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The Truth and Accountability Commission appears to have missed its prime mission to put the country’s economic and industrial development back on track as it has found only two businessmen appealing for mercy.
   The commission started its operation early this month with high-sounding pledge to allow graft suspects to voluntarily admit their guilt, surrender ill-gotten wealth and get clemency.
   Though swamped by mercy petitions from officials of utility agencies and other government departments, the commission only received two petitions from the business community, prompting it to extend the deadline for receiving applications by one month.
   The TAC has so far received records of about 182 cases, filed against 184 people, its chairman Justice Habibur Rahman Khan said at a press briefing in his Hare Road office on August 27, four days before the first deadline expires.
    Most of the case files involve graft charges against officials of the Rural Electrification Board, Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd, Roads and Highways Department, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd, Dhaka Electric Supply Authority, Department of Land Registration, Forest Department, Chittagong Port and Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
   Considering the poor response from the graft suspects especially the businessmen, the commission has extended the deadline until September 30.
   The TAC chairman on Friday told New Age that they were hopeful that businesspeople would avail of the extended deadline and come up with clemency appeals.
   Economists and business leaders, however, expressed their doubts about the response to the extended deadline as the High Court on August 28 questioned the legality of the Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008, which gave the basis of the TAC.
   They termed the TAC as a ‘futile exercise’ as they felt no sensible businessman would risk being stigmatised by voluntarily admitting financial crimes at a time when many high-profile politicians with graft charges are getting bail from the High Court and the country’s politics is heading for a different shape.
   They said that the commission, formed on July 30 only for five months, could hardy bring any improvement in business and investment climate, which is reeling from erosion in business confidence due to crackdown against corruption and tax evasion.
   Some of them, without being quoted, even said the commission was put in place to save newly corrupt people and those who amassed huge wealth through shady means but enjoyed blessing from the powerful people.
   ‘It [TAC] is no more necessary because concerned people are reaching compromise and getting remedy beyond the purview of the commission. It has only added another farcical chapter to the history of governance here,’ said Anu Muhammad, a professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University.
   Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies research director Zaid Bakht pointed out that the commission was formed at a wrong time. ‘Businesspeople now prefer waiting to see what happens after the elections as the situation on the political front and judicial arena looks fluid,’ the economist said.
   ‘It lacks credibility in absence of a political consensus about its formation and functioning. Giving it only a five-month term raises questions in the minds of many,’ said economist Atiur Rahman, chairman of research organisation Shamunnoy.
   He explained that businessmen too did not find confidence in seeking mercy from the commission, despite repeated assurance from the TAC chief that names would never be made public.
   The business community, which earlier preferred formation of such a commission to give amnesty to some of them and bring back business confidence, now believes that the commission is of no use for them as it does not guard them against future actions by the anti-corruption or revenue watchdogs.
   ‘Why will they [a section of businessmen] take the risk of being branded as corrupt for the remaining part of their life? Most people are finding the High Court as safer place and they are getting justice there,’ said Annisul Huq, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, analysing the reasons behind the businessmen’s reluctance to go to the TAC.
   In view of poor response from the businesspeople to seek TAC mercy to avert harsh legal measures, it seems that the commission itself is losing its relevance and potentials, the top business leader pointed out.
   ‘I think that a kind of critical social behaviour has been reflected here. No one wants to be socially identified as guilty,’ said Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
   He also observed that the commission had confused the people by coming into operation in a wrong context.
   Aftab Ul Islam, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh, said the poor response to the commission’s mercy offer indicated that the concept of the government had totally failed in this regard.
   ‘Obviously, no businessman will like to have a tag and risk his/her career,’ he said, describing the formation of the commission as one of the biggest mistakes of the present government.
   One of the fundamental objectives of the commission was to bring back normalcy in business activities and instil confidence in investors.
   ‘Under the circumstances, existing businessmen and new investors will definitely hesitate, no matter he or she is corrupt or not,’ said Zaid Bakht.
   Anu Mohammad said the truth commission was not an effective tool for channelling ill-gotten wealth into the mainstream economy and productive activities in absence of the proper institutional mechanism, and the commission was also not geared to that job.

