulshan apartment in the morning, Bhuiyan said, ‘Many problems that are affecting the politics of Bangladesh can be solved easily through a consensus. The deteriorating relationship between the political parties is not a good sign. We should stand united for the country.’
   Asked if a consensus government could be expected before or after the next election, Bhuiyan said, ‘It is better if it is formed right now.’
   He, however, said, such a move required discussions among different political parties. ‘It can be anytime before or after the election.’
   Asked if he and his followers would join any alliance led by the Awami League or the Bikalpadhara or other parties with an aim to form a national government, Bhuiyan said, ‘We are not going to form any alliance with any party right now; rather we want to work on the basis of some specific issues.’
   Bhuiyan welcomed the government’s plan to set up a truth commission.

Two Dhaka courts on Tuesday acquitted Jamuna Group chairman Nurul Islam Babul, his wife Salma Islam, and son Shamim Islam of charges in three criminal cases after the complainants appealed for dismissal of the cases.
   Dhaka metropolitan magistrate SM Mainuddin Ahmed dismissed one of the cases against Nurul Islam filed by Arif Hossain Chowdhury, owner of Green Granite and Marble Company, on the plaintiff’s plea that ‘Nurul Islam has already paid the Tk 42 lakh due to me and at
   present I have no allegation against him’.
   Arif lodged the case on May 9 with the Gulshan police, stating that Nurul Islam had purchased marbles worth Tk 66.16 lakh from him but paid only Tk 24 lakh.
   Another metropolitan magistrate, Helal Uddin, acquitted Nurul Islam, his wife
   Salma Islam, also publisher of the daily Jugantor, and their son Shamim Islam, of charges of land-grabbing and issuing death threats to two people of Khilkhet area in the remaining two cases.
   The magistrate issued the order after the complainants, Imran Dewan and his relative Harun-ur-Rashed Dewan, had appealed for acquittal of the businessman and his family, saying they had already paid them their dues.
   Imran lodged the second case with the Khilkhet police on May 21 against the three accused, alleging that they grabbed a plot of him at Baruda in Khilkhet and filled it up, keeping Tk 1.20 crore due in price for the land. The plaintiff said the accused also threatened him when he protested against grabbing the land without paying him the complete price.
   Harun filed the third case with the same police station against the family accusing them of the same and said they did not pay him Tk 25.10 lakh for a land purchased from him in the area.
   Nurul Islam, who is in custody since his arrest on February 25, has not been released from jail as a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission against him, his wife and son, is still pending with the court of chief metropolitan magistrate of Dhaka.
   ACC deputy director Sharmin Ferdousi lodged the case against them on August 19 with the Ramna police on charge of submitting false wealth statements and owning assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

