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The government on Thursday released Arafat Rahman, the ailing youngest son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, from prison for two months to enable him to have treatment abroad.
   He left the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital at about 6:00pm in an ambulance for his Dhaka Cantonment residence.
   Arafat was fitted with an oxygen mask in the ambulance. He was accompanied by a doctor of the hospital.
   He is expected to fly to Bangkok on Saturday, according to family sources.
   As the jail code does not permit a prisoner to take treatment abroad, the interim government ordered Arafat’s temporary release only after his health condition deteriorated.
   The government, however, imposed a number of conditions for the two months of his freedom that began on July 17 and is scheduled to end on September 16.
   The conditions, according to the order of the home ministry, are: Arafat or relatives accompanying him abroad will inform the Bangladesh mission every three days after his arrival in a country for treatment. He should not be involved in politics and business there. He will not be able to communicate with anybody or any organisation about any issue excepting those relating to his health. He will inform the government immediately after his treatment completes and will return home. His release will be cancelled if any of the conditions is violated. The government can cancel the release without showing any reason.
   The army-led joint forces on September 3, 2007, arrested Arafat along with his mother at their house in the Dhaka Cantonment.
   Arafat was implicated in two cases for taking ‘kickbacks’ and ‘amassing illegal wealth’. The court, however, exempted him from personal attendance during the proceedings for treatment abroad.
   Earlier on the day, home adviser MA Matin told reporters, ‘Arafat has been released on humanitarian ground for “eight weeks” for proper treatment.’
   When he was asked about the possible release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her ailing eldest son Tarique Rahman, the adviser said, ‘The government has not taken any decision about them as yet.’
   Several hundred BNP leaders and activists went to the hospital in the afternoon hearing the news of Arafat’s release.
   Police ringed the hospital area to maintain peace.
   Party activists waved to Arafat as he left the hospital. He reciprocated the gesture. Women activists of the party tossed flowers as his motorcade passed by.
   A few minutes before his release, police chased a group of BNP activists in a procession. The activists chanted slogans demanding immediate release of Khaleda Zia and her eldest son Tarique Rahman, also senior joint-secretary general of the party.
   BNP joint-secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan told reporters at the hospital, ‘We hope that the government will free Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman to create a healthy political atmosphere. We want to sit with the government in a dialogue with a free Khaleda Zia among us.’
   Arafat underwent treatment in a prison cell in BSMMU hospital for about eight months since November 12, 2007. His wife Syeda Shameela Rahman on May 24 asked the government’s permission to take him to Thailand for treatment.
   The BNP and its chief Khaleda Zia had been persistently demanding that the government should send Arafat abroad for medical treatment.
   The government on June 5 formed a five-member medical board to examine Arafat as his physical condition was gradually deteriorating. The National Chest Diseases Hospital director, Professor Mustafizur Rahman, who headed the five-member medical board for Arafat, also suggested that he should be treated abroad.
   According to the medical report of the board, Arafat has been suffering from various ailments, including bronchial asthma, unstable angina and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases apart from ischemic heart disease, bilateral emphysema, benign essential tremor and bilateral sacralisation. He was also discharging blood with cough and losing weight.
   ‘It is alarming for his health’, Professor Mustafizur Rahman cautioned.
   ‘Arafat Rahman should be sent abroad immediately for treatment…He needs “qualified non-invasive tests” that are not available here,’ he said.
   On June 11, the government released Awami League president Sheikh Hasina from prison for eight weeks for treatment in the United States. After the treatment of her hearing and eyes, Sheikh Hasina is now visiting London.
   The government also released ailing AL general secretary Abdul Jalil on a 30-day parole on March 2 to enable him to have treatment in Singapore. It extended his parole till August 1.

The government has initiated a process to adjust Tk 100.5 crore, collected from two business groups during the drive against corruption and tax evasion, as advance income tax and value added tax, to relieve them of financial obligation and help run their businesses smoothly, top sources in the government said.
   The money was collected from Unique Group managing director Mohammed Noor Ali and S Alam Group chairman Mohammed Saiful Alam through out-of-court settlement between mid-2007 and early 2008, they said.
   The move has been initiated following a proposal of an intelligence agency which recommended that the Bangladesh Bank and the National Board of Revenue should adjust the money against 16 business establishments of the two groups.
   Of the total amount, S Alam Group represents Tk 60 crore, while the remaining about Tk 40.51 crore goes to Noor Ali.
   S Alam Group deposited the amount to the exchequer between May 21 and June 4 of 2007, while Noor Ali submitted the money between July 5, 2007 and February 4, 2008 both in the forms of taka and US dollar, BB sources said.
   The groups applied for treating the amount as AIT, VAT and other taxes deposited in advance to the exchequer ‘to exonerate them from further financial obligation,’ said a source.
   The intelligence agency, however, has not given any reason for its ‘surprise’ recommendation, which a critic of the government said would demean the spirit of the much-trumpeted anti-corruption drive and slogan to establish a rule of honest people.
    The central bank has refrained from making any comment on the proposal and forwarded the issue to the finance ministry for a decision.
   The NBR, however, endorsed the proposal of the intelligence agency and sent its comments to the central bank on June 23, a source said.
   The revenue board has proposed transfer of the money to its account, which has been opposed by the finance division on the ground that advance tax could be deposited against only one particular assessment year, not for years to come, sources said.
   Discussion is on among the central bank, NBR and the Finance Division for the last one month on finalising the modus operandi of adjusting the money. An amount of Tk 1219 crore, collected from corruption suspects, was deposited with the Bangladesh Bank’s ‘miscellaneous’ head of the government during the last one year or so, sources said.
   The issue is going to be resolved very soon to the surprise of many in the country and abroad, a high official in the bureaucracy said.
   The 10 business entities owned by Ali, against which adjustment has been proposed by the intelligence agency are Unique Group of Companies, Unique Hotel and Resorts Ltd, Borak Real Estate (pvt) Ltd, Borak Travels (pvt) ltd, Unique Vocational Training Center, Unique Properties Development Ltd, Unique Enterprise and Unique Tours & Travels.
   The six business entities under S Alam Group to get the same treatment are S Alam Steel Ltd, S Alam Cold Rolled Steels, S Alam Cement, S Alam Vegetable Oil and S Alam Super Edible Oil.
   Many in the financial bureaucracy expressed their reservations about the recommendation of the intelligence agency.
   ‘The issue should be placed at the council of adviser’s meeting for consideration since the move of legalizing the untaxed and black money would taint the image of the government as a whole and the army in particular,’ a former secretary of the government told New Age.
   Sources in the central bank said a good number of other businessmen and politicians, who were forced to deposit their money with the exchequer, have been lobbying relentlessly for similar treatment for their money.

