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The Appellate Division on Thursday allowed the government to appeal against the High Court verdicts that had asserted its power to hear bail petitions in cases under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The full court of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, headed by the chief justice, M Ruhul Amin, ordered the government to file regular appeals in three weeks.
   The bails the High Court granted to former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister Amanullah Aman’s wife, Sabera Aman, and an oil trader of Khulna, Maijuddin Sikder, will remain stayed till the appeals are resolved, the court ordered.
   Additional attorney general Slahuddin Ahmed, who moved the government petitions, and Maijuddin’s counsel Abdul Matin Khasru told New Age after the court order that the debate over the High Court’s power to hear bail petitions in cases under the EPR would finally be resolved with the result of the appeals.’
   The Emergency Powers Rules 2007, as amended on March 21, bars any accused from seeking bail in any court during inquiry, investigation or trial of a case.
   The High Court bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury initiated the wrangle over the issue on March 29, when Maijuddin filed a petition seeking bail in a case filed under the EPR involving the supply of adulterated oil.
   Although the bench was reconstituted during the hearing in the dispute, the reconstituted bench of Justice Nozrul and Justice SM Emdadul Haque, after hearing the counsels for the state and the petitioner and six amici curiae (court’s friends), delivered a verdict, resolving the debate.
   The High Court has the jurisdiction to hear bail petitions even in cases under the Emergency Powers Rules, the court observed and granted anticipatory bail to Maijuddin.
   As the government preferred appeal, the Appellate Division on May 24 stayed the verdict.
   After the April 22 verdict, the High Court on August 19 granted anticipatory bail to the detained former law minister Moudud Ahmed in a case filed under the EPR on charge of bringing and selling foreign liquors by evading tax.
   It has also granted bail to Sabera Aman in a case lodged under the Emergency Powers Rules.
   The government filed petitions to the Appellate Division seeking permission to appeal against the three High Court verdicts.

The government on Thursday asked the Prothom Alo publishers to suspend the publication of the newspaper’s weekly satire supplement Alpin until the matter related to the printing of a cartoon in its 431st issue on September 17, hurting religious sentiment of the Muslims, is settled.
   The Dhaka district magistrate also asked the publishers to explain within two weeks why the publication of Alpin would not be banned and legal action would not be taken against the publisher, said a handout Thursday night.
   Three cases were filed Thursday with different courts against the editor, publisher and cartoonist of Bangla daily Prothom Alo for publishing a cartoon in the daily’s weekly caricature supplement, which hurt the people’s religious sentiment.
   Religious groups postponed their planned demonstration in front of the Baitul Mukarram mosque on Friday after a meeting with the daily’s editor. In one of the three cases filed Thursday, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon police, Jan-e Alam brought blasphemy charge against the cartoonist, Arifur Rahman in Dhaka. A madrassah official in Chittagong brought sedition charge against editor of the daily Matiur Rahman, publisher Mahfuz Anam and the cartoonist while a lawyer in Comilla accused the three of violating emergency power rules.
   The daily’s weekly magazine, Alpin published a cartoon in its September 17 issue using the name of Prophet Mohammad (SM) before an animal, which prompted the government to confiscate the issue and order arrest of the cartoonist.
   The Prothom Alo authorities apologised for the publication and announced its immediate withdrawal. The cartoonist
   was sacked and the daily pledged action against others involved.
   A Dhaka court Wednesday sent the cartoonist to jail with a 30-day detention under special powers act on Wednesday. Detective police arrested him at his Uttara residence in Dhaka the day before.
   In Dhaka, the complainant, with the permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs, lodged the case Thursday under Section 295/A of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
   According to the section, if any person hurts religious sentiment by writing or drawing something, he or she will be charged with blasphemy which is a non-bailable offence involving two-year jail term.
   In Chittagong, Mohammed Reza, administrative officer of Patiya Al Jameya Al Islamia Madrassah, lodged the complaint with the court of metropolitan magistrate, Nazmul Ahsan, in the afternoon.
   The complainant accused Prothom Alo editor, publisher and the cartoonist of conspiring to create anarchy and instigate mass unrest in the country.
   ‘The accused had also an ill motive to interrupt development of the country through destabilising the government,’ the plaintiff alleged in his complainant. The court fixed September 30 to decide on the issue.
   In Comilla, district bar member advocate SM Ali Azad filed a case against the three for ‘hurting religious feelings and defamation’.
   The case was filed with a Comilla court under the emergency powers rules.
   Magistrate Shahina Akhter accepted the case and ordered Kotwali police to take legal action.
   Meanwhile, Islamic clerics called off a protest programme scheduled for Friday at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram mosque after a meeting with the daily’s editor.
   Khatib of the national mosque, Moulana Ubaidul Haque, made the announcement saying that the daily’s editor Matiur Rahman apologised for the editorial mistake and the publication that hurt religious feelings of the people.
   News agency UNB adds: Khelafat Majlis on Thursday demanded ban on publication of daily Prothom Alo for the sacrilegious act.
   ‘The declaration of daily Prothom Alo has to be cancelled and its editor and publisher are to be given exemplary punishment,’ said Shaikhul Hadith Azizul Huq, Ameer of Khelafat Majlis, at a press conference at his Purana Paltan office in the afternoon.
   He said they do not have any plan to bring out procession or stage demonstration after the Juma’ prayers Friday.

