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The military-controlled interim government has said it will hold parliamentary and upazila elections on the dates already announced, December 18 and 28 respectively, as talks with the two major political camps have failed.
   ‘Parliamentary and upazila elections will go ahead as scheduled as there has been no consensus between the political alliances on the proposals put forward by the government and the Election Commission despite multifarious communications, sincerity and all-out efforts,’ a key adviser to the government, Hossain Zillur Rahman, told a briefing Wednesday evening.
   He briefed the media after hectic consultations with all concerned, political parties and the election authorities.
   The announcement came an hour before the expiry of the deadline set by one of the two political alliances headed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
   Khaleda on Monday gave the government 48 hours to meet her four-point demand and allow her party and allies to contest the polls.
   The deadline expired at 9:00pm Wednesday.
   Khaleda, also the Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, placed the four-point charter of demands, including a complete withdrawal of the state of emergency, deferral of polling dates for both parliamentary and upazila polls, allowing Hajj pilgrims, who might not be in Bangladesh during the polls, to exercise their franchise and suspension of application of Article 91(E) of the Representation of the People Order, which empowered the commission to cancel any nomination papers at any stage.
   As the alliance led by the BNP announced the deadline, the government held talks with both the alliances, one headed by Khaleda and the other by the Awami League chief, Sheikh Hasina, also a former prime minister, with specific proposals, including delay of the general elections by 10 days in response to the BNP-led alliance’s demands.
   But the rival political camps failed to reach a consensus on the government proposals, the government said.
   Briefing newsmen, Hossain Zillur Rahman said although the demand for delaying the polls came at the eleventh hour, the government in consultation with the Election Commission put forth four specific proposals before the political camps in greater national interests.
   Four other advisers — Ghulam Quader, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Hassan Ariff and Anwarul Iqbal — who pursued the parleys with the political camps attended the briefing.
   The advisers earlier held meetings with the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, in his office. The army chief and the heads of security agencies also attended.
   The government’s specific proposals included rescheduling of the national elections to December 28, instead of December 18, a complete withdrawal of the state of emergency before parliamentary polls considering law and order on the ground, holding of the upazila elections on January 8 and assurance for the highest caution and procedural transparency in the application of Article 91(E) of the Representation of the People Order.
   According to sources involved in the parleys, the BNP-led alliance agreed to the government’s proposal for deferral of polls, but insisted on immediate and complete withdrawal of the emergency and suspension of the Article 91(E) of the Representation of the People Order.
   Zillur, however, hoped all parties would contest the December 18 polls and vowed that the government would take all necessary measures to ensure peace and order during the polls.
   The BNP-led alliance said it might contest the polls on the deferred dates as proposed by the government if the emergency was withdrawn completely from the last date for withdrawal of candidature and the Article 91(E) was suspended.
   The alliance ‘condemned and protested at’ the decision of the interim government to hold parliamentary elections on December 18 under the state of emergency.
   ‘We strongly condemn and protest at the government’s decision made without consultation with us to hold one-sided elections under the state of emergency,’ the BNP’s secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said at a briefing an hour after the 48-hour ultimatum had expired.
   Delwar blamed the government for announcing the date although the commerce adviser, after a meeting with the BNP chief on Monday night, had said the dialogue would continue.
   The people will not accept got-up elections under the state of emergency, he said, asking the government to take immediate measures to implement its four-point charter of demands.
   He alleged the government was trying to implement a ‘blue-print’ to hold ‘one-sided elections’ under the state of emergency ‘keeping the alliance out of the electoral race’ with an aim to form a ‘rubber-stamp parliament’ to establish a ‘puppet government.’

The Election Commission Wednesday night extended for three days the deadline to submit nomination papers for both parliamentary and upazila elections, which was scheduled to expire today.
   The deadline for submission of nomination papers has been deferred for three days to November 23, election commissioners confirmed journalists when asked over telephone.
   The polling dates — December 18 for parliament and December 28 for upazila — will remain unchanged, chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said.
   The commission on November 2 announced the polls schedules, setting November 13 as the last date for submitting nomination papers for both the elections. The commission on November 6 revised the schedules, keeping the polling dates unchanged, and set November 20 as the last date for submitting nomination papers.
   Earlier, in the evening, the CEC said if major political parties could reach a consensus, the commission would defer the schedule of the parliamentary elections to December 28, pushing it back 10 days.
   ‘We are still sticking to the existing elections schedules, but we are ready to reschedule it for the sake of participation of all parties,’ he told newsmen while leaving office. He also said that they had proposed the government a 10-day deferral of the polling date from December 18.
   Shamsul, however, reaffirmed their stand that the polls would be held within December. ‘There is a High Court order for holding the parliament elections within December.’
   The CEC and two other commissioners, earlier in the day, had a meeting with chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed and waited for government decision about rescheduling.
   ‘We have waited until the evening, but we are yet to get any hints in this regard from the advisers. We are now leaving the office. If we revise the polls schedule it will be made tomorrow (Thursday),’ the CEC said at 5:45pm.
   He said every thing would be done on the basis of consent of the two alliances, led by the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. ‘So far I know, advisers continued efforts to bring all the parties to the elections. We want to hold elections with all parties,’ he added.
   He said the upazila elections, now slated for December 28, would be held after the general elections if it was deferred.
   The commissioners on Wednesday met for a second time in 24 hours in the wake of intense negotiations on Tuesday over the election schedules.
   Asked whether the deadline for nomination submission was being extended, the CEC said after the first meeting, ‘We have given our views and stick to our previous schedule for now.’ ‘Now it is a matter of understanding between the government and the political parties. The government will brief all in this regard,’ he said at about 12:30pm.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance on Wednesday termed ‘partisan, unacceptable and extreme’ the military-controlled interim government’s decision of holding the suspended ninth parliamentary elections on December 18
   amid the state of emergency.
   The alliance alleged the government was trying to implement a ‘blueprint to hold one-sided elections’ under the state of emergency ‘keeping the alliance out of the electoral race to form a rubber stamp parliament and establish a puppet government’.
   It asked the government to take immediate measures to implement its four-point charter of demands, which include a complete withdrawal of the state of emergency and announcement of a fresh schedule for the general elections to hold fair and acceptable polls with the participation of all political parties.
   ‘We strongly condemn the government and protest at its decision, made without completing discussion with us, to hold one-sided elections amid the state of emergency,’ the BNP’s secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain said at 10:00pm, an hour after the 48-hour ultimatum given by the alliance chief, Khaleda Zia on Monday, had expired.
   ‘It is a partisan, unacceptable and extreme decision. The government has blocked the way for free and neutral elections. The people will not accept got-up elections amid the state of emergency,’ he said.
   For the alliance to contest the general elections, Khaleda on Monday gave the government 48 hours to meet its four demands — a complete withdrawal of the state of emergency, announcement of afresh schedule ‘for the sake of Hajj pilgrims,’ repeal of Section 91(e) of the Representation of the People Order which gives the Election Commission ‘despotic’ power to cancel candidature, and deferral of upazila polls by a month after the parliamentary elections polling date.
   Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman on Wednesday evening said, ‘The government wanted to defer the general elections till December 28 and upazila polls till January 8, but it now plans to hold the national polls on December18 in keeping with the announced schedule as major parties failed to reach a consensus.’
   ‘We are election-oriented parties. We want to participate in polls. This is why we place a seven-point charter of demands to create an atmosphere conducive holding fair and participatory elections. The government in principle accepted six demands. But it did not implement them,’ Delwar said. ‘The alliance leader [Khaleda] discontinued pressing for three demands in a gesture of our willingness to contest the polls and asked the government to implement the remaining four of the demands which, we believe, are necessary for acceptable and participatory polls.’
   He said, ‘The advisers discussed the demands with us [on Tuesday] and said the discussion would continue. We were waiting for further discussion on Wednesday. But they [the government] did neither consult nor contact us before clearing their stance on holding the polls on December 18.’
   ‘They, in fact, want to implement a blue print to hold one-sided elections under the state of emergency keeping the alliance out of the electoral race to form a rubber stamp parliament to establish a puppet government,’ he said.
   Asked where the alliance will contest the polls if the government would not implement the demands, he said, ‘Let us see. We may come up again [to brief the press] tomorrow.’
   Before sending Delwar to the briefing, Khaleda discussed implications of the government’s decision at emergency meetings with top alliance leaders in her house in the Dhaka cantonment and in her office at Gulshan.
   Delwar, standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, joint secretary general Nazrul Islam Khan and central leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, Jamaat-e-Islami amir Matiur Rahman Nizami and secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, Bangladesh Jatiya Party faction chairman Andaleeb Rahman and secretary general Shamim Al Mamun and Islami Oikya Jote secretary general Abdul Latif Nezami attended the meetings.

