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The government has relaxed restriction on keeping shops open till 9:00pm from 8:00pm during the first week of Ramadan before issuing the directives for the remaining days of the month usually marked by shopping spree.
   LGRD and cooperatives adviser Anwarul Iqbal made the announcement when a delegation of Shop Owners’ Association of Bangladesh met him at the secretariat on Wednesday.
   ‘We have decided to allow keeping shops open till 9:00pm and simultaneously ensuring smooth supply of electricity to the mosques during Tarabih prayers. After one week, we will come up with specific directive in this regard,’ the adviser said.
   He assured the shop owners of uninterrupted supply of electricity to shopping centres in Ramadan and sought one week to measure load on power supply and work out management strategies by the authorities concerned. The power division secretary was also present at the meeting.
   Iqbal issued a note of caution against colourful lighting at the shopping centres, saying that the law enforcers would arrest anyone for such activities. ‘Write to us, the police will arrest them,’ Iqbal said, asking the association members to help save the electricity by using energy-saving bulbs and not using air conditioners.
   An official order will also be issued relaxing the compulsory weekly holidays for the employees and workers of the shops for the month of Ramadan to facilitate the business activities.
   The association president, Amir Hossain Khan, urged the government to withdraw restrictions for keeping the shops open throughout the night so that they could do good businesses during the month before Eid festival. ‘Please allow us to sell goods throughout the night; we will use hurricanes in case of power outage,’ he said.
   The adviser said, ‘Since power situation is more volatile this year for a number of reasons, we will take a decision at a meeting on September 5.’
   Despite the chief adviser’s assurance of ensuring uninterrupted power supply to markets such as New Market at the weekend, he said, there were reports of frequent power disruption in the name of load shedding. ‘There may be something wrong and the government has ordered an investigation into it,’ he added.

Leaders from various political parties on Wednesday at a seminar suggested the formulation of a national decentralisation policy for grassroots-level development by ensuring the decentralisation of politics to strengthen democracy.
   The speakers also opined that the decentralisation policy should be formulated by consulting all the stakeholders, especially politicians, local government experts and leaders, bureaucrats and prominent members of the civil society.
   The Governance Advocacy Forum organised the seminar on ‘Democratic Decentralisation Campaign’ at the CIRDAP auditorium, where the speakers recommended that politics could be decentralised by strengthening the local government bodies.
   Mohsin Ali, the GAF’s coordinator who presented the keynote paper at the seminar, said no government has taken any initiative to formulate a national decentralisation policy even 37 years after the War of Liberation.
   Awami League’s presidium member, Matia Chowdhury, said that decentralisation is the precondition of democracy, and the country’s development will not be ensured without decentralisation of politics, administration and finance.
   She opined that the campaign to decentralise politics is essential for the nation but it has begun at a time when country has no democracy, and such a campaign is not possible by an undemocratic government.
   The BNP’s joint secretary-general, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, said the audit system should be introduced in the local government bodies so that corruption can be traced.
   A prominent economist, Dr Atiur Rahman, said every local government body should have a mini-parliament where elected leaders will make their own plans and budgets.
   The Communist Party of Bangladesh’s general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, said the national decentralisation policy is not a new idea but it will not be effective if there is not a strong democratic system in the country.
   The Awami League’s leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s president Hasanul Haq Inu, Jatiya Party’s acting chairman Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu, Prof Akhtar Hossain and Sardar M Anisuzzaman of DANIDA, along with others, took part in the seminar.