The International Monetary Fund has appreciated the budgetary measures of ‘tariff reforms’ through withdrawal of surcharge and zero duty from imports, but said further duty reduction is needed since trade regime is still complex.
   ‘A four per cent surcharge on imports (earmarked for infrastructure development) was consolidated into the tariff system, two supplementary duty rates were merged, and a number of goods were removed from the zero tariff band as part of a reform of the import tariff regime that aims to be revenue neutral,’ reads a report of the IMF, submitted to the finance ministry early September.
   The report strongly recommended for further tariff reduction and expanding value added tax and elimination of tax and VAT exemptions.
   It also asked the government to remodel the VAT act and income tax ordinance, and stressed the need for separate entities for revenue collection and revenue administration. It also called for stopping tax holiday scheme after the current 2007-08 fiscal year.
   ‘With respect to trade liberalisation, nominal protection has declined gradually over three years, but the trade regime remains complex and, with nominal protection at 24 per cent, further tariff reduction is needed,’ says the IMF report.
   It categorically said the government should form a tax reform commission to oversee tax collection and administration. The highest individual tax rate should be increased from current 25 per cent to 30 per cent to align it more closely with the corporate tax regime, which is now 40 and 45 per cent. The report asked the government to impose VAT on bank interest.
   Revenue and finance officials, however, found most of the proposals unrealistic.
   The budget for 2007-2008 withdrew four per cent infrastructure development surcharge from import of above 2,600 finished and luxury goods, including foreign liquors, motor cars, apparels and toiletries.
   Besides, zero duty import facility was removed from above 400 industrial raw materials and machinery, which became subject to 10 per cent tariff in the current fiscal year. Furthermore, import duty on about 1200 items, mostly industrial machinery and raw materials, went up to 10 per cent from five per cent.
   The measures instantly drew flaks from economists and trade leaders who viewed those would badly affect local industries and open the floodgate of cheap imports.
   But the government did not pay heed to the concerns voiced at different levels.
   Finance ministry officials said they are planning to establish a tax cell in the ministry, instead of two separate entities as prescribed by IMF to oversee the regulations relating to revenue matters and tax administration. The cell will be headed by a government secretary.
   ‘In that case, the NBR will be responsible only for revenue collection,’ a high official in the ministry told New Age.
   NBR officials summarily rejected the IMF recommendation for further liberalising duty structure.
   ‘We have already cut tariffs significantly at the insistences of World Bank and IMF, and the local industry is bearing the brunt of those measures,’ a member in the revenue board told New Age.

Differences seem to have surfaced in the Election Commission over setting the criteria for differentiating between the mainstream and breakaway factions of political parties.
   An election commissioner is of the view that if a party splits into two, the breakaway faction should be considered a new party while another commissioner insists that if majority party leaders and [former] parliament members proclaim allegiance to the breakaway faction then it should be treated as the mainstream.
   The EC will have to set criteria for determining the mainstream of a divided party by the first week of November before making a decision as to which of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party factions should be invited to the talks on electoral reforms schedule for November 22. After making the decision the commission will send invitation letter to the secretary of the party at least 15 days before the scheduled dialogue.
   The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, on Thursday said that the EC would determine the mainstream for registration in accordance with existing electoral laws, constitution of the party concerned and on the basis of which faction enjoyed support of the majority of former lawmakers.
   He, however, said that the parties which would split into factions might go to the civil or High Court to settle who would be considered as mainstream.
   The CEC made the remarks when a member of the Ganatantri Party delegation at a dialogue over electoral law reforms asked what the commission would do if more than one factions of a party sought to register all claiming themselves to be mainstream of the party.
   Contradicting election commissioner M Sakhawat Hussain’s previous statement, another election commissioner Muhammed Sohul Hussein said at the dialogue Thursday that if a party was split into two, the breakaway or expelled faction might be considered as mainstream if most of the party leaders and [former] parliament members pledged allegiance to the breakaway faction.
   Talking to reporters on September 6, Sakhawat said that if a party was split into two, the breakaway faction should be considered a new party. If the breakaway faction meets the criteria for a new party – which include having at least offices in 32 districts and upazila headquarters and a minimum of 1,000 members in the local units of the party – it will also be registered with the EC.
   When he was asked how the commission would determine which faction of the BNP was the mainstream as both the groups claimed to be the ‘real BNP’ after the expulsion of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan from the party, Sakhawat replied, ‘The commission has laws and rules which will help us to identify the main faction of a party. Besides, I think we will analyse the constitution of the party.’
   The EC has received two letters from the rival factions of the party each claiming to be the mainstream. One letter, signed by assistant office secretary Rizvi Ahmed on September 5, said the party chairperson had expelled Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Ashraf Hossain and appointed Khandakar Delwar Hossain as the new secretary general, and requested the commission to correspond with the latter regarding the dialogue and the party.
   Followers of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan on September 9 sent another letter to the commission requesting it not to take cognisance of their opponents’ letter.

