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Electoral campaigns for the December 29 parliamentary polls peaked as the top politicians, including Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, are travelling across the country and the candidates and the activists are trying hard to reach almost every voter in their constituencies.
   Apart from supervising the electoral strategy and preparation for the December 29 polls, Khaleda and Hasina are addressing rallies to garner support for their parties and candidates.
   Khaleda will conclude her formal electioneering with a rally in Paltan Maidan in Dhaka Saturday afternoon while her archrival Hasina will wind up her election campaigns with a rally in Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong at the same time, according to party sources.
   Hasina addresses her last election rally in Paltan Maidan this afternoon. On her way to Chittagong on Saturday, she will also address a number of rallies in Comila and Feni.
   The BNP will begin the Paltan rally at 2:00pm Saturday and other top leaders of the BNP-led alliance will also speak, according to the BNP’s spokesman Nazrul Islam Khan.
   Khaleda Zia will also address a number of rallies in Dhaka 17, Dhaka 10, Dhaka 8, Dhaka 6, Dhaka 7, Dhaka 13, Dhaka 15 and Dhaka 16 constituencies.
   Formal electioneering for the ninth parliamentary elections ends at midnight past Saturday, according to the Election Commission.
   Both Khaleda and Hasina will address the nation on Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and other television and radio channels either this evening or tomorrow evening, according to party sources.
   The authorities concerned will record Khaleda’s address this afternoon, Nazrul Islam Khan said at a regular briefing on Thursday. ‘It is expected that Khaleda Zia, who is the immediate-past prime minister, will be the last of the political leaders to address the nation on Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar.’
   After fielding candidates, both Hasina and Khaleda began electioneering after visiting the shrines of Hazrat Shahjalal, Hazrat Shah Paran and Hazrat Gazi Burhanuddin in Sylhet on December 11 and December 12 respectively.
   They began full-scale electioneering after announcing their election manifestos — Hasina on December 12 and Khaleda on December 13 in Dhaka.
   Both the leaders usually left Dhaka in the morning to address rallies outside the capital. In most cases, Khaleda continued addressing rallies later into night. Hasina concluded her rallies in the evening.
   Until December 25 evening, Khaleda addressed about 160 rallies and roadside gathering meetings in 49 districts, while Hasina addressed more than 60 rallies in 22 districts. Khaleda held several rallies at five to eight hours’ notice.
   Thousands of people attended the rallies of the two top leaders as these were their first visit to most of the districts after their release from about a year’s imprisonment.
   Hasina, who also addressed several rallies through videoconferencing, is scheduled to address rallies in Comilla, Feni and Chittagong today.
   Apart from seeking votes through rallies and processions, the candidates are also hanging posters and banners, setting up placards, reaching slips to the voters and joining social programmes in respective constituencies almost round-the-clock. They are also setting agents for polling centres.
   The military-controlled interim government and the Election Commission are making last-minute preparations for the polls, according to sources in the government and the commission.
   The EC has started sending polls materials, including ballot paper and stationeries, to the districts, while the returning officers are preparing polling centres and ensuring appointments of the polls officials at the centres.
   They are also coordinating with the law enforcement agencies for keeping law and order on the polling day

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday urged the people to stand guard at polling centres across the country on December 29 so that none could ‘rig’ the polls or ‘change’ its results.
   ‘There are conspiracies to rig the polls at any cost. I urge you to go to the polling centres at dawn on the polling day and vote for paddy sheaf. But only casting vote will not be enough. You must stand guard at the polling centres until the results are declared so that none can change the results’, Khaleda said at a campaign rally at Singhajani High School ground in Jamalpur.
   Asking the interim government, the Election Commission and the administration to strictly maintain neutrality in the polls, the former prime minister said, ‘The consequences will not be good if you help any party to rig the polls.’
   Without naming arch-rival Awami League, she alleged that the party [AL] had patronised ‘violence’ and ‘corruption’ and backed away from its promises in the past.
   ‘People were held hostage for extortion, rail tracks were uprooted and people were burnt to death with gunpowder’, she said. ‘Bangladesh was made a champion of corruption during their rule…The people cannot expect good work from such a party.’
   ‘When they [AL] were in power, their leader had pledged not to call hartal. But after losing the polls, they resorted to hartal again and pursued politics of arson and assassination’, she said.
