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

Archive «
Launch Supplement «
Special Supplements «

The detained former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League president, was Tuesday morning admitted to Square Hospital in Dhaka for treatment.
   A team of five physicians after examining Hasina at the hospital recommended sending her to the United States where she earlier received treatment for her ear.
   The prison authorities said they would inform the government of the recommendation the physicians made.
   ‘As per the jail code, no prisoner can be sent abroad for treatment. We will consider the recommendation of the physicians,’ deputy inspector general (prisons) Shamsul Haider Siddiqui told reporters at the hospital.
   The jail authorities took Hasina, who is suffering from multiple health complications including acute problem in the ears, to the hospital at about 8:40am amid heightened security.
   ‘We took her [Hasina] to the hospital this morning as she late Monday night agreed to receive treatment in hospital,’ Siddiqui told reporters in front of the hospital Tuesday afternoon.
   He said the Awami League president was taken to the place in keeping with her will although the jail authorities proposed the names of either LabAid or Apollo Hospitals.
   She is undergoing treatment in the hospital under specialist physicians of her choice and further decisions on her treatment will be taken at the advice of the physicians, Siddiqui said.
   Siddiqui, however, said no medical board had been formed and the physicians who examined Hasina’s health earlier were administering follow-up treatment.
   He also said Hasina was admitted to the hospital under the supervision MH Millat. Five specialist physicians earlier arrived at the hospital after Hasina had been admitted there.
   The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University vice-chancellor, MA Tahir, ear, nose and throat specialist Pran Gopal Dutta, eye specialist Syed Modasser Ali, heart specialist MH Millat, medicine specialist ABM Abdullah and dermatologist Kabir Chowdhury examined Hasina’s health.
   Tahir told reporters they had recommended that Hasina should be sent abroad for her ear treatment, which is not possible in Bangladesh. ‘We all who have examined Hasina did not have any difference of opinion on sending her abroad for hearing treatment.’
   ‘Her hearing could be permanently impaired if she is not given treatment immediately. She needs to be treated in the United States where she earlier received ear treatment,’ Pran Gopal said.
   Hasina’s nephew Fazle Nur Taposh, also her lawyer, visited her at the hospital at about 11:30am.
   Hasina has been suffering from various ailments, including partial hearing loss and high blood pressure.
   Hasina was earlier taken to the same hospital on February 21 for a medical check-up.

The government on Tuesday decided to take certain measures to stop spiral of essential goods prices, said the commerce adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman.
   Some specific decisions were made in this regard at a special meeting, presided over by the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed. Zillur also said the head of the government was deeply concerned about the price situation.
   ‘We will work out new strategies and make them public after holding follow-up meetings with relevant government agencies and stakeholders,’ Zillur told journalists in his commerce ministry office in the afternoon.
   The finance and planning adviser, AB Mirza Azizul Islam, the National Board of Revenue chairman, Muhammed Abdul Mazid, and representatives of the Bangladesh Bank and edible oil refiners were also present.
   Zillur said the prices of cooking oil on the international market began coming down and he hoped that the impact of the downtrend could soon be felt on the domestic market.
   He said the government was considering setting up an agency to increase the flow of goods and commodities into domestic
   market to keep prices at a tolerable level.
   The commerce ministry has already issued letters to seven government agencies seeking necessary information on the factors that affect the market.
   The meeting in the Chief Adviser’s Office is reported to have discussed the issue of profiteering tendency of the traders and observed they should play a responsible role and do not make high profits to destabilise the market.
   ‘The government will do whatever is necessary to quickly improve the market system,’ Zillur said, iterating his earlier position that the state should have an effective role with mechanism to make interventions in times of necessity.

Most essential food items have become costlier, with prices of some soaring by up to 27 per cent in a month, reveals New Age market survey that compares with the price monitoring report of a government agency.
   Sugar, after months of static price, has joined the bandwagon of a number of items, which saw unwarranted price spirals over the year.
   Trading Corporation of Bangladesh, which lists nine food items as ‘most essential commodities’, has found that seven of these commodities experienced the sharpest price-hikes — between 10 per cent and 21 per cent — within a month.
   New Age’s market survey reveals that unpacked soya bean oil cost between Tk 116 and Tk 122 per kilogram on Tuesday in different retail outlets in the city.
   TCB figures suggest soya bean oil became costlier by more than 7 per cent in a week, 21 per cent in a month and 72 per cent in a year.
   Prices of packed coarse flour per kilogram were between Tk 44 and Tk 48, up by more than 8 per cent in a week and 12 per cent in a month.
   Coarse flour, the price of which increased several times in the previous few months, became costlier by more than 80 per cent just in a year.
   The price of sugar, which remained comparatively cheaper for more than a year, started to increase sharply in the past one month; it was selling for Tk 42 to Tk 46 per kilogram on Tuesday against Tk 31 a month back and Tk 38 a year ago.
   The prices of pulses, which did not rise as sharply as the prices of other food items, recorded sharp hikes in past two weeks in response to the upward trend in the international market, said traders.
   Ordinary grade of imported Turkish or Canadian red lentil was selling at Tk 80 per kilogram against Tk 70 a week ago and Tk 65 a month back.
   Fine grade of locally produced red lentil was selling for up to Tk 105 at Karwan Bazar, up by 27 per cent in a month.