The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, on Thursday asked the law enforcement agencies to launch a combing operation to recover illegal firearms and arrest criminals before the city city corporation and municipal polls.
   Shamsul made the call at a meeting in the National Security Council auditorium to review law and order in the 13 areas where polls will he held on August 4.
   ‘The people are concerned as criminals are returning to their areas before elections. Law enforcers must arrest them and recover the illegal arms,’ he said.
   He said army troops would not be deployed on polls duty in the areas. He urged other law enforcement agencies to keep vigil so that no one can take the advantage of relaxed emergency.
   ‘Only two days has elapsed since the state of emergency was relaxed. We need to proceed cautiously about whether the rules are being properly obeyed,’ he said.
   Shamsul termed the local government polls a ‘test case’. He said, ‘If we can hold the city corporation and municipal polls properly, it will leave a positive impact on upazila and national elections.’
   Others who attended the meeting included election commissioners Muhammad Sohul Hussain and M Sakhawat Hussain, Election Commission secretary Muhammad Humayun Kabir, returning officers of the 13 polls areas and representatives of different agencies.
   After the meeting, Shamsul told reporters the meeting had discussed five main issues — informing electoral officials of electoral rules and regulations, proper implementation of electoral rules and regulations, recovering illegal firearms, arresting identified criminals and checking their activities and movements and deployment of law enforcers.
   ‘To ensure law and order during elections, identified criminals should be targeted, taken into custody and illegal arms should be recovered before the polls,’ he said.
   He said the commission marked at least a half of the polling stations in the four city corporations and nine municipalities as risky. He said there would be a three-tier arrangement to keep law and order.
   ‘The first tier will be at the centre, the second tier will consist of mobile teams and the third will be a striking force for to keep law and order,’ he said.

The High Court on Thursday ordered the government to appoint 10 former additional judges of the High Court, who were deprived of permanent appointment during the BNP-led alliance government between 2001 and 2003, as permanent judges in a month.
   A special High Court bench of Justice MA Rashid, Justice SK Sinha and Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana delivered the verdict after a long hearing in the writ petitions challenging the additional judges not being appointed permanent judges at the High Court.
   In the verdict, the court declared unconstitutional the president’s action in not appointing the additional judges as permanent judges ignoring the recommendations made by the chief justice in this regard.
   The court ordered the government to appoint M Abdus Salam, Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, M Abdul Hye, Faruque Ahmed, M Marzi-ul-Huq, Shamsul Huda Manik, M Abdur Razzak, Hasan Faiz Siddique, AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and M Nizamul Huq Nasim as permanent judges at the High Court in a month.
   The seniority of the 10 judges will be counted from the date of their joining the High Court as additional judges and the period between the dates they were dropped and the date of their joining as permanent judges will be considered a special leave without pay, the court said in the verdict.
   According to the convention, the president appoints additional judges at the High Court under Article 98 of the constitution and appoints permanent judges under Article 95 from among the additional judges after completion of two years in service with the High Court. In both the cases, the president acts in consultation with the the chief justice.
   In the verdict, the court ruled that the recommendations made by the chief justice for the appointment of both the additional and permanent judges were mandatory for the president and the executive branch of the state to go by.
   The chief justice is the only competent authority to make such recommendations and giving or not the appointments ignoring such recommendations is mala fide and ultra vires of the constitution, the verdict said.
   If there is any difference of opinion with the chief justice on his recommendations, the president may send back the recommendations with his (the president’s) comments to the chief justice for reconsideration, but the recommendations of the chief justice cannot be ignored, the court further said.
   Of 40 additional judges, appointed during the Awami League government, 15 did not get permanent appointment during the alliance government in 2002 and 2003 although 14 of them were recommended by the chief justice for permanent appointments.
   Supreme Court lawyer Idrisur Rahman filed a writ petition in 2003 challenging the president’s action in not appointing Abdus Salam and Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, appointed as additional judges on October 24, 1999, as permanent judges on October 24, 2001 ignoring the chief justice’s recommendations. The two dropped additional judges were also included as petitioners.
   The High Court in 2003 issued a rule on the government to explain the constitutionality of the president’s action.
   Later, three other additional judges, Shamsul Huda Manik, Hasan Faiz Siddique and Faruque Ahmed, appointed in February 2001, filed three separate petitions as they were also dropped on February 22, 2003.
   During the hearing in the writ petitions, a special High Court bench of Justice Hamidul Haque, Justice Syed Amirul Islam and Justice MM Ruhul Amin, now the chief justice, on May 27, 2003, asked for the files, with the chief justice’s recommendations to the president, regarding the appointment of the justices.
   The government challenged the High Court’s summons for the files and the Appellate Division on June 7, 2003 stayed the High Court order. The Appellate Division finally cancelled the High Court order on March 18 and asked the High Court to dispose of the writ petitions.
   The Appellate Division, however, observed the High Court could examine the files regarding the chief justice’s recommendations. The chief justice then formed the special High Court bench to hear the petitions.
   Finally, the special bench delivered the verdict after hearing the petitions for about three weeks.
   The petitioners’ counsels Kamal Hossain, M Amirul Islam, Shahdeen Malik and Azmalul Hossain moved the petitions. Although the government did not reply to the rules issued by the High Court, assistant attorney general Syed Zafar Imam made verbal arguments.
   Although of the 14 of the total 15 additional judges dropped were recommended by the chief justice for permanent appointments, the High Court ordered the appointment of 10, as the rest four did not file any petition seeking redress.
   The Appellate Division, in its March 18 verdict, said the dropped judges, who would not file petition seeking redress, would not benefit from the outcome of the writ petitions.