   The BNP chief said that the Awami League had broken a promise made in public by joining the parliamentary elections under [Jatiya Party chief HM] Ershad in 1986 and was branded as ‘national betrayer’.
   She left her Dhaka Cantonment home at about 11:30am Thursday and addressed rallies at Jamalpur, Sherpur Netrakona and Mymensingh.
   On her way to Jamalpur, Khaleda suddenly asked the chauffeur to stop the car at Krishnajani village under Dhanbari upazila in Tangail district.
   Leaving her security team, led by Special Security Force, stunned, she walked down a paddy field and talked to farmers Robiul Islam and Abdul Jalil for about 10 minutes.
   She enquired about the kind of paddy they were harvesting and about how much did they earn. The farmers told her that the profits would be low due to high price of diesel. The BNP chief also inquired about the prices of fertiliser and was told that urea and TSP that had cost Tk 200 and Tk 400 in the past, were now selling at Tk 800 and Tk 4,000 respectively.
   On the preferred pricing of rice, the farmers said Tk 22 to 23 a kg would be better.
   When she sought their advice about what should be done to bring down the price of rice, they said production cost had to be lowered and the prices of fertiliser and diesel needed to be cut as well.
   She replied, ‘I listened to your problems and if we go to power, we shall do everything possible to help you.’
   Before getting in her car, Khaleda touched a paddy sheaf, the electoral symbol of her party, before the people and farmers of Krishnajani and adjacent villages, who gathered there to see her.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday called upon the people to vote for her party’s symbol ‘boat’ without fear and remain vigilant against any attempt at vote rigging.
   ‘Attempts to intimidate voters will not be tolerated. Cast your vote for Awami League to build a prosperous Bangladesh and end all types of repression’, Hasina told a large election rally at Nawabganj Pilot High School ground, 27 kilometres south of the capital, in Dhaka 1 parliamentary constituency in favour of AL candidate Advocate Abdul Mannan.
   She also addressed two other campaign rallies, one at Lalbagh of Dhaka 7 in favour of AL-led alliance candidate Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, and a wayside rally at Rohitpur in Dhaka 2 constituency.
   Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to address an election rally, on the final leg of her electioneering for December 29 polls, Friday afternoon at Paltan Ground.
   The AL chief introduced alliance candidates Advocate Kamrul Islam for Dhaka 2 and Nasrul Hamid Bipu for Dhaka 3 at the wayside rally. Thousands of people standing at roadsides in different places welcomed Hasina as her motorcade passed by. They chanted slogans in favour of ‘boat’ and the AL chief.
   In Nawabganj, businessman Noor Ali, who had filed an ‘extortion’ case against Hasina during the state of emergency and withdrawn it recently, stood beside her on the dais saying he hoped all misunderstandings had been removed.
   ‘I offer an apology if you [audience] are hurt by the misunderstanding. I’m here to strengthen the hands of Sheikh Hasina, I’m here to work for victory of the AL candidate in the parliamentary seat’, said Noor Ali, who was the AL candidate for the constituency in 2001 election and was chosen for January 22, 2007 elections as the party candidate.
   In her addresses, Hasina compared her 1996-2001 tenure in office with the rule of the BNP-led alliance government in 2001-2006 saying that the BNP-Jamaat rule had pushed the nation to the brink of disaster. ‘Instead of development, they gave the nation corruption, violence and militancy’, she said.
   She called upon the voters to stamp the symbol of ‘boat’ on the ballot to ensure peace, development and security and put an end to crimes, corruption and militancy.
   Introducing Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin for Dhaka 7 at a rally organised at Shaheed Abdul Aleem Eidgah ground at Lalbagh, Hasina said her party had nominated a ‘complete gentleman who always takes care of his people.’
   In contrast, the BNP has nominated a person who led the killing of seven people in the area after the 1994 elections to the Dhaka City Corporation. ‘You know well about his behaviour in jail’, she said without naming the BNP nominee for the constituency.
   ‘I leave it to you to choose the best candidate from among the contenders’, she told the locals.
   Hasina promised to take appropriate measures, if her party was voted to power, to address the problems facing the locals, including water and electricity shortages.
   She accused her political rival Khaleda Zia of not continuing the programmes in education sector saying she [Khaleda] did not want the people to be educated.
   ‘She [Khaleda] does not want people to get education as she failed in matriculation examinations’, she said adding the AL would take every effort to ensure free education for all if it was voted to power.

