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

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The military-backed government has approved in principle a package of electoral and political reforms including provisions for ‘no vote’ and mandatory registration of contesting political parties for the first time in the country’s history, officials said.
   No front organisations of political parties, exercise of in-house democracy and guidelines for electoral alliance are among the criteria, which were intended to bring about qualitative changes in politics and endorsed by the council of advisers Sunday.
   Setting new eligibility criteria for contesting in parliamentary polls, empowering Election Commission to scrap candidature, new ceiling for election expenditure, mandatory bank account for election funds, submission of expenditure returns and guidelines for electioneering are the reforms planned for the country’s electoral system.
   Guilty of war crimes will be barred from polls, but the draft has not elaborated on the areas of such crimes, officials said.
   The council of advisers at its meeting with chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in the chair gave the approval to the reforms proposed by the Election Commission few months back.
   The meeting asked the law ministry to immediately place the draft of The Representation of People Order Ordinance 2008 incorporating the reform proposals before the interim cabinet.
   ‘We expect the gazette notification on the ordinance will be available sometime at the end of this month,’ Syed Fahim Munaim, press secretary to the chief adviser, told reporters after the meeting at the Chief Adviser’s Office.
   The 50-page draft ordinance was prepared mainly by the Election Commission after a series of dialogue with political parties, civic groups and professional consultants for nearly a year.
   The commission proposes 114 sections instead of 95 in the existing Representation of People Order that came into being in 1972.
   The draft ordinance proposes mandatory registration of political parties with the EC.
   For registration, any party must have a record of winning at least one seat in any of the parliamentary elections since the country’s independence or obtaining five per cent of total votes cast or having active units in one-third of the districts or in 100 upazilas with minimum 200 members in each.
   Political parties intending to be registered would have to declare in their constitutions that they would not have front organisations of students, teachers and workers, and overseas units.
   But the draft proposes that students, workers and teachers would have their rights to political activities as preserved in the constitution.
   The parties must have written constitutions with no contradiction with the constitution of the republic. No discrimination in terms of cast, colour and creed will be allowed.
   The parties would be disqualified from getting registration in case of favouring a one-party system of government.
   Political parties must declare clear deadlines for keeping 33 per cent seats reserved for the women in every level of organisational committees by 2020.
   To promote democracy within the parties, the draft proposes that the parties’ parliamentary boards will nominate candidates for Jatiya Sangsad elections from the panel of leaders forwarded by ward or upazila level committees.
   If any independent lawmaker joins an unregistered political party, he or she would not be considered as a member of that party in parliament, says the proposed law.
   No electoral alliance with unregistered political party will be allowed, stipulates the draft ordinance.
   The security deposit for an individual to stand for election will be Tk 10,000. The deposit would be forfeited if the candidate fails to secure one-eighth of the votes cast.
   A candidate will be allowed to contest for three seats at a time instead of existing five constituencies.
   The draft seeks to raise the ceiling for electoral expenditure for an individual candidate to Tk 15 lakh from Tk 5 lakh now.
   Maximum limit of election expenditure has been set Tk 4.5 crore for a party fielding candidates for more than 200 seats, Tk 3 crore for a party with between 100 and 200 candidates, Tk 1.5 crore for less than 100 candidates and Tk 75 lakh for candidates in less than 50 constituencies.
   The parties must maintain separate bank accounts for operating election funds and must submit statements to the EC immediately after the polls results are published. Donation of above Tk 20,000 must be taken in cheque.
   Violation of expenditure limit carries a penalty of up to Tk 10 lakh, while false information may result in cancellation of candidature.
   Responding to a popular campaign spearheaded by various rights groups and individuals, the draft proposes introduction of ‘no vote’ system in the ballot for the first time in the country’s poll history.
   This will allow a voter to put a cross mark on the top of a ballot paper if none of the candidates matches with his or her choice.
   If ‘no’ votes accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total ballots counted, the particular constituency will see a re-election.
   Any person, convicted of war crimes by any court either at home or abroad, will be disqualified from vying for election. But it has not clarified the way to determine the war criminals.
   Government servants will not be allowed to contest the polls within three years of retirement.
   Defaulting on bank loans and rescheduling those six months before filling of the nomination papers would continue to remain as disqualification as in the past. However, housing and agriculture loans have been exempted from this category.

The High Court on Sunday observed the caretaker government could promulgate no ordinance making provisions not directly related to elections.
   The High Court bench of Justice ABM Khairul Huq and Justice Abu Tarique also observed, ‘The president and the caretaker government do not represent the people… The shorter the tenure of such an undemocratic government, the better it is for all.’
   The court came up with the observations in its judgement on a writ petition filed by the Marriage Registrars’ Association president, Peerjada Syed Shariullah, and five other marriage registrars challenging the legality of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Ordinance 2008.
   The court also declared unconstitutional and void the ordinance, which empowered the deputy commissioners, instead of the law ministry, with the authority to hire and fire marriage registrars.
   Observing that the powers of the caretaker government are narrower than those of a politically elected government, the court said, ‘An ordinance can only be promulgated by the caretaker government if is directly related to elections. Otherwise, that would be without lawful authority.’
   The court further observed, ‘If the power of the president is widened at the demand of particular quarters beyond the constitutional framework, the balance of the people’s powers would be jeopardised.’
   ‘Before promulgating any ordinance, the president must be satisfied that the elections will be hampered unless the ordinance is promulgated. Otherwise, the president cannot promulgate such an ordinance,’ the court said in the verdict.
   The judgement said, ‘In general, the president, in the exercise of his functions, acts in accordance with the advice of the
   prime minister. But, under Article 58E of the constitution [during the tenure of the caretaker government] the president does not act in accordance with the advice of the chief adviser to the caretaker government. The council of advisers also cannot advise him for promulgation of any ordinance. They can only request him. The president promulgates an ordinance on his own responsibility and power in accordance with Article 93 and 58D.’
   Referring to a judgement delivered by the US Supreme Court in 1608, the court said, ‘The president cannot go beyond the powers given to him by the constitution. If any person is aggrieved by an ordinance promulgated by the president, s/he can seek redress before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has the power to consider such a petition and to examine the constitutionality of the ordinance.’
   ‘Every citizen and every person engaged in the service of the republic are bound to go by every article of the constitution. If the constitution is violated, however slightly, for some reason the probability arises for its complete destruction in the end,’ the court observed. ‘No authority can violate the constitution on any grounds, as none is above law.’
   The court further said, ‘All powers in the republic belong to the people. In Bangladesh, elected parliament runs the state. The prime minister and the cabinet are accountable to the parliament for their functions. It means the elected government is accountable to the people.’
   Commenting on the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Ordinance 2008, promulgated on February 20, the court said, ‘The promulgation of the ordinance is without lawful authority. So, the ordinance is declared ultra vires of the constitution and void.’
   The court, however, certified the case involved a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the constitution, allowing the government to appeal against the judgement. It means the government will not need to get permission of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court to appeal against the judgement.
   The writ petition was filed on March 3 and the High Court on the day issued a rule on the government to explain the legality of the promulgation of the ordinance.
   Senior lawyers Rafique-ul Huq, Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Azamalul Hossain argued in the case as amici curiae while Quamrul Islam Siddique and Joy Rahman appeared for the petitioner and deputy attorney general Idris Khan for the government.
   The court had also appointed Kamal Hossain as an amicus curiae and asked the attorney general, Fida M Kamal, to make their arguments in the case. Both of them, however, did not turn up