The caretaker government has taken special measures, including building enough food stocks ahead of Ramadan, to keep the prices of foodstuffs stable during the month of fasting.
   A high-level meeting held on Thursday at the initiative of chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed at his office, reviewed the preparations and steps taken in this regard.
   Similar steps were taken before Ramadan last year at the personal initiative of the chief adviser.
   The chief adviser, who chaired Thursday’s meeting, ordered smooth coordination between commerce and food ministries and the BDR as well as constant monitoring to ease the prices of essentials during Ramadan.
   The commerce ministry apprised the meeting that they were holding meetings with businessmen and millers besides procuring essentials like lentils, chickpeas, edible oil, onions and potatoes.
   The paramilitary BDR also informed the meeting that they had also procured foodstuffs under a contingency plan.
   The meeting was told that the food ministry would launch Open Market Sale (OMS) operation for selling rice at affordable prices across the country, possibly in the third week of August, for ten weeks.
   At present, the amount of rice in government stock is 10 lakh tonnes and it will be 11 lakh MT next month, the meeting was informed.
   The process of importing rice is continuing, while initiative to import rice from Myanmar is also being taken, it was stated at the meeting.
   The procurement drive will continue and the present stocks of different foodstuffs are sufficient, the meeting was further apprised.
   The chief adviser’s press secretary Syed Fahim Munaim briefed newsmen on the outcome of the meeting.
   Home adviser MA Matin, food adviser AMM Shawkat Ali, commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, cabinet secretary Syed Ali Imam Majumder, the commerce secretary, the food secretary, the director general of Bangladesh Rifles and the inspector general of police were, among others, present at the meeting.

Bangladesh urged India to allow greater access of Bangladeshi products to the Indian market to reduce the huge trade gap of nearly $2 billion when the foreign secretaries of two next-door neighbours began their two-day talks in New Delhi on Thursday.
   Bangladesh also requested India to expedite the process to reach an agreement on the sharing of the waters of the common rivers, particularly the Teesta, according to a message received from the Bangladesh mission in New Delhi.
   Foreign secretary Touhid Hossain led the Bangladesh delegation while Indian external affairs secretary Shivshankar Menon led the hosts in the annual meeting that covers issues from trade to connectivity.
   The two foreign secretaries had extensive discussions on the present state of bilateral relations and on concrete ways in which the relationship could be further enhanced within a broader framework of cooperation in areas of common concern and shared interests.
   Touhid emphasized the necessity for creating the right conditions for increasing the two-way trade, with particular emphasis on bridging the existing trade gap between the two neighbours.
   Bangladesh’s current trade deficit with India is over $1.9 billion.
   He requested the authorities concerned to give Bangladeshi exports greater access to the Indian market and to expedite the completion of the export of the remaining amount of the agreed upon 5 lakh tonnes of rice to Bangladesh.
   Touhid also requested his counterpart to consider complete withdrawal of restrictions on export of rice from India.
   The talks focussed on making tangible progress in water-related issues. The two foreign secretaries agreed on the need to convene meetings of the relevant technical committees to carry on their work.
   It was agreed that both the countries would need to work closely to counter the threats posed by terrorism and other illegal cross-border activities like smuggling of fake currencies, narcotics and arms.
   Both the delegations expressed satisfaction at the working of the existing functional mechanisms while expressing the hope that they would remain engaged and continue to have dialogues and discussions on various issues to address specific concerns.
   Touching on the issue of connectivity, both sides welcomed the commencement of the Dhaka-Kolkata Maitree Express train service and agreed to reduce the passengers’ waiting time on the border.
   The discussions on connectivity also focussed on better utilization of the Protocol on Inland Water Transit and Trade, improvement of border infrastructure to facilitate trade, and the need for approaching specific issues through relevant forums.
   Touhid paid courtesy calls on the Indian external affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee, and the Indian state minister for commerce and power, Jairam Ramesh.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Thursday pressed charges against the detained former prime Khaleda Zia’s youngest son Arafat Rahman for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 2 crore and hiding assets of Tk 11.20 lakh in his wealth statement submitted to the commission.
   The commission’s deputy director Abu Sayeed, also the investigation officer of the case, filed the charge sheet with the Dhaka chief metropolitan magistrate’s court naming 31 people as prosecution witnesses.
   The investigation officer said the charges of amassing illegal wealth against Arafat were proved in the investigation and he should be tried.
   The case documents will be submitted to the metropolitan senior special judge’s court on Sunday for the transfer of the case to the special judge’s court on the Jatiya Sangsad complex for trial.
   The commission on April 23 lodged that case with the Ramna police and on July 14 approved the charges.
   Arafat through the prison authorities on January 9 submitted the wealth statements of Tk 7.78 crore to the commission as it had notified him on December 18, 2007 to file the statement.

