Main Page «
Metro «
Business «
International «
Sports «
National «
Editorial «
Op-Ed «
Home «
Timeout «
Letters «

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

Continuous drizzling and cold wind intensified winter chill on Friday and kept most people indoors, disrupting normal life, businesses and livelihoods.
   Sky over the capital Dhaka and most parts of the country remained cloudy for the second straight day Friday. Mercury marked further falls, dipping to as low as 11 degree Celsius in Barisal.
   Rainy weather accompanied by thick film of fog in many places is likely to put an adverse impact on stranding crops and make them vulnerable to pest attacks, agriculturists said.
   Inclement weather forced the organisers to shorten the religious rituals of the Biswa Istema, rated to be the second largest Muslim congregation after Hajj. The three-day annual religious event that usually draws several lakh devotees from home and abroad came to a halt on the very first day with holding of the ‘akheri munajat’ Friday night.
   Hundreds of devotees joined the final event of the congregation defying biting cold and drizzling that made the whole premises muddy and slippery. The district administration informed that two old people had died due to severe cold at the Ijtema premises on the bank of river Turag in Tongi near the capital.
   Traffic in Dhaka city thinned out and most people passed their weekend indoors. The usual weekend rush at the Dhaka International Trade Fair was also less compared to previous Fridays, dampening the mood of fair organisers and stall owners. Kitchen markets were free from usual Friday crowds.
   Working people and small wayside vendors were hit hard as inclement weather reduced their job options and sales.
   Drizzle in most parts of the country for the last couple of days would be good for boro cultivation that requires huge irrigation, but it would hamper production of seasonal crops like pulses and potatoes.
   Light rains will help early sown boro crops, said agriculturist Ibrahim Khalil, a former director general of the Department of Agricultural Extension.
   ‘But the drizzle will be bad for some seasonal crops as it entails lingering foggy weather,’ an extension official said.
   Referring to weather reports that light rain and drizzle may continue over some places today, the official said tomato, egg plant and chilli production would be hampered if such weather continued and water remained stagnant.
   DAE officials also warned that prolonged foggy weather might cause an outbreak of ‘lat blight’ disease in tomato and potato, and eat into their yields heavily.
   They suggested that farmers should take precautionary measures through spraying fungicide on the field to check the spread of the plant diseases.
   The agro-meteorology division under the Met Office said in their 10-day advance forecast delivered to the DAE on January 21, they advised the agriculture officials to take necessary measures for protecting the crops from the adverse weather that is likely to continue for few more days.
   Leaves of some pulses crops especially red lentil, green pea, chickpea, onion and mustard become pale and even dry, agriculturists informed.
   They said pollination of some crops including varieties of pulses and mustard, which are now in floral stage, may be affected due to this weather.
   Red lentil, chickpea, black gram, mash kalai, green pea, mustard, red gram, pigeon pea, soya bean, almond, onion, garlic, chilli, coriander, ginger and turmeric have already been sown by the farmers, said a Food Crops Wing official. Our Kushtia correspondent said boro farmers in the region welcomed the light rains, which would also be a boon for maize and wheat.
   Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute’s senior scientific officer MM Kamruzzaman said the rain is good for paddy, wheat and maize, but bad for pulses and potato if the rains continue for a couple of days more.
   Wheat has not yet come to the flowering stage and therefore will not be hampered by light rains. Rains will also be good for boro seedbeds, but if the temperature keeps falling there may be some problem. Reports of bad weather poured into the newsroom also from other parts of the country including Rangpur, Faridpur and other northern districts.
   Our Correspondent informed that Khulna Met office recorded 28.6 millimetre of rain in 24 hours till 6pm Friday.
   Our Barisal Correspondent informed that the mercury dipped to 11 degree Celsius with light rain due to a westerly low.
   Normal life in Barisal city and surrounding areas was disrupted by the drizzles and biting cold.
   Kitchen market rush, usually seen in other weekend holidays, was absent on Friday in the city due to the chilly weather and rain.

A significant number of agents of little-heard-of foreign universities and colleges are out to rope in Bangladeshi students without approval of the authorities concerned, according to the education ministry findings.
   The education ministry for the first time has advised parents and students to be cautious about their selection of universities and colleges. It said dubious agents are publishing advertisements assuring students of admission to foreign education institutions.
   ‘Students are often being cheated by the some dishonest organisations or persons. As such agents do not take approval of the ministry or authorities concerned, the ministry cannot verify the authenticity and justification,’ said a notification issued by the ministry on Thursday.
   ‘The ministry came to know that students are frequently being cheated,’ said the notification signed by a deputy secretary of the ministry, Ranjit Kumar Sen.
   ‘All concerned are requested to contact the University Grants Commission for further information,’ the notification said.
   ‘These makeshift agents and organisations run small offices and take money and after some days they change office locations,’ said a joint secretary of the ministry.
   Even a broker offers opportunity for enrolment with 10 universities, colleges and institutions in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland, Greece, Australia, Malaysia, Brunei and New Zealand.
   Some agents offer internationally recognised and accredited degrees and courses with facilities of credit transfer, flexible IELTS requirements and scholarship for brilliant students.
   More than 80 brokers of foreign universities and colleges are providing ‘spot offer for admission.’ Many agents offer job opportunities for students. Some agents or organisations or persons even promise prospective students visa arrangement. Even students need not face interviews in the embassies.
   The University Grants Commission in May 2007 published a list of 56 institutions some of which claimed to be offshore campuses of foreign universities while others claimed to be tutorial or coaching centres.
   ‘The commissions declared such institutions illegal and asked them not to enrol any more students,’ a commission official said.
   A New Age investigation finds that prospective students are required to pay the brokers Tk 4 lakh to 5 lakh, in dollars or pounds sterling, for the degrees.
   Sources in the agents said they initially take Tk 5,000 to Tk 10,000 or £100 in registration fee.
   The agents run camp offices in Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Bogra, Narayanganj and some other cities and towns.