The government has formed a media committee to see how ‘negative news’ on commodity prices can be thwarted as reports on price hike have been seen as factors that fuel market volatility.
   Experts, however, see it as a tool for controlling the media and feel that there is no use of such a committee.
   ‘The print and electronic media are not giving the real reports on declines in prices of essential goods, so consumers are being deprived of positive outcome of price fall,’ said an information ministry official.
   The ministry will take initiatives to ensure that the media play a ‘positive’ role in letting people know when prices fall as they do in case of soaring prices, said the official.
    The eight-member media committee, headed by a joint secretary of the information ministry, had its first meeting on August 23 and analysed the media reports on the local commodity market.
   Most of the members agreed that the media, both print and electronic, reported elaborately when prices of some items had gone up, but they were often reluctant to even have a mention in their reports when prices declined, the information ministry official said.
   The director general of Bangladesh Betar, the principal information officer and the chief editor of the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha are members of the media committee, which will hold its next meeting on Monday at the information ministry.
   Regulatory Reforms Commission chairman Akbar Ali Khan has said there is no necessity to control the media reports on price hike of essentials. Rather, the government should allow the media to publish real news on price hike of essentials across the country so that necessary interventions can be planned and made on time.
   ‘The government has taken certain programmes in the budget to keep prices of essentials in check. If the programmes, like official import and procurement of food, are implemented properly, prices of essentials will be automatically stable in the market,’ Akbar, a former finance secretary, told New Age.
   AAMS Arefin Siddiqui, professor of journalism at Dhaka University, rejected the contention that media reports on price hike have negative impact on the market.
    ‘Our media reflect the real picture of commodity price situations across the country,’ he said to New Age, adding that the interim government might want to control the media in the name of checking ‘negative report’ by forming a media committee.
    In its first meeting, the committee found that the country’s major newspapers were downplaying or ignoring the news of significant reduction in prices of many items.
   It suggested that the state-run Bangladesh Television could easily show sales of commodities at the BDR fair price shops and open market sale outlets of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh and the food ministry.
   Newspapers should publish price chart of essentials so that the people can know the real prices of goods and bargain with the traders effectively. Private televisions and radio channels can air programmes like Bazarer Bag [shopping programme], a reality show run by BTV, to update the viewers on market prices, the committee said.
   It entrusted the Press Information Department with making official price charts available to all newspapers routinely, sources close to the committee said.

Prices of some commodities such as onions, sugar, spices, eggs and liquid milk marked significant increase in the past week with the fasting month of Ramadan less than a week ahead.
   Commerce ministry officials and leaders of trade bodies at several meetings over a few weeks had, however, said essential goods prices would not increase this Ramadan.
   Prices of major items such as rice, wheat and cooking oil remained somewhat stable on the retail market although the prices of such items kept declining on the wholesale market.
   ‘Consumers are going to pass another Ramadan with undue increase in the prices of essential commodities,’ said Tajul Islam, who went shopping at Thatharibazar in Dhaka on Friday. He was buying the Indian variety of onions for Tk 26 a kilogram, up by Tk 2 in the week.
   Indian onions were retailed in the city markets on Friday for prices between Tk 24 and Tk 28. The prices ranged between Tk 22 and Tk 24 the week before. The prices on the wholesale market at Shyambazar ranged between Tk 21 and Tk 24 a kilogram on Friday.
   ‘The demand for onions increased as people are making Ramadan stock. Onion price also increased at the import level,’ said Sujit Saha of Jamjam Traders at Shyambazar.
   Ginger, which was retailed for prices between Tk 76 and Tk 95 a kilogram on Friday, also marked an increase by Tk 10 in the week and by Tk 20 in two weeks.
   Turmeric and coriander, retailed for prices between Tk 90 and Tk 100 a kilogram, also became dearer by at least Tk 10 in two weeks as traders were making windfall profits in view of Ramadan.
   Sugar price increased by Tk 2 in the week to sell for prices between Tk 35 and Tk 38 a kilogram on Friday.
   Wholesalers said a 50kg sack of sugar sold for Tk 1,750 by late last week; the price was Tk 1,650 two weeks ago.
   After a decline in prices for two weeks, cooking coil remained somewhat stable on the retail market in the past week although prices kept declining on the wholesale market. Cooking oils were selling for prices 20 per cent higher than wholesale rates.
   Fine grade non-packed ‘super palm,’ the highest-selling variety of cooking oil, was retailed for Tk 100 a kilogram at Kaptan Bazar and Moghbazar on Friday; the commodity was retailed for Tk 83 a kilogram on the wholesale market on Tuesday.
   Ordinary grade dates, which were retailed for prices between Tk 80 and Tk 130 a kilogram on Friday, marked an increase by at least Tk 20 from the price a year ago. Dates are an essential iftar item in Ramadan.
   Chicken, meats and egg prices remained somewhat unchanged at the level they reached during Shab-e-Barat. Prices of vegetables, except for green chilli and carrots, also remained somewhat stable in the week.
   Green chilli was retailed for prices between Tk 70 and Tk 80 and carrot between Tk 40 and Tk 50 a kilogram on Friday, marking an increase by Tk 20 in a week or so.
   Rice, flour and red lentil prices also remained unchanged in the week as traders said prices remained stable on the wholesale market.
   Liquid milk prices increased before Ramadan. The Farm Fresh brand marked an increase by Tk 2 to sell for Tk 27 a half-a-litre pack in the middle of the week. The sales of liquid, packed milk increase in Ramadan, traders said.