The process for releasing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and her eldest son Tarique Rahman, is continuing, said an adviser to the interim administration.
   ‘I can tell you that the process is going on at a fast pace,’ the commerce and education adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, told reporters on Thursday when he was asked about the possible timeframe for release of the BNP chief and her eldest son after the release of her ailing younger son, Arafat Rahman, on parole.
   The adviser was addressing a press briefing at the Chief Adviser’s Office after the 27th meeting of the series of dialogues with political parties and civic groups.
   The adviser refrained from giving any specific date for release of the ex-premier and her son, saying, ‘You will come to know it at an appropriate time.’
   ‘We will provide you with specific information when it is available, or you will come to know in the course of time,’ the adviser added.
   Khaleda Zia, who has been facing several graft cases, was arrested on September 3, 2007. Her eldest son Tarique was arrested on March 8, 2007 for alleged involvement in grand corruption.
   The seriously ill youngest son of the premier,
   Arafat Rahman, was released for two months on parole for better medical treatment abroad after reportedly hectic behind-the-scenes negotiation.
   Another detained former premier, Sheikh Hasina, who has also been facing many corruption cases, was released from the jail on June 11 by an administrative order for medical treatment overseas. Hasina is now in
   the United Kingdom, and is expected to leave for the USA shortly.

Traders have assured that major food items would not see fresh hikes in prices during Ramadan as their supplies are good and global prices on the decline.
   The assurance came Thursday at a meeting with commerce secretary Firoz Ahmed, who sought cooperation from traders to keep food prices stable during the month of fasting.
   He also stressed that the local commodity market should see some reflections of falling prices in the international market.
   Importers and wholesalers said they had a good supply of essential items like edible oil, lentil, dates and chickpeas to meet their increased demand in Ramadan.
   The commerce secretary took stock of supply and prices of food items whose consumptions peak during Ramada, and discussed possible measures to prevent their prices from soaring further.
   ‘We expect that the declining trend in global prices will be reflected on the local market,’ Firoz told New Age,
   Prices of palm oil and lentil are falling in the international market, he said.
   ‘We expect good practice from businessmen and they assured me of keeping prices lower,’ the secretary said.
   Traders told the meeting that demand for lentil and edible oils marked significant declines in recent time as people curtailed their consumptions of many items to cope with rocketing prices.
   ‘We are not profit mongers. Since we are import dependent, we are to follow international prices, but neither the government nor the consumers take it easily,’ said an importer of edible oil.
   Trading Corporation of Bangladesh chairman Ziaul Islam, commerce ministry joint secretary Mohammed Ali Patwary, executives of major food importers like Meghna Group and City Group,
   edible oil wholesalers’ leader Golam Mawla and pulses wholesalers’ leader Nesar Uddin attended the meeting, among others.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission will hold a public hearing on September 15 on the Petrobangla’s proposal to increase gas price for consumers of all categories.
   The BERC will give its decision on the proposal within 30 days after the hearing, its chairman Golam Rahman said.
   In an open meeting Thursday at the BERC office, Petrobangla officials detailed their proposal and explained why gas tariffs should be increased by 18 to 72 per cent for all consumer categories.
   Representatives of different stakeholders gave their opinion for and against the proposal.
   After hearing all concerned, the commission decided to accept the Petrobangla application for considering its proposal to increase gas price and hold a public hearing on the issue on September 15.
   ‘We only accepted the Petrobangla application; it does not mean the gas price will go up at the moment,’ the BERC chairman said at the meeting.
   Most of the stakeholders gave opinion in favour of gas price hike at a ‘rational rate’ while the Consumers Association of Bangladesh strongly opposed the price hike proposal.
   Petrobangla officials elaborated on their proposal for hiking gas price for domestic use to Tk 550 for a single burner from the existing rate of Tk 350, to Tk 600 for a double-burner from Tk 400 and to Tk 208 per unit for metered gas from Tk 133 now.
   Petrobangla also proposed that the gas price for power and fertiliser plants should go up to Tk 93.73 per unit from Tk 76.91 and Tk 63.48 respectively, industries and captive power plants to Tk 182.25 from Tk 148.13 and Tk 105.59 respectively and for commercial use to Tk 291.54 from Tk 233.12.
   In its proposal Petrobangla said that the state-owned corporation and its subsidiaries would turn bankrupt if gas prices were not revised upward.
   It said that the annual expenditure of Petrobangla for gas purchase, transmission and distribution costs would go up to Tk 8,406 crore this fiscal which was Tk 6535 crore in 2007-2008. The gap between purchasing price of gas from international oil companies and selling rates for domestic consumers would swell to Tk 830 crore this fiscal from Tk 562 crore of last fiscal.
   Energy expert and a professor of BUET M Nurul Islam said Petrobangla should have submitted such a proposal much earlier. But the state-owned gas monopoly should have detailed the costing issue in its proposal to give the real picture of its earning and loss, he, however, said.
   Director of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Aftab Ul Islam proposed that gas price could be increased at a rational rate considering regional context. He also recommended that Petrobangla should enhance its efficiency to reduce its loss.
   Consumer Association of Bangladesh representative Emdadul Haque strongly protested against the proposal of gas price increase, which, he feared, would result in further escalation of prices of essential products.
   He proposed that the gas price hike proposal should be sent to the council of advisers for a decision.
   Energy Division joint secretary Ataur Rahman said that the gas price should be increased and it would be. The interim government earlier decided not to hike gas price for consumers other than captive power plants during its tenure even if the BERC approved the Petrobangla proposal.
   Asked how an energy official could say so confidently that gas price would go up, special assistant to the chief adviser M Tamim told New Age, ‘I do not know what he exactly said. But it is true that the gas price should be increased, although we are not going to allow Petrobangla to increase price in near future.’
   Gas price for captive power plants might be revised upward if the BERC wanted so, he, however, said.

