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Former prime minister Khaleda Zia and 12 others, including her younger son Arafat Rahman Koko, were charged with corruption for giving a company the contract of container handling at the Inland Container Depot in Dhaka and Chittagong port allegedly for kickbacks.
   Golam Shahriar Chowdhury, a deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, filed the case with Tejgaon police on Sunday night against Khaleda, Koko and 11 others for awarding contract to an incompetent and unfit firm, Global Agro Trade Company, to handle the containers. The case was recorded at about 11:15pm.
   It was the first case filed against Khaleda Zia by the ACC which on the same day brought another case of bribery against another former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, now detained in a sub-jail.
   The other accused with Khaleda in the case are former chairmen of Chittagong Port Authority, commodore (retd) Zulfiquar Ali and AMM Shahadat Hossain, its former directors (transport) MA Sanwar Hossain, chief accounts officer Ahmed Abul Kashem, former member of CPA Lutful Kabir, directors of Global Agro Trade Syed Galib Ahmed, Syed Tanvir Ahmed and AKM Musa Kajal, former shipping minister Akbar Hossain’s wife, Jahanara Akbar, and son Ismail Hossain Saimon, and Saimon’s friend Ehsan Yusuf.
   The complainant alleged that 25 companies bought tender documents and six of them finally participated in the bidding for handling containers at the depot and GATCO was termed as inexperienced and unfit for the job.
   But as a son of the then shipping minister, Saimon persuaded Koko to use his influence to award the contract to the company and accordingly the latter communicated it to his mother Khaleda Zia.
   The then shipping minister and the former prime minister played an active role and used their influence in handing out the contract to GATCO.
   Although the company was declared unfit, GATCO got the job upon instruction of the then prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, the FIR said adding that the accused abused power in giving it the contract by corrupt means.
   Container handling was often disrupted due to incompetence of the company, its unskilled manpower and obsolete equipment which made the government incur a loss of more than Tk 1,000 crore during the period from March 1 in 2003 to December 31 in 2006.
   The complainant also alleged that Saimon was paid a total of Tk 2,19,45,091 by the GATCO and the lion’s share of the kickback went to Koko during the period for awarding the contract to the company. It was revealed during interrogation of Syed Galib Ahmed, now detained in the jail, the complainant mentioned in the case.
   The complainant also appealed to put the case under the Emergency Power Rules 2007, terming it a serious case of public interest.
   Golam Shahriar Chowdhury, the complainant of the case, left Tejgaon police station immediately after signing the papers.
   Leaders of different factions of the BNP refused to make comments on the case.
   BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan’s personal staff said at 12:10 that the former had already gone to bed.
   Hannan Shah, adviser of the BNP chairperson, said he was unable to make any comments as he was at a hospital attending his daughter-in-law.
   The party vice-chairman Mir Shawkat Ali said he had nothing to say as it was a matter with the government.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Sunday filed another case against the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, with the Tejgaon police station for allegedly taking bribe of three crore taka from two private companies in the power sector.
   The case is the fifth filed against the detained former prime minister in the regime of the present interim government.
   Deputy director of the ACC, Shabbir Hasan, lodged the case against Hasina and six others, accusing them of taking bribe from Summit Group and the United Group of Companies in exchange for permission to set up a barge-mounted power plant in Khulna, said Tejgaon police.
   ‘The deputy director came to the Tejgaon thana at about 3:45pm and filed the case against Sheikh Hasina and six others,’ sub-inspector of Tejgaon police station Anwarul Islam told New Age on Sunday night.
   According to the case, the then prime minister and the government officials approved the offer of Wartsila Power Development Ltd to supply electricity to the national grid at the unit rate of 5.10 US cents until December 1998 and then at 5.82 cents, ignoring the lowest bid of 4.59 cents quoted by New England Power Company Consortium. The NEPC quoted the price for all the three proposed power plants.
   The ACC deputy director, in the document of the case, said that Sheikh Hasina had received Tk 3 crore from the two power companies in several instalments from October 24, 1996 to November 24, 1997 when her government was in power, said the police.
   The power companies had to pay the money reportedly for buying a plot of land for the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust.
   The land measuring 19 katha and 11 chhatak with a two-storey building was purchased from Mrs Nasrin Ahmed and Miss Natasha Ahmed at a cost of Tk 6.50 crore and Tk 3 crore was paid by United Group and Summit Group through eight pay orders.
   Natasha received Tk 30 lakh from Farid Khan of Summit Group through a pay order of Dhaka Bank Adamjee Court Branch, and it was issued on November 24, 1997. The rest of the amount was paid to Nasrin Ahmed.
   A pay order for Tk 40 lakh was issued by the American Express Bank Ltd on October 7, 1997, and it was given by Abul Kalam Azad.
   A pay order for Tk 45 lakh was issued by the Standard Chartered Bank the same day and the same man gave it.
   Farid Khan gave a pay order of the Eastern Bank’s Sonargaon branch, for Tk 60 lakh, and it was issued on the same day. Aziz Khan gave a pay order of AB Bank Karwan Bazar Branch for Tk 33 lakh, and it was issued on November 24.
   The same man gave another pay order of the same bank branch for Tk 10 lakh on the same day. Aziz Khan also gave Tk 27 lakh to Nasrin through a pay order of ANZ Grindlays Bank Dilkusha Branch on the same day.
   The other six accused in the case are former Energy secretary Toufique Elahi, former PDB chairman Noor Uddin Mahmud Kamal, Summit Group chairman Aziz Khan and his brother Farid Khan, Hasan Mahmud Raja and Abul Kalam Azad.
   Hasina was arrested on July 16 in connection with an ‘extortion’ case and has been detained in a makeshift jail in a house in the national parliament’s premises.
   On April 9 Tajul Islam Farook, chairman of Westmont Power Company, filed the first case, during this regime, with Tejgaon police station under the non-bailable sections of the Penal Code. Tajul accused Hasina of extortion and abuse of power in 1998, when she was prime minister
   On June 13, two separate ‘extortion’ cases — one for Tk 5 crore and another for over Tk 2.99 crore — were filed against her.
   Noor Ali, managing director of the Unique Group of Companies, filed one case with Tejgaon police station, accusing Hasina and her two relatives of extorting Tk 5 crore for mediating between the Power Development Board and his firm to finalise a power-plant deal in 1997.
   Azam J Chowdhury, managing director of East Coast Trading Private Ltd, filed a case with Gulshan police station against Hasina and AL leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim for allegedly extorting over Tk 2.99 Crore from him.
   She is also implicated in the Paltan killing case where several persons were killed in the encounter between rival political camps last October.
   A good number of other cases have been pending against her since the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat government, including the naval frigate and Mig-29 kickback cases.