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday urged all political parties to contest the December 18 parliamentary polls and sought their full cooperation for a smooth transition to democracy.
   She also said her party is fully prepared for a journey to democracy through the national elections.
   ‘All political parties should join the national elections on December 18 and all should come forward for transition to democracy by contesting the elections,’ Hasina was quoted by her special assistant Hasan Mahmud as saying.
   Hasina was talking with reporters after a meeting with the Australian high commissioner in Dhaka, Douglas Foskett, in Sudha Sadan.
   As for the BNP’s demand for deferral of national polls, Hasina said deferment of the national elections as demanded by a single party was ‘immoral.’
   ‘Sheikh Hasina said the elections could not be deferred for a single party’s lack of preparation as the party earlier welcomed the polling date,’ Mahmud said.
   The Awami League wants the December 18 polls to be held on time, Mahmud said. ‘We want the elections to be held on December 18 for the restoration democracy to the country.’
   He said the Australian envoy also hoped that the elections would be held in keeping with the schedule announced by the chief adviser and the Election Commission.
   At the meeting, Hasina requested the Australian envoy to come up with more investments in Bangladesh, Mahmud said.
   Coming out of the meeting which lasted for an hour, Foskett told reporters he had hoped that elections would take place on time and the Election Commission was working in this direction.
   In reply to a query about the BNP’s participation in the polls, he said it was the matter of the BNP, and the people and the caretaker administration.

The government has decided to work out strategies to attract new foreign buyers for garment and frozen foods and take advantage of the current global economic crisis, officials said.
   The commerce ministry has convened a meeting for November 30 and invited reputed international buyers and their representatives to hear from them about their requirements, ministry sources said.
   Invitations have been sent to 66 foreign buyers — 48 of garment sector and 18 of frozen foods, they said.
   The ministry opted for such a meeting directly with the buyers in view of repeated demands from the garment and frozen food exporters for providing them with cash subsidies to make up for what they claimed lower rates offered by the buyers.
   ‘We would like to talk face-to-face with the buyers to help our exporters get good prices for their items,’ said an official of the ministry.
   Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association president AKM Fazlul Hoque appreciating the initiative said it would be helpful for them.
   A meeting of the commerce ministry, chaired by its adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman, last week discussed the strategies and felt it necessary in the context of global financial meltdown.
   Alongside posing challenges for businesses, the latest global situation is also believed to have offered new opportunities for countries like Bangladesh in view of its competitive advantage in a number of areas.
   ‘We want to know foreign importers’ wish lists as well as their demands for our products at this point of the recession in the West and elsewhere in the world,’ a high official of commence ministry told New Age on Tuesday.
   The ministry also identified strategies to divert export orders from the European Union and the United States corresponding to their demands.
   As part of the strategies, the commerce ministry has decided to spend Tk 20 crore
   every year to train young people for convincing the foreign buyers to import Bangladeshi goods.