The BNP secretary-general, Khandaker Delwar Hossain, has finally received the Election Commission’s invitation for dialogue on electoral reforms.
   The EC on Friday sent the invitation letter, addressed to Delwar as the secretary-general of the party, to his residence.
   The party’s office secretary, Rizvi Ahmed, said they had received the letter but were yet to decide whether they would participate in the talks.
   The EC has asked the party to form a five-person delegation for the dialogue.
   In September, 2007 it invited the government-backed splinter group of the BNP and issued the letter to its acting secretary-general, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.
   The party’s mainstream condemned the move and labelled it the result of the EC’s bias and resorted to litigation to stop it.
   Talking to reporters on Friday, the party’s vice-chairman, MK Anwar, said the activities of the Election Commission’s bigwigs had created confusion in the people.
   ‘They do not practise what they preach. They bought time on the plea of completing an electoral roll with identity cards but are now saying there is no need for ID cards for voting as they should be used as national ID cards’, said Anwar, adding that the BNP was also confused like the people.
   Anwar said the party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, would not seek release through any negotiations — rather she would follow the legal course and come out on bail. ‘All the four cases filed against her are baseless. I am also a co-accused in two of those cases’, he said.
   ‘Khaleda Zia does not believe in entente. If she had agreed to do so, things would have been resolved long ago. Those who have negotiated with the government now realise that people did not accept their deal and have lost their faith in them’, he said at Delwar’s residence.
   Anwar also said the party’s senior joint secretary-general, Tarique Rahman, would be released by Sunday or Monday after the necessary documents reach the jail.
   He said that if a suitable environment was created the BNP would surely contest the elections as it was an election-oriented party and did not want to assume office through the backdoor.
   The party chief’s adviser, ASM Hannan Shah, said the process of Khaleda Zia’s release would not be the same as the process through which the Awami League chief, Sheikh Hasina, was released.
   ‘Hasina was released after reaching an understanding with the government, but Khaleda’s case is different. She has already got bail in two cases and we expect the court to award her bail in the remaining two cases’, he said at his DOHS house.
   ‘She has once again proved that she is an uncompromising leader and we feel proud to work under such a leader’, he claimed.
   The acting secretary-general of the party’s government-backed splinter group, Hafizuddin Ahmed, said that the party would be unified again after Khaleda Zia’s release and expected that the 30th founding anniversary of the party would be observed in a united manner under a free Khaleda.
   Hafiz declined to make comments on the EC’s inviting Delwar instead of him for the dialogue. ‘I do not want to make any comment in this regard. The commission had explained that they were creating a level-playing field and that’s why they invited the other group of the party.’

Leaders of the Awami League on Friday said the interim government and the Election Commission were the biggest obstacles to holding the next parliamentary polls and warned that Bangladesh would turn into a ‘failed’ state if the national elections were not held in time.
   The party also expressed extreme disappointment with the High Court’s verdict in the jail killing case.
   The AL leaders were speaking at a discussion meeting at the National Press Club, organised by the Ivy Rahman Parisad to observe the martyred leader’s fourth death anniversary.
   The party’s women’s affairs secretary, Ivy Rahman, died on August 24, 2004 after being fatally wounded in the August 21 grenade attack on an AL rally on Bangabandhu Avenue in which 23 others were killed, several maimed for life and more than 300 injured.
   The acting Awami League general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, said the present interim government and the EC were the biggest hindrances to holding parliamentary elections in time. On Wednesday he said the EC was the main threat to holding parliamentary polls in time and accused it of conspiring to foil the holding of the national elections.
   ‘The EC and the government have made a pledge to hold a free and fair national election by December, but the promise is now on the verge of being broken’, he said, and added that the country would be turned into a failed and ineffective state if the election was not held in December.
   Ashraful censured the meeting of BNP leader Khandakar Delwar Hossain and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the special jail, saying that the meeting had proved that the BNP was a ‘party of entente’.
   ‘What is the need of keeping politicians behind bars if the symbol of corruption, who helped to make Bangladesh the champion of corruption several times, is granted bail in all 13 cases against him?’ asked Ashraful, indirectly referring to Tarique Rahman’s bail, and alleged that the interim administration did not take the anti-corruption drive seriously.
   ‘The caretaker administration’s anti-corruption drive was just bluff and it was launched only to depoliticise the country’, he further alleged.
   Awami League presidium member Matia Chowdhury said the people had been shocked and astonished at the High Court’s verdict in the assassination case of the four national leaders while they were in jail.
   She expressed doubt about the holding of parliamentary elections in accordance with the electoral roadmap announced by the EC. ‘The nation will face an unimaginable situation if the election is not held within the timeline’, Matia warned.
   Acting AL president Zillur Rahman, widower of the late Ivy Rahman, was present at the programme. The Ivy Rahman Parisad president, AAMS Arefin Siddique, presided over the discussion addressed by Syed Rezaur Rahman, Dipu Moni, Najma Akhtar, Iqbal Hossain Bhuiyan and Akteruzzaman Khoka.