The Anti-corruption Commi-ssion on Tuesday filed two cases against seven former and incumbent officials of the Rupantarito Prakritik Gas Company Limited and two businessmen for embezzlement of around Tk 11.22 crore in installing compressors, appointing contractor for four CNG stations and CNG sales.
   The accused of the first case on installation of compressors are former RPGCL managing directors ABM Fazle Elahi, Raihanul Abedin, incumbent MD Abdul Wadud, former acting MD and general manager Ekramul Haque Chowdhury, former general manager AKM Rezaul Karim and the company manager Nawshad Azam.
   Apart from Nawshad, five others were also implicated in the case on appointing contractor and CNG sales along with RPGCL director Golam Mostafa and two Dhaka-based businessman —managing director of Trident Agency Mohammad Ali and proprietor of M/S Rahman Service Station Mahbubur Rahman.
   Both the cases were filed with the Khilkhet police station by an assistant director of ACC’s Sylhet office, Abdul Majed.
   In the first information report on the compressor case, the ACC alleged that the state lost Tk 9.75 crore as the six accused embezzled the amount between 1993 and 2004 misusing power and neglecting their responsibilities.
   It said that the accused paid about Tk 7.34 crore to the contractor although works of the Marin CNG pilot project was incomplete.
   The accused also paid Tk 2.42 crore to M/S Rix Services Limited of New Zealand, reported manufacturer of the three abandoned CNG compressors, it said.
   The accused took the steps to import the compressors without approval of the project proposal and even without inviting tenders, said the FIR.
   It said that the money was paid to Rix even before receiving the equipment and completing the repair works.
   In the second FIR, the ACC alleged that the government lost about Tk 1.54 crore as the accused embezzled the amount between 1993 and 2006.
   It said that the RPGCL imported equipment four CNG refuelling stations in 1994 at about Tk 3.23 crore and installed and commissioned the stations in 1996 as test case.
   The four stations – Sohag Filling Station at Mohakhali rail gate, Rahman Service Station at Kalyanpur, Rahman Filling and Service Station at Motijheel and PWD Sports Club Petrol Pump at Asad Gate — were rented out to four dealers.
   According to the agreement, dealers were supposed to bear the cost of operation and maintenance of the stations, the FIR said.
   But RPGCL appointed a contractor, Trident Agency, without any tender for the operation and maintenance works when Fazle Elahi was managing director. Later Raihanul Abedin and Rezaul Karim extended the agreement with Trident although tender documents were prepared for appointing the contractor.
   Trident was paid nearly Tk 1.34 crore in five years between 1998 and 2003.
   The FIR said that Rahman Filling Station was given permission to operate in 2004-2005 with gas bills lowered by Tk 20 lakh from the actual amount of Tk 86 lakh.
   An official of the ACC will investigate the case, said the FIR.

A special judge’s court on Tuesday jailed former Awami League lawmaker HBM Iqbal for 13 years and his wife Momtaz Begum Dolly, two sons Moyeen Iqbal and Imran Iqbal and daughter Nowrin Iqbal for three years each for amassing illegal wealth and hiding assets in the wealth statements.
   M Firoz Alam, judge of the special judge’s court 1 of Dhaka set up on the Jatiya Sangsad complex to try high-profile corruption suspects, also ordered confiscation of their assets of about Tk 14.58 crore.
   The court also fined Iqbal Tk 50 lakh and his wife, two sons and daughter Tk 1 lakh each and ordered Iqbal to serve one more year and the others one more month in prison each if they fail to pay the fines.
   The court convicted Iqbal on two counts and sentenced him to imprisonment for 10 years for amassing wealth of Tk 2.3 crore beyond his known sources of income and three years for hiding assets of Tk 10.61 crore in the wealth statement he submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
   The court ordered consecutive execution of the sentences, meaning Iqbal would need to serve 13 years in prison. All the convicts are on the run and the sentences will be executed after their arrest or surrender, the court said in the verdict.
   Dolly was convicted for abetting her husband in committing the offences while Moyeen Iqbal and Imran Iqbal were found guilty of amassing illegal wealth of Tk 6.75 lakh each and Nowrin Iqbal for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 1.53 crore.
   The Anti-Corruption Commission’s deputy director M Ibrahim filed the case on June 25, 2007 with the Gulshan police.
   The commission on February 18, 2007 published a list of 50 corruption suspects, including politicians and government officials, and asked them to submit their wealth statements in 72 hours. Iqbal was named on the list.

The law and religious affairs adviser, AF Hassan Arif, Tuesday said the present government had not enacted or amended any legislation dealing with the Muslim inheritance law.
   ‘The government also does not have the will to do so,’ he said while exchanging views with ulema (Islamic scholars) on the newly formulated Women Development Policy-2008 in the auditorium of Islamic Foundation in the Dhaka city.
   ‘The Women Development Policy-2008 is not a legislation at all and its does not deal with inheritance laws. It is just a document for discussions on how to protect women from repression and deception and on how to improve their conditions socially,’ the adviser said.
   Taking part in the discussion, eminent Islamic scholars said confusions were created in the minds of public on the basis of misleading information on the Women Development Policy.
   Had the government informed the people clearly about the policy earlier, there would have been no controversy, they said and opined that the clarification of the adviser would now dispel all confusions.
   Baitul Mukarram National Mosque Pesh Imam Maulana Mohammad Nuruddin, former Islamic University vice-chancellor Professor M Mustafizur Rahman, Maulana Kamaluddin Zafari, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mufti Sayeed Ahmed, among others, took part in the discussion.
   The communications adviser, Ghulam Quader, the education and commerce adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, and the religious affairs secretary, Ataur Rahman, were present on the occasion.
   The law adviser said it was a matter of sorrow that there had been uproar over a matter that had not taken place in reality.
   He blamed lack of information for this situation and said the government was going to enact right to information law to avoid such incidents.
   If there was the right to information act, detailed information on the women policy would have been available to the people much earlier and there had been no scope for confusions.
   He sought cooperation of the Islamic scholars to establish rights of women and save them from repression and deception.
   If the society is strong enough to protest against injustice, no law would be required, he said.