Differences have surfaced among the AL-led alliance partners after Workers Party politburo member Fazley Hossain Badsha withdrew himself from the race for the Rajshahi mayoral post as Awami League leader Khairuzzaman Liton vowed not to withdraw his nomination for the August 4 city corporation elections.
   The alliance led by the Awami League finally selected Khairuzzaman, instead of Badsha, as the alliance candidate for the mayoral post.
   Badsha withdrew his nomination paper on Sunday although the alliance at a meeting on July 9 nominated him as the alliance candidate.
   The Awami League candidates for two other mayoral posts, in Barisal and Sylhet, will also be facing party rivals.
   The Workers Party president, Rashed Khan Menon, in reaction to Badsha’s withdrawal of candidature, expressed his frustration, saying the decision would hamper united, non-communal and democratic politics.
   He said his party now was no longer supporting any alliance candidates for the city corporation elections and it would make a decision in this regard after a meeting at the party forum.
   Awami League presidium member Amir Hossain Amu, meanwhile, hailed the Workers Party decision saying Badsha withdrew his candidature for the sake of unity and democracy and in view of the opinions of local alliance leaders. In reply to a query as to whether Badsha’s withdrawal of candidature would hamper the unity of the AL-led alliance, he told New Age Badsha had made the decision on his own, considering the sentiment of local leaders and it would not hamper the alliance unity.
   The trouble for the Awami League centring on the nominations in three out of the four city corporation polls is not over yet as rival party candidates had not withdrawn their candidature. The trouble deepened as the central leaders extended support for the candidate of their choice. After Badsha’s withdrawal of candidature, the Rajshahi city Awami League president, Masudul Haque Dulu, still in the mayoral race, remains a hurdle for Khairuzzaman Liton, party insiders said.
   The party nominated city Awami League president, Badruddin Ahmed Kamran, now in jail, for the Sylhet mayoral post.
   Awami League leaders Dewan Farid Gazi, Enamul Haque Chowdhury Bir Pratik, Abduz Zahir Chowdhury Sufian, Iftekhar Hossain Shamim, and Misbah Uddin Siraj withdrew their candidature in support of Kamran. But Kamran still faces party leader Babrul Hossain Babul, also a former Sylhet municipal chairman, in the mayoral race.
   Local sources said all the party leaders were working for Kamran, but the followers of Awami League advisory council member Abul Maal Abdul Muhith were supporting Babrul.
   In Khulna, the alliance nominated central Awami League AL leader Talukdar Abdul Khaleque, also the city unit president. City Awami League general secretary Mijanur Rahman Mijan and joint secretary Mallik Abid Hossain Kabir withdrew their nomination papers in support of Talukder. But he needs to face city AL leader Enayet Ali in the race.
   Local sources said all the local leaders were extending support for Talukder, but Enayet has a large number of followers.
   In Barisal, the party selected the city Awami League convener, Shawkat Hossain Hiron, as the mayoral candidate, and party fellows Alamgir Hossain Khan Alo and Mahmudul Huq Khan Mamun withdrew their nomination papers in support of Shawkat Hossain.
   But Shawkat faces Nagarik Committee candidate Enayet Pir Khan in the mayoral race.
   Enayet Pir is getting support from the followers of senior AL presidium member Amir Hosain Amu as a faction backed by the party’s central leader Abul Hasnat Abdullah earlier supported Shawkat.

Sixteen hundred candidates are now in the electoral race after the deadline for the withdrawal of the nomination papers for the August 4 elections the four city corporations and nine municipalities expired on Sunday.
   Nine hundred and ninety-two of them are contesting elections to the city corporations — 64 for the four mayoral posts, 752 for the posts of councillor and 194 for the posts of councillor in the seats reserved for women.
   Six hundred and eight candidates are in the race for the elections to the nine municipalities — 59 for the mayoral posts, 429 for the posts of councillor and 120 for the posts of councillor in the reserved seat.
   The returning officers concerned on Sunday announced the final list of the candidates contesting. The officers will today distribute polls symbols among the candidates.
   The government will relax the state of emergency to allow full-fledged electoral campaigns for 21 days from today in the areas where polls will take place. Candidates are preparing to begin formal electioneering from today.
   The New Age correspondent in Sylhet said 15 candidates were running for the mayoral post, 194 for the posts of councillor and 46 for the posts of councillor in the reserved seat at the city corporation, deputy election commissioner Mizanur Rahman Khandaker, also the returning officer of the Sylhet City Corporation polls, said.
   MA Haq of the BNP and Badruddin Ahmed Kamran of the Awami League are among the 15 candidates contesting for the city mayoral post.
   The incumbent mayor Kamran, also the candidate of the alliance led by the Awami League, is now in custody in connection with a number of corruption cases.
   Thirteen others in the mayoral election race are independent candidate ASM Kamal, Abdus Samad Nazrul and Kunu Mia of the Jatiya Party, AFM Kamal of the BNP, MA Mukit Khan of the Left Democratic Party, Maulana Sirajul Islam Siraji of Khelafat Majlis, Kamal Ahmed of Bikalpadhara, M Kutubuddin of the Liberal Party, Syed Habibur Rahman Hiron of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab), Syed Ali Afsar Zahed, Syed Muhibur Rahman, Salahuddin Rimon and Bashir Ahmed.
   Twenty-four aspirants for the posts of councillor withdrew their nominations, leaving 194 in the fray for the posts of councillor for 27 wards and 47 candidates for the posts of councillor in 9 reserved seats.
   The correspondent in Rajshahi said 15 candidates were running for the mayoral post, 203 candidates for the posts of councillor and 63 for the posts of councillor in the reserved seat at the city corporation.
   The mayoral candidates are Nagarik Committee-nominated AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, city Awami League president Masudul Haque Dulu, city Juba Dal president Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, BNP leader Enamul Haque, central Awami Swechchhasebak League leader Nasir Uddin Ahmed Bidyut, former Rajshahi mayor Durul Huda, also the city Jatiya Party (Ershad) president, Abdul Matin Khan, Raihanur Rahman of the Progressive Democratic Party, Farman Ali, Akhtaruzzaman Bablu of Bikalpadhara Bangladesh, Ruhul Kuddus Tunu, Abul Kalam Azad, Abdul Khalek, Siddiqur Rahman and acting Rajshahi mayor Rezaun Nabi Dudu.
   Former BNP lawmaker Jahan Panna withdrew herself from the race in the morning, saying she had withdrawn the nomination paper as the alliance led by the BNP would not contest the polls.
   The correspondent in Barisal said 206 candidates were contesting the elections to the city corporation — 10 for the mayoral post, 156 for the posts of councillor and 40 for the posts of councillor in the reserved seat.
   The mayoral candidates are Nagarik Committee chapter president Enayet Pir Khan, Barisal Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Ebadul Huq Chan, former BNP leader Ahsan Habib Kamal, AL-led alliance candidate Shawkat Hossain Hiron, also the city Awami League convener, district Communist Party secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Progressive Democratic Party leader Sharfuddin Ahmed Santu, former ward commissioner Kabiruddin Hannu, Jahirul Huq, Syed Abdullah Sahid, and Rafikul Islam Russell.
   The correspondent in Khulna said 259 candidates were contesting the elections to the city corporation — 6 for the mayoral post, 207 for the posts of councillor and 46 for the posts of councillor in the reserved seat.
   The mayoral candidates are the acting Khulna mayor, BNP leader Moniruzzaman Moni, city Awami League president Talukder Abdul Khaleque, Firoz Ahmed of the Communist Party and independent candidate Moslem Uddin, Enayet Ali of the Awami League, and independent candidate Tayebur Rahman.
   Sixty-four aspirants, including five for the mayoral post, withdrew their nomination papers on Sunday.