The home secretaries of Bangladesh and India are scheduled to begin their two-day annual consultation in the capital on Saturday that will mainly focus on establishing a peaceful border by enhancing cooperation in tackling criminal activities.
   Home secretary Abdul Karim, who will lead the 18-member home side, told New Age on Friday evening that enhancing the border security of the two next-door neighbours to curb criminal activities would be the major focus in the meeting.
   ‘Apart from this, the issues of restricting drug smuggling and human trafficking and the Tin Bigha Corridor will come up for discussion,’ he added.
   Karim’s Indian counterpart, Madhukar Gupta who will lead the 14-member team of his country in the ninth round of such talks, arrived in Dhaka on Friday afternoon. Like other occasions, the home secretary-level discussions of the two South Asian neighbours will be dominated by the thorny issues of security matters including the rampant killing of innocent Bangladeshis by India’s Border Security Force, curbing crime and smuggling, signing of an extradition pact, handing over of fugitives that have taken refuge in each other’s countries.
   The Bangladesh officials said that Dhaka would stress the importance of the implementation of 1974 Mujib-Indira Land Boundary Agreement for demarcation of the remaining 6.5km land boundary and completion of the exchange of enclaves and lands in adverse possession.
   Bangladesh will also focus on increased cooperation and regular exchange of information to combat criminal activities on both sides of the border.
   The Indian media, however, reported that New Delhi would request Dhaka to take action against Bangladeshi nationals allegedly involved in terrorist acts in its territory and deportation of its north-eastern insurgents from Bangladesh.
   The Press Trust of India, quoting an Indian home ministry official, reported that New Delhi would provide evidence of the involvement of Bangladesh-based outfits like HUJI and its nationals in terrorist acts, including the Hyderabad blasts, and seek action against them in the meeting.
   The PTI, quoting the official, said, ‘India will also seek deportation of Indian militant leaders like ULFA’s Paresh Baruah, Anup Chetia and Arabinda Rajkhowa as they have been fomenting terrorism for a long time.’
   The Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, told PTI that the meeting is likely to discuss New Delhi’s earlier proposal for signing an extradition treaty to exchange fugitive ‘criminals’ hiding in each other’s territory.
   ‘The talks are also expected to explore the ways and means for increasing cooperation to counter terrorism and develop a legal framework for exchange of fugitive criminals,’ said Pinak.

The Awami League general secretary, Abdul Jalil, who is recovering from illness in Singapore, is likely to return home on Sunday – ten days before the duration of his parole ends.
   The party president Sheikh Hasina, now in Canada, is also expected to return on September 22 or 23, her personal physician Prof Syed Modasser Ali told New Age on Friday.
   He said Hasina had told him over phone that she would undergo a check-up in John Hopkins Hospital on September 3.
   Hasina left the country for the United States on June 12, a day after she was released from jail by an executive order.
   She was arrested on July 16, 2007 in an ‘extortion’ case and was freed by an executive order initially for eight weeks on June 11 for treatment abroad. The government later extended the release order for another month.
   The army-backed interim government on August 7 extended by a month the duration of the parole of Jalil for the last time and it would end on September 10.
   A home ministry order said the duration of Jalil’s parole would not be further extended and that he would have to return in time.
   The AL general secretary, who is now undergoing treatment in Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, told New Age over telephone that he would return to Bangladesh on August 31 by a Singapore Airlines flight.
   ‘I am ninety per cent okay and I am ready to return’, he said and urged the countrymen to pray for his health.
   Jalil was paroled on March 2 for a month to enable him to have better treatment of his malfunctioning kidneys and some other complications abroad.
   The government extended his parole for four times after he left the country for Singapore on March 3.
   The joint forces arrested Jalil at his Mercantile Bank office at Motijheel in Dhaka on May 28, 2007.

The overall flood situation is expected to deteriorate in next couple of days as rain-fed rivers continued swelling at 61 points on Friday and rising above the danger mark at 17 points, increasing the risk of late monsoon floods in some central, northern and north-eastern districts, say flood forecasters.
   The major river systems, the Brahmaputra-Jamuna and the Ganges and the Meghna, continued rising and are expected to go on doing so for the next two to three days.
   Rivers in the north-eastern part of the country were also swelling, the most severe case being Kanaighat of Sylhet where the Surma was flowing 114 centimetres above the danger mark.
   The confluence of Padma and Jamuna at Goalundo and Bhagyakul will continue rising for the next three to four days.
   The flood forecasting and warning centre said the flood situation in Sylhet and Sunamganj will deteriorate further as the basin is experiencing heavy rainfall in Bangladesh and upstream in India.
   The centre also forecast that more low-lying areas in Bogra, Jamalpur, Sirajganj, Tangail, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Dohar and Nawabganj (Dhaka), Shibganj and Sadar in Chapainawabganj district are likely to be inundated in the next 48-72 hours.
   Rivers kept swelling at 61 points out of the 73 that were monitored. They flowed above the danger marks at 17 points.
   The Padma on Friday flowed 49 centimetres above the danger mark at Pankha, 63 centimetres above at Bhagyakul and 44 centimetres above at Goalando; the Arial Khan 33 centimetres above the mark at Madaripur; the Kangsa 32 centimetres above the mark at Jariajhanjail in Netrakona; the Surma 114 centimetres above the mark at Kanaighat and 20 centimetres at Sunamganj; the Kushiara 78 centimetres above the mark at Amalshid and 59 centimetres at Sheola in Sylhet; the Halda 100 centimetres above the mark at Narayanhat in Chittagong; the Jamuna five centimetres above the mark at Sirajganj and 10 centimetres at Aricha; and the Kaliganga 47 centimetres above the mark at Taraghat.
   New Age correspondent in Sylhet said low-lying areas in Sylhet were flooded on Friday for the heavy shower and onrush of water from cross-border upstream rivers. Many areas in the Sylhet city also experienced a severe water-logging for the torrential rains.
    Baruthkhana, Hawapara, Jail road, Sawdagartula, Kumarpara, Mirza Jangal, Taltala, Sheikh Ghat, Kuyarpar, Kajal Shah, Bagbari, Munshipara, Khujarkhala, Bharthakhala, Jhalopara and Railway Station areas in the city went under ankle to knee-deep water in the morning.
    More than 25,000 day labourers already have become jobless as three stone quarries—Bholaganj, Bisnakandi and Japhlong—in the district were inundated.
   The New Age correspondent in Bogra reported that Jamuna was threatening to overflow because of the heavy rainfall in the last few days and the onrush of water from upstream. The river was flowing 47 centimetres above the danger mark at Sahrabari in Dhunat.
   The water level also rose in Ichhamati, Bangali and other rivers, inundating many areas in Sherpur and Raiganj upazilas of the district.
   The sub-assistant engineer of the local Water Development Board, Rezaul Karim, said the flood control dam was still holding back the water but if the river continues to swell the dam would be threatened.
   Reports from Sirajganj said that the water level of Jamuna rose five centimetres above the danger mark on Friday morning and washed away a 50-metre shank of Meghai solid spur in Kazipur upazila on Thursday.
   At least twenty villages — including Muslimpara, Shauthtala, Charpara, Fakirpara, Mayakandi, Biara, Khudbandi, Alampur, Baraitala, Meghai, Singrabari and Beripatal — are being threatened by erosion.