The government is yet to make a complete assessment of the overall damage of crops, fisheries, livestock, infrastructures and other sectors from flooding.
   ‘I cannot give you the total figure at the moment without a complete assessment of damage from flooding at marginal level,’ the agriculture adviser, CS Karim, said at a briefing on the post-flood rehabilitation programmes at the Press Information Department on Sunday.
   He said the authorities were yet to receive the entire picture of the devastation of the 39 flood-hit districts.
   ‘The agriculture ministry on the basis of a primary assessment submitted a proposal of Tk 65 crore under the agricultural rehabilitation programme to the Finance Division which allocated Tk 30 crore for the purpose,’ the adviser said, adding that the money was distributed among the deputy commissioners on the basis of the primary damage assessment.
   He said there was no fertiliser crisis, but there might have been some problems at the distribution end.
   The food and disaster management adviser, Tapan Chowdhury, who attended the briefing, said they would ensure that the relief materials allocated for the deputy commissioners were speedily distributed among the affected.
   According to the latest record, the ministry has allocated 16,015 tonnes of rice and more than Tk 16 crore in cash for deputy commissioners for distribution among he flood victims. It said 9,684 tonnes of the rice and more than Tk 10.55 core have so far been distributed among the victims.
   The government has distributed Tk 8,57,81,000 of more than Tk 44 crore allocated as grant for re-building houses.
   Asked whether the government would increase subsidy on agriculture sector considering the damage from flooding, Karim, also responsible for the fisheries and livestock ministry, avoided giving a direct reply and said the government would continue with supply of fertiliser and diesel in accordance with the demand of the farmers.
   ‘It is our great achievement that we depend on rehabilitation programme, and not on relief operation,’ he said.
   A six-member committee headed by an additional secretary of the ministry has begun to coordinate and monitor the whole rehabilitation programmes in the agriculture sector, said the officials.
   Flooding has washed away standing crops on 7,78,719 acres of land and destroyed about 10 lakh houses, affecting more than 1.06 crore people. As of September 2, a total of 783 people died from flooding, according to official records.