Bangladesh pushed Pakistan all the way before going down to a four-wicket defeat in their final match at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Cape Town on Thursday.
   Shahid Afridi, opening the innings for first time in the competition, scored highest 39 off 15 balls as Pakistan strolled past Bangladesh’s 140, all out in 19.4 overs, with six balls to spare.
   The only consolation for Bangladesh was debutant Junaed Siddique earning the man-of-the-match after he smashed 71 off 49 balls to contribute more than half in the team’s total.
   Asked to bat first, Bangladesh made a decent start despite opener Tamim Iqbal continuing his agonising form to be dismissed for three as Junaed and Aftab piled up 64 runs for the second wicket in six overs together.
   Aftab played second fiddle to Junaed in the partnership making 15, but unfortunately that became second highest run for Bangladesh. Only two other batsmen – Nadif Chowdhury (12) and Mashrafee bin Murtaza (11) – reached double figures.
   Junaed, who replaced Nazimuddin in the opening slot, was on fire after having three lives from the Pakistan fielders. He was dropped on two by Misbah-ul-Haq, on 26 by Imran Nazir and 44 by Omar Gul.
   Riding his luck made the 19-year-old fearless as he smacked six fours and three sixes, including two in a row off the bowling of Mohammad Hafeez.
   Wickets fell like nine-pins once Junaed got out floating a catch to Misbah in the deep off Shoaib Malik. Bangladesh managed only 19 runs in the last five overs they had on offer, a fact that eventually made the difference between the sides.
   Pakistan’s decision to send Afridi to open paid off as the all-rounder gave them a rollicking start. His opening partner Imran Nazir had to retire just after three balls and Mohammad Hafeez joined him to make Bangladesh wait until the sixth over for their first breakthrough.
   Syed Rasel made the breakthrough having Hafeez, 23 off 21 balls, caught at long-off by Tamim. Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak removed Afridi in the next over.
   Razzak, the best bowler of Bangladesh with 2-16 also had Younus Khan (1), stumped by Mushfiqur Rahim off a wide ball to give Pakistan some competition. The dismissals of Shoaib Malik (21) and Misbah (1) and Salman Butt’s comical run out for 21 raised some real hope for Bangladesh.
   But Nazir came back to smash an unbeaten 27 off 18 balls to finish the match, leaving Pakistan no further trouble. Pakistan emerged champions in the Super Eights Group F with three wins in as many matches.

India booked a World Twenty20 semi-final with Australia and knocked South Africa out with a 37-run win in Cape Town on Thursday.
   They were reeling on 61-4 but Rohit Sharma (50 not out) and skipper Mahendra Dhoni (45) shared 84 to help them post 153-5 in bowler-friendly conditions.
   RP Singh (4-13) then helped reduce the hosts to 31-5 before Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel both hit 36 to share 69.
   But they folded well short of the 126 they needed to progress and New Zealand face Pakistan in Saturday’s other semi-final.
   India started badly when Gautam Gambhir’s attempted heave off Shaun Pollock ballooned to mid-off, Karthik chipped to mid-wicket for a golden duck and Virender Sehwag guided Makhaya Ntini behind.
   The inexperienced Sharma initially overshadowed his illustrious skipper Dhoni and began the revival by taking advantage of poor work in the outfield.
   After Dhoni was run out chasing a second, Sharma finished with a big six to reach 50 off the final ball.
   India had the momentum, and they emphasised that in a torrid opening burst from Sreesanth and RP Singh. Singh swung the ball back into Herschelle Gibbs to trap him plumb lbw with his first ball, while skipper Smith was brilliantly caught by Karthik diving high to his left at slip.
   Karthik then took over keeping duties from Dhoni, who appeared to have suffered a back problem in the first over, and both were leaping up with joy when Sreesanth trapped AB de Villiers plumb lbw.
   Just when things had calmed down, Boucher called Justin Kemp through for a quick single after dabbing the ball out on the off-side and Rohit Sharma brilliantly found the target with the latter short of the crease.
   Pollock then played around one that Singh nipped back in next ball and his leg-stump was uprooted for a golden duck.
   Morkel cracked Joginder Sharma and Irfan Pathan through the covers, while Boucher worked Harbhajan Singh through the leg-side and deftly guided him past short third man for three fours in a row, as the home side rallied.
   However, Sreesanth returned to bowl Boucher off an inside edge and Philander was beaten by a flighted Harbhajan doosra to be stumped.
   That left the equation 20 off two overs for South Africa to stay in the competition and once RP Singh cleaned up their last hope Albie Morkel, the game was up.

The Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, will seek re-election on October 6, officials said Thursday as the embattled US ally faced a declaration of war from al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
   Opposition parties immediately vowed to quit parliament over Musharraf’s plans to win another five-year term in uniform. He announced earlier this week that he would step down as army chief, but only if he wins the poll.
   Musharraf, whose popularity has nosedived in recent months, must also hope the Supreme Court does not uphold any of the legal challenges that political rivals have filed against his eligibility.
   Meanwhile Bin Laden’s threat to Musharraf and his army, in a new message to be released shortly, highlights the threat he faces from Islamic fighters who have killed scores of people in recent attacks.
   Bin Laden declares ‘war’ on Musharraf in a new message to be released by the network’s media arm, according to an Islamist web site on Thursday.
   ‘Al-Qaeda will declare war on the tyrant Pervez Musharraf and his apostate army through the voice of the lion, Sheikh Osama bin Laden, God protect him,’ according to the site.
   IntelCenter, a US organisation which monitors Islamist web sites, said the video or audio message, entitled ‘Come to Jihad,’ was expected to be released by al-Qaeda’s media arm Al-Sahab in the next 72 hours.
   The threat against Musharraf surfaced just as Pakistan’s election commission named October 6 as the date for a presidential poll in which the embattled military ruler will seek re-election in uniform.
   ‘Nominations must be filed by September 27, the scrutiny of the nominations will be on September 29 and October 6 will be the election,’ the election commission’s secretary Kanwar Dilshad said.
   The vote is not by Pakistan’s 160 million people but by a ballot of the country’s national parliament and its four provincial assemblies, which have all been in place since 2002.
   The government said it was confident Musharraf would be voted back in.
   But the opposition has called for Musharraf to seek re-election from a new parliament instead of the outgoing one and for him to quit his military role before a vote.
   Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan said MPs from an alliance of key opposition parties called the All Pakistan Democratic Movement would resign from the assemblies ‘the day Musharraf’s nomination papers are accepted.’
   Musharraf’s plans to be re-elected in uniform have also apparently derailed negotiations for a power-sharing deal with self-exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto, who has vowed to return to Pakistan on October 18.
   The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal against the retirement rule change that was filed by Imran Khan this week.