The provision in the electoral laws making it mandatory for independent candidates to secure support of one per cent of the voters for contesting parliamentary elections appears impractical as most of the voters want to remain unexposed before the polls.
   Rights defenders and jurists have termed the provision unnecessary saying that it may discourage many aspirants, who have no political affiliation, from taking part in the elections. It will curtail individuals’ rights to seek mandate to serve the people, they pointed out.
   Talking to New Age, many others, including aspirants and voters, said that such a provision in the electoral law would undermine secret ballot and confine the fray to the political parties.
   ‘Securing voters’ support in advance will be tough for a candidate…It will create many problems…’, said rights defender Sultana Kamal, also a former adviser to the caretaker government. ‘The provision is unnecessary’, she said adding that the government must see whether it curtailed the individuals’ rights.
   As part of the electoral law reforms, the military-backed government incorporated a provision in the electoral law that an independent candidate must submit a list of signatures of one per cent of the total voters of the electoral constituency concerned in support of his candidature. If the candidate was elected previously in any parliamentary elections, he is not required to submit such a list along with the nomination papers.
   Shadeen Malik, a legal expert who teaches law at the private BRAC University, said that the provision would help manage a better election. He termed the provision reasonable. It does not violate a citizen’s right to contest the polls although a writ has been filed with the court challenging the provision.
   But the aspirants found the provision difficult while collecting support for their candidature.
   ‘I have given up my plan to contest the polls since the process has been made tougher’, Nazrul Islam Khan, an independent aspirant for Khulna-3 constituency comprising Khalishpur and Daulatpur, said. He said that it was normally difficult to run as an independent candidate in elections, and now the provision had made it even tougher.
   When contacted over phone, a number of other independent aspirants in districts criticised the provision which came into being in late August along with the package of electoral and political reforms announced by the military-backed government.
   Zafar Alam, a councillor of Chittagong City Corporation, said securing voters’ support in advance was very difficult. ‘I’ve sent out my people to collect signatures of voters, but most of the voters have refused to sign’, said Alam, who still hopes he could obtain signatures of the required number of voters to be eligible as an independent candidate. He said he needed to have signatures of over 3,000 voters in the constituency.
   However, a candidate in Rajshahi, said it would not be a problem for her to have support from the voters.
   ‘They [voters] assured me of putting their signatures in my favour so that I can pursue their issues if I get elected to parliament’, said independent aspirant Afroza Naznin who previously worked for a non-governmental organisation.
   In Sylhet, a candidate for Kanaighat-Jokiganj constituency said the signature issue should have been kept suspended for now. He said in many places the voters roll was yet to be available.
   ‘How could the candidates pursue the voters for signatures when the voters’ list is not there’, said the candidate, Ahmad Ali Kabir.
   The candidates contesting on party tickets have to submit eight mandatory information, including, an affidavit signed by the candidate which shall include eight specific information, including a photocopy of the highest educational certificate, if he is accused in any criminal cases, or have criminal records, description of his profession or business, income sources, statement of property or debt, promises made and fulfilled in the past and information on bank loans.
   Also they need to submit a certificate from any political party confirming his nomination.

The police were on Wednesday put on alert across the country, according to an order issued by the police headquarters.
   The order has been issued only a day before the submission of nomination papers closes on Thursday while a major political camp stood its ground of keeping off the elections if its demand were not met by the Wednesday night deadline.
   A police superintendent of a south-western district Wednesday afternoon told New Age over telephone that he had received the order.
   ‘Policemen who are on leave have been asked to report immediately to the units concerned,’ an officer of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said, quoting the circular.
   There is nothing special about this because such orders were issued regularly, said information officer in the police headquarters.

The US-based National Democratic Institute has urged the ‘military-backed’ caretaker government to withdraw the state of emergency at the earliest and the military to play its proper role in a democratic society and refrain from intervening into political and electoral process.
   The not-for-profit US organisation working to strengthen and expand democracy across the world also observed that broad participation in fair and credible elections was an essential feature of democracy. It hoped that the caretaker government and political parties should ‘quickly resolve’ outstanding issues to make the elections more inclusive.
   The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs made a set of recommendations for the caretaker government, the military, political parties, Election Commission, and civil society for a democratic transition in Bangladesh through free, fair and participatory elections.
   The NDI has come up with the observations after making a pre-election assessment involving stakeholders of the electoral process between November 16 and 19.
   ‘The delegation has arrived in Bangladesh at a critical time. After almost two years of rule by a military-backed caretaker government, the nation is on the eve of national elections,’ the institute’s board member Sam Gejdenson, also a former US congressman, said.
   He said the NDI delegation included Cambodian parliament member Saumura Tioulong, senior associate and regional director for the NDI’s Asia programme Peter Manikas and NDI Bangladesh resident senior director Jacqueline Corcoran.
   Gejdenson said if the elections were participatory and conducted in an impartial manner, this would be an important step towards restoring the democratic process.
   ‘If, however, the elections fail to gain the confidence of Bangladesh’s citizens, they could lead to a continued erosion of the nation’s democratic institutions and further entrench the role of the military in governing the country,’ he said.
   In reply to a query whether the elections would be widely accepted if one of the two major political camps boycotted the scheduled elections, Gejdenson said the elections would be widely accepted with broader participation both of voters and political parties.
   Comparing the latest election scenario with the situation of the suspended January 22, 2007 polls, he said the situation was now better and there was potential for free, fair and excellent elections. ‘People are eagerly waiting for violence-free and army-free election.’
   In the recommendations, the NDI placed 15 points to make free, fair and participatory elections.
   The recommendations included withdrawal of the state of emergency for the beginning of political activities as soon as possible, no deployment of army personnel on the election day in polling stations or in a manner which could appear intimidating to voters or could interfering in the electoral process.
   Elaborating the recommendations, Tioulong said the military should accept its proper role in a democratic society and refrain from intervening into the political and electoral process.
   She said the caretaker government should continue holding talks with the political parties and the Election Commission to ensure a broader participation, act in a completely neutral manner and refrain from actions which appear in favour or against any candidate.
   On the role of political parties, the NDI said the parties should agree to sustain several of the caretaker government’s reforms and use their elected roles in the parliament as the principal forum for a constructive deliberation on issues and dispute resolution.
   The NDI suggested that the Election Commission should review campaign finance limitations in consultation with the parties, review the switching off mobile network on the polling date and find alternatives, provide electoral roll both in print and soft form which could ensure the candidates to reach eligible voters and take up measures which could help minority groups to ensure their rights on the election day and not being subjected to post-election violence.
   Civil society should also educate the public on the need for refraining from violence, and accountability to law through and beyond the elections.