The draft of the right to information ordinance has faced criticism from some civil society actors who have pinpointed weaknesses and stressed proper corrections to prevent the good initiative from ending up in a law to protect bureaucrats.
   Although the participants lauded the government’s move to give the people greater access to official information, the draft apparently denies many universally accepted rights to know, they said at a discussion in Dhaka Tuesday.
   The draft of the ordinance, expected to be promulgated sometime this year, is full of anomalies and there has been an attempt to protect bureaucrats instead of honouring people’s rights, some pointed out.
   Mizanur Rahman, professor of law department at Dhaka University, termed the draft a one-eyed document intending to protect the officials’ interests in a very tricky manner. ‘It seems like a mechanism to protect information; not to allow the people’s access to official information.’
   He found a ‘balancing tendency’ in most of the clauses drafted by the government, which he termed dangerous. The draft ordinance seemed to be a trap for the people with the bureaucrats trying to keep their supremacy in tact, the law professor said, suggesting scrapping of all other laws that debar people from getting information.
   Senior lawyer Kamal Hossain termed the government’s move towards enactment of such a law ‘the most important matter in 36 years’.
   The people need information, but all the people do not need all the information, he said.
   ‘If it is so, then the government will be dysfunctional as it will have to remain busy responding to all the queries made by the people,’ he said.
   ‘If anyone wants to hatch conspiracy, it is enough to engage 200,000 unemployed youths to ask questions to keep the government busy otherwise.’
   He suggested taking into consideration the other side of the proposed law. ‘The government must take steps very carefully,’ said the jurist.
   The Ministry of Information organised the discussion at the auditorium of Local Government Engineering Department to get views of lawyers, journalists, politicians, rights campaigners and other professionals on the draft of the much-talked-about law.
   Many of the discussants suggested that the interim government should initiate talks with the political quarters, which would be the ultimate authority to implement the proposed law after transition to democracy through the election planned towards the yearend.
   ‘The government needs intensive discussions with the parties if they [govt] are serious about it,’ senior economist Rehman Sobhan said.
   He admired the move to make public offices accountable against a culture of corruption that lasted for years.
   Ultimately, the politicians are the implementing authority of the law; they will need to ratify the ordinance in parliament once it is promulgated, therefore, the government should consult them beforehand, he suggested.
   The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam said a discussion with the political parties would be good, but not mandatory.
   ‘I do not think the objectives of the matter [promulgation of the ordinance] would be hampered if they [politicians] are not consulted in advance,’ he said. Politicians should be consulted since they also work for the people, he, however, said.
   The editor felt that enforcement of such a law would be difficult in a culture of secrecy that prevailed everywhere in Bangladesh— from personal life to the state mechanism.
   Civic and rights groups have long been stressing enactment of a law ensuring people’s right to information.
   Responding to the demands, chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed pledged last year to enact a law before he hands over power to an elected government.
   An eight-member committee headed by a joint secretary of the information ministry, Kamal Uddin Ahmed, was formed to prepare the draft of an ordinance.
   The committee, taking instances from a similar legislation enacted in India in 2005, prepared the draft, for which the government high-ups suggested taking opinion from the stakeholders to finalise the draft before April.
   ‘I can assure that your suggestions would be incorporated in the draft ordinance before it goes to the council of advisers. We have clear direction in this regard,’ the convenor of the draft committee told the gathering.
   Executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh Iftekharuzzaman lauded the role of Manusher Jonno Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, for bringing the matter to this stage.
   A former minister of Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance government, M K Anwar posed a question whether this law would be enough to ensure people’s right to know.
   ‘The indication never looks good that the government will easily provide information to the people,’ said the bureaucrat-turned-politician.
   Ghulam Mohammad Quader, a former lawmaker of the Jatiya Party, said the governments always come up with some ‘surprise moves’ apparently to give a good impression to the international community. He hoped that the move to bring accountability in the government system would not fall in that category.
   He pointed out a number of anomalies in the draft and suggested that those should be corrected before sending it to the cabinet.
   News Today editor Reazuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Observer editor Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and Manavzamin editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury also spoke at the function, suggesting that information should be made available to the media immediately after any happening.
   They also felt that the media should have representation in the search committee, which would suggest names of chairman and two other members to be appointed by the president to the proposed information commission.
   Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said the draft requires more discussion before it goes to the cabinet. A mechanism needs to be put in place to monitor the enforcement of the law, once it is enacted, she said.
   Representatives from NGOs and the business community also joined the discussion. Some called for arranging such sessions outside Dhaka to take people’s views at the grassroots level.

The Niko scam case investigation officer is likely to submit the report to the Anti-Corruption Commission on Thursday, recommending the pressing of charges against 15 people, including former prime minister Khaleda Zia, commission officials on Tuesday said.
   The commission on December 9, 2007 lodged the case against Khaleda Zia, former law minister Moudud Ahmed, former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, former secretary Khandaker Shahidul Islam and Niko Resources Bangladesh Ltd vice-president (South Asian affairs) Kashem Sharif.
   They were accused of signing the ‘illegal’ deal with Niko that caused a loss of Tk 10,000 crore to the state.
   ‘The investigation officer will recommend the submission of the charge sheet against former prime minister Khaleda Zia and four others initially accused as the investigation found them involved in the process,’ said an official.
   He said, ‘Others who could be named on the charge sheet include businessman Giasuddin Al Mamun, former Dhaka Club president Selim Bhuiyan and law ministry joint secretary Naren Das.’
   ‘The commission’s assistant director Shahidur Rahman, the investigation officer, will submit the memo of evidence [investigation report] on March 13.
   He is likely to recommend submission of the charge sheet against more or less 15 individuals, including the five accused in the first information report,’ a source told the United News of Bangladesh.
   The deadline of 60 working days, according to the rules, for the investigation officer to submit the report ends on March 13, the source said, adding the commission can extend the time if it wants.
   The commission on December 9, 2007 filed another case in connection with the Niko scam with the Tejgaon police against another detained former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, former state minister for power and energy Rafiqul islam, former principal secretary SA Samad, former power and energy secretary Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, former Petrobangla chairman Mosharraf Hossain and Kashem Sharif of Niko.
   They were accused of signing the ‘illegal’ deal with Niko that caused a loss of Tk 13,630.50 crore to the state exchequer.
   The commission’s deputy director Shabbir Hasan is investigating the case.

The Awami League on Tuesday demanded immediate, unconditional release of the party president, Sheikh Hasina, for her proper treatment in the United States as advised by physicians.
   The party presidium at a meeting resented Hasina’s detention for about a year in ‘false’ cases and adopted a resolution to place a formal demand in a day or two to the chief adviser to the government for her release.
   The meeting at the house of the acting party president, Zillur Rahman, at Gulshan at the night also adopted a set of resolutions to push for holding parliamentary elections before any other polls, withdrawal of the state of emergency and ban on politics and arrest of abnormal increase in essential goods prices.
   ‘We have adopted resolutions demanding unconditional release of the party president and sending her to the United States as advised by specialist physicians,’ the acting general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, told reporters after the meeting, adding that the resolution will be formally handed over to the chief adviser in a day or two.
   He said not only the personal physicians of Hasina, but also the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University vice-chancellor also advised that Hasina should be sent to the Untied States for ear treatment.
   ‘The deputy inspector general (prisons) is now talking about the jail code,’ Ashraf said.
   He said if the jail code was an obstacle, how the Awami League general secretary was sent to Singapore.
   The meeting also suggested that the government should take only election- oriented programmes, setting aside other jobs, as its constitutional responsibility is to hold the national polls.
   ‘The Election Commission has failed to complete its tasks on time. It is running six months behind the schedule. It will be impossible for the commission to conduct the general elections in time if it holds local government elections before the national polls,’ Ashraf said.
   The meeting also decided to invite the leaders of the AL-led alliance components to the discussion on March 18, marking the birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman so that the components could place identical demands from the same stage as they did in the past.
   ‘We have decided to invite the leaders of the components of the 14-party alliance to the discussion on March 18 and we will urge them to place identical demands with the Awami League from the same stage,’ Matia Chowdhury told New Age after the meeting.
   Presided over by Zillur Rahman, the meeting was attended by Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser and Kazi Zafar Ullah.