The Gaibandha police arrested seven suspected militants of the banned Islamist outfit Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh in possession of bomb-making materials at a place in the district headquarers and Gobindaganj on Thursday.
   In Comilla, the two suspected militants arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion on Tuesday were placed on 16-day remand on Thursday.
   The two were taken to Dhaka for grilling by the members of the task force for interrogation.
   In Gaibandha, the lawmen arrested Rezaul Karim, a regional commander of the outfit, from his Bhatpara Gopalpur village under Sadar upazila early Thursday.
   Based on his statement, the police arrested two of his associates — Al Amin and Manzurul Islam — from Gobindaganj upazila.
   Some bomb-making materials and books were recovered from their possession, said the police.
   Following their statements, the police picked up four more suspected JMB members — Mustafizur Rahman, Nannu Miah, and Amjad from Gobindaganj, and Rawshan Ali from Sadar.
   All the seven persons were undergoing interrogation at the Gobindaganj police.
   The New Age correspondent from Comilla reports: the two suspected militants were produced before the judicial magistrate court on Thursday and the police sought 10-day remand in each of the two cases filed against them by RAB official Sultan Ahmed on Wednesday under the explosives substances act and for attack on lawmen.
   The court granted eight-day remand in each of the cases. The two will be sent to Dhaka for interrogation by the members of the task force for interrogation, said the officer-in-charge of Debidwar police, Zahedul Alam.
   The lawmen seized five improvised grenades and a 10-kilogram bomb from their possession.
   With the arrest of seven on Thursday, the lawmen have so far arrested more than 25 suspected militants from different places in the country since the announcement of schedule of general elections on November 2. Fifteen of them were held alone in northern Nilphamari.

Apart from a section of the urban elite, the provision for ‘no vote’, introduced in the national elections this time, is hardly known to people in the countryside because of poor publicity campaigns on the part of the Election Commission.
   In its package for political and electoral reforms, the military-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, had approved an ordinance in August incorporating the provision keeping an option of ‘no vote’ in ballot papers in response to the demands of a section of the civil society.
   In Dhaka, many people nowadays talk about casting ‘no vote’ if they did not find a suitable candidate.
   ‘I have a chance to go for the “no vote” option’, said Mizanul Haque, a resident in Banani of Dhaka 17 constituency.
   The working class people living in slums know little about the option.
   If the number of ‘no vote’ is more than 50 per cent of the total vote cast in a constituency, the Election Commission will hold re-election to the seat, according to the provision of the new law.
   New Age correspondent in Rangamti reported that police had arrested two activists of the United People’s Democratic Front at Rajasthali upazila headquarters of the district on Monday while they were conducting ‘no vote’ campaign.
   They were identified as Kozlong Tanchangya, 27, and Jyoti Bikash Chakma, 30.
   The police earlier arrested three activists of the UPDF at Zurachhari of the district for ‘no vote’ campaign.
   New Age correspondent in Sylhet reported that most of the rural people were not aware of the ‘no vote’ option.
   Rahima Begum, a housewife living in village Kararpar under Dakshin Surma upazila, said she knew nothing about the ‘no vote’ option.
   Laila Begum of Bishwanath upazila made a similar statement.
   Hasib Ali, a trader in Balaganj upazila, said he had heard about it from a neighbour, but understood little what a ‘no vote’ was all about.
   Day labourers, construction workers, rickshaw-pullers and slum dwellers in different areas in Sylhet city expressed their ignorance about the issue.
   Rafiq Ali, 45, a rickshaw-puller, who lives in a slum in the city’s Kajal Shah area, said that he often watched television programmes at roadside shops in the city but never watched any programmes on ‘no vote’.
   New Age correspondent in Rajshahi reported that a few people in rural areas had come to know about their right to cast ‘no vote’ from programmes of television channels.
   The state-run mass communication department also conducted campaigns on loudhailers to inform the people in some areas about it.
   ‘The government advises voters to cast ‘no vote’ if they do not find the candidates suitable’, said Anjuman Ara Begum of Mirganj under Charghat in Rajshahi.
   Dibakar Chakrabarty, a college student, said being the first-time voter, he thought he should not cast a ‘no vote’ as by doing so he would waste his vote.
   ‘I do not support ‘no vote’ provision because the voters who will find no suitable candidate, can refrain from going to the polling centre’, he said.
   New Age correspondent in Barisal reported that most of the voters were unaware about the ‘no vote’ option in ballot papers.