Al-Qaeda number two Ayman Zawahiri condemned US president-elect Barack Obama as a ‘house negro’ and warned him against sending more troops to Afghanistan, in an internet audio message released on Wednesday.
   Zawahiri insulted Obama and other black Americans who have held high office in the US administration with the term used by the late black militant leader Malcolm X.
   ‘It is true about you and people like you ... what Malcolm X said about the house negroes,’ he said, naming former secretary of state Colin Powell and the current secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.
   An English transcript of the speech purportedly by the al-Qaeda number two was provided by al-Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab.
   The tape features an old speech by Malcolm X in which he used the two terms, referring to house slaves who were considered more docile and on better terms with their masters than the field slaves.
   On the political front, Zawahiri said: ‘What you have announced before ... that you will withdraw US troops from Iraq and send them to Afghanistan is a policy that is doomed to failure ...
   ‘If you still want to be stubborn about America’s failure in Afghanistan, then remember the fate of the US president, George W Bush, and Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf, and the fate of the Soviets and British before them.’
   In the message made available by SITE Intelligence Group in the United States, Zawahiri warned Obama of a ‘heavy legacy of failure’ awaiting him in office.
   ‘Beware that the (stray) dogs of Afghanistan have savoured the taste of your soldiers’ flesh, so do send them in thousands,’ said the closest aide to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
   In a major interview aired on Sunday, Obama vowed no retreat from his campaign promise to begin pulling troops out of Iraq and switch the military focus to Afghanistan.
   Zawahiri’s message, titled ‘the departure of Bush and arrival of Obama,’ was aired in a videotape featuring a portrait of Zawahiri with a white turban, next to Obama’s picture praying at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem during a pre-election visit to Israel.
   The backdrop also shows a picture of Malcolm X, the African American Muslim leader who was assassinated in 1965.
   ‘You represent the opposite to honourable Black Americans like ... Malcolm X,’ Zawahiri said, while old footage of Malcolm X’s speeches on human rights and equality was played.
   He scolded Obama for ‘choosing to be an enemy of Islam and Muslims,’ saying that the Muslim ‘nation had bitterly received’ Obama’s pledge of support to Israel.
   ‘You have chosen to stand in the ranks of the enemies of Muslims and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim that your mother is Christian,’ Zawahiri added.

The Awami League on Wednesday handed over nomination letters to at least 15 candidates for the December 18 ninth parliamentary polls when protests by supporters of candidates who were denied nomination continued.
   The party’s parliamentary board, headed by the party president, Sheikh Hasina, distributed the nomination letters, signed by her, among the candidates at Sudha Sadan.
   More than 230 party leaders received nomination in the three days while more than 150 aspirants received nomination letters on the first day of the process on Monday and more than 55 on Tuesday.
   The leaders who received nomination on Wednesday are Quamrul Islam for the Dhaka 2 constituency, Mustafa Jalal Mohiuddin for Dhaka 7, Saber Hossain Chowdhury for Dhaka 9, Asaduzzaman Kamal for Dhaka 11, Aslamul Huq Aslam for Dhaka 14, Kamal Ahmed Majumdar for Dhaka 15, Ilias Molla for Dhaka 16 and Sanjida Khanam for Dhaka 4.
   Saimum Sarwar Chowdhury received nomination for Cox’s Bazar 3, Mohammad Ali for Cox’s Bazar 4, ABM Pearul Islam for Chittagong 2, Manirul Islam Moni for Barisal 2, Abu Sayed Al Mahmud Swapan for Jaipurhut 2, AHK Mokammel Haque for Gazipur 1 and Jyotindralal Tripura for the Khagrachari constituency.
   Mazharul Huq Pradhan received nomination for the Panchagarh 1 constituency replacing Mirza Gloam Erfan Babu. Hasina made the change after Babu had withdrawn his candidature because of his son’s illness in London.
   Nazmunnahar Munni received nomination for the Noakhali 3 constituency in replacing Mamunur Rashid Kiran. Awami League leaders and activists in some places went out on demonstrations in protest at nominations and some leaders’ not being nominated by the party’s parliamentary board.
   The aspirants who were denied nomination continued with their protests for the third day on Wednesday outside Sudha Sadan.Some supporters of Kamal Ahmed Majumder assaulted the party’s Dhaka city unit acting general secretary Qumarul Islam in front of Sudha Sadan. But the reason behind the assault could not be immediately known.
   Supporters of Abu Sayeed formed a human chain demanding nomination for him. They said Hasina had selected Shamsul Islam Tuku for the Pabna 1 constituency neglecting Abu Sayeed to make it easy for ‘war criminal’ Matiur Rahman Nizami to win.
   Supporters of Haji Rahim held demonstrations against the party decision of giving nomination to Abul Basher for the Feni 3 constituency while supporters of Lutfor Rahman brought out a procession demanding party nomination for Lutfor, instead of Sanjida Khanam.

The government, as part of initiative to check use of black money in the upcoming polls, has intensified monitoring in financial institutions to check money laundering, a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank said on Wednesday.
   ‘Keeping the elections in mind, we [Central Bank] have strengthened vigilance to prevent money laundering,’ Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Ziaul Hassan Siddiqui said. Inaugurating a workshop on Money Laundering Prevention Act 2008, he also said the Central Bank was keeping sharp watch on weather militant outfits like Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh were being finance by any sort of money laundering through the financial institutions or others.
   The workshop, organised by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, focused on how the Money Laundering Act 2002 could be amended effectively and how it could counter terror-financing and fit with advance banking transactions. Institute president Farooq Sobhan chaired the inaugural session. Responding to journalists, Ziaul said they would also monitor whether funds from abroad, including expatriate Bangladeshis, entered the county as illegal funds to the candidates.
   The official said the Bangladesh Bank had also strengthened vigilance on possible routes of terror-financing as reorganised militant outfits are being captured.
   Citing the latest capture of a JMB activist in Dhaka along with a large sum of explosives by the law enforcers, Ziaul said, ‘We understand that terrorists’ movement and activities require financing so we are alert in this regard.’
   The daylong workshop discussed recent development in anti-money laundering regime with global perspectives. It also focused on mobile banking in the context of money laundering.

The Special Weapon and Tactics team of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Wednesday started functioning to tackle serious crimes in the capital.
   The team returned home on Monday after completing training for six weeks in the United States.
   The metropolitan police formed the 24-member team in January to combat militants, rescue victims abducted held to ransom, tackle crimes and arrest any hardened criminals even after fight.
   Members were chosen on condition that they would work in the team for at least two years, in keeping with an agreement with the trainers in the United States.
   The team members went through a rigorous training programme at the Razarbagh police lines in Dhaka and the Mahera police training centre in Tangail from January 18. US experts trained the SWAT members.
   The US experts provided nine sniper rifles, 33 M-4 rifles and 33 Glock pistols, bullet proof jackets and ammunitions for SWAT members
   The SWAT members left Dhaka for the United States on October 3 for advanced training for six more weeks.
   The SWAT members stayed in the North Carolina Black Water Training Academy where they were trained on how to rescue bus or train or installation from hijackers or rescue victims from the abductors and tackle hardened criminals.
   The team returned to Bangladesh on Monday and after a day’s rest, they are now ready for action, the DMP said.
   The team members are now to ready even for gunfight whenever they will be required to rescue victims or free any place from the clutches of criminals. The team will also combat hardened criminals, police sources said.
   The team will be stationed at the Detective Branch office on Minto Road and will be supervised by the Detective Branch joint commissioner.
   Two assistant commissioners, two inspectors, five subinspectors, two sergeants are on the team. The rest are constables.
   ‘The team will function mainly in the capital, but it can also go anywhere if required,’ said the Detective Branch additional deputy commissioner, Masudur Rahman, and also in charge of the media wing.