The lighter ship workers in Chittagong Port joined work Sunday night ending a three-day work abstention for pay hike.
   They withdrew the strike following a government announcement of salary hike, port sources said.
   The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority after separate meetings with the Cargo Vessel Owners’ Association, Coaster Ship Owners’ Association of Bangladesh and the Ship Workers’ Federation raised the minimum salary of the cargo ship workers operating from Chittagong to Tk 3,750 from Tk 2,775 with effect from July 1, 2008, according to a BIWTA press release.
   The minimum salary for workers of coaster, tanker and lighter ships has been fixed at Tk 3,800 and those of inland cargo vessels and barges at Tk 2,700.
   Co-convenor of the Water Transport Coordination Cell Khorshed Alam said the workers had joined work at night just after the announcement of their salary hike.
   The cargo vessel workers under the banner of Lighterage Workers’ Union went on the strike on Friday suspending cargo transportation to and from Chittagong to press home their demand for wage hike.
   The work abstention of the workers forced nine mother vessels waiting idly at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong port with imported goods, incurring the importers with a loss of more than Tk 60 lakh a day.
   The mother vessels were waiting with 5.60 lakh tonnes of imported goods, the port sources said adding that four of the vessels were with food grains, four with cement clinkers and one with fertiliser.
   The workers started abstaining from work as per their prior announcement especially after their demands remained unfulfilled even after several demonstrations.

The High Court on Sunday, after a lapse of nearly four years, began hearing the death reference in and appeals against the trial court’s verdict, delivered on October 20, 2004, convicting 15 persons, all of whom were from the military.
   The High Court bench of Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ataur Rahman Khan will resume the hearing today.
   During the first day of hearing on Sunday, Abdullah Al Mamun, the counsel for Major (retd) Bazlul Huda and Major (retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed read the First Information Report and the charge-sheet of the case.
   The carnage took place inside Dhaka Central Jail in the early hours of November 3, 1975, in which four topmost Awami League leaders were murdered. They were Syed Nazrul Islam, also the acting president during the War of Liberation, Tajuddin Ahmed, also the prime minister of the government-in-exile during the war, M Mansur Ali, finance minister under him, and AHM Qamaruzzaman, the home minister.
   The killings, seen as a desperate act by power usurpers, occurred 79 days after the assassination of the country’s founding president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and his family including his four-year-old child and two daughters-in-law, on August 15, 1975. Only two members of his family, Sheikh Hasina and Rehana, survived because they were abroad.
   The Dhaka metropolitan sessions judge’s court on October 20, 2004, sentenced three persons to death and 12 to life-term imprisonment for the slaughter.
   The court sentenced Risalder (retd) Muslemuddin, Dafadar (dismissed) Marfat Ali Shah and Dafadar (dismissed) Abul Hashem Mridha — all of whom are on the run — to walk the gallows.
   Those whom the court sentenced to life-term imprisonment were Lt Col (dismissed) Syed Farook Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Major (retd) Bazlul Huda, Lt Col (dismissed) Khandakar Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haq Dalim, Lt Col (retd) SHMB Noor Chowdhury, Maj (Retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lt Col (retd) AM Rashed Chowdhury, Major (relieved) Ahmed Sharful Hossain, Capt (retd) Abdul Majed, Captain (relieved) Kismat Hashem, and Captain (relieved) Najmul Hossain Ansar. Farook Rahman, Shahriar Rashid, Bazlul Huda and AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed are in jail while the rest of the convicts are on the lam. Ten of the convicts in this case were earlier awarded death penalty in the Bangabandhu Murder Case, now pending with the Supreme Court for appeal hearings.

The work abstention by sailors and workers of lighter ships, which was withdrawn after three days on Sunday night, suspended cargo transportation to and from Chittagong.
   The strike to press home their demand for wage hike also forced nine mother vessels, loaded with imported goods, to wait idly at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong Port, compelling the importers to incur a loss of more than Tk 60 lakh a day.
   The strike was withdrawn after a fruitful meeting was being held at the office of the chairman of the Bangladesh Internal Water Transport Authority.
   Lighter ships, of whom there are about 800 in the country, load and unload cargo from ocean-going vessels and carry the goods to and from Chittagong.
   The mother vessels waited with 5.60 lakh tonnes of imported goods, said port sources, adding that four of the vessels were carrying much-needed food-grains, four were carrying cement clinkers and one was loaded with fertiliser.
   Sources also said there were nine other feeder vessels at the Chittagong port currently, and loading and unloading of the vessels carrying containers, however, was going on normally at the port’s jetties.
   Parvez Sajjad, president of the Bangladesh Shipping Agents’ Association, said the loss incurred by the importers might ultimately be to the detriment of the common people, as prices of the imported consignments would rise due to the importers’ losses.
   Sources in the city’s business hub, Chaktai-Khatunganj, said supply of food-grains was declining due to the strike, and the economy might face an adverse situation if the situation would remain unchanged for a few more days.
   The lighter ships’ sailors and workers started abstaining from work under the banner of the Lighterage Workers’ Union on Friday as per their prior announcement, especially after their demands remained unfulfilled even after several demonstrations.
   The workers staged sit-in programmes in front of the office of Water Transport Coordination Cell at Agrabad on July 5 and 6, and also formed a human chain at Patenga to underscore their demands.
   Mohammed Isa Mia, president of the Lighterage Workers Union, said their wages have not been increased in the past four years even though the prices of essential commodities have soared way beyond their reach and freight charges have been hiked several times.
   The Water Transport Coordination Cell failed to end the deadlock despite holding a meeting with the leaders of the Lighterage Workers Union and Chittagong Port Lighterage Contractors Association on Saturday.
   GM Khan, secretary of the Cell, said the stalemate was over after a joint meeting at the office of the chairman of the Bangladesh Internal Water Transport Authority in an effort the end the stalemate.