The government has decided to revamp its labour wing in Kuala Lumpur in the wake of recent row over the restriction of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia. Four of the officials will be called back.
   Although the decision has been made, the government is yet to take any action against the recruiting agents for their alleged exploitations of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia.
   The Bangladesh foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, on Tuesday claimed the ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshis by Malaysia was a temporary step and it would provide them a breathing space to address the problems.
   ‘We have decided to take action [against the people] to create favourable circumstances for our workers in Malaysia,’ he told newsmen at a briefing in his office.
   He said some 800 Bangladeshis reported to have returned home were relocated to two companies in Malaysia.
   The Malaysian cabinet committee on foreign workers on October 3 decided to impose a temporary ban on the fresh recruitment of workers from Bangladesh in the wake of serious frauds by recruiting agents of both the countries.
   Responding to queries, the adviser said the inquiry mission, headed by the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment secretary, Abdul Matin Chowdhury, submitted a report to him which recommended some actions, including revamp of the Bangladesh labour wing there.
   The three-member mission in September visited Kuala Lumpur in the wake of serious maltreatment of Bangladeshi workers in Malaysia.
   Quoting the recommendations of the committee report, Matin said the labour counsellor, first secretary to the labour wing, an administrative officer and an office assistant would be called back home.
   Iftekhar, who is also the adviser for expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment, said he and the secretary were asked to identify the persons responsible for the plight of workers in Malaysia.
   The report suggested action in tree tiers — the Bangladesh mission in Kuala Lumpur, the Bureau of Manpower and Employment Training and the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry.
   ‘From now on, the Bangladesh high commission will not make attestation of any demand letter for workers without proper verification,’ the secretary said.
   The report said, ‘The mission will immediately hold discussions with the home and labour ministries there after getting any complaints regarding the recruitment process.’
   He said, ‘We have suggested appointing lawyer in every province of Malaysia for providing our workers with legal assistance. We have also suggested some measures to bring back discipline in the activities of the mission.’
   The mission suggested that the BMET from now on should send an updated list of Bangladeshi workers to Kuala Lumpur and strengthen its monitoring system regarding the sending of Bangladeshi citizens.
   Referring to the Bangladesh envoy’s meeting with the Malaysian official, Iftekhar said if the temporary ban on Bangladeshi workers would not withdrawn it would create a huge problem.
   ‘It [the ban] can also create negative impact on two lakh Bangladeshis who have already got clearance for job in Malaysia,’ he said.
   The Bangladesh high commissioner, Khairuzzaman, repeatedly requested Malaysia to explain its stance on Bangladeshi workers.
   Malaysia hinted that Bangladeshi recruiting agents and the employers in Malaysia must change their attitude and must go by the law in the recruitment of Bangladeshis.
   Iftekhar said Malaysia gave clearance to 3,47,000 Bangladeshi workers, of them one lakh 92,000 already left for Malaysia. The remaining workers will also be able to join works in Malaysia.
   He said 1,200 to 1,300 workers who have received the clearance before the ban are going to Malaysia every day.
   The secretary said over Tk 1.35 crore were realised from the recruiting agents and the money were given back to the exploited workers.
   He said licences of four recruiting agencies were cancelled, an agency was closed and the security deposit of six agents was forfeited.
   The acting foreign secretary, MAK Mahmood, was present in the briefing.

Albert Fert of France and Peter Gruenberg of Germany on Tuesday won the Nobel Physics Prize for pioneering work that led to the miniaturised hard disk, one of the breakthroughs of modern information technology.
   Fert, 69 and Gruenberg, 68, were lauded for their discovery in 1988 of a principle called giant magnetoresistance, or GMR.
   GMR can ‘be considered one of the first real applications of the promising field of nanotechnology,’ the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said in its citation.
   Consistently diminishing electronic devices have become a matter of course in today’s IT world, with smaller laptop computers and iPods hitting the market every year.
   The first read-out head based on Fert and Gruenberg’s technology was launched in 1997, and has been the standard in industry since then.
   Gruenberg told Swedish Radio that winning the prize was ‘overwhelming, it is just great’.
   Asked whether he had expected to win, he replied: ‘Partly yes, partly no. I won prizes before and people always said there was one prize missing, the end prize. In that sense I was a bit prepared.’
   Fert said meanwhile that he was ‘very happy for myself, my family, and my colleagues whom I greatly appreciate.’
   He was pleased to share the prize with Gruenberg ‘whom I admire and with whom I have always had a good relationship.’
   Working independently, Fert and Gruenberg discovered that minute magnetic changes, in materials made of very thin layers of various metallic elements, lead to huge differences in electrical resistance.
   In turn, these differences lead to changes in the current in the readout head, which scans a hard disk to spot the ones and zeroes in which the data is stored.
   As a result, the readout head is able to read smaller and weaker magnetic areas – and this sensitivity means information can be packed more densely on the hard disk.
   Matin Durrani, editor of Physics World, a journal published by Britain’s Institute of Physics, said the award was fitting.
   ‘Most people draw up short lists (of potential winners) for fun – of course we don’t know who will win – and they are two people we suspected might win it,’ Durrani said.
   ‘I am really pleased that it has gone for something very practically based and rooted in research relevant to industry. It shows that physics has a real relevance not just to understanding natural phenomena but to real products in everyday life.’
   The pair have already been honoured together for their discovery. In January 2007, they shared the prestigious Japan Prize for their breakthrough.
   Fert is a professor at the Universite Paris-Sud in Orsay, France and director of the Unite mixte de physique CNRS in Orsay, while Gruenberg is a professor at the Forschungszentrum Juelich in Germany.