The three-day Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of the Muslims after Hajj which began Friday morning by the River Turag, was called to an early end at night with the saying of akheri munajat because of inclement weather that left three devotees killed.
   The akheri munajat (final prayer) was scheduled to be said Sunday morning, but sufferings of the devotees because of the weather compelled the organisers to conclude the congregation.
   It started drizzling amid biting cold on Thursday. The drizzle was continuing till Friday night.
   The organisers decided to stay back on the congregation ground till Sunday morning to start for different parts of the world with the message of Islam.
   They sought divine blessings for continued peace, progress and prosperity of the Muslims and the country.
   Maulana Zobair Hasan of Delhi led the prayer that continued for 22 minutes beginning 7:52pm.
   In his prayer in Arabic and Urdu, Maulana Zobair sought blessings of Allah for the
   protection of the Muslims from all kinds of sufferings and torture.
   He also sought mental, spiritual and material development of all Muslims in the world. Millions joined the prayer seeking mercy and forgiveness from Allah. Devotees broke down in tears during the prayer.
   Around 1,500 groups of people have been given approval to start various parts of the world with the message of Islam.
   Several thousand PA
   systems were installed on the highways and neighbouring areas by the Gazipur district administration and other government agencies to relay the sermons.
   A total of 4,560 foreign devotees from 62 countries attended the congregation this year.
   A large number of women joined the prayer during the prayer standing on the roof of the buildings at Uttara and Tongi.
   The law enforcers detained up 22 pickpockets, muggers, extortionists, and some petty criminals.
   The government deployed more than 10,000 law enforcers for the security and provided adequate utility services for the devotees.
   People returned from the congregation even on the bus and trains roofs well into the night.
   Some bus drivers and transport employees charged exorbitant fares from the devotees for the return trip home taking advantage of the rush and bad weather.

Disbursement of low-cost loans offered under a special central bank home finance scheme has so far been much lower than expected due to slow progress in signing agreements between Bangladesh Bank and financial institutions, banking sources said.
   Delay in loan policy formulation by banks and non-bank financial institutions has also been cited as a reason for the slow pace of disbursement, despite a surging demand for loans under the special scheme.
   Only Tk 8.74 crore was disbursed to over 60 home buyers since the Tk 300 crore refinancing scheme was launched in July 2007, though banks and lease financing institutions were swamped with applications from home loan seekers.
   National Credit and Commerce Bank, Delta BRAC Housing Limited, IDFC and National Housing Finance and Investment Limited gave the loans in the October-December period of 2007, scrutinising applications from intending home buyers.
   Bangladesh Bank will refinance the amount under its refinancing scheme aiming to help mid-income people buy homes in cities and also to encourage banks and non-bank financial institutions to lower their interest rates on home loans.
   A total of 12 banks and 17 financial institutions have so far signed participation agreements with the Bangladesh Bank to access the refinancing scheme.
   The central bank has earmarked Tk 100 crore for the current fiscal, but only about Tk 10 crore was disbursed in the first six months to December under the scheme, a central bank executive said.
   He, however, hoped that disbursement would increase in the next two quarters with most of the financial institutions signing participation agreements with the central bank.
   ‘Each of the institutions has to develop their own policy guidelines to give loans to their clients after signing the agreements with Bangladesh Bank,’ the official explained.
   Most of the institutions have already developed their guidelines and the loan disbursements would increase in the coming months, he hoped.
   Service-holders or businessmen, whose incomes are less than Tk 30,000 a month, can apply for maximum Tk 20 lakh loans to buy an apartment of a maximum size of 1250 square feet in six divisional cities along with Tongi, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Savar.
   Borrowers would be given 20-year time for repayment with one year grace period and interest rate would be 10 per cent.
   The loans will be channelled through banks and other financial institutions, which will have agreements with the central bank.
   The central bank make the 100 per cent refinance against the loan approved under the scheme, but financial institutions concerned will be liable for loan recovery.
   Banks which have so far signed agreements with the central bank for operating the scheme include National Credit and Commerce Bank, Mercantile Bank, Prime Bank, Mutual Trust Bank, Trust Bank, Southeast Bank, National Bank, Asia Bank and One Bank.
   Delta Brac Housing, National Housing, IDLC, United Leasing, IIDFC, Lanka Bangla, Fidelity Assets, Midas Financing, Prime Finance, International Leasing, Peoples Leasing, Phoenix Finance and GSP Finance are among the leasing companies which have deals with the central bank.