   New Age correspondent in Magura also reported that voters there were generally ignorant about the option.
   Pannu Sheikh, a villager, said he watched TV spots on ‘no vote’ but did not understand why the option had been introduced or how to cast it.
   District election officer Humayun Kabir admitted to poor publicity of the ‘no vote’ option. He said different agencies could play a role in making the people aware of the option.
   New Age correspondent in Lalmonirhat reported that most of the ordinary voters in the district were unaware of the ‘no vote’ option.

The Election Commission kept pending the printing of ballot papers for the Comilla 10 constituency, one of the 299 constituencies going to the polls on December 29, because of quandary over the allotment of symbol between two candidates of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
   Sources in the EC Secretariat on Thursday said the commission was likely make the final decision on Friday, only two days before the elections, whether it would stick to its latest decision on announcing Mobashwer Alam Bhuyian as the BNP candidate.
   The commission kept pending the printing of the ballot papers for the constituency as the BNP’s first choice for the constituency Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan issued a legal notice to the elections commissioners threatening to file a contempt of court case.
   Gafur, whose nomination was validated by court, was given the BNP’s election symbol of paddy sheaf by the returning officer and the commission later scrapped his nomination paper.
   Sources in the commission said the commission had sought expert opinions on Gafur Bhuiyan’s notice. The commission is likely to make the final decision today after reviewing expert opinions.
   The commission and the returning officer for Comilla have changed election symbols for the two candidates for Comilla 10 constituency at least three times in two days.
   The commission on December 20 allotted the BNP’s electoral symbol of paddy sheaf to Mobashwer Alam Bhuyian, who on December 19 was given the symbol of deer by the returning officer as an independent candidate, scrapping the earlier allotment.
   Mobashwer Alam, who was the second choice of the BNP for the constituency, was initially given the symbol of paddy sheaf as the BNP’s first choice Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan’s nomination was cancelled.
   The returning officer on December 19 allotted the symbol of paddy sheaf to Abdul Gafur Bhuiyan after his nomination had been validated by the Supreme Court in the past week.
   In protest at the scrapping of the symbol of paddy sheaf, Mobashwer filed a complaint with the commission on the day arguing that the Appellate Division in its order did not give any directives on the allotment of the symbol of paddy sheaf to Gafur.
   Asked how the commission scrapped Gafur Bhuiyan’s election symbol, the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, said, ‘Gafur submitted his nomination as independent and BNP candidate. We selected him as an independent candidate.’
   The returning officer during the scrutiny of nomination paper accepted Gafur’s nomination paper as the BNP candidate and rejected Mobashwer’s nomination paper.
   On the basis of two appeals filed by Mobashwer against the acceptance of Gafur’s nomination and rejection of his nomination, the commission during the hearing accepted Mobashwer’s appeals.
   In keeping with electoral laws, an individual seeking to be an independent candidate must submit the signatures of 1 per cent of voters of the constituency with the nomination paper.

Bangladesh on Thursday deployed two war ships after a stand-off with India over hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay of Bengal, a navy official said.
   The row began as three survey vessels backed by Indian navy started exploration early Thursday, eight nautical miles inside the Bangladesh waters near the Fairway Buoy navigation channel around Block 14 in the south-west of the Bay, he said.
   ‘We could spot the matter when our frigate, Khalid Bin Walid, was patrolling along our maritime border,’ he said.
   ‘We are keeping watch on the situation and our navy has been put on high alert in our territorial waters,’ he said, adding higher authorities was informed of the matter for steps to resolve the issue through bilateral talks.
   ‘By this time, we strengthened our position in the Bay and we registered our protest with the Indian navy asking for a pullout of the survey vessels from our waters,’ he said.
   Bangladesh about two months ago faced a similar situation with Myanmar over hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay and tension defused after withdrawal of the rig and survey vessels by Myanmar, officials said.

The Bangladesh cricket team will be facing Sri Lanka in the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from today hoping to bring the focus back on them from the election frenzy.
   The match will start at 9:30am and will be televised live by Bangladesh Television, Satenta Sports (Australia), SLRC (Sri Lanka) and Supersport. The Test match will have a one-day break after the third day on Dec 29 because of the national election.
   ‘It’s just a matter of some good performance, I hope the focus will be back on us,’ said Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful at a news conference ahead of the match on Thursday.