The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, said on Sunday that the commission hoped to complete the voters’ roll preparation before the October 2008 deadline as it looked forward to an elected government taking over at the earliest.
   ‘Though we have set October [2008] for completing the task of voters’ roll preparation, we will complete the job at the earliest as the commission wants to see an elected government taking over as soon as possible,’ the CEC told a press briefing at the EC conference room. Election commissioners Muhammed Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hussain were present at the briefing.
   According to the election roadmap announced by the commission, preparation of electoral roll is to be completed by October 2008 and stalled ninth parliamentary polls will be held by December 2008.
   Asked whether the EC would go for early polls if the voters’ roll was prepared ahead of deadline, the CEC said, ‘If the voter listing is done in time, we will go for election.’
   About the commission’s move for completing voter listing before October 2008, Huda said the EC would start the voter registration work in Barisal, Chittagong and Sylhet city corporation areas, another 10 municipalities and 20 upzilas by November this year. ‘Voter registration work is continuing.’
   ‘We will maintain the momentum [that the commission has got after having received some necessary equipment as gift from different organisations],’ he added.
   He said voter registration work would start in full swing as soon as the commission procured most of the necessary equipment through tender.
   The CEC and two other commissioners still hoped that the interim government would ensure an environment–either by relaxing the ban on political activities or by any other means–to facilitate the commission-sponsored dialogues with political parties.
   ‘The government will definitely open a window so that an environment conducive to holding dialogues is created,’ Huda said.
   Asked what the commission would do if the government did not relax the ban, the CEC said in such a situation the commission would talk to the government.
   He, however, said that at least two political parties had told him that they would attend the dialogue even if the restrictions were not eased… they said they found no problem in discussing the issue in respective party forums.
   Huda conceded that problems remained with the two major political parties [Awami League and BNP]. But they have enough time. ‘By this time an environment will be created.’
   The CEC thought that indoor politics was continuing in the country although a state of emergency was in force and urged the interim government to make it clear what kind of activities would be allowed for political parties under indoor politics.
   ‘To my understanding indoor politics is now continuing as political leaders are sitting together, having discussions and holding press conferences. Even a leader is often seen holding teleconferences under a state of emergency. Now it would be wise for the government to clearly define indoor politics. There should be a guideline specifying the activities to be allowed…and then we will understand what indoor politics is about,’ Huda said.
   Asked whether the EC would defer the schedule for sitting with Islami Oikya Jote as the ban on political activities was yet to be relaxed, Huda said the commission had come to know that the IOJ leaders already started discussion among themselves about dialogue with EC on electoral law reforms.
   According to the schedule of dialogues with parties prepared in the Bangla alphabetical order, the EC will sit with Awami League on November 4 and Bangladesh Nationalist Party on November 22. On the first day of the dialogue on September 12, the commission will sit with the Islami Oikya Jote.
   The schedules for the other parties are: Krishak Sramik Janata League– September 16; Ganatantri Party–September 20; Jatiya Party (Ershad)– September 27; Jatiya Party (Manju)–October 4; Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu)–October 9; JSD (Rab)–October 22; Jamaat-e-Islami–October 25; National Awami Party (Muzaffar)–October 28; Workers Party of Bangladesh –November 11; Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Naziur)–November 15, Communist Party of Bangladesh–November 25 and Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal–November 29.

The interim government plans introduction of annual confidential report for performance evaluation of the non-government teachers, education ministry officials told New Age on Sunday.
   ‘Annual confidential reports have been in place for government teachers. Such reports should also be introduced for the teachers of non-government high schools, colleges and madrassah for performance evaluation and promotion,’ said an official.
   ‘Although they are teachers of non-government institutions, they receive 100 per cent of the salary from state exchequer since July 2006. The ministry has planned to introduce the ACR for non-government teachers within a short time.’
   The government needs to spend about Tk 3,357 crore a year on the pay and perks of more than 4.7 lakh teachers and employees of over 27,600 non-government high schools, colleges and madrassahs. There are also a significant number of teachers and employees at many other non-government institutions who do not get salary from the government.
   ‘Some donors and lending agencies have also prescribed the introduction of the ACR for non-government teachers for performance assessment,’ said another official of the ministry.
   ‘An education ministry committee has started groundwork for the introduction of the ACR. The institution heads will write the ACRs of assistant teachers, lecturers and assistant professors and the district education officers will write the ACRs of the institution heads,’ he said.
   The headmaster of a non-government college in city on Sunday told New Age, ‘The preparation of the ACRs will create a chaos as many institutions are headed by inefficient people who will create problems and resort to nepotism.’
   ‘There are hundreds of cases filed with courts and police stations regarding the irregularities of the management committees. If annual confidential reports are introduced, they will just add to the problems,’ said a college principal, adding although government provides the full salary of such teachers, management committees are the administrators of the institutions.
   ‘It will lead to a clash of interest between the institution heads and the management committee chiefs,’ he said.

The Motihar police submitted two charge sheets to the chief metropolitan magistrate court Saturday night against 19 persons, including eight teachers of Rajshahi University, in connection with the cases relating to the violent incident on the RU campus on August 22 last.
   According to police sources, in one of the cases, charge sheet was submitted under section 3(4), 6(2) and 8(2) under the Emergency Powers Rules accusing six teachers.
   Of them, three teachers are now in jail. They are former vice-chancellor of RU Professor Dr Saidur Rahman Khan, Professor Dr Abdus Sobhan of the Applied Physics and Electronics Department, and Associate Professor and Chairman of the Management Department Moloy Kumar Bhowmik.
   Three other teachers included in the charge sheet are Assistant professors of the Mass Communication Department Selim Reza Neuton, Dulal Chandra Bishwas and Abdullah Al Mamun.
   In the other case, charge was pressed under section 3(4) and 8(2) of the Emergency Powers Rules against 13 persons, including two teachers and an officer.
   They are Professor Dr Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan and Professor Dr Golam Sabbir Sattar, both them are of the Geology and Mining Department, and Deputy Chief Information Officer of the public relations section Sadiqul Islam, who was arrested earlier.
   Most of the rest accused in the case are students of various departments of the varsity, the police added.
   Meanwhile, the arrested three teachers were produced before a magistrate court here on Sunday. The magistrate rejected the bail petition submitted on behalf of them. However, the court passed an order asking the jail authorities for arranging necessary treatment for the detained teachers.