Despite repeated pledges to guarantee ethnic minority rights, the military-controlled interim government has taken a move to curb democratic rights of indigenous communities, according to an official document obtained by New Age.
   The home ministry in an instruction, issued recently, asked the authorities concerned to prevent intellectuals and eminent personalities from attending functions organised by ethnic minorities which were mainly aimed at drawing the attention of the authorities to the discrimination and negligence they are being subjected to.
   The instructions, which came in line with an intelligence agency report, also included lessening coverage of their programmes both on print and electronic media, and monitoring of the movement of a few ethnic minority leaders, including Joytirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma who had led a bush war in the Chittagong Hill Tracts for about two decades until a peace deal was signed in 1997.
   The instructions are being carried out by many government departments, according
   to sources in the administra-tion.
   When contacted for comments, the home secretary, Abdul Karim, said he was not aware of such instructions. ‘I have to see if there is something like that,’ said the home.
   It is learnt that a government agency has reported to the high ups that the ethnic minority people have been engaged in propaganda against the interim government aimed at tarnishing the country’s image by holding various programmes.
   ‘Necessary measures should be taken so that the editors, left-leaning politicians and eminent personalities do not participate in the programmes,’ says the report, submitted to the offices of the president, chief adviser, home ministry, inspector general of police and Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner.
   It named the persons and quoted their speeches delivered in the programmes, organised by the indigenous community on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 8, 2007.
   Bangladesh Adivasi Forum and Bangladesh Adivasi Odhikar Andolan organised several discussion meetings which were attended, among others, by indigenous leaders Santu Larma, Rupayan Dewan, Raja Debashis Roy, Promod Mankin, Rabindra Soren and Sanjib Drong, economist Rehman Sobhan, former bureaucrat Dr Akbar Ali Khan, lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain and Sarah Hossain, politicians Manjurul Ahsan Khan, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Haq Inu, former vice-chancellor Emajuddin Ahmed, retired official Amin Ahmed and Professor Badiul Alam Majumder.
   Referring to Santu Larma’s speech, the report said he had termed the policymakers of the government communal commenting that their [indigenous people] rights could not be established until a non-communal progressive government was formed.
   The report said the adivasi organisations and some ‘so-called intellectuals’ had demanded that the indigenous people’s day should be observed officially.
   At one such discussion, Hasanul Haq Inu, Manjurual Ahsan Khan and Rabindra Soren delivered speeches which were ‘unwarranted,’ the report claimed.
   ‘They are also trying to obtain messages from the president and the chief adviser on the occasion [of indigenous day],’ it further says, adding that in the name of observing the day, they are engaged in propaganda against the country.
   ‘They may also give confusing statements highlighting human rights violations by the operations of the army and the army-led joint forces,’ the report said, urging the government to take necessary steps so that no ‘unlawful’ activities could take place through such programmes and addresses during the state of emergency.
   The home ministry, citing the reports of the intelligence agency, sent a note to the information ministry on October 11, 2007 to take measures to prevent such activities.
   Instructions to take necessary steps were also given to Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and other institutions concerned to that end.

Corporate responsibility rather than profit took centre stage in Davos on Friday, as the annual get-together of business chiefs turned its attention to issues of health, aid and development.
   Rock star activist Bono, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates and UN chief Ban Ki-moon steered the conversation away from the global economy and geopolitics, towards issues such as malaria eradication, poverty alleviation and climate change.
   Ban challenged delegates to renew a commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goals, aimed at halving extreme poverty, boosting health and education and further empowering women across the developing world by 2015.
   ‘Too many nations have fallen behind,’ he said. ‘We need new ideas and fresh approaches.’
   The Davos event has long prided itself on showing the caring side of capitalism, although participants have often been criticised for trumpeting big ideas on big issues in public, while actually expending most of their energy on corridor schmoosing and backroom deals.
   Bono, decrying the international community’s failure to live up to its promises on development, said it was time to go beyond purely ‘moral’ statements of intent.
   ‘I would like to turn our moral compact into legally binding contracts. Then my advice to the developing world? Get a good lawyer and haul our asses into court,’ the U2 frontman said.
   This year’s Davos event has drawn nearly 30 heads of state or government, more than 110 cabinet ministers and several hundred corporate chiefs.
   Peter Sands, chief executive of international bank Standard Chartered, stressed that appeals for corporate social responsibility had to take into account the prime duty of company managers.
   ‘If we lose sight of our core function of serving our customers and creating shareholder value... we’ll be out of our jobs,’ Sands said.
   Gates, a perennial Davos participant, announced 306 million dollars (208 million euros) of grants to develop farming in poor countries, marking a major push into agriculture by his charitable foundation which has previously focused on public health.
   ‘If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers, most of whom are women,’ he said.
   For Gates it was his last appearance at Davos as chief executive and chairman of Microsoft. He plans to step down in July and devote his time to running his foundation.
   Attending his first Davos as prime minister was Britain’s Gordon Brown, who called for major reforms of international institutions.
   ‘The IMF, the World Bank and the United Nations were built for the problems of the 1940s and can’t deal with the problems we have in 2008,’ Brown said, citing the challenges posed by climate change, conflict-ridden states, non-state terrorism and the threat of global pandemics.
   ‘I can’t see why we should not move immediately to the World Bank becoming a World Bank for the environment as well as development,’ he added.
   In recent years the World Economic Forum gathering in Davos has been held against a backdrop of bumper corporate profits, strong economic growth and tame inflation.
   But this year, a distinctly gloomy atmosphere has prevailed, amid wild swings on global stock markets, fears of a US recession and rising oil, food and other commodity prices.
   The situation was to be addressed later Friday with a round-table discussion on the theme of ‘Global Economic Shocks: Perfect Storm Ahead?’
   Thursday had seen the focus of debate switch to the situation in the Middle East and efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   In a speech to delegates, the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, urged them to pull out of Iran and isolate the Islamic republic.
   ‘Tremendous power is gathered in this room. The importance of wealth is not only to mingle and engage in social interaction, but for policy making,’ Livni said.
   Arguing that Iran’s nuclear ambitions threatened ‘the entire global community,’ she appealed to the delegates’ personal sense of responsibility.
   ‘If every company here, if every country represented here would decide to divest from Iran, that can stop Iran,’ she added. ‘The decision is in your hands.’