A ‘toxic combination’ of poverty and social injustice is killing people on a grand scale, a World Health Organisation report said on Thursday, urging states to fund healthcare to cut inequalities.
   The Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, a report commissioned by the WHO and chaired by Sir Michael Marmot of University College London, said these health inequalities were avoidable but only if concerted efforts were made by governments and civil society.
   ‘Reducing health inequities is an ethical imperative. Social injustice is killing people on a grand scale,’ the report said.
   Marmot told journalists that a girl born in Zambia can expect to live 43 years, while one born in Japan can expect to live twice as long, to 86 years.
   ‘There is no good biological reason why this should be the case,’ he said, instead pointing the finger at social factors that give rise to such a gaping disparity.
   ‘These health inequalities are preventable. They arise from the circumstances in which people are born, grow, live, work and age — the social determinants of health,’ he said.
   ‘Taking action to deal with preventable causes of illness means taking social action... a toxic combination of poor social policies, unfair economic arrangements and bad politics is responsible,’ he added.
   Health care must remain within the public sphere and universally available regardless of people’s ability to pay, he said.
   ‘The commission considers health care a common good, not a market commodity,’ the report said.
   ‘The commission advocates financing the health-care system through general taxation and/or mandatory universal insurance… the evidence is compellingly in favour of a publicly funded health-care system,’ it added.
   Marmot said that whilst ‘virtually all’ high-income countries had such a system, there is no reason why it should be adopted by other countries if governments show the necessary political will and funded healthcare through progressive taxation.
   ‘We are distressed by the reports we see of healthcare simply being unavailable to people because of inability to pay, and we see that throughout lower- and middle-income countries,’ he said.
   The report said it was ‘unacceptable’ that upwards of 100 million people are pushed into poverty each year through ‘catastrophic’ healthcare costs.
   The United States is one of the rare developed countries that does not have such a system but relies chiefly on citizens holding private medical insurance.
   Marmot said that while it was ‘not for me to tell one of the richest countries on Earth how it should organise its healthcare system,’ the fact that around 49 million Americans do not have health insurance suggests this is not the most efficient model.
   ‘It’s not perhaps the best use of money that’s being spent. There are a lot of people who feel that, and would actually like to see coming out of the current (presidential) campaign in the US, proposals for a universal health insurance,’ he said.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party will celebrate its 30th founding anniversary on September 1.
   The party leaders and activists will say prayers at the graveside of its founder, the late president Ziaur Rahman, and hold discussions on the occasion.
   For the first time, the party is observing the occasion without the participation of its chairperson, Khaleda Zia.
   The party has formed a 71-member committee, headed by standing committee member Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiquie, to observe the occasion.
   The party will hold a discussion on ‘BNP in protecting the country’s independence, sovereignty and democracy’ at Mahanagar Natyamancha at 3:00pm on August 31.
   On September 1, the national and party flags will be hoisted at the party offices. Central leaders will place flowers on Ziaur Rahman’s grave and say prayers at the graveside at 10:00am and hold a discussion on ‘three decades of BNP: Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia’ at the Institution of Engineers at 3:00pm.
   Ziaur Rahman founded the BNP on September 1, 1978. The party had been in power for 17 years, taking into account the martial law regime of Ziaur Rhaman, since independence.