   The Tigers are taking inspiration from the recent history when they came close to pulling off an upset win in the first Tests of the last two home series against South Africa and New Zealand.
   But a frustrating performance away in South Africa put them in a desperate need to give a more improved show. Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons was using his deputy Champaka Ramanayake, who is in charge of the bowlers, to chalk out a game plan.
   ‘(We get) more feedback from Champaka. He helps us a lot in our preparation and he has been working with all the bowlers and captain to come up with a game plan.
   ‘But at the end of the day it’s Shahadat (Hossain), Mashrafee (bin Murtaza) and (Mahbubul Alam) Robin to hit the stumps, using their skills to the best of their abilities and hitting the right areas.’ said the coach.
   It’ was uncertain whether Bangladesh will put their faith in three pacers along with only one specialist spinner in Sakib as the team management has picked a 12-men squad leaving Rajin Saleh and Sajedul Islam out.
   ‘I think Enamul (Haq Jr) will be the twelfth man, but we are not sure yet,’ said Siddons.
   Sri Lanka are yet to decide on their squad though captain Mahela Jayawardene said they have agreed about 90 per cent on the team composition.
   ‘We know about 90 per cent of our combination but we want to wait and see how the wicket is going to come out and then will make a final decision.’
   It’s almost certain that Sri Lanka will play with two specialist spinners, Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath, who snared six wickets in the lone warm-up match against the BCB XI.
   ‘I think on any wicket, if you play five days, it starts to slow down and you know probably take spin, and when you have quality spinners you should make use of that. That’s something we are going to consider,’ he said.
   ‘We don’t underestimate the strength of Bangladesh and what they are capable of doing, so we just need to focus on the game plan that we want to play, and try and execute the game plan,’ said Jayawardene.

The Volunteers of American Community Bangladeshi, USA Inc, a New York-based welfare organisation of Bangladeshis, has requested the Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion to employ Interpol to investigate the huge amount of money owned by Sajib Wajed Joy, son of the Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina.
   In a letter addressed to the Anti Corruption Commission on December 23 and also faxed to newspaper offices the next day, the organisation’s president Abul Hashem Bulbul and secretary Kazi Shakhawat Hossain Azam claimed Sajib Wajed owned business worth about $300 million.
   The letter, however, did not give any details of the amount mentioned.
   The commission, Hanif Iqbal, meanwhile on Thursday said the commission had not received any such petition.
   The letter claimed when Hasina was prime minister, Joy set up two companies —Texas-based Info-link International and Nova BD International LLC. He later set two more companies — Joy Wajed Consulting and Sim Global Service — in 2005 which showed yearly turnover of only $61,000 and $35,000 respectively.
   Along with the letter, the complainants attached a profile of Wajed, posted on the web site of a forum called Young Global Leaders, which said: After moving to the US, Wajed Sajib founded Mvion Inc, a startup company through which he developed prototype software and raised US$ 8 million in venture capital. Mvion eventually brought in revenues of approximately US$ 2,00,000 per month and was evaluated at US$ 80-90 million.’
   Sajib, who got one of the young global leaders award in 2007, could not be reached over mobile in the United States.

Pakistan warned India on Thursday not to launch a strike against it and vowed to respond to any attack — a sign that the relationship between the two nuclear powers remains strained in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. Though the South Asian rivals have engaged in tit-for-tat accusations in recent weeks, both sides have repeatedly said they hope to avoid conflict. But India has not ruled out the use of force in response to the attacks, which it blames on a Pakistan-based militant group.
   ‘We want peace, but should not be complacent about India,’ Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told reporters in his hometown of Multan in central Pakistan. ‘We should hope for the best but prepare for the worst.’
   Pakistan and India have fought three wars since they were created in the bloody partition of the Indian subcontinent at independence from Britain in 1947.
   The Pakistani prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, echoed Qureshi’s sentiments Thursday and urged the international community to pressure India to defuse the current tension.
   He also repeated Pakistan’s demand that India provide evidence to support its claim that the 10 gunmen who killed at least 164 people in Mumbai last month were Pakistani and had links to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
   ‘Whenever we receive evidence, we will examine it and investigate it, and we will share it with our people,’ Gilani told reporters at the tomb of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in southern Pakistan, ahead of the first anniversary of her assassination on December 27.