The government on Thursday sought stay on the High Court order that granted bail to the Jamaat-e-Islami amir, Matiur Rahman Nizami, in the GATCO scam case, filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission, after he was released on Wednesday.
   Deputy attorney general Zahirul Islam filed a petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court seeking stay on the High Court order issued on Monday.
   The Appellate Division chamber judge is likely to hear the petition on Sunday, court officials said.
   Neither the government nor the commission moved the Appellate Division against the interim bail granted by the High Court bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque for two months to Nizami before his release.
   Former industries minister Nizami, one of the seven former ministers in jail after being indicted in the graft case filed by the commission against former prime minister Khaleda Zia, was released on bail on Tuesday evening.
   Nizami on Thursday filed a writ petition challenging the legality of the GATCO graft case. In the petition, he also sought stay on the proceedings against him in the case.
   The petition is likely to be moved in the High Court bench of Khademul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Mashuque Hosain Ahmed in the next week.
   His counsel Abdur Razzaq told reporters both the government appeal against the bail and Nizami’s writ petition seeking stay on the proceedings against him in the GATCO case might be heard next week.
   The commission lodged the case with the Tegaon police on September 2, 2007 accusing Khaleda and others of causing a loss of more than Tk 1,000 crore to the state exchequer by awarding Global Agro Trade Company Limited the contract for container handling at the Inland Container Depot in Dhaka and Chittagong port allegedly in exchange for money.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission pressed charges against 25 people on May 13 in the case for their alleged involvement in the illegal award of the contract.
   On July 15, the High Court stayed the trial in the case, pending with a special judge’s court on the Jatiya Sangsad complex, for two months after hearing a writ petition filed by Khaleda Zia, also the BNP chairperson, challenging the legality of the case.

The list of potential candidates for Nepal’s first elected head of state was narrowed down to three Thursday with the country’s warring political parties each putting a name forward.
   The three men, all named Ram after a revered incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, are vying for a largely symbolic post that is likely to take over some of the ceremonial duties previously carried out by Nepal’s abolished king.
   Manohar Prasad Bhattarai, chief election commissioner for the presidential election – which will take place by secret ballot Saturday – said no more names could be added but candidates could withdraw their nominations.
   ‘Three names for the presidential candidacy have been filed,’ Bhattarai said.
   Ramraja Prasad Singh, who was arrested in 1985 for throwing a small bomb at parliament as part of an anti-royal protest, confirmed he was the presidential candidate backed by the majority-ruling Maoists.
   ‘I’m very happy that Maoists have supported my candidacy for president,’ said Singh, who is not a member of the Maoist party.
   ‘I am the first person to seek the dream of a republic in Nepal.’
   None of the parties have put forward high-profile candidates.
   Analysts say the Maoists went for a lesser-known candidate so that the position does not become a powerful one.
   The impoverished Himalayan nation has effectively been without a proper government since May 28, when a newly elected constitutional assembly voted to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy and become a republic.
   The election of a president is expected to pave the way for the formation of a government headed by a prime minister, most likely Maoist chief Prachanda.

Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim has been freed on police bail, his lawyers said on Thursday, but the lingering threat of a sodomy charge stoked political tensions and cast gloom on financial markets.
   Anwar, who is fighting the allegation brought by a former aide, was allowed bail on condition that he reports to police on August 18, his lawyers said.
   ‘Anwar has left the building at 9.45am (0145 GMT),’ R Sivarasa, one of Anwar’s lawyers, told reporters outside the police headquarters. ‘He was driven off in his wife’s car through the back exit.’
   His lawyers said the authorities could still press charges against him later.
   The former deputy premier was arrested on Wednesday and had spent the night in police custody after the authorities remanded him to help in investigations.
   Sodomy, even between consenting adults, is a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison in mainly Muslim Malaysia.
   Anwar, a former deputy premier who is having eyeing the country’s leadership position after being sacked a decade ago, has said the sodomy allegation was a political ploy aimed at destroying the opposition.
   The Anwar saga has dealt a blow to investor sentiment, provoking fears of political instability and stirring worries of a sudden change of government and policy.
   Unlike his sacking and arrest in 1998 which drew tens of thousands onto the streets, there was scant show of public support for Anwar this time round.
   About 400 supporters gathered outside the police headquarters after Anwar’s arrest on Wednesday and no more than 30 followers were at his house on Thursday after he was freed on bail, some bearing banners touting him as premier and calling for an end to what they said was a political conspiracy.
   A senior police official confirmed Anwar had received police bail.
   ‘There is no intention to remand him further,’ said the official. ‘Statements were taken and we will have to decide on next course of action.’
   The home minister, Syed Hamid Albar, said the case had hurt Malaysia’s international reputation.
   ‘It has created some negative perception. He has shown the country in a very unfair light,’ he told reporters.
   ‘I do not exclude that (bringing in foreign experts) to obtain scientific evidence. But it must not interfere with the sovereignty of the country and the way we conduct our laws.’
   The deputy prime minister, Najib Razak, defended the police action in arresting Anwar before he had turned up voluntarily to meet investigators, as his lawyers say had been arranged.
    ‘He spent the night in a lockup on a cold cement floor and as a result that has aggravated his backache,’ Anwar’s lawyer Sivarasa said. ‘He was in some pain this morning.’
   Anwar’s opposition alliance has capitalised on public anger against rising prices and political scandals involving the government to win political mileage.
   It needs 30 more seats to win a simple majority and form the government after it won a record 82 seats in the 222-seat lower house of parliament in the March general election.
   Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 and later jailed for corruption and sodomy after leading street protests against then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s government during the Asian financial crisis.
   The supreme court overturned the sodomy conviction six years later.