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, has asked the existing major foreign investors to act as Bangladesh’s ‘investment ambassadors’ as they appreciated the country’s development and reform initiatives during a meeting in this Swiss city.
   ‘Act as our investment ambassadors,’ Fakhruddin was quoted as saying by the Bangladesh ambassador to UN office in Geneva, Debapriya Bhattacharya, during a meeting with the chief executive officers of six major foreign companies which already made investments in Bangladesh.
   He said the investors put forward several suggestions as they appreciated the reform initiatives while the chief adviser explaining the initiatives undertaken by his one-year-old administration in financial and other governance sectors. The president and CEO of Habib Bank Ltd of Pakistan, Zakir Mahmud, CEO of Asia region of Standard Chartered Plc Jasbir Singh, chairman and CEO of Lafarge Bruno Lafont, deputy chief executive of Holcim Ltd Gerand Letellier, chief executive of International Save the Children Jasmine M Whitbread, CEO of Intel Martina Roth and Prakash Hinduja of Hinduja Group joined the meeting as the chief adviser hosted a dinner in their honour at a hotel Thursday night.
   The foreign adviser, Iftekhatr Ahmed Chowdhury, press secretary to the chief adviser, Syed Fahim Munaim, and Bhattacharya were present at the meeting on the sidelines of the high-profile World Economic Forum meeting.
   The chief adviser explained to the investors that the backdrop of the country’s political scenario and assumption of office of his government and the initiatives so far taken for deregulation, financial sector reforms, tax and customs reforms as part of a massive reform campaign.
   ‘The high-profile investors said Bangladesh did not have any ‘image crisis’ like several other country’s witnessing transition but observed that its economy often appeared to be ‘vulnerable’’, Bhattacharya said
   They, however, said the prospective investors would like to see a ‘time bound’ implementation of the reforms being spearheaded or planned and treat foreign investors with equal facilities being offered to the local entrepreneurs.
   The investors suggested that Bangladesh should lay an extra focus to promote energy sector for power generation exploring its coal and gas reserves. The investors particularly appreciated the current anti-graft campaign and the NGO activities as well as the partnership between the government and NGOs and public-private sector collaboration.

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger on Friday declined to make any comment on his remarks calling post-independence Bangladesh a ‘basket case’ as BSS approached him at this Swiss city of Davos.
   ‘That was a moment in 1974. I won’t make any comment on that issue now,’ he said as he was reminded of his harsh remarks he made 33 years ago.
   Octogenarian Kissinger, who is now in Davos to join the high-profile World Economic Forum conference of world’s most influential political and financial leaders, initially could not recall his remarks saying ‘Bangladesh is a bottomless basket.’
   He actually made the comment as he visited Dhaka on a short trip in 1974 after it emerged as an independent nation after nine months of war of independence in 1971 despite his opposition as the foreign minister of the world’s most powerful country.
   But many economists later theorised the comment as ‘basket case theory’ in economics exposing Bangladesh to embarrassment for decades together in the international arena.