Ferry and launch services on the Paturia-Daulatdia river route remained suspended for 10 hours from 8pm on Monday due to rains and squally weather, causing a lot of suffering to passengers travelling in those routes.
   However, the weather in most parts of the country, particularly in the coastal areas, improved on Tuesday with the sun occasionally peeping out through the clouds.
   Several hundred vehicles remained stranded at Paturia in Manikganj and Daulatdia Ghat in Rajbari, disrupting road communications between the southern districts and other parts of the country.
   Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation sources in Aricha said that about 400 vehicles, including loaded trucks and buses with passengers from Dhaka, queued up at Paturia Ghat, and 350 vehicles from the southern districts were held up at Daulatdia.
   Our Chittagong correspondent reported that the downpour stopped on Tuesday, providing people the opportunity to do their normal work and Eid shoppers to go to the markets despite the usual traffic jam.
   Our Barisal correspondent said that the weather improved and cautionary weather signals were lowered after two depressions, one created in the Bay of Bengal and another in the Barisal region, weakened and crossed the coastal areas on Monday night without causing any damage.
   The day was almost dry after three days of almost incessant rain although the sky remained cloudy.
   The BIWTA permitted multi-deck passenger vessels to ply their routes on Tuesday morning.
   The launches plying the Barisal-Dhaka route were forced to anchor at Barisal, Dhaka and Chandpur on Monday night due to turbulent weather.
   Only the Rocket, a strongly built steamer of the BIWTC that was built by the British in the last stages of the colonial era, was permitted to ply the Dhaka-Chandpur-Barisal-Jhalakati-Hularhat-Mongla-Khulna-Dhaka route on Monday night.
   River transport on 76 internal and coastal routes of the region remained suspended since last Saturday, said Rafikul Islam, BIWTA port officer in Barisal.
   Barisal city’s roads again became overcrowded by the Eid shoppers and traffic jams were created after the weather improved on Tuesday.
   However, fishing in the Bay is yet to begin as the sea still remained rough on Tuesday due to upcoming new moon tide. It will be resumed within a day if the weather becomes stable, said coastal fishermen.
   Our Patuakhali correspondent said that the weather turned almost sunny on Tuesday, a welcome contrast to Monday’s torrential rains and windy weather.

The Awami League’s acting general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, on Tuesday said that his party might consider the formation of a national consensus government if it is composed of pro-liberation, non-communal and democratic forces.
   ‘With whom will the national government be formed? The AL cannot join any platform with the anti-liberation and communal forces, plunderers and oppressors of women,’ Ashraf told reporters in reply to a query whether his party supported Badruddoza Chowdhury’s proposal of the formation of a national consensus government.
   He made the remarks during an Iftar Mehfil of the Dhaka City (North) unit of the Awami Sechchhasebak League at its Bangabandhu Avenue office.
   ‘He [Badruddoza] should make it clear with whom the national government will be formed,’ said Ashraful, adding that his party has still not been sent any formal proposal in this regard.
   He, however, said that the AL might discuss the issue if it receives a formal proposal.
   The Bikalpabhara Bangladesh’s president, Badruddoza Chowdhury, on Monday made a proposal for formation of a national consensus government at an Iftar party thrown by his party.
   The AL acting general secretary, in reply to another question, said that the law adviser, Mainul Husein, should clarify his remarks about the arrests of AL president Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
   Mainul Hosein on Wednesday, at an Iftar party of the Overseas Correspondents Association of Bangladesh, said that the government wanted them [Hasina and Khaleda] to leave the country, but they did not cooperate.
   Ashraf said that the government wanted to prevent Hasina’s return to the country and send Khaleda abroad, although it did not make its stand on the issue clear.
   ‘If that was the motive of the government, then it is an ominous sign for the nation,’ he said, and asked whether the government would withdraw the cases against them if they left the country now.
   He told reporters that although the former AL minister, Mohammad Nasim, has been convicted initially, he has chance to prove himself innocent by appealing to a higher court.