The nation observed on Wednesday the 32nd anniversary of death of national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, recalling how his poems and songs enriched Bangla literature and inspired struggles against injustice and misrule.
   The day’s programmes began with the placing of flowers at the grave by various socio-cultural, political, and student organisations and individuals.
   Literary enthusiasts and fans gathered at his grave at the Dhaka University mosque in the morning to pay their homage to the poet, popularly known as Bidrohi Kabi or the Rebel Poet.
   Family members of the poet including daughter Uma Kazi, grandaughter Khilkhil Kazi, Dhaka University vice-chancellor SMA Fiaz placed flowers at the grave in the morning.
   After placing wreaths at the grave, Khilkhil Kazi said, ‘Nazrul belongs to the people of all communities and classes who love freedom and have faith in humanity.’
   The Nazrul Institute held a discussion and a cultural function, with scholars speaking on Nazrul’s literary works and singers rendering Nazrul’s songs at the Bangladesh National Museum at Shahbagh.
   Cultural secreatary Sharful Alam was present as chief guest while Professor Mustafa Nurul Islam and Khilkil Kazi spoke on the occasion with the the Nazrul Institute Trustee Board chairman Professor Rafiqul Islam in the chair.
   The organisation also launched a compact disc featuring the Nazrul’s songs sung by Khalid Hossain.
   ‘It is the main responsibity of the Nazrul Institute to ensure that right technique is followed in rendering his songs,’ said the secretary.
   Nazrul teaches us to fight against all sorts of misdeeds through his songs and poetry, he said, adding that the minsitry would set up a museum in Comilla to keep his meory alive.
   The organisation also distributed certificates among the winners in recitation and music competition.
   After the discussion and award-giving ceremony, Khalid Hossain, Shahin Samad, Ferdous Ara, Fatem-tuz Zohra, Khairul Anam Shakil, Yasmin Mustari, Salahuddin Ahmed, Lina Taposi Khan and Khilkil Kazi sang songs while Baswar Bandopadya and Reziwali Lina recited poems.
   The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy arranged a discussion and a musical soiree at its National Music and Dance Auditorium in the evening.
   Abdul Qaiyum, Asadul Haque and Bulbul Mahalanabish took part in the discussion chaired by the academy’s director general, Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam.
   The Nazrul Academy and the Bangla Academy also observed the day by staging various programmes.
   Nazrul Sangeet Shilpi Parishad, International Nazrul Study Centre, Udichi, National Library, among scores of organisations and cultural groups, flocked to the red-brick grave of Nazrul to pay rich tributes.
   Born on May 25 in 1899 in a village of Burdwan of India’s West Bengal, Nazrul revolutionalised Bangla poetry and lyrics in his stormy two-decade’s stay in the literary and cultural arenas before he sank into isolation in early ‘40’s due to an incurable brain disease.
   The post-independence government brought Nazrul and his family to Bangladesh and recognised him as national poet.
   He died on August 29 in 1976, ending three decades of illness. As per Bangla calendar, the day falls on August 27 this year.

Social and development activists on Monday called for bringing an end to conditions in taking foreign aid and ensure a transparent, accountable and coordinated process based on the UN charter.
   Representatives of a number of organisations, under the banner of Aid Accountability Group, expressed their concern over the issue at a news conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, organised ahead of the ministerial meeting on ‘effectiveness of foreign aid’ to be held in Ghanaian capital Accra in September 2-4.
   The speakers warned that the US and the World Bank at the Accra meeting would try to establish the dominance of the lenders in setting terms and conditions for providing foreign assistance to developing countries.
   Alongside the ministerial meeting, citizens’ organisation from all over the world will also meet in Accra from August 31 to September 1 to discuss how foreign assistance can be made more effective in the development process of a country.
   The coordinator of the Aid Accountability Group, Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, also the executive director of Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment, stressed ensuring ‘democratic ownership’ of foreign aid.
   The executive director of Ongikar Bangladesh, Mohammad Helaluddin, Dhaka University’s economics teacher Dr Piyash Karim, Ratan Sarkar of Incidin Bangladesh, Mohammad Abdul Awal of Shushasoner Jonno Procharavijan and Kazi Mahbubur Rahman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue also spoke on the occasion.
   Quoting a research, Swapan said 25 per cent of the aid went back to the donors, 30 per cent went to the pockets of the bureaucrats, contractors, politicians and different agents, 20 per cent to rich traders while the rest, only 25 per cent, was used for poverty alleviation. ‘Actually, foreign assistance has no effectiveness,’ he said.
   Representatives of the development organisations noted that in the last three decades, the amount of grants had declined while loans from the donors had increased.
   In 1991-92, the amount of loan was 10 per cent of the foreign aid while it stood at 57 per cent of the total foreign assistance in 1998-99, they said.
   To make foreign aid effective, the Aid Accountability Group puts forward a seven-point recommendation, including formulation of an independent national development policy and coming out of the aid trap.