The Awami League and the Communist Party on Tuesday agreed to hold identical, parallel programmes on some common issues without forming an alliance.
   ‘We will work together on common issues independent of each other. We may hold identical, parallel programmes without forming an alliance,’ The Communist Party general secretary, Mujahidul Islam Selim, told reporters after an hour-long meeting between the leaders of two parties at the house of the acting Awami League president, Zillur Rahman, at Gulshan.
   Leaders of both the parties urged an immediate announcement of the date of the forthcoming national elections in keeping with the roadmap announced by the Election Commission.
   Awami League presidium member Tofail Ahmed said the main task of the caretaker government was to hold the national elections. ‘So, we demand announcement of the polls date in keeping with the roadmap announced by the Election Commission.’
   Selim said, ‘We had differences of opinion on various issues and similar opinions on some other issue. We will work together on common issues without entering into an alliance.’
   The two parties demanded immediate lifting of the state of emergency and of the ban on political activities.
   They expressed their concerns about the increase in the prices of essential commodities and demanded lifting ban on trade unionism, implementation of the Phulbari agreement and steps to protect national wealth.
   The leaders demanded release of the detained Awami League president Sheikh Hasina and expressed their concerns about her health condition.
   They also demanded trials of war criminals.
   Chaired by Zillur Rahman, the meeting was also attended by Communist Party president Monzurul Ahsan Khan, Awami League presidium members Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chowdhury and Kazi Zafarullah, and acting AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam and Communist Party leaders Shahidullah Chowdhury and MM Akash.

Bangladesh made at least two changes when they will play the second one-day match against South Africa at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. The match will begin at 9:30am and will be televised by Neo Sports and Bangladesh Television.
   Opener Junaed Siddique and pace bowler Shahadat Hossain were dropped to make room for vice-captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza and Nazim Uddin, who will make his one-day debut.
   Shahriar Nafees will now open the innings with Tamim Iqbal. Junaed struggled in the first match when he scored six off 24 balls before being dismissed.
   Junaed, who was impressive in the longer-version with two half-centuries in three Tests, has played four one-day matches since making his debut against New Zealand in Auckland and his highest is only 15.
   ‘It seems his confidence is a bit down. So we decided to give him a break,’ said skipper Mohammad Ashraful.
   Chief selector Rafiqul Alam however said the decision to axe Junaed had nothing to do with his form.
   ‘After Aftab got injured, our middle-order became weakened. Since Ashraful was also not performing so well, we needed to give some impetus in the middle-order. That is why we included Nazim Uddin,’ Rafiqul told the reporters.
   ‘As we have Shahriar in the squad, who is a genuine opener and also looked in touch, we decided to drop Junaed,’ said the chief selector.
   Batting was one of the reasons for pacer Mashrafee to replace Shahadat in the starting team, according to skipper Ashraful. ‘He is a good bowler and can always make a comeback. Plus his late-order batting could also be useful,’ said Ashraful.
   South Africa did not name their starting team, but they could retain the same squad that played in Chittagong. The Proteas won the first match by nine-wickets.

Bangladesh have agreed to a proposal to play five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match in Pakistan after Australia scrapped a tour there, a senior official of the Bangladesh Cricket Board said on Tuesday.
   ‘We were in talks with the Pakistan Cricket Board for quite sometime and just received a concrete proposal today,’ said Gazi Ashraf Hossain, the chairman cricket operation committee of the BCB.
   ‘We have decided in principle to play the series, which will be possibly held in the first week of April,’ Ashraf added.
   ‘However, before finalising the decisions we have to sit with local clubs,’ he said.
   The clubs were expecting to get the national players for the ongoing Premier Cricket League after they completed the home series against South Africa and Ireland.
   Bangladesh are currently involved in a three match series against South Africa. They will play three one-day matches against Ireland on March 18, 20 and 22.
   Clubs have paid a large sum to the national players and have reasons to be upset should Bangladesh decide to play in Pakistan in April, the only slot available for the Bangladesh players for the Premier League.
   Ashraf exuded confidence that they will be able to convince the clubs to postpone the Premier League for 15 days in the national interest.
   ‘Very soon we will sit with the clubs and give them a proposal. Hopefully they will agree to our proposal,’ he said.
   Ashraf hinted that a tri-nation cricket, scheduled to be held in Dhaka in the last week of May, might not be held this time because of India’s reluctance. It means the BCB will have adequate time to complete the Premier League by May.
   ‘In that case we will also make Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium available for the Dhaka Premier League. Given the modern drainage system in SBNS, it will not be difficult to complete the league even if it coincides with the rainy season,’ said Ashraf, who is also the chairman of Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis.
   Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf broke the news on Tuesday at a news conference in Karachi where he also announced the cancellation of their home series against Australia.
   ‘The series will be some time in April,’ Reuters quoted him as saying referring to the Bangladesh tour.
   The venues and dates would be worked out in the next few days, the PCB chairman told the news conference.
   He hoped to host Australia for a full series before Pakistan go to there in late 2009.
   ‘They took their decision after many deliberations and we accept that. We just want to hold this series soon,’ he said.
   Ashraf also hoped the Australian’s tour postponement would not affect the organisation of the Asia Cup in June or other ICC Future Tour Programmes in Pakistan, including the Champions Trophy in September.
   ‘We maintain conditions are still conducive to hold cricket events in Pakistan,’ he added.
   ‘Our security plans have also been very good. Teams have toured Pakistan in recent times and have had no problems. The Australians have based their decision on their own assessment of security situation in Pakistan.’
   The PCB chief added that he did not feel Australia’s decision had anything to do with their players appearing in the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament in April.

The Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, Tuesday summoned parliament to meet on March 17, setting up a showdown with the opposition parties which routed his allies in elections last month.
   Key US ally Musharraf is likely to face a hostile parliament after Asif Ali Zardari, widower of slain ex-premier Benazir Bhutto, and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif agreed on Sunday to form a coalition government.
   ‘President Musharraf has signed the summary (summoning parliament) which the prime minister, Mohammedmian Soomro, sent to him yesterday. The national assembly will now meet on March 17,’ presidential spokesman Rashid Qureshi said.
   Both Benazir’s Pakistan People’s Party – which won the most seats in the February 18 ballot – and Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N had accused Musharraf of delaying the first parliamentary sitting.
   The pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which was in government between 2002 and November 2007, lost heavily in the elections.
   The biggest threat to Musharraf is likely to come from Zardari and Sharif’s pledge on Sunday to pass legislation within the first 30 days of the new parliament that will reinstate judges sacked by the president last year.
   The dismissed judges – including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Musharraf’s arch-foe – could take up legal challenges to Musharraf’s re-election as president last October if they are restored.
   Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and sacked some 60 judges on November 3, days before the Supreme Court was due to rule on the legality of his new presidential term, which he secured while he was still army chief.
   He stepped down as head of the army in November – just over eight years after he seized power in a military coup – under intense domestic and international pressure.
   Sharif’s party said the new parliament would decide Musharraf’s political fate. Sharif has repeatedly called for Musharraf to step down in recent weeks.
   The caretaker government had ‘unnecessarily delayed convening of the national assembly session, which shows that their intentions are not good,’ party spokesman Ahsan Iqbal said.
   ‘The new parliament will decide about the future of Musharraf, who was elected unconstitutionally,’ he added.
   The PPP, which has been more guarded in its statements on the president, said it wanted parliament to start so it could begin its ‘reforms agenda’.
   ‘The session should have been convened much earlier. But better late than never,’ PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
   ‘The Pakistan People’s Party is fully prepared to enter into the parliament and make the government along with its coalition partners, and proceed on its reforms agenda,’ Babar said.