The Nirjatan Pratirodh Chhatra Andolan, a general students’ platform sponsored by the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, has called a nationwide students’ strike on August 2, demanding lifting of the state of emergency.
   Their demands also include holding of the parliamentary polls before any other elections, releasing of all politically detained persons, and scrapping of the election schedule for the local government polls.
   They announced the programme at a rally in front of the Curzon Hall after the police barred them from advancing to the Bangladesh Secretariat to lay a siege to it to press home their demands. The police stopped the small procession coming from the Aparajeya Bangla, putting barbed-ware fences across the street.
   Demonstrators chanted slogans against the government but the police did not allow them to move forward. After half and hour the demonstrators left the place, announcing the next course of action.
   Khomenee Ihsan, the platform convener, said they had announced the programme to protest against the illegal activities of the military controlled government that had no mandate from the people.

Commerce ministry officials have said they are unaware of India’s renewed agenda for transit and their opinion on the issue has not been sought ahead of the foreign secretary level talks scheduled for July 17-18 in New Delhi.
   Transit has been seen as a mere connectivity issue and that is why foreign ministry officials have felt communication ministry’s view would be enough for their talks with India, they said.
   ‘We were not asked to give our opinion on India’s proposal of transit agreement between Dhaka and New Delhi,’ commerce secretary Firoz Ahmed told New Age on Sunday.
   ‘We don’t know anything about giving transit to India.’
   Abdul Wahab Mian, a joint secretary of the same ministry, said they had sent their inputs on trade barriers to the foreign ministry to help it set agenda for the New Delhi talks.
   ‘Our opinions on bilateral trade barriers including para-tariff and non-tariff issues have been sent to the foreign ministry as it asked for those,’ the senior official said, adding that no opinion was sought on the specific issue of transit through Bangladesh territory for transporting goods and people between West Bengal and northeastern states of India.
   Trade diplomats said transit and transshipment were very much trade-related matters which should have been dealt better by commerce ministry as was practiced during the past regimes of political governments.
   The issue was widely discussed during the period of Awami League government [1996-2001] when the commerce ministry undertook a number of studies to assess the benefits and risks of offering transit or transshipment facility to India. There was also a separate study on boarder trade between the two countries.
   However, none of the study reports recommended in favour of signing a deal for transit or transshipment unless India eliminates non-tariff and para-tariff barriers to Bangladesh’s meager exports to huge Indian market, sources said. The issue was almost shelved during the last regime of BNP-led alliance [2001-2006].
   The Indian High commission in Dhaka in a recent communication to the foreign ministry revived the transit issue and wanted Dhaka to sign a deal during the officials talks in New Delhi, a high official in the foreign ministry confirmed.
   Indian high commissioner in Dhaka also reiterated his country’s long-standing demand for transit through Bangladesh and regretted that the economic issue was much politicised over the years.
   Though commerce ministry was virtually left out of the process, foreign officials were active in communicating with the communication ministry on the transit issue.
   An assistant secretary of the foreign ministry in a July 7 letter sought the opinion of communication ministry on the Indian agenda for transit.
   ‘Actually, the issue of giving transit facility to India has not yet been decided taking into account the sensitivity involved with it,’ communication secretary Mahbubur Rahman told New Age earlier. ‘We have to sit and consult with the government high-ups before taking a decision,’ he added.
   Amid a flurry of speculations in the media about the transit issue, foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury on Saturday said there would be no agreement which could compromise the country’s interests.
   ‘I wish to announce unequivocally and firmly that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will never, under any circumstances, agree on any arrangement that is contrary to national interest,’ he said.
   According to the proposed transit agreement, New Delhi asked Dhaka to sign a five-year transit agreement to allow India to transport goods to and from its north-eastern states through Bangladesh territory, sources in the bureaucracy said. India’s long-pressed demand for transit, or diplomatically-worded transshipment, through Bangladesh was lost in political debates and mutual mistrusts stemmed mainly from New Delhi’s reluctance to ease non-tariff barriers to bilateral trade.
   This time India seeks transit facility under a draft agreement ‘for the regulation of passenger and cargo vehicular traffic between the two countries,’ tactfully avoiding the word ‘transit’ because of its political sensitivity, a communication ministry official told New Age. According to the Indian draft, Indian vehicles with goods and containerized cargo will enter Bangladesh territory through Benapole land port and again enter Indian states of Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through Bangladesh boarder points of Tamabil, Bibirbazar and Khagrachari, sources said.

A former wrestler who once counted a ‘bandit queen’ as his ally has now thrown a lifeline to the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, forgetting years of snubs and animosity from the government to emerge as a kingmaker.
   The withdrawal of the government’s communist allies to protest a civilian nuclear deal with the United States has left an embattled government reaching out to Mulayam Singh and his Samajwadi Party to secure its parliamentary majority.
   The government will now have to negotiate with the former defence minister and his right hand man Amar Singh on issues from the nuclear deal to cabinet posts, from economic reforms to measures to tame inflation in a trillion dollar economy.
   ‘Mulayam is a very experienced operator who negotiates hard and has his eyes set on power,’ said Kuldip Nayar, a political expert and author on Indian history and current affairs.
   Mulayam Singh’s rise to power highlights the peculiarities of coalition government in India, where national parties like the ruling Congress increasingly have to deal with the emergence of smaller caste and regional-based parties to stay in power.
   The Samajwadi leader is a controversial choice. He faces a corruption probe by police and critics said he did little to stop rising criminality in his home state of Uttar Pradesh.
   Mulayam Singh for years dominated Uttar Pradesh where he was chief minister three times.
   He is seen as a liberal and secular, more open to negotiation with the government than the strongly ideological communist parties.
   ‘The only difference between us and the left is that we are not rigid in our attitude,’ Amar Singh said in a recent Reuters interview. ‘We have not given unconditional support. We are not likely to give it either.’
   Mulayam Singh relies on votes of Muslims and farmers from the Yadav caste but he lost the last election to Mayawati, another caste-based politician known as the ‘Queen of the Dalits’, after a voter backlash of rising lawlessness in the state.
   His ambition will be to fight Mayawati. Despite years of the ruling Congress party and Mulayam battling each other in Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest number of seats in the national parliament, Mayawati has now become a common enemy.
   The Samajwadi Party has a colourful history in one of India’s poorest, most feudal and corrupt states. ‘Bandit Queen’ Phoolan Devi, an outlaw who rampaged through Uttar Pradesh in the 1980s, joined it before she was gunned down.
   But it is also a party known for pragmatism.
   ‘Mulayam talks politics. Amar does the business,’ said New Delhi-based political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan.
   Amar Singh has called on a windfall tax on oil companies, banning exports of petroleum products and using foreign reserves to strengthen the rupee, a sign of the challenges the more orthodox prime minister may face before scheduled May 2009 elections.
   Mulayam Singh’s right-hand man Amar Singh has links to billionaire Anil Ambani, head of Reliance Communications, one of India’s biggest companies. He is known for lavish parties and his links to Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan.
   Critics say the Samajwadi Party has become a lobbying tool for Indian businesses. Some investors believe it just means the party will be more pro-business than the communist parties, who stymied years of free market reforms from the government.
   Congress party head Sonia Gandhi famously snubbed Amar Singh four years ago when she did not invite him to a dinner after deciding to form a government with the communists rather than the Samajwadi.
   Now the two parties rely on each other. It is an alliance that may continue until the next general elections.
   ‘Mulayam will be a very difficult partner for the government,’ said Rangarajan. ‘His pressure on the government will be enormous and the cost will only be seen later.’
   ‘Has the government moved from the frying pan to the fire? Only time will tell.’