The editors of thirteen national dailies in a joint statement on Thursday described as ‘regrettable’ the publication of a cartoon in the magazine of the Prothom Alo.
   They said it hurt the religious sentiment of the pious.
   They hoped that the management of the daily would remain alert so that such mistakes did not occur again.
   The management of the daily instantly sacked its employee responsible for the magazine and also decided not to publish any cartoon of the cartoonist in the future.
   The government had taken necessary steps including confiscating the issue of the magazine and arrested the cartoonist, said the editors.
   ‘We think, all quarters including the pious would be reassured after the Prothom Alo management confessed and regretted for its careless mistake and the steps taken by the government,’ the statement added.
   ‘We are all respectful toward the religious sentiments and the Prothom Alo is respectful to Islam and the religious feelings,’ it said.
   The editors called upon all to show tolerance and restraint.
   The editors appealed to the ulema to see the whole matter with compassion.
   The signatories included: Golam Sarwar of Jugantor, Bazlur Rahman of Sangbad, Matiur Rahman Chowdhury of Manavzamin, Mahbubul Alam of Independent, Reazuddin Ahmed of News Today, Rahat Khan of Ittefaq, Amanullah Kabir of Amar Desh, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury of Observer, Abed Khan of Samakal, Nurul Kabir of New Age, Alamgir Mohiuddin of Naya Diganta, Ataus Samad of Amar Desh and Naimul Islam Khan of Amader Samay.

Former revenue board member ATM Sarwar Hossain was jailed on Thursday for eight years in a tax evasion case.
   AK Roy, the judge of the special judge’s court 2 of Dhaka, set up at the MP Hostel of the Jatiya Sangsad complex, fined Sarwar Tk 1.2 crore. If fails to pay the fine, he will need to serve six more months in prison.
   The court also ordered confiscation of Sarwar’s wealth of Tk 4,31,90,106 for concealing information on the amount in his income tax files.
   The court convicted him on two counts and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for five years for tax evasion and to simple imprisonment for three years for concealing information in his tax files.
   According to the verdict, the sentences will be executed from the date of Sarwar’s arrest or surrender as he is in hiding. He was tried in his absence.
   The sentences, however, will be executed concurrently and the former member of the National Board of Revenue will need to serve five years’ rigorous imprisonment.
   Another special anti-graft court did not deliver the verdict on Thursday in the case against detained former BNP lawmaker Manjurul Ahsan Munshi and his family.
   As the judge, M Ashraf Hossain, was sick and admitted to hospital, the delivery of the verdict was posted for September 30.
   In the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, Munshi has been charged with submitting false wealth statements concealing wealth of Tk 3,13,93,199 and owning assets worth Tk 5,37,07,439, which is disproportionate to his known sources of income.
   He was charged with abuse of power in amassing the wealth under Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947, which deals with misconduct of public servants.
   His wife, Majeda, and two sons, Rizviul Ahsan and Rezwanul Ahsan, were charged with abetting him.

The chief of paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles has claimed that prices of essentials are showing a stable trend now and will be brought down to a tolerable range by December-January next.
   ‘Although prices are yet to be tolerable, they are becoming stable. We hope that prices will come down to tolerable ranges by December-January,’ BDR director general Major General Shakil Ahmed said Thursday at an iftar party hosted by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
   He argued that sharp rises in global prices of commodities made local kitchen market volatile.
   Making oblique reference to drives against hoarding and corruption after the new government took office on January 11, the BDR DG conceded that fears spread among businessmen leading to erosion in their confidence.
   ‘The authorities later tried to eliminate fears and restore confidence of business community,’ he said, referring to measures like withdrawal of cases against businessmen and release of confiscated goods.
   FBCCI president Nasir Hossain lauded the role of BDR in improving supply of essentials and impacting their prices to some extent through operations of fair price outlets.
   He urged businessmen to donate foods instead of traditional nonfood items to the poor as zakat ahead of eid.
   Former president of the apex trade body Yussuf Abdullah Harun and trade leader A Rouf Chowdhury also spoke.