The National Board of Revenue has asked the commercial banks to provide information about the accounts of 48 individuals and companies.
   The board in a letter dated October 2 asked the banks to provide information about active or closed current of savings accounts or fixed deposit receipts under single or joint names, credit card transaction details, vault, locker, saving certificate, and other saving instruments, foreign currency accounts, and loans taken from July 2001 within seven days of receiving the letter.
   The letter, issued on the commercial banks as a part of the ongoing anti-corruption drive, however, reached the banks on Monday and the timeframe for submitting the information to the NBR would be counted from that day, banking sources said.
   More than 30 people on the list are businessmen and their family members, five business houses, five Hawa Bhaban staff, two Awami League leaders and 11 of their family members while the rest are three government officials and their family members.
   The businessmen are Harun Ferdousi, owner of Marshall Distilleries, Manjurul Islam Babul, chairman of Eastern Group, Abu Sufian, director of Bashudhara Group, Kazi Salimul Haque Kamal, chairman of GQ Ballpen, Shafiul Sobhan Sanbir, director of Bashudhara Group, Amin Ahmed, chairman of Al Amin Construction, Anis Ahmed Gorky, chairman of MGH Group, Rumi Akhter Hossain, managing director of Rangs Electronics, Riaz Uddin Al Mamun, managing director of Epilion Group, Nesar Ahmed, director of Oriental Bank, and Fayzul Islam Ripon, owner of Sound Valley.
   The business houses on the list are Eastern Housing Group, GQ Ballpen Industries Ltd, Marshall Distilleries, Al-Amin Constructions (Pvt) Ltd, and Sound Valley.
   The staffers of Hawa Bhaban on the list are Rafiqul Islam Bakul, Towhidul Islam Ashik, Sajjadul Siraj Joy, and Mia Nuruddin Apu, and Kamrul Islam, personal secretary to Giasuddin Al Mamun.
   The NBR also asked for detail bank information of former Awami League lawmaker Akhtaruzzaman Chowdhury’s family members — Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, Ashikuzzaman Chowdhury, Roksana Zaman Chowdhury, Afroza Zaman Chowdhury, and Farhana Zaman Chowdhury — and former AL lawmaker Ali Reza Raju and six of his family members.
   The list also include M Abu Hanif Patowary and three of his family members, Md Azizul Hasan and six of his family members, and M Kutub Uddin Ahmed and three of his family members.

Saudi Arabia’s ageing King Abdullah has issued a set of rules to implement a succession law announced last year in a bid to ensure a smooth transition of power in the world’s biggest oil producer.
   Under a decree issued on Monday, the king detailed regulations governing a committee created to choose future kings and crown princes in the desert kingdom which has been ruled by the Al-Saud dynasty for 75 years.
   The decree, published by the official SPA news agency and other media in Saudi Arabia, designates that the committee’s members must be the sons or grandsons of the kingdom’s founder Abdul Aziz bin Saud, who died in 1953.
   The succession law, which does not apply to King Abdullah, who is in his mid-80s, or to his half-brother Crown Prince Sultan, ‘aims at streamlining the succession process,’ said the English-language Arab News.
   The transfer of power in Saudi Arabia, founded in 1932, is keenly watched by oil markets as the vast nation sits on one quarter of the world’s known oil reserves.
   Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy with no elected parliament or political parties and the population of about 23 million is ruled by strict Sharia Islamic law.
   The succession law, which was announced last October, establishes a new mechanism for declaring the reigning monarch or heir to the throne unfit to continue in their duties, either temporarily or permanently.
   On the death of the monarch, the committee would immediately hold a meeting to name the crown prince as king and then the new ruler would have 10 days to inform the commission of his choice of crown prince.
   All Saudi kings to date have been sons of the kingdom’s founder Abdul Aziz, although he is estimated to have fathered anywhere between 50 and several hundred.
   When King Fahd died in August 2005, then crown prince Abdullah was swiftly approved as the new monarch having already served as the kingdom’s de facto ruler for some years because of Fahd’s declining health.
   Some successions have not been so easy. In 1964, the founder’s eldest son King Saud was deposed by his brother Faisal, who was then assassinated in 1975.
   In the decree, King Abdullah said membership of the so-called Allegiance Commission was limited to four years but could be renewed with the agreement of the king and the member’s brothers.
   Membership will be limited to Abdul Aziz’s sons or a grandson of those who have died or are incapacitated, as well as one son each designated by the king and by the crown prince. However, the size of the committee is not known.
   The committee, which will be chaired by the oldest surviving descendant of Abdul Aziz, will take its decisions by majority vote in a secret ballot but must have a quorum of two-thirds.
   It will choose a crown prince from up to three candidates put forward by the king but will have the authority to reject all of them and put forward its own nominee.
   In the event of rejection by the king, the committee will then have a month to hold a vote to choose between the king’s candidate and its own.
   Previously the crown prince had always been selected by informal consensus within the royal family, a process that generally led to the senior prince taking the throne at increasingly advanced ages.