The Rajshahi University authorities banned Dhumketu Natya Sangathan, a university-based cultural troupe, on Wednesday bowing to pressure from Islami Chhatra Shibir, for staging a drama titled ‘Mandar’ on November 3. The authorities also prohibited staging of the drama on the campus. In a press release signed by registrar Mohammed Shafi said the university authorities had found ‘Dhumketu’ an unregistered organisation and asked the group to desist from any activities on the RU campus. ‘The drama “Mandar” will not be staged further on the RU campus’, the press release said. ‘We also ask the listed organisations not to hold any programmes on the campus that go against religion’, the release added. Dumketu staged ‘Mandar’ on the campus on November 3 in protest at the dismantling of the baul monument in the Dhaka airport crossing. The play, scripted by Rahul Ananda and earlier published in theatre journal Theatrewala, featured a simpleton character named Rasul Miah which Jamaat-backed Islami Chhatra Shibir fancifully interpreted as offensive against Prophet Muhammad (SM). The play was earlier staged at least 20 times by Prachchhaya Natya Dal in Dhaka. Shibir activists on November 6 assaulted a Bangla department student, Hosne Ara Farzana, also an activist of the cultural group Udichi, as she protested against Shibir’s smear campaign. The Shibir activists in the guise of ‘Sachetan Chhatra Samaj’ staged noisy demonstrations demanding a ban on Udichi and Dhumketu on the campus. They also threatened to burn cultural activists alive on the campus. The Shibir forced a student strike on November 13 violating restrictions of the university authorities and Emergency Power Rules. Later, the RU authorities formed an 11-member committee, headed by social science faculty dean Professor Sadequl Islam, to investigate what the drama ‘Mandar’ staged by Dhumketu was all about. After receiving the investigation report, the university authorities decided to ban the organisation, the press release said. Students and teachers in general decried the ban as a one-sided decision made by the ‘pro-Jamaat Rajshahi University authorities’ without considering the committee’s recommendations, sources said. According to sources, the probe committee did not find anything offensive against religion in the drama. Probe committee members, professors Mahbubur Rahman, Mokhlesur Rahman and Shah Azam Shantanu said that they did not accuse anybody of satirising religion. ‘We did not point an accusing finger at anybody’, said Mokhlesur Rahman adding that the probe also did not find anything insulting to Prophet Muhammad (SM)’ in the drama ‘Mandar’. ‘The university authorities imposed the ban on the drama without taking our recommendations into account’, he said. Cultural activists also slammed the decision as a conspiracy to eliminate them. ‘The probe committee did not make any accusation against anybody. How the authorities imposed the ban on the cultural organisation’, asked Professor Malay Kumar Bhowmick, an RU teacher, also a cultural activist. He wondered why the RU authorities did not take action against Jamaar-Shibir activists who continued staging demonstrations and forced a student strike by violating the university rules and Emergency Power Rules. Abu Sayem, general secretary of Udichi’s RU unit told New Age, ‘We will take legal action against the decision’, adding that the RU authorities had bowed to the Jamaat-Shibir. Abu Sayem also vowed to stage the drama ‘Mandar’ on the campus ignoring the decision. ‘We do not go by such foolhardy decision. We will stage the drama on the campus…’, he said.

The National Board of Revenue is ready with income tax information which may be required by any government agency for election purposes.
   ‘We have made our preparations and if any authorised government agencies ask for information related to income tax of any candidates, we are ready to provide such bits of information,’ the revenue board chairman, Muhammad Abdul Mazid, told reporters on Wednesday.
   Addressing a briefing in the NBR auditorium, Mazid said 6,76,100 people had submitted their income tax returns this year whereas the number of tax identification number holders is 2,262,885.
   A total of Tk 792 crore was deposited with the state exchequer from income taxes in the current financial year; the figure was Tk 739 crore in the financial year 2007–08 and Tk 252 crore in 2006–07.
   Mazid said the revenue board would identify who of such a huge number of TIN holders were not submitting income tax returns regularly. ‘We are now thinking about examining the TINs of credit card holders as we suspect the number of fake TIN holders is huge,’ he said.
   In reply to a question, Mazid said the board would take tough action against tax evaders. ‘We will urge people to identify tax-dodgers and to carry self-motivation campaign.’
   Regarding controversies in appointing a pre-shipment inspection audit firm, he said no company had yet been appointed and gave an assurance it would try every possible means before appointing an appropriate and reliable firm.
   The evaluation committee of the board selected the US-based National Marine Consultants Inc as it was the lone respondent, he said.
   As for drive against undisclosed money holders, Mazid said his agency had already formed a team with members of its inspection directorate, survey directorate and intelligence cell.
   He said the board would dig out sources of income of people whose children are studying in highly-paid schools, colleges and universities.

The interim government on Wednesday transferred nine officials at the rank of deputy secretary under various department and ministries.
   Director to the Local Government Division, Chittagong Kutub Uddin has been transferred to the Directorate General of Family Planning as director and deputy secretary Babul Chandra Roy, who was under a transfer order for posting to the Finance Division as a deputy secretary, has now been sent to the Local Government Division, Chittagong as director.
   Deputy secretary Nazim Uddin Chowdhury, who was under a transfer order for posting as project director to the ‘sector policy support of the water supply and sanitation sector’ has been transferred to the Bangladesh Handloom Board as secretary replacing Mohammad Abdul Awal, who has been made director to the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation.
   Habibur Rahman, personal secretary to the speaker of the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad, has been made deputy secretary to the Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat, replacing Jahangir Alam, who has been sent to the Land Reform Board as deputy land reform commissioner.
   Deputy land reform commissioner of the Land Reform Board Alam Ara Begum has been made secretary to the Bangladesh National Museum while chief executive officer to the Chuadanga Zila Parisad Subrata Roy Moitra has been transferred to the cultural affairs ministry as deputy secretary and director of Directorate of Environment Niamat Ullah Bhuiyan has been made an officer on special duty.

