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The postal department has signed an agreement with the Western Union to deliver money transferred by the global money transferring company as part of a reform programme to make the financially ailing department break even by the end of 2009.
   The American company, which does business in more than 200 countries across world, will announce the deal on Monday at a programme in a city hotel.
   ‘The alliance will help to make the postal department financially viable,’ said Mobasherur Rahman, director-general of the postal department, on Sunday.
   Under the deal, some 450 post-offices across the country will start delivering money transferred by the Western Union from April, and 1,000 post-offices within a year,’ he said.
   Mobasherur hoped that it would make money transfer easier for millions of Bangladeshis living and working abroad and draw them away from using the ‘hundi system’ to send home their earnings through informal channels as money would reach the recipients within 15 minutes of remitting it from abroad.
   He said that the postal department would get 25 per cent of the tariff for every transfer of money.
   ‘In the first year we expect to earn revenue worth at least Tk 5 crore as commission from the Western Union,’ he added.
   More than five million Bangladeshis now work abroad and last year they remitted $6.56 billion, but officials said a significant amount was sent home through informal channels.
   Western Union’s officials in Dhaka said the new deal would help the money transferring company to extend its operations to the countryside where the banks do not have branches and post-offices are the usual money transfer channels.
   Bangladesh has over 10,000 post-offices covering almost every part of the country and employing around 40,000 workers.
   The American company, which covers more than 200 countries across the globe, has been pursuing the deal with the postal department for around four years after it signed similar deals with India, Pakistan and China to increase its presence in Asia.
   In Bangladesh, however, the company’s expansion was slow because it only transfers the money through some local private banks.
   The postal department’s chief said the deal with Western Union is part of the reforms to make the department profitable.
   ‘Apart from money transferring, we are planning to offer several products, and if these products are launched in time the postal department will stop making a loss by the end of 2009,’ he said.
   The department, heavily subsidised by the government, last year incurred a loss of around Tk 130 crore as it was losing market to private courier services and companies operating by mobile phones.
   The department has already increased various postal tariffs by 5 to 50 per cent, the first time in over 17 years, to cut its losses. But officials said it would bring about additional revenue of only Tk 25 crore.

Women activists on Sunday vowed to continue their movement unless they couldn’t establish women’s rights in the family, society as well as state and empower them in political and economical spheres.
   They made the vow while addressing the 3rd national conference of women organisations held at the BIAM auditorium in Dhaka.
   Scores of activists from
   different women organisations talked about their rights and empowerment at the conference.
   Naripakkha and Durbar, a women movement network, organised the conference with the slogan ‘Amra Anibo Ranga Provat’ (we will bring the sunny morning).
   The theme of the conference was to make the women movement dynamic.
   Begum Shamshunnahar, convener of Naripakkha and Durbar Network, in her inaugural speech said the objective of such conference was to reinvigorate women movement, discuss on different aspects for women’s emancipation and exchange views with the grassroots.
   ‘We held the first national conference in 1995 to build a common platform for the women as they could raise their voice in the 4th world women conference.’
   A total of 450 organisations, including 242 women organisations from 56 districts, had participated at the first national conference, she said, adding that the 2nd conference was held in 2002 with the theme ‘Stop all sorts of violence against women’.
   At the daylong conference, women activists discussed and exchanged their views on human rights and women
   movement, cultural transformation, democracy, citizenship
   and empowerment issues.
   A total of six sessions on intensifying the women movement, stopping violence against women, building and
   intensifying leadership, sexual life and rights of women, participation and representation of women in politics and elimination of discrimination against women in law was held at the conference.
   Naila Zaman Khan, professor of child neurology at Dhaka Shishu Hospital and also a woman activist, shared her experience on women movement.
   Najma Akhter, leader of garment workers, said economic emancipation should be top
   priority for women’s development.
   Sara Zaker, drama director and woman activist, observed that the private TV channels were not highlighting women issues properly.
   She also called for opening a channel only for women as they could participate in live show and express their opinion about women issues.
   Sara criticised the government for its decision on
   banning live show in electronic media.
   Simeen Mahmud, researcher of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, said women empowerment was a big challenge for the women living in a patriarchal society.
   Khushi Kabir, coordinator of Nejera Kori, Mahin Sultan of Naripakkha, Faustina Pereira, director of human rights and legal aid of BRAC, Syeda Rezwana Hasan, executive director of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association, Rokeya Rafiq Baby, executive director of Karmajibi Nari, Giti Ara Nasrin, professor of Dhaka University, and Jerina Rahman Khan, professor of the university, also spoke at the conference.