Suicide attackers detonated two huge truck bombs in Pakistan Tuesday, killing 26 people, partly demolishing a police building and deepening a security crisis facing the new government.
   Another 175 people were wounded in the attacks in the eastern city of Lahore, which came just minutes apart in the morning rush-hour and left rescue workers scrambling through rubble in a bid to find survivors.
   The blasts, one targeting the Federal Investigation Agency headquarters and the other hitting an advertising firm, were the latest in a wave of Islamist-linked violence that has killed more than 600 people this year.
   They also prompted the Australian cricket team to cancel an upcoming tour to Pakistan, citing security fears.
   ‘I have never seen such a deadly suicide attack,’ Federal Investigation Agency chief Tariq Pervaz told reporters outside the badly damaged eight-storey headquarters in the heart of the city.
   There were warnings that the agency’s offices would be targeted ‘but we were not expecting it in Lahore,’ he said, adding that up to 50 kilos of explosives were used.
   Twenty-two people including 12 agency employees were killed in the blast, he said. Two children and two adults died in the other attack on the advertising office, which is a few kilometres away, he said.
   ‘There was blood everywhere. I also saw mutilated limbs and body parts scattered around the reception area of the building,’ said lawyer Wali Mohammed Khan, who was on the second floor of the FIA building when the blast happened.
   Pools of blood and pieces of human flesh lay outside the FIA building. The explosion tore off the facade, exposing stairwells down which rescue workers could be seen carrying stretchers.
   Several children at two nearby schools run by Christian missionaries were wounded by flying glass, the police said.
   The agency mainly deals with immigration and people smuggling but the building also housed the offices of a special US-trained unit created to counter terrorism, security officials said.
   ‘This is an al-Qaeda-style bombing, like we see in North Africa and Iraq,’ an official from the unit said, adding that security camera footage showing the bomber’s pick-up ramming the building was being examined.
   The second attack, by a suicide bomber in the same make of truck, hit an advertising agency in an upscale Lahore neighbourhood, the interior ministry said.
   It was not immediately clear why the firm was targeted but the office is near the Lahore home of Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto.
   The president, Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the ‘war on terror’, condemned the ‘savage act’ and said the ‘acts of terrorism cannot deter government’s resolve to fight the scourge with full force,’ state media reported.
   The explosions came a week after two suicide bombers struck a naval college in Lahore, killing at least five people, in the third attack to hit the previously peaceful city this year.
   ‘Terrorists are trying to put pressure on the government-in-making. But I am sure the government-in-making will also have the same resolve to deal with terrorism,’ interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema said.
   Pakistan has been combating an Islamist insurgency led by al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters since Musharraf joined the US-led ‘war on terror’ in 2001, but the violence has soared since the start of 2007.
   The country has been rocked by six major blasts since the February 18 parliamentary polls, which were won by the opposition parties of the late Benazir and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
   Benazir was killed in a suicide attack in the garrison city of Rawalpindi on December 27.

The chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, left for Dakar Tuesday night to attend the 11th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, beginning in the Senegalese capital tomorrow.
   A flight of the Emirates Airlines carrying the chief adviser and his entourage took off from Zia International Airport at 9:53pm.
   The head of the interim government is leading a small delegation that includes the foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, and chief adviser’s press secretary Syed Fahim Munaim.
   The finance adviser, Mirza Azizul Islam, the LGRD adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, dean of diplomatic corps, chiefs of the three services and senior civil and military officials saw him off at the VVIP tarmac of the airport.
   The chief adviser is scheduled to reach Dakar at about 6:05pm Senegalese time on Wednesday, via Dubai and London. In Dakar, he will be staying at Hotel Le Meridian.
   The March 13-14 OIC summit will specially focus on the implementation of its 10-year programme of action and adoption of the revised OIC charter. It will have two brainstorming sessions on economic cooperation among member-states, especially African nations, and knowledge sharing among the member-states.
   Accompanying activities to the summit meet include the first NGO and civil-society conference by the OIC and another conference on science and technology.
   This is for the first time Pakistan will have ministerial representation in the summit as the president, Pervez Musharraf, cancelled his visit to Dakar due to current political developments in Islamabad.
   The head of the government of Bangladesh, the third-largest Muslim-populated country, is likely to deliver speech in the plenary session of the summit urging further solidarity and cooperation among the Muslim nations, particularly in economic field.
   On the sidelines of the OIC conference, he is likely to hold bilateral talks with heads of government or state of the member-countries.
   On March 16, the chief adviser is scheduled to fly from Dakar for London where he will stay till March 21. He will have a meeting with Bangladesh community in the UK on March 16.
   On March 18, he is scheduled to have a meeting with the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, at 10 Downing Street.
   There are also separate meetings of the British secretary for foreign affairs, David Miliband, and the secretary of state for DFID, Douglas Alexander, with the chief adviser in London.
   Fakhruddin is scheduled to leave London on March 21 and return home on March 22.

The counsels of the BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, and the Election Commission on Tuesday debated whether the High Court could dispose of the writ petition that challenged the commission’s inviting the BNP splinter group to its dialogue.
   The commission’s counsel Kamal Hossain argued the court had no jurisdiction to hear any case involving political matters, especially internal dispute of a political party.
   The writ petition filed by Khaleda should be rejected as it involves internal dispute of her party and the party should resolve the dispute, he said.
   Khaleda’s counsel TH Khan argued the writ petition involved neither any political matter nor any internal dispute of the party; the Election Commission rather interfered with the internal dispute of the party by inviting the splinter group to the dialogue on electoral reforms.
   The commission illegally sent the invitation to the splinter group secretary general Hafizuddin Ahmed with a mala fide intention of splitting the party and the writ petition challenged such action of the commission, he said, adding the High Court has the jurisdiction to resolve any question on the illegal action of any authorities.
   He also said, ‘It will be unfortunate for my client if the court refuses to resolve the matter on the excuse of political matters.’
   The hearing, which remained inconclusive for the seventh day on Tuesday, will resume today at 2:00pm when Shahdeen Malik and Masood R Sobhan will argue for Hafizuddin Ahmed and the expelled BNP secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.