The finance ministry has allowed Bangladesh Rifles to import three lakh tonnes of rice and two lakh tonnes of wheat for fair price outlets run by the border guards and also for the government’s open market sales scheme across the country.
   Finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam Sunday approved the procurement order in the backdrop of the food ministry’s failure to procure food grains. The emergency import will help the paramilitary force to intervene into the retail market in Ramadan more effectively, finance ministry officials said.
   BDR has to sign an agreement with the food ministry outlining mechanism of selling the imported rice and wheat in compliance with public food distribution guidelines.
   Rifles Enterprises, the BDR’s commercial entity, will import the foodstuffs and will be exempted from performance guarantee, floating of tender and maintaining timeframe— the normal procedures applicable for public procurements, sources said.
   The imported food grains will be supplied to the food ministry through local tender to partly comply with the public procurement regulations, officials told New Age.
   However, the detailed work plan in this regard is yet to be finalised.
   The paramilitary force has already sought a fund of around Tk 1,200 crore from the finance ministry to import the items directly at the earliest, the sources said.
   Officials concerned said the fund would be given to the BDR in time.
   ‘Disbursement of fund to the BDR to import required quantity of rice and wheat is not a matter of concern as enough budgetary allocation is there for the purpose,’ a high official in the ministry said.
   It was decided in July that the food ministry would import 4.5 lakh tonnes of rice and 3.5 lakh tonnes of wheat. But the ministry has so far been unable to carry out the decision due to price hike of the items in the international market and poor response from bidders in the procurement process, food ministry sources said.
   They said the food ministry’s import target could be halved since the BDR has been tasked with the emergency imports of food grains.
   Finance ministry sources said the prices quoted by bidders to the food ministry were higher than local prices of rice and wheat, which prompted the government to engage BDR in the process.
   BDR had already contacted suppliers of rice and wheat in India, Pakistan, Thailand, Russia, Ukraine and the USA and received positive response, a top official of the force said.
   ‘We have already completed the major preparatory tasks, including negotiation on prices, for importing rice and wheat,’ colonel Mohammed Abdul Halim, BDR director for operations and training, said.
   He hoped that the BDR fair price shops would be able to sell imported rice at prices less by Tk 2 to Tk 5 per kg than the market prices.

Bangladesh Rifles today opens 80 more fair price shops in addition to existing 20 in the capital aiming to influence the kitchen market prices and supplies with Ramadan approaching.
   The paramilitary force will also launch three wholesale markets in the city in two weeks, officials told a press conference in Dhaka Sunday.
   ‘Some 100 fair price shops will be operating across the city from today,’ said colonel Mojibul Hoque, who coordinates BDR’s marketing scheme.
   Construction works of three wholesale markets, one each at Uttara, Jatrabari and Gabtali, have been completed.
   ‘Uttara wholesale market will start operation within a week and other two in 10 or 12 days,’ he said.
   The colonel said that wholesale markets are the new ventures of BDR to feed the city’s retail markets.
   BDR’s retail outlets will sell per kilogram of coarse rice at Tk 19, red lentils between Tk 58 and Tk 60, chickpeas Tk 55, yellow lentil Tk 33 and onion Tk 25.
   Garlic will be sold at Tk 42 per kilogram, ginger Tk 38, powdered turmeric Tk 72, potato Tk 18 and salt Tk 10, while soybean oil will be available at Tk 73 per litre.
   BDR, which has been assisting the government in its efforts to stabilise prices of essentials for the last few months, has built a stock of 20,000 tonnes of rice, 5000 tonnes of soybean oil, 5,000 tonnes of red lentils and 3000 tonnes of chick peas for Ramadan sales.
   ‘We are trying to procure more as we want to influence around 15 per cent of total supply of certain essentials in the city markets,’ Mojib said.
   Replying to questions, the BDR officer said that doing business was not the job of border guards, but they engaged themselves in sales of essen- tials as the government wanted them to do so to contain price spiral.
   ‘I fully agree that it is not BDR’s business, but we are to carry out the government orders.’
   The marketing operations bring them small profits after overhead costs are deducted, the official said.
   Ansar will open some 50 retail outlets while private sector will operate 12 to 14 such shops during Ramadan, the press conference was told.

Detained Awami League president Sheikh Hasina on Sunday handed in her wealth statement of Tk 2.5 crore to the jail authorities for its submission to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
   ‘She signed the wealth statement after going through it and I handed it over to the sub jailer of the special prison, Farukh Ahmed, for its submission to the ACC,’ Hasina’s tax lawyer Khandaker Moniruzzaman told reporters after visiting the former prime minister in the special jail on Sunday.
   Moniruzzaman, who prepared the statement on behalf of Hasina, said besides her property of about Tk 2.5 crore, the property of her husband Wazed Miah was also shown in the report. Wazed Miah owns Sudha Sadan at Dhanmondi which is valued at about Tk 60 lakh, he added.
   According to Moniruzzaman, who has been Hasina’s tax lawyer for about 30 years, the AL chief holds eight bank accounts and has the highest of Tk 1.18 crore and the lowest of Tk 2,000 in an account. The property owned by Hasina and her sister, Rehana, as mentioned in the statement, includes a jute warehouse on 10 kathas of land at Dighalia in Khulna.
   The jute warehouse, valued at about Tk 50 lakh, has been shown as property inherited by Hasina from her mother, Fazilatunnesa Mujib. Ten kathas of land and a pond on six kathas at Gopalganj have also been shown as inherited from her grandfather, Sheikh Lutfar Rahman.
   Hasina and Rehana inherited several bighas of land from her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara. Hasina also owns two cars she has received as gifts from party leaders.
   Hasina, who lives in her husband’s Sudha Sadan house, has mentioned in the wealth report that she does not own any house or plot of land in the capital and that most of her property is inherited.
   Her other sources of income have been shown as salary and benefits she has received as prime minister, lawmaker, and leader of the opposition in parliament.