A suspected US drone aircraft fired two missiles at a house in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing five suspected militants, possibly including an Arab al-Qaeda operative, intelligence officials said.
   The al-Qaeda fighter was identified as Abdullah Azam al-Saudi by an intelligence official based in Dera Ismail Khan, hours after the missile attack in Janikhel tribal area of neighbouring Bannu district in North West Frontier Province.
   ‘He used to coordinate between al-Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan, and had also been responsible for recruiting people,’ the official said because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
   There was no other corroboration that the Arab al-Qaeda fighter had been killed.
   Janikhel is not part of one of Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, but borders Waziristan — a militant hotbed where suspected US drone aircraft have launched a series of missile strikes in recent months.
   A senior government official, Abdul Hameed, said Wednesday’s pre-dawn missile attack was also launched by a drone aircraft.
   Missile-armed drones are primarily used by US forces in the region, though the United States seldom confirms drone attacks. Pakistan does not have any drones.
   Intelligence officials had said earlier four fighters, believed to be Turkmen, were killed in the attack. A resident said Taliban fighters cordoned off the area after the missile attack.
   Many Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, including Arabs, Chechens, Turkmen, Uzbeks and other Central Asians, fled to Pakistan’s tribal lands after a US-led military invasion toppled Afghanistan’s Taliban government in late 2001.
   Frustrated by fighters from Pakistan fuelling the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and fearful of al-Qaeda regrouping, US forces have intensified missile attacks by pilotless drones, security sources said.
   US strikes have focused on North and South Waziristan where at least 20 missile attacks and a cross-border commando raid have killed scores of people since September.
   Pakistan objects to the attacks as a violation of its sovereignty and argues that the strikes undermine its efforts to persuade people to support campaigns against the militants, and heightens already rampant anti-American sentiment.
   Despite Pakistani anger, NATO’s spokesman in Kabul, Brigadier General Richard Blanchette, said coordination with Pakistan had been improving and NATO forces had routinely retaliated when fired at by insurgents in Pakistan.
   In the latest such incident, NATO said it fired 20 artillery rounds in coordination with the Pakistani military at insurgents on the Pakistani side who attacked a base in Paktika province on Sunday.
   Pakistan hopes the incoming US administration of president-elect Barack Obama will be more sensitive to Pakistan’s situation and take a less unilateral approach, though Obama’s election campaign comments hardly encouraged those hopes.
   The United States has refrained from using ground troops in cross-border incursions since a diplomatic storm blew up over the commando raid into South Waziristan on September 3.
   Pakistani security forces are battling militants in several parts of the northwest including the Bajaur region at the northeastern end of the tribal belt, and in Swat valley, while there are expectations that the next offensive will be launched in the neighbouring Mohmand tribal area.
   Meanwhile, the retired head of Pakistan’s elite army commando unit was shot dead Wednesday by unidentified gunmen near his house in the capital city of Islamabad, the police said.
   The motive behind the killing of Major General Amir Faisal Alvi — who retired two years ago as chief commander of the army’s Special Services Group targeting Islamic militants — was not immediately clear.
   ‘General Alvi left his house in his car when gunmen on a motorbike and in a Pajero sprayed bullets at him near his house,’ local area police officer Sajid Ahmed said.
   Pakistan is reeling under spiralling violence blamed on al-Qaeda and Taliban militants based in the tribal territory bordering Afghanistan.
   Alvi commanded the Special Services Group in its covert operations against militants in the tribal regions.

The cabinet committee on purchase Wednesday turned down on ground of high tariff the proposal to select the lone bidder for installation of the 450MW Bibiyana independent power plant, asking the Power Division to go for re-tender.
   The committee, headed by finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam, decided that the contract for the large IPP could not be awarded to the bidder, a consortium of Powertek Berhad of Malaysia, Siemens Project Ventures of Germany and Korea Electric Power Company, as its latest offer for electricity tariff, 4.399 cents per unit, was too high.
   The Power Division sought purchase committee’s decision on the selection of the consortium after the division’s tender evaluation committee, headed by Power Cell director general Abdul Jalil, had recommended for awarding the contract to the lone bidder.
   ‘The division will make the decision on re-tender after it gets the minutes of the purchase committee meeting,’ said a source present at the meeting, adding the re-tender might not be invited during this interim government as it did not have enough time in hand.
   The interim government’s one-year effort to complete tender procedure to install the IPP for mitigating power crisis went in vain because of the lack of participation of bidders and the lone bidder’s refusal to decrease price.
   Power division in its proposal placed before the committee said the lone bidder had refused to further reduce the power price although a government-formed negotiation committee held meeting with them on Saturday.
   The purchase committee on October 13 sent back the power division’s earlier proposal to award the contract to the consortium for re-evaluation of its bid as it felt the original offer of Powertek, 4.539 cents per unit, was too high.
   The consortium, however, came up with a fresh tariff offer of 4.399 cents when the tender committee was re-evaluating its original bid. The committee, which had recommended approval of the offer for 4.539 cents per unit, again recommended for accepting the revised offer at 4.399 cents.
   Although the Power Division sent a proposal to the purchase committee on the tender committee’s recommendation to accept 4.399 cents last week, it had formed a committee to negotiate with the bidder for reducing the price observing that the fresh offer was still higher than the price of small independent power plants and long-term rental power plants.
   Besides, the company’s latest offer was also much higher than that of 450MW Meghnaghat IPP and the 360MW Haripur IPP. PDB signed contracts for Meghnaghat and Haripur 10 years back at the rates of 2.79 cents and 2.72 cents.
   The Power Cell started tender procedure for the Bibiyana IPP, from where PDB was supposed to purchase electricity for 22 years, in September last year. Although two other US companies, alongside the consortium, were pre-qualified for taking part in the bidding, they (US companies) did not take part in the final bidding.
   Sources in the Power Division felt that the bidders were reluctant to participate in the bidding during this military-controlled interim government because of political uncertainty fearing that the next elected government might scrap any deal on the IPP.