The acting secretary-general of the reformist faction of the BNP, M Hafizuddin Ahmed, spoke up against the stand of the party’s Delwar-led conformists against the chief election commissioner and the Election Commission.
   Hafiz, on Tuesday, was critical of the demand for resignation of the chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda, and said, ‘It is unfortunate. Such a demand will throw the election into uncertainty. It is not right.’
   Khandakar Delwar Hossain, the secretary-general appointed by Khaleda Zia, recently criticised the CEC and the EC for alleged failure in maintaining neutrality and for being biased towards some political parties and individuals. Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, a joint secretary-general, demanded that Huda quit the post to ensure the neutrality of the EC.
   Hafiz, a top leader of the government-backed faction of BNP, said there was no democracy in the BNP as meetings of the concerned forums in the party had not been held as mandated by BNP’s constitution.
   ‘The party’s constitution is not democratic and even this undemocratic constitution was not followed for many years. The standing committee, which is supposed to meet every year, has not met in the last 14 years. So reform is an imperative to establish democracy in the party,’ Hafiz told newsmen at his Banani residence.
   ‘The party is facing a crisis just because it was not reformed much earlier. I urge the party’s standing committee members to become active to defuse the crisis the party is facing by initiating the necessary reforms,’ he said.
   Hafiz said they want unity in the party, but any move to unite the party should be done without imposing any arbitrary preconditions.
   The Khandakar Delwar-led faction has made certain preconditions to unite the party, of which the main one is to declare meeting of the stand committee members on October 29, 2007 in Saifur Rahman’s residence, and its proceedings, void.
   ‘Hannan Shah has sent the draft of a proposal for unity, but instead of sending drafts let us sit together without setting any preconditions,’ said Hafiz.
   ‘Let us stop imposing conditions, passing comments and making statements, and sit together to establish joint leadership. We want to see the two BNP currents merging into one to make the party strong and united,’ said Hafiz.
   Saifur Rahman has several times contacted Khandakar Delwar Hossain to forge unity, but all his efforts were made in vain, Hafiz said.
   Hafiz declined to make any comment on the affidavits signed by four members who attended the meeting in which they said the October 29 meeting was not a meeting of the party’s standing committee. ‘I will not make any comment on the issue as it is now sub judice,’ he said.
   ‘It is normal that in the absence of the party’s chief, the next senior-most leader will run the party. But the rival factions are arguing like boys that the standing committee meeting cannot be held in the absence of the party’s chairperson. What does it mean? The party cannot run in absence of the party’s chairperson? This is absurd. That is why we are proposing establishment of joint leadership in the party,’ said Haifz.
   He urged the government to concentrate all its efforts on holding the stalled parliamentary elections. ‘The people are passing through a suffocating situation due to the abnormal price-hikes of essentials,’ said Hafiz. ‘The government should introduce rationing system for the ultra-poor.’

The interim government has put into final forms three ordinances, one on the proposed local government commission and two others on city corporations and municipalities, likely to be promulgated this month.
   The draft ordinances aimed at strengthening local government bodies will be placed at the next meeting of the council of advisers for approval.
   The proposed Local Govern-ment Commission Ordinance 2008, Local Government (City Corporation) Ordinance 2008 and the Local Government (Municipality) Ordinance 2008 were put into final forms at an inter-ministerial meeting at the secretariat on Tuesday.
   Presiding over the meeting, the LGRD and cooperatives adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, told reporters the ordinances were likely to be promulgated by March so that the Election Commission could start holding local government polls, which are already due, in May in keeping with the electoral roadmap.
   ‘Elections to many local government bodies have for long been due. There is also High Court order for holding local government polls [upazila] the deadline of which was extended by six months for several times,’ Iqbal said.
   Asked whether the government wants the local body polls before or after the general elections, he said, the responsibility lies with the Election Commission and the government will just help the commission in conducting the polls. ‘After the promulgation of the ordinances, the responsibility for holding all local government elections will also lie with the Election Commission.’
   He said the new laws would bar lawmakers from interfering in the activities of the local government bodies. ‘Even the authority of the ministry over the local government bodies has been curtailed. The ministry will not directly interfere in local body functions.’
   The draft laws — Local Government (City Corporation) Ordinance, Government (Municipality) Ordinance, and Local Government (Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Zila Parishad) Ordinance, were framed by a high-powered committee on strengthening local government bodies in 2007.
   ‘After the cabinet in principle approves the draft laws, they will be sent to the law ministry for vetting.’ the adviser said.
   The council of advisers on Monday amended the Upazila Parishad Act, revoking the authority of parliament members over the councils and empowering the Election Commission to announce schedules for holding polls to the local government bodies.
   The ordinance on the city corporation suggests including chairmen of development authorities, deputy commissioners, metropolitan police commissioners and officials from utility services and the Directorate General of Health Services as councillors for the corporation.
   Population density in a municipality will not be less than 2,000 per square miles three-fourth of which will be engaged in agriculture with 33 per cent of land being non-agricultural, says the draft ordinance on the municipality. The municipalities not complying with the new laws would be dissolved, the adviser said.
   The draft suggested reserving 40 per cent seats for women at all levels of the local government for three consecutive terms on rotation, which will be published in gazettes by the government in consultation with the Election Commission.
   The draft laws for the local government bodies have identified their sources of revenue and redefined their jurisdictions and functions.
   Registration of tutorial schools, coaching centres and private hospitals with the local government bodies have been made mandatory, according to the draft ordinances.
   The committee on strengthening local government bodies, formed on June 3, 2007, also recommended setting up a local government commission to monitor and evaluate the overall activities of the local government bodies. The LGRD and cooperatives ministry is now the regulatory authority of local government institutions.