The Pallabi police on Friday registered a case following Thursday’s court order against Jamaat ameer, Motiur Rahman Nizami, and nine others for carrying massacre during the Independence War in 1971.
   Mohammad Ameer Hossain Mollah, an injured freedom-fighter of Sector 2 and a resident of Duwari in Pallabi, lodged the petition case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka.
   After hearing the petition, magistrate Imran Hossain Chowdhury on Thursday asked the officer-in-charge of Pallabi police station to register the case as first information report and take action in accordance with law.
   The Pallabi police said the case number 60, was registered following the court order and sub-inspector GM Hamidur Rahman was made investigation officer of the case.
   Others accused in the case are Jamaat-e-Islami’s secretary general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, assistant secretaries-general Abdul Kader Mollah and Qamaruzzaman, central leader Sardar Abdus Salam, former general secretary of Islami Chhatra Sangha Mir Abul Kasem, three non-Bengalis — Akhtar Gunda, Nawaz and Doma — who are now hiding in Pakistan, and one Khwaza Ashim Uddin who is dead.
   In his complaint Ameer Mollah said that Nizami, Mujahid and Qamaruzzaman — led by Abdul Kader Mollah — fired upon a group of freedom-fighters led by Mirpur-Mohammadpur thana unit commander Zahiruddin Babar and his assistant Mominul Haque when they raided the hide-out of the accused on December 18, 1971.
   ‘I was shot in my right leg and arm while my co-fighter Abdus Sattar was killed during the heavy fighting,’ said Ameer in his petition.
   He also said Pakistani troops in helicopters on April 24 landed in Albadi village at Pallabi beside the river Turag and, along with some 100 people led by Kader Mollah, opened fire simultaneously on innocent villagers from the eastern side of the village and killed many of them.
   ‘As many as 64 villagers were killed — 21 of whom were my relatives — in the firing by the Pakistan army and Kader’s anti-people non-Bengali armed cadres,’ claimed the plaintiff.
   He also said that the joint onslaught also killed another group of 344 people including 280 farmers and paddy harvesters who had arrived there from other districts as farm labourers.
   The dead were dumped into three pits dug before and sealed unceremoniously after the slaughter. The whole village was torched as well. While all those atrocities were being committed, the plaintiff with his family had hidden in a nearby swamp.
   Ameer alleged that Kader Mollah also initiated a training programme for 70/80 Biharis to bolster the spirit of Pakistani integration and kill the patriotic Bengalis who wanted independence.
   The plaintiff said he was shocked to hear the anti-liberation elements speaking disparagingly about the War of Independence and freedom-fighters, 36 years after liberation and the creation of Bangladesh.
   Ameer said he had not been able to file a case against those killers before January 11, 2007 because of ‘obvious obstacles’. He said he had filed the case now since the judiciary has become independent of the executive.
   On December 5, 2007, freedom-fighter Fazlur Rahman of Keraniganj filed a treason case against some of the accused in the present case, which was not accepted by the court.
   On December 17, that year another freedom-fighter, Mozaffar Ahmed Khan, filed a case against Nizami, Mujahid and others for killing freedom-fighters. The case is being investigated by the Keraniganj police.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, who is attending the World Economic Forum meeting, has said Bangladesh is facing two vitally important issues — access of Bangladeshi products to the markets of developed countries, including the USA, and adapting to the impact of global warming causing changes in the climate.
   ‘We’re pointing out to the business and political leaders here formally and informally to address these vital issues,’ he told an international press conference at Congress Centre on the sidelines of the WEF.
   Fakhruddin said, ‘We’re not asking for favour, we’re asking for rewarding good market performance.’ He said Bangladesh was asking for access to the US market for its garment products as it was given to African LDCs for American and some EU markets.
   On the adverse impact on Bangladesh due to climate change, he said one-third of Bangladesh would go under water affecting some 40 million people with one-meter rise at the sea level. ‘It would be disastrous for the country if more waters flow from the Himalayan system and flow through the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers’ systems.’
   He said Bangladesh had already been battered by two successive floods and severest Cyclone Sidr within four months last year, causing huge losses to lives and property.
   The chief adviser said the world had to devote much to this issue and create a global fund for the vulnerable countries like Bangladesh to finance adaptation and mitigation of sufferings. ‘It’s important to create the global fund quickly and access to this fund. Besides, necessary technology is required for strengthening adaptation to the climate changes.’
   On the trade bill pending before the US Congress, the chief adviser hoped that the Congress would take a favourable decision on the bill so that Bangladesh could compete with others on a level-playing field.
   Asked about external economic recession that could cast an impact on Bangladesh’s economy, the chief adviser said increased oil prices, and the latest round of price increase in rice and edible oil had greatly affected the country’s economy as Bangladesh had to import all these items.
   Fakhruddin said improved economic and political relations with India were helping Bangladesh. ‘Bangladesh is importing rice from India, a natural supplier of the country.’
   He appreciated that the Indian government has allowed Bangladesh to import a fair quantum of rice. He said the process of importing the rice from India was going to be finalised.
   He said apart from SAFTA India had agreed to import eight million pieces of garments from Bangladesh but hoped that some more Bangladeshi goods would have access to Indian market without any impediments.
   The foreign affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, ambassador Debapriya Bhattachraya and chief adviser’s press secretary Syed Fahim Munaim were present at the press conference.

Divers were busy on Friday fixing a clamp to an underwater Titas gas pipe that developed a leak and caught fire after being hit by a barge in the Turag river near Dhaka Thursday.
   Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company officials hoped that the leak would be plugged by today.
   The underwater gas transmission line from Ashulia to Amin Bazar burst into flames at Bailarpur point of Savar Thursday morning, causing partial disruption to gas supply to western and northern parts of the capital city and reducing gas pressure.
   The gas supply in the city, however, became normal on Friday as authorities took alternative measures to ensure gas supply.
   Lower demand for gas from industries and power plants also helped the state-owned gas company manage the situation, officials said.
   Demand for gas was less Friday as most industrial units around the city remained closed because of the weekend. Power plants also consumed minimum gas Friday as electricity demand fell due to chilly weather and weekend, they said.
   ‘The fixing of the clamp will be completed by Saturday and gas supply through the pipe will resume then,’ said an official.
   The 12-inch transmission line runs through different water bodies from Ashulia to Amin Bazar. Titas gas authorities suspended gas supply through the pipeline immediately after it caught fire Thursday morning, leading to gas supply problem in Shyamoli, Hazaribagh, Mohammadpur, Dhanmondi, Rayer Bazaar, Mirpur and some adjoining areas.
   Gas is being supplied to the city through alternative transmission lines, officials said.