India’s embattled coalition government stepped up its efforts Thursday to win over MPs ahead of a confidence vote in parliament that commentators say it is far from certain of winning.
   Congress party leaders said they have the support of 290 lawmakers – more than the 272 required to win next Tuesday’s test – but reports and political commentators said the coalition could be just short of the magic number.
   If the government loses, the world’s largest democracy will go into early elections, and opposition parties – especially the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party – are assured of big political boost.
   Meanwhile, six Indian lawmakers jailed for crimes from extortion to murder are being temporarily freed to participate in a tight no-confidence vote, reports Reutes/bdnews24.com.
   The Indian constitution allows convicted lawmakers to participate in a parliamentary vote. Parties believe the vote could be very close, which means every ballot in the 543-member Indian parliament on Tuesday could be crucial.
   If the government loses, early elections will be called and a civilian nuclear deal with the United States, over which the government’s communist allies withdrew support, could be buried.
   Keen to avoid uncertainty amid rising inflation and signs of economic slowdown, ruling coalition supporters are now knocking on the doors of high security prisons.
   The confidence vote is taking place in the wake of a decision by left-wing and communist parties, who are opposed to a nuclear deal with the United States, to withdraw their backing for the prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
   ‘We are sure of winning, our prime minister has said so, so has the Congress president Sonia Gandhi,’ a senior Congress party official said.
   But syndicated columnist and political commentator Neerja Choudhury was not so sure.
   ‘It’s a very close call and nervousness all the way’ for Congress, the dominant party in the ruling alliance, she said.
   The government says the nuclear deal would help meet India’s surging energy demands, but the Communists argue the pact will align New Delhi too closely with Washington, and compromise the country’s military programme.
   According to Choudhury, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi and cabinet minister Subodh Kant Sahai have hinted at possible adverse results for the government.
   She was referring to reports quoting Gandhi Wednesday that ‘sometimes in life, risk has to be taken... If the government falls in the process so be it.’
   This was a sign Congress is ‘hoping for the best but prepared for the worst,’ Choudhury said.
   Choudhary’s views were echoed by several newspapers.
   ‘Trust vote race gets tight,’ read a headline in the Times of India. The Indian Express reported that the Congress was offering all kinds of enticements to smaller, fence-sitting parties to win them over.
   ‘Congress managers have been kept on edge by would-be allies and independent MPs playing hard ball,’ the Times of India reported.
   Congress have also ‘conceded that getting home and dry remained critically dependent’ on talks with small parties, and that ‘in a fast moving scenario there could be surprises for the government and the opposition,’ the paper said.
   Adding to the uncertainty are certain MPs showing the inclination to defy party lines, said political analyst BG Verghese.
   ‘With general elections scheduled anyway in May 2009, most MPs do not seem deterred by threats of expulsion from their parties. They seem willing to choose sides that benefit them the most politically,’ he said.
   Analyst and author Rasheed Kidwai agreed ‘the situation is fluid.’
   ‘But in cases like this, the advantage usually is with the ruling party, with fence-sitting MPs very likely to side with the governing coalition,’ he added.