Local government representatives have said the existing system compel them to turn into ‘thieves’ and called upon the government to do away with the corrupt administrative mechanism.
   ‘We are tempted to become thieves by the system. We do not want to be hated as crooks’, said Golam Murtaza, an elected union parishad chairman from south-western Chuadanga district told a discussion titled ‘the role of media in strengthening the local government system’ in Dhaka on Wednesday.
   His fellows from Dinajpur and Rajshahi shared the views at the discussion organised jointly by Democracy Watch, USAID and Democratic Local Governance Programme at the Institution of Diploma Engineers.
   The local representatives said that they felt humiliated when they were called thieves. ‘But what can we do. No [development] work is done if people in the local administrations are not given a share’, said Abul Kalam Azad, a UP chairman from Rajshahi district. ‘No file mo-ves if we fail to gratify the desire of officers working at the local levels.
   ‘The thieves in the administration should be identified’, said Hasnat Kamal Chowdhury, a UP chairman from Dianjpur. ‘If they [the administrators] are not bribed, development works are put on hold.’
   The elected chairmen asked the government to look into the crux of the problem in order to make the local government system corruption-free and welfare-oriented. They questioned the quality of journalism at the grassroots level saying that reporters did not check and cross-check everything after hearing an allegation of wrongdoing at the local level.
   The newsmen tend to portray a negative image of the local government bodies, alleged the UP chairmen.
   Journalists Mahfuz Ullah, Jaglul Ahmed Chowdhury and Hasan Shahriar, among others, addressed the discussion presided over by Mahbubul Alam, editor of the Independent and a former adviser to the caretaker government. Mahbubul Alam called upon the journalists to maintain professional standards while dealing with the local issues.

The establishment secretary, Abdus Salam Khan, on Wednesday urged his colleagues at different ministries to enhance their knowledge of technology to deliver better and faster services.
   ‘With the knowledge of information and communications technology, you can get information in a second and it will help in making better and correct decisions,’ the secretary said as he inaugurated a workshop on ‘training needs for civil servants in e-government capacity in Bangladesh’ in the Chief Adviser’s Office.
   The workshop was organised under the access to information programme of the Chief Adviser’s Office with technical assistance from the United Nations Development Programme. About 100 government officials from different ministries and divisions joined the workshop.
   Salam said there was a gap between the new generation civil servants and the old generation policymakers in terms of use of information and communications technology, which should be reduced.

The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, received the Thai ambassador to Bangladesh Chaiermpoi Thanchitt at the foreign ministry Wednesday morning.
   The Thai ambassador invited the foreign adviser to be the chief guest at an event in Dhaka marking the 36th anniversary of Bangladesh-Thailand diplomatic relations.
   They discussed the forthcoming meeting between the foreign minister, Tej Bunnag, of Thailand and the foreign adviser scheduled to take place in New Delhi today on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Minister Meeting.
   They also agreed that the joint commission between Bangladesh and Thailand which has been dormant for several years, should be revived soon, possibly by March-April next year.
   The ambassador apprised the foreign adviser of the latest positive developments with regard to the Thai-Cambodia border issue.
   ‘I am looking forward to my first meeting with the new Thai foreign minister Thursday, in many ways we have had an identical diplomatic career which should help our friendship,’ Iftekhar told the media afterwards.