The finance ministry has allocated Tk 700 crore as subsidies to Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, now struggling with liquidity crisis, to meet the growing import bill because of soaring fuel prices in international market.
   The ministry disbursed Tk 400 crore to BPC last week to meet the bill for February and would provide the rest of the amount by the end of this month for the month of March, officials at the energy division said.
   The corporation earlier sought Tk 6,000 crore as subsidies from the government as it will incur a loss of similar amount in the current fiscal year due to record high oil prices in international market and lower selling prices in local market.
   ‘The division will again seek subsidies from the government as Tk 700 crore is not sufficient given that the corporation’s loss will be Tk 6,000 crore,’ said an official.
   ‘By April, the ministries will know about the trend of total implementation of Annual Development Programme. We think a significant amount of fund from the current ADP will remain unused for slow implementation rate. We are looking for that unused fund for BPC,’ he added.
   Sources in the BPC said the total fund required for BPC this fiscal year might cross $4.5 million for meeting import cost and repaying the previous loans of the banks, including that of Islamic Development Bank.
   ‘BPC will get only around $2 billion from the market by selling fuel. IDB will provide around $1.2 billion. Bangladesh Bank has given $300 million as loan. So the corporation is looking for the rest of the amount,’ said a source.
   Energy officials said immediate crisis of liquidity that would have hampered fuel import
   was over after the corporation had got the allocation from
   the finance ministry. ‘IDB
   is likely to disburse $500 million by next month,’ said an official.
   Besides, the official said, they were hoping of getting a decision from the government on taking $500 million from BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered Bank soon.
   BPC last month informed the energy division that it had fund for opening only two letters of credit for import of around 60,000 tonnes of fuel against average monthly need of around 3 lakh tonnes.
   The energy division has sent proposal for borrowing $250 million from Paribas to the hard term loan committee, headed by the finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, and another proposal to borrow $250 million will also be sent to the same committee.

The number of forced marriages involving young women from Britain being taken abroad to wed is likely far higher than first thought, an official report said Tuesday.
   While a government unit investigating forced marriage deals with just 300 cases a year, the true figure could be up to 4,000, the home office-funded study into the issue said.
   There are 300 inquiries about the issue every year in one town alone, said the report’s author Dr Nazia Khanum, citing figures for Luton, a town near London with a high immigrant population.
   ‘It’s a reasonable assumption that it is the tip of the iceberg,’ she said, noting that with rape and domestic violence only 10 to 12 per cent of cases are thought to be reported.
   Sayeeda Warsi, a Muslim member of the House of Lords, said forced marriages should be treated as a criminal offence like domestic violence, to protect young women from ethnic minorities.
   ‘As a society we draw a line in the sand,’ she told GMTV. ‘This is not a culturally sensitive issue, this is an abhorrent act which we must stand together on.’
   Khanum added: ‘Forced marriage has nothing to do with religion. It is a part of a patriarchal system where parents believe they know what is best for their children.’
   But the government argues that criminalising forced marriage would only drive it underground.
   The home office minister, Alan West, told the House of Lords Monday: ‘The difficulty is that these things happen in families. We have taken a lot of advice and talked to many people.
   ‘There is a feeling that the crime would go even further underground because people generally do not want to put their families through this.’
   A separate study to be released Tuesday highlights how many children have suddenly stopped attending school, amid fears that some have been forced into marriages against their will.
   The BBC said it had been told by one teenage Pakistani girl that she was withdrawn from school aged 13, taken to Pakistan and forced to marry a man who raped her.
   She blamed the British authorities for failing to launch a search for her. ‘I think they let me down,’ she said. ‘I did still secretly think when I was in Pakistan, the school might search for me.
   ‘Nobody looked for me. It was horrific.’
   It was disclosed this month that 33 girls were missing from schools in the northern English city of Bradford despite efforts to locate them. It is feared they have been forced into marriages.

At least 39 people were killed across Iraq on Tuesday, including 16 in a bomb attack against a bus on Tuesday as US and Iraqi officials began talks on the future US military presence in the country.
   The day’s biggest attack was against a passenger bus travelling from the southern port city of Basra to Nasiriyah when it was struck by a bomb, some 430 kilometres south of Baghdad, the Nasiriyah police Lieutenant Colonel Ali Siwan said.
   At least 16 people were killed and 22 wounded, he said.
   Elsewhere in Iraq, 22 people were killed, including eight when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car against a checkpoint manned by Iraqi soldiers and members of a local group fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq, the police said.
   The attack took place in Dhuluiya, 70 kilometres from the capital in Salaheddin province, at around 3:15pm, local police Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Khalid said.
   Around 80,000 Iraqis, mostly Sunni Arabs, have allied with the US military to fight al-Qaeda forming local groups called Al-Sahwa or Awakening.
   These groups, paid by the Americans, have increasingly faced attacks from the Islamist group in the past few months.
   Fourteen people were killed in clashes between militants and security forces, including nine in the northern city of Mosul and five in the central Shia city of Kut.
   The latest violence came a day after insurgents killed eight US soldiers in two separate attacks, making Monday the deadliest day for American forces in seven months.
   Five US soldiers were killed and three wounded in a suicide attack in the once upscale neighbourhood of Mansur in Baghdad, the military said, while insurgents killed three more US troops and their translator in Diyala province, the theatre of a joint US-Iraqi sweep of al-Qaeda targets.
   The latest deaths bring the US military’s death toll since the March 2003 invasion to 3,983, according to an AFP tally based on independent web site.

Several hundred farmers blocked the Khulna-Satkhira highway at Madanpur bazar for about four hours Tuesday demanding adequate supply of fertilisers for paddy fields.
   Witnesses said farmers started demonstrating at the bazar under Tala upazila in Satkhira from 7:00 am alleging that they were not getting fertilisers for their paddy fields for about past two weeks.
   They put logs to block the Khulna-Satkhira highway and shouted slogans demanding enough fertilisers.
   Traffic was disrupted for about four hours on Khulna-Satkhira and Satkhira-Jessore routes until Tala upazila nirbahi officer and agriculture officer came to the spot with police escort at 11:00 am and assured that adequate fertilisers would be supplied within 24 hours.
   Tala UNO Oliullah Mia told New Age that farmers brought 16,000 hectares under paddy cultivation this season while the official target was 12,000 hectares.
   The upazila administration was distributing fertilisers through nine dealers and 36 sub-dealers in his thana area.
   He said that they had already got eight tonnes of urea fertiliser, while 18 tonnes more were on the way to Tala.
   The UNO hoped that they would be able to supply fertilisers as per requirement from today.