The Bangladesh Bank looks set to pursue an expansionary monetary policy to ensure price stability and higher output growth to help the economy grow at 6.5 per cent pace as projected.
   Failure to restore business confidence before the national elections in December will widen the gap between domestic production and rising demand, cautions the central bank.
   In its monetary policy for the next six months, the central bank has not projected any inflation figure, though it has planned to keep credit flow to productive sectors unhindered.
   The central bank’s policy does not target inflation but rather facilitates income-generating activities to reduce the burden of inflation, said governor Salehuddin Ahmed on Thursday, unveiling the policy statement.
   ‘It will be very good if the inflation rate comes down but the purpose of our monetary policy is to increase production,’ he said.
   It will now be more risky to pursue a tight monetary policy, he said.
   About the effect of the second round of inflation predicted by the International Monetary Fund, he said, ‘We have no knowledge of such effect, so how can we formulate policies to tackle such [second round of] inflation.’
   If production in the agriculture sector increases along with that of small and medium enterprises, and if businessmen can thus diversify the export basket and substitute imports, the burden of inflation will be lighter, he pointed out.
   The impacts of the latest hikes in oil and urea prices would be palpable after few months, the policy statement said.
    ‘The implementation of the monetary policy faces several downside risks which might make monetary management challenging in the current fiscal,’ the governor said.
   ‘It is important to take precautionary measures against natural calamities and rising prices in the global market, and to ensure timely supply of agriculture inputs,’ he said.
   The best way to reduce price is to increase domestic production, he added.
   The governor said that the last monetary policy of the January-June period bore good results and the central bank did not have any reason to change its expansionary monetary policy.
   ‘The central bank will not deliberately reduce the credit to the productive sector. But if credit to the unproductive sector increases, we will intervene,’ he cautioned.
   The prime targets will be agriculture, small and medium enterprises and the rural economy, he said.
   The other thrust sectors are ship-building, renewable energy, effluent treatment plants and similar areas, he added.
   The existing refinance support for agriculture, SME and housing will continue, the governor said.
   There will be continuous persuasion by the central bank to reduce lending rates and increase competition among the financial institutions and reduce the administrative costs of the banks, he said.
   The central bank will monitor the liquidity situation and adopt appropriate measures to overcome temporary pressure, he added.
   Power shortage, other infrastructure bottlenecks and socio-political disruptions are hindering the growth of productivity and the government should ensure support service for the development of the economy, he said.
   The global outlook is bleak and the export sector should remain alert to be competitive, he added.
   The central bank does not have any plan to appreciate the taka against the US dollar as it will discourage export and remittances, he said.
   In the current fiscal year it is expected that import bills will be relatively lower than the last fiscal year’s as this year the country does not need to import much rice and food items, he hoped.
   The governor felt that the government should adopt ‘fiscal responsibility and debt limitation’ laws to check unabated government borrowing.
   The budget deficit is within the range of 5 per cent of the GDP, but in the future there is a possibility of increasing the number, he feared.
   He suggested that banks and financial institutions should adopt international prudential norms to include the ‘unbankable’ (those whom the banks consider to be undesirable) in the banking sector.

The military-controlled interim government has said that it would consider the suggestions coming in from different strata of the society on the package of electoral reforms agenda [RPO 2008] which has by this time obtained the cabinet’s initial approval.
   ‘We will of course take into consideration the recommendations coming from different parts of the society. We will further discuss the issues before taking the final decision,’ the commerce and education adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, told reporters at a joint press briefing after a meeting with a faction of the Jatiya Party at the Chief Adviser’s Office on Thursday.
   His attention was drawn to the Awami League’s reaction to the political and electoral reforms proposed in the Representation of People Order Ordinance 2008, which the interim administration approved in principle on Sunday.
   The AL rejected the proposed ordinance and asked the government not to amend the existing Representation of People Order 1972.
   The JP faction, led by former minister Anwar Hossain Manju, echoed the AL’s demand at the dialogue.
   It said that it would not be wise to go for a new ordinance, but instead the government should make the necessary amendments to the existing order.
   The law adviser Hassan Ariff, who also attended the press briefing, said that the reforms proposal came from the independent Election Commission and the government only gave it a legislative framework.
   ‘It will be wise to ask the Election Commission whether or not it should go for amendment of the existing order,’ said the law adviser, adding that the proposal reflected the EC’s desire.
   But Hossain Zillur said that the government would not do anything that hampers its objective of bringing about a qualitative change in politics.
   ‘We will take the decision, keeping in mind the national good,’ the adviser added.
   The JP delegation, led by its secretary-general Sheikh Shahidul Islam, suggested a few proposals including
   formation of a national committee comprising representatives from all the parties for
   smooth holding of the national elections. The committee will monitor the polls-related activities.
   The party also emphasised the need for reaching a consensus for the post-election period. It will support the formation of consensus a government for a few years after the December 2008 election, a leader of the party told New Age.
   The JP delegation also requested the government not to harass the chairman of the faction, Anwar Hossain Manju, who is now in the United States, and his family members.
   Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, who led the
   government side at the
   meeting, assured the delegation that a peaceful election would be held as per the electoral roadmap.

At least 10 Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and one Islami Chhatra Shibir activists were injured in a clash at the Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute on Thursday.
   Sources said the two critically injured Chhatra Dal activists, Tuhin and Bappi, were admitted to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
   Other injured Chhatra Dal activists are Asad, Jahid, Rony, Reza, Shyamal and Mamun.
   The sources said the clash had taken place when the activists of both the organisations went to the administrative building to buy admission forms.
   Over an altercation between both the groups at the time, Chhatra Dal activists beat up a Shibir activist, Saiful, with sticks.
   More Chhatra Shibir activists later attached the Chhatra Dal people with iron roads and bamboo sticks.
   The authorities had to suspend the sales of admission forms for an hour over the incident. The principal, Joynal Abedin, said the situation was under control and police deployment had been reinforced on the campus to stave off further troubles.
   The institute unit Chhatra Shibir president, Ataur Rahman, said Chhatra Dal activists attacked the Shibir men without any reason.
   Chhatra Dal leader Ronnie brushed aside the allegation. He said Shibir people were buying forms to sell them to admission seekers to earn money.