The Union Parishad members, entrusted with identifying the ultra-poor for registra- tion under employment scheme, will pocket about Tk 200 crore from the 20 lakh beneficiaries as the members have allegedly been taking
   Tk 500 to Tk 1,000 from each person.
   Bangladesh Khetmajur Samity, farmers’ front of Workers Party of Bangladesh, made the allegation at a press conference at its office in Dhaka on Wednesday
   They demanded that the government should look into the matter and punish the persons taking bribe from the poor.
   The interim government
   has taken the 100-day employment grant scheme for a total of 20 lakh ultra poor in the country and allocated Tk 2,000 crore in the 2008-2009 fiscal budget to implement the programme.
   They also demanded that the daily wage should be hiked to Tk 150 per worker from Tk 100 under the scheme and the number of beneficiary should be increased to 50 lakh from 20 lakh.
   Their other demands are re-fixing the unemployment allowance for the first 30 days at Tk 80 per person instead of Tk 40 and for the rest days Tk 90 instead of Tk 50 considering the current market price of daily essentials.
   The front general secretary, Sohel Ahmed, read out a written statement while its president Shamsuzzaman Selim and others were present at the conference.

Armed pirates abducted two fishermen and looted fishes from their trawler in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday.
   The abducted crew Md Nur Islam, 40, and owner of the trawler Md Akkas, 45. Both are still untraced.
   The fishermen, who returned from the sea at noon on the day, said they had gone to the sea Sunday evening from the Mohipur fish port under Kalapara in Patuakhali.
   When they were coming to Mohipur fish port from the sea Wednesday noon, armed pirates attacked their trawler at Pokia point near the Sundarban.
   Five fishermen were injured as the pirates beat them up and looted fish worth about Tk 4 lakh from their boat. The injured were admitted to Mohipur health sub-centre on Wednesday, they said.
   The pirates abducted Nurul Islam and Md Akkas and demanded Tk 2 lakh as ransom.

An earthquake was felt at the Dhaka Seismic Centre at Agargaon at 07 hours 34 minutes and 53.18 seconds Bangladesh Standard Time Wednesday.
   The intensity of the earthquake was 6.4 on the Richter scale which was strong in magnitude, said a Met Office press release.
   The location of the earthquake was near Lake Baikal region in Russia and the distance of the epicentre was 3,190km north- northeast from the Dhaka Seismic Centre, the release added.

Bangladesh Bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed on Wednesday asked all banks and financial institutions to develop internal mechanism to monitor the application of corporate governance in management.
   Speaking as the chief guest at ‘SAARC FINANCE’ seminar at a city hotel, he criticised the banks and financial institutions for failing to put in place standard corporate governance, which in turn undermining the accelerated development of the country’s banking.
   Senior central bank officials of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are taking part in the seminar as part of a move to exchange views and promote a standard corporate governance system in banks and financial institutions in SAARC member states.
   Lopa Rahman of Bangladesh Enterprise Institute presented the keynote paper in the event organised by Bangladesh Bank. There will be two working sessions in the seminar to be attended by senior bankers from the state owned banks and private banks and financial institutions.
   The governor said a very few banks and financial institutions have a code of conduct and those which have some guidelines do not practice. Moreover, many of them are not having designated officials to take care of the corporate system and on top of it, they do not have internal mechanism to promote it.
   Salehuddin Ahmed said corporate governance is especially important in banks and financial institutions as they take deposit from public, put it in business, earn profit and deal with depositors and shareholders interest.
   Corporate governance is similarly important to protect outside investors’ interest, he said adding the system is critically important to enhance accountability, increase efficiency and transparency and promote business competitiveness.
   These are the conditions to add credibility to banking, he said pointing to the system which remained predominantly family based institutions in private sector and gradually bracing for change to attain corporate character.
   Referring to changing rules in Bangladesh, the governor said under the existing laws not more than 10 percent of the shares of a bank can be held by members of a family and the voting rights of a shareholder has been restricted to 5 per cent of total voting rights.
   Banks and financial institutions have also been asked to take up corporate social responsibility, he said indicating how they are encouraged to broaden the base of their activities to become welfare oriented along with running after business.
   The governor also emphasised the need for constantly changing the directors on the board saying only `successor boards’ can ensure transparency and promote accountability by changing the guards.
   He laid emphasis on taking two depositor directors on the board of private banks and lamented that such a move is facing snags. It is to their interest that banks and financial institutions should agree to it, he observed.