The government has decided to appoint Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, as the next ambassador and permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN Offices in Geneva, said an official handout on Thursday.
   The decision is an apparent shift of the government as it earlier decided not to appoint anyone on contractual basis in overseas mission.
   As part of its decision, the government on March 1 scrapped contracts of three envoys posted in France, Turkey and Libya.
   The official hand out said Debapriya would have to quit his association with other organisations including CPD for his appointment as the country’s envoy in Geneva.
   Born in 1956, Debapriya worked as a senior research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies before joining CPD. He is a macroeconomist and public policy analyst.
   Debapriya studied at St Gregory’s High school, Dhaka and Dhaka College. He did his MSc in economics with distinction and PhD in economics from the Plekhanov Institute of National Economy, Moscow. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.
   Bhattacharya was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at the Centre for Global Development, Washington DC in 2004-05. He was also a visiting fellow at the United Nations University-Institute of New Technology, Maastricht and Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
   He was the general secretary of the Bangladesh Economic Association for three consecutive terms. He is a member of the governing body of the BRAC. He also sits in the Academic Council of the BRAC University.
   He undertook assignments for a number of international organisations, including World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, UNCTAD, ILO as well as bilateral development agencies from the USA, Japan, the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden.
   Debapriya has more than one hundred publications to his credit including chapters in books, monographs, journals, articles and research reports.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court will on Sunday decide whether there will be any appeal against the High Court verdict upholding the death penalty to 12 former army men in the Mujib murder case.
   An Appellate Division bench of Justice Tafazzul Islam, Justice Joynul Abedin and Justice M Hasan Ameen on Thursday posted the order for the date after concluding the 25-working day hearing in the petitions filed by five of the condemned convicts, who are in jail, seeking permission to appeal against the High Court verdict.
   If the court rejects the petitions on Sunday, the case for the assassination of the first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with all but two of the family will be disposed of finally and the five condemned prisoners will need to walk the gallows within two months. The other convicts, who are on the run, will be executed after their arrest.
   In case the court allows the condemned prisoners to appeal against their sentences, the Appellate Division will need to further hear the case.
   The Appellate Division started hearing the case on July 7 after a six-year freeze.
   The case had been shelved with the Appellate Division since August 16, 2001 because of shortage of judges in the division capable of hearing the case.
   The Appellate Division rules require at least three judges to make a quorum to hear the case.
   The quorum had remained incomplete since August 16, 2001 after the counsel for retired major Bazlul Huda moved a no-confidence motion against Justice Mohammad Golam Rabbani of the Appellate Division.
   As quorum became complete with the elevation of Justice Joynul Abedin and Justice Syed Hasan Ameen to the Appellate Division, the chief justice in July formed the special bench of the Appellate Division to hear the case.
   Muhitul Islam, Mujib’s personal assistant, filed a murder case with the Dhanmondi police on October 2, 1996, 21 years after the Mujib and his family members were assassinated by a group of the army on August 15, 1975.
   The Dhaka district and sessions judge, Quazi Golam Rasul, on November 8, 1998, awarded death sentences to 15 of the 20 accused.
   The High Court on December 14, 2000 delivered a split verdict in the case. Justice M Ruhul Amin, the senior judge of the High Court bench, upheld the death sentences of 10 convicts, while the other judge, ABM Khairul Haque, retained the death sentences for all the 15.
   On April 30, 2001, Justice M Fazlul Karim, in the final High Court verdict in the case, upheld death sentences for 12 and acquitted three.
   Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Muhiuddin Ahmed and Bazlul Huda, who were in jail at the time, filed petitions with the Appellate Division seeking permission to appeal against the verdict.
   AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed filed a similar petition after the US government sent him back to Bangladesh from Los Angeles on June 17.

The Court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge of Dhaka on Thursday refused to accept an appeal for granting bail to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, detained in a special jail, in the container handling corruption case.
   Khaleda’s counsel Sanaullah Miah appealed to court to allow filing of the bail petition for the former prime minister. But the judge, Azizul Haque, told him that the court had no authority to hear it as the case was brought under the Emergency Powers Rules which barred any accused from seeking bail.
   ‘You can inform the High Court about my opinion with an affidavit,’ the counsel quoted the judge as telling him.
   Earlier on September 12, the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate also refused to accept a bail appeal for Khaleda on the same ground.
   On September 2, Khaleda, her younger son Arafat Rahman and 11 others were sued by the Anti-Corruption Commission for their ‘involvement’ in awarding an incompetent company the contract for container handling at the inland container depot at Kamalapur Inland Container Port in Dhaka and at Chittagong Port allegedly for kickbacks.
   The army-led joint forces arrested the 63-year-old former prime minister and Arafat at her house at Dhaka Cantonment on September 3 on graft charge.
   The ACC on September 17 approved the proposal to bring the case under the emergency rules, which bars any accused person from seeking bail from any court during investigation, trial and appeal. The case is being investigated by the Anti-corruption task-forces.