Shrinking sea ice is significantly increasing the rate at which icebergs scour the Antarctic seabed, a study released Thursday has found.
   About 80 per cent of Antarctic marine life is found on the seabed and these scours crush animals and plants living up to 500 meters below the surface.
   While they do promote biodiversity by creating space for marine animals to live, too many scours could change the distribution of key species and affect the type and number of creatures living in Antarctic waters, researchers warned.
   The number of ice scours is expected to increase in the short-term as global warming continues to reduce the size and duration of winter sea ice, the study published in the journal Science said.
   ‘Conversely, on longer time scales (centuries) we envisage a drastic reduction of ice disturbance, as glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula retreat past their grounding lines and the amount of freefloating sea ice (which scours the very shallows) decreases,’ concluded lead author Dan Smale of the British Antarctic Survey.
   This was the first attempt to test the relationship between iceberg scours and the formation of winter sea ice.
   Smale’s team laid markers in grid patterns at different depths along the seabed in the West Antarctic Peninsula.
   While a host of factors – including depth, seabed topography, prevailing wind directions and proximity to icebergs – influenced the probability of impact, the strength of the link between scours and sea ice formation was surprising, Smale said.
   ‘During years with a long sea ice season of eight months or so, the disturbance rates were really low, whereas in poor sea ice years the seabed was pounded by ice for most of the year,’ he said in a press release accompanying the study.
   ‘This is because icebergs are locked into position by winter sea ice, so they are not free to get pushed around by winds and tides until they crash into the seabed.’

Minerals in the soil of Mars show it was covered once by lakes, rivers and other bodies of water that could have supported life, US researchers reported on Wednesday.
   Last month the Mars Phoenix Lander found ice on the surface of the planet, but it is frozen hard and covered by red dust. Writing in the journal Nature, a team of scientists shows that the ice is left over from warmer, wetter times.
   ‘This is really exciting because we’re finding dozens of sites where future missions can land to understand if Mars was ever habitable and if so, to look for signs of past life,’ said John Mustard of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, who worked on the study.
   ‘The minerals present in Mars’ ancient crust show a variety of wet environments,’ Mustard said.
   His team used the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and other instruments on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to look at colours in reflected sunlight. This helps determine what minerals are there.
   ‘Water must have been creating minerals at depth to get the signatures we see,’ Mustard said in a statement.
   The clay minerals would have to have been formed at low temperatures, the researchers said.
   ‘What does this mean for habitability? It’s very strong,’ Mustard said. ‘It wasn’t this hot, boiling cauldron. It was a benign, water-rich environment for a long period of time.’
   The findings fit with the analysis from the Phoenix Mars Lander mission, which, besides ice, found alkaline soil that could have supported life.
   ‘The big surprise from these new results is how pervasive and long-lasting Mars’ water was, and how diverse the wet environments were,’ said Scott Murchie, CRISM’s principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
   The clay-like minerals, called phyllosilicates, suggest water interacted with rocks dating back to what is called the Noachian period on Mars, about 4.6 billion to 3.8 billion years ago.
   ‘In most locations the rocks are lightly altered by liquid water, but in a few locations they have been so altered that a great deal of water must have flushed though the rocks and soil,’ Mustard said. Another study, published in Nature Geosciences, found that the wet conditions persisted for a long time. It found evidence of river channels forming a delta where the river emptied into a crater lake.
   ‘The distribution of clays inside the ancient lakebed shows that standing water must have persisted for thousands of years,’ said Brown University’s Bethany Ehlmann.
   ‘Clays are wonderful at trapping and preserving organic matter, so if life ever existed in this region, there’s a chance of its chemistry being preserved in the delta.’

A Myanmar court has charged 14 people for causing ‘public offence’ during a protest marking the birthday of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a defence lawyer said on Thursday.
   The group, arrested by pro-junta thugs outside the headquarters of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy on June 19, were also charged with unlawful assembly on Wednesday, NLD lawyer Aung Thein said.
   ‘Three lawyers have received powers of attorney to defend them,’ he said.
   The group had demanded the release of Suu Kyi, whose house arrest was extended in May despite international pressure on the military, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962.
   The Nobel peace laureate has been confined to her Yangon home for nearly 13 of the past 19 years, with her latest detention beginning in May 2003.
   Last week, a popular local blogger was also charged with causing ‘public offence’ by posting caricatures of the country’s ruling generals on the internet.
   The junta was caught by surprise last year when bloggers and citizen journalists relayed pictures and video to the outside world of the regime’s crackdown on monk-led protests against military rule and economic hardship.

More than 100 clandestine Asian immigrants were detained on Thursday after being discovered hiding at a cemetery near Greece’s northeastern border with Turkey, the police said.
   The group, mainly from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, hid in the cemetery at Tryfilli village after ditching the inflatable dinghies they used to cross the Evros river between Greece and Turkey, the police said.
   Greek border guards also caught one of three suspected traffickers who helped them cross over. The other two fled.
   The detained migrants and suspected trafficker will be taken to a prosecutor in the nearby town of Alexandroupolis later in the day.
   The River Evros is a key crossing point used by traffickers to bring over would-be migrants.

The High Court on Thursday granted interim bail for a month to the detained former Awami League lawmaker AHM Mostafa Kamal alias Lotus Kamal in a corruption case.
   The High bench of Justice Sharif Uddin Chaklader and Justice M Emdadul Haque Azad also stayed for a month the proceedings of the case, now pending with special judge’s court set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Complex. The Anti-Corruption commission on March 22, 2007 filed the case against Lotus Kamal accusing him of amassing illegal wealth of Tk 36 crore and hiding assets of Tk 2.93 crore in his wealth statement submitted to the commission on February 25.
   The special court on October 22, 2007 indicted Lotus with the graft charges.
   The joint forces arrested Kamal on February 4, 2007 at his house at Gulshan in Dhaka. He was named on the list of 50 corruption suspects announced by the commission on February 18, 2007.