The Workers Party of Bangladesh, a component of the Awami League-led alliance, on Sunday expressed frustration over withdrawal of the party’s politburo member Fazle Hossain Badsha’s mayoral candidature in Rajshahi City Corporation as an alliance candidate.
   The party’s president, Rashed Khan Menon, on Sunday afternoon told New Age, ‘The withdrawal of Badsha’s candidature was unfortunate.’
   ‘I and my party have been punished for our political stand since the proclamation of the state of emergency,’ Menon said.
   The progress of the united non-communal and democratic politics will be hampered due to the decision, he added.
   When the presidium and the working committee of Awami League favoured Badsha as mayoral candidate in Rajshahi City Corporation and he announced his candidature, it was unfortunate that one of the working committee members disobeyed the decision, said Menon. After withdrawal of Badsha’s candidature, no one else will be the candidate of the whole AL-led alliance in Rajshahi, he said. We shall review the political situation and rethink our decision to support the candidates in the four city corporations after withdrawal of Badsha’s candidature, he added.
   We have told Badsha that any decision by the district unit of the party should be honoured by him in the interest of the unity of the non-communal and democratic forces of the country.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board signed the final agreement with the Singapore-based Nimbus Sports International on Sunday over the marketing rights up to March 2012, ending a lengthy scrutinisation and negotiation.
   The BCB had awarded Nimbus the marketing rights in November 2006 and also signed a Heads of Agreement with the firm, but the final agreement was delayed after a section of cricket organisers smelled rat in the deal.
   A changed management in the BCB, which took office in July 2007, formed a special review committee, which scrutinised the awarding process and also renegotiated some clauses before agreeing to sign the deal finally.
   Though it failed to find any wrongdoings in the awarding process, it was successful in earning some guarantees and adding some new clauses. The review committee also managed to reduce the maximum allowable expenses to Nimbus from nearly $20 million to $15.31m, which in the end will increase the net profit.
   Under the six-year agreement Nimbus will exclusively market the media rights of the BCB events globally and will guarantee minimum revenue of $56.88m. The additional earnings will be shared on eighty-twenty basis in favour of the BCB.
   Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, the acting chief executive officer of the BCB, and Yannic Colaco, the executive vice-president of Nimbus Sports International, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.
   The ceremony was attended by the BCB president, Major General Sina Ibn Jamali. ‘I am very happy to see the deal complete. We were able to mitigate the lapses that were in initial agreement,’ Jamali told reporters later.
   Under the final agreement, the BCB will have true copies of every contract that Nimbus enters into with the third party. The BCB will also be allowed to review and audit the books of accounts upon a five-day notice, a clause, which was missing in the Heads of Agreement, said the chairman of the review committee, MA Momen. In the initial deal, it was not clear how the BCB will pay Nimbus the production expenses in case of a match or series being cancelled or abandoned. Nimbus had the option to deduct the expenses even if the match or series was cancelled long before the schedule.
   ‘Now we have set a matrix, which will reduce the risk of BCB,’ said Momen adding they will provide Nimbus the schedule at least 22 days earlier. If the match or series still gets cancelled, Nimbus will deduct the expenses depending on the date they were informed.
   In the final agreement, Nimbus also agreed to bear all the costs related to earth station services and uplink from the venue, satellite space and downlink at international gateways, which will save the BCB nearly $1.5 million, said the official.

Iran would ‘cut off the hands’ of any enemy that attacked the country, the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned on Sunday, amid increasing tensions with the West after recent missile tests.
   ‘Before the enemies touch the trigger, Iran’s armed forces will cut off their hands,’ Ahmadinejad said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
   His comments came after Iran intensified tensions in the nuclear standoff by conducting two days of missile tests, which included the firing of a missile that it says can reach Israel.
   ‘This is only a small part of Iran’s defence capabilities and in future we will unveil more of our defence capabilities if it is needed,’ Ahmadinejad said.
   The United States and its regional ally Israel have never ruled out a military attack to end Iran’s controversial nuclear work, which the West fears could be used to make weapons – a charge vehemently denied by Iran.
   There has been concern an attack against Iran could be imminent after it emerged Israel had carried out manoeuvres in Greece that were effectively dry runs for a potential strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
   Iran has always warned of a ferocious response to any attack. A military official said
   on Saturday that Iran would target ‘the heart of Israel’ and 32 US bases in the event of any attack.
   Tehran said on Wednesday that it test-fired its Shahab-3 missile – the longest-range weapon in its arsenal – and eight other missiles. It said it fired more missiles on Thursday in land manoeuvres at night and naval war games by day.
   But diplomatic efforts to end the crisis have also continued, with world powers proposing a package offering Tehran technological incentives if it suspends sensitive uranium enrichment.
   Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili is to meet the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, – who leads the talks on behalf of world powers – in Geneva on July 19 in their latest effort to break the deadlock, Iranian officials said.
   Hopes of a breakthrough rose in recent weeks after Ali Akbar Velayati, the top foreign policy advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said it would be in Iran’s interests to accept the package.
   But Ahmadinejad on Sunday bluntly said that Velayati ‘has no involvement in nuclear issue decision making’.
   ‘Velayati is an esteemed person. He has opinions and he states his opinion. Everyone in the Islamic Republic of Iran is free to state their opinion.’
   Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed that Tehran will never suspend enrichment as demanded by world powers, which fear Iran could use the process to make a nuclear weapon.
   ‘Some people wanted to organise a celebration and say that Iran had stepped back but their celebration did not last long,’ said Ahmadinejad.
   ‘The government is in charge of the nuclear issue... taking into account the positions of the supreme leader,’ he added.
   But a leading Iranian reformist newspaper wrote in an editorial that the current exchange of threats and muscle-flexing on both sides could be aimed at saving face before reaching a compromise deal.
   ‘One can see that the military threats by the two sides have an aspect of prestige to show their strength to domestic and foreign public opinion,’ the Etemad daily said.
   ‘On the other hand, talks are taking place which can act as water over fire and quieten the hostilities if they reach an acceptable point,’ it added.