Reza Kibria, son of the late Awami League leader and former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria, on Sunday demanded investigation by the United Nations of his father’s murder case to ensure punishment of the real killers.
   Accusing the past BNP-Jamaat government and its administration of patronising the killers, Reza also vowed to continue a movement at home and abroad until fair investigation and trial of the case is ensured.
   ‘My father was an under-secretary of the United Nations and I think we may get its cooperation for fair investigation of the murder,’ said Reza at a reminiscence meeting held to mark the third death anniversary of Kibria, adding that a fair trial should be ensured through investigation by the United Nations.
   The Dhaka city unit of the Bangladesh Awami League organised the meeting at the party’s Bangabandhu Avenue office in the morning.
   ‘As we have no confidence in investigation by the government agencies, we want an international investigation of the case,’ he said. He also said that Kibria’s murder was political so it should not be considered a normal killing.
   ‘The government should ensure trial of all the political murders including the Kibria murder to create a congenial atmosphere for the upcoming general polls,’ he said.
   Reza also said that his family had been continuing a peaceful movement to underscore the demand for impartial investigation and trial of the case, but the interim government had not allowed them to continue the movement after imposing the state of emergency. AL presidium member Abdur Razzak, while addressing the meeting, also accused the past BNP-Jamaat government of not holding the trial of the case as the high-ups of the government were involved in the murder.
   ‘We demand trial of the case through fair investigation,’ said Razzak, adding that the existing crisis in the country would not have occurred if the country was run by people like Kibria.
   Tofail Ahmed, another AL presidium member, also said that the real killers and masterminds would be identified if the investigation was conducted in cooperation with the United Nations.
   He said that the government should hold dialogues with the political parties to discuss all the existing problems — economic and social — not only political ones.
   The leaders of the AL and Kibria’s family members and representatives of various socio-cultural and political organisations had offered fateha at Kibria’s grave at the Banani graveyard in the morning.
   The AL also arranged a milad mahfil at the party’s Bangabandhu Avenue office in the afternoon. The Awami Juba League also held a milad at its central party office in the afternoon to mark the death anniversary of Kibria.
   A memorial lecture by AMA Muhith, organised by the Bangladesh Foundation for Development Research, will be delivered at the Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the National Museum at 4pm on Monday, said a press release. Kibria, a career diplomat-turned-politician, was killed in a grenade attack on an AL meeting at Baidyer Bazar in Habiganj on January 27, 2005. Four other people were also killed in the attack.
   After the murder, Asma Kibria organised a series of peaceful protest programmes (including 81 weekly protests called ‘Shantir Shopokkhe Nilima’, and ‘Rokter Akkhare Shopother Shakkhor’ — a signature banner that was 3 km long) both in Bangladesh and overseas, demanding justice and an end to the culture of political violence and killing.

The High Court on Sunday set January 30 for the verdict on two writ petitions that challenged the detention orders of BNP’s senior joint secretary general Tarique Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s adviser ASM Hannan Shah.
   A High Court bench of Justice Mirza Hossein Haider and Justice Mamnun Rahman fixed the date after completion of hearing in the writ petitions.
   The joint forces arrested Tarique, also elder son of Khaleda, on March 7, 2007. The government on April 13 ordered detention of Tarique under the Special Powers Act.
   The petition for Tarique was filed with the High Court on December 2 when the court ordered the government to explain why the detention order would not be declared illegal.
   The police arrested Hannan on November 7 last year and the government on November 25 ordered his detention under the SPA.
   A writ petition challenging the detention order was filed with the High Court on December 2 and the court on the same day asked the government to prove that the detention order was lawful.

The Moulvibazar sadar BNP president, Faruk Ahmed, and the general secretary, Ayas Ahmed were on Sunday sentenced too two years’ rigorous imprisonment in an extortion case. They were also fined Tk 5,000 each, in default to suffer six more months in jail.
   Additional sessions judge Md Motahar Hussain convicted Ayas Ahmd, now in jail, and Faruk Ahmed, now in hiding. Ayas Ahmed is also a commissioner of a Moulvibazar municipal ward.
   One Ashraf Ahmed, a Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal activist, on April 6, 2007 filed the ca e with the Moulvibazar police saying that he needed to bribe the two after he had won a contract for the supply of sand for the construction of the Sylhet–Dhaka Highway in 2003.
   He said the two had demanded Tk 20 lakh from him and he had paid Tk 5 lakh to Faruk and Tk 6 lakh to Ayas.