A team of the Election Commission officials paid a surprise visit to Barisal to investigate the alleged vote rigging and what caused delay in declaring the unofficial results of the August 4 mayoral polls in the southern city.
   Manirul Islam, deputy election commissioner in charge and returning officer for the BCC polls, told journalists that Nurul Islam, joint secretary and Shahjahan Mia, deputy secretary of EC, had come to Barisal on Wednesday and left the city Thursday night after the brief visit.
   When contacted over phone, the returning officer refused to give details of the investigation. He said that the EC team from Dhaka had talks with officials and staff of the commission’s Barisal office, checked the election-related documents and wanted to know about the reasons for the delay in declaring results.
   The Awami League-led alliance’s mayoral nominee Shawkat Hossain Hiron won the polls receiving 46,796 votes and his nearest rival Sarfuddin Santu polled 46,208 votes out of 1,79,293 (82%) votes cast in the city corporation polls on August 4.
    The city witnessed some dramatic incidents during the count of votes on that night. Shawkat Hossain Hiron rejected the result at 2:00am when he came to know he was trailing PDP candidate Sarfuddin Santu. But he accepted the result after being unofficially declared winner by a margin of 588 votes.
   Sarfuddin Santu in a written complaint with the returning officer and in interviews with the media demanded cancellation of the results and holding of re-election.
   ‘It was the government which forced the defeat on me through election engineering’, Shantu alleged after the results were announced.

The interim administration has undertaken a scheme for modernisation of the neglected postal services initially targeting to bring 84 general post offices under automation programme, officials said.
   ‘People will get easier and better services in the shortest possible time at the post offices once the project is implemented,’ director general of the postal services Mobasherur Rahman told New Age in the past week.
   The government has already invited bid for computer software for the modernisation project and procurement of hardware is under way.
   In the first phase, 84 GPOs in the district headquarters and 13 main post offices will be brought under the automation scheme with an estimated cost of Tk 31 crore. Gradually, thana level post offices will come under automation process.
   Special assistant to the chief adviser for post and telecommunications ministry MA Malek said the postal department remained neglected for decades and there had been hardly any attempt to take services to the doorstep of the common people.
    ‘We have at least started the process and we hope it will make services easy for the common people,’ he told New Age.
   Post offices need to introduce more services for the people in the age of information technology, he said, adding that the modernisation project started getting a shape in July this year.
   Detailing the benefits of the project, the postal services DG said the people would no longer need to stand in queue for hours for getting services once the process was automated.
   ‘They will get one-stop service at the major post offices,’ he said.
   An online tracking system will link the targeted post offices and help senders know about the movement of their letters and parcels.
   Apart from their routine services like sending letters and parcels through ordinary and guaranteed express mails to destinations both in home and abroad, money orders, sales of stamps, and post box and post bag facilities, post offices in Bangladesh also offer financial services including life insurance, small savings schemes and savings certificate as well as collection of vehicle taxes.
   But the postal banking or saving schemes gradually lost their significance with the penetration of banks and other financial institutions of rural market.
   Private logistics companies, though still unregulated, have also taken a major portion of postal services and expanded their network to all cities and towns offering quicker deliveries of letters and money.
   Recently, post offices have been engaged in the passport issuance process and a number of banks have come forward to use the vast postal network of 10,000 post offices for deliveries of remittance.
   Under its modernisation bid, the Bangladesh Post Office signed deals with the US financial services company Western Union for money transfer targeting a huge number of Bangladeshi expatriates working in different destinations.
   Initially, quick money transfer service will be available at 450 post offices.

Thousands of Christian-run schools and colleges across India were closed Friday to protest at recent Hindu mob attacks on churches and homes in eastern India that have left at least 11 people dead.
   Violence has rocked Orissa state since the killing of a Hindu leader last week, which police blamed on Maoist rebels but Hindu activists pinned on Christian militants.
   In apparent retaliation, Hindu hard-liners set ablaze a Christian orphanage Monday, killing a Christian woman and seriously injuring a priest. The violence has spread to include mob attacks on churches, shops and homes.
   Orissa has a history of Hindu-Christian clashes generally fuelled by Hindu suspicions about missionary work among the rural poor.
   Roughly 30,000 schools were closed Friday to condemn the violence, said Joseph D’souza, president of the All Indian Christian Council. Churches planned hold special services to pray for peace and solidarity, he said.
   ‘The peaceful protest by closing schools and colleges is a signal to those inciting religious hatred and disharmony,’ said Babu Joseph, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. ‘The government must hold an independent inquiry into the Orissa killings.’
   An additional 12,000 Roman Catholic educational institutions joined in Friday’s shut down after a meeting in Mumbai.
   Archbishop Oswald Gracias called for the government to better protect minority groups.
   ‘Innocents should not be targeted,’ he said. ‘We have appealed for calm.’
   The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, told the Catholic Bishops Conference of India in a meeting late Thursday that the Orissa incidents were a ‘national shame’ and promised the government would make every effort to restore normalcy, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Bangladesh pin their hopes on the drop-in pitch when they face mighty Australia in the first one-day match of the Commonwealth Bank series at the TIO Stadium in Darwin today. The match starts at 6:00am BST.
   The Tigers looked buoyant in the practice after spending a day off on Thursday following their comprehensive 120-run win the final warm-up game against the Northern Territory Chief Minister XI.
   The level of confidence of the tourists went up further when Australia struggled to make runs in their own practice game and were dismissed for only 177 runs against Australian Institute of Sports.
   Though they still won the match by 54 runs, Australia, who are out of international cricket since March, were unable to hide their rustiness playing without the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Rickey Ponting and Mathew Hayden.
   Unlike Bangladesh, who have had some high-scoring warm-up matches against the same side, Australia played their game at the main venue on a drop-in pitch where the first one-day match will be played.
   Their batting gave a clear indication that it would not be fair to expect free-flowing runs from the sides and both Australian captain Michael Clarke and Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful shared the same views.
   ‘I think 240 will be a good total to have on this pitch,’ said Clarke at a press conference at the TIO stadium.
   Ashraful even lowered yardstick saying he would be happy even if his team could score 220. ‘That will give us something to fight with,’ said Ashraful adding that his team were not afraid of drop-in pitches.
   Bangladesh last played a one-day match on a drop-in pitch against New Zealand in Auckland last year where Ashraful himself scored a masterful half-century and Bangladesh neared 200 runs comfortably before being derailed in the final few overs.
   ‘No doubt we are an improving side and everyone is mentally prepared to take on Australia,’ said Ashraful responding to the queries of the local reporters. Bangladesh named their team for the match keeping opener Junaed Siddique, all-rounder Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah Riyadh and pacer Dollar Mahmud out of the side.
   It means Mehrab Hossain, who was dismissed awkwardly in the last match on drop-in pitch in Auckland to lose his place in the starting line-up, will open the innings with Tamim Iqbal.
   Mehrab regained his confidence in the last warm-up game after producing in an all-round show with a century and three-wicket haul, something which the think-tanks believe would give the team an added bowling option also.
   Aussie captain Clarke said that there will be no complacency from Australian point of view today against the Tigers. With so many fringe Australia players desperate to impress, Clarke guaranteed his side would not be taking Bangladesh for granted. Clarke and Michael Hussey were the only two members of the current Australian squad who were part of the five-wicket loss in Cardiff in 2005, the only time Bangladesh have beaten Australia in an ODI, and it’s a day that has remained stuck in their minds.
   ‘It’s certainly an occasion that you never forget,’ Clarke said. ‘For me personally it’s not because Bangladesh beat Australia, it’s because we took a team for granted. From that day I’ve certainly learnt that in international cricket you can’t afford to do that
   ‘There’s a lot of guys trying to cement their position in this one-day team and we all have a lot to play for. I think you will find it will be the other way, you’ll see Australia come out at 100 miles an hour from ball one.’