The Awami League presidium will sit today to discuss various issues including the party’s preparation for the dialogue with the Election Commission scheduled for November 4.
   Party insiders said the Awami League policymakers agreed in principle to join the talks and today’s presidium meeting, scheduled for 11:00am at the house of the party’s acting president, Zillur Rahman, at Gulshan, will fix the date for the next central working committee meeting to decide on the matter.
   ‘We will discuss the overall political situation including the preparation for the dialogue with the Election Commission,’ senior presidium member Tofail Ahmed told New Age on Thursday, adding that no specific agenda was included for the first presidium meeting after the relaxation of ban on politics.
   He said the party presidium would also review the differences of opinion among the leaders on various issues and discuss to uphold the party’s unity under the present circumstances.
   Party insiders said the meeting would also review the situation after the attacks on some party leaders during the past working committee meeting on September 12.
   ‘Although the party earlier decided to hold the central working committee meeting after receiving the invitation from the Election Commission, we are going to hold the meeting to ensure enough time for the preparation,’ presidium member Matia Chowdhury told New Age on Thursday.
   At least a seven days’ notice is a must to hold the working committee meeting and it will be tough to hold the meeting if the party receives the commission invitation only two or three days before of the dialogue, party insiders said.
   Sources said some presidium members might go abroad for a long time which has prompted the high up in the party to complete the preparation before Eid.
   Some senior and mid-level leaders earlier held separate informal meetings with Zillur Rahman in the past three days and suggested him to hold a formal meeting immediately to discuss the preparation for the talks.
   The leaders also emphasised the need for working out a guideline for the talks and form a delegation for the dialogue with people who have experience of working on electoral reforms, sources in the party said.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Thursday pressed 15 charge sheets against 25 individuals, including two former ministers and three ex-secretaries, in a case filed in connection with selling 18 ‘abandoned’ houses in the city’s posh areas at very low prices.
   Thirteen beneficiaries, including former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury and former prime minister’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury, were also named in the charge sheets filed with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates’ Court.
   ACC assistant director Shahidul Alam on March 29 filed a first information report with the Motijheel police station against former minister Mirza Abbas and 11 others for causing a loss of over Tk 127 crore to the exchequer by selling the abandoned houses.
   According to the FIR, the individuals in connivance with each other sold or approved the sale of the houses in Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi and New Eskaton through fake auctions and without inviting open tenders.
   The houses were sold at prices much lower than the existing market prices.
   Although the FIR was filed against 12, later the names of 13 beneficiaries were included in it.
   The name of ex-executive engineer of Works Division Syed Mahfuz Ahmed had been dropped from FIR as his involvement with the matter was not proved during the investigation, the investigation officer said.
   The FIR-accused are Mirza Abbas, former secretaries SM Jafrullah and Shahid Alam, ex-executive engineer of Rajuk Reazul Monir, former executive engineer of Works Division Syed Mahfuz Ahmed, ex-superintending engineer of Rajuk Mohammad Ali, its former finance director Humayun Khan, former estate director and managing director of Hotel Sonargaon Golam Nabi, former joint secretary of the information ministry Mir Mosharraf Hossain, ex- chief engineer of Rajuk Emdadul Islam, ex-project director of Rajuk’s Purbanchal Town Development Project Abdus Sadek and ex-superintending engineer of Works Division Ziauddin Ahmed.
   The 13 individuals included in the charge sheets are former commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s political secretary Harris Chowdhury, former lawmaker Kazi Anwar Hossain, former secretary Iqbal Uddin Chowdhury, managing director of Cocola Foods Shukkur Miah, chairman of a housing developer SM Anwar Hossain, Chittagong Awami League leader Afsar Uddin’s wife Hasna Ahmed, Ambia Group managing director Abul Kashem, former secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies Ali Haider Chowdhury, Mehedi Hasan of Orion Group, Bashundhara Group chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan alias Shah Alam, Nurus Sofa and Shafiqur Rahman Kiron.

The chief of army staff, General Moeen U Ahmed, on Thursday said this was for the first time that no question was raised about stealing of relief goods and it became possible only for cooperation from all quarters.
   ‘In the past it was a perception that relief means stealing. But, for the first time this did not happen and no question was raised about it. It was possible only for everyone’s cooperation,’ he said while receiving donations for flood-affected people from individuals and organisations at the Army Headquarters.
   General Moeen said they were thinking about permanent resolution of river erosion problem. He said it could not be a solution that every year there would be erosion and every time the government would distribute relief for the victims.
   The army chief said paddy seedlings were being raised in Jessore Cantonment like Savar Cantonment and those would be distributed among the farmers.
   Individuals and different organisations so far donated over Tk 89.44 lakh to the Army Chief’s Relief and Welfare Fund in aid of the flood victims.
   Senior army officers were present on the occasion.

The Court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge of Dhaka on Thursday refused to accept an appeal for granting bail to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, detained in a special jail, in the container handling corruption case.
   Khaleda’s counsel Sanaullah Miah appealed to court to allow filing of the bail petition for the former prime minister. But the judge, Azizul Haque, told him that the court had no authority to hear it as the case was brought under the Emergency Powers Rules which barred any accused from seeking bail.
   ‘You can inform the High Court about my opinion with an affidavit,’ the counsel quoted the judge as telling him.
   Earlier on September 12, the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate also refused to accept a bail appeal for Khaleda on the same ground.
   On September 2, Khaleda, her younger son Arafat Rahman and 11 others were sued by the Anti-Corruption Commission for their ‘involvement’ in awarding an incompetent company the contract for container handling at the inland container depot at Kamalapur Inland Container Port in Dhaka and at Chittagong Port allegedly for kickbacks.
   The army-led joint forces arrested the 63-year-old former prime minister and Arafat at her house at Dhaka Cantonment on September 3 on graft charge.
   The ACC on September 17 approved the proposal to bring the case under the emergency rules, which bars any accused person from seeking bail from any court during investigation, trial and appeal. The case is being investigated by the Anti-corruption task-forces.

A crisis in Nepal’s peace process deepened Thursday with former rebel Maoists describing the Himalayan nation’s veteran prime minister as a failure who should step down.
   The Maoists stormed out of government this week demanding the monarchy be immediately abolished and have embarked on a campaign of strikes and street protests aimed at ousting King Gyanendra and closing the palace.
   The move is a major blow to a peace deal signed late last year, under which the ultra-leftists agreed for the issue to be decided after democratic elections set for November. The Maoists have now vowed to disrupt the polls.
   ‘Prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala had three responsibilities. To keep the alliance of eight parties intact, to run the government and to conduct free and fair elections,’ Maoist central committee member CP Gajurel said.
   ‘He has failed in all three and morally he should resign,’ he said, adding that the ex-rebels’ ‘protest programmes will continue.’
   Koirala, an elderly and respected figure, is widely viewed as the architect of the November 2006 peace accord that ended a decade of civil war.
   The Maoists insist King Gyanendra needs to be dethroned before the polls, arguing the embattled monarch and his supporters may find a way of clinging to their positions.
   The ex-rebels have said they have no intention of returning to war and that their People’s Liberation Army will remain in camps monitored by the United Nations.