Graeme Smith continued his run feast to score his 17th Test century as South Africa battered Bangladesh on the opening day of the first Test to pile up 299-1 at Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
   Hashim Amla was not out on 103 when bad light stopped play nine overs before the scheduled time.
   Smith was unbeaten on 138 at the stumps taking his tally to 1317 in the calendar year, a South African record previously held by his team-mate Jacques Kallis with 1288 since 2004.
   Many more records are at stake for Smith as he has only India’s Virender Sehwag before him to overtake to become the leading run-getter this year. Sehwag scored 1353 runs so far and still has two more Tests to play against England in December.
   But Smith has three more Tests and the second innings of the ongoing match. He is expected to play another Test against Bangladesh at Centurion before going to Australia for two more Tests in December.
   The South African captain has already two world records in his bag that include a 415-run opening stand with Neil McKenzie in the previous Test he played against Bangladesh in Chittagong earlier this year.
   Smith and McKenzie shared another 102-run opening stand on Wednesday, creating another world record of half-century partnerships in 10 consecutive Tests. The feat also began against Bangladesh when they put together 52 runs in the second innings of the first Test in Dhaka.
   Since then they were involved in fifty-partnerships in at least one innings of a Test against Bangladesh, three Tests against India and four against England. They bettered the record of Roy Fredericks and Gordon Greenidge, who were involved in half-century partnerships in eight consecutive Tests in 1976-77.
   On Wednesday, the duo took 101 minutes to reach their half-century stand as Bangladesh maintained tight line and length in the first session, which yielded just 61 runs in 24 overs.
   It took them nearly three hours to get the first breakthrough when McKenzie cut Shahadat Hossain to be caught by Mehrab Hossain ending his 118-ball innings on 42. Smith put on 197 runs for the undefeated second wicket with Hashim Alma, who scored his sixth Test century.
   Poor fielding denied Sakib al Hassan the wicket of Smith twice as Mushfiqur Rahim missed an easy stumping chance when he was on 83 before Imrul Kayes dropped him at forward short-leg on 118.
   Mashrafee bin Murtaza grassed Amla on 93 off Mehrab Hossain at slip only to make things from bad to worse for Bangladesh.

The election of Barack Obama as US president has given crucial impetus toward implementing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty more than a decade after it was negotiated, pact officials said on Wednesday.
   The global treaty, which prohibits all nuclear explosions, cannot enter into force before it is ratified by all 44 states listed in an annex that took part in the 1996 negotiations and have nuclear power or research reactors.
   Nine of the 44 have not ratified the pact — Iran, Israel, North Korea, Indonesia, Egypt, India, Pakistan, China and the United States, where the administration of outgoing president George W Bush was wary of multilateral commitments restraining its security options.
   But Obama said in his campaign he aimed to secure US Senate ratification as quickly as possible, a pledge which, if honoured, treaty administrators said could do much to bring the other key holdouts on board.
   Tibor Toth, the treaty organisation’s executive secretary, said at the close of a meeting of 180 member states that Obama’s commitment meant ‘we are turning the corner in a wider political sense ... and the nine remaining dominoes should fall’.
   The meeting’s chairman, Hans Lundborg, estimated that could now happen within two years, although Obama — who takes office on Jan. 20 — admittedly would be preoccupied initially with the world financial crisis which originated in the United States.
   ‘We have political momentum after the US election ... and Obama’s message is extremely crucial to us, and for other countries to pick up that message,’ Lundborg said.
   The United States, China, India, Pakistan are declared nuclear weapons powers, while Israel is widely assumed to be one but never confirmed this.
   Stalinist North Korea tested a nuclear device in 2006 and agreed a year later to a disarmament-for-aid accord with five powers but the deal has faltered in disputes over verification.
   Iran denies Western suspicions that it is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons, insisting its uranium enrichment programme is for electricity generation only.

The Truth and Accountability Commission chairman, Justice Habibur Rahman Khan, on Wednesday said the commission had not yet received any paper or notice related to the writ petition filed challenging its legality.
   ‘Despite being a party to it, the commission hasn’t yet received any paper or notice related to the writ,’ he told the commission’s regular briefing Wednesday afternoon.
   On November 13, the High Court declared the TAC illegal following a writ petition. On November 16, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court stayed the High Court order for a month.
   The TAC chairman said he was neither informed by the court nor the attorney general about the case and that he did not submit his reply to the court.
   Terming the High Court order incomplete, Justice Khan said he even did not know in which process the rule against his commission was issued.
   ‘The office of the attorney general informed me nothing. I’ll have to scrutinise the subject well. I was not given any opportunity to respond to the rule. The reply might have been given from the attorney general’s office,’ he said.
   The briefing was informed that as of Tuesday 479 individuals applied for clemency in return for their ill-gotten wealth. Of them, 364 are government servants, wives of 49 of them, 29 businessmen and 35 belonging to other professionals.
   Of them, some 22 applied directly, 277 referred by the Anti-Corruption Commission, 167 by the National Coordination Committee on serious crime and corruption and 13 by courts.
   Since September 1, the hearing of 259 individuals has been completed and they have pledged to pay 29.87 crore to the exchequer. Of the amount, Tk 15.36 crore has already been deposited by 170 corrupt individuals.
   One hundred and twenty clemency seekers have already been issued with mercy certificates. TAC members Asif Ali and Manjur Rashid were also present at the briefing.
   Meanwhile, the deadline for filing clemency applications expires today.

One-third of Canadians with asthma have likely been wrongly diagnosed by their doctor, said a study Tuesday that blames an explosion of asthma cases in developed countries on lack of proper testing.
   ‘About one-third of individuals with physician-diagnosed asthma did not have asthma,’ said the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
   ‘This finding suggests that, in developed countries such as Canada, asthma is over-diagnosed.’
   Thus, millions of people worldwide may be taking costly medications and making life changes needlessly to treat the chronic respiratory disorder in which airways suddenly constrict in response to allergens, cold air, exercise, or emotional stress.
   Between 1980 and 1994, the prevalence of asthma increased by 75 per cent in Canada and the United States.
   In 2005, 8.3 per cent of Canadians aged 12 or older were identified as having asthma, said Statistics Canada. And in 2007, 3.4 million prescriptions were issued for the top asthma medications, at a total cost of nearly 329 million Canadian dollars (268 million US), according to IMS Health Canada.
   Globally, the latest data indicates 300 million people have asthma and the figure is projected to rise to 400 million cases by 2025.
   The Canadian researchers said the higher prevalence of both symptoms and diagnoses of late may be due to increased awareness of the disorder, stemming in part from the pharmaceutical industry’s advertising of new asthma medications.
   The Canadian study looked at 540 individuals diagnosed with asthma, putting them through a battery of tests that showed a third of them actually did not have the disorder.
   Based on its findings, researchers estimated that less than half of Canadians diagnosed with asthma underwent a test used to measure lung function, called spirometry.
   The test is said to be one of the most efficient ways to diagnose asthma and other pulmonary diseases, but it is costly and time consuming.
   This lack of proper testing is ‘unacceptable,’ said CMAJ deputy editor Matthew Stanbrook and Alan Kaplan of the Family Physician Airways Group of Canada, in an editorial on the Canadian Medical Association Journal’s web site.
   ‘A physician who attempted to manage hypertension without measuring blood pressure or to manage hypercholesterolemia without measuring serum cholesterol levels would not be considered to be maintaining an adequate standard of care,’ they said.
   ‘Treating asthma without having performed at least spirometry is no different.’
   Some inhaled steroids used to control the symptoms of asthma, doctors note, have been linked to cataracts, glaucoma and osteoporosis.
   Also, Health Canada has warned of the possible increased risk of death associated with use of some asthma medications.