   India has given Pakistan a letter from the lone surviving gunman involved in the attacks, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, reportedly saying he and the nine others were Pakistani. He also asked to meet with Pakistani envoys, but newspapers in Pakistan reported Thursday that the government has rejected the request because it has no record of Kasab as a Pakistani citizen.
   ‘How can we give him consular access without having knowledge about his nationality?’ Dawn newspaper quoted the head of Pakistan’s interior ministry, Rehman Malik, as saying. India has said it has provided Pakistan with sufficient evidence and wants the government to crack down on Lashkar and other militants operating out of Pakistan.
   Pakistan has arrested several senior members of the banned group and moved against a charity that India and others say is a front for Lashkar. But many in India are sceptical Pakistan will follow through on its crack down against Lashkar, which
   was created in the 1980s with the help of Pakistan’s intelligence service. Gilani said he understands Indian officials are under tremendous pressure to take action but sought to assure them that Pakistan was committed to cracking down on terrorists.
   ‘We do not want our land to be used for terrorism,’ said Gilani.
   At the same time, Qureshi said Pakistan’s military is ‘alert and vigilant’ in case it needs to respond to Indian action. Pakistani fighter aircraft have flown over several of the country’s major cities in recent days, but Qureshi said the military has not mobilised its ground forces.
   ‘India should refrain from any surgical strike,’ said Qureshi. ‘It should not commit this mistake, but if it does, Pakistan
   will be compelled to respond.’
   Also Thursday, police said they recovered 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of explosives and more than 500 detonators from a house in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
   Police arrested 10 people inside the house during Wednesday’s raid but were still looking for the owner of the explosives, said Asghar Raza Gardaizi, Islamabad’s police chief. Pakistani officials have expressed concern about the spread of violence in the country outside the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda and Taliban militants have sought sanctuary.
   Militants attacked the Marriott hotel in Islamabad in September with a truck bomb, killing more than 50 people.

The interim government has changed the pre-qualification documents, used in the failed bidding for the 450MW Bibiyana independent power plant, apparently to allow the Summit Group to take part in the next bidding for the Bibiyana and 450MW Sirajganj IPP.
   The power division on Tuesday approved the pre-qualification documents for the Bibiyana IPP keeping a provision that any company or consortium which has a ‘net worth’ of $100 million or more will be eligible to take part in the tender for the installation of the large IPP, sources in the division said. The pre-qualification documents for Bibiyana and Sirajganj will be similar.
   In the first bidding for Bibiyana, initiated in August 2007 and scrapped in November 2008, there was a provision that any company or the lead member of a consortium which has a net worth of $100 million or more would be eligible, they said.
   ‘As per the latest documents, if the members of a consortium can show they have combined net worth of at least $100 million, the consortium will be eligible for taking part in the tender whereas the earlier documents had said that the lead member of any consortium must have a net worth of at least $100 million,’ said a source.
   The government also inserted a provision that the interested company or consortium must have two private power generation projects in respect of which it has successfully raised equity financing of at least $50 million in the aggregate and debt financing of $150 million in 15 years. ‘In the earlier bidding, it was said the timeframe for raising the equity financing and debt financing was 10 years instead of 15 years,’ said the source.
   A committee, headed by the Power Cell director general, Abdul Jalil, recommended the changes in the documents.
   A consortium of the Summit Industrial and Mercantile Corporation and the GE of the United States, was declared non-qualified in the first bidding by the Power Cell in February after the cell had estimated that the leader sponsor of the consortium, Summit, did not have net worth of around $100 million. The consortium was later also disqualified from Sirajganj IPP bidding on the same grounds.
   A controversy, however, surfaced after Summit had claimed it had net worth more than $120 million saying it was disqualified illegally. The company also served a legal notice to the government for the Bibiyana IPP.
   Although the Power Cell pre-qualified three other companies and consortiums, ultimately a consortium of three companies of Malaysia, South Korea and Germany took part in the Bibiyana bidding.
   The government, however, scrapped the tender and asked for re-tender after it had rejected the high electricity price offer of the consortium. The Sirajganj bidding was scrapped in December as no bidder showed any interest.
   ‘It seems the latest tender documents are changed in a way so that Summit can take part in the re-tender as a lead sponsor following the controversy over its disqualification in the earlier bidding,’ said a Power Cell source.
   The power secretary, M Fouzul Kabir Khan, however, brushed aside the allegation saying they had allowed the change in the documents for ‘wider participation’ of companies from home and abroad in view of the lack of response from bidders in the first bidding.