Workers of a garment factory at Tejgaon in Dhaka went out on demonstrations demanding an increase in the amount paid for iftar and damaged the factory Thursday noon.
   The workers of the Begunbari Woven Factory, owned by the NASA Group, alleged they repeatedly requested the authorities to increase the amount as they are paid only Tk 5 a head, but the neighbouring factories pay Tk 10 to Tk 15.
   Witnesses said the workers started work abstention and went out on demonstrations Thursday morning demanding the increase.
   The factory owner at 3:30pm declared the factory closed for an indefinite period.
   Angered by the closure, the workers went on the rampage, brought out a procession and chanted slogans against the factory management. The workers also attacked the factory and damaged some windowpanes.
   The Tejgaon police and the Rapid Action Battalion reached the place and tackled the situation at about 5:30pm.
   The workers decided to continue with their work abstention until their demands are met and the factory is re-opened. Policemen and battalion members were deployed in and outside the factory.
   The duty officer of the Tejgaon police, Fakruddin, told New Age, ‘The situation is now under control as high police official talked with the worker leaders and the factory management.’
   The workers of another factory, NM Garments, meanwhile, blocked a road stretch at Shyamali in Dhaka in the evening, demanding the payment of their dues in arrears and festival allowance before Eid.
   The police tackled the situation after a while, said the Adabar police.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, will highlight the reform agenda of his government for achieving the roadmap of the general elections by 2008 while giving his address to the UN general assembly scheduled for September 27.
   ‘The chief adviser will seek cooperation of the developed world for duty free access of LDCs’ products and free flow of labour across the globe,’ foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said at a briefing at his office on Thursday.
   He informed newsmen that the chief adviser would also attend a meeting on climate change in New York on September 24 and co-chair a session with the Netherlands prime minister.
   Fakhruddin is scheduled to leave for New York tomorrow to lead a Bangladesh delegation to the 62nd UNGA.
   In his statement on September 27, Fakhruddin would elaborate the background of his government’s takeover, reform activities and the roadmap to the general elections.
   In his country statement to the general assembly, the chief adviser would also call for UN’s central role in ensuring development and expansion of the peacekeeping activities.
   He would attend a reception to be hosted by US president George Bush in New York and hold an exclusive meeting with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
   On the sidelines, Fakruddin would hold bilateral meetings with some heads of government including the prime minister of Italy and presidents of Afghanistan and Czech Republic.
   He is scheduled to give lectures at Asia Society and Columbia University and attend a reception to be hosted by Bangladeshi community.
   In addition, the chief adviser will give interviews with New York Times, Wall Street Journal, APTN, CNN and VOA.
   Iftekhar will also hold meetings with his counterparts of Malta, Sri Lanka, the UK and some Middle-East countries.
   He will attend meetings of the NAM committee on Palestine, SAARC council of ministers and G-77, Commonwealth foreign ministers and OIC foreign ministers on the sidelines of the UNGA session.
   The chief adviser is expected to return home on September 30.

The government of Afghanistan Thursday expressed its optimism about the release of Nurul Islam, an official of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee.
   Afghan foreign ministry expressed the hope in a communiqué to the Bangladesh’s foreign ministry, which earlier sought Kabul’s help to get the aid worker released.
   Islam, an area manager of BRAC, was abducted Sunday from his office at Pul-i-Alam, about 50 kilometres south of Kabul. Another official of the aid agency, Abdul Alim, was shot dead by gunmen on September 13 amid growing incidents of kidnapping of local and foreign aid workers in war-torn Afghanistan.
   Foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told newsmen Thursday that the government would make all out efforts to ensure release of the BRAC official.
   The adviser said the identity of the groups that killed a BRAC employee and abducted another in just three days in Afghanistan could not be ascertained. BRAC has been working since 2002 in the war-ravaged South Asian country in areas of education, health and micro-finance. The aid agency has a network of 251 offices in 24 Afghan provinces, employing around 4,300 people, including over 200 Bangladeshis.
   ‘It is difficult to say who have done it,’ Iftekhar said. He, however, said Bangladeshis are not the target in Afghanistan.
   Earlier, Afghan authorities in a preliminary reaction to the kidnapping did not rule out the role of Talibans, but said it might also be an act of criminals seeking a ransom.

More than 1,300 Buddhist monks on Thursday marched in the rain in Yangon in their largest demonstration in the country’s main city since they launched their protest movement in force this week.
   Witnesses said several thousand onlookers watched the monks marching and praying in three separate rallies, in what a Western diplomat said marked an escalation of the pressure on the regime.
   It was a fourth consecutive day of protests by the monks against Myanmar’s military regime and, for the first time, onlookers outnumbered the clergy.
   ‘Today marks definitely an escalation’ of the pressure, the diplomat said.
   Monks have risen to the forefront of the demonstrations which have grown into the most sustained challenge to Myanmar’s military rulers in nearly two decades.
   More than 600 monks prayed at Sule Pagoda in central Yangon, watched by up to 2,000 people chanting Buddhist prayers, witnesses said.
   They said dozens of plainclothes officials stood guard but there were no reports of violence.
   Defying heavy rains, hundreds of people, most of them university students, briefly formed a human chain at the pagoda. Police made no attempt to break up the crowd and
   had yet to arrest anyone.
   A separate group of more than 400 monks marched and prayed at Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar’s most important landmark, but the crowd dispersed after prayers, witnesses said.
   In southern Yangon, a third group of more than 350 monks marched toward a local pagoda before dispersing.
   A series of nationwide protests began on August 19 when a massive hike in fuel prices led to a spike in transport costs.
   The junta has run Myanmar since 1962 and does not usually tolerate even the slightest dissent, but analysts say the generals are cautious about stirring a public backlash if they act against the highly-respected clergy