The Awami League on Sunday announced a daylong hunger strike across the country for July 19 in protest at essential goods price spiral.
   The hunger strike will start begin 10:00am and continue till 5:00pm.
   The party will also hold a meeting on July 15 in its central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in protest against the attack on freedom fighters at the Institute Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh.
   The acting Awami League general secretary, Syed AShraful Islam, announced the programmes as he briefed newsmen after a party presidium meeting. The acting party president, Zillur Rahman, presided over the meeting at his house at Gulshan in Dhaka.
   He criticised the government for not taking any effective initiatives to control the soaring prices of essential goods on the excuse of price increase on the international market. ‘The government should not keep citing examples of global prices and it should be sincere about controlling prices on the domestic market.’
   The meeting condemned the attack on a freedom fighter at a conference at the Institute of Diploma Engineers by the Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Jatiya Muktijoddha Parishad and urged the government for exemplary punishment against the attackers.
   The party urged the interim government to send the ailing party leader Mohammad Nasim abroad immediately and take measures to ensure proper treatment of detained party leaders Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Obaidul Kader, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran and Pankaj Devnath.
   The presidium also requested the government to withdraw the cases filed against party leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury and AKM Jahangir Hossain and termed the cases false and motivated.

A gang of muggers shot a trader dead and snatched away Tk 40.00 lakh injuring his brother and son at Safipur in Kaliakoir upazila of Gazipur on Sunday.
   The deceased was Haji Abdus Samad, 40, while the injured were his younger brother Amir Hossain Samu, 38, and son Samiul Islam, 17.
   Local sources said that at about 10:00am rice trader Abdus Samad along with his son Samiul and brother Amir Hossain was going to deposit Tk 40 lakh in a bag in the First Security Bank branch on the first floor of the Aziz Mansion at Safipur Bazar. A gang of muggers numbering 10 to 12 intercepted them in front of the Rhidoy Decorator and tried to snatch the bag. When Abdus Samad resisted, the muggers sprayed bullets on him and two others.
   As Samad collapsed receiving bullets in the head, the miscreants snatched away the money and drove away in a white car. Amir Hossain sustained injuries in the leg. Local people took Amir Hossain and Samiul Islam to the hospital. Severely injured Samad was declared dead after he was taken to the Square Hospital in Dhaka.
   A witness, Saiful Islam, said he had seen the muggers who fled in the car firing at a bus driver of the Ajmeri Pairbahan when they got stuck in a traffic jam. But, as the driver let them go, the private car speeded away. The police and Rapid Action Battalion visited the spot.
   Local traders of Safipur observed strike protesting at the killing. Sources said muggers had also snatched away Tk 12:00 lakh from one Samad Mia in the same area a few days ago when he was going to deposit the money with the local branch of Janata bank.

France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds that her ‘radical’ practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes.
   The case Saturday reopened the debate about Islam in France, and how the secular republic reconciles itself with the freedom of religion guaranteed by the French constitution.
   The woman, known as Faiza M, is 32, married to a French national and lives east of Paris. She has lived in France since 2000, speaks good French and has three children born in France.
   Social services reports said she lived in ‘total submission’ to her husband. Her application for French nationality was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of ‘insufficient assimilation’ into France. She appealed, invoking the French constitutional right to religious freedom and saying that she had never sought to challenge the fundamental values of France. But last month the Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, upheld the ruling.
   ‘She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes,’ it said.
   ‘Is the burqa incompatible with French citizenship?’ asked Le Monde, which broke the story. The paper said it was the first time the level of a person’s personal religious practice had been used to rule on their capacity be to assimilated into France.
   The legal expert who reported to the Council of State said the woman’s interviews with social services revealed that ‘she lives almost as a recluse, isolated from French society’.
   The report said: ‘She has no idea about the secular state or the right to vote. She lives in total submission to her male relatives. She seems to find this normal and the idea of challenging it has never crossed her mind.’
   The woman had said she was not veiled when she lived in Morocco and had worn the burqa since arriving in France at the request of her husband. She said she wore it more from habit than conviction.
   Daniele Lochak, a law professor not involved in the case, said it was bizarre to consider that excessive submission to men was a reason not to grant citizenship. ‘If you follow that to its logical conclusion, it means that women whose partners beat them are also not worthy of being French,’ he told Le Monde.
   Jean-Pierre Dubois, head of France’s Human Rights League, said he was ‘vigilant’ and was seeking more information.
   France is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, roughly half of whom are French citizens. Criteria taken into account for granting French citizenship includes ‘assimilation’, which normally focuses on how well the candidate speaks French.
   In the past nationality was denied to Muslims who were known to have links with extremists or who had publicly advocated radicalism, but that was not the case of Faiza M.
   The ruling comes weeks after a controversy prompted by a court annulment of the marriage of two Muslims because the husband said the wife was not a virgin as she had claimed to be.
   France’s ban on headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools in 2004 sparked a heated debate over freedom and equality within the secular republic. The French government adheres to the theory that all French citizens are equal before the republic, and religion or ethnic background are matters for the private sphere. In practice, rights groups say, society is plagued by discrimination.
   The president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has stressed the importance of ‘integration’ into French life. Part of his heightened controls on immigrants is a new law to make foreigners who want to join their families sit an exam on French language and values before leaving their countries.

The Energy Division will send the draft coal policy to the Cabinet Division by tomorrow for its placement before the council of advisers for approval, after a delay by about two years and a half over various controversies, officials said.
   ‘We have finalised the draft coal policy. The draft will be sent to the Cabinet Division by Tuesday with observations of different ministries for its placement before the council of advisers,’ the chief adviser’s special assistant M Tamim told New Age on Sunday.
   He said they had made no major changes in the draft prepared by an advisory committee, headed by former BUET vice-chancellor Abdul Matin Patwari.
   ‘Only one issue regarding land reclamation and handover of reclaimed land to the owners was changed. Other than this, some editorial changes have been made,’ he said.
   Tamim said they had not changed export, royalty and coal mining method issues recommended by the Patwari committee.
   The policy draft discouraged coal export, proposed that coal exploration and mining licences would be given to a state-run company, which will be able to take joint venture partner/partners through competitive bidding and recommended forming a committee to set the royalty rate.
   It also suggested operating an open-pit mine for experience before going for more open-pit mines.
   The policy that attached the highest priority to using coal for power generation also suggested forming a committee to set the royalty rate.
   The officials said the division would also attach the observation of different ministries including the law ministry, to the draft for the consideration of the council of advisers.
   A law ministry official suggested adopting an act rather than adopting a policy.
   The division officials, however, are expecting a debate by the council of advisers over the policy as some advisers have already become hesitant as to whether the interim government should adopt such a sensitive policy while others said the policy was necessary for quick extraction of coal as the country was facing energy crisis.
   They said in a recent presentation of coal policy at the Chief Adviser’s Office, some advisers raised a question over the policy as adoption of such a policy would create fresh controversy while some supported the adoption of policy.
   ‘Whatever the adviser’s opinions are, we are sending the policy to the council. It is up to them to make the decision,’ said an official.
   He said the country badly needed energy sources as gas reserve was fast depleting and coal remained the major option. ‘Even if we adopt the policy now, it will take five to six years before we start coal extraction. So any delay will mean deepened energy crisis. It is a delicate situation for the country’s energy sector,’ he said.
   The adoption of coal policy will, however, reopen the debate over the mining of the Phulbari coal field and the issue of Asia Energy.
   The BNP-led four-party government in late 2005 first took the step to formulate the coal policy, but due to controversies over Asia Energy’s proposed open-pit coal mine and movements by different rights group, the policy was not given a final shape.