   ‘We have not allowed the change in the documents keeping in mind any particular company. We do not want that the next bidding will face the same fate,’ he told New Age on Wednesday.
   Sources in the cell said the pre-qualification application for Bibiyana would be sought from the interested companies and consortiums next week based on the changed documents.

The Pakistani police said Thursday they had seized a huge quantity of explosives and arrested eight people in raids at three shops on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad.
   The haul included 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of explosives, more than 500 detonators, empty bullet cartridges and sacks of chemicals, Islamabad police chief Asghar Gardezi told AFP.
   The police conducted the raids late on Wednesday on intelligence information about the storage of explosives in the shops owned by two brothers from the tribal Dir district bordering Afghanistan.
   ‘It is a very important breakthrough. The recovery suggests the explosives might have been meant for terror attacks, but we are investigating,’ Gardezi said.
   In September, a suicide bomber rammed a truck packed with explosives into the outer gates of the luxury Marriott hotel in Islamabad, killing 60 people.
   Pakistan this year has seen a spike in violence blamed on Taliban and al-Qaeda linked militants, prompting the army to launch a major operation in the volatile northwest of the country.

The electorates of Dhaka-11 constituency, comprising Ramna and Tejgaon thanas, have been found talking about four candidates, out of eight contestants, to choose one of them as their representative in the ensuing 9th general elections on December 29.
   The major contenders are Abdul Mannan of Bikalpo Dhara Bangladesh, Mohammed Shahabuddin of the BNP-led four-party alliance, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal of the AL-led grand alliance, and Sayeed Hossain Chowdhury, an independent candidate.
   Of them, Mannan is in the polls fight with the symbol ‘kula,’ Shahabuddin with the symbol ‘sheaf of paddy,’ Asaduzzaman with the symbol ‘boat,’ and Sayeed with the symbol ‘pitcher.’
   Mannan, an industrialist and general secretary of Bikalpo Dhara Bangladesh, Shahabuddin, an industrialist and central leader of BNP’s cultural front Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritic Sangathan, Asaduzzaman, a Dhaka city unit leader of Awami League, and Sayeed, a shipping business tycoon, have been conducting the last days’ polls campaigns and mass contacts day and night as only three days are left before the election for bagging votes.
   While talking, general voters of the constituency told New Age that they wanted a representative elected through their votes to the parliament would stay beside them during their good and bad days as well as work for development of the ill-managed sewerage lines, widening narrow roads, providing inadequate community facilities, and improving the poor water supply and sanitation conditions in the areas, including the slumps.
   Some conscious and elderly electorates of the constituency informed that like in the previous polling, regionalism of the voters would remain as a ‘catalytic’ factor in deciding the fate of the candidates on December 29.
   Shah Alam, a grocer at Nakhalpara Bazar in the constituency, alleged that despite situated at the centre of the capital city most of the Tejgaon areas were remaining under developed, having no modern amenities for the dwellers.
   ‘Look at the dilapidated roads and streets in the area,’ Sha Alam said, drawing attention of this reporter and adding, ‘If you come in a rainy day you will find insufficient lightings on the streets and overflowing sewerage lines.’
   He further said, people of the areas have to go to their residences and come out braving these problems. All the parliament members who got elected from this constituency in the past made pledges for developing the areas and removing the problems, but none of them kept pledges after being elected, he added.
   Azmat Ali, a post-graduate student, who resides at a mess at Monipuripara in the constituency, said that he found the voters were discussing the development issues of the area and making comparisons among the major contestants for the Dhaka-11 constituency.
   He observed that it was very tough to predict
   who would win the polls as many factors, including the regionalism, are
   working among the voters to take their decision
   for casting vote on the symbol of their chosen candidate.
   Mosharraf Hossain, an elderly voter of Mahkahali, said, ‘Noakhalism has always been a crucial factor in the national polls in this constituency.’
   He added that many homeowners living in Dhaka-11 constituency areas are hailing from the greater Noakhali district and they dominate the opinions of the people in social issues and influence the voters in polls.
   While talking to New Age, all the major candidates expressed hopes for winning the election and representing the people of the constituency after December 29.
   They were making pledges one after another while conducting mass contacts and polls campaigns to win the hearts of the voters, covering all corners of the constituency.
   While talking to New Age, Shahabuddin expressed hope to win the election as this constituency had always been a stronghold for BNP.