Arab ambassadors, stationed in Bangladesh, on Wednesday expressed the hope for an inclusive election to parliament in a free and fair atmosphere to establish a government to be chosen by the people.
   ‘We hope for a good, just and peaceful election,’ the Palestine ambassador, Shaher Mohammad, told reporters after a meeting with Jamaat-e-Islami leaders at the party central office.
   Ambassadors of Egypt, UAE, Morocco, Libya and chargé d’affaires of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman were present. Jamaat amir Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, assistant secretaries general Mohammad Qamaruzzaman and Abdul Kader Molla, and publicity secretary Tasneem Alam were present from the Jamaat side.
   Shaher Mohammad said whatever party came to power in Bangladesh, Arab countries would closely work together. ‘We’re not interfering into internal matters of this country and the people here are free to choose whatever they prefer,’ he said, adding: ‘Our support and solidarity will always be with the people of Bangladesh.’
   Asked whether they discussed about new election schedule with changed date, the ambassador said it was a matter to be decided by the government and political parties.
   Mojahid said Jamaat chief Nizami told the ambassadors that they wanted to participate in the election. He also explained to the ambassadors the four-point demand spelt out by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.

A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced former chief whip Abul Hasnat Abdullah to 14 years of rigorous imprisonment in two separate corruption cases.
   The special judge’s court gave the sentence, which included a Tk 1 lakh fine or an additional 18 months in jail on non-payment, in Hasnat’s absence after hearing evidence from five out of seven witnesses.
   Fugitive Abdullah, general secretary of Awami League’s Barisal unit, already faces 22 years in two other cases, with his total prison term now standing at 36 years to commence from the day of his arrest or surrender.
   The joint forces raided Hasnat’s Barisal home on October 22, 2002, and recovered 355 blank freedom fighter certificates signed by the general secretary, a gold plated ornamental boat and Tk 6.13 lakh in cash.
   The police lodged two separate cases after the raid and pressed charges on June 1 this year.

The High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail for three months to former BNP lawmaker Ali Asgar Lobi in a corruption case in which he was jailed for 13 years.
   The High Court bench of Justice Syed M Dastagir Husain and Justice M Azizul Haque passed the order after hearing the petition filed by Lobi seeking bail on health grounds.
   The joint forces arrested Lobi at his house at Gulshan in Dhaka on February 6, 2007 during the drive against corruption and serious crimes.
   On October 7, 2007, a special court, set up on the Jatiya Sangsad Complex, sentenced Lobi to 13 years’ imprisonment for amassing illegal wealth of Tk 25 crore and hiding wealth from the statement submitted to the Anti-Corruption Commission.
   Lobi, also a former president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, filed an appeal with the High Court against the trial court conviction. But the appeal has yet to be disposed of.

Former state minister for civil aviation and tourism Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, convicted in a corruption case, was freed on bail from the prison cell in Bangabandhu Sehikh Mujib Medical University hospital on Wednesday.
   Deputy inspector general (prisons) Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said Mir Nasir had been freed from the prison cell at about 3:30pm as he had obtained bail from the High Court.
   The army-led joint forces arrested Mir Nasir, also an influential BNP leader in Chittagong, on February 5, 2007.
   A special court sentenced Mir Nasir to 13 years’ rigorous imprisonment finding him guilty in the case and the High Court on November 13 granted him bail for three months on health grounds.

Bangladesh has shown considerable improvement in curbing corruption and improving the environment of its economic freedom, according to a recently release report of a US government corporation.
   In its report for the year 2009, the Millennium Challenge Corporation mentioned that Bangladesh had moved upward in curbing corruption from 11 per cent to 25 per cent during the year under review.
   The report said that in improving economic environment, Bangladesh had notched 45 per cent against 43 per cent of the previous year. Bangladesh has also scored fairly well in three governance indicators — government effectiveness 54 per cent, rule of law 57 per cent and voice and accountability 51 per cent.
   In the ‘investing in people’ category, Bangladesh scored above the median on immunisation rates 70 per cent while scored below the median in health expenditures 14 per cent, primary education expenditures 27 per cent.
   In the last category of ‘economic freedom’, two indicators such as ‘business start-up’ 61 per cent and inflation 34 per cent were rated above the median.
   The report also suggested improvement in other indicators such as ‘regulatory quality’ 45 per cent, land rights access 17 per cent, ‘trade policy’ 4 per cent and ‘fiscal policy’ 25 per cent.
   The Millennium Challenge Corporation is designed to work to reduce global poverty through the promotion of sustainable economic growth.
   Bangladesh could make itself a Millennium Challenge Corporation eligible country if it could maintain upward movement of the criteria covered by the corporation report, said a news release of Bangladesh Embassy in Washington on Wednesday.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its associate organisations are celebrating the 44th birthday of the party’s joint secretary general Tarique Rahman, who is now staying in London for treatment, today.
   The party chief, Khaleda Zia, also the mother of Tarique, began the celebration by cutting a 44-pound cake at her Gulshan office a minute past midnight.
   Several hundred leaders and activists of the party and associate organisations were present at the simple function that also featured a prayer session seeking his early recovery and a smooth transition to democracy in Bangladesh through free, fair and creditable elections.
   Party secretary general Khandaker Dewlar Hossain, vice-chairman Sarwari Rahman, joint secretaries general Abdullah al Noman, Selima Rahman, MA Mannan, office secretary Rizvi Ahmed, Juba Dal general secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, Chhatra Dal president Aziuzul Bari Helal and general secretary Shafiul Bari Babu were present on the occasion along with more than two dozen former lawmakers.
   Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal will also cut a cake at Dhaka University Madhu’s Canteen at 11:00am today to celebrate Tarique’s birthday and Jatiyatabadi Mahila Dal will hold a prayer session at the party’s central office at Naya Paltan on the occasion.