The law and information adviser, Mainul Hosein, on Sunday said the current interim administration was like any other constitutional government and reiterated that its main objective was to hold the next general elections, not to set any other agenda.
   At a gathering of women entrepreneurs, he also insisted that the fear, confusion and uncertainties in the atmosphere must be removed and the nation should not fail in its journey to what he called ‘make a fresh beginning’.
   ‘A rose is known as a rose, no matter whatever you call it. Constitutionally, this is a caretaker government, and at the end of the day it is a government,’ Mainul told the media, making a slight deviation from his earlier position that the current government was a military-backed national administration.
   He called upon all concerned, especially the honest people, to help the government clear the atmosphere.
   The Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised the function at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital to launch a project styled ‘Promoting Women Entrepreneurship through Advocacy’ supported by the Washington-based Centre for International Private Enterprise. The chamber president, Selima Ahmad, who chaired the meeting, raised various problems faced by women entrepreneurs.
   The adviser sought cooperation of all, including the businesswomen, to institute good governance in the country by removing unnecessary barriers to economic and other activities.

Afroza Abbas, the wife of former BNP minister Mirza Abbas, was jailed on Sunday for 16 years in her absence in two cases of tax evasion.
   The judge of the special court 2 of Dhaka, AK Roy, also fined her Tk 4.82 crore in the two cases, in default to serve 18 more months in jail.
   The court, set up at the MP Hostel in the Jatiya Sangsad Complex to try high-profile corruption suspects, also ordered the confiscation of Afroza’s wealth of Tk 4,67,95,634 and Tk 11,58,746 for concealing information on the amount in her tax returns.
   The convict will, however, need to serve in jail only for five years as the court ordered the sentences in both the cases to be executed at a time.
   The maximum punishment in two income tax evasion cases is five years each and the minimum three years under different sections of the law.
   The sentence will come into effect from the time of her surrender in court or arrest, the court order said. Afroza will have no scope to appeal against the sentences until she surrenders in court.

Detained former communications minister Nazmul Huda on Sunday made a proposal for initiating a national dialogue for incorporating a provision in the constitution making army chief the ex officio president of the state.
   ‘To ensure stability of the country, only one reform is necessary and that is to incorporate a provision in the constitution stipulating that the army chief will be the president of the country,’ he said in a statement suggesting a national dialogue on the issue.
   He distributed a six-page hand-written statement among reporters through his lawyer Nahida Anjum Kana on Sunday, when he appeared before the Special Judge’s Court 5 of Dhaka, housed in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban’s MP Hostel, in a graft case he, along with his wife Sigma Huda, faces for allotting railway land to the human rights organisation run by Sigma.
   ‘Peace will prevail for all time if this formula is implemented, and the patriotic army will be able to make valuable contribution in times of national crisis without any formality or excuse,’ he said.
   ‘From the past experiences, it seems that a civilian president has to work at the command of the army chief although the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces in accordance with the constitution,’ said Huda, a vice-president of the BNP, who has been jailed for seven years for taking bribe.
   ‘It creates misunderstandings between the army and the administration, judiciary and politicians and push the country towards a crisis,’ he said in the statement.
   ‘In the present situation, perhaps the chief justice is being compelled to take some decisions in violation of the fundamental rights and taking the advantage, many are interpreting the decisions as results of unwarranted interference of the army chief in the judiciary,’ he said.
   He also said that some people were trying to explain the Anti-Corruption Commission chairman’s recent meeting with the chief justice in that way. The ACC chairman is a retired army chief.
   He criticised the ‘naked and shameful’ interference of two foreign diplomats in the internal affairs of the country but did not name them.
   ‘Guided by my love for the country, I once called a diplomat stupid because of his interference in our internal affairs. And now I am suffering for that,’ he claimed.

Today is 25th CEDAW Day. But a planned rally to mark the anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women has been postponed as the government did not permit it.
   Usually, women organisations across the globe observe the day through a range of programmes, including rallies, and, this year too, a number of organisations planned a rally for Monday.
   One of the organisations, Steps Towards Development, in a press release on Sunday evening said they had to postpone the rally as they did not get permission for it from the authorities concerned. The release regretted the postponement. Earlier on Sunday, a committee formed to observe the day urged the government to fully ratify the convention which it termed a safeguard against violation of women’s rights.
   Member organisations of the committee will mark the day through a discussion at 2:30pm at the Chhayanaut Bhaban at Dhanmondi in the capital. The organisations include Ain-O-Shalish Kendra, Bangaldesh Mahila Parishad, Manusher Jonno Foundation, STD, BNWLA, UNIFEM, Naripakkha, ActionAid Bangladesh, PSTC, Karmajibi Nari, Bangaldesh Nari Pragoti Sangha, Women for Women, Oxfam, and Dhaka Development Forum.
   The CEDAW was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly. Consisting of a preamble and 30 articles, it came into force as a treaty on September 3, 1981. It defines what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.

Finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam has said the country’s media and academics lack clear understanding of the government’s policies, leading to understatement and misinterpretation of development and reform measures.
   He denied that the policies like closure of public sector jute mills were influenced by global lenders as alleged by independent researchers and civic forums.
   Closure of four jute mills in a month did not follow any prescription of IMF as believed or said, said the adviser when approached by reporters after a discussion on corporate governance at the Bangladesh Enterprise Institution Sunday.
   ‘The government provided the jute sector with Tk 7,500 crore in the last 15 years, but the sector failed to perform well,’ he explained.
   Regarding fresh negotiations with IMF over a new lending scheme, policy support instrument, Mirza Aziz said the government would hold meetings with the delegation, expected this week, before taking any decision.
   The IMF’s poverty reduction growth facility, which guided loans to Bangladesh in recent years, expired in June and the global financial organisation sends a team to Dhaka to sell the new credit scheme.
   The finance adviser Sunday reiterated that the government was not dancing to the tune of multilateral lending agencies.
   But on July 26, he told a World Bank programme that the government had implemented many recommendations even before the global lender put those forward to the government. The government had taken steps to reform energy, financial and trade sectors, he listed.
   The two lending agencies, which are grappling with a surge in global criticism for their internal administrative and financial upheaval, have also come under severe censure in Bangladesh as well, with the business community joining the bandwagon for the first time.
   On August 15, the country’s top business leaders expressed their fear that the government’s current lender-dictated policy towards agriculture ‘is certain’ to plunge the entire sector towards destruction, much like as has happened with the once-flourishing jute sector.
   ‘We consider the … policy is certain to harm the core of our economy — agriculture — much along the same line as it happened to our ‘golden fibre’ — jute,’ claimed the top executives of 14 trade bodies in a press statement.
   They also recalled how the lenders’ prescriptions for raising fuel prices and phasing out subsidy added to the cost of farm productions in Bangladesh, while farm sectors in rich countries continued to enjoy government protections.
   Leaders of 12 trade bodies in a statement on August 1 censured the lenders for their too much interference in the country’s economic policies and urged the government to come out of their prescriptions, which were often found unfriendly to industries, businesses and agriculture.
   On July 14, Centre for Policy Dialogue executive director Debapriya Bhattacharya said Bangladesh Bank had deviated from national consensus on curbing inflation and became more lenient to IMF prescribed policy.
   Policymakers and economists agreed that inflation was a supply-side phenomenon but the central bank in its monetary policy declared on July 12 emphasised more on demand side inflation, which was preached by the IMF, said the economist.

Some 84 out of 302 upazila election officials, appointed allegedly on political consideration during the BNP-led alliance government, have failed eligibility tests and are set to lose their jobs.
   The Election Commission on Sunday published the results of the examinations conducted by the Institute of Business Administration of Dhaka University.
   The officers, who failed the examinations, will lose their jobs after the end of their two years of probationary period on September 6. The EC, however, extended the probationary period of the 218 successful officers for one more year till September 2008.
   Asked whether action would be taken against the officials of the Election Commission and the Public Service Commission involved in the alleged irregularities in the appointments, the chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said the EC had requested the Anti-Corruption Commission to look into the matter.
   A total of 320 thana and upazila election officers joined the service in September 2005 and later about 18 left the job. A total of 40,558 candidates took part in the written examinations of whom 3,212 qualified for viva-voce and 320 were finally selected for appointment through the Public Service Commission.
   After their appointment, there were widespread allegations that at least 150 activists of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal or people loyal to the BNP-led alliance government were given jobs.
   In the face of criticism, the then chief election commissioner Justice MA Aziz said that
   the upazila election officers were appointed through the Public Service Commission, and that the Election Commission had nothing to do with the matter.
   As the media raised question over the efficiency of the 320 thana or upazila election officers, the re-constituted Election Commission led by ATM Shamsul Huda conducted the eligibility test on May 18 through IBA of Dhaka University.
   Opposing the commission’s decision, the election officers filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of such eligibility tests. The court dismissed the petition on April 15.
   According to exam results, 15 officers got 70 marks and above out of 100 marks. One hundred and fourteen officers secured marks between 50 and 69 and 89 secured marks between 40 and 49.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Sunday approved proposals for suing former BNP minister Tariqul Islam, former Awami League chief whip Abul Hasnat Abdullah, businessman Salman F Rahman, former AL lawmaker Haji Mohammad Selim and former BNP lawmaker Giasuddin for submitting false wealth statements and amassing assets beyond their known sources of income.
   The approval was given in the meeting of the commission, held on Sunday, with its chairman Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury in the chair.
   Reporters on Sunday approached him for his comments on the filing of a case against former prime minister and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina by the commission.
   ‘I do not exactly know why the case against Sheikh Hasina has been filed…To me which person is accused in a case is not a big deal, since the important thing is whether we will be able to prove the charges,’ said Mashhud.
   Sixteen employees of the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption, who were not absorbed in the commission, filed petitions before the commission seeking permission to withdraw the writ petitions that they had filed, challenging the commission’s decision not to include them in the commission.
   According to inside sources, the employees filed the petitions in accordance with an understanding that they might be absorbed in the commission if they withdrew the writ petitions which are now pending in the Supreme Court.