Up to 30 pro-Taliban militants and two soldiers were killed in clashes in a tribal region in north-western Pakistan on Friday, the military said.
   The clashes broke out in Darra Adam Kheil tribal region near the city of Peshawar a day after militants seized four trucks carrying ammunition and other supplies for paramilitary forces.
   ‘Reportedly, 25-30 miscreants have been killed,’ the military statement said.
   The small dusty, town of Darra Adam Kheil is known as Pakistan’s ‘gun capital’ as its ethnic Pashtun residents have made weapons, including rifles, pistols and shotguns, for generations.
   Though notorious as a haven for smugglers, the town until recently had been relatively free of the militant violence that has plagued other parts of Pakistan’s tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan.
   However, pro-Taliban militants have stepped up activities in the area in recent months with attacks on music shops, and an intelligence agent was killed there last year.
   The military said the paramilitary Frontier Corps cleared strategic heights of militants south of Spina Thana village in the region.
   Further to the southwest of the tribal belt, security forces battled militants in South Waziristan, renowned as a sanctuary for al-Qaeda militants.
   Nearly 150 militants and more than 20 government soldiers have been killed in South Waziristan in a week of clashes.

The Italian prime minister, Romano Prodi, resigned on Thursday after his centre-left government lost a confidence vote in the Senate, prompting opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi to demand immediate elections.
   ‘Now we must go to vote. We will say what we want to do in the first 100 days of our government,’ said conservative former prime minister Berlusconi, who has led Prodi in opinion polls.
   But the president, Giorgio Napolitano, may first appoint an interim government to reform a messy electoral system, which in 2006 landed Prodi with a tiny Senate majority and an unstable nine-party coalition ranging from Catholics to communists.
   Analysts said the demise of the 61st government since World War Two should not hurt economic growth prospects, as Prodi had been too busy surviving politically to carry out deep reforms, but could threaten a recent improvement in public finances.
   Many Italians hope for electoral reform to cure chronic instability, illustrated by the fact that Prodi’s 20-month spell in power was the seventh longest government in post-war Italy.
   ‘This isn’t necessarily bad news, it all depends what comes after Prodi,’ said Unicredit MIB economist Marco Valli. ‘Markets don’t like uncertainty but if what follows Prodi is a stronger government, then that could be positive.’
   Berlusconi’s senators opened champagne to celebrate, earning a rebuke from Senate president Franco Marini who said, ‘Get rid of that bottle, we’re not in a pub here.’ Rome taxi drivers who support him honked their horns and shouted: ‘We’ve done it!’
   Prodi, 68, was undermined by his own allies, just as when his first spell in office was cut short in 1998. This time a small Catholic party’s defection erased his tiny majority in the Senate and made a vote of no confidence almost inevitable.
   Napolitano will begin consulting party and parliamentary leaders and former heads of state on Friday to see whether he can muster support for an interim government, to be run by a senior political figure or a technocrat.
   The softly spoken former European Commission president, known as the ‘Professor’, had warned senators Italy ‘cannot afford a power vacuum’ when the world economy is slowing down.
   In a rowdy debate, where one senator spat at another who was then carried out of the chamber on a stretcher, even the support of unelected lifetime senators could not save Prodi, who lost by 156 votes to 161.

Complaints, suggestions and warning against the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies have started to pile up with the Election Commission secretariat.
   Several hundred letters of complaints and suggestions have already been sent by all sections of people from all the 64 districts although the commission has planned to delimit the constituencies only in 18 districts, the commission sources said.
   According to the schedule, the commission was supposed to receive complaints of the people of any constituency against the planned delimitation between April and May. But people started sending complaints and suggestion and started placing demands soon after the commission on January 14 had announced the delimitation plan.
   Most of the letters protested against the commission’s move for the delimitation on the basis of population and urged the commission not to redraw the constituencies, the sources said, adding some of the letters warned the commission of writ petition if it goes ahead with the plan.
   Some of the letters demanded that the commission should their constituencies, which the commission has not planned to redraw.
   The commission has assigned an officer of its secretariat to summarise the letters regarding delimitation.
   The two major political parties — the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party — have protested against the commission move for constituency demarcation.
   The commission on January 14 unveiled the new district-wise delimitation plan with 18 districts seeing either an increase or a decrease in the number of seats representing them in parliament.
   About 49 existing constituencies in 18 districts are set to be redrawn while the status of the remaining 251 constituencies will remain unchanged. The district of Dhaka will have the highest 20 seats from the existing 13.
   According to the commission’s schedule for delimitation, the field-level task and preparation of the draft for constituency delimitation will be completed by March. The draft will be published in the official gazette along with a notice inviting complaints and suggestions in April and May. The commission will hold meetings with the people concerned after the gazette notification. The gazette notification on delimited constituencies will be published in June.
   As per the redrawn parliamentary constituencies, there will be 94 seats in the Dhaka division against the existing 90, 58 seats in the Chittagong division against the existing 59, 21 seats in the Barisal division against the existing 23 and 36 seats in the Khulna division against the existing 37.
   The number of parliamentary seats in Sylhet, 19, and Rajshahi divisions, 72, will remain unchanged.
   The districts where the number of constituencies will decrease are Sirajganj, Chandpur, Comilla, Barguna, Satkhira, Faridpur, Kishoreganj, Manikganj and Munshiganj. The districts in which the number of seats will increase by one seat are Rajshahi, Chittagong and Gazipur.
   The number of constituencies, according to law, however, will remain unchanged at 300 after the delimitation of electoral areas.

The Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, faced a barrage of criticism and threatened protests on Friday ahead of his arrival in London for a visit including talks with the prime minister, Gordon Brown.
   Human rights group Amnesty International plans a demonstration outside Downing Street on Saturday, while further protests are scheduled for Monday, the day Musharraf is due to with Brown.
   Amnesty warned that Pakistan was facing a ‘human rights crisis’ which ‘represents a serious threat to the political process in Pakistan’ in a statement issued ahead of the visit.
   Musharraf was due to speak at think-tank the Royal United Services Institute on ‘how he envisions the future of his country and the region’ later Friday, its web site said.
   His visit to London comes as part of a European tour which has also taken in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
   Throughout the trip, he has stressed that Pakistan’s looming elections on February 18 will be transparent despite concern from critics, particularly after the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto on December 27.
   Amnesty’s country director for Britain Kate Allen said thousands of people had been detained without trial in recent months, adding that torture was common and the judiciary had been ‘seriously undermined.’
   ‘Against this backdrop, how can Pakistan have free and fair elections?’ she asked.
   ‘Gordon Brown must take this opportunity to demand that Musharraf’s government bring to an end to the human rights violations that have characterised the recent period of Pakistan’s history.’
   In addition, nine distinguished figures from the world of law wrote to the Times newspaper on Friday calling for the urgent restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan.
   Signatories included the heads of England’s two most respected professional legal bodies — Andrew Holroyd, president of the Law Society of England and Wales and Timothy Dutton, chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales.
   They said Musharraf must respect the independence of the judiciary and release those lawyers currently detained, including former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry who is under house arrest.
   Explaining the motivation for Monday’s planned protest, human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell wrote in the Guardian newspaper: ‘Gordon Brown’s willingness to fete a despot like Musharraf is an insult to the millions of Pakistani people who oppose tyranny and yearn for democracy and human rights.’

Reviled by many Pakistanis for temporarily suspending the constitution last fall and throwing hundreds or possibly thousands of lawyers and political opponents in jail, Pervez Musharraf nevertheless felt free to offer human-rights advice to a fellow regional leader in Davos, according to the Daily Davos, a World Street Journal blog on the updates of the World Economic Forum conference.
   His message to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Fakhruddin Ahmed: Don’t worry about it.
   Ahmed’s caretaker government was installed last January by the army, shortly before elections were cancelled and emergency rules put in place to suppress protests from rival political parties. Human rights organisations say tens of thousands of Bangladeshis have been jailed and scores tortured to death or summarily executed.
   ‘I think you are doing a great job,’ President Musharraf said while shaking Ahmed’s hand in front of a reporter. ‘Carry on doing it no matter what anyone thinks, irrespective of human rights.’
   Musharraf and Ahmed were joining Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih of Iraq and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on a Davos panel called ‘The Quest for Peace and Stability.’ And Musharraf asked that the audience not judge Pakistan ‘on the idealistic, maybe unrealistic, Western perceptions of democracy and human rights.’

Several hundred schoolchildren attended the Freedom Festival in Dhaka amid bad weather to uphold the spirit of the war of independence Friday morning.
   The deputy commander-in-chief of the independence war, AK Khundaker, administered oath to the students at the festival on the Dhaka University playground. The Liberation War Museum organised the festival.
   The museum has been holding the festival since 1997 to imbue the new generation with the spirit of the independence war, said Akku Chowdhury, a museum trustee.
   ‘One of the main focuses of the museum is to educate the new generation people on the history of independence to infuse in them patriotism and liberal democratic ideas,’ Akku said.
   Children of the School of Development Alternative in Dhaka, Badda Aflatunnesa School and College, Ganaudyog Girls’ High School in Comilla, Rajanagar Krishnachandra Public High School in Sunamganj, UCEP School, and YWCA Girls’ High School joined the festival.
   Singers Momtaz, Ferdous Ara and Bappa Majumder performed on the occasion.
   Museum trustees Sarwar Ali, Aly Zaker, Ziauddin Tarq Ali, Rabiul Husain and Sara Zaker, BUET Professor Kaykobad, cultural activist Shaon Mahmud, freedom fighters Abdur Razzak Zehadi and Amin Ahmed Chowdhury Bir Bikram, and gold medallist at the Olympics for the disabled, Farhana Tanzia Zitu, spoke on the occasion.

Nepal’s Maoists want their leader to be made president of the Himalayan country after crucial elections planned for April, a senior Maoist said on Friday.
   ‘Vote for Prachanda to elect him as the first president of a republican Nepal,’ was chosen by party leaders as one of two election slogans to be used in nationwide campaigning, CP Gajurel told the news agency.
   The April 10 polls are expected to result in Nepal being declared a republic, formally ending a 239-year-old monarchy led by unpopular King Gyanendra.
   Since the Maoists made peace in November 2006 with the government after a brutal guerrilla war that claimed over 13,000 lives, the former rebels have emerged from their jungle and hill strongholds and come into the political mainstream.
   Disagreements over Maoist demands for the abolition of the monarchy and reforms in the voting system meant that the polls have been delayed twice, and prompted allegations that the Maoists were not ready for the polls because their popularity had plummeted. But the Maoists, whose guerrilla war lasted a decade, have started campaigning in earnest and now say they are ready to face the electorate.
   ‘We have intensified our campaign for elections all over the country and we are confident of positive results for our party,’ said Gajurel, a Maoist policy maker.

Paul D Wolfowitz, who resigned as World Bank chief after serving as second-in-command at the Pentagon, has returned to the Bush administration, albeit in an advisory role, reports The New York Times.
   The department of state is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Paul Wolfowitz as the chairman of the secretary of state’s International Security Advisory Board.
   As we said when the job offer was reported in December, the board meets quarterly to provide advice to the secretary of state and one of her deputies based on classified intelligence on some of the most important issues in United States foreign policy today, from Iran to North Korea.
   His experience in arms control issues stretches back to the 1970’s, but his role in the Iraq war was the basis of last month’s criticism of the reported appointment.