   Shabuddin said, ‘If elected, he will develop infrastructures, markets and truck stand in the areas as well as prevent terrorism, drugs trading and illegal toll collection.
   Mannan said, he was very much in the fight and would be chosen by the voters on December 29 to engage himself for the development of Dhaka-11 areas for the wellbeing of the people.
   Independent candidate Sayeed hoped to win the polls, observing, ‘The voters will forget the parties and their symbols to chose a candidate who is always stays with them.’
   Prioritising development of roads, sewerage system, and water supply facility at the slums in Dhaka-11, Sayeed also promised to establish vocational training institutes for unemployed youths, playgrounds for children and community centres for the people.
   Asaduzzaman said, if voted to parliament, he would resist terrorists, drug traders and extortionists in the areas as well as engage himself in different development activities and removing the problems of the people.
   The Dhaka-11 constituency, comprises of the ward nos. 37, 38, 39, 40, 54, and 55, of the Dhaka City Corporation, having 2,96,687 electorates with male voters in higher number.
   Apart from the four major candidates, Gazi Mohammad Abdul Baset of Islami Andolon are also in the polls race with the symbol ‘hand fan,’ Tahera Begum Jolly of Bangladesh Samajtantric Dal with ‘ladder,’ Muhammed Rahmat Ullah of Bangladesh Jatiya Party with ‘jackfruit’ and Kamal Uddin Patwray of Jatiya Samajtrantic Dal with ‘star.’

A gradual loss of blood flow to the brain over years or decades could be a major trigger for Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study to be published Friday.
   Up to now, what provokes the debilitating disease has remained a mystery, even if the mechanism causing the damage is well understood.
   The new research shows that an insufficient supply of sugar glucose, transported by blood, sets off a biochemical chain reaction resulting in the accumulation of the neuron-attacking proteins that cause Alzheimer’s.
   ‘This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer’s,’ said Robert Vassar, a professor at North-western University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
   Exercising, reducing cholesterol intake, and managing hypertension are all measures that could provide added protection, he said.
   ‘If people start early enough, maybe they can dodge the bullet,’ Vassar said in a statement.
   And for persons who already show symptoms of constricted arteries, taking vasodilators — drugs that boost blood flow — could help deliver nourishing oxygen and glucose to the brain.
   Drawing from experiments with humans and mice, Vassar and colleagues showed that reduced blood flow alters a protein called elF2alpha.
   In its changed form, elF2alpha increases the output of the enzyme that spurs production of the fibber-like knots of amyloid beta protein that form outside neurons and disrupt their ability to send messages.
   Vassar discovered the key role of the enzyme, BACE1, in promoting Alzheimer’s a decade ago.
   The new study opens a path to the development of drugs designed to block elF2alpha, and thus the biochemical process leading to the disease, he said.

British playwright and Nobel laureate Harold Pinter has died aged 78, his wife Lady Antonia Fraser and his agent said Thursday.
   Pinter, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, had been suffering from cancer. Fraser told the Guardian newspaper: ‘He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years. He will never be forgotten.’
   In an email to AFP, Pinter’s agent Judy Daish said that Pinter died of cancer Wednesday and that a small private funeral and memorial service would be held at a date to be announced.
   Pinter’s plays included ‘The Birthday Party’, ‘The Dumb Waiter’ and ‘The Homecoming’.
   They often featured the slang language of his native east London as well as his trademark menacing pauses.
   He was also a vigorous campaigner against the Iraq war.
   Pinter said he had stopped writing plays in 2005 and focused on poetry, alongside forays into acting and screenwriting.
   Following treatment for cancer of the oesophagus diagnosed in 2002, he returned to the stage, winning rave reviews for
   his performance of Beckett’s monologue, ‘Krapp’s Last Tape’, in London in 2006.
   Leading figures from the arts world in Britain rushed to pay tribute to Pinter.
   The creative director of the BBC Alan Yentob told the broadcaster: ‘He was a unique figure in British theatre. He has dominated the theatre scene since the 1950s.’
   Theatre critic Tim Walker, who writes for the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, added: ‘This was a man who had plays with long silences, where characters did not always go anywhere — very much like real life.
   ‘He brought a realism to the business.’
   In its citation for the Nobel Prize, the academy said Pinter was ‘generally seen as the foremost representative of British drama in the second half of the 20th century’.
   It added that he was an author ‘who in his plays uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression’s closed rooms’.