Despite having conflicting views on different issues, the BNP and the followers of its expelled secretary general have expressed similar opinion about registration of political parties.
   The BNP secretary general, Khandakar Delwar Hossain, on Thursday said the parties could be registered with the Election Commission only after a legislation was passed in this regard by an elected parliament.
   ‘The Election Commission has no jurisdiction to register the political parties. It is the function of parliament to decide on which parties should be registered with the commission,’ he told reporters at his residence in reaction to a statement of the commission that polls symbols would be reserved for registered parties only. ‘Besides, the other proposals floated by the Election Commission also need to be made into laws by an elected parliament.’
   He said the political parties in Bangladesh had been functioning for 36 years without registration and these parties also governed the state after being elected to office.
   He said there was no split or differences in BNP. ‘We are the mainstream of the party, so nobody can raise questions about our electoral symbol – sheaf of paddy. The Election Commission also has no jurisdiction over allocation of our electoral symbol,’ he said.
   Delwar said as the state of emergency was still in force they were not staging demonstrations for release of Khaleda Zia but campaigns were going on abroad. ‘We are not violating the emergency rules,’ he said.
   Meanwhile, the expelled joint-secretary general of the party, Ashraf Hossain, observed that registration of political parties was not a bad idea and it was being practiced in many countries. ‘But I think it should be done after enacting laws in this regard by an elected parliament,’ he said.
   Ashraf also claimed the party was a united and there was no feud.
   Asked if they would take a move to secure release of the party chairperson, Ashraf said that they had not yet taken any decision. ‘We are trying to know the allegations against the chairperson. We will make a decision at the party meeting after lifting of the state of emergency,’ he said.
   The Election Commission has said that no election symbol will be reserved for any political party unless it is registered with the commission.

A traffic inspector was closed to local police lines Wednesday night on charge of taking bribe.
   Police super Alamgir Alam recovered Tk 2,000 from traffic inspector Anjan Saha Wednesday night following a tip-off that he took the money illegally from a man at Tongi traffic office.

The communications ministry has decided to relax for two months the weight restriction for trucks crossing Jamuna Bridge to help increase food supply to the markets to contain the price spiral of essential items.
   The ministry, at a meeting on Wednesday presided over by its joint secretary, decided to relax the weight restriction of 8 tonnes for each truck carrying agricultural items, allowing each of them to carry 13 tonnes, an additional amount of five tonnes.
   Officials of the communications ministry said the decision was taken to help the businessmen to transport agricultural food items to destinations across the country, particularly the capital, to enable the government, which is extremely concerned at the skyrocketing prices of food items, to control prices in the Ramadan.
   ‘We have decided to allow a truck to carry an additional amount of five tonnes of food items to reduce transportation cost, which has an effect on the price,’ said an official of the ministry, adding that the decision would go into effect from this month.
   However, to prevent damage to the 4.8-kilometre Jamuna Bridge, the ministry has also instructed the authorities concerned to reduce the speed limit of vehicles crossing the bridge by 20 per cent.
   Earlier, in a circular in May 2004, the government imposed a weight restriction on trucks, saying a truck could carry maximum eight tonnes of goods while crossing the bridge.
   A weigh bridge was also set up at the toll plaza of the bridge to check whether trucks were carrying more than the permitted weight.

The third certification test for the qualification to apply for teaching positions at non-government schools, colleges and madrassahs begins today, officials of the Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority said.
   The aspirants for the position of teachers at secondary schools and madrassah will take exams today and tomorrow while the aspirants for positions at colleges and equivalent madrassahs will take the test on September 28 and 29.
   About 61,000 candidates are expected to take today’s exams, NTRCA officials said on Thursday.
   The candidates will need to face 200-mark examinations in a compulsory and an elective subject.
   The examinations will be held in all the district headquarters under Sylhet, Barisal and Chittagong divisions, and only in divisional headquarters of Dhaka, Rajshahi and Khulna.
   The parliament passed the Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority Act 2005 on February 9 to contain corruption in teachers’ recruitment. It came into effect on March 20.
   The act makes NTRCA certificate mandatory for teaching position in non-government junior and high schools, colleges, madrassahs, and technical and business management institutions.
   Successful candidates will a certificate which will remain valid for five years.
   The first examinations were held in November 2005 and the second in September 2006.

The law adviser, Mainul Hosein, made a courtesy call on the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, at Bangabhaban on Thursday.
   During the meeting, the adviser briefed the president about the activities of his ministries.
   The president gave the adviser a patient hearing and expressed his satisfaction over the measures taken by the government.

The government suspended two municipal chairmen and removed another one on various charges, an official handout said in Dhaka on Thursday.
   Naogaon municipal chairman M Abul Kashem Akand and Iswardi municipal chairman M Mokhlesur Rahman Bablu were suspended under section 136 (1) of the Pourasabha Ordinance 1977 as criminal cases are under trial against them.
   Chairman of Kamalganj municipality in Moulvibazar been removed under section 13(1)(b) of the Pourasabha Ordinance 1977, the handout said.
   Earlier, the government removed/suspended or announ-ced vacant the posts of 25 municipal chairmen and 19 union parishad chairmen and 11 members on various charges.