The New York Times Thursday endorsed Democratic senator Hillary Clinton and Republican senator John McCain for their party’s nominations to contest the US presidential election in November.
   In selecting Hillary, a New York senator, the influential newspaper’s editorial board said her experience gave her an advantage over her chief rival in the Democratic race, Illinois senator Barack Obama, though on the major issues they were not that different.
   ‘Hearing her talk about the presidency, her policies and answers for America’s big problems, we are hugely impressed by the depth of her knowledge, by the force of her intellect and by the breadth of, yes, her experience,’ the newspaper said.
   During her years in the Senate, Hillary has immersed herself in national security issues and has won the respect of world leaders and many in the American military, the newspaper said, adding that she would be a strong commander in chief.
   Hillary is embroiled in a tight nomination battle with Obama, who would be the first African American president if elected. Former North Carolina senator John Edwards has been running in third place.
   The newspaper urged Hillary to take the lead in changing the tone of the campaign, in which the Obama and Hillary camps have been trading harsh accusations in a bitter public fight.
   ‘It is not good for the country, the Democratic Party or for Hillary, who is often tagged as divisive,’ the newspaper said.
   In backing McCain, the Times editorial board said it had strong disagreements with all the Republicans running for the presidency, but among them the Arizona senator was an easy choice.
   McCain’s chief rivals for the Republican nomination are former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.
   ‘Senator McCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe,’ the newspaper said.

Britain sentenced renegade ex-Sri Lankan Tamil Tiger rebel Karuna Amman to nine months in prison on Friday for identity document fraud and now rights groups hope he will face additional war crimes charges.
   The ex-eastern Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam commander is accused by rights groups of torture, abductions, killings and child soldier recruitment both before and after splitting from the mainstream rebels in 2004.
   Analysts say he switched his support to the government, and rights groups accuse security forces of turning a blind eye to his actions before his own group ousted him last year and he fled to Britain.
   British officials say they have asked Sri Lanka how Karuna — real name V Muralitharan — was able to acquire an apparently genuine Sri Lankan diplomatic passport under a false name.
   The Metropolitan police and immigration authorities arrested him in London late last year and he pleaded guilty to magistrates before Christmas.
   ‘He has been sentenced to nine months in prison for holding false identity documents,’ a court official told Reuters. ‘He has already served 32 days on remand.’
   The maximum sentence would have been two years but rights groups had feared he might just be fined and leave the country.
   Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and others have called for Karuna to be charged in Britain for a variety of war crimes but campaigners say witnesses have been reluctant to come forward.
   They hope the fact Karuna is behind bars will boost their confidence — but with extra-judicial killings still widespread in Sri Lanka with the resumption of civil war and international criticism of poor witness protection, many are still seen to be too scared to testify.
   The Sri Lankan government has always denied links to Karuna and said it was happy for the British legal system to take its course. Officials have furiously denied rights abuse charges and refused calls for United Nations human rights monitoring.

Nazmul Ahsan, special correspondent of New Age, and Sajjad Alam Khan Tapu, special correspondent of the daily Inqilab, have been elected president and general secretary of Economic Reporters’ Forum respectively for a two-year term.
   Nazmul, incumbent general secretary of the forum, bagged 47 votes while the other contestant for the presidency, Monwar Hossain of the Economic Times, scored 41. Sajjad got 52 votes and his rival Meer Saiful Islam Tushar of the United News of Bangladesh secured 38.
   Ninety-seven members of the 104-strong forum cast their votes.
   The election to the 10-member executive committee was held at the National Press Club on Friday following the biennial general meeting of the professional body of Dhaka-based economic reporters. Press club president Shawkat Mahmud conducted the election as chief election commissioner.
   The contest between Delwar Hassan of the daily Korotoa and Hamid Sarkar of the daily Naya Diganta resulted in a tie as they bagged 44 votes each.
   Earlier Kawser Rahman of the daily Janakantha was elected uncontested vice-president while SM Jahangir of the Financial Express the finance secretary.
   Four executive members were also elected unopposed. They are Syed Shahnewaz Karim of the daily Jugantor, Masumur Rahman Khalili of the daily Naya Diganta, Khawaza Main Uddin of the New Age and Meer Mustafizur Rahman of the Independent. Zakaria Kajal, president of the outgoing committee, will act as a member ex-officio.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, would like to present Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, in hiding in India following Islamist death threats, with an award in Paris, a women’s rights group said on Thursday.
   Taslima was awarded a prize this month to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of feminist icon Simone de Beauvoir, along with the Somali-born anti-Islamist activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
   ‘The president said he hoped Taslima Nasreen would come soon’ to Paris, to award her the prize ‘in person’, said Sihem Habchi of the Neither Whores Nor Submissive (Ni Putes Ni Soumises) group following a meeting with Sarkozy.
   Sarkozy, who is in New Delhi at the start of a two-day state visit on Friday, is expected to raise the author’s plight with his Indian hosts.
   Exiled from her home country in 1994, Taslima had to be evacuated from the east Indian city of Kolkata last month following violent Muslim protests over her writings, and is now in a New Delhi safe house under government protection.