The West should not give ‘blind support’ to Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf and must distinguish between democracy and his ‘misrule’, ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif said Saturday.
   Speaking at the plush west London offices of his political party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Sharif added that he would never negotiate with the military leader who ousted him nearly eight years ago.
   He said that the West ‘should clearly differentiate between a democratic rule and misrule because he (Musharraf) is the one who has brought Pakistan to the brink ... I only want that the West should take note of what he’s doing, and not provide blind support to a dictator.’
   ‘This dictator has his own personal agenda, which differs from the agenda of the country, and he’s using the army to perpetuate his illegal rule,’ he said.
   He added that the Pakistani people were ‘dismayed and disappointed’ by American support for Musharraf.
   Sharif, who was Pakistan’s prime minister from 1990 to 1993, and again between 1996 and 1999, pledged at a London press conference on Thursday to return to Islamabad on September 10 to lead a campaign to oust Musharraf from office.
   He himself was ousted in a bloodless military coup led by Musharraf, and was then exiled to Saudi Arabia for a decade in a deal struck with Musharraf.
   The president’s popularity has plummeted in recent months, with dissenters taking to the streets over his decision to suspend Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in March.
   Chaudhry, who has since been reinstated by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, opened the door for Sharif’s return last week in a Supreme Court ruling.
   Sharif’s opposition to Musharraf’s rule contrasts with that of fellow exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto, who said in London on Saturday that a power-sharing deal she has been negotiating with Musharraf was ‘80 per cent successful’ – an agreement Sharif criticised.
   Bhutto is demanding that Musharraf shed his military uniform before seeking reelection, give up his powers to dissolve parliament and allow prime ministers to serve a third term.
   ‘We both committed to not having any negotiations or parleys with dictators,’ Sharif said, referring to a deal the pair reached last October to return to their country to demand free and fair elections, which are due next year.
   ‘Talking to Musharraf today means that we are strengthening the dictatorship in Pakistan, talking to Musharraf means that we don’t want undiluted democracy in Pakistan,’ he said.
   ‘This is no service to democracy.’
   Asked whether he would consider negotiating with Musharraf were he to be sent to prison upon his return later this month, Sharif replied: ‘Musharraf put me in jail for 14 months ... I didn’t think of negotiating then, so why would I negotiate now, after seven long years, eight years, when the movement is heading for success?’
   For her part, Bhutto said on Saturday that she thought Sharif had embarked upon a ‘personal vendetta’ against the president.

Cairn Energy is likely to start drilling a gas exploration well at the Magnama structure in the Bay of Bengal in October.
   The UK-based company has already booked a rig and sought the energy division’s assistance in bringing it to the country by October for the offshore drilling work, sources in Petrobangla said.
   ‘Initially, Cairn will drill an exploration well at the potential Magnama structure during this winter. If the company gets time in the winter, it will also drill another exploration well at the Hatia structure in the Bay,’ said a source.
   An energy division high official said they had requested all government ministries and departments concerned to assist Cairn in bringing the rig.
   Cairn informed Petrobangla in 2005 that by seismic surveys it found two structures in Magnama and Hatia areas that might have huge gas reserves.
   The company had a plan to drill an exploration well at the Hatia structure between November 2006 and April 2007, besides drilling an appraisal well at South Sangu gas field and a production well at Sangu gas field. But, after it had drilled the wells at South Sangu and Sangu, Cairn could not drill the well at Hatia by April as the sea turns rough at the time.
   ‘Now, the company has decided to drill the well at Magnama first and then at Hatia,’ said a Petrobangla source.
   Petrobangla and energy division officials are hoping that Cairn will discover a huge gas reserve in the structures as the gas reserve at Sangu is depleting fast and the South Sangu gas field was found dry.
   Cairn and the Anglo-Dutch company Shell have drilled four exploration wells in the Bay in blocks 15 and 16 since 1993 and discovered Sangu gas field in Block 16. Cairn has relinquished Block 15.
   A single offshore well was drilled in Block 17 by the US joint-venture Rexwood/Oakland which was found dry.
   Petrobangla sources said Cairn would also carry out some work-over programmes in the existing gas wells in Sangu field to increase production by around 10 to 20 million cubic feet per day.
   The production from Sangu gas field has decreased to only 80mmcfd in recent times from 170mmcfd in the first half of 2006. As a result, the Chittagong region is now facing a severe gas crisis and the government’s plan to set up a number of power plants in the region has become uncertain.