The Armed Forces Division has taken the charge of operation against fertiliser smuggling as the menace continues through both land and river routes, aggravating crisis of the key agriculture input, said home ministry officials.
   Members of the armed forces now deployed in aid of civil administration will be coordinating the operation previously launched by navy, coastguards, Bangladesh Rifles and police to check fertiliser smuggling.
   The home ministry sent letters, signed by assistant secretary Shamsul Haq, to the inspector general of police and director generals of navy and coastguards end of last month informing them about the initiative.
   The directive says under the ongoing ‘Operation in Search for Light’, the armed forces would provide civil administration the necessary assistance to check fertiliser smuggling.
   It has been alleged for years that a section of unscrupulous traders in connivance with concerned officials have been smuggling fertiliser out to Myanmar and India to gain from the price differences.
   The BNP-led alliance regime launched a number of drives, including Operation Bay Strip and Operation Naya Digonta, to check the illegal trade of fertiliser. Navy, coastguards and BDR then intensified anti-smuggling efforts, seizing huge amount of fertilisers and arresting smugglers.
   But the drives lost steam and the godfathers, who outsmarted security people by applying new tactics, remained out of the dragnet. Shortage of manpower and inadequate logistics were blamed for the failure of previous drives, prompting the authorities to launch new drives, involving the armed forces.
   Sufficient members from the armed and paramilitary forces as well as administrative people are now engaged in the reinforced drives all over the land and waterways across the country.
   ‘They are monitoring the supplies from fertiliser factories while Rapid Action Battalion will give information on smuggling,’ the latest directive says, adding the deployed armed forces, as per the emergency power rules 2007, will enjoy the power of conducting search and arrest any suspects without warrant.
   ‘They can also take necessary measures, including applying force to execute an order,’ says the directive.
   While applying the powers, members of the armed forces were asked to remain alert so that innocent persons are not harassed. ‘They were also asked to hand over the arrested persons to police in the quickest possible time.’
   There will be no timetable of the operation, which will be concluded if and when the Armed Forces Division will want.
   The intelligence agencies have been asked to give timely information to executing agencies.
   For the operation, the forces will get necessary firearms and ammunition from their respective headquarters.
   As per the directive, this deployment of armed forces will be within the purview of “In Aid to the Civil Power” and all the expense regarding the operation, including transports, vessels and fuel cost, allowance and telephone will be met from the “Operation in Search for Light.”
   The Armed Forces Division has spotted the strategic smuggling routes and worked out the operation roadmap.
   Home ministry officials said the latest move was necessitated due to the failure of previous anti-smuggling drives.
   About shortage of manpower and logistics, an official said negligence and irregularities of those involved in previous operations were also responsible for unbridled smuggling of fertiliser, edible oil and diesel.
   The monthly report of BDR also shows how widespread the smuggling of both legal and contraband goods is.
   The national committee to resist smuggling in its last meeting on February 18 expressed serious concern over the increasing volume of smuggling, especially currency and fertiliser.
   The meeting asked police, Bangladesh Rifles, coastguards and Bangladesh Navy to intensify drives against smuggling across the land and sea borders as well as inside the country.

Academic activities at Jagannath University came to a standstill on Tuesday after protests over an alleged assault on a teacher.
   Teachers, general students, employees as well as members of other student bodies took part in the protests.
   The teacher’s forum announced a five-point programme to condemn the incident. Scheduled classes and exams were not held.
   The teacher was meted out indecent behaviour on Sunday when she refused to permit a group of ‘unruly students’, led by Md Imran Hossain and Md Yunus, to take another student, Shahinur Rahman Ovi, out of a Bangla Department classroom saying that permission would not be granted while class was in progress.
   The group of students, angered by the refusal, later also got on the same bus of the teacher and allegedly assaulted her.
   Several teachers and students took part in the demonstration that started around 8:00am Tuesday and took out a procession from Kala Bhaban through the JU campus to gather in front of the Shaheed Minar around 11:00am.
   Addressing the gathering, Dr Nurul Alam said, ‘We will continue our demonstration until these criminals in the guise of students are punished.’
   Science faculty dean and Teachers Forum conveyor Dr Abu Yusuf announced the five-point programme that includes expulsion of the students responsible, suspension of classes until justice is ensured, arrest of the offenders within 24 hours, submission of a memorandum to the home affairs adviser and IGP and demonstration in front of Shaheed Minar from 11:00am every day wearing black badges.
   Chhatra Dal, Chhatra League and Chhatra Union held joint protests on campus.
   Meanwhile, Bangla department Professor Amena Khatun in a case filed with Kotoali police station on behalf of her colleague accused third-year social sciences student Md Imran Hossain, and second-year student Md Yunus of involvement in the incident.
   Vice-chancellor SI Khan said the offenders would be expelled and punished severely after the investigation committee filed its report.

Former secretary AKM Shamsuddin has been appointed Bangladesh high commissioner to Kenya for a two-year term on contractual basis, said an official announcement on Tuesday.

Pro-monarchists in Nepal launched an election manifesto Tuesday ahead of April 10 polls vowing to save the embattled monarchy from abolition by holding a referendum.
   King Gyanendra looks set to be the last in his 239-year-old line after the government agreed last year that the monarchy will be scrapped in the first meeting of the assembly elected to rewrite the constitution.
   ‘Parliamentary democracy with constitutional monarchy is the only reliable alternative for Nepal,’ said Kamal Thapa, chairman of the Rastriya Prajantantra Party-Nepal at the launch of its manifesto.
   Thapa – who was home minister during 14 months of direct rule by the king that ended after huge protests in April 2006 – told journalists the decision to abolish the monarchy was not one the interim government could take.
   ‘The decision by the seven parties to abolish monarchy is unconstitutional and contradictory,’ Thapa said, referring to the six mainstream parties and the former rebel Maoists who make up Nepal’s caretaker government.
   ‘We are of the view that the final decision about monarchy should be taken by holding a public referendum,’ Thapa said.

Natural and man-made disasters killed 20,000 people in 2007 and cost the world economy more than 70 billion dollars (45 billion euros), reinsurer Swiss Re said Tuesday.
   The world was hit by 142 natural catastrophes and 192 man-made disasters in 2007, the company said in a report, with most deaths in Bangladesh, India, China and Pakistan as a result of heavy flooding and cyclones, the report said.
   The statistics ‘confirm a trend towards an increase in the number – and cost – of natural catastrophes and man-made disasters,’ Swiss Re said.
   Industrial fires, explosions and aviation and spacecraft losses topped the list of man-made disasters, which in total claimed 6,900 lives in 2007.
   ‘Shipping and boating accidents as well as bombings and social unrest caused the most casualties,’ the report said.
   Europe was unusually hard-hit by natural disasters in 2007, with insured property losses amounting to around 11 billion dollars after both winter storm Kyrill, which hit much of northern Europe, and summer flooding in Britain.

Assets worth Tk 30 lakh were gutted in a fire that broke out at a textile and spinning mill in Kadam Rasul area under Sitakunda upazila in the district Tuesday morning.
   Fire service and civil defence sources said the fire originated from an electric short circuit at around 10:10am at Sunman Textile and Spinning Mill, owned by Abdul Mannan, secretary general of Bikalpadhara Bangladesh.
   Two fire-fighting units rushed to the spot and put out the fire after two hours’ efforts, but assets, including raw materials and machinery, were damaged in the fire by this time, the sources added.