The 13th death anniversary of eminent artist SM Sultan will be observed today with a befitting manner.
   SM Sultan Foundation and district administration have chalked up an elaborate programme to observe the day.
   The programmes include placing of wreaths at the grave of SM Sultan at 9:00am, offering of feteha, milad mahfil and Qur’an khwani at 9.15am, art competition for children at Shishu Swarga and prize distribution at 10.30am.
   The president of SM Sultan Foundation and deputy commissioner of the district, Mohammad Abdul Quyyum Sardar, told the news agency that all preparations have been completed to observe the day.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Tuesday pressed charges against former lawmaker Mosaddak Ali Falu, also chairman of the NTV, and his employee, Monirul Islam Sohel, on charge of misappropriating relief goods.
   The investigation officer, Sheikh Abdus Salam, also assistant director of the commission, filed the charge sheet with the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court of Dhaka.
   The joint forces seized 100 bundles of corrugated iron sheets from Mosaddak’s Shanghai-Bangla Ceramic Industries on February 10 when Falu was in custody after his arrest on February 5.
   A case was filed by subinspector Ismail Hossain with the Ashulia police on February 10 in this regard.
   Mosaddak, one of the corruption suspects listed by the interim government, was earlier charged in another such case filed by the Rapid Action Battalion with the Tejgaon police station on March 7.

The Awami League presidium will hold a meeting at the house of the party’s acting president, Zillur Rahman, at Gulshan this afternoon.
   ‘I have convened the presidium meting to discuss party activities on the Eid day in the absence of the party president, Sheikh Hasina,’ Zillur told New Age Tuesday night, adding some issues related to the present political situation would also be discussed in the meeting.

Iraq has expressed keen interest to reopen its embassy in Bangladesh.
   The Iraqi embassy stopped operation in Dhaka following the US-Iraq war in 2003.
   In a letter to the foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, expressed his government’s willingness in this respect.
   The foreign adviser said, ‘We will welcome Iraq’s decision on reopening its embassy. I believe it will help intensify brotherly bilateral relation with Iraq’.

A Bangladeshi national in the UK on Tuesday was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife.
   Kafil Ahmed, who has been staying in the UK illegally for 11 years, was arrested in Norwich on 25 January after the couple were reported missing from their home.
   Kafil, 32, was found guilty after the jury heard blood stains at the home he shared with his 21-year-old wife, Laily Begum, suggested a ‘savage attack’ took place, reports BBC News.
   He was told on Tuesday he must serve at last 20 years for murdering Laily at their home in Simmonds Place, Darlaston, West Midlands, in 2006.
   Kafil had mistakenly believed his wife was having an affair, the court heard.
   The jury at Birmingham Crown Court, who found him guilty on Monday, had heard how restaurant-worker Kafil, who has a four-year-old daughter by his wife, used a knife to kill her in January 2006.
   Passing a life sentence Judge Frank Chapman said Kafil had mistaken his wife’s generosity and kindness to others as unfaithfulness.
   Anthony Barker QC, prosecuting, told the jury that Laily was killed after ringing her brother-in-law on January 19 and telling him of her husband’s suspicions.
   After the killing the accused ‘lied and lied’ to escape justice.
   The judge said Kafil had no reason for killing his wife, who was a supportive and loving mother.