Archaeological sites, mainly the Buddhist monasteries and temples in the country, could be a major attraction for tourists if they were properly conserved and extensive campaign on them was conducted.
   Every year a good number of tourists, mainly the Chinese and Japanese pilgrims, visit different Buddhist sites in the subcontinent, which have a long history.
   The industry insiders said tourism could flourish in Bangladesh if a small portion of these religious tourists would visit its sites having long lineage of Buddhist history.
   They said religious tourists mostly avoid this country as there is lack of campaign on these archaeological sites and they are not well-conserved.
   Faridul Haque, a tour operator and former president of the Tour Operator Association of Bangladesh, said the history of Buddhism in this country is long and rich, and the number of related sites is more than any other countries mostly frequented by religious tourists.
   He said many tourists are interested to visit the archaeological sites like Somapura Vhiara at Paharpur, Salban Vhiara at Maynamati, Vasu Vhiara at Mohasthangarh in Bogra in our country.
   Immediate conservation of these sites as well as ensuring their tourism-friendly environment is necessary to attract the tourists, he added.
   Golam Kibria, deputy chief executive officer of Riverain Tours, said last year they had 55 Japanese and Chinese tourists in three groups, and this year they expect more tourists who like both the eco-tourism and cultural tourism.
   Tour operators said, besides the foreign tourists, local tourists have interest in the archaeological sites and museums of the country.
   Numerous Buddhist monasteries were set up in Bengal under the royal patronage of a series of Buddhist ruling dynasties between the 7th and the 12th century. These monasteries were used as centres of learning and pilgrimage.
   The Vasu Vhiara at Mohasthangarh was the capital of the kingdom of the Mourjo, the Gupta and the Sen dynasty during 2500 BC.
   The Somapura Vhiara at Paharpur is another tourist attraction in north Bengal.
   King Dharma Pal established the Paharpur Buddhist monastery in the 7th century, which is the most important and the largest known monastery in the south Himalayan countries.
   The Salban Vihara at Mainamati, which is almost in the middle of the Mainamati-Lalmai hill range, is also a good attraction for the tourists.
   Considering the tourism value of these sites, the archaeological department of the ministry of cultural affairs has taken up initiatives to make the sites tourist-friendly.
   Shafiq Alam, director of the department of archaeology, said a development project started at the monasteries at Paharpur and Mahasthangarh as well as Kantajir Temple with the support of the Asian Development Bank under its South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation programme.
   He said the archaeology department is implementing the ADB-funded project involving $12 million in cooperation with the Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation. It would be a milestone of tourism development in the country, added the director.
   Tourism has been identified by the ADB as one of the priority areas for cooperation under its South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation programme since 2001.
   A tourism group working on tourism and comprising members of the national tourism organisations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka was formed to coordinate tourism initiatives and they had a meeting in April this year in India.
   Two product-specific programmes focused on ‘Buddhist circuits’ and ecotourism based on nature and culture’ were identified as priority programmes of the group.
   Shafiq Alam said recently they had completed some development works like renovation of the central temple and 40 small rooms of eastern and southern sites of the monastery and beautification and gardening inside the Salban Vhiara.
   ‘We have increased the price of entry tickets for the museum and archaeological sites in two phases, which increased our earning. Last year, the department earned about Tk 2 crore which was almost double of that of the previous year’, he added.
   The Baliati Zamindar palace, another archaeological site at Saturia in Manikganj, was recently renovated by the department and it will be opened to the tourists soon, said the department director.
   He said shortage of manpower and government allocations is hampering the development works at the archaeological sites.
   There are a total of about 391 protected archaeological sites in the country and about 1,000 prospective archaeological establishments were found in Khulna, Rajshahi and Dhaka division in a survey of the department in 1994. The department has 14 antiquity museums across the country at different archaeological sites.