A total of 1,373 cases, mostly filed against high-profile graft suspects for amassing illegal wealth and hiding information about their assets, are now pending with the Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation and inquiry.
   Of the cases, 1,259 were filed by the present commission between February 7, 2007 and June 30 this year, and 114 by the previous commission between November 21, 2004 and February 6, 2007, said the ACC’s director-general (admin) Hanif Iqbal.
   The ACC is also inquiring into the cases against former premiers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.
   Of the 1,373, cases, 673 are pending with Dhaka Division, 151 with Chittagong Division, 192 with Bogra, 89 with Khulna, 107 with Barisal and 47 with Sylhet.
   A total of 771 cases are pending with the ACC for investigation and 602 for inquiry.
   As of June 30, the ACC lodged 1,022 First Information Reports with different police stations across the country against graft suspects after completion of inquiry against them.
   Charge-sheets were submitted in 170 of those cases including 75 cases of which trials have already been completed with the conviction of 35 corruption suspects listed by the ACC, and 95 co-accused who were convicted for abetting the suspects in committing the offences.
   Of 170 cases, proceedings of at least 20 graft cases have been stalled by the High Court.
   The reconstituted ACC has so far submitted final reports in 71 graft cases, remanding none of the accused for trial reportedly because sufficient evidence has not been found against them.
   Of these cases, 28 are for misappropriation of corrugated iron sheets meant for relief, 21 for misappropriation of government money and other relief materials, 13 for bribery and 9 for other charges.
   Of the total of 29 special courts, 10 have been set up in the capital and began functioning on May 6, 2007 to try high-profile graft suspects listed by the present government.
   Some 95 cases are now under trial. Of them, 76 are with the special courts in Dhaka, 12 with the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court and 6 with the special courts outside Dhaka. One case is awaiting transfer from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court.
   Among the lawyers appointed by the ACC to deal with the cases in Dhaka Metropolitan area, 10 are in the Legal Advisory Council, 5 are senior prosecutors, 15 are dealing with cases in the Supreme Court and 26 are public prosecutors.
   The number of panelled lawyers to deal with the cases as public prosecutors outside Dhaka is 198.

The authorities have approved the purchase of a container scanner for Chittagong Port to eliminate the chances of illegal arms and narcotics smuggling.
   Officials said the council of advisers committee on purchase at a meeting on Saturday approved the purchase of the scanner amid strong demand from major importing countries, including the United States.
   The lowest bidder of the re-tender is Swiss company SGS, which got the approval from the special committee to supply the scanner for Tk 43.4 crore and an additional payment of Tk 59.88 crore for providing services for six years after its installation, the finance and planning adviser, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, told reporters after the meeting.
   ‘The approved quotation is Tk 1.6 crore less than the price of the lowest bidder Cotecna offered in the original tender, which was scrapped by the government. The contract of Cotecna as a pre-shipment inspection company had been under process of cancellation due to various malpractices,’ Aziz told reporters.
   The contract of Cotecna was cancelled on March 19 by the government for a number of allegations of import valuation forgery.
   Sources in the finance ministry said the United States under its container security initiative programme asked all the countries concerned to install scanners to check movement of illegal arms and contraband narcotics.
   The scanner will be installed at the port within six months to equip the Chittagong port with increased capacity for export-import activities to world standards, they said.
   The purchase committee also approved the procurement of one lakh tonnes of wheat for $419 a tonne, 55,000 tonnes of murate of potash fertiliser for Tk 217.29 crore, 50,000 tonnes of triple super phosphate fertiliser for Tk 449.66 crore and the construction of internal roads in the Purbachal residential area at a cost of Tk 5.79 crore.
   In reply to a question, Aziz said he saw no uncertainty in the procurement of food grains from thee world market. ‘We are neither scared nor see any threat in procuring required food grains from the world market,’ Aziz told New Age.

Sri Lanka Saturday tightened mobile phone regulations and forced service providers to maintain full details of phone users as part of anti-terrorism moves.
   Phone operators were told to check the identity of subscribers before signing them up, Telecommunications Regulatory Commission chief Priyantha Kariyapperuma said.
   New and current subscribers also need to keep a certified copy of the letter issued by the operator for inspection by police and military, in order to prove the ownership of the phone connection, he said.
   ‘The rules were brought in on the request of the defence ministry, because mobile phones are misused for terrorist activities. The government is finding it difficult to trace the real owners,’ he said.
   Separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, who are fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils from the majority Sinhalese community, are known to use several mobile phone connections under different names to evade detection.
   Mobile telephones have also been used to remotely detonate bombs.
   Kariyapperuma announced the new rules would go into effect ‘immediately’ but said existing users would be given ‘some reasonable time’ to get their paperwork sorted out.
   Sri Lanka, which has a population of 20 million people, has 12 million telephone subscribers, of which 10 million are mobile phones, Kariyapperuma said.

Bangladesh’s development partners observed that the accountability of politicians and bureaucracy to the pubic is important for formulation of the draft of the second Poverty Reduction Strategy.
   ‘Because of the lack of political accountability, the formulation and proper implementation of the PRS will not be addressed,’ said a summary of the development partners’ comments on the draft of the PRS for Bangladesh.
   They made the comments after the Ministry of Planning submitted the draft second PRS to the local consultative group, a forum of representatives of development partners, in the first week of June.
   The second version of the lender-driven development handbook, styled Poverty Reduction Strategy, for the three years from the 2008-09 to the 2010-11 fiscal years was announced last month.
   The representatives of the World Bank, European Commission, UK’s Department for International Development, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden said that public consultations with partners and civil society members is important for the formulation of the second PRS. The draft of the PRS has not made clear the process on how the development partners will discuss with the government the country’s poverty reduction programme.
   The United Nations, European Union, DFID, Denmark, Austrian Aid and GTZ (German Agency for Technical Cooperation), the Netherlands and Sweden observed that the second PRS needs to be an operational tool for government and partners.
   The development partners suggested that alignment between the PRS, priority areas under the Millennium Development Goals, national budget and institutional mechanisms is essential. The PRS should be a base for formulation of the planned GOB-Donor Joint Cooperation Strategy.
   They said the draft of the second PRS should be clear as to what the priority areas are and what the cost for implementation of poverty reduction projects will be. Tighter prioritisation and sequencing of intervention will be required in the second PRS.
   They suggested that the poverty reduction priority areas need to be resourced and funding gaps have to be identified in the draft of the PRS. The draft should have clear links with national budget, annual development programme and the mid-term budgetary framework.
   The development partners said the institutional set-up and process of monitoring and reviewing the PRS needs to be clearer. As part of the Paris Declaration, donors have pledged to provide appropriate support to the government for implementation, monitoring and reviewing of the PRS.
   The first three-year Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper was adopted due to donor pressure in early 2002. The PRSP was the guiding force of the government’s anti-poverty measures, for which the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had already given it more than $700 million in loans.
   Earlier, development partners had said that their future loans to Bangladesh would be given on the basis of the PRSP’s directions.