The judicial inquiry commission of Justice Habibur Rahman Khan, investigating the August 20-21 student protest at Dhaka University and the subsequent flare-ups elsewhere, is yet to get any clue of the cause of the turbulent incidents.
   ‘I am still trying to identify the cause and find out whether any interested quarters instigated the destructive demonstrations that spread outside the campus and hit the roads,’ Justice Khan, the chairman of the one-member commission, told reporters on Sunday after his on-the-spot investigation of the Dhaka University gymnasium where some students were beaten up by soldiers on August 20.
   He also went to the vice-chancellor’s residence and Senate building as part of his on-the-spot investigation.
   DU vice-chancellor SMA Faiz, who was abroad during the incidents, Pro-VC Yusuf Haider, who was the acting VC during the incidents, assistant proctor Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, also chairman of the Public Administration Department which played the football match when the soldiers manhandled the students, and university official Azad Rahman, who witnessed the assault on the students, were present during Justice Khan’s visits.
   After the visits, Justice Khan, a former judge of the Supreme Court, told reporters that the commission might summon university teachers and officials who were present at the time of the incident at the DU playground.
   He also reiterated that the commission would try to examine the two detained teachers of the university, Anwar Hossain and Harun-or-Rashid.
   The commission is scrutinising the laws before exami- ning those teachers who are now in custody, said Justice Khan.
   The vice-chancellor assured the inquiry commission that
   he would extend all cooperation to facilitate the investigation.
   Prof Faiz wondered how the student protests against a ‘trivial incident’ had escalated into violent demonstrations on the roads and hoped the commission would give a guideline for maintaining peace and an academic atmosphere on the campus.
   The commission on Sunday, the fourth day of its inquiry, recorded the testimony of former ambassador Waliur Rahman and a student.
   Both of them willingly testified before the commission, said an inside source.
   Waliur Rahman, after testifying, told New Age that some vested interest quarters in the country had instigated the students and some youths to launch the destructive demonstrations.
   ‘I also told the commission that some students and youngsters had told me over telephone that they were given Tk 100 each for participating in the clashes,’ he said, adding that some business houses had also provided the protesters with food, and the video footage of such food distribution would be made public soon.

Chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed on Sunday said epoch-making changes are possible in the country’s socio-economic arena, if positive changes could be brought in the mindset of the police forces.
   The government has undertaken multi-dimensional steps to bring in reforms in policing system. Internal supervision and observations have been strengthened to curb corruption in police department, he added.
   He was addressing a passing out parade of the probationary assistant superintendent of police of the 25th batch of BCS (police) cadre at the Bangladesh Police Academy parade ground at Sarda in Rajshahi.
   Home secretary Abdul Karim and inspector general of police Nur Muhammad received the chief adviser at the parade ground.
   Eight smartly turned out contingents of police officers including a horse-mounted battalion presented guard of honour to the chief adviser, who visited the parade.
   ASP Elija Sharmin was the parade commander and 192 ASPs took part in the parade.
   Referring to police reform project, the chief adviser said service delivery centres had been opened in the metropolitan and model thanas.
   Victim support centres for women and monthly open day system for local people have also been introduced, he said and added, all these got positive response from people.
   He hoped that the police forces would be able to fulfil people’s expectation as the government has undertaken various steps to amend the necessary laws, improve the quality of training, ensure transparency and accountability at all levels and increase facilities according to requirement and availability of resources.
   Fakhruddin said country’s law and order had been improved in the recent days in comparison to any previous time as a result of positive and neutral role played by the police.
   Putting emphasis on public welfare, the government is continuing its efforts to improve the quality of services of various agencies, he added.
   He said steps had been taken to amend the laws, rules and regulations of the government befitting with the time.
   The chief adviser said our people expected a terrorism- and corruption-free Bangladesh and the police officers would have to give top priority to the welfare of the nation.
   He hoped that truth,
   justice, honesty and discipline should be the ideals of the police and their duties should be to ensure the security of
   people.
   The chief adviser said the members of the police forces working in the UN peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world had earned reputation for the country.
   He paid rich tribute to the memories of the martyrs of the police forces including DIG Mamun Mahmud and police commissioner Shah Abdul Majid of Rajshahi Division.
   Secretary-in-charge of the Chief Adviser’s Office Kazi M Aminul Islam, press secretary to the chief adviser Syed Fahim Munaim, Bogra Area Commander Major General Shamim Chowdhury and high officials were present on the occasion.

Children under the age of 10 who are too young to be prosecuted were the chief suspects in nearly 3,000 crimes committed in England and Wales last year, of Staff Correspondent

All the major rivers, except for the Surma, Kushiyara and the Kobadak, flowed on Sunday below danger mark, said a Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre bulletin.
   The Brahmaputra-Jamuna and Padma river system was marking a rise, but may fall in two days.
   Flooding has started improving. But the Kushiyara may mark a rise of 8cm and flow 24cm above danger level at the Sheola point today.
   The Kobadak and the Surma are likely to fall in a couple of days, the flood warning centre said.