The elections to the Chittagong University Teachers’ Association will be held today holds today.
   Sixty-one of the 610 teachers at the university on Wednesday and Thursday cast their vote in an advance balloting on a consensus which will be counted on Saturday, said the chief election commissioner, Md Afsar Ali, teacher of the philosophy department.
   Sources said economics teacher Earshad Kamal Khan of the Yellow Panel loyal to the Awami League, was contesting for the position of the president. The candidate of the White Panel, loyal to the BNP-led alliance, for the position is Md Kamal Hossain of the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences.
   Kamrul Huda of the botany department is contesting for the position of the general secretary from the Yellow Panel and the White Panel fielded Abdul Karim of the statistics department for the position.
   The Yellow Panel fielded Ganesh Chandra Roy for the position of the vice-president, Ali Azgar Chowdhury for the post of joint secretary and Khaled Mizbahuzzam for the treasurer’s post.
   The White Panel candidate for the vice-president position is Abul Taher Chowdhury, for the joint secretary post Momtaz Uddin Kaderi and for the post of treasurer Md Tayab Chowdhury.

Counsel of the detained BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia Ahmed Aazam Khan on Friday hoped that Tarique Rahman would be released by Monday.
   ‘We hope that the bail documents will reach the prison authorities on Sunday or Monday,’ he told the news agency over phone.
   ‘The whole process will take two or three days,’ he added.
   Tarique secured bail in all 13 cases while procedures of another case remained suspended.
   Tarique is being treated at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
   Tarique was arrested in March 2007 by the joint forces.

Pakistan presidential hopeful Asif Ali Zardari has moved to a top security location in Islamabad due to fears of attacks being made on his life, the country’s prime minister said on Friday.
   Zardari, the widower of assassinated former premier Benazir Bhutto, plans to run in the September 6 poll to succeed Pervez Musharraf who resigned the presidency earlier this month under threat of impeachment.
   ‘Asif Zardari has shifted to the prime minister’s house because of security concerns,’ the prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, told reporters in the southern port city of Karachi.
   ‘He has shifted there because of dangers involved to his life especially at present when his political activities and mobility is hectic.’
   Zardari had been living in his family home in another area of Islamabad.
   Former premier Benazir was killed in a gun and suicide attack in December last year moments after speaking at a campaign rally in Rawalpindi near the capital.
   Violence has spiked in Pakistan in recent weeks in reaction to the military’s crackdown on Taliban-inspired militancy in the country’s northwest.
   Zardari is seen as close to the United States which is putting Pakistan under pressure to crush rebels who have taken sanctuary on the border with Afghanistan.
   There has been speculation in local media this week that Zardari may quit the presidential race because of the controversy surrounding his candidacy.
   He acquired the notorious nickname ‘Mr 10 per cent’ after being accused of pocketing commission on government deals signed during his wife’s two terms as prime minister. He also spent a total of 11 years in prison on corruption and other criminal charges.
   But Gilani emphatically denied that Zardari would withdraw.
   ‘Any reports about Asif Zardari’s withdrawal from the presidential elections are untrue,’ Gilani said. ‘He is not withdrawing.’
   Zardari, who took the leadership of Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party following her death, saw the party win a majority of the seats in February general elections.
   Former premier Nawaz Sharif, who quit the ruling coalition on Monday over differences on the restoration of judges, has nominated retired supreme court chief judge Saeed uz Zaman Siddiqui to challenge Zardari for his party.

Barack Obama launched an assault on Republican presidential rival John McCain on Thursday with a promise to reverse the economic failures of the past eight years and restore America’s reputation in the world.
   Obama, the first black presidential nominee of a major US party, linked McCain directly to the president, George W Bush, and said their failed Republican policies were responsible for a faltering US economy and a decline in US global standing.
   ‘We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight,’ Obama told a flag-waving crowd of about 75,000 supporters in Denver’s open-air football stadium as he accepted the nomination on the last night of the Democratic convention.
   ‘On November 4th, we must stand up and say: ‘Eight is enough,’’ Obama said.
   Obama delivered his biggest speech in a career filled with big speeches on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech — a landmark in the US civil rights movement.
   The address opens a two-month sprint to the November 4 general election against McCain, who tried to steal a share of the limelight with word that he had chosen his running mate and would appear with the choice on Friday in Ohio.
   Obama said McCain, an Arizona senator, was out of touch with the day-to-day concerns of Americans and had been ‘anything but independent’ on key issues like the economy, health care and education.