Nepal Maoists have stepped up efforts to form a new government under the leadership of its chairman Prachanda, with a key meeting held Saturday with the CPN-UML party on the outskirts of the capital.
   The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist), which emerged as the single largest party in the April 10 Constituent Assembly elections, held a crucial meeting with CPN-UML in an effort to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of a government that has been delayed due to deadlock among the mainstream parties over power sharing.
   Hectic consultation began among the CPN-UML leaders at Dhulikhel resort in the east of Kathmandu on issues linked to the formation of a new government, power sharing mechanism and common minimum programme.
   Party sources said besides the election of the first president, vice president, the constitutional process for drafting the statute were among the prominent issues that featured during the discussions between the communist leaders.
   Political activities have intensified in the country after the tabling of the constitution amendment bill in Constituent Assembly that would pave the way for the formation and dismissal of the government through simple majority vote.

Bangladesh is the worst arsenic affected country, where hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of dying from cancers of the lung, bladder and skin, according to a new study.
   Arsenic, especially in drinking water, is a global threat to health, affecting more than 70 countries and 137 million people.
   Myanmar’s cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia’s Sumatra island face high risks of arsenic contamination in groundwater that could cause cancer and other diseases in residents.
   Using a digitalised model that examines geological features and soil chemistry in Southeast Asia, researchers writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience mapped several likely hot spots that had never been assessed for arsenic risks.
   ‘Obviously, there is concern,’ said Michael Berg, one of the five authors, who is a senior scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Dubendor, Switzerland. ‘If you look at our data, there is risk of arsenic in the ground water.’
   Odorless and tasteless, arsenic enters water supplies from natural deposits in the ground or from agricultural and industrial practices. Arsenic is poisonous when consumed in high doses, but even smaller amounts can cause cancer, skin problems and abnormal heart rhythms.
   Berg and the other authors determined a high risk of arsenic contamination exceeding World Health Organisation guidelines in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta, a low-lying area hit by a May cyclone that killed at least 84,537 people.
   Their models also found that 38,610 square miles of Sumatra’s east coast was at risk as well as the Chao Phraya river basin in central Thailand – although the dangers in the Chao Phraya were lower because residents in the area tap deeper aquifers.
   Researchers said regions with organic-rich sediment containing silt and clay have a higher likelihood of arsenic contamination.
   ‘These are very young sediments. Only in young formation do we find that arsenic can be released from the sediment,’ Berg said Friday, adding that arsenic in soil that is much older has been mostly washed away.
   Berg said he hopes the maps they developed could serve as ‘a red flag’ for authorities to take precautions before building wells or other water facilities in areas deemed at high risk of arsenic contamination. Until now, testing for arsenic has been rare in many regions because it is costly and time consuming, he said.
   Lex van Geen, a geochemist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory who has studied arsenic contamination in Bangladesh and did not participate in the study, said it should be lauded for drawing attention to areas where little research has been done on the arsenic threat, such as Myanmar. But he said the digital models do not identify areas well below the surface where water quality is good.
   ‘Using the mapping based on surface geology will identify settings where arsenic could be high in shallow groundwater,’ van Geen said. ‘What it can’t tell you is how deep you might have to go to reach the low arsenic water, which is really what matters from a mitigation point of view.’

The government has extended the term of parole for Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil by one more month, a home ministry official said Saturday.
   Jalil is now undergoing treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
   Mizanur Rahman, deputy secretary of the home ministry, told the news agency that the decision on extending his parole for a fourth time was taken Thursday.
   Jalil was released on one-month parole on March 2 for better medical treatment abroad. He flew to Singapore on March 3.
   The joint forces arrested the AL leader on May 28, 2007. He was admitted to LabAid Cardiac Hospital on July 15 with kidney and heart diseases.

The Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry will within weeks set up a one-stop cell and entrepreneur training institute to serve businesses effectively, said Annisul Huq, president of the apex trade body, on Friday.
   ‘The FBCCI will establish a one stop cell so that businesses can receive instant support from the guardian organisation,’ Annis said while addressing a function organised by the Bangladesh Abhyantarin Poshak Prastutkarak Malik Samiti in Dhaka.
   Annis hoped that the proposed cell will help businesses reach law enforcers instantly during crisis period and get services from other government organisations, including trade license office, tax departments and utility services providers.
   The FBCCI president said the proposed entrepreneur training institute would educate businessmen on up-to-date knowledge on cost-effective production, marketing and trend of business.
   BAPPMS president Mohammad Alauddin Malik chaired the function also addressed by the FBCCI first vice-president Abul Kashem Ahmed and vice-president and Abu Alam Chowdhury.
   Alauddin said the RMG industries have annual turn over of Tk 22,000 crore and employ over eight lakh people directly or indirectly.

A mob lynched an alleged robber after his gang stabbed to death a union parishad member at Burumchhara in Anowara upazila of Chittagong on Saturday.
   The deceased was Nurul Islam, 60, member of Burumchhara union parishad, while the lynched robber was Shahidul Islam, 25, son of Abdul Mahtab of the area.
   The police and local sources said a gang of robbers had swooped on the residence of Nurul Islam at about 5:00 am and stabbed him as he tried to resist them and screamed. The local people came to his rescue and caught one of the members of the gang after a short chase. They gave him a good beating eventually killing him on the spot. Islam died from injuries soon after his admission to the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital.

A bus ran over and killed a police officer in front of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh on Saturday, the police said.
   ASM Rafiqul Islam was a sub-inspector of the Kafrul police station.
   Fazlul Haque, officer-in-charge of the Kafrul police, said Rafiqul Islam, a father of two, was travelling by a motorcycle, with his cousin Masud behind, to the police station from Dhania under the Demra police area.
   The bus rammed into the motorcycle, tossing Rafique onto the road, Haque said. Masud was injured.
   The police arrested bus driver Syed Abdullah Al Mamun, 35, and his assistant Sohel, 22.
   A case was registered with the Shahbagh police station.

Assailants stabbed to death a schoolboy at Khilgaon in Dhaka Saturday afternoon.
   The victim, Mohammad Saifuddin, 13, son of Mohammad Aman Ullah of Dasherkandi area, was a class VII student of Trimohoni High School at Khilgaon.
   According to the victim’s family, Saifuddin’s cousin Alamgir locked in an altercation with their neighbours Kamruzzaman and his brother Nuruzzaman, over repayment of money Alamgir owed to Nuruzzaman.
   At one stage, they swooped on each other and some local people present there resolved the issue.
   Soon after, the two brothers waylaid Saifuddin and stabbed him in the chest on his way home from school at around 3:15pm.
   Local people rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
   Mohammad Babla, elder brother of the victim, filed a case with the Khilgaon police accusing the two brothers.